In Revelation 12 and 13, Satan and his demons battle Michael and the holy angels in one final battle in Heaven before Satan and his angels are permanently tossed down to earth. Knowing his time is running out, Satan will make the earth his battleground and unleash an evil like never seen before. His goal will be to kill the saints and deceive and take as many souls as he can with him to Hell.
Revelation 12 and 13 are full of imagery and symbolism, which must be studied carefully. There are seven signs presented to us. They are the woman, representing Israel; the dragon, representing Satan; the male-child, referring to Christ; Michael, representing the angels; the beast from the sea representing the antichrist; the rest of God’s children (the remnant); and the beast from the earth, representing the false prophet.
THE WOMAN, THE DRAGON, AND THE SON
The woman of Revelation 12:1-2 represents Israel and is the first sign. In the Old Testament, Israel is pictured as being the wife of God (Isaiah 54:5,6). She is described as being clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars. This description ties back to Genesis 37:9-11, where the sun and moon refer to Joseph’s father Jacob and his mother Rachel, and the stars refer to the 12 tribes of Israel. The woman is with child, crying out, about to give birth. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is often referred to as pregnant (Isaiah 26:17-18). Israel has suffered much through its history, always waiting to birth the Messiah, their Savior. Their Messiah, the Christ, was born as the seed of Israel. Indeed, they were in pain at the time of his first coming, and they will also be in pain during the Great Tribulation at the time of His Second Coming.
Revelation 12:3 then describes the second sign in Revelation, the red dragon, as identified to us in v. 9 as the “serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan.” He is described as having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. This refers to Daniel’s fourth beast of Daniel 7, who had 10 horns representing the kings who will rule under the antichrist. The 7 heads represent the seven Gentile empires that Satan will have used to rule Israel. These are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the future antichrist kingdom.
Next, the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars of Heaven and threw them to the earth. In the original rebellion of Satan, one-third of the angelic host took evil’s side, and those who rebelled were tossed out of Heaven.
Following, we see the dragon awaiting the birth of the woman’s child, so he can devour it. This alludes to Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus after His birth. Since Satan was unable to prevent the virgin birth of Jesus, he used Herod to kill him (Matthew 2:16-18).
In Revelation 12:5-6, the woman, Israel, gives birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. The third sign is this male child, who, of course, is Jesus, who is said to rule with a rod of iron, first in Psalm 2:9 and then later in Revelation 19:15. Verse 5 goes on to say that her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Most believe this refers to Jesus’ ascension into Heaven to His Throne.
Next, we are told that the woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, and she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days or 3.5 years. This refers to the last half of the final week of Daniel’s prophecy, the Great Tribulation. Some believe this place in the wilderness is the rock city of Petra, south of the Dead Sea. Reportedly, Christian businessmen have stocked the place with food and evangelistic tracts written in Hebrew (Enduring Word).
ANOTHER WAR IN HEAVEN
Although at the time of Satan’s rebellion, he and his cohorts were cast out of Heaven, Satan was still allowed to roam the earth looking for those to devour (1Peter 5:8), accuse the brethren (Revelation 12:10), and try to turn us away from God (Job 1:12). The good news is that no one can snatch us from the Father’s hand (John 10:28-19), there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), and nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).
We are now introduced in Revelation 12:7 to the fourth sign, Michael, the archangel who with his angels are waging war against the dragon. Daniel prophesied this event in Daniel 12:1 when he said of Michael and the time of Tribulation that “Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred…” From Revelation 12:8, we know that Satan and his demons lost the battle in Heaven, and there was no longer a place found for them there.
In Revelation 12:10-12, the future millennial reign of Christ is anticipated by the redeemed, and the celebration begins. We are told that the Tribulation believers will overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and because they did not love their life even when faced with death. “The accusations of Satan are nullified by the blood of the Lamb which renders the believer pure and makes possible his spiritual victory. The word of the saints’ testimony opposes the deceiving work of Satan in that the preaching of the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The saints’ dedication to their task in which many of them die as martyrs is recognized by the statement, “They loved not their lives unto the death.” (Walvoord). This verse doesn’t just apply to Tribulation saints but applies to us today: we overcome Satan by the blood, our testimony, and not loving the world.
WOMAN PERSECUTED BY DRAGON, PROTECTED BY GOD
Satan was just tossed from Heaven with no ability to accuse the brethren before God. Yes, he is defeated, but he is dangerous, like a wounded, cornered animal. Knowing his time is short, he begins to persecute the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the male child (Jesus). This is the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Jesus talked about this persecution in Matthew 24:15-22 when he said that “there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, or never will.”
God protected Israel. He gave the woman two wings of the great eagle to fly into the wilderness where God will keep her safe from Satan for the second half of the Tribulation. (Revelation 12:13-14).
In Revelation 12:15-17, Satan pours water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, meaning to kill her. However, the earth helps the woman by opening its mouth and drinking the river. Whether or not we interpret this as a literal flood or just an image of Satan’s wrath, the end result is the same, God protects Israel from Satan, and Satan becomes even more enraged. In fact, at this point, he goes to make war with the rest of her children (the fifth sign), who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (v. 17). These children include both Jew and Gentile who come to Jesus during the Tribulation and keep the commandments
BEAST OUT OF THE SEA
In Revelation 13:1-2, we are introduced to the sixth sign, the beast from the sea. As the dragon is standing on the seashore, a beast comes out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names (v. 1). The beast out of the sea is similar to the dragon (Satan), but he is not Satan. He gets his power, throne, and great authority from Satan (v.3). Many believe that at this point, the midpoint of the Tribulation, Satan possesses the antichrist just as he did Judas (John 13:27). This beast out of the sea is the antichrist. Both the dragon (Satan) and the beast (antichrist) have seven heads and ten horns (representing seven consecutive world empires under Satan’s control and ten kings who will simultaneously rule under the antichrist). The difference between the dragon and the beast is that the dragon’s crowns are on his seven heads, but the beast’s crowns are on his horns. “This reveals the shift in power from the 7 world empires to the 10 kings under the final antichrist” (MacArthur).
John describes the beast saying he was like a leopard, his feet like a bear, and his mouth like a lion. The three characteristics of the beast align with Daniel’s description in Daniel 7:3-7 of the world empires that would reign over Israel. The amalgamation of these characteristics into one beast, the revived Roman Empire makes this beast dangerous. Daniel describes this final world empire as dreadful and terrifying, and extremely strong. “This final world empire will have the catlike vigilance of a leopard, the slow and crushing power of a bear, and the authority and ferociousness of a lion.” (Enduring Word).
John then sees one of the beast’s heads as if it had been slain and was now healed (v. 3). This false resurrection is an attempt to imitate Christ. It amazed the whole earth. The world follows after the beast and worships the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast.
As we keep reading through verses 4 through 7, we realize that God is still in control. Satan does not act without God’s permission. The beast is given a mouth to speak arrogant words and blasphemies (see also Daniel 7:8, 11), and authority to act for forty-two months, making war against the saints and ruling the entire earth. All will worship him except those whose name is not written in the book of life (v. 8). John ends this chapter by calling the tribulation believers to not fight the antichrist’s persecution but instead accept with patience such suffering as God has ordained.
BEAST FROM THE EARTH
Revelation 13:11 introduces us to the seventh sign, the beast from the earth. This beast is the false prophet, the final religious leader of the Tribulation (Revelation 16:13, 19:20, 20:10). He is the servant of Satan, like other false prophets ahead of him, disguising himself as a servant of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
This beast is described as having two horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon. Compared to the antichrist’s ten horns, his two horns indicate that he is weaker than the antichrist. His lamblike appearance suggests he will be mild, more gentle than the antichrist. However, this gentleness is a ruse because he will be the mouthpiece of the dragon (Satan).
We are told that he exercises the first beast’s authority (antichrist) and makes the world worship the first beast (v.12). This antichrist worship replaces the apostate one-world religious system developed during the first half of the Tribulation.
The beast from the earth (false prophet) deceives the world into worshiping the first beast through signs which counterfeit the miracles of Christ. In the book of Exodus, we see the magicians of Egypt match the miracles of Aaron up to a point. In fact, in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, God foretells of supernatural works on behalf of false prophets and warns to judge miracle-workers not only by their works but by their message. Jesus also warned us that in the end times, false prophets would emerge and show great signs and wonders so as to mislead (Matthew 24:24).
Through these great signs and wonders, the false prophet convinces the world to make an image of the beast, and then through Satan, he makes the image appear to come to life so that it speaks and causes those who do not worship the image to be killed. This is what Jesus, Daniel, and Paul spoke of as the abomination of desolation. We know some gentiles will be spared death as they will populate the millennial kingdom.
Next, the beast from the earth causes all men to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Satan once again is imitating God. In Revelation 7:3-4, God gave his people a mark on their foreheads. Without this mark, people can’t buy or sell. This mark will be either the name of the beast or the number of his name. For more information on the mark of the beast see https://www.bibleref.com/Revelation/13/Revelation-13-16.html.
Lastly, we are told that the number of the beast is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. There is lots of speculation on how this number is calculated, and lots of theories have come forth. The bottom line is that the number of God is 7, and the number 6 falls short. That truth will never change. In whatever scenario we can muster up, Satan always loses in the end!
