The Woman and the Dragon

[Read Revelation 12]

I made fun of my kids the other day. I’ve always said that one of the joys of having teenagers is making fun of them :-) Anyway, they were watching the movie Miracle—a movie about the US hockey team defeating the Russians at the 1980 Olympics. Since my home is full of hockey players, this movie is very popular in our family. 

There’s a part in the movie when the coach becomes very frustrated with his team. They played a terrible game. They were lazy and selfish. So, he skates them after the game. He skates them so hard that they begin to puke on the ice. He skates them so long they shut the lights off in the arena, but he keeps skating them until they recognize that they are a team. It’s not about them, it’s about the team. 

As my kids watched this part of the movie, they were saying, “Oh, I LOVE this part!” and were talking about how much they loved Herb Brooks as a coach. Then I chuckled a little and said, “Would you love it if you were one of the players? Would you love Herb Brooks as a coach if he was making you skate like that? OR would you be whining and complaining and frustrated, thinking about how much of a JERK the coach is?” The reality is, we’re all this way. We watch powerful movies and read great books but we don’t REALLY want to live out those stories.   

I’m a big fan of The Lord of the Rings. I could read and re-read those books—along with watching and re-watching the movies. I remember someone asking, “Could you imagine if The Lord of the Rings story consisted of: There once was a hobbit who lived in the shire. He ate, drank, and relaxed his whole life. The end.” Nobody would read the story. It’s boring. Yet, for the most part, that’s what we want our story to be. 

Then, we read The Lord of the Rings. We see Frodo and Sam worn out from the journey, trying to climb Mount Doom to destroy the ring. We read:

“Frodo groaned; but with a great effort of will he staggered up; and then he fell back upon his knees again. He raised his eyes with difficulty to the dark slopes of Mount Doom towering over him, and then pitifully he began to crawl forward on his hands. 

Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. ‘I said I’d carry him, if it broke my back,’ he muttered, ‘and I will!’

‘Come, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well.’” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, p. 217-218)

We read that story and our heart is moved. It’s powerful. Yet, would we want to be in that situation? Would we want to be in a place where we’re so tired that we can only crawl? Would we want to be the one to carry our partner AND his burden toward Mount Doom? We don’t, but we should. The best stories contain struggle and difficulty. All REAL victory involves suffering. 

Just look at the beginning of the Bible. We know that story well. A serpent comes to Eve in the garden. He tempts her to eat fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She and Adam eat. Then God comes with a curse and a promise. We typically focus on the curse given to Adam and Eve, but God curses the serpent first. He says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, ESV). Throughout church history, this has been called the first gospel. It’s a promise to the serpent that his head will be bruised and crushed. There will be enmity between him and Eve’s children, but eventually he will be defeated. Yet, not without getting in a few shots of his own. He will bruise the heel of Eve’s children. He will cause pain and damage. There will be suffering. But, as I’ve already mentioned, all REAL victory includes suffering. 

This is the story we see in Revelation 12. At the beginning we’re shown a beautiful woman: “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Revelation 12:1, ESV). This is a picture of God’s people. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God’s people are portrayed as a beautiful woman. We see this in Isaiah 62 and in Ephesians 5. This is why the woman is wearing a crown of twelve stars. We already know that the number twelve refers to God’s people.

And then it says, “She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.” (Revelation 12:2, ESV). This is a picture of the Old Testament church, fulfilling God’s promise of a child of Eve who will destroy the serpent. That’s why the genealogies of the OT are so important. They are tracing the line of births from Eve to the one who will destroy the serpent. And we see the OT church repeatedly in pain and agony as “She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 12:5, ESV). THAT is the story of the Old Testament. It’s a story about the ups and downs—the pain and agony—that led up to Jesus’ birth into the world. 

But we also see the serpent again in this chapter—the one who will be at enmity with the woman and her offspring throughout history. This time he’s described as a dragon: “Behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.” (Revelation 12:3, ESV). Later he’s called “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9, ESV). The heads and the crowns show us his power. The dragon is not a weakling. We are also told that “His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.” (Revelation 12:4, ESV). This is describing the angels who fell along with him. When Satan was kicked out of heaven, he took a third of the angels with him to form his army. This is how he was going to bruise the heel of Eve’s children. 

But don’t forget, that when God gave us the first gospel in Genesis 3, he was speaking to the serpent. The serpent KNEW that someone was coming who would destroy him. He knew a child would be born who would crush his head. So, he tried to be proactive: “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.” (Revelation 12:4, ESV). His plan was to devour the child before the child could crush his head. He wanted to defeat Jesus before Jesus defeated him. It didn’t work. We’re told that God protected the child. 

So, what does Satan do? Does he just give up? No way. We’re told: “And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.” (Revelation 12:13, ESV). And when he can’t get at the woman, it says, “Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring” (Revelation 12:17, ESV). That’s us. We’re the rest of the woman’s offspring. Satan is at war with us. He’s coming after us. He’s trying to destroy us. It’s what was promised in Genesis 3. There would be war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Or, to say it another way, there would be war between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. 

And here’s how he makes war on God’s people. In this passage, the dragon—Satan—is described with two adjectives. In verse nine it says, “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 12:9, ESV). Then a few verses later it calls him “the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10, ESV). Satan is a deceiver and an accuser. That’s how he wages war against God’s people—which shouldn’t surprise us, because this is exactly what he did in Genesis 3. He deceived and he accused.

And notice an image we’re given later in the chapter. It says, “The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.” (Revelation 12:15, ESV). Whenever we’ve seen something coming from someone’s mouth in Revelation, it’s been words. This is an image of Satan’s deceits and accusations pouring from his mouth like a raging flood, trying to sweep away the church and destroy her. He brings false-teaching after false-teaching against the church. He brings accusation after accusation against the church. Trying to get the church swept up in the flood. Trying to destroy the church. 

But also notice who he’s coming after. It says, “Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17, ESV). He’s coming after faithful Christians—those who obey God and point people to Jesus. He’s not worried about those who disobey God and never speak about Jesus. They’re not a threat to him. So, he leaves them alone. Yet, those who obey God and point people to Jesus ARE a threat. So, he’s furiously coming after them with all of his deceits and accusations, trying to sweep them away, trying to destroy them in the flood. 

Yet, in the midst of the dragon’s attacks we see God’s deliverance. It’s been said that you can summarize the entire plot of the Bible with the plot of your typical fairy-tale: Kill the dragon, get the girl. That’s the end of the story. We’ll see the dragon thrown into the lake of fire and we’ll celebrate at the wedding feast of the Lamb. The dragon will be killed and Christ will get his bride. 

As the story progresses to that conclusion, we see smaller deliverances—glimpses of that final deliverance. As war breaks out in heaven, God’s army defeats Satan and his army and throws them down to earth. As the dragon pursues the woman on the earth, God gives her wings to fly away into the wilderness. As the dragon pours out a flood of deceit and accusation, God opens up the earth to swallow them up—to keep them from destroying the church. 

Ultimately, we see the deliverance of the Messiah being born into the world—the one who will crush the head of the dragon, the ancient serpent, Satan. That’s the deliverance from God. Without Jesus, there is no deliverance from Satan. Without Jesus, the dragon will devour the woman and defeat her children. But, because of Jesus the heavens can cry out, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10, ESV). Satan was thrown down—defeated—through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. That’s how Jesus brought salvation. That’s what we’re celebrating as we celebrate Lent and look forward to Easter. We’re celebrating the defeat of Satan’s army, the establishment of God’s Kingdom, and God’s victory in the world. 

And through Jesus’ victory, we can also overcome. It says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11, ESV). How does God bring us deliverance in this battle with Satan? Through the blood of the Lamb—through Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. When we trust in Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins, Satan has no power over us. He can bring NO ACCUSATION against us. When we trust in Jesus Christ as the TRUTH, Satan can never deceive us and lead us astray. Notice also that we are not just DELIVERED in this battle. We CONQUER Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. We conquer Satan by trusting Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and by pointing people to Jesus—by bringing the gospel into our communities. 

We like this part of the story. We get excited. But there’s more to the story. Remember, no REAL victory comes without suffering. That’s why the rest of the verse says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:11, ESV). We overcome by trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. We overcome by pointing people to Jesus. But we ALSO overcome by NOT LOVING OUR LIVES, even to the point of death. We overcome through suffering—just like Jesus. We do not win this battle by overpowering our enemy. We do not win this battle by seeking safety and security. We do not win this battle by trying to save our lives. We win this battle by out-suffering our enemy. We win this battle by refusing to quit when things get tough. We win this battle by crawling on our hands and knees when we’re no longer strong enough to walk. We win by out-suffering the enemy. We win by giving our lives.

This all reminded me of a portion from another book. A dragon is waging war on a community, destroying everything and everyone he sees. People are dying and buildings are burning. Many who were given the task to protect this community are running away—fleeing for their lives. In the midst of this chaos, when all seems lost, one man looks to another and says, 

“In every herd, many stampede, while only a few turn to face the lions. Cowards life for the sake of living, but for heroes, life is a weapon, a thing to be spent, a gift to be given to the weak and the lost and the weary, even to the foolish and cowardly…To love is to be selfless. To be selfless is to be fearless. To be fearless is to strip your enemies of their greatest weapon. Even if they break our bodies and drain our blood, we are unvanquished. Our goal was never to live; our goal is to love. It is the goal of all truly noble men and women. Give all that can be given. Give even your  life itself.” (N.D. Wilson, Empire of Bones, p. 314)