The book of Revelation, Chapter 12:1-17, presents a great vision of the nation of Israel
portrayed as a woman. The vantage point is that of eternity.
In his sermon series on Revelation, Ray Stedman offers the following commentary on
this passage.
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There is no mystery to the dragon’s identity, for John will disclose that to us in verse 9:
“that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” In the opening
verse of chapter 12, the devil is symbolized as a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns
and seven crowns upon his heads. But he is also “that ancient serpent” the very one who appeared
in the Garden of Eden to the first woman, Eve, deceiving her and introducing sin into the human
race. Dragons, of course, symbolize satanic worship in many cultures around the world. As John
says in verse 9, the career of the devil has been devoted to deceiving the entire human race and
leading human beings astray.
The male child who is born to the woman is the next easiest to identify because verse 5
says that he is the one “who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” This is one of four
references in Revelation to Psalm 2. In verse 9 of that prophetic, messianic psalm we read, “You
will rule them with an iron scepter.”
Though the book of Revelation is truly rooted in the entire Old Testament, it would be a
valid analogy to compare Revelation to an oak tree that grows and expands out of the acorn of
Psalm 2. In this Psalm we read that the One enthroned in heaven says, “I have installed my King
on Zion, my holy hill,” and that this King will rule the nations with an iron scepter. Clearly this is
a reference to the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ during the Millennium, as is pictured for us
in the book of Revelation. The reference to an iron scepter (in Psalm 2 and Revelation 12:5)
always indicates a millennial scene. The iron scepter speaks of strict justice. The Millennium will
be a time of worldwide blessing and prosperity when the curse of sin will be at least partly
removed from the natural world. But sin will still manifest itself to some degree–hence the iron
scepter of Christ. As we shall see in Revelation 20, righteousness will reign on earth during the
Millennium, but it will have to be enforced.
After the Millennium the new heaven and the new earth will appear. At that time Christ
will no longer reign with a scepter of iron. Nothing evil can enter into the new heaven and the
new earth. When sin is finally extinguished forever, the defining characteristic of Christ will no
longer be his iron reign but tender, shepherd-like love as he ministers personally and kindly to his
redeemed people.
That brings us to the mystery of the woman. Why is she clothed with the sun? Why is the
moon under her feet? Why are twelve stars arranged in a crown over her head? There are several
theories as to whom or what this symbolic woman represents. Roman Catholic scholars have
concluded that she is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Having understood that the child who will rule
the nation with an iron scepter is Jesus, it certainly makes sense that the mother of that child
would be Mary. The problem with this theory, however, is that there is no way you can fit Mary
into verse 6 where we read that she “fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where
she will be taken care of for 1,260 days.” That never happened to Mary, and never will. The
woman in Revelation 12 does not represent a single individual but rather a community of people.
Some Bible scholars say she symbolizes the Church. Certainly there is some
substantiation for this view, in that the Church is pictured at the close of Revelation as a woman,
The Bride of Christ. But as with the previous theory this view has an insurmountable problem: It
is impossible for the woman to represent the Church because she is depicted as giving birth to
Jesus. The church did not produce Jesus; Jesus produced the Church! The church was “born” out
of the wounded side of Jesus.
What, then, is the true identity of this woman of mystery’? Let us examine the clues one
by one and see where they lead. The clues are significant: The woman is clothed with the sun, the
moon is under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars is on her head. There is only one other place
in Scripture where you find all these symbols clustered together in one place: Genesis 37, the
story of Joseph the boy-dreamer. He dreamed one night that the sun, the moon, and eleven stars
bowed down before him. The sun, moon, and stars represented his father, mother, and eleven
brothers, respectively. Eventually this dream would come true–but not until after those eleven
brothers sold Joseph into slavery, not until after Joseph overcame trials of false accusation and
unjust imprisonment, not until after Joseph became second in command over all of Egypt.
The symbols of the sun, moon, and stars make it clear: The woman represents the people
of Israel, all of whom are descendants of Joseph’s father Jacob. Joseph himself would be the
twelfth star. In Romans 9:5 Paul said of the people of Israel, “from them is traced the human
ancestry of Christ.” That is why Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “Salvation is from
the Jews.” Even the salvation of the Gentiles comes by way of the Jews, because it is the Jewish
race that produced Jesus Christ. So here again, in the symbolism of the woman clothed in the sun
with the stars at her head and the moon at her feet, we have a picture of Israel coming again into
prominence in the last days.
To understand the vivid images and symbols of Revelation 12 we should remember that
we are viewing earthly scenes from heaven’s point of view. In Revelation 4 we saw that John was
caught up into heaven and shown all the things that follow in Revelation 4 through 19. When you
look at earthly events from heaven’s standpoint, time is never a factor. This vision does not
present a sequence or an ordered chronology. It presents occurrences arranged according to their
meaning and importance from a heavenly, eternal perspective. Events that may be widely
separated in time may be clustered together in eternity’s view. From heaven’s perspective we are
shown what happens, not when it happens. If we approach this chapter–and indeed all of
Revelation–with this point of view, symbols that once seemed murky and obscure will pop into
focus.
What we have in Revelation 12 is a kind of tableau, like a scene in a wax museum, of
three-dimensional figures frozen in place at the climactic moment of a dramatic event. Satan, the
great dragon, is crouched with its fangs bared and its eyes smoldering, watching Israel as she
prepares to give birth to her long-promised Son. Israel is pregnant and crying out in her labor
pains. The dragon’s intention is clear: it seeks to devour Jesus as soon as He emerges from the
womb of Israel and makes his appearance upon the earth. What is the historical reality
represented by this grim and symbol-laden tableau?
This scene takes us back to the historical birth of Jesus, to the time of the Roman Empire
and its subjugation of Israel. It takes us back to time of King Herod the Great and the demonic
malice and enmity filled his heart when he learned of the birth of Jesus. It is easy to see events of
that time in the symbolic tableau of Revelation 12:1-4. The dragon of world power in Jesus’ day
was the Roman Empire, which, in the Jewish land of Judea, was represented by the person of
Rome’s puppet king Herod the Great. Though in his early career Herod had been a comparatively
progressive and benevolent despot, his notorious cruel streak and murderous paranoia were
already in full evidence by the time Christ was born. In a fit of jealous rage Herod murdered his
favorite among his eight wives, as well as several of her family members. He later murdered his
own firstborn son Antipas. So his attempt to kill the newborn Son of God by slaughtering the
infants of Bethlehem was true to form for this brutal and unfeeling man. Like a dragon, he lay in
wait for the child to be born–then pounced, beast-like, spilling blood as if it were water. But God
intervened, sparing the infant Jesus from the maw of the dragon. Warned by the appearance of an
angel in a dream, Joseph and Mary took Jesus on a secret journey to Egypt beyond the reach of
Herod.
This brings us to verse 5. It is at this point in the symbolic allegory of the dragon, the
woman, and the child that we come upon a startling statement. John writes, “She gave birth to a
son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched
up to God and to his throne.” Completely ignoring any chronology or .sequence of historical
events, this symbolic scene takes a sudden jump from the birth of Jesus to his ascension some 30
years later, skipping over his life, ministry, death, and resurrection in a single breath. In this
image, John is shown only the birth and ascension into heaven of Jesus. This symbol
encompasses both the beginning and the ending of his earthly ministry.
But a problem of interpretation arises at this point. The problem is this: The clear
implication of Revelation 12:5 is that Jesus was “snatched up to God” in order to deliver him
from harm, from the reach of the dragon. Yet we know from reading the gospels and the book of
Acts that Jesus’ ascension was by no means an escape from harm. Rather it was a triumphal exit
following his victory over death. The resurrected Lord was completely beyond the reach of his
enemies, and there was no harm anyone could do to him. Why, then, does this tableau in
Revelation 12 depict Jesus as having been “snatched up to God” as a child is snatched out of the
path of an onrushing car?
Here is where the interpretation of Revelation becomes sensitive, because of the nonlinear,
non-chronological nature of the vision. The interpretation is this: There is an aspect of our
Lord Jesus Christ that does find deliverance from danger, from the rage of the red dragon, by
being snatched away into heaven. By this I mean the Body of Christ that is on the earth today–
that is, the Church. Throughout the New Testament, the Lord and his church are regarded as one.
When Saul (later the apostle Paul) was confronted by an appearance of Christ on the Damascus
Road, Jesus said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul had never even met
Jesus–but he was persecuting the Church. When Jesus spoke to Saul of his church he identified
completely with that church. If Saul was persecuting the Lord’s church, Saul was persecuting him,
because they were one. Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “Now you are the body of Christ, and
each one of you is a part of it.” The church, he said, is a body, and “the body is a unit, though it is
made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with
Christ.” The church and the Lord together are the body of Christ. So when we come to Revelation
12 and see that the child, representing Christ, was “snatched up to God and to his throne,” it
becomes clear that this is a reference to the removal of the Church from the world and from the
threatening presence of the dragon ”
It should be remembered that Christ himself ascended into the heavens (Acts 1:9-
11). This passage might only have that ascension in view. However if, as Stedman
suggests, this is a reference to the rapture of the Church, it is still an event that will take
place before the Tribulation, when Israel will be driven into the wilderness. Thus, even if
the Church is in view, it is not a violation of the concept that the Church is never
mentioned during the Tribulation period.
Ray Stedman continues:
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Verse 6 carries us on into the Tribulation period. In leaping immediately from the birth of
Christ to the removal of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation, these verses in
Revelation 12 completely eclipse all the centuries of the Church Age in which we now live. In
verse 6, the woman (representing the people of Israel) flees into the desert to a place prepared for
her by God. There she is taken care of for a period of 1,260 days–a significant time period, as can
be seen in the previous chapter. In Revelation 11, the two witnesses will prophesy for a period of
1,260 days–the last 3 1/2 years of the seven-year Tribulation period. So it would be reasonable
and consistent to conclude that the desert exile of the believing Jewish people (represented by the
woman) would also take place during the same 3 1/2-year period in which the two witnesses
prophesy against the Beast.
Notice, too, that a subtle shift has taken place in the symbolism represented by the
woman. In verses 1 through 4 the woman represented the Jewish nation that was to bring forth
Jesus, the Son of God. In verse 5 the child is born and is snatched up to God’s throne. In verse 6
the woman flees into the desert to escape the persecution of the dictator and the horrors of the
Tribulation. The fleeing woman, then, represents not the Jewish people as a whole–for many
Jews will be deceived by the Beast. The believing remnant of the Jews will refuse to submit to the
rule of the Beast.
This woman, you recall, represents not all Jews of the last days but only the believing
remnant. Those Jews who have not believed are suffering under the judgments that are foretold in
the Old Testament prophecies. This is “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” when apostate Jews are
cruelly eliminated by the dragon and the faithful remnant is pursued and persecuted. The remnant
escapes to the desert, and the swiftness of their flight from danger is symbolized by the eagle’s
wings.
Many Bible scholars believe the faithful Jews of the last days will flee to the city of Petra,
south of the Dead Sea–a strangely beautiful city hewn out of the rock of the earth that is presently
an attraction for tourists and archaeologists in the Holy Land. Perhaps this is true, but no one can
say with certainty.
What is important in these verses is that God will care for this believing remnant in a
supernatural way. They will be borne out of danger on the metaphorical wings of an eagle. It is no
coincidence that this is the very same metaphor God used when the nation of Israel was led out of
Egypt by Moses. “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,” God said to Israel through his
servant Moses, “and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exodus
19:4). This is a picture of God’s loving protection and care for the people who are his faithful
remnant in that day.
The symbolism of the river of water that the serpent spews in an effort to overtake the
woman is likely an image of a vast host of soldiers sent by the Beast to overtake and destroy the
faithful of Israel in the last days. But God will protect his faithful remnant, probably by means of
a natural cataclysm–perhaps an earthquake–that causes the destruction of the Beast’s armies and
the frustration of his plans.
The dictator will be diverted from attacking the faithful Jews of Israel (symbolized by the
woman), and will instead turn his attention to “the rest of her offspring” and make war against
them. Who is John describing in this phrase? Most likely “the rest of her offspring” refers to
“Christ’s commandos,” the 144,000 Jews we first met in Revelation 7 and will meet again in
Revelation 14. They are the special band of believing Jews who move out into the four corners of
the world, preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all the nations. The devil gives his final
attention to destroying this group because of their powerful and effective witness to the world.
The rage of the devil is increasing as he grows more and more desperate, knowing that his time is
short. Like any wild and dangerous beast, the devil becomes more deadly and ferocious as he is
backed into a corner.
In this chapter we have seen that there will be many true believers in Jesus Christ during
the Tribulation Period, some being former unbelievers from a Christian background who
suddenly realize that the rapture has really happened and they have been left behind; and some
from the Jewish heritage who likewise understand that the Old Testament prophecies were true,
and that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah.
All of these new believers will face persecution, and most will probably be martyrs. In
the next chapter we continue our study of prophecy by considering the events of the first half of
the Tribulation.
