Revelation Chapter 12

Summary

Revelation chapter 12 speaks of a woman who gives birth to a man child, which we will discover is Christ. The woman represents the organized body of professing Christians. In the Old Testament this was national Israel. After the cross, God shifted this focus from national Israel to the church. The woman fleeing into the wilderness represents the church during the Early Rain.

Verse 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:”

The sun signifies Christ:
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

The woman clothed with the sun identifies with those who are clothed with Christ. Christ is the robe of righteousness:
“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

The moon is the law of God (see Word Study on “Moon”). The crown points to the fact that the believers are kings who reign with Christ:
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6)

The fact that the moon is under her feet is a reminder that believers are not under the law:
“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:18)
This is language to indicate that they are no longer condemned by the law. It does not mean that the believers no longer need to be concerned with obeying it.

As we will see, the woman is the earthly representation of God’s people throughout time. Before the cross this was the nation of Israel. After the cross it became the church.

Verse 2
”And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”

The child being spoken of here is widely and correctly understood to be Christ. At this point, He has not yet been born so this verse is still anticipating His coming. Prior to giving birth, the woman in this chapter identifies with national Israel, which identifies with the first period of rain (we called it the Righteous Rain). The woman birthing Christ identifies with the fact that Christ was the fruit of the first period of rain (see Study on The Latter Rain).

Verse 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.”

The dragon is Satan:
“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:2)

The fact that he is crowned reminds us of Satan’s rule over this world:
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31)

Verse 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.”

The stars of heaven represent the believers. Since believers are indwelt by Christ His attribute of being the Light of the World becomes a part of them:
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14)
“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)
The fraction one-third identifies with God’s people (see Study on The Beast). Notice the child (Christ) is still not yet born. The picture being painted here is that the dragon (Satan) had the ability to have a large negative impact on the Gospel before Christ went to the cross. Remember, it was at the cross that Satan was bound and lost a great deal of his ability to deceive the nations (see Study on The 1,000-Year Reign).

The fact that it was his tail that drew the third part of the stars is a reminder of Satan’s deceptive abilities:
“The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.” (Isaiah 9:15)
Satan is the father of lies:
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

Verse 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.”

This verse is speaking of the birth of Christ. It is Christ who rules with a rod of iron:
“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.” (Revelation 19:15)

The statement that the child (Christ) was caught up to God and to His throne points to Christ’s ascension into Heaven after His resurrection to sit at the right hand of God:
“So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.”
(Mark 16:19)

Verse 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.”

The 1,260 days is a figurative span of time that refers to the Early Rain period which began in 33 AD and ended at the beginning of the Great Tribulation (see Study on The Latter Rain). Many have identified these 1,260 days as somehow relating to the end times but notice how the context doesn’t allow for that. It’s mentioned in a passage that is speaking of the period of time surrounding Christ’s time on Earth.

Verse 7
”And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,”

Michael is Christ (see Study on Michael The Archangel). Again, this is speaking of the battle that took place at the cross. It was at that time that Christ defeated Satan and bound him (see Study on The 1,000-Year Reign). This victory was not such that Satan was destroyed. It just sealed his fate and confirmed that in the end Christ would be the victor. Christ won the battle but the war was not over. However, it was the kind of battle that clinched the eventual victory for Christ.

Verse 8
”And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.”

Satan and his angels somehow had access to Heaven prior to the cross. This verse identifies with the beginning of the “1,000-year” reign when Satan was bound, when he and his angels were permanently cast out of Heaven (see Study on The 1,000-Year Reign). Again, here we are reading a passage that is dealing with the time when Christ was on Earth. This verse is not speaking of an event taking place during the end times.



Verse 9
”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.”

The previous verse taught us that Satan and his angels were locked out of Heaven and we also learned that coincided with them being placed in chains. In this verse we learn that their being locked out in chains coincides with being cast out into the earth. This is the event that took place in 33 AD when the Early Rain began.



Verse 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.”

Salvation became possible when Christ demonstrated the atonement He made for the sins of His people at the cross. We read here of a loud voice announcing that salvation has come. This parallels when Christ announced that the demonstration of His payment for sins had been completed just before He died:
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30)

Christ’s work on the cross was a demonstration of what it took to make salvation possible. That is when “the accuser” was “cast down.” That is when Satan and his angels were cast out into the earth, locked out of Heaven in chains. This does not mean that they lost their ability to deceive the world, but rather that they had been limited in their ability.

Verse 11
”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.”

The Lamb is Christ:
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

The statement “they loved not their lives unto the death” is a reminder of the mindset of a believer:
“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25)

Verse 12
”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.”

The heavens rejoice because God’s plan to evangelize the world had begun. Remember that at Pentecost in 33 AD there were about 3,000 people saved in a single day (Acts 2:41). Here we are also reminded of Satan being cast out into the earth by the statement “the devil is come down unto you.” The statement “woe to the inhibiters” is a reminder that Satan is still allowed to deceive, even if to a smaller degree. We even saw Satan’s work taking place in the churches just a few years after the Early Rain began (see Study on The Seven Churches).

Verse 13
”And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.”

Again, remember that the Bible clearly shows that Satan being cast out into the earth occurred at the time of the cross. The language of this verse indicates that his persecution of the woman takes places immediately thereafter. National Israel was no longer the representation of God’s people after the cross. God had shifted this role to the church. This serves to confirm that the woman is no longer national Israel here. The dragon persecuting the woman points to the persecution that believers can expect to experience in this world which is ruled by Satan:
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” (Matthew 5:10-11)
It also identifies heavily with the persecution Satan brought on the church itself, the organized body of professing Christians, throughout the Early Rain (see Study on The Seven Churches).

Verse 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.”

This statement reminds us of Exodus chapter 19 where God safely brought His people out of Egypt and into the wilderness “on eagles’ wings”:
“For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.” (Exodus 19:2-4)

The “time, times, and half a time” is another way of illustrating the number 3.5. In verse 6 we learned that the woman (the organized body of professing Christians) had a place prepared for her by God for 1,260 days following the cross. We also know that timeframe to be a figurative length of time that identifies with the entire Early Rain period. On a calendar of 30-day months, 1,260 days is exactly 3.5 years. It is the same “1,260 days” in which the two witnesses prophesy (see Study on The Two Witnesses). In other words, this verse is reminding us that the church is cared for by God for a pre-determined duration of time that we have learned to be the Early Rain.

Verse 15
”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.”

Water in the Bible often signifies the Gospel:
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

Satan takes the true Gospel and twists it just enough that it is polluted. The Bible refers to this as bitter water and bitter water brings death:
“And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” (Revelation 8:11)
The death in view here is spiritual death. The false gospels in view here are not those which exist out in the secular world such as Islam; the gospels in view here are those which look so much like the true Gospel that most are deceived into believing that they really are (see Study on The Seven Churches).

The fact that the bitter water comes from Satan’s mouth is another reminder that Satan is the father of lies:
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

Verse 16
”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.”

Here is the great promise that during the time when the woman is in the wilderness, the figurative 1,260 days and 3.5 years, she is largely (though not completely) protected by God from Satan’s attempts to destroy her with his bitter waters. This is because the Holy Spirit was present in the churches during the Early Rain. Once the Great Tribulation began, God removed the Holy Spirit from the churches so that protection is gone (see Study on The Antichrist).

Verse 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.”

Keeping in mind that the woman represents the organized body of professing Christians, not all of those that are a part of this body are actually saved. The remnant of her seed represents those who are truly saved:
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.”
(Isaiah 10:20)
“For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.” (Jeremiah 31:7)
“I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.” (Micah 2:12)

Our final verse here in Revelation chapter 12 also states that the remnant is those who keep God’s commandments. This confirms that the remnant are those who are truly saved:
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3)

Conclusion

The woman in Revelation chapter 12 represents the organized body of professing believers. In the Old Testament this was national Israel. The dragon represents Satan who was able to deceive the nations to a high degree during this time.
The woman gives birth to Christ which identifies with the fact that Christ was the fruit of the first period of rain, the Righteous Rain. Satan was permanently cast out of Heaven when Christ went to the cross. At this time God shifted from national Israel to the church as the earthly representation of His people. This organized body came under God’s care for the entire Early Rain, symbolically represented in this chapter by 1,260 days or 3.5 years.

Satan attacked the church with false gospels (represented in this chapter by bitter water), but God’s hand of protection was upon the church. Satan was allowed some success but largely God restrained him and limited his success during the Early Rain.

To see how the events of this chapter fit in with the rest of the end-times events see the End-Times Events Timeline.