The woman and the dragon (12:1)
This is the first of a number of visions which form an interlude between the seven trumpets and the seven bowls. They reveal more details of the struggle between good and evil in heaven and the consequent effects on God's people on earth. The devil is here revealed as the ancient enemy of God's people followed by his two henchmen who do his bidding on earth, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth. John sees a number of signs in heaven; the first sign is a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head, she represents the old testament church. She was about to give birth to a male child, the Christ. Then another sign appeared in heaven, an enormous red dragon who is the devil. He tried to kill Christ as he was born, but Jesus ascended to heaven and to God and his throne. The church was then taken care of by God during the gospel age. Eph 6:12 tells us 'that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms' therefore it is appropriate that before our earthly enemies are introduced, namely the beast out of the sea, the beast out of the earth and the whore, that Satan should be introduced and described. v1 - A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head - This sign in heaven announces a new section. This should be connected to the opening of God's temple in heaven in the previous verse, Rev 11:19. The 'woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head' is a clear reference to Joseph's dream (Gen 37:9) and therefore the woman represents the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph's dream depicts the sun and moon and eleven stars bowing down to him, this is realised when he became the second to Pharaoh and his brothers bowed down to him (Gen 43:26-29). The woman is the elect and in particular here she is the OT elect, who gives birth to the Christ (v5) and later she gives birth to the NT elect (v17). John sees a continuum between the OT and NT elect (see 21:12-14). Wilson says 'In scripture no sharp dividing line is drawn between the true Israel and the new Israel, because the people of the promise are one people, whether they lived before or after the coming of Christ'. But here she represents the OT elect, one of the few references in Revelation to the OT elect alone. Compare the heavenly glory of this woman, who represents the elect (the Bride Eph 5:22), with the earthly glitter of the whore who represents the world, Rev 17:4. This woman stands in contrast to the whore and also to the Queen of heaven. Johnson points out that others see a more conscious parallelism between the story and the activities of the emperor Domitian around 83 AD. After the death of his ten-year-old son, Domitian immediately proclaimed the boy a god and his mother, the mother of god. Some coins of this period show the mother Domitia as the mother of the gods standing with the sceptre and diadem of the queen of heaven. Another coin shows the mother with the child before her. In his left hand is the sceptre of world dominions, and with his right hand he is blessing the world. Still another coin shows the dead child sitting on the globe of heaven, playing with seven stars, which represent the seven planets, symbolic of his heavenly dominion over the world. On a fourth coin he represents the imperial Zeus child, who has been exalted to be Lord of the stars and who will usher in the age of universal salvation. Such parallel imagery is hardly accidental. But whereas the coinage of Domitian glorifies the son of Domitia as the lord of heaven and saviour of the world, Rev 12 presents Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, as the One who will rule all nations with a rod of iron (v 5). John, as it were, demythologizes the Domitian myth by presenting Christ as the true and ascended Lord of heaven, the coming Ruler and Saviour of the world. Johnson also points out that the woman's dazzling appearance like the sun relates her to the glory and brilliance of the Lord (1:16) as well as to her own light-bearing quality (1:20). With the moon under her feet signifying her permanence (Ps 72:5, 89:37, cf. Mat 16:18) and a crown of twelve stars on her head indicating her elect identity, she appears in her true heavenly and glorious character despite her seemingly fragile earthly history (v. 13-16). See also the description of the glory of the new Jerusalem 21:11 ff. v2 - She was pregnant and cried out as she was about to give birth - She cried out with her birth pangs, (cf. Isa 26:17, 66:7-8, Micah 4:10) these probably represent the various attempts to kill the child, who is Christ, before she gave birth. See Gen 3:15, in which there is enmity between humankind and the serpent, and there is a promised offspring who will crush the serpent's head. In verse 4 the Dragon personally acts as the midwife to destroy the child at birth. Satan then tries to destroy the promised seed, various events are recorded in the OT in which there are attempts to destroy the line from which the Christ will be born.
v3 - Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. - Another 'sign' appeared in heaven, just as he saw the 'sign' of the woman, now he sees the sign of the dragon, this emphasises the symbolic nature of what he saw. This is the first appearance of the red dragon, who is the serpent from Gen 3:1. This is the introduction to one of the two external enemies of the Church, Satan and the World, the internal enemy is the flesh, but that is not what this book is about. He is red because of the blood he has shed, for he was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). The dragon is clearly identified three times in verse 9; as 'that ancient serpent, called the devil, or Satan'. The ten horns indicate strength and seven crowns signify his authority, the crowns are royal crowns (diadema) as opposed to the victory crowns (stephanos) that the woman wears. The royal crowns are only worn by the dragon here and by the beast in 13:1 and Christ in 19:12. His seven heads (seven meaning completeness) probably indicates his intelligence, or it could indicate his various forms, compare with the seven heads of the beast, 13:1. Compare him also with the Lamb, 5:6, who had seven horns but only one head. Note; Pharaoh was called a dragon, Ezek 29:3. v4 - His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth - 'His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky', probably indicates the fallen angels, that is, the demons. When Satan was thrown out of heaven he took his demons with him, Rev 12:7, Dan 8:10. v4 - The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born - This refers to king Herod who tried to kill Jesus when he was born, Mat 2:16, Herod is a type of the antichrist. This recalls a similar incident when Pharaoh tries to destroy all the male offspring (Exo 1:15-16). Satan is trying to prevent the birth of the one who will crush his head (Gen 3:15). The high priests tried to kill the Christ while he was alive but could only do so when his time came, this parallels the two witnesses who are inviolate until they have finished their testimony. v5 - She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre. - However the Dragon did not succeed in destroying the male child. In case we have any doubt who the child is, he is a male child, 'who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre', which is a reference from the messianic psalm 2:9, the male child is Jesus. This messianic psalm is used also in Rev 2:27 and Rev 19:15 where Jesus is also clearly the subject. The word 'rule' actually means shepherd but in the context of 19:15 this passage means that he will strike down the nations when he returns. Mounce gives the following explanation: 'To rule with a rod of iron means to destroy rather than to govern in a stern fashion. The shepherd not only leads his flock to pasture but defends the sheep from marauding beasts. His rod is a weapon of retaliation. The Messiah's rod is a rod of iron; that is, it is strong and unyielding in its mission of judgement.' v5 - And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. - This indicates the ascension of our Lord, Mark 16:19. The throne of Jesus also appears in 3:21, 5:6, 7:17 and 22:3 among other places, see also Heb 8:1, 12:2. Notice the parallelism with the two witnesses who after three and a half days go up to heaven. This verse also encapsulates the resurrection through which Satan is defeated. v6 - The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. - The NASB uses the word 'nourished' rather than 'taken care of' which is a more accurate translation and reminds us of the manna and the miraculous food of Elijah. The corresponding verse for the NT church is in Rev 12:14, when she flies to a place in the desert where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, this period is synchronous with the 1,260 days (see 11:2 for discussion of this time period). The woman, that is the elect, fled to the desert, which here represents a place of safety and nourishment, consider the flight of the Israelites from Egypt and the Pharaoh, Deu 32:10, where she was nourished by God for forty years on the manna (the bread of angels, Psa 78:25), the supernatural water from the rock and their clothes did not wear out, Neh 9:20-21. Consider also Elijah's flight to the desert where for three and a half years he was nourished by ravens and the widow's flour and oil, which miraculously did not run out (1 Kings 17:1-14), and by angels on another occasion (1 Kings 19:1-8). Note that when he was nourished by the Ravens and the widow it was during the drought that lasted three and a half years (Jam 5:17), hence we get 1,260 days (3.5 years * 12 months * 30 days). We should also note that while Elijah was nourished by God the rest of the population suffered drought and affliction. The drought was brought about by the nation's descent into idolatry. There is also the picture of Mary and Joseph with Jesus going to Egypt to escape from Herod. The 1260 days is the period between the ascension (see v3) and the second coming during which it is also the time of the churches' witnesses to the world (see Rev 11:3, the two witnesses who prophecy for 1260 days). It is also the time that the church is persecuted by the beast (13:5-7), but here it emphasises her (supernatural) care and providence by God, this is emphasised by the fact that God has prepared a place for her, the desert is her natural home in this life. The church does not have a permanent resting place such as a city while she is on the earth, her home is the New Jerusalem, Heb 11:13-16. The important question is what is the difference between the woman fleeing into the desert here and that depicted in 12:14, see comments on 12:14. Is it describing the same event or two different events? The second question is whether this event signifies God's supernatural preservation of the Jewish people rather than the church? |
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