Reflections on Revelation 12

Revelation 12 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Something important appeared in the sky. It was a woman whose clothes were the sun. The moon was under her feet, and a crown made of twelve stars was on her head.
   
2. She was about to give birth, and she was crying because of the great pain.
   
3. Something else appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and a crown on each of its seven heads.
   
4. With its tail, it dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them down to the earth. Then the dragon turned toward the woman, because it wanted to eat her child as soon as it was born.
   
5. The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all nations with an iron rod. The boy was snatched away. He was taken to God and placed on his throne.
   
6. The woman ran into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
   
7. A war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon and its angels.
   
8. But the dragon lost the battle. It and its angels were forced out of their places in heaven
   
9. and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan.
   
10. Then I heard a voice from heaven shout, "Our God has shown his saving power, and his kingdom has come! God's own Chosen One has shown his authority. Satan accused our people in the presence of God day and night. Now he has been thrown out!
    
11. Our people defeated Satan because of the blood of the Lamb and the message of God. They were willing to give up their lives.
    
12. The heavens should rejoice, together with everyone who lives there. But pity the earth and the sea, because the devil was thrown down to the earth. He knows his time is short, and he is very angry."
    
13. When the dragon realized that it had been thrown down to the earth, it tried to make trouble for the woman who had given birth to a son.
    
14. But the woman was given two wings like those of a huge eagle, so that she could fly into the desert. There she would escape from the snake and be taken care of for a time, two times, and half a time.
    
15. The snake then spewed out water like a river to sweep the woman away.
    
16. But the earth helped her and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth.
    
17. This made the dragon terribly angry with the woman. So it started a war against the rest of her children. They are the people who obey God and are faithful to what Jesus did and taught.

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Chapter 12 begins another parenthetical section that presents "events and situations that are concurrent with the soundings of the trumpets. Chronological progress of events resumes in Rev_16:1-21." (Bible Knowledge Commentary)  Introduced in this section are seven personages that play leading roles in the end times. 

The Woman:  The first personage is a woman clothed with the sun and with the moon at her feet and a crown with 12 stars on her head. She is pregnant and in labor.  She is thought to represent Israel and the 12 stars in her crown to represent the 12 sons of Jacob. She gives birth to a Son "who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter." (12:5) When the Son is born he is "caught up to God and to His throne," and the woman flees into the wilderness to a place God prepared for her to hide from the dragon and to be fed. (12:5-6) If the woman represents Israel as many believe, then it is Israel who the dragon seeks to destroy and who God hides away and feeds in the wilderness.

The Red Dragon:  The second personage is Satan appearing as a fiery red dragon. His 10 horns are thought to represent the 10 kings mentioned in Daniel who will rule simultaneously with the coming world ruler. A sweep of his tail hurls a third of the stars to the earth, and he stands in front of the woman awaiting the birth of her child so that he might devour it. Satan is described in these verses as "one who deceives the whole world," and as the one who accuses the saints before God day and Night. 

The Angel Michael:  The angel Michael led his angels in war against the dragon who fought back with the help of his angels. The dragon was not able to prevail, though, and was thrown out of heaven and down to earth, and his angels with him. With this victory over Satan there is rejoicing in heaven. But the voice that John heard calling for rejoicing in heaven also declared woe to the earth and sea because Satan had come down to them with great fury.  

Satan Cast Out Of Heaven: Though the dragon is also identified as Satan, this personage is defined separately since Satan is now cast out of heaven and is no longer described as a dragon.  When he is cast out of heaven by Michael and his angels and the earth becomes his domain and with the time short, Satan will wreak havoc on the earth. Satan was defeated through Christ's death and resurrection, he is here cast out of heaven, and will later be bound for the duration of Christ's millennial reign, and then will finally be thrown into the lake of fire. When he was cast to earth, it seems Satan focused his fury on the woman representing Israel, trying to sweep her away in a torrent of water that he spewed from his mouth like a river. 

The Offspring Of The Woman:  When the earth protected the woman by opening "its mouth" and swallowing the river Satan spewed at her, Satan then turned his fury to the woman's offspring who are described as those "who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony about Jesus." (12:17)  It is this group to whom Satan turns his attention when he discovers he cannot get to the woman.