12
Parenthesis—partly historical
The woman, the Child, the dragon
1 A great sign appeared in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.* 2 And being pregnant she was crying out in labor, being in great pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in the sky: wow, a dragon, huge, fiery red, having seven heads and ten horns, with seven diadems on his heads. 4 And its tail grabbed a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.†
And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth in order to devour her Child as soon as she gave birth. 5 And she bore a Son, a male,‡ who would shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron.§ And her Child was snatched up to God, even to His throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness to where she has a place prepared by God, so that they may nourish her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.*
Satan excluded from heaven
7 War was declared in heaven; Michael and his angels were to wage war with the dragon; so the dragon and his angels made war,† 8 but he was not strong enough; neither was there any place found for him in heaven any more. 9 So the great dragon was expelled, that ancient serpent, who is called Slanderer and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited world; he was thrown into the earth,‡ and his angels were expelled with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in the heaven saying: “Now the salvation and the power have come,§ even the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, because the accuser of our brothers* has been thrown down, who accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they conquered† him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not cherish their lives, even up to death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, yes, you who are dwelling in them!‡ Woe to the earth and the sea! Because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time.”
Satan persecutes the woman
13 So when the dragon perceived that he had been thrown into the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the Male. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, so that she might be nourished there for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent expelled water from his mouth after the woman, like a river, so as to cause her to be overwhelmed by the flood. 16 But the ground helped the woman; indeed, the ground opened its mouth and drank up the river that the dragon expelled from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious about the woman and off he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commands of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.§
* 12:1 Just as Michael is the boss-angel in charge of Israel, as a nation (Dan. 10:21, 12:1), presumably each tribe has its own boss-angel (lower in rank than Michael). Assuming that the woman represents Israel, I imagine that these ‘stars’ are the tribal angels (because of the number twelve). † 12:4 It is generally understood that this refers to those angels who joined Lucifer in his rebellion—note that verse 7 refers to the dragon and his angels. If the ⅔ are over 100 million (5:11) then this ⅓ must be over 50 million—more than enough trouble to go around. ‡ 12:5 That is what the Text says. Since “Son” is obviously masculine, adding “a male” emphasizes the gender. What the first man lost the second Man (1 Corinthians 15:47) recovered; the first man allowed his wife to lead, the second Man will rule with a rod of iron. § 12:5 Here the Child is clearly identified as the Messiah—since He was born some 2,000 years ago we are obviously looking at an historical parenthesis. The rebellion of Lucifer and his angels goes back at least 6,000 years. We do not normally associate ‘shepherd’ with ‘a rod of iron’—the Messianic Millennial Kingdom will be a benevolent dictatorship. * 12:6 Verses 1-5 are historical, but verse 6 brings us back to the Great Tribulation. The narrative is interrupted to give us some background. † 12:7 The dragon knew that Michael had received the order, so he decided to get in the first blow. ‡ 12:9 “Into the earth”, including its atmosphere. The idea seems to be that at this point Satan is confined to this planet. From the content of the following verses I take it that Satan's expulsion occurs in the middle of the seven-year period. So he is still in heaven accusing us (accusing us of what? There would be no point in bringing false accusations, so we must be providing Satan with ‘ammunition’—not a nice thought!). § 12:10 Wait a minute! If it is only “Now”, where have the Kingdom and Authority been in the meantime? As long as a government is being challenged, its rule is not complete or tranquil. I find it instructive that Satan still has sufficient power to wage war, in Heaven! * 12:10 “Our brothers”—I wonder who is speaking, since the ‘brothers’ are saved by the blood of the lamb. † 12:11 That is what the Text says. Comparing 6:11 and 7:13, perhaps it is necessary for a certain number of God's servants to be willing to die for the Cause to bring about the accuser's expulsion. ‡ 12:12 It is the inhabitants that do the rejoicing, not the place. § 12:17 Only two very late Greek manuscripts add “Christ”, as in KJV and NKJV. Over 99% do not. The dragon will persecute Jews in general and Christians in particular.