And a great marvel was seen in heaven:

    a woman
    who was robed with the sun

    and had the moon under her feet
    and had also a crown of twelve stars
    round her head

    was with child
    and she was crying out
    in the pains and agony of childbirth


    And another marvel was seen in heaven

    a great fiery-red dragon
    with seven heads and ten horns
    and on his heads were seven kingly crowns.

    His tail was drawing after it a third part
    of the stars of heaven
    and it dashed them to the ground.

    And in front of the woman
     who was about to become a mother,
    the dragon was standing
    in order to devour the child as soon as it was born.


    She gave birth to a son--
    a male child,
    destined before long to rule all nations
    with an iron scepter.

    But her child was caught up to God and His throne,
    and the woman fled into the desert,
    there to be cared for,
    for twelve hundred and sixty days,
    in a place which God had prepared for her.




    The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12:1  Now a great sign appeared in heaven:  a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her
feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

  • Chapters 12-22 are the same thing as chapters 1-11 only seen from heaven’s view
  • Revelation 10-14 – especially 12, 13, and 14 – are a unit.  Revelation is the war in the spirit of satan against God –
that is the point of Revelation 12 to inform us that behind the scenes, satan has actively been in a state of war against God
and God’s people.  The message is that the war began in heaven when Lucifer rose up and said ‘no’ to God and was cast
out of heaven.  Then the war continued on the earth and it really picked up when God chose the nation of Israel.  
  • In chapters 12-14 John sees the conflict between God and satan.  He sees the source of all sin, evil, persecution, and
    suffering on the earth, and he understands why the great battle between the forces of God and satan must soon take
  • place.  
In these chapters the nature of evil is exposed, and satan is seen in all his wickedness.  (LB)
  • Great – in size and significance (JFB)
  • Sign – an extraordinary spectacle or event that points beyond itself (NIV)
  • Sign – significant of momentous truths (JFB)
  • Three females in Book of Revelation are all personifications (not individuals – but represent someone or something
else).  Two are a filthy prostitute and one is a pure bride.  Each represent a city; two represent Babylon – the city of man;
one represents Jerusalem – the city of God.
  • The woman represents God’s faithful people who have been awaiting the Messiah; the 12 stars on her head represent
the 12 tribes of Israel.  God set apart the Jews for himself and that nation gave birth to the Messiah.  The boy is Jesus, born
to a devout Jew, Mary.  Evil King Herod immediately tried to destroy the infant Jesus.  Herod’s desire to kill this newborn
“king”, whom he saw as a threat to his throne, was motivated by satan who wanted to kill the world’s Savior.  The heavenly
pageant of Revelation 12 shows that Christ’s quiet birth in the town of Bethlehem had cosmic significance.  (LB)
  • Clothes with the sun – the church is the bearer of divine supernatural light in the world (JFB)
  • Sea, earth and moon represent the worldly element, in opposition to the kingdom of God – heaven, the sun (JFB)
  • John now take s a different viewpoint and portrays the manner in which the rule of God has been extended and how its
    extension precipitates the inevitable conflict with the powers of darkness
  • The people of God are the mother that gives birth to the Man-child
  • Up to now, each of the series of visions has come to the same general conclusion:  toil and trouble end in rest, and
conflict ends in victory
  • Sun, moon, stars – great honor and dignity attached to the woman (W)

References:  Revelation 12:3; 11:19; Matthew 24:30 (and then the sign of the son of Man will appear in the sky….); Galatians 4:26 (But the
Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother); Psalm 104:2 (Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, stretching out heaven like a tent curtain);
Song of Solomon 6:10 (Who is this that grows like the dawn, as beautiful as the full moon, as pure as the sun, as awesome as an army with
banners?)

12:2  Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

  • Travailing – this seems to represent the great labor and pain of Christendom, in bringing forth the full overcomer,
who is, with Jesus, to rule the world with a rod of iron (W)
  •  Pain – torment – (JFB)

References:  Isaiah 26:17 (As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we
been in Your sight, O Lord.); 66:6-9 (The sound of noise from the city!  A voice from the temple!  The voice of the Lord, who fully repays His
enemies!  “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child.  Who has heard such a thing?  Who has
seen such things?  Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?  Or shall a nation be born at once?  For as soon as Zion was in labor, she
gave birth to her children.  Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.  “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the
womb?” says your God.; Micah 4:9 (Now why do you cry aloud?  Is there no king in your midst?  Has your counselor perished?  For pangs have
seized you like a woman in labor.); Galatians 4:19 (My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you)

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.

  • John emphasizes the dragon’s size and strength
  • The grand enemy of the church is represented as a dragon for strength and terror – a red dragon for fierceness
and cruelty.  (MH)
  • Red – implies his fiery rage as a murderer from the beginning.  (JFB)
  •  Seven heads – symbolizing universal wisdom (NIV)
  • Ten horns – symbolizing great power (NIV)
  • Ten being the number of the world (JFB)
  • The two numbers mark his self-contradictions that he and the beast bear both the number seven (the divine number)
and ten (the world number) (JFB)

References:  Revelation 13:1, 2, 4, 11; 17:3, 7, 9; 12;1; 15:1; 12:4, 7, 9, 13, 16; 16:13; 20:2; Isaiah 27:1 (In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan
the fleeing serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon who lives in the sea);
Daniel 7:7, 20, 24 (As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the
previous ones and will subdue three kings.); Psalm 74:14 (It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures
of the desert); Ezekiel 29:3

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.

  • Drew – drags down – implies his persuading to apostatize, like himself, and to become earthy, those angels and also
once eminent human teachers who had formerly been heavenly (JFB)
  • According to Hebrew tradition, one-third of all the angels in heaven fell with satan (LB)
  • The dragon’s primary interest in devouring the Child – the pre-existent Messiah – was when He is born
  • The people of God are confronted by the epitome of evil at a crucial point in humankind’s redemption:  the Incarnation
of Christ
  • The devil desires to devour the child because he regards the nations as his legitimate prey.  But he was unable to
destroy Christ while He was on earth.  This symbolism stresses the truth that, in the incarnation; God has decisively
defeated the devil.  Jesus’ cross was the battlefield where God’s power met and overcame the demonic powers and
triumphed over them openly.  At the Incarnation, which was completed with the ascension, spiritual evil was completely
defeated and dethroned.

References:  Revelation 9:10, 19; 8:7, 12; 12:2; Daniel 8:10 (And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of
the stars to the ground, and trampled them.); Exodus 1:16 (and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see
them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.); Matthew 2:16 (Then Herod, when he saw
that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem
and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.)

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.

  • This vision sums up the entire earthly ministry of Jesus, His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, because His
purpose is to show that the dragon’s power is futile.
  • God provides supernatural protection.
  • Rod of iron – a rod is for long-continued obstinacy until they submit themselves to obedience (JFB)

References:  Psalm 2:9 (You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel); Isaiah 7:14 (Therefore the
Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel); 9:6 (For unto us a Child
is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.); Revelation 2:27; 19:15; Luke 24:51 (Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from
hem and carried up into heaven.); Acts 1:9-11; 2 Corinthians 12:2 (….caught up to the third heaven)

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.

  • Feed – nourish (NAS)
  • The wilderness represents a place of spiritual refuge and protection from the devil.  By aiding the woman’s escape
into the wilderness, God offers security to all true believers.  Satan always attacks God’s people, but God keeps them
spiritually secure.  Some will experience physical harm, but all will be protected from spiritual harm.  God will not let satan
take the souls of his true followers.  (LB)
  • Wilderness – a state of discipline and trial (JFB)

References:  Revelation 12:4, 14; 11:3; 13:5