(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
[NOTE:
As we move on through this particular book it might be worth while
reminding ourselves that this is a book of prophecy and prophecy
often uses analogies and other picture forms that leave it open
to different interpretations. Although these notes may make occasional
references to this, what we provide are only meant as very basic
notes to aid the reader digesting what they read, and any deeper
comments about schools of interpretation etc. are beyond this
goal.]
FRAMEWORKS:
Revelation 12: The Woman & the Dragon
v.1-6
The Woman & the Dragon
v.7-9
War in Heaven
v.10-12
The kingdom comes with Christian believers
v.13-17
Satan wages war against Jews & Christians
(See
comments at end of page)
v.1-6
The Woman & the Dragon
v.1
(a
special woman appears) 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.
v.2
(she
is about to give birth) She
was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
v.3
(a
dragon appears) Then
another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon
with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its
heads.
v.4
(it
brings down a third of the angels from heaven and waits to kill
the child [see Herod Mt 2:16]) 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.
v.5
(a
baby who will be a king, eventually taken to heaven) She
gave birth to a son, a male child , who “will
rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” [Psa
2:9] And
her child was snatched up to God and to his throne .
v.6
(the
woman flees into the world for protection for 3½ years
– see earlier) 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.
v.7-9
War in Heaven
v.7
(good
angels fight bad angels [the third]) Then
war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
v.8
(Satan
is cast out of heaven) But
he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
v.9
(Satan
& the demons [fallen angels] cast down on earth) 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.
v.10-12
The kingdom comes with Christian believers
v.10
(a
heavenly declaration – salvation has come) 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.
v.11
(saints
now triumph over Satan) 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.
v.12
(there
is glory in heaven, but strife on the earth as Satan leads unbelievers
– see 1 Jn 5:19) 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.”
v.13-17
Satan wages war against Jews & Christians
v.13
(Satan
persecutes Jews) When
the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued
the woman who had given birth to the male child.
v.14
(but
they are protected for a set period) 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.
v.15
(Satan
seeks to sweep away the Jews - ?the Holocaust) Then
from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake
the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.
v.16
(but
the earth swallows up his torrent of hatred - ?Second World War)
But the earth
helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river
that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
v.17
(Satan
wages war against all believers) 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.
[Comments:
In true prophetic form this apparent overview chapter
comes with picture language. The only way to interpret it is to
see how it lines up with what had appeared so far in history.
•
the woman who bears
a child has to be Israel as a people
•
the child has to
be Jesus who ascended to heaven
•
the Dragon, Satan,
the adversary seeks to thwart God's plans and kill the baby.
•
when the ‘child' is taken back to heaven
he turns his focus on persecuting the Jews. Perhaps his ultimate
attempt has surely to be the holocaust and their subsequent
existence is down to the Allies who triumphed in the war and
eventually set up Israel in their own land again (where various
wars against them subsequently have no doubt been the enemy's
ongoing activity against them.
•
meanwhile he also wages war against
the Christians, initially through a wave of persecutions in
the first three centuries but also at subsequent times since.
Such persecutions continue today in large measure around the
world where, in many countries it is illegal to be a Christian
believer.
We
have omitted reference so far to v.7-11 the War in Heaven because
this is the most speculative. How and when this occurred (?outside
of time?) and if this is linked to the battle on the Cross as
Christ carried our sin, is unclear. Other scriptures do give indication
that Satan has power on the earth today, but only in so far as
it is granted by God in accordance with His purposes.]