A Study of Revelation 12
Part of the
Series
Presented on May 31, 2015 at Calvary Bible Church East in Kalamazoo, Michigan
by
Calvary Bible Church East 5495 East Main St Kalamazoo, MI 49048 CalvaryEast.com Copyright © 2015 by Bryan Craddock Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved
There was a time in history when warfare was relatively simple and straightforward. The enemy lined up on the opposite side of a field wearing a different colored uniform. Modern combat situations are not so simple. Battles often take place in crowded cities where terrorists blend into the general population. Soldiers can easily find themselves targeting the wrong person. Christians face a similar problem. We blame temptation and opposition on the culture, the media, a political party, some group, or individual. We go on —1—
the attack thinking that we are defending a righteous cause, but we end up fighting the wrong battles against the wrong enemies in wrong ways for wrong reasons. We forget what Paul said in Ephesians 6:12, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The reality of spiritual warfare is developed more fully in the book of Revelation. The Christians to whom the book was originally written, were facing powerful temptations and intense opposition. They needed a knowledge of the future so that they would understand the true nature of their battles and have strength to persevere. The book describes the end times events leading up to the return of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom, but in chapter 12 John is given a vision that reveals our true enemy. In this chapter he is called the great red dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil, or Satan. John’s vision in Revelation 12 tells the story of three strategies of the devil and how they are each
—2—
overcome. The pivotal verse in the chapter is verse 11. A voice from heaven says, And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
As we walk through the chapter we will see how God responds to each strategy and we will also come back to verse 11 to see how we should respond.
—3—
Strategy 1: Derail God’s Plan ....................................... 5 God’s Response: The Ascension of Christ ................................ 9 Our Response: Proclaim Christ’s Kingdom ............................ 10
Strategy 2: Exhaust God’s Grace ............................... 12 God’s Response: Satan’s Expulsion ........................................ 13 Our Response: Trust Christ’s Blood ........................................ 15
Strategy 3: Attack God’s People ................................. 16 God’s Response: Wilderness Protection ................................. 18 Our Response: Follow Christ’s Example ............................... 20
Conclusion.................................................................. 22 Questions for Further Reflection ............................... 23
—4—
For as many trains as there are operating in the United States, derailments are rare. Trains are massive, and it’s not easy to get them off track. The same can be said of God’s kingdom plan. God is unstoppable, yet the devil still attempts to throw him off track. Revelation 12:1-6 tells us, 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
—5—
giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. 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 1,260 days.
John clearly states that the woman in his vision is not an actual person, but a sign, a symbol. The way he describes her connects with other women in biblical history. First, there is a connection with Eve. Verse 2 emphasizes her pain in giving birth, and that pain was part of God’s curse pronounced upon Eve and all women for Eve’s disobedience. The connection with Eve is even more pronounced in the description of the dragon and his enmity toward the child in verse 4. God mentioned this
—6—
enmity when he spoke to the serpent in Genesis 3:15. He said, 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 heel.
As Revelation 12:5 says, this child will be the one to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, an expression used in Psalm 2. From the very beginning the serpent has known that at some point the child would be born who would end up defeating him. Ever since that time he has been watching and waiting for the chance to devour him. John’s description of the woman also ties back to a dream that Joseph, the son of Jacob, had relating to his mother, Rachel. Genesis 37:9 says, Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
Jacob, or Israel as he was also known, immediately recognized the meaning of the dream. Genesis 37:10 says, —7—
But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?
The sun, moon, and stars in Joseph’s dream represented his entire family from which the nation of Israel developed. These three elements are all incorporated into a single woman in John’s vision to show that the promised son of Genesis 3:15 was going to be an Israelite. The
dragon
has
attacked
Israel
repeatedly
throughout history in his efforts to derail or squelch God’s plan. The seven crowned heads and ten horns that John describes in Revelation 12:3 suggest that Satan has worked and will continue to work through the mighty nations and world empires of history. The stars that he swept down from heaven are angels who followed him in his rebellion against God and who now work to carry out his plan on earth. The dragon was the one who prompted the Egyptian Pharaoh in Exodus 1 to order the execution
—8—
of all the Hebrew baby boys. He was the one who prompted Balaam to have Moabite women seduce Israelite men and draw them into idolatry in Numbers 25 in order to corrupt the Messianic line. Later on, when God specified that the promised son would be a descendant of David, the dragon brought a slew of trials and temptations upon David’s family to derail the fulfillment of God’s promise. He attacked again through Haman, seeking to wipe out all of the Jewish people as recorded in the book of Esther. The dragon was the one behind Herod’s execution of all the baby boys in Bethlehem soon after Jesus was born, and ultimately he was the one who orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus.
God responded to Satan’s attacks on his plan with the Ascension of Christ. Both Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts tell us that after Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven. John refers to this event in Revelation 12:5 when says, “Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” Jesus was taken to a safe place away from the dragon’s reach. King
—9—
David prophesied this event almost 1,000 years before the time of Jesus in Psalm 110:1, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” The victory of Jesus is certain. God’s plan will not be derailed. In God’s timing, he will return to establish his kingdom and crush the serpent. We’ll see more in a moment about how God protects the woman, but for now we need to consider how we respond to the devil as we wait for Christ’s return.
We can respond to Satan’s attacks on God’s plan by proclaiming Christ’s kingdom. Revelation 12:11 says that believers have conquered or overcome the devil by the word of their testimony. When we are silent, we give the impression that the devil has won. But whenever we speak of our faith in God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ and our hope of eternal life in his kingdom, we remind the devil that he cannot win. Whenever someone hears our testimony and believes, the devil loses his control over that
— 10 —
person’s life and God’s kingdom plan continues to advance. Are you proclaiming Christ’s kingdom?
— 11 —
At the beginning of the Iraq War military leaders spoke of their “shock and awe” campaign. Using equipment like the stealth fighter, they were able to catch their enemy completely unaware and attack with a huge show of destructive force. Their goal was to so demoralize the enemy that they would lose the will to fight and simply surrender. The devil uses a similar strategy. The book of Job tells how he came before God and accused Job of having a false faith. He wanted to tempt Job by afflicting him with all sorts of suffering, but he could — 12 —
not do it without God’s permission. Though it is an unachievable goal, his strategy was to exhaust God’s grace by draw Job away from God. He took the same approach with the Apostle Peter. Luke 22:31 tells us that Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” The devil continues this same strategy against Christian believers today. In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter warned, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Revelation 12 does not elaborate on this strategy, but it does show God’s ultimate response and how we can respond until then.
At some point in the future, God will stop the devil’s exhausting strategy by cutting off his access to heaven. In Revelation 12:7-12, John tells us 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
— 13 —
dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is 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. 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 loved not their lives even unto death. 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!"
The Bible gives us very limited insight into the activity of angels, but here it becomes clear that they are able to fight. Daniel 12:1 indicates that this Michael is a leader among God’s angels who exercises particular care over the Jewish people. The book of Jude also says that he contended with the devil over the body of Moses. Michael’s campaign against the devil described here in Revelation 12 seems to be one
— 14 —
of the many steps in preparation for the return of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom, but how do we respond to the devil’s attacks until that point?
Verse 11 says, “They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb.” Thus far in Revelation, the most common way of referring to Jesus is as the Lamb. Under the Old Testament Jewish believers would offer up animal sacrifices to atone for their sins, but when Jesus died on the cross, he offered himself up as the perfect, once for all sacrifice. Hebrews 9:14 says, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
When the devil brings temptation into our lives, the blood of Christ is the answer. How can a believer take that precious sacrifice for granted? When we do fail and the devil accuses us of sin, the blood of Christ is the answer. His blood cleanses us from all our sins and makes us acceptable to God. Are you trusting in Christ’s blood? — 15 —
It was almost 14 years ago that terrorists hijacked four commercial jets and crashed them—two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one that fell short of its intended target. Terrorist attacks like these that killed almost 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, do not achieve a military objective. They are senseless acts born out of desperation. The same could be said of the devil’s actions at the end of Revelation 12. The Messiah had already been born. Though he was killed, he rose from the dead and — 16 —
ascended into heaven. His triumphant return will already be in progress when the devil is thrown down from heaven. There will be nothing the devil can do to prevent or weaken the kingdom of Christ, but in Revelation 12:13 John says, “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.” Based upon what we have already seen about this woman, it makes sense to continue to understand her as a symbol of Israel. Even though many Jewish people since the time of Christ have rejected their Messiah, the fact remains that God chose Israel to be the vehicle for fulfilling his kingdom promises. As we saw in our study of Revelation 11, many of the people in and around Jerusalem will have a change of heart and will give glory to God after seeing the two witnesses rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. At some point in this series of events, God draws them to himself.
— 17 —
God’s response to Satan’s pursuit is to provide protection for his people in the wilderness. In Revelation 12:14-16 John says, But the woman was given the 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, and times, and half a time. 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.
The Bible is full of examples of God miraculously protecting his people, providing for them, and working in their hearts in the wilderness. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness as God prepared him to lead the Israelites. After the exodus the entire nation spent another forty years in the wilderness as God prepared to lead them into the land he had promised them. David spent time in the wilderness when he fled from King Saul, and Elijah fled there when he was pursued by Ahab and Jezebel. — 18 —
It’s not clear exactly what these eagle wings represent. The river from the mouth of the dragon may be a literal flood. The mention of 1,260 days in verse 6 and a time, times, and half a time in verse 14 both equate to 3 and a half years, placing these events in the second half of Daniel’s 70th week, also known as the Tribulation period. It’s clear that as God miraculously protects Israel from the devil’s attacks in the wilderness, he prepares them to enter the true promised land--the kingdom of Christ. When the devil finds himself foiled, he turns elsewhere. In Revelation 12:17 John says, 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.
This may refer to other Jewish Christians who were not around Jerusalem, or perhaps to non-Jewish believers who become grafted in, as Paul says in Romans 11, through faith in Christ. In their case, there is no mention of the same kind of protection in the wilderness. — 19 —
Though we do not face the devil’s attacks on the same intensity level, he still attacks believers today, and like the believers in this verse, we do not necessarily see miraculous intervention. So how do we respond?
We should respond to Satan’s attacks by following Christ’s example. Revelation 12:11 says that they conquered the devil, “for they loved not their lives even unto death.” The devil seems to assume that the threat of suffering and death will cause believers to turn away from Christ. Even today believers in some parts of the world face these kinds of threats. The problem with this strategy is that true believers are those who understand the cost of following Jesus. Luke 9:23-24 tells us that Jesus said, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Those words must have seemed strange to those who first heard them. They did not know that Jesus was — 20 —
going to literally be forced to carry a cross on which he would be put to death. We, on the other hand, are fully aware that we have a crucified Savior. Have you counted the cost of following him? How would you respond if we faced life threatening persecution?
— 21 —
We have learned from Revelation 12 that the devil attempts to derail God’s plan, to exhaust his grace through tempting and accusing believers, and to attack his people directly through persecution. God responds by taking Christ to heaven, eventually expelling the devil from heaven, and miraculously protecting his people in the wilderness. Here and now, we overcome the devil by trusting in Christ’s blood, proclaiming his kingdom, and following his example. What is your response to all of this? Do you need to begin trusting Christ’s blood? Jesus is the perfect sacrifice to cleanse from all the guilt of our sins. You cannot earn that cleansing, but you can receive it by faith as a gift of God’s grace. If you want to learn more about the whole idea of sacrifice and cleansing for sin, I would encourage you to read Hebrews 9. If you are a believer, I encourage you to overcome the devil by proclaiming Christ’s kingdom this week. You might also be encouraged by committing Revelation 12:11 to memory. No matter what the devil
— 22 —
throws our way, God has given us what we need to overcome.
1. How have you personally experienced these strategies over the past month?
2. Who have you blamed other than Satan? Why?
3. Upon which response do you most need to focus? What practical steps can you take to do that?
— 23 —
Bryan Craddock has served as the Pastor of Calvary Bible Church East in Kalamazoo, Michigan since the church began in 2007. He is a graduate of the Master’s College and Seminary (B.A. and M.Div.) and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.). He and his wife, Shari, live in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with their three children.
Calvary Bible Church East is an independent, nondenominational, Bible church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, guided by a three-part vision. First, we seek to understand the Bible in order to live out its teaching as Spirit-filled worshippers of God and followers of Jesus Christ. Next, we seek to deepen our love for one another as the family of God. Finally, we seek to be actively engaged in our community in order to shine Christ’s light through meeting pressing needs and communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ. For more information, visit us online at CalvaryEast.com.