Revelation Chapter 12
The events of Revelation 12 surround two “wonders.” The word “wonder” means, “A sign, indication, or token.” So these wonders are signs of things the Lord wants us to understand. In chapter 11,we read of the Jews and their temple, the two witnesses in Jerusalem, the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord (which has to do with His covenant to His people, Israel), and the 24 elders, who are overcomers of Old Testament saints. These all point to God’s plans for Israel. This first wonder, then, is a sign of Israelites who have accepted Jesus as their Messiah during Old Testament times, and also during the first half of the week of tribulation.
Israel is often referred to as a “woman” in the Old Testament writings, and here she is seen as a woman. In verse 1, she is seen in heaven, but in verse 2, she is on the earth travailing in birth. Part of believing Israel are already in heaven, in answer to God’s promise to them of a heavenly city (Hebrews 11:16; 12:22), and part of them are on earth, as we have noted in our previous chapters.
This woman is clothed with the sun, which shows that she is a light to the entire world. In Romans 11:12, 15, the Apostle Paul tells us that the unbelief of Israel brought riches to the world by bringing salvation to the Gentiles, but that their returning to Jesus in faith will bring much more riches and blessing to the world. The moon under her feet shows that she stands in a place of victory and is a light during the night time of trials and suffering. Israel as a nation will not be this great light until the end of the Tribulation period, but those who do believe on Jesus will shine as the glory of the sun and the moon. The 12 stars upon her head no doubt refer to the 12 tribes of Israel. Note Genesis 37:9. As we read of this woman being with child and in pain to be delivered, we realize this is a time of much suffering for those on the earth, and especially for Israel.
The next wonder in heaven is a great red dragon that stands before the woman with plans to devour her child as soon as it is born. According to verse 10, this great dragon is Satan—the one who from the beginning of time has attempted to thwart God’s plans for His people. Satan is called a serpent here, which is how he appeared to Eve. In the gospels, he is called the devil, which means “false accuser, or slanderer,” and he is also called Satan, which means “adversary.” These names give a perfect description of this evil one whose purpose is to deceive the whole world. From Adam and Eve, until the end times, Satan’s great tool has been deception. That is why we are often told in scripture to “Be not deceived.” How important for us to heed these warnings! “Submit yourselves, therefore, to God; Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
Referring back to the description of this great red dragon in verse 3, we see that he has 7 heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. During the Tribulation, Satan will control a league of seven nations and ten political leaders who will rule the world. We will study more about this in chapters 13 and 17.
In verse 4, we see the dragon casts 1/3 of the stars of heaven to the earth. Since this chapter is full of symbolic language, I believe the stars are also symbolic of evil angels which make up Satan’s government of principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). Many Bible scholars believe that Satan was one of the leading angels in heaven before he sinned against God. Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28: 1-19 seem to refer to Satan who became lifted up with pride, desiring to be as God. Therefore, God cast him out of heaven and many of the angels were also cast out with him because of sin in their hearts. God cast some of these angels down to hell, (2 Peter 2:4), but some were cast down to the lower heavens with Satan, which has been their abode all these years. But now at the middle of the week of tribulation, Satan casts his angels to the earth, on which they will wreck much havoc.
Then the woman gives birth to a manchild. The word “man” means “manly, or brave and noble,” and the word “child” shows relationship rather than maturity. This manchild will rule all nations with a rod of iron. It is said of Jesus (Revelation 19:15) that He will rule the nations with a rod of iron, which He will do. However, it is also said of the overcomers of the church of Thyatira that they will have power over the nations and will rule them with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:27). And now we read that the manchild will rule with a rod of iron. We realize from these references that Jesus will be the supreme Ruler, but there will be others under Him ruling in a lesser place of authority, which is what is indicated here. Then the manchild is said to be caught up unto God and His throne. This seems to be a “translation”, that is, being caught up to God without having to go through death.
The question then arises—just who is this manchild? Many people believe the answer is Jesus—the woman being Israel, and Israel giving birth to Jesus. However, these happenings have to do with the middle of the Tribulation period, not 2,000 years ago; and, while it is true that Satan attempted to destroy Jesus when He was born as a Baby and throughout His time on earth, it is also true that Satan has attempted to destroy all of God’s people, especially the Jews, and he will continue to do so until he is chained and cast into the bottomless pit. So now we see him attempt to destroy this group of believing Jews which is being represented here by the manchild.
Revelation 7 records the sealing of 144,000 Jews during the first half of the Tribulation. This was a special people and God protected them from many of the judgments by having His name put on their foreheads. We again see this group in chapter 14:1-5. At that time, they are in heaven before the throne of God, singing a song of redemption, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. As we studied in chapter 7, the fact that they are called “firstfruits” shows that they are the first ones to believe out of the nation Israel during this time. (Israel will turn to the Lord as a nation at the end of the Tribulation.) They are described as having no guile and being without fault before God, fitting the description in chapter 12 of being “manly.” Sometime between chapters 7 and 14, this group of 144,000 overcomers of the nation Israel in the last days will go up into heaven, and I believe this explains the manchild being born of the woman in chapter 12 and then being caught up to God and to His throne.
After this, the woman, who represents believing Jews on the earth during the last half of the Tribulation, flees into the wilderness where God has prepared a place for her to hide from the terrible persecutions the anti-Christ will bring to those who profess Christ. God will miraculously feed and provide for her during the last 3½ years of tribulation. This reminds us of how God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness with manna from heaven and took care of them for 40 years during Moses’ time. Our Lord has not changed! He is the same God today as He was in that day. Praise His name!
Verse 7 tells of a war that will be waged in heaven at this time between Michael and good angels and Satan and his evil angels. Michael will win this battle and will cast Satan and his angels out into the earth. This will bring great rejoicing in heaven because the “accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night,” Even though Satan’s abode has been in the lower heavens all these years, he has still been allowed to go before the throne of God and bring accusations against God’s people, even as he did in the time of Job. (Job 1:6-11)
Notice how Satan is overcome in verse 11 of our chapter. First, he is overcome by the blood of the Lamb. How marvelous that when Satan attempts to discourage us or bring defeat into our lives because of things we have done (or not done), we can say, “Get behind me, Satan, for I stand covered by the blood of Jesus.” Then, Satan can be overcome by the word of our testimony. We can speak to others of the wonderful grace of God, and Satan has to flee. And, lastly, we can overcome him by being willing to give up our lives. Jesus said, “If you save your life, you will lose it, but if you will lose your live for Jesus’ sake, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35) Satan is a defeated foe and we can walk in victory even now!
However, even though there is rejoicing in heaven, the earth will not share in it. In fact, the reason for the third woe is given here: “For the devil is come down unto you having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time.” When he is cast into the earth, he loses no time before he begins to persecute the woman which brought forth the manchild. But at this time God miraculously protects her and helps her flee into the wilderness where He provides for her for 3½ years, or until the end of the Tribulation. Satan will attempt to destroy her as she flees by sending a flood of water after her, but the earth will swallow up the flood and she will be saved. Then Satan, still full of wrath at the woman, looks for other believers to vent his wrath upon, and he finds them in the “remnant of her seed.” So there are still others on the earth who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, but will not be miraculously protected from the rage of Satan.
I believe we have a hint in this chapter, of ranks in Israel. The 144,000 will be translated before the last half of tribulation begins. The woman who gave birth to the manchild remains on the earth, but is protected during the last half of tribulation. And then another group, the remnant of her seed, is on the earth and not protected from the wrath of Satan during this time. Instead, they are probably martyred for their faith, and may be the ones of chapter 15 who stand on the sea of glass in heaven, praising the Lamb of God for His great and marvelous works.
Chapter 12 gives details concerning events right at the middle of the week of tribulation. This will be an awesome time. It is the time that Jesus spoke of when He said, “For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21, 22) This is also the time when the anti-Christ will put himself up as God and will demand that all on the earth worship him. We will learn more of him and his terrible works in our next chapter.
Israel is often referred to as a “woman” in the Old Testament writings, and here she is seen as a woman. In verse 1, she is seen in heaven, but in verse 2, she is on the earth travailing in birth. Part of believing Israel are already in heaven, in answer to God’s promise to them of a heavenly city (Hebrews 11:16; 12:22), and part of them are on earth, as we have noted in our previous chapters.
This woman is clothed with the sun, which shows that she is a light to the entire world. In Romans 11:12, 15, the Apostle Paul tells us that the unbelief of Israel brought riches to the world by bringing salvation to the Gentiles, but that their returning to Jesus in faith will bring much more riches and blessing to the world. The moon under her feet shows that she stands in a place of victory and is a light during the night time of trials and suffering. Israel as a nation will not be this great light until the end of the Tribulation period, but those who do believe on Jesus will shine as the glory of the sun and the moon. The 12 stars upon her head no doubt refer to the 12 tribes of Israel. Note Genesis 37:9. As we read of this woman being with child and in pain to be delivered, we realize this is a time of much suffering for those on the earth, and especially for Israel.
The next wonder in heaven is a great red dragon that stands before the woman with plans to devour her child as soon as it is born. According to verse 10, this great dragon is Satan—the one who from the beginning of time has attempted to thwart God’s plans for His people. Satan is called a serpent here, which is how he appeared to Eve. In the gospels, he is called the devil, which means “false accuser, or slanderer,” and he is also called Satan, which means “adversary.” These names give a perfect description of this evil one whose purpose is to deceive the whole world. From Adam and Eve, until the end times, Satan’s great tool has been deception. That is why we are often told in scripture to “Be not deceived.” How important for us to heed these warnings! “Submit yourselves, therefore, to God; Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
Referring back to the description of this great red dragon in verse 3, we see that he has 7 heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. During the Tribulation, Satan will control a league of seven nations and ten political leaders who will rule the world. We will study more about this in chapters 13 and 17.
In verse 4, we see the dragon casts 1/3 of the stars of heaven to the earth. Since this chapter is full of symbolic language, I believe the stars are also symbolic of evil angels which make up Satan’s government of principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). Many Bible scholars believe that Satan was one of the leading angels in heaven before he sinned against God. Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28: 1-19 seem to refer to Satan who became lifted up with pride, desiring to be as God. Therefore, God cast him out of heaven and many of the angels were also cast out with him because of sin in their hearts. God cast some of these angels down to hell, (2 Peter 2:4), but some were cast down to the lower heavens with Satan, which has been their abode all these years. But now at the middle of the week of tribulation, Satan casts his angels to the earth, on which they will wreck much havoc.
Then the woman gives birth to a manchild. The word “man” means “manly, or brave and noble,” and the word “child” shows relationship rather than maturity. This manchild will rule all nations with a rod of iron. It is said of Jesus (Revelation 19:15) that He will rule the nations with a rod of iron, which He will do. However, it is also said of the overcomers of the church of Thyatira that they will have power over the nations and will rule them with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:27). And now we read that the manchild will rule with a rod of iron. We realize from these references that Jesus will be the supreme Ruler, but there will be others under Him ruling in a lesser place of authority, which is what is indicated here. Then the manchild is said to be caught up unto God and His throne. This seems to be a “translation”, that is, being caught up to God without having to go through death.
The question then arises—just who is this manchild? Many people believe the answer is Jesus—the woman being Israel, and Israel giving birth to Jesus. However, these happenings have to do with the middle of the Tribulation period, not 2,000 years ago; and, while it is true that Satan attempted to destroy Jesus when He was born as a Baby and throughout His time on earth, it is also true that Satan has attempted to destroy all of God’s people, especially the Jews, and he will continue to do so until he is chained and cast into the bottomless pit. So now we see him attempt to destroy this group of believing Jews which is being represented here by the manchild.
Revelation 7 records the sealing of 144,000 Jews during the first half of the Tribulation. This was a special people and God protected them from many of the judgments by having His name put on their foreheads. We again see this group in chapter 14:1-5. At that time, they are in heaven before the throne of God, singing a song of redemption, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. As we studied in chapter 7, the fact that they are called “firstfruits” shows that they are the first ones to believe out of the nation Israel during this time. (Israel will turn to the Lord as a nation at the end of the Tribulation.) They are described as having no guile and being without fault before God, fitting the description in chapter 12 of being “manly.” Sometime between chapters 7 and 14, this group of 144,000 overcomers of the nation Israel in the last days will go up into heaven, and I believe this explains the manchild being born of the woman in chapter 12 and then being caught up to God and to His throne.
After this, the woman, who represents believing Jews on the earth during the last half of the Tribulation, flees into the wilderness where God has prepared a place for her to hide from the terrible persecutions the anti-Christ will bring to those who profess Christ. God will miraculously feed and provide for her during the last 3½ years of tribulation. This reminds us of how God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness with manna from heaven and took care of them for 40 years during Moses’ time. Our Lord has not changed! He is the same God today as He was in that day. Praise His name!
Verse 7 tells of a war that will be waged in heaven at this time between Michael and good angels and Satan and his evil angels. Michael will win this battle and will cast Satan and his angels out into the earth. This will bring great rejoicing in heaven because the “accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night,” Even though Satan’s abode has been in the lower heavens all these years, he has still been allowed to go before the throne of God and bring accusations against God’s people, even as he did in the time of Job. (Job 1:6-11)
Notice how Satan is overcome in verse 11 of our chapter. First, he is overcome by the blood of the Lamb. How marvelous that when Satan attempts to discourage us or bring defeat into our lives because of things we have done (or not done), we can say, “Get behind me, Satan, for I stand covered by the blood of Jesus.” Then, Satan can be overcome by the word of our testimony. We can speak to others of the wonderful grace of God, and Satan has to flee. And, lastly, we can overcome him by being willing to give up our lives. Jesus said, “If you save your life, you will lose it, but if you will lose your live for Jesus’ sake, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35) Satan is a defeated foe and we can walk in victory even now!
However, even though there is rejoicing in heaven, the earth will not share in it. In fact, the reason for the third woe is given here: “For the devil is come down unto you having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time.” When he is cast into the earth, he loses no time before he begins to persecute the woman which brought forth the manchild. But at this time God miraculously protects her and helps her flee into the wilderness where He provides for her for 3½ years, or until the end of the Tribulation. Satan will attempt to destroy her as she flees by sending a flood of water after her, but the earth will swallow up the flood and she will be saved. Then Satan, still full of wrath at the woman, looks for other believers to vent his wrath upon, and he finds them in the “remnant of her seed.” So there are still others on the earth who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, but will not be miraculously protected from the rage of Satan.
I believe we have a hint in this chapter, of ranks in Israel. The 144,000 will be translated before the last half of tribulation begins. The woman who gave birth to the manchild remains on the earth, but is protected during the last half of tribulation. And then another group, the remnant of her seed, is on the earth and not protected from the wrath of Satan during this time. Instead, they are probably martyred for their faith, and may be the ones of chapter 15 who stand on the sea of glass in heaven, praising the Lamb of God for His great and marvelous works.
Chapter 12 gives details concerning events right at the middle of the week of tribulation. This will be an awesome time. It is the time that Jesus spoke of when He said, “For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21, 22) This is also the time when the anti-Christ will put himself up as God and will demand that all on the earth worship him. We will learn more of him and his terrible works in our next chapter.