Revelation 12 | The Woman, The Dragon, and The Child

A radiant woman cries out in labor. A great red dragon coils to devour her child. Then, in a single sweeping line, the child is caught up to the throne, and the accuser is hurled down. Revelation 12 compresses the story of salvation and the shape of our struggle into vivid symbols that still read like headlines for every age. We walk through the woman, the dragon, and the male child with careful attention to Scripture’s echoes—from Joseph’s dream to the Exodus to the cross—and trace how these images ground our hope and recalibrate our expectations.

We dig into the details that matter: why the woman most clearly represents Israel and, by extension, God’s people; what the seven heads, ten horns, and diadems signal about counterfeit power; and how the stephanos crown points to promised victory for those who overcome. We explore the fall of a third of the stars as angelic rebellion, the war in heaven led by Michael, and the thunderous verdict that silences the accuser. Most importantly, we center the gospel: believers conquer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, not by moral polish or cultural dominance.

The wilderness scene becomes a field guide for discipleship—1,260 days of tested endurance, eagle’s wings of providence, and floods of deception that God neutralizes. Expect opposition; discern propaganda; hold fast to obedience and witness. The dragon is furious and his time is short, but the Lamb has already won. Join us as we read Revelation 12 not as code to crack, but as courage to carry: stand firm, stay clear-eyed, and live like people whose verdict is already “no condemnation.” If this encouraged you, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Intro music - toby Mac

Outro music - Crowder

Chapters

• 0:09 Setting The Scene: Why Chapter 12 Matters
• 0:47 The Radiant Woman And Her Meaning
• 6:39 The Great Red Dragon Unveiled
• 12:10 Seven Heads, Ten Horns: Power And Empires
• 17:50 A Third Of The Stars Fall
• 21:05 The Male Child And Satan’s Failed Plot
• 24:19 Wilderness Protection And 1,260 Days
• 26:59 War In Heaven: Michael Versus The Dragon
• 33:19 The Accuser Cast Down And How We Overcome
• 36:55 Rejoice In Heaven, Woe On Earth
• 39:12 Eagle’s Wings And Exodus Echoes
• 42:03 The Flood From The Serpent’s Mouth
• 45:25 The Dragon Makes War On The Saints

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:09

Well, thank you for joining me as we continue in our study through the book of Revelation. We're in chapter 12, and if you heard me begin in the last chapter by saying it was one of the most difficult in all of Revelation due to the different interpretations, well, then you're not going to be disappointed with this chapter either, because scholars mostly agree that this is the most pivotal chapter in Revelation, and once again, there are different interpretations on a handful of topics that we'll be covering. And so let's just get right to it where John's vision continues. Now at the end of the last chapter, John saw God's temple in heaven opened, and here he continues to give us his vision. And so we begin with the first two verses which read, And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And so John sees a woman clothed with the sun and a crown of twelve stars on her head. And right away in this first verse we have differences in interpretation. Specifically, there's disagreement on who the woman is. But first, we should be tipped off that John is speaking symbolically because he tells us that a great sign appeared. But what do the signs, what do these symbols mean? Well, we read that the woman is a mother, and here in Revelation, we're gonna also see that she is a precursor to the bride of Christ that we're gonna see in chapter twenty one. And she's also a contrast to the harlot that we're gonna read about in chapter seventeen. But we see that the woman appears radiant. I mean she's clothed with the sun, a crown of twelve stars over her head, and the moon under her feet. Now as soon as we read this, we should be reminded of the dream Joseph had back in Genesis chapter thirty seven, where the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to him. And we learned back then that the sun stood for his father Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel by God. The moon represented his mother Rachel, and the eleven stars represented his eleven brothers, who, along with Joseph, would become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. And we also saw in our Genesis study that a few chapters later, that dream became a reality when his father and brothers came down to Egypt and ultimately did in fact bow down to him, not knowing who he was. But here, rather than eleven stars, the woman wears a crown of twelve stars, which most commentators believe represent the twelve tribes of Israel, not just the eleven like Joseph saw, because it would also include him. But others point out that the twelve stars could represent both the twelve tribes as well as the twelve apostles. Now, because of the twelve stars and tying it back to Joseph in that way, most commentators also believe that the woman represents Israel, or even Israel and its faithful remnant, which would also include believing Gentiles or Christians. Now I want to go ahead and mention this as well, because there are some scholars who link this woman with and believe that she represents Mary, the mother of Jesus. And sort of a spoiler alert, but most scholars generally agree, and we're going to see that the child mentioned here is indeed Jesus. But having said that, most of those same scholars who see this as representing Mary, they link the woman here with Mary, but in connection with Israel, not instead of Israel. But Revelation doesn't provide any explicit teaching about Mary anywhere. And as we'll read, this woman will experience persecution after Christ's enthronement and will need protection for twelve hundred and sixty days, and we have no evidence that Mary experienced any of that. Now I'm not going to spend any additional time on it, but I will mention there are some who also see hints of Eve in this woman. Remember, back in Genesis 315, God had promised Eve that her seed would ultimately crush the serpent. But having said all of that, remember, John's using symbolic language here, and there are no names associated with the woman. And so it seems as though the woman most likely represents Israel and by extension the people of God in general. Now there are some people who want this woman to represent the church, but I think we're safe in saying that the woman represents Israel, and that as Christians, we are later grafted into God's people. But verse 2 tells us that the woman was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. Now before I forget, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ. And so if we want to try to make the argument that this woman is the church, the bride, then we may have a problem because she's pregnant. But the woman is crying out in pain and agony as she suffers the agony of birth pains as the birth draws near. And if the woman represents Israel, then the child represents the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And if we look back at history, it often seems the case that for God's people, there's often some suffering that occurs while they wait on God to fulfill his promises. Israel had been waiting on the Messiah for a very long time, and this crying out in agony may also allude to the suffering and the persecution of the nation. And I think it's interesting to think about this. Israel suffered persecution and torment while waiting on the birth of their Messiah, the first appearance of Jesus. And Israel's been persecuted like no other nation since. Likewise, Christians have also suffered persecution as we wait on the return of Christ. Israel suffered while waiting on the first coming of Jesus. Christians suffer while waiting on the second coming of Jesus. But like Jesus told us in John 16, when a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. And so the pattern is suffering, then joy. Birth pains of the Messiah precede the glory of the Messiah, and if we fast forward, the agony of the cross before the glory of heaven. But we continue with verses three and four where John sees another sign, and this one is quite different, because as we read, and another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. Now I stopped here by reading only half of verse four, but I did so on purpose, and I'll come back to that in a few. But John continues by telling us once again that he saw another sign. Now just to be clear, the Greek word used both here and for the sign of the woman we just discussed is Samaeon, and it describes the foreshadowing of a coming event. But this sign is much different, because rather than a woman, John sees a great red dragon. Now in the ancient world, the dragon wasn't necessarily what we think of when we think of a dragon. We usually think of this fire breathing creature with wings and claws. But back then, just like we see in the Septuagint translation, dragons were understood to be serpents or snakes. But either way, what we're going to see is that the dragon mentioned here is truly a monster. In Job 26, we read that God pierced the fleeing serpent. And in Isaiah 27, Isaiah looks forward to the day when the dragon, the serpent, will be punished. But more pointedly, John's dragon here is referring to the ancient serpent, the one who was in the garden back in Genesis 3, the one who deceived and led Adam and Eve into sin by disobeying God. And by describing him as a great red dragon, John is telling us that this dragon is the most fearsome of monsters. And although John hasn't come out and specifically called him Satan or the devil yet, that label is coming when we get to verse 9. But the dragon is also described as having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. And I've mentioned several times over various episodes that the number seven represents completeness, and so these seven heads and seven diadems represent complete authority. Now just a note here regarding the seven diadams or crowns that were on the seven heads. When describing the dragon here, John uses the word diadem, or in the Greek diatoma, meaning crowns. But in verse one, where he described the woman and the crown of twelve stars that she was wearing, he used the word Stephanos. And I think it's important to note the distinction, because when we read it in English, it's not something that you would necessarily pick up on. And here's the reason I think it's important. The dragon is described as wearing a crown, a diadema, which is a royal crown. It's a crown of sovereignty, something worn by kings or emperors, rulers. Its symbol was more political and associated with a dominion. But the woman was wearing a different kind of crown, a Stephanos. This was a crown worn by victors. It was associated with victors in athletic games like the Olympics. And it was also presented to honored guests and soldiers, and it represented victory and honor and reward. And so it symbolized and earned reward or honor. And so in short, a diadem like the dragon was wearing is the crown of the one who rules. A stepanos like the woman was wearing is the crown of those who overcome. The diadem is worn by Christ at his return, but here it's falsely claimed by Satan. The Stephanos, which was a reward, is promised to believers. And what's interesting as we'll see in the end, Jesus wears both. All the diadems of universal kingship and every Stephanos of victory, because he alone is both King of Kings and the ultimate overcomer. But again, John tells us that the dragon had seven heads and ten horns, and I mentioned that the seven heads represent completeness, and the horns that symbolize a strength, ruling authority or this military or political power, which tells us that the dragon will have complete power. But for the sake of completeness, I also want to discuss this from a slightly different angle as well, because there are some who believe the seven heads and the ten horns also goes a bit deeper and that it actually represents seven world empires and ten kingdoms. So let me briefly explain. In this interpretation, the seven heads and the ten horns portray Satan as the hidden ruler behind empires throughout history, and especially at the end of the age. And so the seven heads represent the seven great world empires that have opposed God and his people from the beginning until the return of Christ. And these seven world empires, they're broken down as they've occurred in world history, and so what you have is sort of a sort of a timeline of history in order that the empires have been the dominant player in the world. And so most see these empires as being Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the final revived empire, the Antichrist or the Beast that we're going to discuss in chapters 13 and 17. And so as much as I would like to right here, I'm going to hold off in a more detailed discussion of this interpretation until we get to chapter 17. But for now, I just wanted to introduce you to that interpretation. But here's the gist of it. When we read about the dragon with the seven heads and ten horns, what John is communicating is that Satan is the real power behind every evil empire in history, which would be the seven heads, and in the final tribulation, he will consolidate all remaining political and military power on earth into a ten kingdom alliance, which are the ten horns, in one last attempt to destroy God's people. But again, I'm going to attempt to stay on track and not chase that down right here. We'll wait until chapter 17 to take a deep dive on that. And so getting back to the text, in verse 4, we're told that the dragon swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. Now this sweeping away of one third of the angels from heaven, it's also interpreted in different ways. And I've mentioned in earlier chapters, we know that John is speaking symbolically here, because literal stars are not going to fall on the earth. I mean our sun is an average sized star, and it's a million times the size of the Earth. And so those who hold to a literal interpretation here, they know that that doesn't make any sense. And so they'll pivot a bit and argue that this is referring actually not to stars, but to meteors or comets or asteroids or something like that. But when we look at Revelation as a whole, most of it's clearly symbolic, which is why most interpreters reject this view. The most widely held view on the stars that the dragon swept from heaven are that these stars are angels. Which makes sense, because in Revelation, stars usually symbolize angels. And so the thought here is that when Satan originally rebelled, he led a large number of the angels with him. And we're told that a third of the angels followed him or joined him in this rebellion. And so what John may be describing here is war in heaven. Jesus said in Luke ten eighteen, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. And here in just a few verses we'll read a description of war in heaven where Michael and his angels cast out Satan and his angels. And so the most commonly held view is that the third of the stars represent the angels who followed Satan in his rebellion and were hurled down with him to the earth. By the way, have you ever wondered how many angels there are? How many angels were cast down from heaven to the earth? Well we know a third of them were, but a third of how many total? Well to my knowledge, the Bible never gives an exact number of angels that God originally created, but it does give us a couple of clues that let us know the total number was enormous. In Hebrews twelve twenty two, we see that phrase myriads of angels. In the Greek, that word myrios, it's literally tens of thousands upon tens of thousands, or an innumerable number. The largest named Greek numeral was Mirios, and it equaled ten thousand. And so any number beyond that was expressed by repeating or multiplying myrios. And when the Bible says myriads of myriads, it's deliberately using the biggest number the Greek language had a word for, and then squaring it to express the idea that it's more than anyone can possibly count. And we mentioned back in Revelation 511 that John hears the voice of myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Literally ten thousand times ten thousand and one thousand times one thousand, which if you took it literally and simply do the math, it would equal at least one hundred million. But the phrase is more idiomatic for an innumerable multitude, and so we shouldn't push it for a math equation necessarily. The expression is meant to evoke awe, not algebra. And so the bottom line is that we don't know the exact number of angels, but we do know it was staggeringly large, and even after losing a third, heaven's faithful army is still overwhelmingly vast. I've even heard the thought that the number of angels who fell from heaven will equal the number of people saved and entered into heaven, because God's original creation would be diminished if he had less of his creation in heaven with him. So saved humans will replace the fallen angels so that his glory will be maintained. Now that of course is speculation, but it does make for some interesting dinner table discussion. Now before we move on, I do want you to be aware that not all commentators hold this same view on the stars here being angels. Some actually hold the view that the stars represent believers, and that Satan sweeping away one third of them represents that a third of them are persecuted, or that it's actually describing apostasy where believers fall away from God. And so in this line of thinking, the reference to one third here indicates that the dragon has struck a significant blow against the people of God. And again, this is a minority position, but I again just wanted to at least make you aware of it. But let's now read the second half of verse four through verse six, where John continues by telling us and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for twelve hundred and sixty days. And so the first thing we see is that the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the child was born he could devour it. Now again, as we just discussed, the woman is most likely symbolic of Israel, and that the child being born here is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We can also see that it's Jesus who is in view here because we're told that he is to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And this imagery originates in the Old Testament and symbolizes absolute and unbreakable authority. And so the woman gives birth to the promised male child, and this promise fulfills the promise God made all the way back in the Garden of Eden in Genesis three fifteen, where an offspring of Eve would triumph over the serpent. And that promise was later reaffirmed to both Abraham and to David. And so the dragon stands poised to destroy the offspring of the woman. And in fact, Satan attempted to destroy the child before his rule could even begin. Remember, it wasn't long after the birth of Jesus that Herod attempted to kill him. In Matthew two, we read that then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise man, became furious, and he sent, and he killed all the male children in Bethlehem, and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. And we see that this occurs after the Magi, the wise men, visit Jesus, but do not return to Herod to report his location because they knew what he would do, prompting Herod's rage and his attempt to eliminate the prophesied king of the Jews. And so Satan failed in that attempt to eliminate Jesus. But how many other times do we read about where the Jewish leadership tried to stone Jesus or throw him off a cliff? But all of the The dragon's plans culminate at the cross, where it looked like he had finally eliminated Jesus. But we know how that turned out, don't we? And John even tells us here in verse five, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, which is clearly a reference to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. And so what John's telling us with this imagery is that the designs and plans of the dragon failed, and that the child triumphed. Now John tells us in verse six, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for twelve hundred and sixty days. And so the child ultimately triumphs over Satan, but meanwhile the woman flees to the wilderness. Just like Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt when they were informed that Herod was seeking Jesus to kill him. Now the wilderness can be a place of suffering, or it can be a place of refuge and protection, depending on context. Just like God nourished his people in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. And we see that she's nourished for twelve hundred and sixty days. And there's that twelve hundred and sixty number again that we discussed in the last chapter. And so I'm not going to cover all that again, but just to say that some people believe this is a literal twelve hundred and sixty days at the end of history, while others sort of interpret it to mean a shorter period of time near the end of history. But even though she'll be protected, life won't be easy. The woman has gone from being described above in this sort of majesty to now fleeing in the wilderness. And if the woman is indeed Israel, and as we'll see in a moment, she has other offspring, then it seems like what's being described is the persecution of Israel and its offspring, which would of course include all believers. And so it's a picture of the church of believers being nourished by God in the interval between his death and resurrection until his second coming. But we continue reading and shift gears a bit in verses seven through nine which read Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who was called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Now we've already seen two signs described by John, the woman about to give birth and the great dragon. But now the scene shifts to war in heaven. And the first thing I want to draw your attention to is that this war in heaven should not be understood as being chronological, meaning that this war happened after the woman gave birth and fled to the wilderness. In other words, even though there's a shift in the narrative here, we shouldn't assume that it's the next thing that happened in some chronologically linear fashion. The timing of this has to be understood in context. Now I know this will come as a shock, but interpretations of when this war occurs, they vary widely among Christian scholars, theologians, and even between denominations. Because the text, it's not strictly chronological, and we often see this sort of a blending of past, present, and future events in visionary form. And so there's no single consensus. But the primary views place it as either a primeval event, meaning before human creation, or at least very early in history, like before the temptation in the Garden of Eden. But another view ties it to the time of Jesus' ministry and his victory on the cross. And then there's even a minority position where some hold the view that this represents some future eschatological or end times battle. Now for those who believe this occurred before the creation of humanity or the events in Genesis, they see this as aligning with the idea that Satan was already a fallen being by the time of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. And they also point to other biblical passages like Isaiah 14, 12 and Ezekiel 28, which are seen as allusions to Lucifer's or Satan's primordial downfall. But others interpret the war as occurring or at least being decisively one around the time of Jesus' birth, death, resurrection, and ascension, and so it symbolizes Satan's defeat through Christ's redemptive work. And so this view sees Revelation 12 as sort of a summary of events during Jesus' earthly ministry rather than being an ancient event. And they argue that the male child, Jesus, he's born and snatched up to God, like we read in verse 5, which represents his resurrection and ascension after the crucifixion. And we'll read in verses 10 and 11 that the war's outcome is linked to the blood of the Lamb, pointing to Christ's sacrificial death as the means of victory, which banishes Satan as the accuser of the brethren. And so those are some of the primary reasons some link this fall of Satan to the time of Jesus' earthly mission. And then finally, like I said, others see the war as a more of a prophetic event that's yet to occur, often seen as taking place during the Great Tribulation period leading to Christ's return, representing Satan's final expulsion from any further heavenly access. But just a thought here. Maybe Satan's fall was primeval. In other words, he fell before the creation of the world, but even after his fall, he still had access to heaven and to God. Now why do I say that? Because we know Satan still had access to God by reading the book of Job. In Job one verses six and seven we read that now there was a day when the sons of God, meaning angels, came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? And Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. And of course we know what happened to Job after their conversation. But the point is that Satan didn't text God, he didn't send him an email, he was standing in his presence, but also at the same time obviously having access to earth. In Luke twenty two thirty one, Jesus said to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat. Now when it says that Satan has demanded to have you, that demanded there, it comes from the Greek word exiteo, and it means to desire to have, to ask and obtain permission. And we know that God granted Satan permission to test both Job and Peter. But the point of both of these examples is that Satan was standing in God's presence, but also had access to earth at the same time. And so maybe Satan rebelled before the creation of the world, was thrown out of heaven, but still had permission to come before God. But rather than doing a deep dive into the timing of Satan being kicked out of heaven, before I forget, I want to go back and quickly mention the angel Michael, because we are, after all, talking about war in heaven. Michael is an archangel, the only angel named in the book of Revelation. He's mentioned by name in the books of Daniel, Job, and Revelation. Only the angel Gabriel is mentioned as often as Michael, but Michael is the only one specifically titled an archangel, and he's portrayed as a commander of angelic armies, defender against evil and a guardian, especially of Israel. In Daniel 10, while Daniel is in mourning and fasting, he's been praying for three weeks when he's approached by an angel. The angel then says to Daniel, and I want you to pay attention to this, O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you. Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the king of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. And so what I want you to notice with all of that is the fact that, first of all, Daniel's prayers were heard as soon as he began praying, and an angel was dispatched to respond to him. But secondly, that the angel encountered resistance on his way to Daniel. He was held up by the prince of the kingdom of Persia, meaning another angel who apparently has some angelic custodial responsibility in that area, and he was held up for twenty one days until Michael was sent to help him, and he was then able to break through. And so all of this indicates angelic warfare. And so why did I even go down this path for a few moments? Because we need to be reminded that there is an ongoing, intense spiritual warfare involving angels, both holy and fallen angels. This warfare is not mythical, it's not merely symbolic. It directly influences events on earth, particularly nations and rulers, even God's people. And you know it's been suggested by some people that earthly events mirror heavenly ones. These verses teach us that angelic warfare is an invisible reality behind much of visible history, and it exists because Satan and his forces continue to rebel against God's sovereignty, attempting to hinder his kingdom and harm his people, while God's angels, led by Michael, actively defend and advance God's purposes until the final victory. And the ultimate reason is simply the conflict between good and evil. And what is the ultimate prize of this war? You are. But let's move on now with verses ten and eleven which read And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, for they love not their lives even unto death. So John then hears a loud voice in heaven. It doesn't specify whose voice it is. John focuses on what is said, not who said it. But after the removal of the dragon from heaven or having access to heaven, it means this victory has been completed. Satan being hurled to earth ends his privilege and position that he held in God's court. And so these two verses sort of form the climax of the war in heaven, which is described above. And so they proclaim the decisive turning point in this cosmic conflict between good and evil. And it's interesting here that Satan is referred to as an accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before our God. Now the Greek term translated as accuser here is the word categoros, which literally means one who brings charges against another in a legal setting, a prosecutor, plaintiff, or a sort of a slanderer in court. And so it carries the idea of publicly speaking against someone or lodging formal accusations. And throughout Scripture, Satan acts as a legal accuser before God's throne. He continually brings charges against believers, highlighting their sins to discredit them and challenge God's justice in forgiving them. And Satan's accusations, they probably focus on our sins, on our failures, our sort of general overall unworthiness, trying to prove that God is unjust in showing mercy to sinners. And so his being hurled down means that he's lost his place and privileges in heaven. He no longer has standing to accuse God's people before the throne. And how was he defeated? How was he overcome so that he can no longer stand and accuse? Because believers had good church attendance? Or they were good citizens of the world? Because they were nice people? No. We're told in verse eleven that they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony. Because the reality is the only defense we have is that we've trusted in the one who has already paid the price for us, the only one who could have. In other words, Satan has been conquered by Jesus on the cross, his death, resurrection, and his ascension. And so Satan has been disarmed of his ultimate weapon, which is sin and death. Jesus overcame both. And so Satan's accusations are rendered powerless because believers are justified, they're cleansed by Christ's sacrifice. Jesus told us in John 5 24, truly, truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death to life. Which means that because of faith in Jesus, the believer stands before God without accusation, their sins are not counted against them. In addition, verse eleven tells us that they have also overcome Satan by the word of their testimony, for they love not their lives even unto death. In other words, faithful witness to Christ, even unto death. And this echoes the martyrs under the altar that we discussed back in chapter six, and their bold proclamation of the gospel despite persecution. And so conquering the dragon, it has more than one dimension here. It involves the forgiveness of sins by those who accept the work of Christ on the cross, but also the willingness of believers to surrender their lives if need be. Now that doesn't mean that you have to be a martyr to be a disciple of Jesus or anything, don't misunderstand. But the death of a martyr is sort of emblematic of what it means to be a true believer. And many throughout history have demonstrated that true belief through their boldness of the gospel even in the face of death. But let's continue with verse twelve, where the voice from heaven continues saying, Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. And so we see that heaven rejoices based on what we just read above. In short, Satan, the prosecutor, has been ejected from the courtroom. The verdict is not guilty, because the price was paid by the lamb. And that's why the voice in heaven tells those who dwell there to rejoice. The battle has been won. Satan has been expelled. However, like so many things in life, there's a but. Satan has been defeated and thrown out of heaven, but all of heaven rejoice. But and the but here is but woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. And so unfortunately, Satan's defeat in heaven doesn't mean the end of suffering here on earth. The dragon has been defeated, and the outcome is assured, but the final day is not yet come. The devil has come down to the earth because he's been cast out of heaven. It's the only realm left for him, and he knows his time on earth is short. His time is limited. And so he's going to wreak as much havoc as possible in whatever time he has. He's powerful, but he is lost, and he's desperate. But we continue with verses thirteen and fourteen which tell us and when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, times and half a time. So when the dragon is cast down to earth, he begins to pursue the woman who had given birth to the child. This child defeated Satan, and so his energy is devoted to persecuting the woman and all those who identify with the child. Satan's time is limited. It's only until Christ returned. But the outcome has already been decided, and it will end when God's purposes and his plans have been fulfilled. But for those of us on earth who identify with the child, the time will include suffering and hardship. Now we're told here that the woman was given two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she's to be nourished for a time, times, and half a time. Now I covered that phrase time, times, and half a time in the last chapter, and so I'm not going to belabor that here. But the imagery of the woman being given two great wings and fleeing to the wilderness, it echoes the Exodus from Egypt. In Exodus 19 4, God tells Moses, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Not only that, but in Ezekiel 29 we see a reference to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, referred to as a great dragon. And so the imagery seems clear, and the fact that the woman is nourished should also bring back memories of the miraculous provision of manna that God provided in the wilderness after the Exodus. And just like Pharaoh pursued God's people, Satan will continue pursuing and persecuting God's people until the end. But God will continue to nourish and sustain his people. Now even though we have these references to God using eagle's wings as an image of his protection, some modern prophecy buffs try and read more into that. And so for example, some will argue that the eagle mentioned here is a symbol for America, and the wings are suggestive of an aircraft so that some sort of an American airlift to help Israel is in view here. And I guess it's a good thing for their imagery that Benjamin Franklin failed in his attempt to make the national bird a turkey. A turkey versus an eagle just wouldn't have been quite so poetic or majestic sounding. But let's continue here with verses fifteen and sixteen where we read And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. And again, this imagery of the Exodus comes to mind, Pharaoh chasing God's people to the water, but the sea parting. And rather than God's people being swept away with a flood, it was actually Pharaoh's army which was swept away. In fact, it's almost the same verbiage that we see here. In Exodus 15 we read, The floods covered them, they went down into the depths like a stone. You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed them. These verses they sort of contrast Satan's rage with God's sovereignty. The dragon's flood shows desperate, all out warfare, and yet it's no Neutralized by the earth itself, and it just highlights that no scheme against God's people succeeds. And it's a vivid reminder of this Exodus-like deliverance. And it kind of reminds me of what we read in Romans 831. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed. And one thing I'll mention here is that even though this evokes the imagery of the Exodus with the water and all, remember that this is symbolic language being used. Literal water, like a river, is not going to come out of the mouth of the dragon. Mouths and Revelation normally function as symbols of speech, and floodwaters in Scripture often represent these troubles and difficulties that threaten to overwhelm us. And so what we may be seeing here with the symbolism of the water coming from the mouth of the dragon is false teachings, slander, persecution, etc. In other words, Satan will spew anything and everything possible to persecute believers or cause apostasy. And in today's world, that's easy to see. Propaganda and lies like we've never seen. Satan is a master deceiver. It was through the mouth of the serpent that Eve was deceived. But whatever trials the waters bring, God will bring his people through it. But we wrap up this chapter now with the last verse, verse seventeen, which reads Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. But here in this last verse, we see the dragon's attempt to overwhelm the woman has failed, and he's filled with rage. And we see this enmity or this hatred between the woman and the serpent that was first mentioned in Genesis three has continued all the way through Scripture. In Genesis three fifteen, God told the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his hill. And just as God predicted, the offspring of the woman has conquered the serpent through his death and resurrection. And so we see here that the dragon then departs to conduct war with the rest of her offspring. And again, if the woman symbolically represents Israel, then the rest of her offspring represents all believers, or what we might call the church. But as I mentioned earlier, there are different interpretations on both the woman and her offspring. But regardless of your particular interpretation, we're told here that her offspring are, quote, those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And so honestly, that sort of narrows down the field of possible identities. And I don't see how this is not speaking of all believers and followers of Christ, true disciples. And so if you're a Christian, sort of good news, bad news. Good news. You're a Christian. You're saved by Christ. And you know how the story ends. Bad news. You're at war. Satan is at war with you. You're in a spiritual battle whether you realize it or not. And the easiest way to get picked off in a war is to not even realize you're in a war. But notice that Satan went off to make war with those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. It doesn't say that he went off to make war with those who are spiritual, those who believe in a higher power, those who simply claim to be Christian, but those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. There's a big difference. And how does Satan make war with the rest of the woman's offspring? Well, that's the theme of the next chapter, where we'll see Satan empower the Antichrist and the false prophet. But as we wrap up this chapter, please keep in mind, in a world that is growing increasingly hostile to biblical truth, Revelation 12 reminds us that spiritual warfare is personal and ongoing. The enemy targets Christ's followers because he cannot touch Christ himself. And yet our victory is assured, not by our strength, but by Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain. So stand firm. The dragon's war is real. He's desperate and his time is short. And though spiritual warfare is real and the enemy's time is short, our victory is already secured by the blood of Jesus Christ. So stand firm in both your obedience and your testimony, friends. Because the dragon has been defeated by the Lamb.