Revelation 12:1 – 6 “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as He was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.”
In searching for graphics to illustrate these verses, I encountered a PDF presentation from Almaden Neighborhood Church (almadenchurch.org) entitled “The Christmas You Didn’t See.” Today’s devotional draws heavily from that presentation.
The question that has troubled Christians ever since Revelation was first written is this: Who is the Woman? This is one of those visions that works on several different levels:
1. These verses give a behind the scenes look at the spiritual battle surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, i.e., “The Christmas You Didn’t See.” First of all, remember that God chose Mary to bear Jesus. To the villagers in Nazareth, Mary was just another teenager, but God saw her differently. Song of Solomon 6:10 says, “Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?” That was how God saw Mary. The ancient Babylonians visualized their goddesses as being crowned with the signs of the zodiac, and John was probably familiar with that picture. Why couldn’t God activate that mental picture as well to emphasize unearthly beauty? When God touches a life, nothing is ever the same again. Mary was so filled with the Holy Spirit that when she met her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s baby leaped in her womb and was filled with the Holy Spirit from that point onward.
2. The huge red dragon is Satan. The horns and the crowns indicate complete power over the kingdoms of this world. Satan is the Author of evil and will use any one willing to pursue their own interests instead of God’s. When Satan fell from heaven, one third of the angels followed him and fell to earth as well, as indicated by the sweeping of one third of the stars from the sky to earth.
3. Satan did everything he could to attack Mary and to kill Jesus. It’s entirely possible that Satan had poisonous snakes, robbers, and other agents stationed along the road to Bethlehem to try and stop Mary and Joseph. And had Mary and Joseph stayed in one of the inns in Bethlehem, something terrible might have happened to them; however, God covered Mary and Joseph with His hand and protected them. God led them to a cave used by shepherds as a stable, the last place in which anyone might look for them. There are many instances throughout Christian history where God has blinded prison guards or soldiers or police to save believers. Inspired by Satan, Herod tried to get information about Jesus and when he couldn’t he massacred all the baby boys below the age of two years just to make certain that the Messiah would not escape…. but God warned Joseph in a dream and he and Mary and Jesus escaped in the middle of the night! (Had the Holy Family been in a bigger town, they could never have left in the middle of the night because the gates would have all been closed and the guards would not have allowed them to leave.)
4. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Jesus the Messiah is the One born to rule all the nations! And after Jesus was crucified and arose from the dead, He ascended into heaven.
5. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.” Here is where the second interpretation of the identity of the Woman comes into consideration. The figure of the Woman has been considered to represent Israel or the body of believers. There are many recorded instances where the Jews had to flee to the wilderness, beginning with the escape from Egypt. Jesus foretold the attack of the Romans and advised those listening to flee to the mountains. Barclay states: Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. The years immediately before that were terrible years of bloodshed and of revolution in which anyone with eyes to see and a mind to understand could forecast what was about to happen. Eusebius, the Christian historian, tells us that, before the final disaster came, the Christians in Jerusalem had been warned by a revelation given to approved men to leave Jerusalem and to cross the Jordan into Perea and to dwell there in a town called Pella (Eusebius: The Ecclesiastical History 3: 5). This is actually referred to in the account of Jesus’ words to the disciples about the last times. When they saw the last terrors coming they were to flee to the mountains (Mark 13:14); this is exactly what they did. The figure of 1,260 days is a standard figure of a time of distress, not necessarily an actual number.
Being a Christian has never been easy. In the last few decades, there have been more Christians martyred around the world than ever before. Each day brings news of fresh massacres in places such as Northern Nigeria. But the good news is this: We serve the One True Living God, who is still on the throne and who rules and reigns over all. No matter how terrible the conflict, no matter how severe the persecution, we can still trust in God. Thousands of year ago, three young Jewish captives faced a terrible fate: worship a golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar or be thrown into a fiery furnace. This was their answer: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 And when the three young me were thrown into the fire, observers saw a fourth man with them, and his appearance “looked like a son of the gods.’ When you go through persecution, Jesus shows up. You might or might not be delivered physically, but you will be delivered spiritually.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you always cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus! Thank you that Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave! Thank you that throughout history you have always been working and have never stopped! And thank you for loving us and sending Jesus as your best Gift. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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