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Revelation 12–13
Victory in heaven, disaster for earth—Antichrist and false
prophet (Matthew 24.15–24)
If chapter eleven marks a significant first half of Revelation, ending
vision and beginning the tableaux of conflict and triumph, the awful Day of
God's judgment, then it is not surprising to being chapter twelve with a great
portent appearing in heaven: "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (1). This is
followed by yet another portent: "a great red dragon, with seven heads and
ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads" (3). Structurally, the chapter
can be divided into two main parts: first, we have the birth of a child "to
rule all the nations...snatched away and taken to God" (5) followed by a
battle between celestial powers--those of Michael and his angels against the
dragon and the downfall of the dragon (12.7-12); in the second main division,
the dragon pursues the woman and her other earthly children (12.13-17).
Who is the woman? That she is clothed with the sun, with the moon under
her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars suggests she is the heavenly
representative for something--what? Twelve connotes a connection to the twelve
tribes of Israel. Is this woman then the heavenly Israel? Note, she
is pregnant and about to bear a child (4) and that the dragon stands before her
ready to devour the child. The woman gives birth to the child, "a
son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron... is
snatched away and taken to God and his throne" (5). The woman flees
into the wilderness and, like the Hebrew in Egypt, is rescued when she is given
the two wings of an eagle and the river spewed from the mouth of the dragon is
dried up by the earth: Exodus 19.4 "You have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself."
That the child is to rule nations with a rod of iron suggests the Davidic
Messiah. For John, Christianity was born out of the Hebrew tradition and
its culmination in Christ, who is to be "snatched up into heaven," or
resurrected. The dragon (17) then goes on to make war on the woman's other
children:
Siblings of Jesus are referred to collectively twice in the
Gospels. In the account of the "true kindred" ( Matthew
12.46–50 par.), Jesus’
mother and brothers come to speak to him while he is teaching. Jesus refuses
to see them, however, saying that his true sister, brother, and mother are
those who do the will of God.
When Jesus teaches at the synagogue in his hometown of
Nazareth, the listeners react angrily to his wisdom and mighty works ( Matthew
13.53–58; Mark
6.1–6). The crowd doubts
that a local person could be endowed with such power, and they cite the
presence of his parents, brothers, and sisters as proof. The brothers are
listed by name (James, Joseph [Mark reads Joses], Simon, and Judas) but the
sisters only as a group. In Luke
4.22, the crowd asks
simply, "Is not this Joseph’s son?"
References to brothers and sisters of Jesus conflict with some
understandings of the virgin birth. For those who feel that Jesus’ mother
Mary remained a virgin for life, brothers and sisters must be read as cousins
or as stepbrothers and stepsisters fathered by Joseph in another, unmentioned,
marriage.
Daniel N. Schowalter (Oxford Companion)
Another possible interpretation:
v1 - A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a
woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown
of twelve stars on her head - This sign in heaven announces a new
section. This should be connected to the opening of God's temple in
heaven in the previous verse, Rev 11:19. The 'woman clothed with the
sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her
head' is a clear reference to Joseph's dream (Gen 37:9) and therefore
the woman represents the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph's dream
depicts the sun and moon and eleven stars bowing down to him, this is
realised when he became the second to Pharaoh and his brothers bowed
down to him (Gen 43:26-29). The woman is the elect and in particular
here she is the OT elect, who gives birth to the Christ (v5) and later
she gives birth to the NT elect (v17). John sees a continuum between
the OT and NT elect (see 21:12-14). Wilson says 'In scripture no sharp
dividing line is drawn between the true Israel and the new Israel,
because the people of the promise are one people, whether they lived
before or after the coming of Christ'. But here she represents the OT
elect, one of the few references in Revelation to the OT elect alone.
Compare the heavenly glory of this woman, who represents the elect
(the Bride Eph 5:22), with the earthly glitter of the whore who
represents the world, Rev 17:4. This woman stands in contrast to the
whore and also to the Queen of heaven. http://www.apocalipsis.org/
During 1,260 days while the woman is nourished in the wilderness,
war breaks out in heaven (7): "Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon." It's interesting that this angel is Michael, angel of
judgment:
Michael.
One of the archangels, whose name is a rhetorical question meaning "Who
is like God?" (or, "Who is like El?"). In apocalyptic
literature he is Israel’s patron angel (Daniel
12.1), who fights for
Israel against the angels of other nations (Daniel
10.13; Daniel
10.21). As such later
tradition identifies him as the nameless divine messenger called "the
prince of the army of Yahweh" in Joshua
5.13–15 (cf. Exodus
23.23; note also the
spiritual "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore"). Michael also becomes
the surrogate of a now transcendent storm god, leading the heavenly armies
in the fight against the forces of chaos, and thus is the adversary of Satan
(Revelation 12.7;
Jude 9).
The battle between them becomes a favorite artistic theme and may occur in
variant form in the legend of George and the dragon (see Revelation
12.9).
Michael D. Coogan (Oxford Companion)
Having just encountered this same three and a half years,
forty-two months, 1,260 days in chapter eleven with respect to God's
witnesses, more reason than ever now is accorded to letting the 1,260 days of
the woman's being nourished in the wilderness equate to sufficient earthly
time.
After Satan is thrown down to the earth, a loud voice in
heaven proclaims, "Now have come the salvation and the power and
the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah... the accuser of our
comrades has been thrown down...conquered by the blood of the lamb...
Rejoice..." (10-12).
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