REVELATION TWELVE

INTRODUCTION

The book of Revelation is a complex literature with many interpretative approaches. However, this commentary will take the idealist approach and therefore follow the structure of progressive parallelism. The first eleven chapters of Revelation reveal the external or earthly conflict between Christ and Satan. And the second half shows the spiritual background of Revelation. The twelfth chapter of Revelation is the mid-point of the book, and this commentary will prove its biblical integrity and gives a summary of the spiritual background of the first eleven chapters.

THE GLORIOUS CHURCH IN HEAVEN

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth”. Revelation 12:1-2 ESV.

If the great sign that appeared in heaven gives a heavenly perspective of the war between Christ and the Dragon, then the first sign in this chapter revealed the future glory of the Church. Firstly, the Old and New Testament often depicts God’s people as a woman (Jeremiah 4:31). And the apocalyptic nature of this passage, depicting the woman clothed in heavenly bodies therefore speaks of God’s people’s royal status. The woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head alludes to Jospeh’s dream in Genesis 37:9. The sun represents Jacob, the moon Rachel and the twelve stars are the sons of Jacob which are representative of God’s people. Although the woman in this passage is a symbol of God’s people, however, some commentators have argued for Mary as the pregnant woman. The problem with this view is that it does not fit in with the entire passage. It is best to see the woman as the believing Israel, or the church for all ages. This woman went through great pain and agony of giving birth to the Messiah. This is emblematic of the faithful people of God suffering greatly to give birth to the Messiah (Isaiah 66:7-10).

 THE TRUIMPHANT MESSIAH

“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child, he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days”. Revelation 12:3-6 ESV.

The second sign in this chapter introduces the Dragon and gives a preview of a cosmic conflict between the male child and the red Dragon. The Dragon’s seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head are symbols of his claim of power and sovereignty. Satan’s goal is to usurp God’s power and sovereignty. The tail of the dragon which sweeps down a third of the stars of heaven, is a clear indication of his dark army being drag down to earth alongside him (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6). In his deceitful schemes, Satan uses human agents to wage war against the male child. For instance, in Ezekiel, Pharaoh is the great Dragon, acting as the agent of Satan, and this has been the case throughout redemptive history (Ezekiel 29:3). An example was during the time of the birth of Moses, when Pharoah tried to ‘devour’ the male Israelites children. Furthermore, ‘’the Dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth’’. This is a direct allusion to King Herod’s murder of the male infants at the time of the birth of Jesus. Herod was Satan’s agent and wanted to devour the Messiah, but God protected his Son as he guided his parents to Egypt. However, the Dragon’s evil agenda was thwarted by the Messiah’s phenomenal victory (Colossians 2:15). The language of sovereign rule alludes to God’s anointed King in Psalm 2:9. His iron rod is a symbol of rule over the Universal Church. The male child caught up to God is an incredible summary of the work of Christ, which are the perfect life, work, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. As a result, of God’s Son ascension to his heavenly throne, the child’s mother fled to the wilderness. The wilderness is a place where God’s people are reliant on him for provision and protection from the dragon’s attack. They are nourished for a time which symbolised by the number 1260 days. However, this number representing the time of Christ’s ascension to his second return to earth.

THE DEFEATED DRAGON

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the evil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:7-9 ESV

The first section gives us a panoramic view of the cosmic conflict, between the male child and the Dragon. It is important to note that these verses are not a continuation of the two signs from verse 1-6. But it shows from a different angle of the Dragon’s defeat. We see that the war in heaven is not prehistoric to Creation but a war that happened during the earthly life and work of Jesus. Christ’s humiliation and death at Calvary was in fact a cosmic victory over the devil and his host of angels (Colossians 2:15). The reason Michael and his angels defeated the Dragon was the result of the Son of God’s victory over the devil at the cross. Here, John gives the detail of how Satan lost the heavenly battle. “There was no longer any place for them in heaven’’.(Verse 8). The Devil’s defeat resulted in the Dragon and his angels thrown down to earth. Before Jesus went on the cross, he made a statement referring to the defeat of Satan and he used thesame language of Revelation 12:9. ‘’ “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven’’. (Luke 10:18). In saying this, Jesus prophesied Satan’s defeat through his work on the cross (John 12:31). In addition, this passage confirms the identity of theancient Serpent, the deceiver of Eve. So, the Dragon is also Satan,the adversary of God’s people and the god of this age. Although, Satan deceives many people and is the father of lies, he was thrown down to earth.

THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE OF GOD

“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. ¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” Revelation 12:10-12 ESV

John hears heaven’s response to Christ’s victory on the cross, where the Dragon and his dark kingdom were defeated, and the kingdom of God was inaugurated. The celebration in heaven alludes to the aftermath of God’s salvation towards his people (Exodus 15, Judges 5). Before the cross, Satan was able to accuse the saints of their sin. However, the result of the shed blood of Jesus on the cross became the basis for the purity and permanent release of God’s people from Satan’s accusations. Amazingly, thesaints conquered the dragon because of the blood of Christ, and they can persevere in the truth and are willing to die for their faith.

“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea”. Revelation 12:13-17 ESV

Since the dragon has been defeated, his goal now is to persecute God’s people, the mother of the Messiah. However, the Devil’spursuit of this aim is futile because God protects his people. The wing of an eagle is a metaphor of how God saved his people from the Devil’s reach. For instance, we see this at the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt as they crossed the Red Sea and wereled to the wilderness (Exodus 14:13, 19:4). Although this was a place of trials and testing, they were preserved and protected andnourished for a certain period. The time, and times, and half a time is symbolic of the time of the first advent until Christ’s return. The water like a river out of the serpent’s mouth alsoseems to be symbolic, speaking of the Devil’s attack on thechurch with a flood of lies and false teaching from his mouth, a tactic that can be traced back to the deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7). The defeated enraged devil launched an attack on the woman’s offspring, but these are those who are sealed by God and obeys the Messiah.

Conclusion

The apocalyptic nature of Revelation makes it difficult to interpret. The symbolism in Revelation, makes it a serious challenge to interpret and other interpretative approaches such as the historicist, preterist and futurist reject the idealist approach. But the above commentary based on chapter twelve gives the reader a clear idea of the book of Revelation but also an interpretation that perfectly fits with the New Testament.

Bibliography

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