4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.
We pick up the story in verse four, where we get more information about the motive of the dragon that appeared in verse three, which was red in color and described as having, "seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads."
5 "And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne..."
All the writers I read on this chapter agree that this male child referenced above that the woman gives birth to is Jesus Christ. The woman, the mother of the male child, is seen as either the country of Israel or the Mary the mother of Christ or possibly symbolic of both.
6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
The flight of the woman into the wilderness echoes many such instances of retreat into the wilderness in the Bible, such as Christ's fast in the wilderness, or the wandering of the Israelites in the desert, or the life of impoverished asceticism chosen by John the Baptist. Some writers say that the woman symbolizes the Israelites, though some other writers say that the woman is in fact a symbol of the Christian Church.
7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
I found the timeline of this a bit confusing; it does appear that at the beginning the woman exists in some kind of astronomic frame with the symbols of the sun, moon and stars in the imagery, denoting outer space. The dragon's tail sweeps a third of the stars out of the sky; if this signifies all the angels that fought against God when Lucifer rebelled against Him this would suggest a tremendous amount of beings were banished to Hell by God for their rebellion.
9 The great 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.
After God protects Christ by calling Him up to Heaven, and nourishes the Church/Israel (symbolized by the woman with the crown of stars) as she wanders in the wilderness, he casts Satan out of the heavens. The compatriots who plotted alongside of the devil to challenge God, referred to above as 'his' angels, are also thrown down to earth, as the prior verses say there is no place for them in Heaven any longer.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
“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 comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
12 Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
Here a voice from heaven steps in to narrate the events that have happened so far, and gives humanity a warning. We are told that we are subject to 'woe to the earth and the sea' now that Satan has been cast out of heaven, and with his angels has fallen down to earth to cause chaos and consternation, (though according to the verses his time to do so is limited).
13 So 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. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
Verse 13 seems to be telling us that since Lucifer has been cut off or separated from God and thrown out of heaven he now makes it his focus to pursue the church, which is what the woman in the text is said to symbolize, whether this be a reference to Jews or Christians or both.
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.
From these verses it's clear that the devil tries everything in his power to destroy the church, represented by the female figure in these verses, (either Israel or Christianity or symbolic of both). This includes trying to kill her infant son, Jesus, whom God took into the safety of heaven.
17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
These verses follow verse 18 of the prior chapter which declares the first beast, the devil, (represented as a dragon) to be standing on the shore. (In the King James Version this verse, 12:18, begins this chapter rather than ending the last one, and in the ESV it is added to the end of the last verse, becoming part of verse 17).
"One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast."
This verse is describing the beast from the sea (in verse one of Revelation chapter three) that has seven heads and ten horns, with a diadem on each horn, and a blasphemous name on each head.
"They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
Many pastors and writers interpret these verses as having something to do with the Roman Empire or the papacy, whether past or present, while other writers give a much wider historical interpretation. The writer at studylight.org draws parallels to the fallen Roman Empire and the current Vatican. Matthew Poole's commentary at biblehub.com gives this treatment to the verses in an even more detailed fashion.
"The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months."
In this verse we are told that the time period for the beast to exercise authority is forty-two months, or three and a half years.
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.
Here we are shown that this dragon-empowered beast is beginning to blaspheme against God and to persecute His most devoted followers. Many of the commentaries I read pointed out that blasphemy is not only speaking against God but also pretending to be God, such as the anti-Christ is predicted to do.
Ellicott's commentary at biblehub.com suggests a slightly improved sentence structure for this verse, which reads: "And all they that dwell on the earth shall worship him (every one) whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb that has been slain from the foundation of the world." This is a very sobering verse and stern warning to all of us that Salvation through Christ is the only thing that can save us from falling under the spell of the anti-Christ. Verse seven warns us that this beast is given power to overcome even the saints, and that authority was given to him "over every tribe, language, people and nation". When you meditate on the overwhelming nature of this cult that is set to form at the end times around a demonic figure, it is quite frightening to contemplate.
"9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints."
These verses follow our having been told that in the last days much of humanity will fall under the spell of the beast from the sea and worship it. The phrase in verse nine, "let anyone who has an ear let him hear," is common in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, and the two couplets that follow refer back to Jeremiah 15:2.
"11Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed."
In these verses we are introduced to the second beast of Revelation, the beast from the land. The second part of verse eleven describing "horns like a lamb" seems to liken this beast to Christ in appearance, but the following phrase shows it to be demonic, as the word 'dragon' is used over and over in Revelation to signify Satan.
13 "It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all..."
At this point in the prophecy, the beast of the land, (which draws its power from the beast of the sea), has drawn the attention of the whole world and is exhibiting supernatural powers and holding the world in thrall, with the exception of the followers of Christ who know this is a false prophet.
"...and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived..."
The writer at gotquestions.org goes into more detail about the identity and characteristics of the antichrist in their blog on this verse at this link, and ends by saying, "What is the Antichrist? In summary, the Antichrist is the end-times false messiah who seeks, and likely achieves, world (emphasis mine) domination so that he can destroy Israel and all followers of Jesus Christ."The writer at the onetruthonelaw.com blog also discusses at length the beast that was wounded by the sword.
15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
This is the second beast being talked about in these verses, the beast from the sea. The beast from the earth, who gets its power from the Dragon, (which most writers/scholars agree symbolizes Satan,) is the first beast, the one that has a mortal wound that was miraculously healed.
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
These verses are being referenced quite a bit lately with regard to what is going on with Coronavirus, and quite a number of Christians have made reference to the Coronavirus vaccine as the mark of the beast. The order of events in these verses are very important; folks need to understand the mark is not a thing until after the Anti-Christ has been revealed.
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
I want to recap all the things that John of Patmos prophesies will happen before the mark of the beast is given. First, either the last verse of Revelation 12 or the first verse of this chapter depending on the translation, says "the dragon took his stand on the land of the seashore". Then a beast of arises out of the sea drawing his power from the dragon, which most writers believe symbolizes Satan/the devil. This beast has ten horns and seven heads, and wears ten crowns, or diadems. One of his heads has incurred a mortal wound, which was miraculously healed. In verse four of this chapter we are told the whole world worships this beast from the sea, that has been given power by the 'dragon' which represents Satan.
"This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six."
There are plenty of theories about this number and the gematria involved in trying to figure out whom it represents.
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
The number 144,000 is also mentioned in Revelation 7:4 as the number sealed from the tribes of Israel. There seem to be many interpretations of this number; one of them is that it is a symbolic number that represents the totality of the number twelve squared, according to wikipedia.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth.
I think these are beautiful verses. I'm especially intrigued by the beginning of verse three where John says "they sing a new song"; the thought of there being a brand new thing that has not been heard ever before, a completely new creation, as an introduction to a better time, is such a hopeful thought.
The writer at bibleref.com proposes some theories about who these choristers may be, (as not much information is given), and says, "Whoever they are, it is clear they are joyfully welcoming the end of the tribulation and the commencement of Jesus' reign on earth."
4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
These verses refer to the 144,000 mentioned in earlier verses of this chapter; it seems most scholars believe this is a number of Jews from the lost tribes of Israel who will be special to Christ because of their obedience to God and abstinence from sin.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
I tried to get a better understanding of the term "midheaven"; apparently this is an old astronomical/astrological term that means, according to wiktionary, "the intersection of the ecliptic and the meridian." This really didn't help me much. As astrology and astronomy were combined historically far more so than they are now, it is a term that probably would have been more familiar to people at the time of this writing than it is to us. Biblehub.org has a bit more information here.
8 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
The writer at bibleref.com explains Babylon the Great as being the representation of the worship of satanic principles such as lust and greed, and this article at Frontline gives a good synopsis of Revelation with a lot of historical background, and comes to the conclusion, like many scholars, that Babylon the Great/the Whore of Babylon signifies the Roman Empire.
