Revelation 12 King James Version (KJV)
12 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Commentary
12:1-14:20 PICTURES OF CONFLICT AND TRIUMPH
The woman, the child and the dragon (12:1-17)
In this vision the woman who gives birth to a son seems to symbolize Israel who produced the Messiah, Jesus. But it is the true Israel, the true people of God, who are pictured here. The faithful of old Israel were those who began the Christian church, and in the church there is no distinction on the basis of nationality. All Christians are now God’s people (12:1-2).
Then appears a dragon (identified in verse 9 as Satan) whose many heads, horns and crowns show his extraordinary power. He is hard to overcome. When apparently defeated in one place, he finds new energy in another. His conquest of a large portion of the angelic powers (‘a third of the stars of heaven’) is only a preparation for his main task, the conquest of the Messiah. He tried to destroy Jesus, from the day of his birth to the day of his death, but he never succeeded, not even at the crucifixion. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and returned in glory to his Father (3-5).
Unable to destroy Christ, Satan turns his attack on Christ’s people. But God has foreseen this and he specially protects them and provides for them during this time. Persecuted Christians need not fear Satan. Their time of greatest trial (again represented by the symbolic figure of three and a half years; cf. 11:2-3) is their time of greatest blessing. They may be killed but they are not destroyed, for God saves them for his heavenly kingdom (6; cf. 2 Tim 4:6,18).
The battle between good and evil is fought in heaven as well as on earth. Believers can take courage when they learn that God’s angels triumph, while the devil and his angels are thrown out of heaven (7-9). The heavenly conquest of Satan gives reassurance to Christ’s people on earth that they too are conquerors of Satan. They share in the glorious victory of Christ’s kingdom, and the basis of that victory is Christ’s death. He was victorious through death, and those who are killed for his sake are likewise victorious (10- 11). Satan responds viciously. Knowing that little time remains before Christ returns and captures him, he intensifies his attacks on God’s people (12).
Returning to the picture of the woman, the revelation repeats that when Satan finds that he cannot destroy Christ, he tries to destroy Christ’s people (13). It repeats also that the time of the Christians’ intense suffering is the time of God’s special protection (14; cf. 11:2-3; 12:6; 13:5). (‘A time, times and half a time’ means ‘a year plus two years plus half a year’, or three and a half years.) Satan tries every method he knows to destroy Christ’s people but is not successful. God, by his supernatural power, preserves them (15-16). Unable to destroy them, Satan nevertheless does whatever he can to oppose and persecute them (17).