The Book of
Revelation 12
17 verses≈ 4 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1–3Seven churchesChrist among His lampstands
- 4–11Seals & trumpetsThe Lamb opens the scroll
- 12–16The great conflictThe dragon, the beasts, the bowlsChapter 12
- 17–20The King comesBabylon falls; the Lamb wins
- 21–22All things newA new heaven and a new earth
The Woman and the Dragon
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a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter
Revelation 12:5
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Reflect
A place prepared
The woman flees into the wilderness, but she does not run into nothing. She goes to a place “where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished.” God was there before she was. Think of a hard or lonely season you are in, or have been through. Where has God already prepared something to feed and keep you there?
The War in Heaven
Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.
And 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.
And 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.
They 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.
Revelation 12:11
Therefore 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.”
Question
Quick question
A loud voice in heaven sings of the accuser thrown down and of the people who overcame him.
How do God’s people conquer the accuser?
The Woman Persecuted
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But 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.
Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
0:30
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
And 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.
Where these pictures come from
Whiteboard
Almost every picture in this chapter comes from the Old Testament. The serpent of the garden, the King of Psalm 2 with “an iron scepter”, Michael from Daniel, Daniel’s “a time, and times, and half a time”, and the eagle’s wings that carried Israel out of Egypt. John is not inventing a new story. He is showing the end of the one God has been telling all along.
Pray
By the blood of the Lamb
Thank Jesus that the accuser “has been thrown down” and that His people conquer “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” Ask Him to carry you when you are pursued, as the woman “was given two wings of a great eagle.” And ask for courage to be one of those “who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” today.
You’ve experienced
Revelation 12
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A verse to carry with you
They 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.
Revelation 12:11
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