I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In the first eleven chapters of Revelation, John revealed figures that related to the conflict between God’s people and their persecutors.

B.      The remainder of the book presents the characters involved in this fight and their destinies.

                                                             1.      Although the visions in these later chapters are different, they deal with the same time period as the earlier chapters.  These signs are still interpreted according to the explanation in chapter one.

                                                             2.      In these visions, we see the underlying struggle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan.

C.      Let us begin this second division of the book by considering the woman, the dragon, and the beasts.

II.      THE WOMAN AND THE DRAGON

A.      John saw a sign of a woman with child (Rev. 12:1-2, 5-6).

                                                             1.      The woman was symbolically adorned to indicate her glory (clothed with the sun) and dominion (moon under her feet, crown of twelve stars).

                                                             2.      She cried out in labor as she was about to give birth to a child.

                                                             3.      The child that she bore was the Christ, for He “is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron” and “was caught up to God and to His throne” (see Psa. 2:9; Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 2:33-36; Rev. 3:21).

                                                             4.      This woman does not represent the virgin Mary, but rather she is symbolic of the spiritual remnant of Israel through which Jesus came (i.e., Zion – see Mic. 4:10; 5:2-4; Rom. 9:5; 11:5).

                                                             5.      After giving birth, the woman fled into God’s protection for a period of time.

a.       This is the same period of time that we noticed in 11:2-3 (three and a half years, forty-two months, twelve-hundred and sixty days) which represented a failed period of persecution against God’s people (see also 12:14; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; 12:7).

b.       This scene is further expounded upon in verses 13-17.

B.      John saw another sign of a great red dragon (Rev. 12:3-4).

                                                             1.      The dragon is described as having ten horns (power) and seven crowned heads (dominion).

                                                             2.      His immense power is symbolized in that he swept away a third of the stars with his tail.

                                                             3.      He awaited the birth of the child so that he could devour Him (which he failed to do – v. 5).

                                                             4.      This dragon represents Satan (v. 9), and his fate will be revealed in chapter 20.

C.      The dragon waged war with the angels of heaven (Rev. 12:7-12).

                                                             1.      Michael (the archangel – Jude 9) and his angels defeated Satan and his angels so that they were cast from heaven down to the earth.

                                                             2.      Verse 9 gives the full explanation for the dragon, for he is called the “serpent of old” (ref. to Gen. 3:1-5, 14-16), the devil (“accuser” – see v. 10), and Satan (“adversary”) “who deceives the whole world.”  His work of deception is behind the conflict described in these remaining chapters.

                                                             3.      This scene represents the spiritual battle that happened in John’s time.

a.       Notice that the loud voice in heaven declares the brethren who overcame through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony had a part in this victory (vv. 10-11).

b.       These brethren “did not love their life to death,” meaning that they were willing to give up their lives in this battle.  These martyrs are depicted throughout this book (2:12; 6:9-11; 7:13-17; 16:6-7; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2; 20:4).

c.        Notice that woe is pronounced upon the earth and sea because of Satan’s wrath, which would be multiplied because he knew that he had only a “short time” (corresponding to the “little while longer” of 6:11).

D.      After the dragon was cast down to earth, he persecuted the woman (Rev. 12:13-17).

                                                             1.      The wrath of the dragon targeted the woman (the spiritual remnant), but she had divine protection for a time (again, it is the failed time period of three and a half years as seen in v. 6).

                                                             2.      The dragon poured water from his mouth (probably lies and deception) to sweep away the woman, but the earth swallowed up the river from his mouth (the world absorbs Satan’s deception, but God’s people do not).

                                                             3.      Having been defeated three times (regarding the woman’s child, the battle in heaven, and the river of lies), the dragon would make war “with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to testimony of Jesus” (i.e., Christians, the brethren of Christ her son).

III.   THE BEASTS

A.      John saw a beast from the sea that would overcome the saints and subdue all people (Rev. 13:1-10).

                                                             1.      This beast is figurative of the Roman Empire.  Consider its description:

a.       It had seven heads, which represented seven kings or emperors (Rev. 17:9-11)

b.       It had ten horns, which represented ten provincial kings (Rev. 17:12-13).

c.        Each head had blasphemous names, and it spoke blasphemy against God and heaven, which indicated the blasphemous claims that were associated with emperor worship.

d.       The beast had great power (as a leopard, a bear, and a lion) that came from Satan.  Notice: “And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority” (v. 2).

e.        One of its heads had been wounded, but had healed.  This likely refers to the disastrous reign of Nero, who was the first emperor to persecute the church.

f.        The whole earth (“everyone whose name has not been written…in the book of life of the Lamb” – v. 8) worshipped the dragon via the beast because the beast seemed invincible.

g.        The beast received authority to act for forty-two months (see comments on 12:6, 14).  Its actions were to “make war with the saints and overcome them” (v. 7).  Its authority was “over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” (v. 7).

                                                             2.      This interpretation is well supported by the similarities between the beast John saw and the beasts of Daniel 7.  Daniel’s fourth beast is identified as a fourth world kingdom, which, when counted from Daniel’s time, was the Roman Empire (Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome – see Dan. 2:43-44).

                                                             3.      Notice that the “perseverance and the faith of the saints” (v. 10) was to hear and understand this message.  The saints would have to patiently endure these things with a view to God’s vengeance.

B.      John also saw another beast from the earth that caused those who dwelt on the earth to worship the first beast (Rev. 13:11-18).

                                                             1.      This second beast is figurative of false religion.  Notice its description:

a.       It had two horns like a lamb.  This indicates that the beast appeared harmless.  Notice that it imitates the appearance of Christ, the Lamb of God, but its character is evil.

b.       It spoke as a dragon (i.e., Satan, who spoke lies and deceit – Rev. 12:9).

c.        It had the authority of the first beast (Roman Empire) and used that authority to make the earth worship the first beast whose wound was healed (the failed policies of Nero had been revived under Domitian).

d.       It performed great signs, again imitating the true religion of Christ, but its signs were deceitful.  By these, it influenced “those who dwell on the earth” to make an image to the first beast.

e.        It gave breath to the image of the first beast so as to cause those who did not worship the image to be killed.  This refers to the annual requirement for all Roman subjects to pay homage to the emperor as god or be punished.

f.        It caused all persons from great to small to receive the mark of the beast in order to have the right to buy and sell.  This refers to the fact that those who refused to give homage to the images of the emperor were refused the right to buy and sell in the market places.

                                                             2.      Let us consider the mark of the beast and the number 666.

a.       This mark represented a seal or recognition.  Again, the second beast was imitating the action of God, who sealed His people on their foreheads (Rev. 7:3; 9:4; 14:1).

b.       This mark was specified as either the name of the first beast or the number of his name, which is 666.

i.         The number of the beast is “that of a man.”  In other words, this number is a figure to represent a man, in this case, the Roman emperor.  This was important for these early Christians to understand, for the Roman emperor was representing himself as a god when he was nothing more than a man.

ii.        Whereas the number seven represents perfection or completeness, the number six represents that which is imperfect.  For the Roman emperor, this number is repeated three times (666) just as the term “holy” was repeated three times in regard to God (Rev. 4:8).

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      This introduces us to some of the principle characters in the spiritual war between God and Satan.

B.       In the next chapter, we will notice three more visions seen by John that give hope for the victory of God’s people.

*** In the next lesson, we will consider the 144,000, the angels’ announcements, and the harvest (14:1-20).***