Rev 12:1-17
"The Conflict Behind the Conflict"
The ancient world was awash in mythology and fantastic stories of the pagan gods. The Bible presupposes a knowledge with the literature of the culture. The Bible often borrows imagery used in mythology but gives it a different purpose. The Bible expects you to be able to use your imagination.
Consider the images of chapter 12; Seven-headed dragons, a woman clothed with the sun and stars on her head. A dragon fighting an archangel, and then breathing out flood waters, with the earth swallowing them up. You would think you were reading an ancient mythological story. God does not write myth, but he does use the imagery common in the mythological literature of the day.
We have likened the Book of Revelation to a series of camera angles all focusing on Christ and His kingdom from beginning to end. Like the Epistles, it is written to all of God's people. It is as relevant to us as it was to the early church. If you understand this, you won't have too difficult seeing that the whole church age is pictured in the Book.
The seals and trumpets revealed that the conflict between believer and unbeliever would continue during the church age. Unbelievers who do not repent will dislike believers because of their message. Believers would suffer, but God would use the church's message to further the judgment of unbelievers.
In chapter 12 the camera angle moves back and gives us another panorama of the whole age, this time looking at the conflict behind the conflict. We enter into the heavenly battlefield. No longer are the foes the unbelievers who hate the church, but the one who is behind the earthly opposition.
John receives a vision, and he sees a glorious woman in heaven. Her glory is expressed by her radiant clothing, and her heavenly authority by the moon which is under her feet. She wears a crown of stars.
It is clear from the text, and the rest of the book, that the woman symbolizes the church - all true believers. The church is pictured as a woman throughout the Old and New Testaments - we are the bride of Christ.
In her heavenly position the church reigns with Christ. And because she is clothed with Christ's righteousness she shines like the sun. But the woman is pregnant and crying out in anguish- she is about to give birth.
At that point John sees a mighty seven-headed red dragon. The red signifies blood and war. The ten horns and seven diadems, or crowns, signify the dragon's great power - the whole earth is under his sway - he is the prince of the power of the air. He is so powerful that with one swipe of his tail a third of the stars fall to the earth.
The dragon (v. 4) stood before the woman, waiting for her to give birth. As soon as she gave birth he would destroy the baby. We see from v. 6 that the baby is the Christ Child.
Here you have in one picture the entire story of the Old Testament. In Genesis 3 God promises that the Deliverer would be born from the seed of the woman. He would be raised up from the covenant people of God. God tells Satan that this Deliverer would crush him and bring a people back to God. God would always have a covenant people in the OT because the Christ must be born from them.
From that point on Satan sought to destroy this Child. To stop this Child from being born he must destroy God's covenant people. Though he is rarely mentioned in the OT, Satan is behind every attack on God's people, from both without and within. He has one purpose - stop this Child from being born.
Satan tried to defeat Joseph through the persecution of his brothers. When it seemed that Jacob and his family would starve because of the famine, God had rescued Joseph and sent him ahead to Egypt. God gave him a powerful position to provide the covenant people with food. Thus Satan's plan to destroy the people through whom Christ would come was thwarted.
Through the persecution of Pharaoh and the dangers of the wilderness, God protected Israel. When Satan failed that way, he attempted to infiltrate the people with false believers. But God intervened and judged some of them while always leaving a remnant of true believers. The promise continued.
In II Sam 7 God revealed that the Messiah would come through David's line, so Satan directs his efforts at destroying David and His successors. In II Kings 11 we read that wicked Queen Athaliah desired absolute power, so she planned to put to death all of David's male offspring. And it seems this time Satan had succeeded. It says that the queen destroyed all the royal seed.
Did Satan win? No, the next verse we read how the priest and a nurse stole baby Joash away. The last in David's line was spared - God's plan of redemption continued.
So Revelation 12 takes us behind that conflict. Behind every trial and temptation was Satan seeking to stop the Child from being born. And even though they did not deserve it, God brought a remnant of the tribe of Judah back from exile, so that the nation would continue until the appointed time when the Deliverer would come from Israel.
The entire OT is about the coming of Christ and His kingdom. We read in Isaiah where Israel was pictured as a woman in labor, wondering when the deliverer would be born from her. The faithful in Israel persevered waiting for the savior to come. The entire Old Testament is summed up in this picture in Rev 12:1-4.
When Christ is finally born God protects Him. Of course we all know the Christmas story of Satan's attempt to use Herod to destroy the Child.
John sees the Child caught up. This has reference to the resurrection and ascension of Christ. The resurrection was the final blow that crushed Satan. The devil tried to destroy Christ at His birth; he tempted Him throughout His life; He tried to defeat Him by nailing Him to a cross; but when God resurrected the Christ - Satan lost, and he knew it.
So at that point in the vision the woman is standing alone in front of the Dragon. Christ is resurrected and the woman is alone. That is a frightening picture. The woman seems defenseless. So she flees into the wilderness (v. 6) where she has a place prepared by God, and she is nourished there 1,260 days. Again this three and a half year period throughout the book represents the time in the wilderness for the New Covenant people of God.
You have seen throughout he book that the Exodus of Israel served as a paradigm of our eternal redemption in Christ. Israel was in slavery to Egypt, we were in slavery to sin. God defeated Egypt by protecting Israel by the blood of the Passover lamb; God defeated sin and death by the eternal blood of Christ. Israel was led into the wilderness for a time before God brought them to the Promised Land.
We are now in the wilderness, waiting to be brought into the eternal Promised Land, the New Heavens and Earth. Everything in the OT points to Christ and His work. The old exodus prepared the way for the new exodus.
So now the church is in the wilderness. Christ is snatched up to heaven, but the church remains. But even though she is not snatched up with Christ, God feeds her from heaven. He supplies the spiritual strength to remain faithful to her heavenly Husband.
VV. 7-12 depict Satan's defeat. We are returning to our picture from vv. 1-6, but this time we see the dragon fighting Michael instead of the woman. In Daniel Michael the archangel was the heavenly representative of Israel. So we see the OT conflict from an even deeper perspective. The battle on earth against OT Israel was actually a battle in heaven.
Some scholars have thought that Michael the archangel is actually Christ. In Hebrew Michael means "like the Lord." But whether he is Christ, or an angel who is like Christ, doesn't really matter here. The point is that behind the early conflict lies a heavenly one.
When Christ was resurrected Satan was defeated. In v. 9 after Christ ascends to His throne, the verse describes Satan as being cast out of heaven to the earth. Remember this is figurative language. Satan was not actually physically thrown to the earth then. He had been cast to the earth before Adam and Eve.
The key to understand this is in v. 10. Satan had been accusing the brethren day and night, but not anymore. Think of how he accused Job of not being a true believer.
In the Old Testament, Satan had somewhat of a case against the saints. Why did Israel deserve God's protection? They were sinners. When the spirits of the believers went to heaven, Satan could accuse them before God. "I thought only the righteous made it to heaven. I thought the wages of sin is death. These don't belong there. They haven't paid for their sins." Until Christ finished his work God allowed Satan day and night to accuse believers.
But when Jesus was resurrected, Satan was cast out as the accuser. Christ had lived the perfect life in the place of His people. Christ had taken on the punishment they deserved. His resurrection assured His people of the eternal inheritance. This is what it means that Satan was cast out. He can no longer accuse believers. Christ has accomplished all for them, and Christ is untouchable.
This is why Paul asks in Rom 8:33, "Who can bring a charge against God's elect...It is Christ who dies, and furthermore, is also risen..." For Paul Christ's death and resurrection closed the mouths of all accusations against God's elect.
So John hears a loud voice in v. 10 celebrating Satan's defeat. Now salvation and the power and the kingdom of Christ have come. That kingdom the OT saints longed for has arrived. God's people have become victorious over the dragon. That kingdom began when Christ accomplished the salvation of His people. He rules His kingdom from heaven, and protects us with a divine protection.
So how do God's people participate in that victory while still in the wilderness? V. 9 - by believing in the blood of the Lamb, and by persevering in that faith. The word of their testimony refers to the gospel - they hold to the truth of the gospel and love it more than their lives.
Here is the mark of the true believer. A true believer loves their Savior more than their own earthly welfare. As believers live out their devotion to Christ, they participate in the victory of Christ's accomplishment.
The point is that trials and temptations are not only a part of God's plan; but when we endure we participate in the victory Christ won for us. Children, you know the feeling you get when you receive a trophy - you place it high on the shelf because it represents an important accomplishment? Well, we are God's trophies of His victory in Christ. Our perseverance in the faith demonstrates to the powers of darkness that Christ did indeed redeem a people for Himself, and nothing on earth can stop them from serving God. Satan is powerless to draw those for whom Christ died away from God.
Therefore because of Christ's victory in v. 12 the heavens are called to rejoice. When we gather each Lord's day we celebrate the Lord's victory on our behalf. We come to rejoice in Christ's accomplishment.
But even so v. 12 reminds us that the victory for now is spiritual - the physical victory does not come until Christ returns. Satan will focus now on the church still on the earth. The reason he does this is because he knows he is defeated - he knows he cannot stop Christ from returning and judging him. All he knows is that he has a brief time to fulfill his hatred for God.
So what does he do in his brief time? VV 13-17. He cannot hurt the Christ, so he chases the woman who had fled to the wilderness. He cannot hurt Christ, so He goes after Christ's church. He does so by persecuting them. He does so by deceiving them with false doctrine. And he does as Balaam in the OT Testament did, he infiltrates the churches with false believers, who then tempt true believers to compromise their faith.
Even so God protects His bride by His divine presence. Even more than the cloud in the wilderness, God's Spirit indwells us as our protector. The woman who is given wings of eagles to flee the serpent pictures this. The eagle's wings reminds us of Deut. where God tells Israel that He carried them through the wilderness on eagle's wings.
So here is the picture of the church age. The dragon continues attempting to devour true believers. This is depicted in v. 15 as a flood coming from the mouth of the dragon.
But before the flood reaches the woman the ground swallows up the water to save her. In Ex 15 it says the ground opened up and swallowed up Egypt when they tried to enslave God's people. And when false believers inside the church attacked Moses, the ground opened up again swallowing them up.
So God protects His people from deception, compromise, and persecution, in the sense that none of these draw them permanently away from Him. This divine protection makes the dragon furious, so it says in v. 17 that the dragon makes war with the rest of her offspring. Do not separate the woman and her offspring - they both symbolize the true church, but the true church has converts, and faithful children ride up from her. Satan goes after them also.
Who does he go after? V. 17. Here is the definition of a true believer; those who obey the Lord and hold to the testimony of Jesus. True believers have a new heart. God has placed a heart there that seeks to obey him. All believers deep down want to do what is right, even when they temporarily fall. And they hold to the testimony of the gospel no matter the cost.
So here you have in bold, dynamic pictures the history of redemption from the OT to the birth of Christ through the church age. Christ's victory from His resurrection in vv. 7-12 is the theme that explains the opening and closing pictures. All that Satan does is in response to that victory. And ironically, all of our devotion to God arises out of response to that victory also.
Let me remind you once again of the purpose of all this. The Lord wants you to see the conflict behind the conflict. When Satan brings his attacks through trials, temptations, or discouragement, you are to remember these images and see the bigger picture.
Think again of the early church. Not only were they dealing with widespread persecution, but many false teachers and brethren had infiltrated the churches and were tempting them to compromise. "God doesn't mind that pinch of incense to the Roman emperor. They will think it is worship, but you know better. Think of how many trials it will save you."
Now besides these trials was the rampant immorality all around them. Think of the young ladies in the church. They were expected to remain pure while everything around them told them that fornication was acceptable. Like today, men would say to them that if they really loved them they would do this. So these Christian ladies were attempting to remain faithful through difficulty and discouragement.
You see when temptation comes by an individual outside or even inside the church, the Lord wants us to see the conflict behind the conflict. Who really is behind this? We are to remember Satan, pictured as a mighty dragon, passionately hating Christ; so angry that he comes after Christ's bride. When we give in to temptation we are not just giving in to a person, but to the devil.
And as we stand for Christ and persevere, we are actually participating in Christ's victory. Christ shows off to the powers of evil that we have been won for Him. There are heavenly ramifications to our daily lives.
This is to motivate us to endure and stay devoted to our Savior. We are to remember this is the wilderness time, but God is present with his people. He provides daily nourishment from heaven, so we daily come to him praying for our daily spiritual bread. This picture of the woman being nourished and protected draws us to love our Savior even more and dispels the fear during the rougher trials.
Finally, when we fall and hear that accusatory voice telling us to give up because we are not as spiritual as we think others are, we are to remember that we do not earn the victory. Christ earned it. We simply participate in His accomplishment. When we are confronted with the fact that we are not worthy, we agree, but Christ is worthy, so we do not fall away. We repent and trust In Christ alone.
I grieve over how bad uses of Revelation have robbed the sheep of such wonderful comfort. If we turn Revelation into a secret future code book, only decoded by the newspapers, we rob the church of the richness of these passages. These pictures are means of grace for all God's people. Be comforted by this vision of the glorious woman that is the true church. That is who we are from heaven's perspective. Rejoice in the Child that has secured for us the victory over the dragon through His own death and resurrection.
May this beautiful passage be to you a true means of grace to draw you further in the love of your Savior. May it motivate you to resist temptation, and cause you to walk as the glorious bride of Christ, even as your Bridegroom prepares to bring you to Himself. Amen.