Revelation 12 – The Ongoing War
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Who is the woman in this vision? Could it be Mary, the mother of Jesus? Or the Church? The best interpretation is that the woman represents Israel. It reminds us of a dream Joseph had.
Genesis 37:9-10 - Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?
The sun and moon represent the patriarchs and matriarchs of Israel, while the 12 stars represent the 12 tribes.
Who or what is the dragon? Verse 9 tells us the dragon is Satan. By calling him the ancient serpent, it’s also telling us he was the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Who is the male child the woman gives birth to? The child is Jesus. Satan tried to kill Jesus when He was born through the murderous actions of King Herod (Matthew 2). Eventually, Jesus did die, but Satan wasn’t the one who killed Him. He offered Himself as a sacrifice and was then vindicated and glorified as He ascended to Heaven after His resurrection.
When does the war in Heaven start? It started after Jesus ascended to Heaven. After Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection defeating death for humankind, the time had come for Satan to be exiled from Heaven.
Wasn’t Satan already cast out of Heaven? He was not cast out of Heaven before this battle, which started only after Jesus’ ascension. Like any other angel, Satan was free to come and go between Heaven and earth.
Job 1:6-7 - One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
What is the result of the war?
1. The Kingdom of God is fully realized and is at peace in Heaven because the accuser (the Satan) is cast out of Heaven. Before this, Satan has been accusing the Christians who have died. He has been causing strife in Heaven.
2. Satan comes to earth with great fury, knowing the time before his final defeat is short.
When does the war end? The only marker we’re given of when the war ends is Satan being cast out of Heaven and his time being short. The question is, Has the war ended yet or is it still going on? If it started when Jesus ascended, and we don’t have a clear indication of it having ended, it may still be happening.
Ephesians 6:10-13 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Has the “day of evil” come yet? Paul may be telling us to prepare for the day when Satan is finally cast out and turns his attention fully to the earth.
Hebrews 10:12-13 - But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.
Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father. His enemy is Satan. His footstool is the earth (Matthew 5:35). Since the time He ascended, He has been waiting for the angels to make His enemy His footstool by casting Him down to earth.
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
What is Satan’s goal? His goal is to destroy God’s people. Throughout history, he’s been trying to destroy the Jewish nation. Verse 4 says that the dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky. Remember that in this vision, the stars of the woman’s crown represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Up to the time of Jesus’ birth, Satan had already succeeded in killing a third of the Jewish nation, the equivalent of four tribes, through people like Pharaoh of Egypt, Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser of Assyria, and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. But that has just been his tail! The implication is: What happens when he turns his seven heads toward destroying Israel?
Even while the war in Heaven rages, Satan has continued to use Muslims, Nazis, and even Christians to try to destroy the Jewish people. Persecution against both Israel and Christians will become even worse once Satan is cast out of Heaven for good and empowers the final Anti-Christ.
What does the woman (Israel) do when Satan is cast out of Heaven and attacks her again? The woman flees and hides in the wilderness for a period of 1,260 days, also called “a time, times, and half a time,” which is a period of three and a half years. A “time” is one year, “times” is two years, and “half a time” is half of a year to coincide with the period of 1,260 days.
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