The Woman & the Dragon
John saw a great sign in Heaven
and he presented it as an allegory of Satan’s war with the people of God. The
woman pictured here is the nation of Israel and the twelve-starred crown on her
head is representative of the twelve sons of Jacob. Why are they emphasized so
much in this book? The answer is because they represent the nation of Israel
since they are the fathers of the tribes. People try, but it is very difficult
to remove the nation of Israel from
this prophetic book.
Another sign was of a great red
dragon with seven heads and ten horns. Upon each head was a crown. It was this
dragon that swept a third of the angels down from Heaven and upon the Earth.
The heads, horns, and crowns of this dragon are further described in Daniel 7 -
9. This is why the books of Daniel and Revelation are often taught together
because they complement one another very well.
The text says that the dragon
stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that he could devour her
offspring, but he was unable to destroy her newborn son [i.e. Jesus] because He
was caught up to God and to His throne (cf. Acts 1:9). What happened to the
woman? Well, she fled into the wilderness. She was driven from her homeland.
Sound familiar? The nation of Israel was homeless for 1878 years [i.e. from 70
– 1948 A.D.].
Thus, Satan and his angels made
war in Heaven. Upon their very humiliating defeat, the dragon pursued the woman
[i.e. Israel] into the wilderness. Though he was faster and stronger than the
woman in every way, the Lord consistently came to her rescue. Chapter twelve
reveals that no matter how hard Satan tries, he cannot destroy God’s people.
Therefore, the book of Revelation shows us very vividly that the ancient
Serpent who has deceived the world has lost the war in Heaven and on Earth.
Thus, there is no place for him except Hell.
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