Tuesday, December 16, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Revelation 12

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. ² Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ⁴ His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. ⁵ She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 

(Revelation 12:1–6, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• After the temple of God in heaven is revealed, a message concerning the covenant of God with man was sounded with great cosmic and atmospheric fanfare. Then, the next scene opens with a vision concerning a woman, her child, and the great dragon.
• This section of Scripture begins with the identification of this portion of the vision as “a great sign.” This means that this sign has deep meaning and significance and should be seen and remembered. Then we see a woman, described as “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.”
• This imagery denotes some special place in the cosmos. She is often identified in scholarship as either Mary, the mother of Jesus, the church, or other heavenly beings, perhaps having an appearance as a constellation of stars. I feel confident in the likelihood of the first two, or perhaps both. Mary gave birth to Jesus, the firstfruits of the body of Christ, and–in turn–the church gives birth to new converts that come into the body of Christ. The work of each is significant and continuing, as Jesus intercedes for His people, and the church carries out the work of Christ on the earth.
• The child, then, is either Jesus, or the offspring of the church, and probably–on some level–represents both. The woman is near childbirth and cries out in agony during her labor pains. The third sign is that of a red dragon with multiple heads, even more horns, and crowns. The dragging of a third of the stars of heaven to earth is indicative of the third of the angels drawn from heaven to earth when Satan was cast from heaven. This characterization makes it certain that this figure represents Satan, Lucifer, or Beelzebub. He is not only menacing, but appears to wait in front of the woman for her to give birth, so that he can devour and kill her child as soon as He is born.
• While the dragon felt that his work was done, or at least certain to be completed, the child was actually taken up into heaven to God and His throne as soon as it was born, and the woman fled to the wilderness, where she was hidden by God and fed for three and one-half years. While the time she was hidden was tied to the Tribulation half-period, what we see here is a direct correlation with salvation history. Jesus is the Messiah promised to the people of God that will save them and set up His kingdom on earth. It is said here that He will “rule all nations with a rod of iron.”
• This characterization and description could point to none other than Jesus Christ. His ascension to the throne of God is exactly what Christ did after His death and resurrection. The serpent (her the dragon) was destined to bruise the heel of the son of woman, but the Son was to crush the head of the dragon or serpent. The dragon’s work was thwarted, and Christ prevailed. All of this is indicative of the eternal struggle between Christ and Satan, and ends again with Satan being foiled. Thank God, Satan never wins the ward. Battles will be fought, but the outcome of the war is decided before it ever comes to a head.

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷ And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. ⁹ So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. ¹² Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” 

(Revelation 12:7–12, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• After the account of the attack of the dragon on the child born to the expectant woman, John here moves to a recount of the war that broke out in heaven.
• In this account, John observes warfare breaking out in heaven between Michael and his army of angels and the dragon. The dragon brought his best, along with his fallen angels, but the dragon did not prevail. The angelic army prevailed, and the dragon was cast out of heaven to the earth. This dragon is definitively identified as the angel who opposed the Lord, presuming to be equal with Him. He is called the serpent, the Devil, Satan, and this passage leaves no doubt about his fate. He is cast out of heaven, and no place was found for him to return. This deceiver of the whole world, along with his angelic sympathizers, were thrown out of heaven, and began to torment the earth.
• After the completion of Michael’s angelic army’s victory over the dragon, a loud voice spoke in heaven, saying that salvation, strength, and power through the kingdom of God has come to the earth. This was accomplished by the fact that the accuser of the brethren, Satan, accusing them all day long before God, has been cast down from heaven. Either those accused or those who fought against Satan overcame him through their faith in the blood of the Lamb and by their powerful testimonies. They believed in the face of death, willing to die for their faith, yet overcame and did not die.
• The call comes forth (in celebration of their victory) to rejoice in the heavens. However, the inhabitants of the earth and the sea are warned that Satan is coming down to them, having great wrath for his ouster from heaven, and knowing he has a short time to take as many souls to hell as possible. This is the situation in which we still find ourselves today, tempted, tested, and tried by the acts of Satan on the earth. He accuses us on earth, without the access to heaven. However, we today can also overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Plead the blood, and declare the wonderful works of God and Satan will be defeated. This is the power of the believer. This is the victory of the child of God.

The Woman Persecuted

¹³ Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. ¹⁵ So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

(Revelation 12:13–17, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• After seeing the dragon thrown to the earth from heaven, John then proceeds to chronicle the dragon’s actions, including his pursuit of the woman who gave birth to the Son of promise.
• After being cast to the earth, the dragon realized the dire nature of his situation and began to pursue the woman who gave birth to the male Child, and persecute her. However, the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, with which she flew into the wilderness to her appointed place, where she was hidden from the serpent, and was nourished for three and one-half years.
• The serpent attempted to spew water toward her in order to overcome her with a flood, but the earth swallowed up the water and he did not prevail against her. This sent the dragon into a rage, and he went out to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who worshipped God, obeyed His commandments, and have the testimony of Christ.
• While this seems like an obvious allusion to the church and its children, it paints a vivid picture of Satan’s hatred of the church and his desire to destroy all who are a part of God’s people on earth. While this is eschatological in nature, it points to an ongoing battle between God’s people and the devil, dating from the time of Satan’s expulsion from heaven because of his pride, lasting until the present day as we still see the works of the enemy combating the church day after day. Be ready, for the battle is not over. However, as we will soon see, the war is decided, and the people of God will overcome!

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.