We find:
1) A “great wonder” in verse 1;
2) A “great dragon”, in verse 3;
3) A “great wrath” in verse 12,
4) A “great eagle” in verse 14.
But that is not all we find. We also find a great help because we will find a great spiritual insight that will help us know more about our great enemy.
In Revelation 12:1-2 “A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. She had a crown of 12 stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony to give birth.”
Who is this woman? The Bible tells us this took place “In Heaven”, not on the earth.
(1)Some people believe it is the Virgin Mary.
This is exactly what the Roman Catholic teach.
I cannot agree because I don’t think Mary would be having birth pains or giving birth in the heavenly realms.
(2) Other people believe it is the church, getting ready to give “birth” to Jesus Christ.
Again, I would have to disagree because the church would not be giving birth, or bringing life to Jesus Christ.
It was Jesus who gave birth to the church, not the other way around.
(3) Along with many Bible scholars I personally believe this woman represents Israel. This becomes clearer the further we get into this chapter.
Revelation 12:3 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.
In the Bible, Satan is always referred to as a dragon. Since the beginning of time, the thought or mention of a dragon has produced absolute fear in man’s heart.
Some jump on the words “Red Dragon” to represent Russia. But most likely the red represents the blood this dragon will cause on the earth.
This reference to Satan as a dragon is repeated throughout this book of Revelation.
In verse 3, the seven heads refer to the one world government, which is ruled by Rome.
It has biblically been referred to as the “City of 7 Hills.” As the 7 heads, or Rome, refers to a specific location, the 10 horns refer to the 10 different areas, or divisions, that are put in place around the world that will serve Rome.
Remember in Daniel chapter two Daniel sees this poly-metallic image of Nebuchadnezza’s dream of a tall man statue.
1) The head was gold…Babylonian empire
2) Silver…Medo-Persian Empire
3) Brass…Grecian empire
4) Iron 2 legs…Roman empire
5) 10 toes of iron and clay…ten kinds of a divided kingdom
Note: Notice, the ten toes consist of iron and clay which represent the anti-christ will be able to hold together a coalition for a little while. But after a period of time it all come to pieces.
The first three and a half years of tribulation will be when the anti chirst will gain great favor. In fact, in Rev. 13 the Bible tells us all the world will wonder after him.
Psalms 83:2-8 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate (united) against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
The diadems, or crowns, refer to the heads of states in these 10 areas. They will serve Rome and the Antichrist.
Revelation 12:4 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.
When this verse refers to “stars”, it is referring to the biblical reference of the fallen angels.
Lucifer was the chief of all created beings when he was in heaven. When he launched his rebellion against God, he was cast out of heaven along with a third of all the angels. These angels were the ones who had aligned themselves with Lucifer to come against God. They were all thrown out of heaven and hurled to the earth.
Notice, the word “cast” or (Some translations use the word “hurled”) both implies a great force was used to toss them away from God. It was not a “soft” pitch, but a very forceful throwing, such as one would see when done in great anger!
The dragon, as said earlier, is a reference to Satan. This verse says the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth.
Why would this be written this way by John?
Throughout the bible, Satan’s chief objective is to annihilate and destroy Israel.
• Whether it was through Cain killing Able,
• Hitler killing the Jews,
• Today’s Islamic nations denying Israel’s right to even exist,
We see that Satan has always tried to keep Israel from existing.
The dragon(Satan) is so determined to devour the child the woman will give birth so that the child cannot accomplish his purpose.
Without a doubt, Israel is the woman, who will give birth to Jesus Christ, the child.
If the child (Jesus) is done away with, he could not fulfill the prophecies of returning and ruling over Jerusalem?
So, all in all, Satan’s chief objective is to keep Jesus from being born. That is why it says in “Revelation 12:4 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.
But after the birth of Christ…
Look at Revelation 12:5 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.
When will the Lord ruled with a rod of iron?
During the Millenlium the Lord will rule with a rod of Iron. Look at Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
During this time of the great tribulation what will Israel be doing?
Revelation 12:6 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.
Let me say now that there is a difference between the “Tribulation” and the “Great Tribulation.”
The Tribulation begins the moment the church is raptured away from earth.
We believe the Rapture will occur just before the Tribulation begins. That is when Jesus Christ comes back, and remaining in the air, He will call all believers up to Him, and then He will take us to heaven with Him.
Right after that, the Tribulation will begin. It will last for 7 years, and will be divided into 2 parts, each part being 3 ½ years.
The first 3½ years of the Tribulation will be a time that a false peace will appear and people will, by and large, think all the bad times are over. But the Antichrist will use that time to grow in influence and power.
Halfway through this 7-year period, he will go into the Temple and declare himself to be God and demand that everyone in the world worship him or die. That is the beginning of the “Great Tribulation.”
This will be the worst time in the history of the world, and Jesus commented on it by saying that if God did not end it, none would survive. God tells the Israelites to “flee” and hide for 1260 days (3½ years.)
When the Antichrist slithers into the Temple, as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:15, the Great Tribulation will begin. At that time, Israel will be severely persecuted. In that verse, Jesus gives Israel a dire warning!
Matthew 24:15-22 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
He is also saying that when the Antichrist steps into the Temple as if it were his own, the people of Israel must flee to the mountains. This is when the great tribulation period will start.
It is always reassuring to know that God has always had it all figured out and He has always been in control. We see how He has already made plans to protect His people, Israel, from the Antichrist.
And we must remember that, as He watches out and protects Israel, He also watches out and protects us Gentiles who are adopted into His family by the blood of Jesus.
Revelation 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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.
Halfway through the last 7-year period, Satan and his demonic angels come up against God another time and they cannot win this time, either.
After they were defeated, God said there was no place for them in heaven any more. So He cast them down to the earth.
You are probably thinking that Satan has already been cast out of heaven before this.
You are right, but as we see, he still had access to heaven, where he would stand and continually accuse believers of their sins, trying to persuade God not give them any rewards.
Job 1:6-7 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
The Bible tells us in the book of Peter that satan is going to and fro every day looking for prospects.
Revelation 12:10 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.
This verse begins by telling us Satan an “accuser” of the brethren.
We just have to keep in mind that once we have been forgiven, those sins simply disappear so there is nothing left for Satan to accuse us of. But that does not stop him from trying!!!
Let me tell you right now what the difference is between Satan accusing you of your sins, and a Christian telling you of your sins.
• Satan accuses
• The Christian convince.
Let me explain. When you are accused of your sin, it is done in a manner of hatred and disgust. It offers you no way to overcome what you are being accused of, except pure punishment. This is about keeping you tied down to the sin in your life, never being able to get past them.
When you are convicted of your sin, it is done with a heart of love.
• One hinders and one helps.
• One pushes you further away from God and one brings you closer to God.
• One urges you to go further and one demands you stop and stay where you are, never moving forward.
• One tells you that you just don’t measure up, and one tells you that with God, you measure up just fine!
Revelation 12:11-12 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. 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.
But as much as heaven can now rejoice, earth cannot, for Satan is now on the surface of the earth, looking for new ways to devour new people.
We must remember that, as Satan was overcome in heaven, we have the same tools here on earth to overcome him, too.
Those tools are the blood of Jesus and the power of God’s spoken Word.
Revelation 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Unable to continue persecuting believers in heaven, Satan now concentrates all of his hatred into persecuting God’s people, the Jews, hoping this will keep Jesus from fulfilling the prophecy of His coming reign.
Revelation 12:14 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.
What are these two wings?
Some have said it is the symbol of America and our military power which would help the Jews during this time. After all, America has been the only nation who consistently stood behind Israel since they came back into their land in 1948. However, I don’t think America is actually mentioned in the bible.
But God made a promise to Israel, that is, HE WOULD BLESS THEM THAT BLESS THEM AND CURSE THEM THAT CURSE THEE.
One of the reason God has bless this great country in which we live is because we have blessed Israel.
All we know for sure is that God will keep His promise and prophecies. He will protect His children. And as far as the two winds …. we do not know what they actually are.
We do know that whatever the wings are, they will make sure Israel gets away from the persecution of Satan and into a place of relative safety.
They will be taken care of here for “a time, times, and a half time.” This is an expression that is also found in Deuteronomy 7:15, and it means a period of time that is 3½ in length.
Revelation 12:15-16 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. 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.
Flood here represents the anti-christ who will cover the earth trying to wipe out Israel.
Revelation 12:17 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.
Again, we see that Satan unleashes his hatred toward God’s people and actually wages war against them.
Will he win? No, he will be defeated again.
Conclusion:
Let me give you a summary of Revelation chapter twelve.
• Satan (the dragon) comes against the woman (Israel) so he can stop the child she is about to give birth to (Jesus.)
• The dragon is so enraged; he comes against Michael and the other angels and is defeated and cast out of heaven.
• After he has been cast down to the earth, he then takes his great hatred out against Israel, trying to destroy the Jews. But he does not win against them.
As we read through and discuss the book of Revelation, we must understand that this is not a book of gloom and despair; destruction and hate. It is a book of hope that was given to people who had to put up with more problems that we have to put up with, and the message to them was, “keep the faith and persevere, for you will become victorious and you will spend eternity with the One you worship.
And if it was a message of hope for them, it can surely be a message of hope for us today, too.
