Revelation 12

The church has a job to do as witnesses to the grace and justice of God. This job is undertaken within an environment that may be very hostile. As God told us so long ago, there will be enmity between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

A sign of this battle appears in the heavens during John's revelatory vision. Who is this woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and with a crown of twelve stars on her head? Is this Eve, the mother of all living? Is this the Old Covenant Community of Israel, from whom the Messiah has come? Is this Mary, the mother of Jesus? Is this the church throughout the ages, or is it some combination of these possibilities? We will have to gather the clues as they are presented in this chapter, letting Scripture interpret Scripture, as the key points of this episode are revealed to us.

The appearance of the woman displays her heavenly grandeur, but her story is one of earthly danger. She is destined for glory, but she faces the agony of pain in the gospel age. That travail is especially connected to the birth of her child, reminding us of the curse of Genesis 3. Christ has also warned the church that her current sufferings are like birth pains. A new temple, a living temple, is coming to life, and that involves pain.

The woman's opponent is that dragon of old, Satan, and all his team. He stands against the woman, her singular Child, and the plural children that are spoken of at the end of this chapter. This dragon is angry and fierce. He is waiting to devour that one Child, like Herod was eagerly seeking the infant who was born to be the King of the Jews, not to worship Him as he pretended, but to kill Him. The woman gave birth to a male child, as Mary did, that one male child who would rule not only the Jews, but all the nations with a rod of iron, See Psalm 2. The dragon was not able to finally defeat the Seed of the woman, and He was caught up to God and to His throne in the present heavens. The ascended Jesus now reigns from heaven.

Meanwhile the woman, this Eve, this Israel as the mother of the Messiah, this Mary, fled into the wilderness, like the Hebrews who were delivered from the bondage of their captors in Egypt so long ago. Like the New Testament church, she has her time of three and a half where she suffers, but where she is kept alive by God, and where her people are brought one by one to the place that Jesus has prepared for us above.

Now that Christ has cleansed the heavenly sanctuary, it is more sure than ever that Satan has been defeated. Yet the Son of God is still engaged in warfare through His church on earth. Satan and his fallen angelic host cannot find any place left for them in heaven, where the church is safely protected, but they are wreaking havoc upon the beloved of the Lord all around us. The accuser of the brethren can no longer defame the children of the Lord from heaven, but he does wage his losing battle below. Yet he is no match for the blood of the Lamb, which is our strong refuge against every accusation, together with the Word of the testimony, now completed for us with this final book of the New Testament.

The church will win even this battle on earth. We are not more crafty than the devil, but we are willing to suffer for the Name. That is powerful. We do not love our lives more than we love Jesus. Nonetheless, the battle is intense. The church is willing to die for the truth of Christ. The devil, full of wrath, is seeking to express his murderous anger. He knows that his time is short.

He has heard the words of Christ on the cross, “It is finished.” He knows that he has lost access on high. Whoever the woman is, the devil pursues her, for she has given birth to the male Child that is the Savior of the world. The woman is more than just Mary. She is a symbolic representation of the Lord's true Israel, just as Mary herself is like a second Eve, and a living icon of the Old Covenant faithful. Out of the Jews, Jesus has come, and the dragon is full of wrath against them.

God is protecting His people during this time of three and a half. Though Satan would desire to express His wrath against the Jews and against all the faithful people of the Lamb, the Lord has limited our suffering according to His wise decrees. God can cause the earth to open up, swallowing up the serpent's venom, and saving the Lord's people out of many dangerous waters. Yet every act of God that displays His loving and powerful care for the true remnant of Israel and the full number of the people of God, causes the enemy of the woman to hate the Lord's church all the more.

There is one singular Child of the woman who is our salvation. He is the Seed of Eve promised so long ago. He is the only truly faithful Son of the Old Testament Covenant Community. He is the Son of Mary and the Son of God. In Him, many Jews and Gentiles have found their sure salvation. In this one Christ we have become the children of the Lord. We share in His glory, but we also share in His struggles as we face the enmity of the serpent for a little while longer.

With that secure hope, let us keep the commandments of God, and let us hold to the testimony of Jesus. We have the wonderful privilege of a strong association with that singular Child of the woman. It comes with pain, for there is a battle going on, and that one male Child has many enemies.