Bible Commentaries
Revelation 12

Verse 1

SEVEN MYSTERIOUS FIGURES

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. Revelation 12:1

We now come to one of the most interesting and intriguing sections of Revelation. From chapter twelve through chapter fourteen, we are introduced to seven pictures or seven figures. Now that the last trumpet has sounded we can expect these figures to give us in summary form various important aspects of that last day. So, this is really another picture of the end.

Some have referred to this section as a parenthesis. However, rather than being a parenthesis, this portion may actually form the book's main section.^(F1)

Verses 2-4

FIGURE ONE – THE WOMAN AND THE DEVIL

She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Revelation 12:2

In the first figure, a woman clothed with the sun appears. She has the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head (12:1). The author tells us that this figure is a great wonder or sign. A sign in scripture does not point to itself but rather it points to the theological meaning of history.^(F2) This sign probably indicates that the woman represents God's heritage of light, goodness, and truth. We see that she has the powers of darkness, or the devil's kingdom, firmly under her feet. She is in pain to be delivered.

In recent decades many have interpreted this woman as Israel, or particularly as Mary. They see that both are about to bring forth the Messiah. However, we must remember that Revelation is clearly a book of the future, about things that will shortly come to pass. It is not a book of history as we have said.

So, who is this woman? It is interesting that before the last century there was a general agreement among commentators that this woman represented the church. ^(F3) We have certainly lost much of this understanding today.

In fact, the woman could represent the true church or the faithful in Israel, or both. ^(F4) We see in the Bible that God is bringing forth a remnant from Zion (Zechariah 13:8-9). We also read in Isaiah 37:32, "For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this" (cf. Isaiah 4:2-3; Joel 2:32).

This surviving remnant, as we have seen previously, will include Gentile Christians, who are grafted by faith into Israel's olive tree and who are now really a part of Israel (Romans 11:17-21; cf. Ephesians 3:6-7). We realize that God is bringing Jew and Gentile together into one new humanity for the last day. We note in Isaiah 66:8, that the mother of this faithful remnant is actually named "Zion:" "Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." We see in this prophetic reference, that Zion gives birth to children, being many. The prophets often speak of Zion as a woman in travail about to be delivered (see particularly Micah 5:3). So it is likely that this picture would have been understood by most of the Hebrew people as "Mother Zion." ^(F5)

As the woman gives birth, an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns eagerly waits to devour her child (12:3-4). This dragon is obviously the devil (cf. Isaiah 14:12-15; Psalm 74:13-14) and his red coloration is appropriately fire-like or flame colored. We note that this dragon is also a sign. It is said that he has swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them down to earth (12:4). This no doubt speaks of the heavenly rebellion of Satan and the angels, as spoken of in Genesis 6:1-4, and pictured again in Daniel 8:10. Not only is Satan about to be cast down to earth, but all his evil angels are to be cast down with him.

Verses 5-8

FIGURE TWO – THE MAN-CHILD, WHO IS HE?

She gave birth to a son, a male child, who "will rule all the nations with an iron scepter." And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. Revelation 12:5

The woman gives birth to a male child (man-child) who will rule or shepherd all nations. This child is immediately caught up to the throne. Numerous modern commentators see this child as Jesus. But again, we must remind ourselves that Revelation is a book about the future. It is not a rehashing of past history, even if that history is glorious.

Also, this child is caught up to heaven, while the Christ child came in the opposite direction, from heaven to earth. Should this be speaking of Jesus in his adulthood, we might wonder why his saving life and atoning death receive absolutely no mention here.

The American Presbyterian commentator, Albert Barnes, remarks, "The Savior, indeed, ascended to heaven, but it was not, as here represented, that he might be protected from the danger of being destroyed; and when he did ascend, it was not as a helpless and unprotected babe, but as a man in the full maturity of his powers." ^(F6) Again, we remind ourselves of Isaiah 66:8, where the woman Zion gives birth to "children," not just to a child. It is of note that many older commentators like the Englishman Matthew Henry see the man-child as representing a triumphant group within Christianity.^(F7)It may be at this point, that we need to ask God for some illumination in our spirits, so that we may comprehend this wondrous mystery (Ephesians 1:17). We must remember that John was "in the Spirit" when he saw these things. We cannot understand them with fleshly thinking.

In the Bible, God has promised many wonderful things to his saints. Some of these promises are almost unimaginable. In 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 we are told, "… as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him' – but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."

In Romans 8:17, the Bible tells us that we are to inherit all things in Christ, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." In addition, we are told that we make up the body of Christ and that he is the head of that body (1 Corinthians 12:27; Colossians 1:18). It would seem from this, that wherever Christ is, there also his true saints will be. Whatever he is doing, they will be doing.

So, in this passage the author may be speaking about the overcomers who are "in Christ" (Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17), and who are firmly attached to the Head, Jesus. Should this be the case, it is still Jesus within them. It is his body, and still his exclusive victory.

Perhaps these overcomers are fully taking that heavenly position spoken of in Ephesians 2:6, "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." The Lord has already given this promise to the overcomers or victors in Revelation 3:21, "To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne."

As we have seen, it is also promised to the overcomers, that they will rule with a rod of iron and reign with Christ on this very earth (Revelation 2:26-27; 20:6). So what we likely have in this passage is the faithful and overcoming remnant of Israel (including Gentile believers), who will begin to truly manifest the life of the Messiah in their own lives.

After all, in Ephesians 2:15-16, we see that it is God's ultimate purpose to make Jew and Gentile into one new humanity, thus making peace. Also, in Ephesians 4:13, we see it is his purpose that these two groups "…reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

It should also be noted in Hebrews 2:5-13, how the writer expounds upon Psalm 8:4-9 in relation to humanity, revealing that God has "…put everything under their feet…" (Hebrews 2:8). He remarks how we do not yet see this as a reality but we see Jesus who has triumphed over everything. It is Jesus who will now bring "…many sons and daughters to glory…" (v 10). It is of interests that the world to come will not be subjected to angels but to redeemed humanity (Hebrews 2:5).

Jesus will have a complete victory over the devil, and his complete victory will be expressed in once fallen mankind. This is a great and glorious mystery seen often in the Bible. Perhaps it is these of whom Isaiah speaks: "See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land" (Isaiah 32:1-2).

We see that after the birth of the man-child, or the overcoming company, the woman flees to a desert place prepared for her where she will be kept 1,260 days (12:6). This, once more, is the approximate three and one-half-year period of the Great Tribulation, which is about to break upon the earth (Daniel 7:25). This woman and her seed will be sheltered, but they will certainly undergo persecution. The commentator, Ladd, says of this time, "At the end of the age, the church is destined to undergo the most intense persecution of her history – ." ^(F8)Barnes sees that in this period the persecuted church will become obscure and in danger of being swallowed up, although she will be sustained.^(F9)

We must remember that God will somehow take care of his own people. In Malachi 3:17 we read his promise, "'On the day when I act,' says the LORD Almighty, 'they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him'" (cf. Zechariah 9:16-17).

The woman Zion has now produced a large group of victorious first-fruit saints, who will look and act like Jesus, much as those initial disciples did in the Book of Acts. Perhaps in these we see the complete fulfillment of Jesus' words in John 14:12: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

The group of overcomers, who are perhaps somewhat less victorious than the first-fruits of Zion, will now be sheltered during the horrible storm that is to come.

Verses 9-17

SATAN DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Revelation 12:9

As the first group takes a heavenly position, and becomes in a real sense "heaven dwellers," it is interesting indeed that there is immediately a great war in heaven (12:7). Michael and his angels fight against the devil and his angels. The devil loses this battle and is hurled down to earth along with all his evil angels. Heaven then announces this event and treats it as one bringing about the power and kingdom of God (12:10).

During his earthly ministry, Jesus once had a prophetic vision of this event. It happened after he sent out the seventy, and as they returned joyously and victoriously from their ministry trip. Jesus said, "…I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you" (Luke 10:18-19). It is clear that Jesus is speaking of a future event, since the Apostle Paul much later in Ephesians 6:12, still speaks of "…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Clearly, Jesus sees this future event as having something to do with victorious saints.

It is interesting that Satan does not fall to earth until this very late moment in history. Until this time he enjoys a position in the heavenly places. We get a clear picture of this in the book of Job. In this book we see Satan strutting before God and accusing the Lord's saints (Job 1:6-12; cf. Zechariah 3:1-2).

It seems clear in this section of Revelation that the overcomers, who are now fully "in Christ," and who are exercising his authority, actually have something to do with Satan's fall from heaven. Indeed, the heavenly voice exclaims: "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death" (12:11). "They" in this verse, speaks not of one (Jesus), but of many (saints). Obviously many of these saints will become martyrs.

The well- known scholar and teacher, Derek Prince, comments on this passage saying, "The victory in this conflict against Satan's kingdom will only come through a joint action by God's angels in heaven and the believers on earth. This challenges us to ask whether or not we on earth are sensitive to what is taking place in heaven and ready to play our part." ^(F10) The American New Testament scholar, Robert Mounce, adds here, "Not only does Satan suffer defeat at the hands of the archangel, but he is conquered by faithful believers as well." ^(F11) We must remember here that the saints are only able to overcome because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony concerning that blood (12:11).

Obviously, this passage cannot be speaking of Michael and his angels, for it speaks of martyrdom. It is apparently a word regarding mortal saints on the earth, who have overcome by Jesus' blood and by their testimony. We should notice in 12:10, that heaven is rejoicing, "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down" (cf. Daniel 7:27).

Something incredibly important has happened in the heavenly realms. Long ago Satan brought about the fall of man. Now man through Christ and "in Christ" has helped bring about the fall of Satan. Isn't this what the kingdom of God is all about? Satan once cast man down from a heavenly position and confined him to earth. Now almost the same thing has happened to Satan through the power of Christ reflected in redeemed humanity and through the assistance of mighty angels.

This defeat of Satan is prefigured in the account of the fall. God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15). While it is certainly injurious to have the heel struck, it is fatal to have the head crushed. This passage is generally interpreted as a messianic one, and it surely is, for Jesus crushed the head of Satan at Calvary. This is the basis of all victory for the saints.

Yet, this passage might also involve those people who are "in Christ." We see that whatever Christ does, his people who are "in him" are allowed to do also (cf. John 12:26). There is a beautiful type of this in Joshua 10:24-26, where this great leader, himself a type of Christ, bids his followers to come forward and stand on the necks of the kings of Canaan which he had defeated. It seems that Paul is speaking prophetically of a similar and spiritual thing in Romans 16:20, where he says to believers, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…"

The angelic voice now announces that the heavens can rejoice, but the earth will suffer great woe because the devil has been cast down to her (12:12).

Perhaps Satan's legal position in heaven has been maintained all this time due to the fall of man in the garden, and to the handing over of man's original authority to Satan. As man "in Christ" finally takes his proper position of authority, Satan is immediately displaced, in that his legal authority is undermined. Obviously, redeemed people are finally entering fully into the victory that was gained by Christ through his death on the cross and through his resurrection.

In the past, some have taken these mysterious verses and have gone into heresy with them by overly magnifying man. We must remember that all this is no credit to man whatsoever, but only to Jesus who has himself gained the victory and by his grace has chosen to share that victory with humankind.

So often, heresy contains a grain of biblical truth. Unfortunately, the heretics take this grain of biblical truth to the extreme, ignoring most other biblical truths. We want to hold fast to the gems of Bible truth in Revelation, but we also want to keep these truths in balance with the rest of scripture. As some of our friends say, "If the devil can't stop us, he will take us too far."

We also must be careful to guard our hearts against pride. It is Jesus alone who has worked this wonderful salvation for us. All glory belongs to him. If Jesus gives us a crown on that last day there is only one place for it to go. It must go at the feet of our Lord and Savior (Revelation 4:10). He alone is worthy.

At this point in Revelation the fall of Satan to earth immediately inaugurates the last period of time, including the three and one-half intense years of the Great Tribulation, or the "time, times and a half-time" spoken of by the prophets. This seems to be a literal time frame.

So, with Satan's fall, we see that heaven begins to rejoice. No longer will the brethren be accused before God. No longer will there be spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realms. No longer will Satan be called "ruler of the kingdom of the air" (Ephesians 2:2).

But to earth, the news is devastating. The age-old cosmic battle has now shifted and has become focused and localized on tiny earth. The defeated devil in great rage and fury is totally confined to earth, along with multitudes of his evil angels. He realizes now that his time is very short (12:12).

Immediately he begins to persecute the woman who has produced the overcoming company (12:13). His pursuit of the woman, Zion, as his very first act indicates his great rage against her victorious offspring, the man-child. This act, of course, is also indicative of the latter's key importance in the book. God comes to Zion's aid and she is miraculously delivered from his hands (12:14-16).

The devil is enraged and goes off to make war against the rest of her offspring. This group also seems to be an overcoming company, but perhaps not of the same caliber and maturity as the group of first-fruit saints. We might wonder if many or even most of the "first fruits" are now offered up to Christ in martyrdom (Exodus 23:19). The Bible does say that "…they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death" (12:11).

Asbury New Testament scholar, Craig Keener, tells us that this awesome end-day struggle is mentioned in the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. He points out that the scrolls often bear witness to how Satan/Belial will unleash his full wrath against God's people in the last days.^(F12)

We see that these believing and victorious people of the end-day have two great qualifications. They "…keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus" (12:17). There will be no "cheap grace" for these saints. Contrary to what the church has often proclaimed, law and grace can now work together in beautiful harmony. These saints know that to believe is to obey, and to obey is to believe. They fully reflect the "obedience that comes from faith" that Paul speaks of in Romans 1:5.

How can we summarize the incredible and mysterious figure of the man-child? What we likely see is the emergence of the new man in Christ, the completed new creation, the end-day maturity of Christ's body (cf. Ephesians 4:13). As we have seen, this new man is made up of Jewish and Gentile parts, according to Ephesians 2:15 & 3:6.

This completed humanity, or mature body of Christ, has been the longing of all creation since the fall. Paul says concerning this, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed – We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time" (Romans 8:18-19, 22). Yes, this picture surely represents the fulfillment of one of our Lord's great purposes; the formation of a new man or new humanity in Christ.