Revelation 12: 1-17
(1) A great sign appeared in Heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
(2) And she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
This is a sign, so it is not an individual person. This woman must be the nation Israel, who is called God's wife, for example, in Ezekiel 16: 32. Israel produced the Messiah, through the tribe of Judah. Israel was in great pain under the Roman dominance at the time of the birth of Jesus. This shows that everything is done in Heaven as it happens on the Earth.
(3) Then another sign appeared in Heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.
This is another sign. This describes our enemy, as having great authority and power and standing and rank.
(4) And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the Earth.
When Lucifer abandoned his duties of protecting God's holiness and directing all worship to God, instead receiving the worship to himself, he had such beauty and brightness and authority and standing that a third of the other angels were deceived into giving him their worship, and they also fell from their positions of honor with God.
And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
This enemy was directing Herod the Great who was king over Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' birth, and the Wise Men from the East came to inquire. That is why he tried to eliminate Him by killing all the male infants in the Bethlehem district to get rid of Him.
(5) And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
This is obviously talking about Jesus, our Lord, and our King who is coming again, to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and He was Risen and is now in Heaven sitting in His Father's throne with Him.
(6) Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The wilderness heralds back to the Exodus when Israel fled Egypt and was given manna in the wilderness for forty years. This time, it will be for three and a half years: the second half of the 7 years, the Great Tribulation.
(7) And there was war in Heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,
(8) and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in Heaven.
The war is always a spiritual reality before we experience its working out on the Earth and in the world. But God's forces are stronger than the evil forces of the dragon. Michael, Israel's protector, has at least twice as many warriors than the dragon can muster. Our God is Almighty God.
(9) And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world; he was thrown down to the Earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Defeated, he is thrown out! This battle was probably fought as Jesus was suffering on the cross. Satan probably thought he had finally won, but Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave victorious!
(10) Then 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 brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
This song is sung by the martyred saints (our brethren), who are rejoicing in Christ's victory, because this Satan, accuser, will have no more permission to come before our Judge with accusations of us who still are on the Earth. All the wrath of God that we deserve has already been poured out on our Savior, who fought our battle on His altar of sacrifice, and His blood washes us clean, pristine, without fault before our God.
(11) "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
And we as His saints still overcome him by the blood of the Lamb which has made us pure for God to place His Holy Spirit into our spirit, being born spiritually into God's family right now as we live and testify, telling others that God has done all of this for us, even when faced with death.
(12) For this reason, rejoice O Heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the Earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."
Those in Heaven no longer have to listen to this accuser's accusations. But we on Earth will now be subject to this powerful enemy's wrath, which will now be directed toward us.
God has chosen Mankind to be His own children, a position above angels, and we take Lucifer's place as directing worship to Him.
God has also given us a second chance, that Lucifer never got, because he was created to live forever, not subject to death. Mankind was only made subject to death after his creation, because he chose to rebel, so that a Redeemer could die in his place to save him.
Lucifer has probably complained that this isn't fair! He has to bear his sin and suffer for all eternity! There's no second chance for him!
(13) And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the Earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
Israel has, through the passage of time, been hated, chased, persecuted, thrown into gulags and concentration camps, been accused of causing all the ills of the world, and been subject to attempts of genocide.
(14) But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman,
This hearkens back to Exodus 19: 4, where God is talking to Moses, to tell the nation of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself.
so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
This repeats verse 6, that will take place during the Great Tribulation, the last three and a half years of the seven. It looks like God will "hide" the nation Israel from the antichrist to preserve them for the coming of their Messiah.
(15) And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
(16) But the Earth helped the woman, and the Earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
This reminds me of when Hitler tried to wipe out the Jews, and after the war the world was horrified at the pictures from the camps; and the world's attitude toward them changed, allowing them to come back to their Promised Land and be again a Nation Israel among the nations of the world.
(17) So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
If the world will protect the Nation Israel, then the target will be with the rest of her children, who are all those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. This is the Church. This is all those, both Jew and Gentile, who have acknowledged Christ Jesus as Messiah and Savior. We are both, Jews and Christians, "people of the Book."
Paul wrote that, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants (Romans 9: 8). It is all of us, no matter where we live or what our genealogy would show, if we accept His promise, we are also counted as children of Israel and children of God.
This chapter has given us more insight into the spiritual side of our history, of how all the major political events have been in response to the Heavenly battles that are being fought on our behalf.
O my Father, thank You for telling John to write this mysterious book, that looks like a nightmare. But it is Your warning, because You want us to not be caught unawares when all these things come to pass.
O Father, grant that we may understand what You are telling us. Help us to see Your Truth in what John and the other prophets wrote, so that we will be able to discern Your timeline in all of this, and to realize where we are in it when we find ourselves in the midst of these shocking developments in the natural and political world we live in.
My Father, help Your children to realize how little time we have left, before all this hits the fan, to go out into all the world to share with every living being how much You love us, and want everyone to come to realize the gracious and generous gift You are offering each one of us. Let every person understand well enough to be able to make a fully informed decision to accept or reject Your undeserved offer.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come very soon, Lord Jesus!
