1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
As in Daniel: “Here... we traverse the same ground once more.' [R. C. H. Lenski] Beginning with the Incarnation, we have the efforts of Satan to destroy Christ while He is on earth, and failing in this, to destroy the church, and failing in this, to wage war against the saints." (Coffman Commentary)
“The Church of God…is resembled by a fair and delicate woman. {Jer. 6:2}—‘clothed with the sun’ (1a)— that is covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness; and clothed with the garments of his salvation, {Isa. 61:10} called the perfection of beauty, {Psa. 50:2} she is all glorious within. {Psa. 45:13}.” (Knollys' Commentary)— “‘With the moon under her feet’ —Bishop Newton understands this of the Jewish typical worship and indeed the Mosaic system of rites and ceremonies could not have been better represented, for it was the shadow of good things to come. The moon is the less light, ruling over the night, and deriving all its illumination from the sun; in like manner the Jewish dispensation was the bright moonlight night of the world, and possessed a portion of the glorious light of the Gospel. At the rising of the sun the night is ended, and the lunar light no longer necessary, as the sun which enlightens her shines full upon the earth; exactly in the same way has the whole Jewish system of types and shadows has been superseded by the birth, life, crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ.” (Adam Clarke)—
“‘’And on her head a garland of twelve stars'- a crown of twelve stars, the twelve tribes of Israel; which are smaller than the sun and moon.” (John Wesley) “Then being with child,”— Jesus, the Seed of the Woman— she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.” —“a symbol of the fruitfulness of the church in times of great trial. (Cp. Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 66:8.)” (Justin Edwards)
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
“When a birth is expected in a family the members thereof are generally hovering near… But in the case of this woman there is a being waiting near who is not friendly toward the ‘event. This being is called a great red dragon. He is called Satan in other places and that is because he works through agencies that belong to this world. The dragon of our verse, then, is Rome. Some commentators designate that it means Pagan Rome Revelation but I do not believe it is to be restricted to that. However, since both Pagan and Papal Rome had their headquarters in the city of Rome, it will not make any difference as far as this verse is concerned, which angle of the subject we take. The description of the dragon in this verse agrees with the government of Rome with the leading European kingdoms that were connected with it and formed a part of the institution as a whole. The seven heads are so numbered because the city of Rome literally has seven hills on which it is situated. But those seven hills are not important except as symbols of something else not literal or at least not material. They represent the sevenfold power of that mighty institution in opposing the works of God. The ten horns are the same that Daniel saw ( Daniel 7:7), and they correspond to the ten toes of the giant image in Nebuchadnezzar"s dream." (Zerr's Commentary)
"His tail"- with it's poisonous venom, likened to a scorpion (Revelation 9:3-5)- "drew — Greek, present tense, 'draweth,' 'drags down' - 'a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the ground' (4a)- His dragging down the stars with his tail (lashed back and forward in his fury) implies his persuading to apostatize, like himself, and to become earthy, those angels and also once eminent human teachers who had formerly been heavenly (compare Revelation 12:1; Revelation 1:20; Isaiah 14:12)." (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown)— “And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.” (4b) This was true in Egypt of God's people being led by Christ that Rock that followed them. (1 Corinthian's 10:4) "So the dragon, represented by his agent Pharaoh (a name common to all the Egyptian kings, and meaning, according to some, crocodile, a reptile like the dragon, and made an Egyptian idol), was ready to devour Israel‘s males at the birth of the nation. Antitypically the true Israel, Jesus, when born, was sought for destruction by Herod, who slew all the malesin and around Bethlehem." (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown) And so it was true at the appointed time in Canaan. "That is, Herod watched to destroy Christ as soon as he was born, Matthew 2:1-12 so while the church was endeavouring to propagate Christianity and make converts to Christ, the dragon watched, intending to devour them." The devil's great design is to crush every good thing in the beginning, to nip grace in the bud, to kill the infant church in the cradle; he is therefore said to stand before the woman, to prevent all possibility of her child's escape. Behold his bloody cruelty! but though he stood before her, he had no power to hurt or touch either, mother or child: behold his powerful restraint!" (William Burkitt)
Despite all of his venomous threats— “she bore a male Child," that is Christ, "who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." He is "the seed of the mystic woman, considered as the head and representative of all his disciples. It includes, therefore, not only Him, but all who are through faith united to him. 'Caught up unto God, and to his throne'; representing the exaltation of Christ, and through Him the protection of His people and their victory over their enemies." (Justin Edwards)
“'Then the woman fled into the wilderness' (6a) The woman, the representative of the Church, has a place prepared by God for her in the wilderness; she is not altogether uncared for; she has a place prepared, and nourishment. God provides her with a tabernacle of safety (Psalms 90:1), and with the true Bread 'which came down from heaven' (Exodus 16:15; Psalms 78:24-25; John 6:49-50), and with the living water from the Rock (John 4:14; John 7:37-39; 1 Corinthians 10:3-4). The time of the sojourn in the wilderness is twelve hundred and sixty days, a period corresponding in length to the forty-two months during which the witnesses prophesied; it is the period of the Church’s witness against predominant evil. Driven forth, her voice, though but as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, is lifted up on behalf of righteousness and truth." (Ellicott's Commentary)
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for him in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
A war broke out in heaven, "not in that blessed place, where God dwells, where all is peace, and holiness, and joy. But, the war here mentioned, was, and still is in the Church." (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary) “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) Satan was cast out of the church and his angels with him. “… Satan has won for himself a large number of associates. The battle they fought must be understood to be verbal rather than physical. Both Christ and Satan are described as being engaged in the battle for the allegiance of these heavenly beings.” (Stefanovic),— the saints of God.
Isaiah saw it as Lucifer- the morning star -determined to “exalt his throne above the stars of God"— the teachers of the church of God. (Isaiah 14:13) And a third of the angels— perhaps teachers— followed him. These "did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode." (Jude 1:6) Thus they fell from the church, being "cut down to ground." (Isa. 14:12) "The psalmist noted this battle as did Paul; (Psalm 68:9) ; (Ephesians 4:8) ; (Colossians 2:15)." (Geneva Study Bible)
"The historical course of events is now pursued, the child being supposed to be already caught up" (Darby's Synopsis) — perhaps the war "was regarding the transference of authority and rule to Christ— the event described in Revelation 4–5…” (Ranko Stefanovic) upon His glorification. "It is not the expulsion from heaven when he rebelled against God at the beginning of the history of sin (Isa. 14:15; Ezek. 28:16–18). Between then and Christ's death on the cross, Satan evidently still had access to the heavenly places. We see him attending the assembly of the sons of God before the Lord in the heavenly places (cf. Job 1:6-12) and accusing Joshua, the high priest before God in the heavenly court (Zech. 3:1-2)." (Ranko Stefanovic) But here “the old accuser is cast out. We remember again that Jesus Christ said just before his death and resurrection and ascension, as he looked forward to them, ‘Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the Prince of this world be cast out;' — John 12:31. Again when the seventy disciples reported the success of their preaching mission, Christ replied: 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven;' — Luke 10:18. So the meaning here seems to be that the resurrection and ascension of Christ was the staggering blow to Satan's kingdom, and foretokened the ultimate overthrow of his power. When Christ arose from the dead and ascended to the throne of God it was eviction-notice served on Satan." (D. S. Clark)
"Christ is the Prince of angels and head of the Church, who bears that iron rod (Rev. 12:5)." (Geneva Study Bible) "Michael and His angels fought" (7a) ""The etymon of the word... Michael, is given by... ‘who is, as God’, and it must be understood of Christ, as Lord of angels and of men.” (Jos. Sutcliffe) “And the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for him in heaven any longer.” (7b-8) They lost in battle and not only were they “vanquished but driven from the field...” (Zerr) of heaven, their names being removed from the Book of Life. "'And that serpent of old'- alluding to Genesis 3:1, 3:4-1- 'called the Devil' - the Greek, for 'accuser,' or 'slanderer'- 2- 'and Satan, the Hebrew for 'adversary,' especially in a court of justice. The twofold designation, Greek and Hebrew, marks the twofold objects of his accusations and temptations, the elect Gentiles and the elect Jews— was cast out who deceives the ‘habitable world.’” (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown)
And through his false teachings, he continually brings ruin. But Jesus offered Himself the sacrifice for sin; see Romans 5:14-15. ”Through His presence on earth, and His death and resurrection and exaltation to the throne, the principalities and powers are disarmed and led in a show of victory... And now that Christ has won the victory over sin for His people the accuser has no place before God. He will, of course, carry on with his accusations but from a far weaker base." (Peter Pett)
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Jesus cast Satan down at the Incarnation and He will do it ultimately at the end of this age. Similarly we are saved by His work on the cross, but He will save us at His coming. "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book." (Dan. 12:1) Yet even now “salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren, who accuse them before our god day and night has been cast down.” ”Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! etc... “— "upon that account; that is, to all earthly sensual men, whether they inhabit the continent, or any island in the sea; because the devil is come down full of rage, knowing that his time is short…”(Jamieson, Faucett, Brown)
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to earth,” (13a) — “that is, when Satan saw that he was doomed to discomfiture and overthrow, as if he had been cast out of heaven” (A. Barnes)— “he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child” (13)— the Jewish church of which Jesus descended, even the remnant of Judah. Satan's kingdom is "different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces." It does not say that he was filled with wrath, but rather that because he was on earth, he persecuted the woman- the universal church. Some say that he is currently tormenting the the wicked dead and that he will continue in his activity throughout all eternity, but this is one of his lies that are pompous words against the Most High which serve to excite pseudo-believers and cause them to persecute “the saints of the Most High” who defend the character of God against such blasphemies. (Dan 7:23, 25)
There are already many antichrists in the world today (1 John 2:18), but at the end of time there will be a religious leader who will be especially effective in evoking the world to wrath. This makes me think of Mohammad, though he is not the man. When his message was received, he was peaceful, but when it was rejected, he called for jihad— holy war. And it also makes me think of the crusades of the pagan church. Today it seems that the people are easy to excite. Even church members react to righteousness with contempt. And people who seek to do good are mocked. An end-time religious man will be supernaturally effective at swaying public opinion.
Within the corrupt system was the woman [the vine delivered from Egypt (Ps 80:8)] who was also exposed to threat of harm—“the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished '- The true Israelites again fled Jerusalem as they had “fled from Pharaoh in the past (cf. Exodus 14:5; Joshua 24:6). Jesus predicted this flight in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:15-28; Mark 13:14-23)." (Dr. Thomas B Constable) "That is, being strengthened with divine power: and taught by oracle, she fled swiftly from the assault of the devil, and from the common destruction of Jerusalem..." (Geneva Study Bible)
“The reference to eagle’s wings recalls Old Testament texts which say that when Pharaoh was chasing the people of Israel after they fled from Egypt, God carried them on eagles wings and brought them to Himself (Exod. 19:4 Deut. 32:11-12). Also in Isaiah’s prophecy, the eagles wings are associated with the return of Israel from the Exile (Isa. 40:31). Just as God did for Israel both in the wilderness at the time of the Exodus and at the Exile, so in Revelation 12 He does for the woman / church in the wilderness in protecting her and sustaining her that she may be faithful.” (Ranko Stefanovic) The Jews who heeded the Lord's warning were safe wherever their Lord led them for safety— for "God will nourish these Israelites in their place of refuge, possibly as He fed the Israelites in the wilderness and Elijah by the brook Cherith." (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
“‘a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent,' (14c) "This time designation occurs first in the book of Daniel (7:25; 12:7). Most interpreters understand the second word as a duel (‘two times'); the phrase thus means 'a year, two years, and half a year' The parallel between Revelation 12:6 and 14 shows that 'a time and times and half the time' and the '1260 days' are the same period." (Stefanovic) It is for the time of Jacob’s trouble. When Jesus spoke of the end, He spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem in a prophetic way referring also to the destruction of the world. Thus: “This is the whole period of the church's experience upon the earth.' [Roberson] 'These forty-two months may contain an allusion to the forty-two stations of the wilderness wanderings (Num.33:5f).' [Morris].” (Button Coffman), represented by the steps ascending to the temple, signifying that the righteous will be fed from their current stations to Heaven proper.
“So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman,” (15a) ”The emblem is not uncommon in the Bible. Invasion is described as 'an overflowing flood' (Jeremiah 46:7-8; Jeremiah 47:2; comp. Isaiah 8:7-8) The same emblem is used in Psalms 74:2-6 to describe the uprising of a people’s ill-will. The floods, the rivers, the waves of the sea, are employed to express popular movements. The woman that cannot be destroyed by positive persecution may be swept away by a hostile public opinion. It is not the rulers alone who stand up against the Lord and His Church: an infuriated populace may be stirred up against them." (Charles John Elliott)—
“that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. (15b) “swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.” (Daniel 11:22)— “linguistically linked to Daniel 9:26, which refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple.” (Roy Ganes) The populace, looking for the gold of the temple vessels that had melted upon it's destruction by fire, "left not one stone upon another" as they searched the rubble, just as Jesus had prophesied in Matthew 24:2.
16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
But the earth “helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.” (16)— an image “from Israel’s wilderness experience, when ‘the earth opened its mouth and swallowed’ Korah, Dathan, and Abiram becasue of their rebellion against Moses’s authority and leadership (Num. 16:32, 26:10’ Deut. 11:6; Ps. 116:17). It reminds one also of the words from the song of Moses— how God stretched out His right hand, and ‘the earth swallowed’ the Egyptians pursuing Israel (Exod. 15:12).” (Stefanovic) This is a picture of the earth receiving the dead bodies of the wicked, whose ravings have a limit.
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her (spiritual) offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (17) "This is what makes the end-time followers of Christ the remnant and separates them from the unfaithful.” (Ranko Stefanovic) These offspring of the Old Testament prophets keep the commandments of God, as they did; and have the testimony of Jesus.
“Revelation 19:10 further defines 'the testimony of Jesus' as 'the spirit of prophecy' (cf. Rev. 22:9). The role of the prophets… is to bear the testimony of Jesus to His people… It appears that the expression ‘the testimony of Jesus’ refers to… His self-revelation to the church 'by the working of the Spirit through inspiring His servants the prophets' (Pfandl) The prophets in the New Testament are the bearers of Christ revelation. It is because of His faithful testimony to ‘the word of God and the testimony of Jesus’(cp. Rev. 1:2) that John was exiled to Patmos (1:9). Revelation 12:17 indicates that the prophetic revelation did not die with John, for God’s end-time people will be in possession of the prophetic gift (cp. Rev. 19:10).” (Ranko Stephanovic)