The Dragon’s War And The Saints’ Victory

Revelation 12 paints a picture of cosmic war. We see the glory of the ascended Christ, the defeat of Satan, and the protection of God’s people. Yet in the midst of this vision comes a sobering truth: the Dragon, enraged, turns his wrath upon the Church.

This is not merely an ancient vision; it is the ongoing reality of Christian history. Behind the empires of Rome, behind the persecutions of tyrants, behind the schemes of heresy and false teaching, there is always the Dragon making war with the saints.

But take heart—Revelation is not given to frighten the Church, but to strengthen her. This text shows us three realities: the half-time of evil, the fullness of God’s preservation, and the endurance of the saints.

Point 1 – The Half-Time of Evil (v. 14)

John says that the woman—who represents the Church—is nourished in the wilderness for “a time, and times, and half a time.”

What does this mean? The phrase comes from Daniel, and it is echoed throughout Revelation in different forms: forty-two months, 1,260 days, three and a half years. All of these point to the same reality: a limited, broken period of suffering.

Why three and a half? Because it is half of seven. Seven, in Scripture, is the number of completeness and perfection. Three and a half, then, is a number cut short, incomplete, unfinished. It symbolizes that the time of evil is not whole, not final, not eternal. Augustine was right to say that this number is not meant for calendars and calculations. It is a symbol. It shows us that the Dragon may rage, but his days are numbered.

This is a word of immense comfort. Evil is fierce, but it is fleeting. It can wound, but not reign. It can persecute, but not prevail. The Church’s wilderness experience—the trials, the persecutions, the dark nights of history—is all encompassed in this symbol. A time, times, and half a time. It has a beginning and it has an end. Satan’s fury is not limitless. It is bound, cut short, measured by God’s hand.

When we look at the world and see violence, hatred, and persecution, we may be tempted to despair. But Revelation tells us: remember the number. Three and a half is not seven. The time of evil is half-done before it begins. Satan’s rage is already the rage of a defeated enemy.

Point 2 – The Fullness of God’s Preservation (vv. 14–16)

But the vision does not end with tribulation—it shows us preservation. The woman is given “two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished.”

This is the language of Exodus. God says to Israel in Exodus 19:4: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” John is drawing directly from that imagery. The Church, like Israel, is carried into the wilderness—not abandoned, but protected, sustained, nourished.

The wilderness in Scripture is always double-edged. It is a place of testing, but also a place of provision. Israel was tested in the desert, yet God fed them with manna, gave them water from the rock, and shaded them with His presence. Elijah fled into the wilderness and was fed by the ravens. John the Baptist prepared the way in the wilderness. Jesus Himself, led into the wilderness, overcame the tempter.

So too the Church in this age dwells in the wilderness. We are not yet in the promised land of glory. We are pilgrims, sojourners, pressed on every side. And yet in this very wilderness God nourishes us. The “two wings of the eagle” are the Word and Sacraments, the preaching of the gospel and the breaking of bread. With these He sustains us until the day of victory.

But Satan does not give up easily. John sees the serpent spewing out water like a flood, seeking to sweep the woman away. This flood is the flood of lies, of false teaching, of worldly pressure, of violent persecution. It is the attempt to overwhelm the Church and drown her in despair.

Yet, the text says, “the earth helped the woman.” Creation itself, ordered by God’s providence, swallows up the flood. Just as the Red Sea swallowed Pharaoh’s army, so God uses even the natural order to restrain Satan’s fury. History itself bends to the will of God to preserve His Church.

This is our confidence: the wilderness is real, but it is not death. The flood is fierce, but it cannot destroy. The saints are sustained because God Himself has promised it.

Point 3 – The Endurance of the Saints (v. 17)

And so, when the Dragon cannot destroy the woman, he turns his rage upon her offspring—“those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”