Jesus pulls back the curtain of history for John to reveal the true origins of the Great Controversy. If we needed any further evidence of who started this war between Good and Evil, look no further than chapter 12. It would not be useful to see chapter 12 chronologically, as John ranges back and forth over the historical timeline to provide more details of this Great Controversy. Lucifer, turned Satan, started this War in Heaven over his jealousy of Jesus and his desire to do his own thing. (See Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-15)
Rev. 12:7-9 reveals what Jesus does with Satan the arch-rebel. Here is an excellent summary of this event.
“When Satan sweeps away a “third of the stars,” it is most likely referring to the original war in heaven. In that primordial event, Satan and his followers (one-third of the heavenly host) rebelled against God. In Chapter 12 this battle is viewed from two vantage points. The dragon throws them to the earth, or takes them away from their allegiance to God. In 12:7–9, Satan and his angels are thrown out of heaven to earth by Michael and the heavenly host. Verse 12:4 refers to the initial victory as Satan convinced a third of the heavenly host to join him in the rebellion against God, and 12:7–9 refers to the actual battle, when they are cast out of heaven to the earth.”[1]
This “war in heaven” was not really a physical war, there was no need of that. Polemos, or “war” and “fighting” can mean physical fighting but it can also mean a war of words. When a speaker makes a “polemic” against someone or their idea, he is not physically fighting but is having a “war of words.” The “war in heaven” was a war brought on by Satan’s false ideas and deception of the angels, which resulted in them being expelled or cast out of heaven.
The Spirit of Prophecy suggests a primordial “casting out” of Satan, before the creation of this earth.
“Then there was war in heaven. The Son of God, the Prince of heaven, and His loyal angels engaged in conflict with the arch-rebel and those who united with him. The Son of God and true, loyal angels prevailed; and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from heaven. All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God of justice. Not a taint of rebellion was left in heaven. All was again peaceful and harmonious as before. Angels in heaven mourned the fate of those who had been their companions in happiness and bliss. Their loss was felt in heaven. {SR 19.1}
The Father consulted His Son in regard to at once carrying out their purpose to make man to inhabit the earth. He would place man upon probation to test his loyalty before he could be rendered eternally secure. If he endured the test wherewith God saw fit to prove him, he should eventually be equal with the angels. He was to have the favor of God, and he was to converse with angels, and they with him. He did not see fit to place them beyond the power of disobedience. {SR 19.2}”
The enquiring bible student may then wonder what Jesus meant when he said in John 12:31-33 and Luke 10:18. These texts appear to parallel the one in Rev. 12:10. In John 12:31–33 Jesus is speaking to the Greeks, who had come seeking Him. He mentions what will happen to Satan as a result of His upcoming sacrifice on the Cross. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die (John 12:31–33).” Luke 10:18 is another instance of this same prophecy. “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
This appears to be another mention of a “casting out” or limitation for Satan based on this prophecy. The Spirit of Prophecy is again in concordance with Jesus’ statement on this second “casting out” or limitation of Satan in where he can go. Notice these two statements.
“The casting down of Satan as an accuser of the brethren in heaven was accomplished by the great work of Christ in giving up His life. Notwithstanding Satan’s persistent opposition, the plan of redemption was being carried out. Man was esteemed of sufficient value for Christ to sacrifice His life for him. Satan, knowing that the empire he had usurped would in the end be wrested from him, determined to spare no pains to destroy as many as possible of the creatures whom God had created in His image. He hated man because Christ had manifested for him such forgiving love and pity, and he now prepared to practice upon him every species of deception by which he might be lost; he pursued his course with more energy because of his own hopeless condition.” EGW. SDA Bible Comm. Vol. 7, p 973. & The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, pp. 194, 195.
“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.” {DA 761.2}
After Jesus’ assumption of the throne in heaven, Satan was no longer allowed to accuse God’s people directly in the heavenly councils and was certainly no longer the “ruler of this world.” He was now limited to this earth, or cast down to the earth. Before the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, he could accuse Jesus of showing favoritism to mankind, especially with the translation of Enoch and Elijah to heaven, the raising of Moses, and the raising of Lazarus. With Jesus’ victory on the cross, there was no longer any justification for Satan’s accusations. Satan was defeated. He can no longer accuse God of showing favoritism in saving His people. (From my commentary, pg. 655)
In this Great Controversy struggle on earth, there are two primary earthly antagonists; the woman and the dragon, or the church and Satan. Satan attempts to get at Christ now by using earthly powers to persecute and/or destroy his people. Satan continues the war on earth after being cast out from the war he started in heaven.
A couple of caveats before we begin. Scholarship is not united on the interpretation of this book, particularly in the Christian community. Three major differences must be mentioned.
- The first has to do with the story of the pregnant woman and the dragon itself. Some scholars believe John was aware of the mythic tales in the pagan literature and simply made up a “mythic” story himself to portray this struggle. The Isis-Osiris-Horus-Typhon tale from Egypt is a prominent one. In summary, Osiris is killed by Typhon, his evil brother, and the fourteen parts of his body are spread throughout the earth. Isis goes around the earth looking for Osiris, eventually recovers his body parts, and has a child by him. She nurtures her son in the wilderness. Horus, born to Isis, eventually overcomes Typhon and becomes king. It IS NO surprise, to see one story mimicking or copying the other. Which story came first?
So did John use the Isis-Osiris-Horus-Typhon story as a template for his own mythic tale? Or is the Isis-Osiris-Horus-Typhon tale a corruption of the true story of the origins of the combat motif, as found in 12:1–17? According to conservative scholarship, God asked Moses to write down the true origins of the earth and its people in the Pentateuch during his wilderness sojourn in the fifteenth century BC. Based on the inspiration of the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit, this then is the true account of the Creation, the Fall of Man, and the rest of the story.
Who corrupted and changed the true story of the origins of mankind? Who else but Satan would know the story since Genesis 3:15 and the beginning? He has created a similar but erroneous version of the origins of this “good versus evil” conflict on earth. Modern historical-critical scholarship has bought this version of the events. This scholarship does not believe in the intervention by God on this earth on behalf of mankind. Do they even believe in a real devil, who is contending with Christ for the supremacy of this world?
- Secondly, we must deal with whether Satan is a real person as mentioned in Scripture or a metaphor for evil. One commentator opines that “early Christianity adopted this mythology (of Satan) as its way of expressing its convictions that evil, while not an eternal counterpart of God, was more than the accumulation of individual human sins. This supra-individual power of evil which has the world and humanity in its grasp” is called by these various names, as mentioned below. “Major theologians of the neo-orthodox era, and many contemporary Christian theologians with a deep social conscience have found the New Testament’s imagery for the demonic power of evil to be valuable when taken seriously but not literally. ‘Satan,’ as a symbolic way of thinking of the super-personal power of evil is a valuable dimension of biblical theology.”[2]
- Is the pregnant woman of Rev. 12 Mary, the mother of Jesus? More than a billion people believe that this pregnant woman in Rev. 12 represents Mary, the mother of Jesus. Is this true? Catholic commentators have created an immense library of literature arguing for the view that the woman of 12:1 symbolizes Mary. If the woman symbolizes Mary, the mother of Jesus, then it severely strains the application of the symbolism in the chapter. The devil goes after Mary, the mother of Jesus, to destroy her, and Mary goes into a (symbolic or literal) wilderness for 1260 days (is it three and a half years or forty-two months of literal time, or prophetic time of 1260 years) and is protected there. Mary does not live on earth today. Mary would be nearly 2,000 years old if she were the literal application of the symbolism. No credibility seems present in this line of reasoning. Extensive bibliographies of the Marian symbolism of the woman of Rev. 12 exist, if you wish to look them up. (from my commentary, pg. 630.)
Summary: No. 1, God asked Moses to write the real story of Creation and what happened to this world while in the wilderness around 1500 BC. Here was God’s response to Satan’s fabrications and myths, though dangerously close to the truth, was deliberately changed to make God look bad.
No. 2, Satan wishes people to think of him as anything but what he is, the rebel, the deceiver, the usurper, and the wanna-be ruler of this world.
No. 3. The Bible clearly identifies the woman as the church. Do not fall into any of these pitfalls in studying Scripture.
- The Woman and the Dragon Revelation 12
- The woman and the church in the wilderness
The nations are angry, because their leader, Satan, is angry (11:18). He is angry at the man-child (12:4), angry with God’s people (12:6, 10), angry about the judgment (12:12), and angry because he has lost the great controversy (12:7). After being thrown out of heaven for his defeat, he tries to destroy God’s people throughout this great period on earth known as the Dark Ages.(12:14) For 1260 years (forty-two months, 1260 days, three and a half years) he attempts to destroy God’s people. At the end, he attempts to destroy the remnant of the church—those who keep all ten of God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus or the Holy Spirit in their lives. (12:17)
Taken literally, Ch. 12 sounds like a fairy tale of a red dragon chasing a pregnant woman through the sky to devour her child. Interpreting the symbolism from Scripture makes so much more sense. John describes the story of the church in Ch. 12. One of the most important hermeneutics of historicism is to identify the symbol and apply it to real persons, places, or situations. This keeps us from following the mythic tales of Satan.
This woman, is the church (Jeremiah 6:2; Isa. 54:5, 6; 2 Cor. 11:2, etc). Notice that the church is variously portrayed as the candlestick, Ch. 1-3; the horse Ch. 6; & the women Ch. 12. This woman of 12:1 has two roles. This woman stands historically at the divide between the Old Testament and the New Testament. As mother of the Messiah, she is Israel; as a persecuted people, she is the church. One aspect of her symbolism reaches back to God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. The other aspect of her symbolism points forward to her role as the New Testament church. She is clothed with the sun, meaning the righteousness of Christ (Malachi 4:2). The moon is under her feet, the reflected light of the gospel in the Old Testament and the types and shadows of the sanctuary service, pointing forward to Christ himself. The crown of twelve stars may represent the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament and the twelve apostles in the New Testament.
As a result of the dragon’s persecution, the church flees into the wilderness (12:6, 14). The wilderness is an uninhabited place compared to the “sea” whence the people came from (17:15). We shall see in 13:1 that a beast comes out of the sea (peoples of the Mediterranean) and a beast comes out of the earth (13:11) (the uninhabited places of the earth).
This wilderness experience appears to benefit the Christian believer in several ways. The New Testament church was sent into the wilderness for protection, so that the church would not be annihilated. This experience was also a refiner’s fire, in which all were tested for their faith. Those who believed were given strength to endure or to suffer martyrdom for their testimony. Those who could not take the persecution succumbed to the compromise and seduction of the apostate religion and worldly attractions.
In applying the symbolism we have learned, 12:6 reads this way: The New Testament church, possessing the apostolic truths of the Scriptures, fled into the mountains and desolate places of the earth during The Dark Ages, to preserve the church and the Word of God. This 1260-day period is the time period from A.D. 538–1798. This coincides with Daniel 7:25, the three-and-a-half year prophecy. In 13:6, the sea-beast reigns over this same time period of 42 months or 1260 years.
As we learned in Ch. 10, at the end of the 1260 years (AD 1798) and at the end of the 2300 years (AD October 22, 1844), God’s people will begin to speak the Word again (10:11) and give the Three Angel’s Message (14:6-12) at the end time. God leaves a prophetic road map to guide His people. We can perceive that we are at the end of time prescribed in Scripture for when the return of Jesus will occur.
- The dragon
This dragon who attempts to destroy Jesus, the man-child, and the church, who is he? Rev. 12:9 identifies him as the Old Serpent, the Devil and Satan. In the guise of Pharaoh, Satan attempted to destroy Moses (Exo. 1:16). In the guise of Herod the Great, Satan attempted to destroy Jesus (Matt. 2:16). In the guise of many nations, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, Satan has attempted to annihilate God’s people.
This jealousy of Christ, and eventually hatred for Jesus and heaven led to war there. Michael (Jesus) and Satan engaged in war, and Satan was thrown out. In 12; 3, 4, this dragon or Satan, drew a third part of the stars from heaven, and cast them to the earth; stars being angels (1:20). Rev. 12:7 says Satan’s angels were cast out with him. In a cosmic tragedy, 1/3 of the angels of heaven believed Satan’s lies and deceptions and lost their heavenly place with their fellow angels. From the war in heaven and in the Garden of Eden, till now, Satan has been lying and deceiving the people on this earth.
“red” Why is Satan stated to be a great RED dragon?
The dragon sheds blood, starting with the hate-filled death of Abel at the hands of Cain. Our sins and the hate of the dragon eventually result in the death of Jesus and the shedding of His blood for our sins.
The dragon sheds blood, something God never intended human beings to see. But the blood He sheds for our sins opens up a river that cleanses every soul who comes to Jesus. The shedding of the blood of Jesus results in our salvation. Upon our acceptance, Jesus can now take our sins and wash them white in His red blood (7:14).
What was it really like when Adam took a knife and cut the throat of that first lamb? The first time humankind ever saw red blood was when Adam slew that first lamb as a sacrifice for his sin. The blood on the hand of Adam pointed forward to Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Adam and Eve were to realize, through the blood of this sacrificed lamb, what it would cost the Son of God when He gave His life for us on Calvary. May that blood on your hand, from the sins you have committed, point you to Jesus, the Lamb of God.
tail” What does it mean that Satan drew a third of the stars of heaven with his tail?
Here is another reference that suggests what the “tail” might represent: “Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail (Isaiah 9:14, 15).” John 8:44 tells us who the liar, or the “tail,” is. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Lucifer, turned Satan, the “tail,” speaks the seductive lies that draw a third of the angels away from their loyalty to God.
Fatal consequences in underestimating Satan
Failure to understand the reality of Satan and his designs upon this earth and God’s people results for many in a failure to grasp their incredible need of a Savior. Who is in need of a Savior, when evil and Satan are simply considered a metaphor for the evil in this world? The human soul will not obtain salvation without a Savior. The human soul will not repent, persevere, and overcome without a Savior. The human soul will not sit with Jesus on His throne in heaven without complete trust in his Savior. A real “fight” between “real” antagonists with “real and eternal” consequences is taking place. May you never forget this while reading the book of Revelation. (Rev. 12:13, 14).
Satan’s victory over the saints appears to be an earthly victory but only a temporary one. On the other hand, the saints’ victory over Satan is final and eternal. While everything looks bleak for God’s people, the end is not in doubt. Christ’s victory assures their victory if they put their faith completely in Him.
Overcoming by the blood of the Lamb (12:11) God is able and willing to save us because of the sacrifice of Jesus, for “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:7).” When we realize what is wrapped up in the blood of Jesus Christ, we can say with the apostle Paul, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14).” We can only overcome Satan and evil by the blood of the Lamb. Make haste to be covered by the blood of the Lamb today! To quote the memory text today: ‘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 12:11, NKJV).
- Dragon at war with the woman at the end (remnant of her seed) because they keep the 10 commandments and have the faith of Jesus
Satan has only a short time.
After 6,000 years of warfare, Satan knows he has but a short time (12:12). Being limited from heaven to this earth after the death and resurrection of Jesus, he knew he had just a “short time” to deceive the people on this earth. And, in particular, Satan went after those who became believers in Jesus. This “short time,” biblically speaking from God’s perspective in 12:12, 13) has to do with the “time, times, and half a time” or 1260 years that Satan spent in deceiving or destroying God’s people. It sounds like a long time to you and me, but not from God’s perspective.
During this “short time” Satan went after the church. The church “flew” or was given the ability to go into the wilderness, (Alps, Piedmont, Ireland, and later to the New World-America) to escape the clutches of Satan’s agent, the sea-beast or Papacy, (See Rev. 13:1-10). The wilderness is symbolic of a place where divine protection occurs.
What is the flood of waters?
The dragon opens his mouth and casts a flood of waters after the woman. “Carried away of the flood” means to be “swept away by a river”. Satan meant to exterminate the church. The “waters” (17:15) represent peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues.” An army led by Satan, as formed by the Papacy, attempted to physically eradicate those who did not adhere to the papacy. (See Isaiah 43:2; Psalm 69:14, 15)
No less important were the words of false teachings that came from the mouth of Satan, as expressed by his agent, the papacy (sea-beast). Every teaching of Scripture was altered or changed. Be it through lies and deceit or physical persecution and death, the serpent carries out his depredations by every means at his disposal.
The good news in 12:16 is that the earth “opening up her mouth,” swallowed the flood of false teachings and persecutions. Many oppressed believers, Puritans, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, and even Catholics fled to America to practice their faith where the papacy could not reach them. “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him (Psalm 32:6).”
After persecution for 1260 years, the prophecies end in AD 1798, and 1844. God’s last-day people began to study Jesus’ sacrifice, and his mediatorial work in the sanctuary, (11:1-2) and preach the last-day warning message for this time, the Three Angel’s Message of 14:6-12. As we shall note in Ch. 13, this earth-beast in the New World, or America, is going to link up with the resurrected sea-beast, the Papacy, and introduce the papacy into the New World and force everyone to worship the Papacy again.
Satan’s end time anger
Rev. 12:17 “And 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.”
Why is this? Because in 12:17, Satan is now really angry! To be “wroth” is to be provoked with anger. Satan goes to war with the “remnant of her seed.” This last remnant or remaining people of God’s church are set upon by Satan in a fierce war for their destruction, culminating in those incredible times mentioned in 13:14-17.
Who are the remnant? They have two characteristics according to Rev. 12:17.
This remnant are identified by keeping the Commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. The Commandments of God include the 10 Commandments at the very least, and in particular, the seventh-day Sabbath. Many Christian believers today keep nine of the commandments but do not keep the fourth commandment to honor the seventh-day Sabbath. Remember that seventh-day Sabbath keeping was a sign of loyalty to the Creator? Sabbath-keeping becomes our seal, evidence that we believe in the God of the Bible.
The book of Revelation clearly refers to at least two types of the rem-nant. The faithful remnant in Thyatira are those who survive the apostasy of that period (Rev. 2:24). An eschatological, or end-time, remnant emerges just before the close of probation (Rev. 11:13; Rev. 12:17). It is God’s purpose that this final remnant faithfully prepare the way for the second coming of Jesus, just as John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ’s first advent. (From the teacher’s notes in the lesson.)
What is the testimony of Jesus?
Based on its context, the text would point to the testimony of Jesus as the witness Christ Himself has given. In 19:10, it clearly states that the “testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.” This testimony of Jesus is Christ’s self-disclosure through the prophets—His witness, not man’s witness about him. Thus the book of Revelation reveals in the great controversy motif permeating the whole book that faithfulness to the ‘word of God’ and to the ‘testimony of Jesus’ separates the faithful from the faithless. Jehoshaphat’s prophecy is confirmed: 2 Chronicles 20:20 “…Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper”.
Just as God sent Noah to prophesy the end of the world by water; sent Moses to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt; sent many prophets to Israel and Judah to warn of destruction in the face of disobedience; sent Jeremiah at the end of Judah to tell them to let the Babylonians in; sent John the Baptist to declare the 1st coming of Jesus; so he also has sent a prophet in the last days to warn of the consequences of disobedience and of how to take the path to salvation in Jesus Christ. That prophetess, or “messenger” as she liked to be called, was Ellen G. White. Just as God sent prophets to instruct and warn his people in every age, so he remembers his people at the end time and does NOT leave them prophetless.
It is worth noting, that just as false prophets arose in Israel and Judah to dispute Isaiah and Jeremiah’s prophecies, so end time prophets arose, disputing and differing from Ellen G. White. Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Spiritualism rappings of the Fox Sisters, etc. all added their voice to confuse the Word of God. Just as there were false prophets in the Old Testament, there will assuredly be false prophets in the New Testament and the end time.
The purpose of Revelation 12 is, first of all, to tell God’s people that end-time events are a part of the great conflict between Christ and Satan. The book warns God’s people about what they are facing today and are about to confront in an even more serious manner in the future—an experienced and furious enemy. Paul warns us of the end-time activity “of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:9, 10, NKJV).
Revelation urges us to take the future seriously and make our dependence on God our priority. On the other side, Revelation assures us that although Satan is a strong and experienced enemy, he is not strong enough to overcome Christ (see Rev. 12:8). For God’s people, hope can be found only in the One who in the past has victoriously defeated Satan and his demonic forces. And He has promised to be with His faithful followers “ ‘always, even to the end of the age’ ” (Matt. 28:20, NKJV).
[1] Grant Osborne, Revelation, 461, for a splendid discussion of this issue.
[2] Eugene Boring, Revelation (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989), 164–167.
Special thanks to Ken Mathews, MD
