3. As A Result Of
Christ’s Victory Over The Devil, God Protects The Messianic Community Against
The Devil’s Wrathful And Continual Harm.
12:13-17
In verse 13 we read: “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.” In this sentence we see that verses 13-17 are connected into the
preceding context in two ways. First, they show what the dragon does as a
result of knowing he is defeated, and so they flow out of the middle section
(12:7-12). Second, they also pick back up on the storyline of the first section
(1-6). What this demonstrates is Revelation 12 is about God’s protection of his
people (“the woman”)[1] from the ultimate enemy
who is enraged. Both the rage of the enemy and the protection of the church
emerge from the conquering of sin, death, and Satan by Christ through his
substitutionary atoning death. This suggests that the church is persecuted
ultimately because of its relationship to Jesus Christ.
This paragraph will display that even though God is protecting his
people in the ultimate way from ultimate destruction, the persecution continues
throughout this age. It also bears out what Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12
(“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted,”) and what Jesus said as recorded in John 15:18-20 (“If the world
hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the
world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the
world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20
Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his
master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my
word, they will also keep yours.’”).
Though the church is persecuted through this age, God protects her
in the ultimate sense, as we see in verse 14: “But the woman was given the two
wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the
wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time.”
The vision of this verse finds its background in several Old
Testament texts. To start, we see it in Exodus 19:4 and Dt. 32:10-12, where God speaks
of carrying Israel as an eagle in the wilderness. The New Testament church is
once again in Revelation viewed as the end-times true Israel taking over the
role of the old Israel (see also Rev. 7; 11:1-14; 14:1-5;
15:1-4 ), with the spiritual wilderness representing God’s protective presence
substituted for the physical wilderness of Sinai. We also see this image in
Psalm 55:1-8, where David speaks of being given the wings of a dove to flee
into the wilderness and await God’s protection from his enemies. The most
powerful Old Testament background to this image is found in Isaiah 40:27-31,
where Isaiah prophesies that God will deliver his people in the last days and
utilizes this same image.
So God will protect and nourish the church in its exodus-like
wanderings through the wilderness of the world.
There are three more truths communicated in verse 14 that we
should touch upon before continuing. To start, the woman is enabled to fly to
“the place,” which we saw in verse 6, has connotations of taking her to a
sanctuary-type situation. When we put together all that is said in Revelation
12, it appears that united to Christ by faith and with his saving work applied,
the church lives in the full presence of God, as his temple (see also 1:4, 12;
4:4; 11:1-13; 14:1; 21:1-22:5), and so wherever the church is in the world and
whatever is going on, she is protected in the ultimate sense in and by the
triune God, who is present with her.
Additionally, we read that the church “is to be nourished,” a verb
which carries with it a very intimate and familial sense of providing for or
taking care of another. In this wilderness, dwelling with God, the church will
be provided for in all she needs to persevere so that she enters into her
eternal Promised Land. The use of this verb may also call to mind God’s giving
of manna to Israel in the wilderness. See John 6:31-58 where Christ is depicted
as the latter-day manna.
Finally, we want to note that the church will be persecuted and
protected ultimately for “a time, and times, and half a time,” which is
equivalent to the three and a half years or forty-two months of 11:2-3 and 13:5
or the one thousand two hundred and sixty days of 12:6. In other words, it is
throughout this age until the second coming of Christ.
Though this protection and nourishment of the church is promised,
Satan nevertheless still pursues and seeks to destroy her. Verse 15 puts it
this way: “The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the
woman, to sweep her away with a flood.”
There are at least five different sources of Old Testament background to
this image of the water seeking to hinder or destroy God’s people:[2]
·
“Flood” can speak of a
conquering army (Dan. 11:10, 22, 26, 40) and of persecution of God’s people
from which he saves them (2 Sam. 22:5; Pss. 18:4, 16; 66:12; 69:1-2, 14-15;
124:4-5; 144; 7-8; Is. 43:2).
·
The Red Sea, which was a
barrier to the people of God getting to the wilderness and safety (Exodus 14).
·
The Jordan which was a
barrier into the Promised Land (Joshua 3).
·
The waters standing in
the way of the return of God’s post-exilic people to Zion which Isaiah
prophesies in the last days God will again dry up or cause to be blocked (Is.
42:15; 43:2; 44:27).
·
The flood associated
with the end time attack on God’s people in Dan. 9:26. John’s allusion to both
the exodus and to Dan. 9:26 would be in line with his preceding allusions,
which have combined the same two backgrounds (see on 11:2, 6, esp. on the
forty-two months and its background in the exodus and Daniel).
So, it appears that in this pouring out of water what is depicted
is the enemy attempting to keep believers from entering their eternal rest,
that is, into their Promised Land. Yet, more specifically how does he do this?
The way verse 15 pictures the enemy is instructive (“the serpent”), along with
where the water comes from (“out of his mouth”). Whenever things or weapons come out of the
mouth in Revelation the figurative picture signifies words on the part of
Christ and his agents to judge sinners (1:16; 2:16; 11:5; 19:15, 21; cf. 3:16),
or to words of deception coming from the devil and his agents (9:17-8; 16:13). Here,
the point is that the enemy, working through his evil spirits, as well as those
who serve him in this world, speak falsehoods about Christianity (including
what it means to be a Christian and what the gospel is), Christians, and the
world that, if believed, turn people away from the gospel and the only way of
salvation. The idea that the waters represent deception also is highlighted by
the reality that the devil here is referred to as the serpent, which takes
readers back to Genesis 3 and his deception of Eve. Greg Beale adds:
[Revelation]
2-3 reveal[s] that the churches to which John was writing had already begun to
experience the devil’s flood of deception (2:2, 14, 20), false accusations
(2:9; 3:9), temptations, and persecution (2:10, 13). It is beyond coincidence
that wherever chs. 2-3 mention these problems, the devil’s “synagogue” (2:9;
3:9), “throne” (2:13), or “deep things” (2:24) is mentioned.
In verse 16 we read that God continually saves the church from the
devil’s destruction: “But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the
earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from
his mouth.” In a reference to several Old Testament events and texts where God
delivered his people from enemies, the point is made that God will protect and
preserve his genuine believers, his church, from ultimate destruction at the
hands of the enemy.[3]
This first history of this section ends with a statement that
heightens and emphasizes the ongoing persecution of the church because of the
ultimate and ongoing causation that comes from the dragon. Though we will
discover in Revelation 13 and subsequent chapters this persecution most often
comes at the more direct hands of religious groups, governments, government
officials, and other societal gate keepers, it is ultimately fueled by the
dragon and his demons. Verse 17 affirms: “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.”
Though some interpreters have tried to make “the rest of her
offspring” a distinct group from “the woman,” the most likely understanding is
that the woman throughout this chapter refers to the people of God with
different emphases as the chapter unfolds. The focus in verses 1-5 was on the
Old Covenant people of God, especially just before and during the birth of
Jesus. In verse 6 and then in verses 13-16 the focus is on the
post-resurrection New Covenant people of God (the New Testament church), with
primary focus upon the church in the early era shortly after the resurrection.
If this is what John has meant, then “the rest of her offspring” is intended to
capture the idea that those who will come to Christ and be part of the woman
(i.e. another way to put it is her offspring) will also be pursued continually
by the dragon and persecuted throughout this age. They will be persecuted for
all the reasons the early believers were and will also enjoy the same promises
of protection made to the early believers.
With knowledge of the essence of what 12:17 says, we can now focus
on three final truths that emerge from this last sentence of this first history.
To begin, we read that the dragon “went off to make war” on the church through
this age (note that in verse 7 war took place in heaven between Michael, his
angels, and the dragon [probably intended, along with his demons]). This
reminds us that the goal of the enemy is to defeat the church, the elect of
God, and to do it in a manner that is militant, dangerous, and painful. Yet,
the church must constantly remember that the dragon cannot conquer them, for
Jesus Christ has already conquered him and in Christ we can continually trust
in the application of this victory to us.
Additionally, this verse identifies genuine believers throughout
this age as “those who keep the commandments of God.” Herein is a deep, rich,
powerful, and convicting truth for many in the church today. Our very identity
includes the reality that we desire to obey God and can obey God (see also Rev.
14:4, 5; 19:4, 14; 20:4; 21:7). If that desire and moral ability are not
present, then a person should examine self to see if he is in the faith (2 Cor.
13:5).
Finally, this verse identifies genuine believers throughout this age
as “those who…hold to the testimony of Jesus.” In other words, they continue to
believe in the testimony Jesus gave about who he is (as well as the testimony
the Father has given about him)—and so they persevere in that trust—and they
continue to give testimony to the truths of Christ and the gospel themselves
(see 12:11, as well as 1:5, 9; 10:2; 11:7; 19:10, et. al.).
Now that we have looked at all of Revelation 12, we can see that
it is a little Revelation within the larger Revelation. In the middle of this
complex book we find this rather clear summary of the main message of the
entire book: Enraged by his own defeat at the hands of Jesus Christ, the devil
seeks to destroy the church through his evil spirits and human emissaries who
persecute and accuse the church. Yet, the church can take great comfort in the
reality that not only are both Father and Son sovereign over, in, and through
all that happens, the enemy has been conquered, the war won, and so we can rest
in that victory to overcome and to persevere in the face of the hostility and
brokenness in this world! God will preserve and protect us in the ultimate
sense, so take courage, continue to trust him, joyfully follow him, and give
testimony to the gospel of his glorious grace!
Nourished And Protected With You As Joyful Followers And
Witnesses,
Tom
[1]
We must remember that elsewhere Revelation depicts the people of God (both Old
Covenant and New Covenant) as a woman or bride (19:7-8; 21:2, 12, 14).
[2]
For this Old Testament background, I am partially dependent upon Greg Beale
(with David Campbell) in his shorter commentary on Revelation, 260-62. The
quote at the end of the final point is from them.
[3]
Beale (with Campbell), 262, suggests this is a further allusion to the
deliverance out of Egypt and the Red Sea, as well as life in the wilderness:
“The flood swallowed Pharaoh and his armies (Ex. 15:12; the Aramaic Bible
[Palestinian Targum] expands on the Hebrew of this verse and repeats that ‘the
earth opened her mouth and consumed them’). And later the earth swallowed the
families of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who were in rebellion against Moses
(Num. 16:31-32). In both OT instances, God caused the earth to open and swallow
that which opposed the establishment and welfare of His people.” Additionally,
“both Isaiah and the Psalms say that God defeated the evil dragon when He
divided the Red Sea to allow Israel through, but closed it again over Egypt
(Ps. 74:13-14; where Leviathan represents Pharaoh]; Is. 51:9-10), and Ezek.
29:3 and 32:2-3 identify Pharaoh with the sea-dragon. And so here, the allusion to the exodus
deliverance once again connotes God’s preservation and deliverance of His
people and defeat of the serpent.”
