Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 157th episode. First I’d just like to thank you for being patient over the past two weeks. I never like going longer than 10 days without publishing new content. Two weeks ago I tested positive for COVID-19 and I developed a nasty case of strep throat. Fortunately the healing process has been far quicker than I feared it would be. But still it caused this podcast to fall of the rails longer than I would have liked. So thank you for your patience and thank you for listening. In this episode I want to continue our study of the book of Revelation. We are in chapter 12. When we read Revelation we often have to make interpretive decisions without having all of the information available to us. Such is the case in this chapter as well as the two which follow it. There is general consensus among expositors that the narrative told between the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the opening of the vials describes events which happened long ago. For the purposes of this podcast that’s the interpretive decision I’m going to stick with: that the events in this chapter are telling an ancient story. God revealed these events to the apostle John in order to buttress his understanding of future prophecies. Giving this revelation to John functioned to provide some backstory and context to the other prophecies, but it also showed John the relationship between prophetic vision and God’s providence to bring these prophecies into being. Basically, if God says He’s going to do something then that thing is certain to take place. This chapter speaks of a conflict between the church and the Antichrist – a contest between the descendants of the woman and the descendants of the serpent. This battle began in heaven and was carried out in the wilderness. Let’s begin with verses 1-11:
Rev 12:1 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:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3 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.
Rev 12:4 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.
Rev 12:5 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.
Rev 12:6 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.
Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 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.
Rev 12:10 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.
Rev 12:11 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.
Way back in Genesis chapter 3 God gave a prophecy concerning the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. God said He would put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Throughout history this enmity has taken many forms, but chief among them is Satan and his agents seeking to prevent the increase of the church and to hinder the advancement of the kingdom of God. Often this means attacking her children the moment they are born. It’s not uncommon for new Christians to be attacked with trials and tribulations shortly after committing their lives to Christ. This is particularly true of new Christians whom God plans to use for great accomplishments. God will preserve you throughout these challenges if you have faith, but these kinds of attacks on new Christians are responsible for many stories of ruined potential and the best that never was.
In this passage the church is represented as a woman. This next part is going to trigger the third wave feminists but one of the reasons the church is depicted as a woman is because women are generally more vulnerable to persecution than men. The Christian Church shares this vulnerability to persecution. This doesn’t mean women are in fact more persecuted than men – because there are indeed more men than women in prison and more men than women have suffered and died in wars. There are also more men than women who have died childless. Women also have a higher life expectancy than men. Another reason the church is depicted as a woman is because the church is the bride of Christ and the mother of the saints. This passage pictures the woman as being clothed with the sun. This imagery is meant to symbolize having the righteousness of Christ imputed to her. When we become Christians we put on the righteousness of Christ like a garment. It’s like being clothed with the sun because Jesus is the sun of righteousness. I’m using the word sun as S-U-N here. Your relationship with Christ invests honorable rights and privileges within you and makes you shine with the rays of His love.
The woman is pictured as having the moon under her feet. This is meant to show how she stands in the world but lives with a mind toward heaven. Every Christian should live life in the same way. We are called to be in the world but not of the world. When I say world here I do not mean the creation. I mean any cultural system which attempts to draft an existential narrative which dispenses with God. The heart of the woman is not set on the things of this world but rather she looks forward to heaven. There’s a careful line to be drawn here. It’s good to keep yourself focused on God so as to maintain the perspective of eternal life. But I don’t think it’s wise for Christians to become so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good. We are called to be salt to preserve what is good and light to guide the world. We can’t do this very effectively if we approach life from a defeatist mindset of just waiting until we get to heaven. Contrarily, the security of Christ’s victory over sin and death should give us the sense of liberty and confidence necessary to do all we can to spread His gospel in this world.
This Great Commission mindset is symbolized on the woman as a crown which holds twelve stars. The twelve stars represent the gospel preached by the twelve apostles. For Christians, the gospel is a tale of salvation, victory, and glory. God’s victory has brought us salvation and for that we will glorify Him. The woman in John’s vision is also pregnant and in the pains of childbirth. This symbolism represents how the Church brings forth a holy progeny to Jesus Christ. Conception begins when the word of God convicts the heart of a sinner and the gospel seed is planted there. The hope of all Christians should be that this conviction means the first step in a journey toward ultimate conversion and rebirth. The death of the old, broken spirit followed by the heavenly renewing of the mind. It’s within this process of discipleship and development where the enemy of God seeks to undermine the spiritual growth of the new Christian and destroy whatever potential he or she had.
In this passage Satan is pictured as the grand enemy of the church. He is a great red dragon. This image is meant to encapsulate the strength, terror, fierceness, and cruelty of God’s enemy. It’s true that Satan is not equal to Christ and that none can contest God for the holy throne – but this enemy of God should not be taken lightly by the Christian. If the fear of the Lord is in us and we are faithful to Jesus then we have no reason to be afraid of Satan. But we have good reasons to resist overconfidence or arrogance regarding sinful temptation. The moment we think we are too pure to fall away and descend into evil is the moment we face the greatest danger of doing so. We must always maintain a sense of humility which rightfully attends the knowledge of our broken condition. This humility should always be followed by immense gratitude that Jesus Christ laid down His life to rescue us from such a condition.
The red dragon is described as having seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. Some interpreters have taken this to be a reference to ancient Rome which was built on seven hills. Rome was also divided by Augustus Caesar into ten provinces – which might explain the ten horns imagery. The seven crowns represent seven kings which are later discussed in Revelation chapter 17. The dragon is pictured using his tail to cast a third of the stars from heaven down to earth. This might mean the displacement of ministers and preachers from their positions of influence. If it were up to Satan all ministers would be rendered as weak and useless as possible. The enemy of God desires to deceive God’s followers, and this project is made much more difficult when God’s followers are shepherded by a good minister.
No matter how old the person is, a Christian can be most vulnerable to deception right when they first begin their faith journey. This is because they’ve begun a worldview transformation and they’re gathering what information they can to make sense of things. These moments usually involve a large amount of zeal and open-mindedness. The person is very passionate to develop this new way of seeing things and so they’re more likely to accept falsehoods as truth. These are the moments when the enemy of God works most diligently to derail the new Christian’s faith. There are countless stories of a person coming to Christ and being blindsided by some kind of tragedy shortly after conversion. There’s usually great temptation to blame God for the suffering and the grief. Pastors and mature Christians should do what they can to follow up with and look after new Christians. The more good theology is built up in a person the better they are able to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to how they should think about God.
Some interpreters think the woman’s delivery of a man-child is meant to be a representation of Christ. Others suggest it could have been the Roman emperor Constantine and still others suggest it’s a picture of the Church. Regardless of how you choose to interpret the imagery, the meaning is clear: Satan’s attempts at stealing away the Christian faith from true believers will be unsuccessful. Every Christian who remains faithful to Jesus will continue to experience sanctification until the day they pass into glory and are eternally outside the reach of sinful temptation. One of the reasons so many people outside of the faith think Christians are judgmental is because the Christian does what he or she can to be Christlike. Christ is an ideal and every ideal is a judge because when you look upon the ideal you see all the ways in which you yourself fail to match up to it. So whether you’re judgmental or not, if you try your best to be Christlike then wicked people are going to feel like you’re judging them. This conviction is both healthy and desirable because it’s a prerequisite for repentance. Why repent when you don’t think you have anything to repent of?
The main reason why enemies of God will be unsuccessful in corrupting the Christian faith is because God will not allow it. From its infancy Christianity has been cultivated and curated throughout the world by Jesus Christ Himself. The Spirit of God inspired the biblical authors. The Spirit of God preserved the text across time. The Spirit of God empowered those evangelists who preached the gospel far and wide. It’s relieving to know we aren’t the ones in control of preserving the faith. One of the curious aspects about Christianity is how it tends to spread in areas where it is most heavily persecuted. There are totalitarian regimes throughout the world who outright ban the Scriptures because they know how rapidly the faith can spread. But even the most clever, hard-nosed opposition to Christ can do nothing to prevent the execution of God’s will. Divine providence sews the seeds of faith all over the planet and nourishes the Church as we advance God’s kingdom here in this life.
We know that in many parts of the world Christianity seems to spread faster the more its followers are persecuted – or at the very least they manage to endure these persecutions. The dragon’s unsuccessful attempt to devour the woman’s child in this passage of Revelation is telling the same story. Satan’s efforts against the church are not only unsuccessful, but they are actually fatal to his own interests. The dragon’s move to attack the woman’s child started a war in heaven. The heavenly angels under the archangel Michael fought against Satan and his fallen angels. Satan lost this battle and he was cast out from heaven. Jesus said that whatsoever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This indicates heaven’s deep interests in the things which are happening on earth. Heaven is interested in earthly affairs because God is interested in earthly affairs. We can think of the church as the kingdom of God on earth whereas heaven is obviously the kingdom of God in heaven. But the two are inextricably connected. To wage war on the church is to wage war on the kingdom of God. To promote the well-being of the church is to advance the kingdom of God here on earth.
There’s a parallel between Michael with his angels and Christ with His faithful followers in the church. Michael and his angels do battle with the dragon and the dragon’s angels. Christ and the faithful are together against Satan with his principalities and powers in this world. To the faithless person the world can look very bleak, full of injustice, and rampant with evil. People outside the faith view the Christian church as a futile effort when stacked against the mighty powers of dysfunction and malevolence. But this evaluation could not be further from the truth. The dragon with his angels may have looked superior to Michael with his, and the wickedness of this world may look stronger than the goodness. But everything turns on Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ flips the entire power dynamic upside down. The reality is Satan and his instruments stand no chance against the church because the church is under the omniscient eyes of Jesus. Likewise, even the faithful themselves have nothing to fear of God’s enemies because all who are found in Christ Jesus will be saved. Jesus is the captain of your salvation and you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
Some interpreters suggest this battle between the dragon and heaven’s angels was prophetic of Constantine extirpating pagan idolatry from the Roman empire. Rome was a pagan nation until Constantine made Christianity the official religion. Some say he did this because he was a true convert, but others think Constantine sanctioned Christianity because it was politically expedient to do so. Regardless, Christianity gained a lot of ground in Rome and depending on how you look at it this could be considered a victory. Personally I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix the state into your religion. Power corrupts human beings and when the clergy is given the power of the state it often results in negative outcomes.
God’s victory over Satan is followed by a song of praise. Christ is pictured as a conqueror who is greatly adored for His strength and the power of His salvation. The Church has done many great things in this world to advance the kingdom of God and bring blessings to the faithful. All of these achievements should be ascribed to the power of Jesus as our King and as the head of the Church. In this song of praise Satan is described as the accuser of the brethren. This title is in reference to his main strategy in his war against the church: using deception to bring guilt and shame onto those of weak faith. The passage says he accused the brethren before God day and night – this gives the intimation that Satan is tireless in his efforts to pull people away from God and cause their descent into misery. This use of accusation to drive a wedge between the faithful and God is what Satan tried with Job as well as Joshua the high priest.
Satan hates being in the presence of God but he tolerates it in order to accuse humanity before Him. You need not fear the hollow accusations of Satan as long as you remain faithful in Jesus. Jesus Christ is your advocate and His sacrifice on the cross has washed away the guilt of your sins. Because of this reality, you can readily come into the presence of God yourself and confess your own sins – thus circumventing Satan’s attempts to shame you. Holier-than-thou Christians, like the Pharisees, are particularly wicked because they are doing the devil’s work for him. Their attempts to shame others for their sins and make them feel as if they aren’t good enough to be saved is exactly out of hell’s playbook. The measure of mercy you show others is the same measure of mercy you will receive – so it’s really important to remember that Christ died for all people and His atonement is sufficient for all sins. When you interact with godless people, you should strive to be a loving inspiration rather than an iron-fisted judge.
The battle is already won. Christ won the day over Satan when He gave His life on the cross. Because of Jesus you can rest in the knowledge that your spirit is safe from the principalities and powers of this world so long as you remain faithful. This scene in Revelation shows the servants of God overcoming Satan by the power of the blood of the Lamb. The perfect sacrifice of the only human being who never sinned. The perfect sacrifice which broke the power of sin and death forever. You might say it’s all well and good to have an intellectual or faith-based understanding that the battle is won – but what about the battles you still have to fight each day? God doesn’t abandon you there either. Even though the ultimate fight is finished your small sufferings remain significant to Him. God has given you weapons with which to fight these battles. First is the word of God. Scripture is called the sword of the Spirit and the more you immerse yourself in it the sharper you become. Resolute and powerful preaching of the word of God has the capability to pull down entire strongholds of evil and change the world. In addition to Scripture God has given you His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your comforter, your guide, and your advocate. He gives you courage and patience through your sufferings and He exhorts you to love Christ even more than you love your own life.
The great champions of faith often laid down their very lives for the cause of Christ. This courageous conviction has been a mystery to the godless for thousands of years. The enemies of God have always been confounded by the willing sacrifice of His followers. How could anyone love a God so much that they would let go of their own lives for Him? As a Christian, when you exhibit great faith you reinforce the faith of those around you and it’s quite possible you the change the course for the faithless as well. When a godless person is loved by a Christian, often they can’t help but ask themselves who is the source of such a steadfast love? Asking these questions and answering them honestly is a pathway which leads directly to Jesus Christ. So the next time you are called to demonstrate your faith by sacrificially loving your enemy, remember that by doing so you may be leading them to the one who holds their eternal salvation. And that is the kind of work which will cause Christ to say to you: well done my good and faithful servant. Let’s read verses 12-17:
Rev 12:12 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.
Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14 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.
Rev 12:15 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.
Rev 12:16 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.
Rev 12:17 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.
This passage shows us an extension of the battle which was already won in heaven. The dragon was cast down to the earth and began to persecute the church with great wrath because he knew his time was running out. The woman, who represents the church, was given the wings of a great eagle and carried away into the wilderness to be protected from the serpent for a time. This scene is fitting because it represents the battles we still face each day despite the fact that Christ won the war thousands of years ago. Satan still chases down the church and persecutes her with the hope of turning as many away from God as possible. This prophecy presents a warning to earth and all who inhabit it concerning the distress and calamity which comes from enraged evil and vengeful wickedness. The main object of Satan’s wrath is always God and the church but people outside of the faith suffer the collateral damage of his hateful war against them. The devil hates humanity because human beings bear the image of a holy God. The faithful are protected (in an ultimate sense) from the designs of evil and so Satan is resolved to cause as much destruction and disturbance in the world outside of the church as he can. Unfortunately the faithful are not protected in this life from those who are possessed by wickedness – and often Christians are murdered by such people. The rage and wrath of Satan increases when he is limited in both space and time. This passage pictures his dwindling reign confined to the wilderness and so his hate burns white hot.
As Satan continues to persecute the church Christ continues to rescue her and preserve her. She was carried away into the wilderness and held in safety until Satan made a second attempt to attack her. We should take note of the fact that even when God took measures to hedge in the church with some protection she was not invulnerable to attack. Adam and Eve faced the serpent even inside the paradise of God. You might wonder why God would allow evil and wickedness to present itself in paradise or in anywhere He places the church. But I think the answer is that this evil is inside of us. The prophet Jeremiah said the human heart is desperately wicked. Alexander Solzhenitsyn said the line between good and evil runs down every human heart. The serpent makes his way into paradise and into the wilderness because the serpent has a foothold inside each one of us. We can’t be cleansed of this evil without the atonement of Jesus Christ and the sanctification which comes with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In the wilderness the dragon attacked the woman with a flood which came out of his mouth. We might think of this flood as a deluge of heresies which rush forward when the father of lies seeks to deceive the church. His goal is to overwhelm the church with so much confusion and deception that she is washed away in the chaos. The idea here is that the church faces a greater threat from liars inside the church than she does by facing open violence and persecution from outside the church. This really is true – there have been far more churches and church leaders who met their demise at the hands of internal corruption than have been persecuted into ruin. The heresies and lies which come from inside the church are every bit as much from the mouth of Satan as the open, unrepentant wickedness of the world is.
Next we see the earth open itself up and swallow the flood which was meant to sweep away the woman. Some interpreters understand this to be a pagan invasion which wiped out the heretics before their deceptions could mature any further. I think this is something like the truth reasserting itself. God will only allow the lies to fester for so long before He destroys their constructions. If a society becomes toxic enough it collapses and the remnant are faced with acknowledging where they went wrong. This is one of the cyclical problems with humanity. We get so wrapped around the axel about which ones of us are correct about our view of the world and we forget who it is who is really in charge. But He always reminds in due time. Thomas Jefferson said he trembles for his nation when he reflects on how God is just, and how God’s justice will not sleep forever. God’s justice is a a scary thing to contemplate but at the same time there is a peacefulness about it. By God’s justice we see that evil people and an evil Satan are not really in control of anything. Wickedness can only take you so far before you run into the unstoppable, inescapable wrath of the Holy One who is Jesus Christ. The peace of God puts your spirit at rest when you realize the most powerful one in the room loves you and has given you His word for your salvation. You have His promise that none in heaven or on earth can take you away from Him – all you have to do is have faith in this promise.
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