We have now wrapped up the majority of John’s uses of the “sevens” in the book of Revelation but now after having been revealed the message of the scroll of the Lamb. That message being that what will ultimately draw the nations to repentance is not judgement, force, or conquering but rather through the love we show one another and the lengths we are wiling to go to be committed to the message of Jesus by the way of Jesus.
The rest of the book of the Revelation will uncover more about the beast mentioned at the end of chapter 11 and further tell us about how this grand narrative that has been playing out in the world will end.
Signs
Chapters 12-14 consist of John taking us through a series of visions or signs that will uncover the purpose of the scroll even more.
The first vision we see is what we call “the cosmic battle.”
We are first introduced to two characters/signs: the woman who is giving birth and the “great fiery red dragon”(12:3 ESV)
Who Is the Woman?
A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. (Revelation 12:1-2 NIV)
This mother figure may bring to mind a few different characters. One may think this mother figure is the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary. Or maybe she is Eve the mother of all creation. More likely though this mother figure is not “someone” per se. The mother figure here is representing the mother to the church. Church not as in the building we go to on Sunday mornings but rather the gathered people/kingdom of God. Who paved the way for the church to be established? Who was promised a seed of people from all tribes, nations, languages and peoples?
The prophets imagined Israel as a mother figure to the future remnant of Israel that would come. Take a look at Isaiah 66:7-10:
“Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” Says Yahweh. “Do I not close up the womb when I bring delivery?” Says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.”(NIV)
Along with this image of Israel being a mother figure to who would come to be the church. Israel was also viewed as a bride as Isaiah 62:5 says:
As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.(NIV)
This is covenant language between the God of Israel and Israel as a people. Thus this pregnant woman giving birth is Israel.
Who is the Dragon?
There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.
Revelation 12:3-4
Dragons were believed to be real in many parts of the ancient world. John here though is using the language of a “dragon” to capture the imaginations of the sign he has seen. Dragons and giant serpents were synonymous terms meaning and describing the same thing.
The dragon imagery is used elsewhere in the Old Testament like in Psalm 74:14:
You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness(ESV)
As well as in Isaiah 27:1:
In that day Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon in the sea.(ESV)
In both of these Old Testament depictions of the dragon, Yahweh is pictured as beating the dragon. This was specifically tied to God’s defeat of Egypt and rescuing His people in the Exodus. But this theme of God, Yahweh, conquering the dragon or great serpent is a common theme throughout the Bible and in Jewish tradition it was believed that God would destroy the dragon in the end.
John though identifies the dragon as “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world”(Revelation 12:9 ESV).
What Are We To Make of This Woman and Dragon?
The dragon is on the prowl, seeking to destroy this woman’s child that she is about the deliver. This child we are told is a “Son, a male who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to His throne.”
This imagery here is of Jesus. Israel will be the mother to the promised one who will set the captives free, who will bring about the seed of Abraham that is “of all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages.” The dragon hates this and at every chance he gets seeks to destroy this child.
This leads us to the cosmic battle, where “Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought”(Revelation 12:7 CSB). But we are told the dragon and his allies “could not prevail”(v.8 CSB). At this moment, the dragon, that ancient serpent who spreads lies to “kill, steal and destroy” is thrown to the earth which causes a great many problems. The dragon now on the earth seeks to attack the woman. But “the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time”(v.14 CSB).
How Is This Woman Flying?
In Yahweh’s description on how the Israelites left Egypt He says:
“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.”
As we read through the Exodus story never do we literally see God place the people of Israel on Eagle’s wings, rather this a description again to capture the imagination. To explain a truth that is not easily explainable in mere words that are black and white. This is imagery to capture our hearts and minds with the idea that God truly did rescue Israel in a dangerous situation in such a bizarre way like that of putting a nation of people on an giant eagle and having them fly to safety. God’s salvation is unimaginable.
Therefore, God has saved this woman yet again. Here is where we meet up again with the serpent who “from his mouth… spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood”(v.15 CSB). The dragon is on attack mode yet “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon has spewed from his mouth”(v.16 CSB).
In classic Greek myths dealing with the serpent figure who has enmity with the woman figure, the serpent was a son of the earth. The earth was the serpent’s parent. Yet here, the Greek myth breaks down. Here we see the earth, at the moment the dragon attacks, swallow up the dragon’s attack. In John’s revelation, we see a common Greek myth, get retold differently and in this story, Yahweh, the Most High God, commands the earth, the parental figure of the serpent, to protect the woman. This would make chills run down your spine if you were reading this at the time because it would scream out how big Yahweh is. Yahweh is not a God the serpent can control. Yahweh is a God who commands the other gods to listen and obey. At this point the dragon is furious. His attacks are not prevailing. The dragon now wages war with her off spring.
Who Is The Offspring?
We are told at the end of Revelation 12 that the off spring that now the dragon seeks to destroy is:
Those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.(v.17 CSB)
The dragon is after Jesus followers and seeks to “kill, steal and destroy” as Jesus said in John 10:10.
Summary
In Revelation 12 we are given two signs. Those two signs are the woman giving birth and the fiery red dragon. These two are at odds with one another throughout history. The woman gives birth to a son who conquers the dragon by his death, burial and resurrection. But then because of this Son’s rule and reign, the Son now leads a revolution of people like him. People of the “new creation” who like the Son are in opposition to the dragon and the dragon’s forces of evil.
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