(Revelation 12:1-18)

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. 5 But she gave birth to a Son—a male who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter —and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah have now come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out: the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, for the Devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows he has a short time. 13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was fed for a time, times, and half a time. 15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away in a torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and left to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and have the testimony about Jesus. 18 He stood on the sand of the sea.

The woman that is mentioned in these verses is one of the main characters of the passage. There are several interpretations as to who this woman represents. The one that best fits with the message of the entire Bible and the theme of the Book of Revelation is that the woman represents the nation of Israel. John's description of her reflects the dream Joseph had in (Genesis 37:1-9), where the sun, moon, and stars represent Jacob, his wife, and the tribes of Israel.

John says she was pregnant and cried out as she was giving birth. If the Old Testament is considered in the conversation then the women represents God's chosen people, the Jewish nation, that gave birth to the Messiah; Jesus Christ. She is not a literal woman but exists throughout the ages of time. John makes this clear when he says she is a "sign."

The second character in this passage is the fiery red dragon. Verse nine identifies him as the Devil. He is also one who has been seen throughout the ages, and he has always been attempting to destroy God's people. The drama that God announced in (Genesis 3:15) "and I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike His heel" has been continually coming to a completion. The Devil even tried to destroy Jesus during His time on earth as seen in Herod's killing of all the first born in Bethlehem and most of all the crucifixion.

We see in this passage that Satan has continually been trying to destroy humanity. But we also see his demise. So what does the expulsion of Satan mean? It unveils God's salvation, His power, and His kingdom. These all sovereignly belong to God alone, even though Satan claims to possess them. When God brings everything to a close this will become clear to all creation. It also unveils Christ's authority. Christ has every right to rule, we have already seen that in previous chapters. God will soon display Christ's authority at the end. Finally, it means that Satan can no longer accuse followers of Christ before God. When Satan and his angels are finally kicked out of heaven, then the door will be closed to the accusations.

In the earlier chapters of Revelation, especially when Jesus is talking to the seven churches, he promised blessings to the one "who overcomes." We see in this passage that Satan has been revealed as the spiritual enemy who is behind all our tribulations. Thankfully he has been defeated in heaven by an angelic war! But we know as Christians that we must overcome day by day, year by year. The Christians that have came before us have overcome daily. The voice we hear in this passage gives us the name of two weapons we have in this warfare.

First it is the blood of the Lamb. Unless you and I are certain we have been justified through faith (Romans 5:1) "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." We have no hope of standing up against the devils accusations without the blood of Jesus.

Secondly we have the word of our testimony. Think of a witness stand inside of a courtroom. When we are faced with pressure to turn away from our faith in Christ, we don’t. This kind of perseverance reveals our faith is genuine. This will overcome the devil. This doesn’t mean we will not have to suffer or even die physically because Satan is going to do everything in his power to break us. John says "they did not love their lives in the face of death." Loyalty to Christ even to the point of death not only overcomes Satan but it has reward in heaven and eternity. (Revelation 20:4-6).