Chapter Twelve

A vision of a woman clothed in the sun and the moon, crowned with twelve stars, and crying out from the pangs of childbirth (1–2); the appearance of a dragon with seven heads and ten horns (3–4); the birth of a child and the woman’s flight into the wilderness for 1260 days (5–6). A war between good and evil angels, the casting down of the latter from heaven, and heavenly joy over this (7–11). A warning to those living on earth concerning the devil, who began to persecute the woman, whom the earth saved (12–16); persecution of Christians by the dragon (17).

Revelation 12:1. And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun; beneath her feet was the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Before the eyes of the seer a great sign appeared in heaven. “Appeared” is used in the sense of “came into view,” “suddenly became visible.” A sign is such a symbol, such a symbolic manifestation, which has significance not only with respect to the purpose for which it was employed, but also in itself and by itself (2 Cor 12:12). The sign is of heavenly origin and must be understood and received as a special mode of revelation of God’s will. This sign is a woman.—The most correct opinion, which is accepted by the majority of interpreters, is the understanding of the image of the woman to represent the Christian Church in her entirety throughout the whole course of her history, from the first days of the apostles and ending at the time of the reign of antichrist. The woman is precisely the holy and glorious Church of Christ, as she was from her very beginning and as she must remain until the end of the world,—the triumphant Church, the Church of all who sanctifies all by divine grace, the Church, as the faithful bride, existing in an indissoluble marriage covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ and constantly giving birth to new children not only through the conversion of the unbelieving, but also through the sacraments of baptism and repentance.—The woman’s garment of the sun is an expression of the highest glory, purity, and perfection of the woman—the Church. The moon beside the woman—with the same purpose, that is, to give her greater light and greater splendor, to more clearly show her glorification and her closeness to heaven. The stars surrounding the woman’s head serve this same purpose, in the form of (not a diadem) a crown, indicating that her glory is the result of her victory, her personal worthiness. And the fact that this crown consists precisely of twelve stars clearly indicates that Christ’s Church is adorned by the twelve apostles.

Revelation 12:2. She was with child, and she cried out in travail and in pain of childbirth. Revelation 12:3. And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. Revelation 12:4. His tail swept down a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that when she gives birth, he might devour her child. The woman was with child and cried out because the time of her labor had come. These sufferings—the pangs and labors of the Christian Church—are those which she experiences in the birth—the acquisition—of each new member, in the conversion of those who are lost, in the repentance of the sinner 61, and apply generally throughout all the time of the existence of Christ’s Church. John also sees the sign of the dragon in heaven, which means only that its image was seen on the heavenly vault, where the image of the woman also appeared. The dragon, being a sea monster (Isa 27:1), became a symbol depicting earthly power, the ruler of the world. For this reason, the devil, as the prince of this world, appears in the Apocalypse under the image of the dragon. This is confirmed by Rev 12:9, where the great dragon is directly named by his name, as the devil and Satan 62. And the further characteristics by which John describes the dragon can only be applied to the devil and his struggle with the Christian Church.—The red, fiery color of the dragon indicates chiefly that the devil is the common instigator of wrath and evil on earth and will remain so until the end; the color of fire also signifies the power of the destructive and ruinous nature of the devil’s being.—The heads of the devil—the dragon—signify his devilish wisdom, the wisdom of this age, and the ten horns signify his power as the ruler of all the world. The diadems point to the same, as a royal head ornament. —The tail of the devil—this is the manifestation of his essence and sinful will, an example of his sinful deed. Therefore, the heavenly stars are the heavenly host, transcendent creatures, angels, whom the devil drew after himself by his example, and not only does he himself fall away from God through his sinfulness and disobedience, but he also impels others as well. Following him, they leave their heavenly dwelling, their moral closeness to the Lord God, and devote all their strength to spreading evil and sin on earth among people. The mention of a third part speaks not of an exact mathematical number, but of a sufficiently large number, although smaller than that which remained faithful to the Lord.—If by the woman we must understand the Christian Church in her ideal, then the position of the devil before her must be viewed as a preparation for him to enter into open combat with her; and his intention to devour the future child can be understood in the sense of causing corruption and moral destruction.

Revelation 12:5. And she gave birth to a male child, who was to rule all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. By the birth of the child is meant the birth of Christ in the hearts of believers. The Church always experiences the pangs of childbirth in the nurturing and building of saints. The Church gives birth to, acquires each believer; she nurtures the heart of the believer and guides him. These faithful children of the Church have always existed and will continue to exist, and the Church has always labored and, as it were, suffered the pains of childbirth in building them up. But these children will be more perfect at the end of the world, at the time of antichrist. Then these perfected members (children) of the Church will enjoy special divine protection in their struggle with the devil-dragon. The Lord will catch them up to His throne, that is, will draw them near to His grace and mercy and help them not only to remain themselves at a high moral level, but also to influence others through this. The moral power of such holy people as it is now, and especially in the last time, will be so great that it can be likened to the iron rod of a shepherd tending nations. Even now, in our time, the Church gives birth to sons—men, but they, with an average level of piety, are not so conspicuous. In the last time, with the increase of impiety, with the strengthening of antichristianity, they will have to distinguish themselves not only before the impious, but also before the pious, and as a result of intensified struggle, will become especially perfected and glorified in virtues. Naturally, then the force of impiety will fall upon the Church, striving to end its development and even its very existence as a Christian religion through the distortion of its dogmas and discipline by means of deception, fraud, and violence.

Revelation 12:6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she was given a place from God, in order that she be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days. From the fate of the son John turns to the fate of the mother—the woman. Her flight into the wilderness must likewise be understood in a figurative sense. The wilderness, in correspondence with the symbolic image of the woman representing the Christian ideal Church, can be a symbol of the absence of favorable spiritual and physical conditions of life. The Christian Church is a heavenly child; on earth she has only a temporary dwelling, and her homeland is in heaven. Nevertheless, she is destined to live on earth. But since earthly conditions do not correspond to her nature and cannot satisfy her needs, it is natural that she must live among them as though in a wilderness: she must seek heavenly manna and miraculous water. The Church, if she wishes to remain holy and glorious, must renounce the temptations and flee from the devil, flee into the wilderness, that is, renouncing purely earthly pleasures and glory, live in this world as though in a wilderness. The Christian Church lives and, as it were, does not live on earth: she lives as though in a wilderness, for she sustains her existence not by bread alone, but by every word coming forth from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). In such a state the Christian Church, nourished and sustained by God, will remain for 1260 days. This number can be viewed both as an indication of the divine decree, and as an indication of the days of the reign of antichrist, when the Christian Church in particular will have to be persecuted; then particularly difficult times will come for her.

Revelation 12:7. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, Revelation 12:8. but they did not prevail, and a place was not found for them in heaven any longer. Immediately after the snatching away of the son—the male—to the divine throne, between the enraged dragon, frustrated in his attempt, and the heavenly forces, a battle took place. It appeared to John to be taking place on the heavenly vault and had the appearance of a battle between Michael and the angels on one side and between the dragon and his angels on the other. Michael is an angel, one of the created spirits near the Lord God (Dan 10:13; Jude 1:9). Michael, as the commander-in-chief of the heavenly forces (cf. Josh 5:13-16), as their leader, stands at their head as the defender of good, righteousness, and the welfare of all humanity, especially of Christians as the spiritual Israel, the people of God in the fullest sense 63. Thus, the battle appears to be taking place between good and evil heavenly forces. It ended with the evil angels along with their leader, the dragon—the devil—being defeated, and there being no longer any place for them in heaven. Since it was only through the redemptive merits of Christ the Savior that an end was put to the former access of the devil to heaven and to a certain equal position among the good angels, this battle and victory must be attributed to the time when Christ’s blood was shed,—to the time of the establishment of the New Covenant. The angels in heaven first of all made use of the fruits of this sacrifice and finally cast the devil out from among themselves, and after them and together with them the true Christians have done and continue to do the same (1 John 5:4).

Revelation 12:9. And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. Revelation 12:10. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. The dragon is named the ancient serpent in the sense of an indication of the first human sin, for which the evil spirit was responsible when he entered the serpent and deceived Eve. His further names—devil and Satan—are synonymous and mean slanderer and adversary. Before, the dragon-devil, making use of free access to the heavenly throne, slandered all people and deceived the whole world. Now he is cast down from heaven together with his angels and, consequently, has lost one of his former privileges. But he still retains the possibility of deceiving the whole world.—A loud voice is not a single voice, but as it were a united chorus; and in this common glorification of God participated both angels and elders, and glorified people. They glorify God for salvation, as the work of God’s mercy, for the establishment of God’s kingdom and the power of Jesus Christ as the redeemer and God-man. The motivation for glorification is the casting down of the slanderer, that is, the devil, when he no longer has his former access to the Lord and when the people themselves felt in themselves the strength necessary for struggle with him.

Revelation 12:11. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and did not love their lives even to death. Now all people, or more correctly, all Christians can conquer the devil. The instrument of victory for them is the blood of the Lamb. But Christians conquer the devil also by the word of their testimony, that is, by following the teaching of Jesus Christ, by a life in which their faith in Him is clearly expressed 64; they disregard even their own earthly life (soul), preferring rather to die than to renounce their faith.

Revelation 12:12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea! because the devil has come down to you in great rage, knowing that he has but a short time. Such a change in people’s relationship to the slanderer devil filled the whole world with joy; and therefore the heavenly glorification invites the heavens and those dwelling in them to rejoice and be glad, that is, the inhabitants of heaven and true Christians, living by heavenly rather than earthly interests. But woe is proclaimed to those living on earth exclusively by earthly interests. This woe consists in the fact that the devil, cast out from heaven, will now rage with special force, for, according to the signs of the times, he will understand the shortness of the remaining time for his criminal activity.

Revelation 12:13. When the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the male child. Revelation 12:14. And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly into the wilderness to her place from the face of the serpent, and there be nourished for a time, times and half a time. Having described the heavenly defeat of the dragon-devil and the heavenly joy over this event, John (verse 13) returns again to the woman’s flight (Rev 12:6) and supplements its description with some new features. The woman is saved to the wilderness by means of two wings of the great eagle. These wings, necessary for the woman to flee quickly from the dragon, have symbolic significance just as the woman herself does. The Lord God takes (cf. Exod 19:4; Deut 32:11) His Church under His protection and gives her two wings of His all-powerfulness and goodness. The Christian Church, making use of the Old Testament law and New Testament grace, is able to achieve the perfection of its members. And in the wilderness of the world amid the conditions of life, even in the times of antichrist, Christians can and must withdraw from the temptations of the world and strive toward the heavenly. This means the Church (Christians) flees into the wilderness to their place not so much to secure themselves from the persecution of the dragon, but in order to be nourished for the course of 3.5 years, to live an elevated life, making use of the teaching and sacraments given by the Lord God. The period of 3.5 years (cf. Dan 7:25) is most closely related to the last time of antichrist, the time of the preaching activity of the two witnesses (Rev 11:3), although the woman’s flight into the wilderness signifies her constant relationship to the earthly conditions of life. One can reason this way because the antichristian time of 3.5 years must be received as typical, when it will be especially noticeable that what occurs to a greater extent happens always.

Revelation 12:15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water like a river, in order to sweep her away by the river. Seeing the woman fleeing away, the dragon, to destroy her, poured water after her from his mouth. The image is taken from nature: a serpent, when stinging, emits poison. By water one must understand also military force, armies, as well as all violence and all deception and cunning that have ever been and will be employed by the enemies of the Church against her.

Revelation 12:16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had cast out of his mouth. The woman was aided not by heaven, but by the earth, which swallowed the water. This indicates that the history of the Christian Church, in spite of all the efforts of her enemy, the devil, will proceed on its path, outlined for her by God. The very conditions of life in which she will find herself at one time or another, the various governmental and social upheavals will naturally and truly save the Church from the extremes of disasters, oppression, and violence. The Christian Church was and will be inaccessible to the devil, like the apocalyptic woman who fled into the wilderness and is inaccessible to the dragon.

Revelation 12:17. And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The rest mentioned by the Apocalypse, being the seed of the woman, are, consequently, also children of the Christian Church 65, but different from those of her children who are understood under the image of the male child-son, and are the chosen and perfected; these are her ordinary children, simple believers, people of the world and worldly activity. They may fall and sin, but they can also repent and receive forgiveness of sins. John is revealed (1 Sam 19:18) that such believers exist, that they are known not only by God and the Church, but also by the devil, who has not left them in peace and who arranges his schemes against them (Eph 5:15). And the Church, being a common mother, should equally care for them; and if she herself is maintained by her perfected members in her purity, she should not forget the imperfect, who need her support, for the devil’s malice is also directed against them. * * * St. Hippolytus, Primasius, Kliefoth. St. Victorinus, Andrew of Caesarea, Hengstenberg, Kliefoth and others. Kliefoth. Ewald. Andrew of Caesarea, Cornelius a Lapide, Yakovlev, Omerlev and others.