Almighty God protects his people and accomplishes his divine purposes even under the relentless and brutal onslaught of Satan’s attacks.
Wes
This is Part 2 of episode 15 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast, entitled The Woman, the Dragon, and the Child, where we’ll discuss Revelation 12:1-17. I’m Wes Treadway. I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
This is an incredible chapter. Revelation 12 is one of the great, great chapters on the invisible spiritual realms. And specifically, Satan and demons, but most especially focused on Satan here. The Book of Revelation means the unveiling. “Apocalypse” is the removing of a veil to show us things that we would not be able to see any other way. And some of the things that are unveiled for us, I mean, I guess, in this case, I’m saying we’ve got certainly Christ unveiled in a mighty way in the Book of Revelation. And we also have the future unveiled and still in this chapter as well. But here we also have Satan unveiled, and he’s unmasked. He’s revealed here in this chapter concerning his true nature. But what we’re going to see in this chapter is how, despite all of Satan’s incredible power, he’s defeated again and again and again and again and again in this chapter. He is unable to do what he wants to do, and that’s greatly comforting to us.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read Revelation 12:1-17.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Now, war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world– he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death. Therefore, rejoice O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!”
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
Andy, last time we were together, we walked through verses 1-6, and we saw some incredible things there. We’re going to pick up today in verse 7. Beginning in verse 7, what do verses 7-9 teach us about the heavenly realms, and what’s the nature and outcome of the battle that’s described in these verses?
Andy
We’re told to put on our spiritual armor because our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Well, the verse says there was war in heaven, and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but Satan was not strong enough, and his demons together. And they lost their place in heaven. They were hurled down. “The great dragon was hurled down, the ancient serpent, called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray,” it says. “He was hurled down to the earth with his angels with him.” Now, the question, the challenge, first of all, what it says about the heavenly realms is that there’s warfare. There is conflict going on, and we believe that goes on to this present time. We have many indications of it. We’re told to put on our spiritual armor because our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We also know that those spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms are Satan and demons. And they are directly opposed by holy forces of good in the heavenly realms- archangels, angels, and, obviously, ultimately, Almighty God himself. We learned from the Book of Daniel also as an angel, an angelic messenger, was sent to Daniel with a message from God. But he was unable to get through for 21 days because the Prince of Persia resisted him. We think no human being could ever resist such a holy and powerful angel, so it must have been an evil angel or demon, or maybe even Satan himself. So, what we find is that Almighty God, the omnipotent God, allows angels and demons to wrestle and fight and struggle on more or less equal terms, sometimes even the demons or Satan having the upper hand. And so, a messenger angel is unable to get through and finish his mission. And so, this is really quite remarkable.
So, there is war in heaven, and it goes on between angels and demons. However, the sovereign God overrules all of that for his ultimate purposes. Now, this passage here, it’s difficult to see when this war took place between that ancient serpent, the dragon, the devil, Satan, and the archangel Michael. It’s unclear and difficult to see exactly when this conflict took place. It’s possible that it was a primordial struggle that happened before Adam fell into sin, and so that when Satan was thrown to the earth, he appeared as that ancient serpent to tempt him. And so, this battle happened between Michael and Satan and the holy angels and the demons. And so, they’re already crawling around in the spiritual realms on earth before Adam fell into sin.
Or it’s possible that this conflict will happen right before the second coming of Christ or is yet future, or both. But this particular passage, in my opinion, speaks of the original fall of Satan from heaven to earth because Jesus says when the 72 come back in Luke’s gospel, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18), speaking in the past tense, so that’s already happened. We also know both in Isaiah 14, the King of Babylon passage, which the Lucifer passage, which it seems to be talking about Satan, and the King of Tyre passage in Ezekiel 28, the punishment of both is the same. They’re thrown down to the earth. And so, it seems like that is what this is talking about as well.
Wes
We’ve talked about the fact that again and again, Satan is thwarted or defeated in this passage, but we shouldn’t underestimate Satan’s power either. So, we have both of these that we need to reconcile. Why is it important for us as believers to understand both, the devil’s great power and great limitation?
Andy
Well, we’re told in scripture that Satan is the god of this age. He is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. And all the kingdoms of the earth, he says, he boasts to Jesus, have been given to him. And Jesus didn’t contradict him. And so, he is running the earth. He’s running planet Earth. He’s running the evil earth system. So, if we just look around, we feel like Satan’s winning every day. The evil forces are winning. The tyrants are winning. The invading armies are winning. And so, the Book of Revelation is given to say, effectively, despite what it would appear, that Satan is dominant and cannot be defeated, yet we know that the fact of the matter is he’s a defeated foe. And we should be confident. So, the combination then of the question you asked is we can see his great power in his wicked successes day by day and in inhuman history. But this book, the Book of Revelation, tells us of his past, present, and future defeats as well.
Wes
I want to look at verses 10-12 now, and really, I’d love to read them before I ask you this next question because they’re amazing verses. The beginning of verse 10, it says,
I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Andy, why do you think heaven spends so much time celebrating God’s sovereignty, and how do these verses, verses 10-12, help us face the accusations of the devil and lead us to triumphant, courageous, and powerful life as witnesses for Christ?
Andy
Right. So, this loud voice in heaven declares some important truths about Satan and about human beings that suffer under his tyranny and ultimate victory in Christ. And so, I think what God wants us to know is these spiritual truths. He wants us to know of the existence of the devil and his angels, demons, and of their great power but also of their ultimate defeat. These words are really quite encouraging. This loud voice in heaven declares, “Now have come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.” Why? What has happened? Well, Satan has been thrown down, has been cast down from heaven to earth. That’s the reason for the celebration. “For the accuser of our brothers who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down,” so that’s the reason why there’s this celebration. But we learned some things about Satan’s activity.
The word Satan itself is an English transliteration of a Hebrew verb, which means to accuse. And so, he is the accuser, and he’s even stated here to be the accuser of our brothers who accuses them before our God day and night. By the way, if you want a very good picture of this, you look at Zechariah 3, in which we have this sinful high priest, Joshua is his name in that vision. And we have Satan at the right hand, accusing him, and God defending him. And the high priest is covered with filthy robes representing his sinfulness. And so that’s a very avid depiction of the process of the accuser accusing us. And so, honestly, these are the twin and very hypocritical roles of Satan. He is the tempter leading us by various schemes into sin, and then he suddenly turns and becomes the prosecuting attorney and accuses us of the very things he just enticed us to do. So, he is the ultimate hypocrite because he was drawing us toward that and then turns and accuses us.
But in this case, the accuser has been cast down. And by the way, as I think about Satan’s accusations, I can’t help but think about the triumphant words in Romans 8:31-35, where it says,
What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” And then it says, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died– more than that, was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
So, what we have here is like a challenge to the entire universe, both the spiritual realms and the physical realms. Who dares to stand up and accuse any of God’s elect that are justified by faith in Christ? God himself will defend them. Christ himself will advocate on their behalf. And so, Satan is cast down, ultimately, by the atoning work of Christ, as it says in this text here. They overcame Satan and his accusations by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
I think it’s important for us to realize that Satan frequently deceives us and entices us to do his work for him.
By the way, I think it’s important for us to realize that Satan frequently deceives us and entices us to do his work for him. And it says in 2 Timothy 2:26 that some have been taken captive by the devil to do his will. We see this sadly in the case of Job’s wife, where she begins to speak the very words that Satan said that Job would do, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). And so, where did that idea pop in her mind? Well, I think we need to recognize that the accuser of the brethren, that is Satan’s role. We should not take up that role ourselves and become very critical and accusing each other of sins. Look, if our brothers or sisters sin against us, we need to show them their fault and rebuke them and all that. But ultimately, our role is to be like Jesus, an advocate for our brothers and sisters. Let’s not do Satan’s work for him of accusing the brothers.
At any rate, the brothers and sisters in Christ have overcome Satan, it says, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. So, first, by the atoning work of Christ is the work of Satan as the accuser completely destroyed. Christ’s bloodshed is more than sufficient to meet all of Satan’s accusations. And so, they overcame Satan’s accusations and his power and his rule by the blood of the Lamb. And then it says by the word of their testimony. What does that mean? By their personal faith in Christ, by their declaration that they believe in Jesus, by confessing with their mouth Jesus is Lord and believing in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they were saved. They were justified. And by that, Satan’s work in their lives was defeated, overthrown, destroyed.
Also, it says in 1 John 5:4, “What is it that has overcome the world, even our faith.” So, by our faith, we are more than conquerors over Satan’s evil system. Also, we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony in evangelism. Not just in our own personal faith, but by evangelism in missions, we spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Satan’s kingdom is overthrown and destroyed. Jesus said when a strong man fully armed, guards his own possessions, his house is safe. But when someone stronger overpowers him, he strips away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. Jesus is talking there about his exorcisms, his driving out of demons. But I think it’s also true of evangelism and missions. We’re plundering Satan’s house, and the plunder is people. And so we’re overcoming Satan by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony to the blood of the lamb. And by that, the gospel spreads, and Satan’s kingdom is destroyed.
Then it says, “Of those that overcame him, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” What an incredible statement. These are martyrs, some of them literal martyrs. They weren’t so much in love with their lives. This lines up also with Jesus, who said, “Anyone who loves his life will lose it, but whoever loses life in this world for me and for the gospel will save it” (John 12:25) So, these are martyrs, witnesses who are willing to stand firm and courageously testify to Jesus even at the cost of their lives, even willing to die. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink back from death and therefore, in summation, rejoice you heavens and you who dwell on them. So, look at the triumph here of Christ and of his people, rejoice. But woe to the earth and the sea, it says, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short.
So, this is an amazing picture. It’s a problem for the earth that Satan roams around, as Peter tells us, like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And he is enraged because he knows that he’s going to end up in the lake of fire. His time is short. By the way, this was written 2000 years ago, and that’s still a very short time for Satan. He has that eternal perspective, and he knows that even if God were to give him 20, 30 centuries, even that’s a short time compared to eternity. So, he is filled with rage, and he takes it out on the human race.
Wes
What happens then in verse 13, when the devil pursues the woman?
Andy
All right, so this is where it gets complex, but I think the best way to understand the pursuit, the woman in verse 6 fled, it says, into the desert, so she’s running. Now, this lines up with some statements made, for example, in Matthew 24 and also in Mark 13. The idea there is run for your lives.
So, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand, then, those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to get anything out of the house. Let no one in the fields go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter on the Sabbath, for then there will be great distress, the great tribulation, unequal from the beginning of the world until now, never to be equal again (Matthew 24:15-16).
All right, what is that talking about, a running for your lives? Some people link it to the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem by the Romans, and that may be, but I think that was mere foretaste. I think in the days of the Antichrist, when the abomination of desolation, I think a literal temple gets rebuilt. And 2 Thessalonians tells us that the man of sin, the Antichrist, will take his place in God’s temple, declaring himself to be god. It will be very obvious to Jews at that point that there’s no way there’s going to be an animal sacrifice and a reestablishment of that whole system. The Antichrist has taken it over. The treaty is broken, and they, in disillusionment, are stripped of any hope for old covenant Judaism being reestablished. And then, at that moment, I believe, the Holy Spirit works, and also through the two witnesses, and many of those Jews, the Jewish nation, and so all Israel will be saved.
Now they are believers in Christ, living in Jerusalem, living in Judea, living in that area but right in the nest of demons, in the nest of Satan, and of the Antichrist. And he turns and begins to persecute them and uses human henchmen to do it. And so, they’re literally, I mean, physically, running for their lives. And it says in verse 6 that the woman flees to a place in the desert, where she will be cared for 1,260 days, that standard three-and-a-half-year, 42-month period. And so that points to the end times and to a flight. So, now we go back to the flight in verse 13. When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. All right, so he’s chasing her through Antichrist and through his human henchmen.
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert where she would be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. It’s the same teaching as verse 6, just different language. So, she’s able to escape. She’s able to get away. It doesn’t mean that every single solitary one of them can, but for the most part, they escape, and they are protected. They’re cared for. And so, Satan is pursuing them and seeking to attack them. And I think this is also a sense that we get in the Book of Daniel, where, in Daniel 7, we’re told that the little horn, Antichrist, will wage war against the saints and defeat them. And so, it’s a time of terrible persecution and martyrdom. Also, at the end of the Book of Daniel, we have an odd counting of days from one point to the next. We’ve got 1,290 days and 1,345 days, 1345. And that counting of days is mysterious. It’s not linked up to 1260 or anything else, but it’s similar to it. And I think the idea is a counting of days that Jesus said if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. A terrible time in which there’s demonic and human persecution of the remnant of believers on earth, and they are hiding, perhaps even in caves, having run for their lives.
Wes
It’s fascinating. Throughout this chapter, we’ve seen the provision for the preservation of this woman and the child. What should we make of the eagle’s wings in verse 14? And is there anything more that we need to know about this time, times, and half a time? Or are these just reminding us again of these images that we’ve seen throughout the book this far?
Andy
Yeah, I think it’s just a common thread this time, times, and half a time, or 42 months, or 1,260 days, points to the same time span. And so, it gives you the ability to link together pericopes or sections to find out what’s happening in each of those. And that’s why I mentioned something that’s not even mentioned in this chapter, but the abomination of desolation and things like that. It’s a complex, complex issue. The wings of the eagle, I just look on that as a metaphor. She’s fast. She’s able to get away and able to escape. So, beyond that, I really, I can’t say.
Wes
Verses 15 and 16 again show Satan’s wrath directed toward the woman but also a provision for her protection. What does the word serpent connote about Satan? What is the flood spewing from the mouth of the serpent represent? And what do we learn from what happens to the river that threatened to drown the woman?
Andy
Wow. This is why Revelation is a hard book to interpret. We’re doing our best.
Wes
We’re working it. We’re working it.
Andy
Yeah, we’re working it. And I would feel much more comfortable in a Pauline epistle, or something on prayer, or something on marriage, or something like that. But this is just, its visionary, apocalyptic, prophetic language, and it’s rife with symbolism. It’s not hard to come up with the word serpent and know that we’re already told in verse 9 this is the devil, so the serpent. Out of his mouth, I think the concept here, in this case, you could think out of the mouth comes doctrine, teaching, false doctrine, so it could be blasphemy, or it could be temptation, or false doctrine, or accusations, or any of that. I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. I think there’s a literal, well, not literal, but a metaphorical flood which pursues the woman.
Now, we’ve interpreted the woman as believing Israel, fleeing for her life. She must be fleeing before human persecutors. And so, I think it’s like an army. I think it’s a bunch of demon-incited henchmen of Antichrist who are chasing, nipping at the heels. I mean, again, think. No one has time to go down in their house and get anything out of the house. Why? Because people are coming. You have to get out of there. You have to run for your life. And so, I think this river is an army that’s gone to collect thousands of Jewish believers in Christ. So, it’s not one or two. It’s a huge number. All Israel will be saved. Now, only some of them live in Judea and in Jerusalem. But, I mean, I wonder how many Jews right now live in Jerusalem. I mean, got to be a huge number.
And so, a huge army, it has to be sent to go get them. And so, out of Satan’s mouth, so to speak, metaphorically, comes this wicked demon-incited army to hunt down the woman (believing Israel) and to destroy her. But look what happens. As this torrent comes to sweep her away, the earth opened its mouth, it says, and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed out of its mouth. This might be actually literally going to happen. Like in the days of Dathan, Korah, and Abiram, there was a … Moses prayed and then declared to the nation of Israel, if these men die in the ordinary way, then God has not spoken to me. But if you see something happen that’s never happened before, the earth opening up and swallowing them alive, then you’ll know. And that’s exactly what happened. Remember how Israel was told to get away from their tents? Move away. It’s like literally, physically move away. So, I could well imagine that this would happen like an earthquake, a splitting open of the earth, and down they fall into the earth.
Wes
This is not the only time, I think, that we see water, whether it be in the sea or this river flowing from the mouth of the serpent, as representing the roiling nations or peoples that are arrayed against God and against his people. So, it makes sense then that that would be what’s happening here, that this army is pursuing the people of God, seeking to destroy them, but God provides a way of escape and salvation.
Andy
Yeah, yeah.
Wes
What was Satan’s reaction to what happened to his river? And what does verse 17 teach us about Satan’s hatred of us personally and of the church more broadly?
Andy
Well, in verse 12, we’re told he’s filled with rage because he knows his time is short. Well, here he is angry again. He’s just angry, angry, angry, angry, like filled with rage. So, same thing again. He has been thwarted. But I don’t understand the mind, and the psychology, and the emotions of Satan. I don’t understand how he could think it would go any other way. He is fighting Almighty God, the God of the universe. How can he but lose? But I think God gives him enough leeway and enough victories and enough successes along the way that he keeps being deluded. It’s really quite remarkable. But to answer your question, he’s filled with rage. He’s enraged at the woman and sought to make war, it says, against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So, I think those that have to run for their lives is a very narrow subset or a group of the genuine believers on planet Earth. It’s those who live in Judea, those who live in that specific geographical area.
Like I said, if you’re a believer in West Virginia, you’re not needing to run for your life. There’s nothing to run from. Satan is focused, or sorry, the antichrist focused on those right there near the temple. So, Satan is enraged. He can’t get at the woman in the desert where she’s being guarded and protected by God’s power, so he turns and makes war against the saints, the rest of the people on earth. Now, for myself, I don’t believe in a secret rapture. I believe the church will continue on earth until the end of the world. I think that the rapture, which is discussed very plainly in 1 Thessalonians 4, and also in Matthew 24, and Mark 13, where he sends out his angels to gather the elect from one end of the heavens to the other. That gathering by the angels, I think, is to meet the Lord in the air. That’s the rapture. That’s at the end of the world.
And so, I think the church, these are the offspring of the woman. The woman is Israel, and we, you and I, Wes, as Gentile believers in Christ, we are sons of Abraham. We are grafted into the Jewish olive tree. We are offspring of the woman. And that same image is used by Paul in Galatians 4 with the Zion that is above is our mother, and so we are given birth from Israel. And how does that work? Well, the Bible is a Jewish book. Jesus is a Jewish Savior. It’s a Jewish salvation being worked, and we are the children of Zion, the children of the work of God through the woman. And so, he says the dragon is enraged at the woman (believing Israel) and went off to make war against the rest of her children, her offspring. And he defines them there. Anybody who obeys God’s commands and holds to the testimony of Jesus, so that would be Jew and Gentile alike, but not living in Judea. And remember, we’re going to see in the next chapter Antichrist rules the world, and so he’s going to be able to flex his muscles and go after believers in every nation on earth.
Wes
How does this account end, and what final thoughts do you have for us on the entirety of Revelation 12 that we’ve been discussing these last two episodes?
Andy
Well, in my Bible here, we go on into chapter 13 and verse one, 1A, I guess. Sometimes the chapter divisions are interesting. And it says, “And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.” So, we are enticed to look ahead to where we’re heading, and where we’re heading is the coming of the Antichrist up out of the sea, the beast from the sea. So, we’ll talk about that next time. The chapter, this chapter, Revelation 12, is a remarkable, a difficult, deep, and complex chapter, but it’s pretty clear what the main themes are. The main themes are the power of Satan and of demons, and the constant hatred he has for the people of God, and the assault and the attack that he seeks to perpetrate on them. And the way that the sovereign power of God continually protects the people of God so that his purposes can be achieved, that should give us great comfort and encouragement.
Wes
Well, this has been Part 2 of Episode 15 in our Revelation Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 16, entitled The Beast from the Sea, where we’ll discuss Revelation 13:1-10. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
This is Part 2 of episode 15 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast, entitled The Woman, the Dragon, and the Child, where we’ll discuss Revelation 12:1-17. I’m Wes Treadway. I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
This is an incredible chapter. Revelation 12 is one of the great, great chapters on the invisible spiritual realms. And specifically, Satan and demons, but most especially focused on Satan here. The Book of Revelation means the unveiling. “Apocalypse” is the removing of a veil to show us things that we would not be able to see any other way. And some of the things that are unveiled for us, I mean, I guess, in this case, I’m saying we’ve got certainly Christ unveiled in a mighty way in the Book of Revelation. And we also have the future unveiled and still in this chapter as well. But here we also have Satan unveiled, and he’s unmasked. He’s revealed here in this chapter concerning his true nature. But what we’re going to see in this chapter is how, despite all of Satan’s incredible power, he’s defeated again and again and again and again and again in this chapter. He is unable to do what he wants to do, and that’s greatly comforting to us.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read Revelation 12:1-17.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Now, war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world– he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death. Therefore, rejoice O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!”
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
Andy, last time we were together, we walked through verses 1-6, and we saw some incredible things there. We’re going to pick up today in verse 7. Beginning in verse 7, what do verses 7-9 teach us about the heavenly realms, and what’s the nature and outcome of the battle that’s described in these verses?
Andy
We’re told to put on our spiritual armor because our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Well, the verse says there was war in heaven, and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but Satan was not strong enough, and his demons together. And they lost their place in heaven. They were hurled down. “The great dragon was hurled down, the ancient serpent, called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray,” it says. “He was hurled down to the earth with his angels with him.” Now, the question, the challenge, first of all, what it says about the heavenly realms is that there’s warfare. There is conflict going on, and we believe that goes on to this present time. We have many indications of it. We’re told to put on our spiritual armor because our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We also know that those spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms are Satan and demons. And they are directly opposed by holy forces of good in the heavenly realms- archangels, angels, and, obviously, ultimately, Almighty God himself. We learned from the Book of Daniel also as an angel, an angelic messenger, was sent to Daniel with a message from God. But he was unable to get through for 21 days because the Prince of Persia resisted him. We think no human being could ever resist such a holy and powerful angel, so it must have been an evil angel or demon, or maybe even Satan himself. So, what we find is that Almighty God, the omnipotent God, allows angels and demons to wrestle and fight and struggle on more or less equal terms, sometimes even the demons or Satan having the upper hand. And so, a messenger angel is unable to get through and finish his mission. And so, this is really quite remarkable.
So, there is war in heaven, and it goes on between angels and demons. However, the sovereign God overrules all of that for his ultimate purposes. Now, this passage here, it’s difficult to see when this war took place between that ancient serpent, the dragon, the devil, Satan, and the archangel Michael. It’s unclear and difficult to see exactly when this conflict took place. It’s possible that it was a primordial struggle that happened before Adam fell into sin, and so that when Satan was thrown to the earth, he appeared as that ancient serpent to tempt him. And so, this battle happened between Michael and Satan and the holy angels and the demons. And so, they’re already crawling around in the spiritual realms on earth before Adam fell into sin.
Or it’s possible that this conflict will happen right before the second coming of Christ or is yet future, or both. But this particular passage, in my opinion, speaks of the original fall of Satan from heaven to earth because Jesus says when the 72 come back in Luke’s gospel, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18), speaking in the past tense, so that’s already happened. We also know both in Isaiah 14, the King of Babylon passage, which the Lucifer passage, which it seems to be talking about Satan, and the King of Tyre passage in Ezekiel 28, the punishment of both is the same. They’re thrown down to the earth. And so, it seems like that is what this is talking about as well.
Wes
We’ve talked about the fact that again and again, Satan is thwarted or defeated in this passage, but we shouldn’t underestimate Satan’s power either. So, we have both of these that we need to reconcile. Why is it important for us as believers to understand both, the devil’s great power and great limitation?
Andy
Well, we’re told in scripture that Satan is the god of this age. He is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. And all the kingdoms of the earth, he says, he boasts to Jesus, have been given to him. And Jesus didn’t contradict him. And so, he is running the earth. He’s running planet Earth. He’s running the evil earth system. So, if we just look around, we feel like Satan’s winning every day. The evil forces are winning. The tyrants are winning. The invading armies are winning. And so, the Book of Revelation is given to say, effectively, despite what it would appear, that Satan is dominant and cannot be defeated, yet we know that the fact of the matter is he’s a defeated foe. And we should be confident. So, the combination then of the question you asked is we can see his great power in his wicked successes day by day and in inhuman history. But this book, the Book of Revelation, tells us of his past, present, and future defeats as well.
Wes
I want to look at verses 10-12 now, and really, I’d love to read them before I ask you this next question because they’re amazing verses. The beginning of verse 10, it says,
I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Andy, why do you think heaven spends so much time celebrating God’s sovereignty, and how do these verses, verses 10-12, help us face the accusations of the devil and lead us to triumphant, courageous, and powerful life as witnesses for Christ?
Andy
Right. So, this loud voice in heaven declares some important truths about Satan and about human beings that suffer under his tyranny and ultimate victory in Christ. And so, I think what God wants us to know is these spiritual truths. He wants us to know of the existence of the devil and his angels, demons, and of their great power but also of their ultimate defeat. These words are really quite encouraging. This loud voice in heaven declares, “Now have come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.” Why? What has happened? Well, Satan has been thrown down, has been cast down from heaven to earth. That’s the reason for the celebration. “For the accuser of our brothers who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down,” so that’s the reason why there’s this celebration. But we learned some things about Satan’s activity.
The word Satan itself is an English transliteration of a Hebrew verb, which means to accuse. And so, he is the accuser, and he’s even stated here to be the accuser of our brothers who accuses them before our God day and night. By the way, if you want a very good picture of this, you look at Zechariah 3, in which we have this sinful high priest, Joshua is his name in that vision. And we have Satan at the right hand, accusing him, and God defending him. And the high priest is covered with filthy robes representing his sinfulness. And so that’s a very avid depiction of the process of the accuser accusing us. And so, honestly, these are the twin and very hypocritical roles of Satan. He is the tempter leading us by various schemes into sin, and then he suddenly turns and becomes the prosecuting attorney and accuses us of the very things he just enticed us to do. So, he is the ultimate hypocrite because he was drawing us toward that and then turns and accuses us.
But in this case, the accuser has been cast down. And by the way, as I think about Satan’s accusations, I can’t help but think about the triumphant words in Romans 8:31-35, where it says,
What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” And then it says, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died– more than that, was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
So, what we have here is like a challenge to the entire universe, both the spiritual realms and the physical realms. Who dares to stand up and accuse any of God’s elect that are justified by faith in Christ? God himself will defend them. Christ himself will advocate on their behalf. And so, Satan is cast down, ultimately, by the atoning work of Christ, as it says in this text here. They overcame Satan and his accusations by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
I think it’s important for us to realize that Satan frequently deceives us and entices us to do his work for him.
By the way, I think it’s important for us to realize that Satan frequently deceives us and entices us to do his work for him. And it says in 2 Timothy 2:26 that some have been taken captive by the devil to do his will. We see this sadly in the case of Job’s wife, where she begins to speak the very words that Satan said that Job would do, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). And so, where did that idea pop in her mind? Well, I think we need to recognize that the accuser of the brethren, that is Satan’s role. We should not take up that role ourselves and become very critical and accusing each other of sins. Look, if our brothers or sisters sin against us, we need to show them their fault and rebuke them and all that. But ultimately, our role is to be like Jesus, an advocate for our brothers and sisters. Let’s not do Satan’s work for him of accusing the brothers.
At any rate, the brothers and sisters in Christ have overcome Satan, it says, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. So, first, by the atoning work of Christ is the work of Satan as the accuser completely destroyed. Christ’s bloodshed is more than sufficient to meet all of Satan’s accusations. And so, they overcame Satan’s accusations and his power and his rule by the blood of the Lamb. And then it says by the word of their testimony. What does that mean? By their personal faith in Christ, by their declaration that they believe in Jesus, by confessing with their mouth Jesus is Lord and believing in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they were saved. They were justified. And by that, Satan’s work in their lives was defeated, overthrown, destroyed.
Also, it says in 1 John 5:4, “What is it that has overcome the world, even our faith.” So, by our faith, we are more than conquerors over Satan’s evil system. Also, we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony in evangelism. Not just in our own personal faith, but by evangelism in missions, we spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Satan’s kingdom is overthrown and destroyed. Jesus said when a strong man fully armed, guards his own possessions, his house is safe. But when someone stronger overpowers him, he strips away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. Jesus is talking there about his exorcisms, his driving out of demons. But I think it’s also true of evangelism and missions. We’re plundering Satan’s house, and the plunder is people. And so we’re overcoming Satan by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony to the blood of the lamb. And by that, the gospel spreads, and Satan’s kingdom is destroyed.
Then it says, “Of those that overcame him, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” What an incredible statement. These are martyrs, some of them literal martyrs. They weren’t so much in love with their lives. This lines up also with Jesus, who said, “Anyone who loves his life will lose it, but whoever loses life in this world for me and for the gospel will save it” (John 12:25) So, these are martyrs, witnesses who are willing to stand firm and courageously testify to Jesus even at the cost of their lives, even willing to die. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink back from death and therefore, in summation, rejoice you heavens and you who dwell on them. So, look at the triumph here of Christ and of his people, rejoice. But woe to the earth and the sea, it says, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short.
So, this is an amazing picture. It’s a problem for the earth that Satan roams around, as Peter tells us, like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And he is enraged because he knows that he’s going to end up in the lake of fire. His time is short. By the way, this was written 2000 years ago, and that’s still a very short time for Satan. He has that eternal perspective, and he knows that even if God were to give him 20, 30 centuries, even that’s a short time compared to eternity. So, he is filled with rage, and he takes it out on the human race.
Wes
What happens then in verse 13, when the devil pursues the woman?
Andy
All right, so this is where it gets complex, but I think the best way to understand the pursuit, the woman in verse 6 fled, it says, into the desert, so she’s running. Now, this lines up with some statements made, for example, in Matthew 24 and also in Mark 13. The idea there is run for your lives.
So, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand, then, those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to get anything out of the house. Let no one in the fields go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter on the Sabbath, for then there will be great distress, the great tribulation, unequal from the beginning of the world until now, never to be equal again (Matthew 24:15-16).
All right, what is that talking about, a running for your lives? Some people link it to the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem by the Romans, and that may be, but I think that was mere foretaste. I think in the days of the Antichrist, when the abomination of desolation, I think a literal temple gets rebuilt. And 2 Thessalonians tells us that the man of sin, the Antichrist, will take his place in God’s temple, declaring himself to be god. It will be very obvious to Jews at that point that there’s no way there’s going to be an animal sacrifice and a reestablishment of that whole system. The Antichrist has taken it over. The treaty is broken, and they, in disillusionment, are stripped of any hope for old covenant Judaism being reestablished. And then, at that moment, I believe, the Holy Spirit works, and also through the two witnesses, and many of those Jews, the Jewish nation, and so all Israel will be saved.
Now they are believers in Christ, living in Jerusalem, living in Judea, living in that area but right in the nest of demons, in the nest of Satan, and of the Antichrist. And he turns and begins to persecute them and uses human henchmen to do it. And so, they’re literally, I mean, physically, running for their lives. And it says in verse 6 that the woman flees to a place in the desert, where she will be cared for 1,260 days, that standard three-and-a-half-year, 42-month period. And so that points to the end times and to a flight. So, now we go back to the flight in verse 13. When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. All right, so he’s chasing her through Antichrist and through his human henchmen.
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert where she would be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. It’s the same teaching as verse 6, just different language. So, she’s able to escape. She’s able to get away. It doesn’t mean that every single solitary one of them can, but for the most part, they escape, and they are protected. They’re cared for. And so, Satan is pursuing them and seeking to attack them. And I think this is also a sense that we get in the Book of Daniel, where, in Daniel 7, we’re told that the little horn, Antichrist, will wage war against the saints and defeat them. And so, it’s a time of terrible persecution and martyrdom. Also, at the end of the Book of Daniel, we have an odd counting of days from one point to the next. We’ve got 1,290 days and 1,345 days, 1345. And that counting of days is mysterious. It’s not linked up to 1260 or anything else, but it’s similar to it. And I think the idea is a counting of days that Jesus said if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. A terrible time in which there’s demonic and human persecution of the remnant of believers on earth, and they are hiding, perhaps even in caves, having run for their lives.
Wes
It’s fascinating. Throughout this chapter, we’ve seen the provision for the preservation of this woman and the child. What should we make of the eagle’s wings in verse 14? And is there anything more that we need to know about this time, times, and half a time? Or are these just reminding us again of these images that we’ve seen throughout the book this far?
Andy
Yeah, I think it’s just a common thread this time, times, and half a time, or 42 months, or 1,260 days, points to the same time span. And so, it gives you the ability to link together pericopes or sections to find out what’s happening in each of those. And that’s why I mentioned something that’s not even mentioned in this chapter, but the abomination of desolation and things like that. It’s a complex, complex issue. The wings of the eagle, I just look on that as a metaphor. She’s fast. She’s able to get away and able to escape. So, beyond that, I really, I can’t say.
Wes
Verses 15 and 16 again show Satan’s wrath directed toward the woman but also a provision for her protection. What does the word serpent connote about Satan? What is the flood spewing from the mouth of the serpent represent? And what do we learn from what happens to the river that threatened to drown the woman?
Andy
Wow. This is why Revelation is a hard book to interpret. We’re doing our best.
Wes
We’re working it. We’re working it.
Andy
Yeah, we’re working it. And I would feel much more comfortable in a Pauline epistle, or something on prayer, or something on marriage, or something like that. But this is just, its visionary, apocalyptic, prophetic language, and it’s rife with symbolism. It’s not hard to come up with the word serpent and know that we’re already told in verse 9 this is the devil, so the serpent. Out of his mouth, I think the concept here, in this case, you could think out of the mouth comes doctrine, teaching, false doctrine, so it could be blasphemy, or it could be temptation, or false doctrine, or accusations, or any of that. I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. I think there’s a literal, well, not literal, but a metaphorical flood which pursues the woman.
Now, we’ve interpreted the woman as believing Israel, fleeing for her life. She must be fleeing before human persecutors. And so, I think it’s like an army. I think it’s a bunch of demon-incited henchmen of Antichrist who are chasing, nipping at the heels. I mean, again, think. No one has time to go down in their house and get anything out of the house. Why? Because people are coming. You have to get out of there. You have to run for your life. And so, I think this river is an army that’s gone to collect thousands of Jewish believers in Christ. So, it’s not one or two. It’s a huge number. All Israel will be saved. Now, only some of them live in Judea and in Jerusalem. But, I mean, I wonder how many Jews right now live in Jerusalem. I mean, got to be a huge number.
And so, a huge army, it has to be sent to go get them. And so, out of Satan’s mouth, so to speak, metaphorically, comes this wicked demon-incited army to hunt down the woman (believing Israel) and to destroy her. But look what happens. As this torrent comes to sweep her away, the earth opened its mouth, it says, and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed out of its mouth. This might be actually literally going to happen. Like in the days of Dathan, Korah, and Abiram, there was a … Moses prayed and then declared to the nation of Israel, if these men die in the ordinary way, then God has not spoken to me. But if you see something happen that’s never happened before, the earth opening up and swallowing them alive, then you’ll know. And that’s exactly what happened. Remember how Israel was told to get away from their tents? Move away. It’s like literally, physically move away. So, I could well imagine that this would happen like an earthquake, a splitting open of the earth, and down they fall into the earth.
Wes
This is not the only time, I think, that we see water, whether it be in the sea or this river flowing from the mouth of the serpent, as representing the roiling nations or peoples that are arrayed against God and against his people. So, it makes sense then that that would be what’s happening here, that this army is pursuing the people of God, seeking to destroy them, but God provides a way of escape and salvation.
Andy
Yeah, yeah.
Wes
What was Satan’s reaction to what happened to his river? And what does verse 17 teach us about Satan’s hatred of us personally and of the church more broadly?
Andy
Well, in verse 12, we’re told he’s filled with rage because he knows his time is short. Well, here he is angry again. He’s just angry, angry, angry, angry, like filled with rage. So, same thing again. He has been thwarted. But I don’t understand the mind, and the psychology, and the emotions of Satan. I don’t understand how he could think it would go any other way. He is fighting Almighty God, the God of the universe. How can he but lose? But I think God gives him enough leeway and enough victories and enough successes along the way that he keeps being deluded. It’s really quite remarkable. But to answer your question, he’s filled with rage. He’s enraged at the woman and sought to make war, it says, against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So, I think those that have to run for their lives is a very narrow subset or a group of the genuine believers on planet Earth. It’s those who live in Judea, those who live in that specific geographical area.
Like I said, if you’re a believer in West Virginia, you’re not needing to run for your life. There’s nothing to run from. Satan is focused, or sorry, the antichrist focused on those right there near the temple. So, Satan is enraged. He can’t get at the woman in the desert where she’s being guarded and protected by God’s power, so he turns and makes war against the saints, the rest of the people on earth. Now, for myself, I don’t believe in a secret rapture. I believe the church will continue on earth until the end of the world. I think that the rapture, which is discussed very plainly in 1 Thessalonians 4, and also in Matthew 24, and Mark 13, where he sends out his angels to gather the elect from one end of the heavens to the other. That gathering by the angels, I think, is to meet the Lord in the air. That’s the rapture. That’s at the end of the world.
And so, I think the church, these are the offspring of the woman. The woman is Israel, and we, you and I, Wes, as Gentile believers in Christ, we are sons of Abraham. We are grafted into the Jewish olive tree. We are offspring of the woman. And that same image is used by Paul in Galatians 4 with the Zion that is above is our mother, and so we are given birth from Israel. And how does that work? Well, the Bible is a Jewish book. Jesus is a Jewish Savior. It’s a Jewish salvation being worked, and we are the children of Zion, the children of the work of God through the woman. And so, he says the dragon is enraged at the woman (believing Israel) and went off to make war against the rest of her children, her offspring. And he defines them there. Anybody who obeys God’s commands and holds to the testimony of Jesus, so that would be Jew and Gentile alike, but not living in Judea. And remember, we’re going to see in the next chapter Antichrist rules the world, and so he’s going to be able to flex his muscles and go after believers in every nation on earth.
Wes
How does this account end, and what final thoughts do you have for us on the entirety of Revelation 12 that we’ve been discussing these last two episodes?
Andy
Well, in my Bible here, we go on into chapter 13 and verse one, 1A, I guess. Sometimes the chapter divisions are interesting. And it says, “And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.” So, we are enticed to look ahead to where we’re heading, and where we’re heading is the coming of the Antichrist up out of the sea, the beast from the sea. So, we’ll talk about that next time. The chapter, this chapter, Revelation 12, is a remarkable, a difficult, deep, and complex chapter, but it’s pretty clear what the main themes are. The main themes are the power of Satan and of demons, and the constant hatred he has for the people of God, and the assault and the attack that he seeks to perpetrate on them. And the way that the sovereign power of God continually protects the people of God so that his purposes can be achieved, that should give us great comfort and encouragement.
Wes
Well, this has been Part 2 of Episode 15 in our Revelation Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 16, entitled The Beast from the Sea, where we’ll discuss Revelation 13:1-10. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
