Heaven Rejoices

"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. 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.' " (Revelation 12:10,11 - New King James Version)

Heaven will rejoice that God has finally shut the door to Satan. The accuser has been silenced. It is another step towards the final victory of Jesus over the powers of evil.

We are told in this passage how to overcome Satan. He is defeated by the blood of the Lamb. We cannot defeat the devil in our own strength. It is what Christ has done for us that gives us victory. We must hide ourselves behind the cross of Calvary.

We are not good enough to enter heaven. Satan can truthfully accuse us of many sinful thoughts and actions. However, true Christians are not trusting in their goodness to satisfy God. They have asked God to forgive them trusting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It is the blood of Christ that washes away our sin. It is what he has done that allows us to approach God, not what we do. So Satan is defeated by the blood of Jesus.

For those who have trusted Jesus, we can daily defeat the powers of evil through the word of our testimony. When a Christian is seeking to be a daily witness to the goodness of God and the power of the cross, he will find it easier to resist sin. He will realize that if he commits public sins, he will lose his testimony and his witness will be in vain.

Another help in defeating Satan is not loving ourselves. If our love for God and others is greater than our love for life, than Satan will find it harder to defeat us.

War in Heaven

"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." (Revelation 12:7-9 - English Standard Version)

In verse seven, John's focus shifts from the earth to heaven. This war in heaven will occur around the middle of the Tribulation. Satan will know that his time is running out. He will seek again to take by force the throne of heaven. The archangel, Michael, and the angelic army of heaven will oppose him. A great spiritual battle will take place between the angels of light and the angels of darkness.

Satan and the demons will be defeated and will conclusively be cast out of heaven. Satan has been allowed to come before God and accuse God's children. This is what he did to Job. (Job 1:6) It is what he is doing now, but at the middle of the Tribulation, this will be brought to and end.

The Child

"His tail dragged down one-third of the stars, which he threw to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to devour the baby as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And the child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to give her care for 1,260 days." (Revelation 12:4-6 - New Living Translation)

The third part of the stars that the dragon casts to the earth are taken to represent the angels who followed Satan in his original rebellion. Satan's original name, Lucifer, means day star. It would seem then that one third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion against the Lord. These angels are now demons or devils. They seek to promote evil on the earth.

Satan was waiting for the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As soon after the birth as possible, Satan hoped to destroy Jesus. He used his puppet, Herod the Great, to slaughter the infants of Bethlehem. However, God warned Joseph. Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus fled Bethlehem before the soldiers arrived to carry out Herod's wicked command. Satan failed in all his attempts to destroy or tempt Jesus.

So the man child of verse five is Jesus. He will one day rule the world with a rod of iron. Psalm two in speaking of the king that God would set up in Zion states that he would break his opponents with a rod of iron. (Psalm 2:9) Revelation 19:15 also speaks of Jesus ruling with a rod of iron.

John in a single sentence jumps from the birth of Christ to his ascension into heaven. The ascension of Jesus shows that Satan was completely defeated. Jesus is the victor and will soon return to claim his prize.

The fleeing into the wilderness described in verse six is described in more detail later in this chapter. God has prepared a place of safety for the Jewish people. For the last three and a half years of the Tribulation, they will hide in this refuge to escape the persecution of the Anti-Christ.

The Dragon

"Then another ominous sign (wonder) was seen in heaven: Behold, a huge, fiery-red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven kingly crowns (diadems) upon his heads." (Revelation 12:3 - Amplified Bible)

In verse nine of this chapter, the dragon is clearly identified as Satan. A dragon is a mythical creature found in many different cultures in different forms. It is a fitting symbol for Satan because it is usually described as wicked, cunning, savage and cruel. In form, it is sometimes pictured as a winged serpent or crocodile.

This great dragon of Revelation is red in color. This may be symbolic of the immeasurable amount of blood that this dragon has caused to be spilled. The seven heads and ten horns will be discussed more fully when we study chapter thirteen. The beast of that chapter is described using similar terms.

The seven heads with seven crowns represent the seven great world governments that the dragon has setup: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome and the final government of the Anti-Christ. The ten horns represent ten kings or rulers who will support the Anti-Christ when he comes to power.

The Woman

"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth." (Revelation 12:1,2 - New American Standard)

This section of Scripture is a flashback. John covers a period going back to the birth of Christ and forward to the end of the Tribulation. It begins with a sign in the sky.

The woman in verse one represents Israel. The symbolism is taken from one of Joseph's prophetic dreams.

“Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. 'Listen,' he said, 'I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.' When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, 'What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?' His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.” (Genesis 37:9-11 – New International Version)

In this prophetic dream, the sun represents Jacob, the moon Joseph's mother, and the stars his brothers. Revelation uses the same symbols to represent the nation of Israel which descended from Jacob and his twelve sons.

Israel is pictured by John as about to give birth to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Although Mary was the mother of Jesus, it is Israel as a nation that was God's means of bringing his son into the world. The prophet Isaiah said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” (Isaiah 9:6a – King James Version) The “us” is the nation of Israel.

So John sees a woman representing Israel who is about to give birth to the Messiah. She is at the time of delivery. The Greek word translated in pain means tortured.