Vision Three - the Roots and Role of Roman Power
Revelation Chapter 12
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: ...
Hebrew myth has it that the Ark of the Covenant was hidden away during the Babylonian destruction
of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., and that it would appear again at the End Time when God established his temple on earth. This
is similar to the myth covered earlier that Jeremiah had taken manna from the Holy of Holies just before the destruction
of the temple and hidden it in the rocks of Mt. Sinai, which was mentioned in Revelation 2:17 in the letter to
Pergamum. The significance of the Ark was that it was the seat of God, never seen by any worshippers but the High
Priest, and its reappearance was a promise that the End Time was near, so this image is a visual affirmation of God's promise.
... and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
These signs of power take place on earth, linking the sign in heaven to God's presence and work on
earth in the lives of his people, even as they go through the tribulations caused by the Roman empire that follow.
1 And there appeared a great wonder [sign, omen, portent] in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
The purpose of this portent was to tell of God's power, as described in references to signs and wonders in
Matthew 24:24,
John 4:48, and
Acts 2:22 and
5:12.
The sun, the moon, and twelve stars show that all the heavens aligned in support of this woman. The Greek indicates this
is a specific woman, and the description seems to identify her to the first century Christians, but we probably have lost the
story that would identify her. There are similar descriptions of the Asia Minor pagan goddess Isis and others, especially
the part where these goddesses are crowned with the twelve signs of the zodiac. This woman's crown, made of stars, may
be a message from John that the Asia Minor goddesses are false and God's love for the faithful is true, or he may have
borrowed easily understood symbols to describe the glory of this woman. Still, it is difficult to accept a pagan reference
to a symbol of God's people, given John's stringent condemnation of false gods.
We can rule out that this woman is Mary the mother of Jesus, because verse 17 identifies her offspring as those who "keep
the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus." So, this woman must represent the Church, faithful in the Old
Covenant, and out of which came the Messiah. Later, this woman will represent the Church, faithful in the New Covenant as
well, since the first century Christians placed great importance on the continuity from the Jewish faith to the Christian faith.
She was pregnant and was crying in agony of giving birth. The metaphor of childbirth was common, as in
John 16:21 and
Galatians 4:19,
indicating struggle and pain before the wonderful event occurs. Even more direct is
Isaiah 26:17-18,
where the faithful followers of God are portrayed as being in labor, waiting for the "birth" of God's salvation.
3 And there appeared another wonder [portent] in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns,
and seven crowns [diadems] upon his heads.
A dragon with many heads is a common villain in writings up to that time. Homer describes a dragon
with three heads that ate poisonous herbs. Egyptian mythology included Typhon, a dragon that persecuted the god
Osiris. In
Isaiah 51:9, the
enemy of God is Rahab, the dragon. In
Isaiah 27:1, the
Lord will punish Leviathan, the crooked serpent. In
Psalms 74:13-14,
God will break the heads of Leviathan the dragon. In a related fashion,
Ezekiel 29:3 identifies
Egypt as a dragon, continuing the references to Egypt and the ten plagues of Moses.
The crowns here were diadems, named for a blue band trimmed in white that Persian kings attached at the bottom of
tiaras. This was a claim by the dragon to kingship.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: ...
In
Daniel 8:8-10, an
evil beast is identified as a goat with a mighty horn that was so powerful that it cast down stars from heaven. We do
not know if these fallen stars are representative of anything other than the Daniel passage, but some speculated that these are
the angels that fell with Satan, while others identify the fallen stars as martyrs who died for Christ. More likely, the dragon
is flexing his muscles, demonstrating his power. However, the indication of a third of the stars calls to mind the
limitation of the earlier plagues to a third, so even though the dragon is powerful enough to knock stars from the sky, the
dragon's power is limited by God.
... 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 threat to the woman's baby has parallel both in Pharoah's persecution of the Hebrew male babies in
Exodus 1:15-22 and
in Herod's killing of male babies in Bethlehem in
Matthew 2:16.
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.
While this is a clear parallel to the birth of Jesus, it also has a broader reference to all Christians. In
Revelation 2:27, the promise to the church at Thyatira was that the overcoming believer would "rule with a rod of
iron," a Messianic prophesy from
Psalm 2:9. Notice
that the rule covers all the earth, not just the Jewish nation, emphasizing the inclusion of Asian Christians and
contradicting the condemnation of Jesus on the cross as "King of the Jews."
Taking the child up to heaven is similar to Christ's ascension into heaven, with the verb indicating that God's
power quickly foiled the dragon's plan.
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 flight of the woman is similar to the exodus of the Israelites into the wilderness from Egypt, Elijah's
flight from Queen Jezebel in
I Kings 17:2, and
Matthew 2:13, as
Mary and Joseph take baby Jesus and flee to Egypt when told to do so in a vision. In these events in the history of God's work
with his people, the wilderness represented how the people in their weakness would be fed and sustained by God's
strength. This flight had a destination prepared by God, both for the woman's care but for fellowship with God. See
Colossians 3:3, where
Paul teaches that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. The 1,260 days indicates the same limit on the dragon's power as
seen in earlier references.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil [the "Slanderer"], and Satan [the "Deceiver"], which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Here's a challenge to our idea of heavenly perfection! If heaven is the perfect home of the all-powerful God,
how could there be war there? To John, this heaven will pass away and be replaced by the perfect heaven. John's heaven
reflects God's insistence on allowing humanity to choose the truth forces God to allow discord and war in heaven - for now...
This scene is linked to the previous two, so the birth of the woman's son and the protection of both the son and the
woman must have precipitated an attack by the dragon on heaven. This also puts into context that our own struggle with
sin is part of a much greater struggle. This attack was a total failure for the dragon, as he was defeated by the army
led by archangel Michael, identified in
Daniel 12:1 as
the protector of God's people. Because of this insurrection and defeat, he even lost his access to heaven. The verb used
for "cast out" (better translated "thrown down") indicates that Satan is thrown out permanently, and the repetition
of "thrown down" three times indicates it is divine and complete.
This concept of Satan's fall from heaven runs against most of our modern conceptions of heaven, but it was common
thought for the first century Christians. In the Old Testament, Satan acts as a prosecuting attorney before God the
Judge. Some of the basis of this belief is seen in
Job 1:6, which
reports Satan joining in at God's regular "staff meeting" in heaven, and
Zechariah 3:1, where
Satan stands before God to accuse the high priest Joshua.
By the New Testament, Satan is no longer the accuser, but the Devil, the deceiver. The Roman court system made great
use of the paid informant, or delator, as one who would accuse people. Those making a living as an information
were notorious for fabricating stories to continue their livelihood.
The idea of Satan falling from heaven is reminiscent of Jesus' response to the work of the seventy, where in
Luke 10:18, he said
he saw Satan fall from heaven as lightning.
Colossians 2:15 says
that Jesus defeated the principalities in his death on the cross. Jesus talked about how his death would cast out the
prince of this world in
John 12:31-32. Jesus's
death and resurrection was more than just our path to salvation, it also conquered Satan.
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 [Messiah]: ...
This loud voice is not identified as an angel, as the previous ones were, but the message here
is of clear victory, just like the other loud voices in heaven presented key signs in God's plan.
... for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
This label of Satan as accuser is like the role portrayed in the first two chapters of Job. Another
form of the word for "accuser" is used in
John 8:10 when
Jesus asks the woman caught in adultery and brought to him to be stoned where her accusers were. This word is also used in
Acts 23:30-35, where
it is used in court to describe the Jews that tried to ambush Paul and were trying to get the Romans to execute him as a traitor.
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. ["even in the face of death"]
The word for "overcame" is the same word Jesus used of himself in
John 16:33, "I
have overcome the world." This overcoming was made possible by Christ's salvation combined with the acceptance
and application of that salvation by the martyrs. This passage parallels Jesus' teaching in
Mark 8:35, "whoever
will save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it."
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell ["encamp"] in them. Woe to the [permanent] 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.
In this verse, we have a clear distinction between those in heaven, who are described as "camping" in
heaven to show them the same as the sojourners on earth, and the permanent residents who have chosen earth.
The temporary nature of Satan's power leads to the desperate actions of the dragon on earth. While the Church on earth
can take confidence that God has already defeated Satan, but we must be careful because in God's plan, Satan has not
yet been totally subdued and removed.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
The woman, representing the true church on earth, now faces persecution from the desperate
dragon. This message would have been especially meaningful to those of the early Christians who remembered the
persecution started by Nero in A.D. 64.
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 is not the same as the eagle who proclaimed the three woes. The metaphor of an eagle's wings for
God's protection occurs in
Exodus 19:4, in
Deuteronomy 32:11-12, and in
Isaiah 40:31: "They
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint." Here we don't see a second 1,260 days, we instead are catching up with the story where
we left it in verse 6.
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.
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.
The metaphor of a river for evil and misfortune is seen in
Psalm 32:6,
Psalm 124:4, and
Isaiah 43:2, and
in the parable of Jesus about the two men building their houses on either rock or sand in
Luke 7:46-49. In
the first century, the Lycus river went underground near Colossae, but the real point is God's protection and intervention in
any number of wonderful ways.
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.
These are the two actions that always provoke Satan to anger, and are just those things that true
believers, the "woman's children," do.
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