1. Satan’s Warfare against the Remnant (Rev. 12: 1 – 17)
Revelation 12 is a history of God’s true church. It is an account of her experience throughout the New Testament era, down to the close of history. The focus of this chapter is the last verse. It brings to view God’s final people, the remnant, and reveals that Satan is enraged with them. The purpose of all the previous history given in this chapter is to reveal why Satan is enraged with the remnant and how he has worked in the past to destroy God’s people.
Verse 1
A woman – This woman represents God’s people, the church of all the ages (2 Corinthians 11:2, Jeremiah 6:2, Isaiah 51:16). In the Old Testament this woman was Israel, portrayed as a woman married to God. In the New Testament, Israel is the church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles who receive Christ as their Saviour (Romans 2:28,29, Galatians 3:28,29).
Clothed with the sun – The sun is a symbol of Christ’s righteousness (Malachi 4:2; Matthew 13:43). This woman is clothed with the sun, indicating that God’s true people are covered with the righteousness of Christ.
With the moon under her feet – The moon reflects the light of the sun, so
the moon here represents the Old Testament sacrificial system that pointed forward to Jesus (Hebrews 10:1). The woman is standing on the moon, indicating that the foundation of the New Testament church is the Old Testament that points to Jesus.
On her head a garland of twelve stars – The 12 stars in her garland represent the 12 apostles, who were the founders of the New Testament church. (SOP 1)
Verse 2
The woman is pregnant and in labor. Verse 5 will identify her child as Jesus, the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). But before the child is born, another character is introduced in verse 3.
Verse 3
A great, fiery red dragon – This dragon represents Satan (Verse 9). He is portrayed as red because he sheds the blood of God’s people.
Having seven heads and ten horns – The heads and horns represent the kingdoms and nations down through history through which Satan has worked to oppress and kill God’s people (Daniel 7:6,7).
Seven diadems on his heads – The crowns on the dragon’s seven heads represent that Satan has ruled the earth through these kingdoms.
Verse 4
His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth – The stars of heaven represent the angels (Rev. 1:20). Satan used deception (represented by his tail) to win the allegiance of one third of the angels, and they were cast to the earth with him (see Verse 9).
The dragon stood before the woman…to devour her Child as soon as it was born – This represents that Satan tried to destroy Jesus through the Roman king Herod when He was born (Matthew 2:16).
Verse 5
A male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron – This is a quote from Psalm 2:7-9, a prophecy of the Messiah.
And her Child was caught up to God and His throne – This is a reference to the ascension (Acts 1:9).
Verse 6
The woman fled into the wilderness – After Satan failed to destroy Jesus, he turned his wrath against the church who was forced into hiding.
One thousand two hundred and sixty days – This refers to the 1260-year rule of the Church of Roman, who persecuted the true church during this time period.
The story of the woman is interrupted in verses 7-12, where we are given a brief history of Satan’s rebellion explaining why he is so angry with the woman.
Verses 7-9
This is a description of Satan’s original rebellion in heaven, showing how he ended up on the earth with his confederate angels. Michael is a title for Jesus (Jude 9, compare with 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and John 5:28,29).
Verse 10
Next John hears a loud voice in heaven proclaiming Jesus’ victory over Satan’s rule of the world. This proclamation is an announcement that Jesus has conquered through the cross and resurrection, and He is now enthroned in heaven (described in Revelation 4 and 5).
The accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down – After Satan was originally thrown out of heaven, he still appeared in God’s heavenly counsel as the representative of this world (Job 1:6-12). There he accused those who serve God, but now Jesus has conquered Satan and has taken his place, and Satan no longer has access to heaven. (SOP 2)
Verse 11
This verse reveals how to become an overcomer.
And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb – The basis of our victory over Satan is faith in the blood of Jesus.
By the word of their testimony – Our testimony of what Christ has and is doing for us gives us strength and courage to endure to the end (Hebrews 10:35-39).
They did not love their lives to the death – Those who overcome would rather die than sin and let Jesus down.
All the promises of Revelation belong to the victorious overcomer (Rev. 21:7).
Verse 12
This verse explains Satan’s rage against the church. Because he is a conquered foe having only a short time, the only way he can get revenge is to hurt Jesus’ followers. (SOP 3)
Verses 13,14
We now return to the story of the woman. Because Satan has turned his rage toward the church, she is forced to flee into the wilderness and hide.
Where she is nourished…from the presence of the serpent – Despite the intense persecution, God preserved His hidden church during this time of darkness.
For a time and times and half a time – A time is a year or 360 days, times is two years or 720 days, and half a time is half a year or 180 days. These all add up to 1260 days, the same time period as in verse 6, when the Church of Rome persecuted the true church.
Verse 15
The serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman – The serpent’s mouth represents Satan’s words and water represents the people of the earth (Rev. 17:15). This symbolizes that Satan tried to destroy God’s people who were in hiding, through deception and persecution.
Verse 16
The earth helped the woman – Water symbolizes multitudes of people (Rev. 17:15), so the earth (dry land) represents a relatively unpopulated part of the earth.
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth – The earth here represents the New World, where the persecuted church fled during the latter part of the 1260 years.
Verse 17
Here we are introduced to the remnant, the very last part of God’s true church. The 1260 years of persecution are ended and the true church is once again visible to the world.
The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring – Satan is especially angry with the remnant because they are the only obstacle keeping him from controlling the entire world. They have the Bible truth for the last days, a message with the power to free people from his delusions. (SOP 4)
NOTE: The phrase “rest of her offspring” in the NKJV is translated “remnant” in the KJV. The original Greek word is “loipos,” which means “remaining” or “left.”
Notice the points of identification given for the remnant. It is these identifying points that enable us to know who is the true church in the last days.
1. Who keep the commandments of God – The remnant are obedient to all of God’s commandments (Rev. 14:12). This would include the Seventh-day Sabbath, which is ignored by almost the entire Christian world.
2. And have the testimony of Jesus Christ – Revelation identifies the testimony of Jesus as the Spirit of Prophecy (Revelation 19:10). This means that the remnant will have a prophet in their midst, guiding and protecting them from Satan’s attacks.
To these identifying points, we can add several more:
3. As noted earlier, the remnant would not emerge from the wilderness (hiding) until after the 1260 years of persecution. So the true remnant would appear sometime after the year 1798.
4. The remnant, God’s end-time people, will give God’s end-time message to the world, the Three Angel’s Messages of Revelation 14. (Note: The three angels that give the Three Angels Messages are actually a symbol of the remnant!)
5. The message given by the remnant will be gospel centered (Rev. 14:6).
6. The remnant will be a worldwide group, because their message goes to the entire world (Rev. 14:6).
These six identifying characteristics enable us to positively identify the remnant. Only one church fits all six of these identifying characteristics, the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Spirit of Prophecy Quotations
1 “As in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs stood as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles stand as representatives of the gospel church.” – The Acts of the Apostles, page 19.
2 “Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth, his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.” – The Desire of Ages, page 761.
3 “[Revelation 12:12 quoted] Fearful are the scenes which call forth this exclamation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble.” – The Great Controversy, page 623.
4 “The remnant church will be brought into great trial and distress. Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects, he has gained control of the apostate churches; but here is a little company that are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete.” – Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, pages 472, 473.
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