Revelation — Chapter 12
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1And 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.
2She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth.
3Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
4His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, hurling them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.
5And 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.
6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
7Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
8But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.
9And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.
11They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.”
13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent.
16But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17And the dragon was enraged at the woman and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
1And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;
2and she was the child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.
3And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.
4And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.
5And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.
6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels [going forth] to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;
8And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
10And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.
11And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
13And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man [child].
14And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus:
1Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.
2She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth.
3Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.
4Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.
5So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne,
6and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
8But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels.
9So that huge dragon—the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world—was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.
11But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
12Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!”
13Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14But the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of—away from the presence of the serpent—for a time, times, and half a time.
15Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood,
16but the earth came to her rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth.
17So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus. (12:18) And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.
1A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.
3Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.
4His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.
6The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.
7There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war.
8They didn’t prevail, neither was a place found for them any more in heaven.
9The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he 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.
10I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
11They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.
12Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”
13When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
14Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
16The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth.
17The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.
Summary
A woman clothed with the sun, moon, and a crown of twelve stars is about to give birth while a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns waits to devour her child (vv. 1-4). She bears a son destined to rule the nations, who is caught up to God's throne, while she flees into the wilderness for 1,260 days of divine protection (vv. 5-6). War breaks out in heaven as Michael and his angels defeat the dragon — identified as the devil and Satan — casting him down to earth; heaven rejoices, but earth is warned because he now attacks in great wrath, knowing his time is short (vv. 7-12). Believers overcome him through the Lamb's blood and their testimony, unafraid even of death (v. 11). Unable to reach the woman, who is given eagle's wings and shielded from the flood he unleashes after her, the dragon turns to make war on the rest of her offspring who keep God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (vv. 13-17).
Authorship & Background
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers the woman (Israel), the dragon (Satan), the male child (Christ), the heavenly war, and the threefold victory.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Revelation -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- The Accuser Cast Down (v.9) — Satan, who accuses God's people before Him, is thrown down from heaven for good. Does knowing the accuser has been defeated change how you respond to guilt and condemnation?
- Overcoming by the Blood, the Word, and Surrendered Lives (v.11) — Believers overcome Satan through Christ's blood, their bold testimony, and a willingness to lose everything rather than deny Christ. Which of these three are you weakest in right now?
- A Short Time, Great Wrath (v.12) — Satan's fury intensifies because he knows his time is running out. Can you endure his attacks knowing they are intense but temporary, not endless?
- Marked as the Enemy's Target (v.17) — Those who keep God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus become the focus of the dragon's war. Does your life show the marks that would make you a target — and does that trouble or encourage you?