Revelations chapter 12
I. The sun clad woman
(Rev 12:1 KJV) And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (Rev 12:2 KJV) And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
The woman represents the people of God.
The time is the dawn of the New Testament era.
Symbol of the moon under her feet (representing the lesser light of the Old Testament era)
Clad in the sun (representing the clear light of the New Testament time).
The crown of twelve stars usually is interpreted to be the twelve apostles, but could also represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
This woman is portrayed as being ready to deliver a child
This imagery, as much of the imagery in the book of Revelations is drawn from the Old Testament
(Isa 66:7 KJV) Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.(Isa 66:8 KJV) Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.(Isa 66:9 KJV) Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.(Isa 66:10 KJV) Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
(Isa 54:1 KJV) Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. (Isa 54:2 KJV) Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;(Isa 54:3 KJV) For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
(Micah 5:2 KJV) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.(Micah 5:3 KJV) Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
(Gal 4:26 KJV) But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
II. The great red dragon
(Rev 12:3 KJV) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.(Rev 12:4 KJV) And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
The great red dragon represents the pagan Rome,
More specifically, Satan’s working through the pagan form of religion that dominated the Roman Empire
We will study these symbols in detail to begin our study of the Thirteenth chapter of Revelations.
Satan is pictured as ready to destroy the child as soon as He was born.
This represents the persecution, first of Christ, and then of His followers in the early morning church.
III. The Man child
(Rev 12:5 KJV) And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.(Rev 12:6 KJV) And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
This Man child represents the Christ, as a “first fruit” of this woman in this new era of time.
We see that the woman must be the people of God seen in its continuity from the Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church.
She preceded Christ, yet she is clearly the New Testament people of God.
Her first Child is a Man child that we can see is the man Jesus Christ.
Again we look to the Old Testament for the imagery presented here
Messianic Psalm
(Psa 2:1 KJV) Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?(Psa 2:2 KJV) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,(Psa 2:3 KJV) Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.(Psa 2:4 KJV) He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.(Psa 2:5 KJV) Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.(Psa 2:6 KJV) Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psa 2:7 KJV) I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.(Psa 2:8 KJV) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.(Psa 2:9 KJV) Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psa 2:10 KJV) Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. (Psa 2:11 KJV) Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.(Psa 2:12 KJV) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
We will see later that the woman has other children.
Believers are also described as ruling the nations in the second chapter of Revelations.
(Rev 2:26 KJV) And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:(Rev 2:27 KJV) And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.(Rev 2:28 KJV) And I will give him the morning star.(Rev 2:29 KJV) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
This Man child was caught up to God and throne, showing that although Christ was crucified, He still lives and reigns.
We will see later that the martyred saints are represented also as reigning in Heaven.
The woman is seen fleeing into the wilderness for a period of time.
Notice that God has provisions made for the care of the people of God during this time. The time is here described as One thousand two hundred and three score days, or 1260 days. We will interpret the 1260 days as 1260 years
VI. Spiritual war
(Rev 12:7 KJV) And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, (Rev 12:8 KJV) And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.(Rev 12:9 KJV) And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.(Rev 12:10 KJV) And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.(Rev 12:11 KJV) And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.(Rev 12:12 KJV) Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
We see here the intense warfare between the host of evil and the host of God. The Devil, Satan, and his agent, the dragon, are identified as one.
We see the host of evil are overcome and cast down from the lofty place they had held. Paganism was conquered by the saints of God in the early morning church.
They overcame the persecutions and all the accusations of evil, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.
Their faith in God and their holy lives proved the reality of their God. They suffered much martyrdom, but yet refused to be dissuaded, as their faith and experience with God was greater than their love even for their own lives.
We see that although the devil was defeated as the dragon, he went forth with great anger, and we are warned that he will fight hard, knowing his time is short.
V. Persecution of the saints
(Rev 12:13 KJV) And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. (Rev 12:14 KJV) And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.(Rev 12:15 KJV) And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.(Rev 12:16 KJV) And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.(Rev 12:17 KJV) And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We see the dragon making a last ditch attempt to destroy the early morning church. History records very intense persecution of the saints during the reign of Diocletian, around AD 302-312.
This persecution could be described as a flood, as every attempt was made to destroy all believers and destroy all copies of the scripture. This persecution was cut short by invading barbarians, thus the earth helping the woman.
We see, though, that Satan continued to persecute the saints.
The woman fleeing into the wilderness, or being given wings to fly to the wilderness, represents a period of time when the true people of God were not readily visible.
We see they are taken care of by God for this period of time. This period of time is represented first as one thousand two hundred three score days, and then as time, times and dividing of times. That this period of time represents 1260 years more or less, we will hope to develop as we progress further in our study.
When this period of time begins and ends, we will also identify later, when we place these events in the context of secular history at the beginning of Chapter 13.