The Woman
Rev. 12:1: And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
In Rev. chapters 12, 13, & 14, the prominent figures of the Great Tribulation are described; this is the first of seven.
The woman represents Israel.
The dragon represents Satan.
The man-child represents Jesus.
The angel Michael, head of the angelic host.
The woman’s offspring represents Gentiles who come to faith during the tribulation.
The beast out of the sea represents the antichrist.
The beast out of the earth represents the false prophet who promotes the antichrist.
A woman clothed with the sun: John said this is a sign. We should not expect this woman to appear on the earth. However, God will use this sign to communicate with us. She has been connected with many different religious ideas, but scripturally she should be identified with Israel, according to Joseph’s dream in Gen. 37:9-11.
In Joseph’s dream, the sun represents Jacob, the moon represents his mother Rachel, and the eleven stars represent Israel’s sons, which bowed down to Joseph. In this sign with the twelve stars, Joseph is now among the other tribes of Israel.
Isaiah 54:1-6; Jeremiah 3:20; Ezekiel 16:8-14; and Hosea 2:19-20 are other Old Testament passages where a woman represents Israel (Zion or Jerusalem).
Women often represent religious systems in Rev.
Rev. 2:20; Jezebel is associated with a religious system promoting false teaching.
Rev. 17:2; The Great Harlot is associated with false religion.
Rev. 19:7-8; The bride is associated with the church.
The Woman Gives Birth
Rev. 12:2; Then, being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
In Rev. 12:5, it becomes clear that this Child born of Israel is Jesus. The pain connected with the labor refers to Israels’ agony at the time of Jesus’ birth under Roman occupation and oppression.
The Dragon
Rev. 12:3; And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
Again, this is not a literal dragon but a representation of Satan’s character and nature. It is a picture of the fullness of evil in all of its offensive strength.
The dragon has extreme power (seven heads, ten horns) and claims royal authority (seven diadems). However, they are only but claims of royal authority against the true King.
From the similar description given in 13:1 and the parallel references in Daniel 7:7-8, it is clear that the revived Roman Empire is in view… The seven heads and ten horns refer to the original ten kingdoms of which three were subdued by the little horn of Daniel 7:7-8, 2, who is to be identified with the world ruler of the great tribulation who reigns over the revived Roman Empire.
Walvoord
Rev. 12:4; His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
A third of the stars of heaven: Satan’s army (Rev. 12:9).
To devour her Child as soon as it was born was fulfilled by Herod’s attempts to kill Jesus as a child (Matthew 2:16-18).
A Male Child
Rev. 12:5: She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Clearly, this refers to Jesus (Psalm 2:9 & Rev. 19:15).
By stating the starting point (she bore a male Child) and ending point (rule all nations with a rod of iron), John alluded to all that stood between the two points.
The male child is Jesus, so this means the woman of Rev. 12:1 cannot be the church because Jesus “gives birth” to the church, not the other way around. The rest of Rev. 12 will make it clear the woman is Israel.
The Woman
Rev. 12:6: Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The woman (Israel), persecuted by the dragon (Satan), flees to the wilderness to a place of protection, prepared by God, for one thousand two hundred and sixty days (3 1/2 years). This 3 1/2 year period connects these events with the final seven years of the Daniel 9 prophecy. Rev. 12:5 describes the ascension of Jesus, and Rev. 12:6 describes events yet to come in the 70th week of Daniel. So between these two verses lies hundreds of years (our current time). There is a break in time here, which is typical of prophecy. Daniel’s seventy-week prophecy has such a break in Daniel 9:24-27.
A place prepared by God: Prepared is the same Greek word Jesus used in John 14:2-3: In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. God’s plans work on earth just as they do in heaven.
The War In Heaven
Rev. 12:7-8: And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
This war in heaven will occur at the mid-point of the tribulation, as described by Daniel 12:1. God will prevail and stop Satan forever, first in heaven, then on earth. Satan will no longer have access to heaven at this battle’s end.
Who will fight? Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; the dragon and his angels fought. It will be a battle between equals. Satan is not the counterpart of God (who has no equal) but of Michael. It will be a war between Michael and his faithful servants and Satan and his fallen angels.
How will the battle be fought? The Bible does not say, but we know it will be a real war. Will it be a materiel battle or spiritual? Our struggle with Satan is spiritual. We fight him on the battleground of truth and deception, fear and faith (Ephesians 6:12). However, regarding this battle fought between angels, we can only imagine.
Nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer: Does it trouble you that Satan has access to heaven? Rev. 12:8 tells us that until this point in time (the mid-point of Daniel’s 70th week), Satan has access to God and stands before His Throne, accusing us both day and night.
Accusing us both night and day: Think about what that means. When Satan accuses you before God, what is he saying? What does he have against you? I know some of Satan’s accusations against me; it’s the same things he whispers in my ear, lies that cause me to doubt, fear, and question my faith. But then I remember some things I know about the God I worship.
One: The Blood of the Lamb overcame my accuser on the cross. So from today until Satan is cast out forever, I have Jesus as my intercessor and advocate (Heb. 7:25; 1John 2:1).
Two: Satan’s accusations mean nothing against me because Jesus has already paid the penalty for my sins. I could even be worse than Satan’s accusations, but I am still made righteous by His blood on the cross, Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:14.
But to only use the blood of Jesus in that way is selfish. We should be like “these saints used the doctrine of atonement not as a pillow to rest their weariness but as a weapon to subdue their sin.”
Spurgeon
Three: Satan and his demons will be cast out of heaven permanently.
You can read other verses of Satan’s access to God: Job 1:12; 1Kings 22:21; Zech. 3:1.
From Glorified To Profane
Rev. 12:9: The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was thrown to the earth and his angels with him.
The Bible describes four different falls of Satan. Rev. 12:9 describes the second of them when he will lose all access to God and be restricted to the earth. Ezekiel 28:14-16 represents Satan’s first dissent from glorified and unique to profane. Then, in Rev. 20, he will go from earth to bondage in the bottomless pit for one thousand years. Then also, in Rev. 20, he will go from the pit to the lake of fire.
In Luke 10:18, Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This declaration could be about Satan’s first fall (Ez.28:14-16), or it’s a prophetic look ahead to the second fall at the mid-point of the tribulation period (Rev. 12:9). Not only will Satan be cast out, but his angels as well. These angels are also the same as “the third of the stars of heaven” described in Rev. 12:4. Satan will only be taking one-third of the angels with him, which means the faithful angels outnumber the fallen two to one.
Glorious Declaration
Rev. 12: 10-12: Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heaven, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Then I heard a loud voice: Whoever this voice belongs to, we can’t know, for it’s not been revealed to us in scripture. However, we do know it’s not God or an angel because it goes on to say, “for the accuser of our brethren.” So the voice belongs to a representative of redeemed humanity.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb: It is not the literal blood of Jesus being applied physically onto our bodies that saves us. Instead, the blood speaks to us of the actual, physical death and the blood Jesus bled out on the cross in our place, on our behalf, before God. That literal death and the literal judgment He bore on our behalf is what saves us. Jesus is called the Lamb because it emphasizes the substitutionary work of His death; the Passover Lamb died as a substitute for others (Exodus 12).
The precious blood of Jesus is not meant for us merely to admire and exhibit. We mst not be content to talk about it, and extol it, and do nothing with it; but we are to use it in the great crusde against unholiness and unrighteousness, till it is said of us, ‘They ovrcame him by the blood of the Lamb.’ This precious blood is to be used for overcoming, and consequently for holy warfare. We dishonor it if we do not use it to that end…The dog of hell knows the dread name which makes him lie down: we must confront him with the authority, and specially with the atonement of the Lamb of God.
Spurgeon
They overcame him by the word of their testimony: The word of our testimony overcomes Satan’s deceptions. Knowing and remembering the work of God in our lives protects us from Satan’s trickery. As faithful witnesses, we have a testimony to tell of what we have seen, heard, and experienced from God. When we remember what God has done for us in our lives, we can’t be deceived by Satan’s lies when he tells us it isn’t true.
They loved not their lives to the death: If we do not cling to our earthy lives, Satan can bring no real threat against us. If we believe, “Phil. 1:21- For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” then how can Satan’s violence against us be effective? Will our physical lives be the most precious thing to us, or will we find our life by losing it for Jesus? (Mark 8:35)
Rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them…Woe to the earth and the sea inhabitants: All of heaven will rejoice when Satan loses access to heaven, but all the world will be sorry. Because Satan knows his time is short: At his eviction, Satan will know his time is short, and he will use what time and power he has left to terrify the inhabitants of the earth. Perhaps he deceives even himself into believing he stands a chance in his rebellion against God. It seems ludicrous that he could think he does, but our rebellion against God makes even less sense.
War on Earth
Rev. 12:13-17: Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The “woman” is Israel. Satan attacks Jewish people, particularly Messianic Jews when cast to earth. From the time of Abraham, Israel has held a critical role in God’s plan of redemption. Satan has been attacking Israel throughout all its history. If he succeeds in destroying Jewish people, then God’s eternal plan is in some way thwarted. But Jesus said Jewish people would exist until His return, and they will welcome Him and call Him blessed (Matt. 23:39).
Two wings of a great eagle: Eagle’s wings are an emblem from the Exodus deliverance (Ex.19:4), another way to connect the “woman” with Israel.
…nourished for a time and times and half a time: This is another reference to a three and one-half year period, indicating that these events – persecution of Israel – take place during the 70th week of Dan. 9.
…spewed water out of his mouth after the woman: Jesus spoke, in distinct Jewish terms, of the fury poured out against Israel after the abomination of desolation in Matt. 24:15-22. The abomination of desolation speaks of the ultimate desecration of a Jewish temple, the establishment of an idolatrous image in the holy place itself, which will result in the judgment of God. In Judaism terms of that time, an abomination was an incredibly offensive form of idolatry. Rev. 12:13-16 is the fury that Jesus tells them to flee from in Matt.
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood: This describes God’s protection of Israel from Satan and his antichrist in the great tribulation. He will protect them so well that Satan cannot get to them, so he turns his fury toward the rest of her offspring.
…the rest of her offspring: Israel and Gentiles who come to faith in Jesus during the tribulation are targets of Satan and his antichrist in the last days.
He went to make war: This either begins or continues the persecution of those who would not submit and worship the Satanic dictator. The martyrs of this period were shown in Rev. 6:9-11 & 7:9-17.