The Woman and the Dragon  

Verse 1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to
be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a
great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon
his heads.  

An elucidation of this part of the chapter will involve little more than a
mere definition of the symbols introduced. This may be given in few words.  

"A woman," signifies a true church. (2 Corinthians 11: 2.) A corrupt woman
is used to represent an apostate or corrupt church. (Ezekiel 23: 2-4;
Revelation 17: 3-6, 15, 18.) By parity of reasoning, a pure woman, as in
this instance, would represent the true church. "The sun" here signifies
the light and glory of the gospel era. "The moon" is the symbol of the
Mosaic period. As the moon shines with a borrowed light derived from the
sun, so the former era shone with a light borrowed from the present. There
they had the type and shadow; here we have the antitype and the substance.
"A crown of twelve stars" appropriately symbolizes the twelve apostles. "A
great red dragon" represents pagan Rome. (See comments under verses 4 and
5.) "Heaven" is the space in which this representation was seen by the
apostle. We are not to suppose that the scenes here presented to John took
place in heaven where God resides, for they are events which occurred upon
this earth. This vision which passed before the eye of the prophet,
appeared as if in the region occupied by the sun, moon, and stars, which we
speak of as heaven.  

Verses 1 and 2 cover a period of time beginning just previous to the
opening of the Christian Era, when the church was earnestly longing for and
 expecting the advent of the Messiah, and extending to the full establishment
 of the gospel church with its crown of twelve apostles. (Luke 2: 25, 26, 38.)  

No symbols more fitting and impressive could be found than are here
employed. The Mosaic period shone with a light borrowed from the Christian
Era, even as the moon shines with light borrowed from the sun. How
appropriate, therefore, to represent the former by the moon, and the latter
by the sun. The woman, the church, had the moon under her feet; that is,
the Mosaic period had just ended, and the woman was clothed with the light
of the gospel sun, which had just risen. By anticipation the church is
represented as fully organized, with its twelve apostles, before the man
child, Christ, appeared upon the scene. It was to be thus constituted
immediately after Christ should begin His ministry; and He is more
especially connected with this church than with that of the former period.
There is no ground for misunderstanding the passage; and hence no violence
is done to a correct system of interpretation by this representation.  

Verse 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was
ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod
of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne. 6 And the
woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.  

"Third Part of the Stars of Heaven."--The dragon drew the third part of the
stars of heaven. If the twelve stars with which the woman is crowned, here
used symbolically, denote the twelve apostles, then the stars thrown down
by the dragon before his attempt to destroy the man child, or before the
Christian Era, may denote a part of the rulers of the Jewish people. That
the sun, moon, and stars are sometimes used in this symbolic sense, we have
already had evidence in Revelation 8: 12. Judea became a Roman province
sixty-three years before the birth of the Messiah. The Jews had three classes 
of rulers--kings, priests, and the Sanhedrin. A third of these, the kings 
were taken away by the Roman power. Philip Smith, after describing
the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans and Herod, and its capitulation in the
spring of 37 B.C., after an obstinate resistance of six months, says: "Such
was the end of the Asmonean dynasty, exactly 130 years after the first
victories of Judas Maccabaeus, and in the seventieth year from the
assumption of the diadem by Aristobulus I." [1]  

This allusion to the stars undoubtedly has also a wider meaning, and is
related to the truths emphasized in verses 7-9 of this chapter. As a result
of the conflict there brought to view, it is evident that a third part of
the angelic host, who joined with Satan in his rebellion against the Ruler
of the universe, were cast out of the courts of glory.  

"The Dragon Stood Before the Woman."--It now becomes necessary to identify
the power symbolized by the dragon, and this can be done very easily. The
testimony concerning the "man child" which the dragon seeks to destroy, is
applicable to only one being that has appeared in this world, and that is
our Lord Jesus Christ. No other one has been caught up to God and His
throne, but He has been thus exalted. (Ephesians 1: 20, 21; Hebrews 8: 1,
Revelation 3: 21.) No other one as received from God the commission to rule
all nations with a rod of iron, but He has been appointed to this work.
(Psalm 2: 7-9.)  

There can certainly be no doubt that the man child represents Jesus Christ.
The time to which the prophecy refers is equally evident. It was the time
when Christ appeared in this world as a babe in Bethlehem.  

It will now be easy to find the power symbolized by the dragon, for the
dragon represents some power which attempted to destroy Christ at His
birth. Was any such attempt made? Who made it? No formal answer to this
question need be given to anyone who has read how Herod, in a fiendish  
effort to destroy the infant Jesus, sent forth and slew all the children in
Bethlehem from two years old and under. But who was Herod? He was a Roman
governor. From Rome Herod derived his power. Rome ruled at that time over
all the world (Luke 2: 1), and was therefore the responsible actor in this
event. Moreover, Rome was the only earthly government which at that time
could be symbolized in prophecy, for the very reason that its dominion was
universal. It is not, therefore, without the most conclusive reason that
the Roman Empire is regarded by Protestant commentators generally to 
be the power indicated by the great red dragon.  

It may be a fact worth mentioning that during the second, third, fourth,
and fifth centuries of the Christian Era, next to the eagle the dragon was
the principle standard of the Roman legions. That dragon was painted red,
as if in faithful response to the picture held up by the seer of Patmos
they would exclaim to the world, We are the nation which that picture
represents.  

Rome, as we have seen, attempted to destroy Jesus Christ through the
fiendish plot of Herod. The child who was born to the waiting and watching
church, was our adorable Redeemer, who is soon to rule the nations with a
rod of iron. Herod could not destroy Him. The combined powers of earth and
hell could not overcome Him. Though held for a time under the dominion of
the grave, He rent its cruel bands, opened a way of life for mankind, and
was caught up to God and His throne. He ascended to heaven in the sight of
His disciples, leaving to them and us the promise that He would come again.  

The church fled into the wilderness at the time of the papacy was firmly
established in 538, where it was nourished by the word of God, and the
ministration of angels during the long, dark, and bloody rule of that power
for 1260 years.  

Verse 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 and prevailed not;
neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now
is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused
them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell
in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil
is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time.   

War in Heaven.--The first six verses of this chapter, as has been seen,
take us down to the close of the 1260 years in 1798, which marked the end
of the papal supremacy. In the 7th verse it is equally plain that we are
carried back into previous ages. How far?--To the time first introduced in
the chapter, the days of the first advent, when with fiendish ingenuity
Satan working through the power of pagan Rome sought to destroy the Saviour
of men; and also back beyond that time to the very beginning of the great
controversy between truth and righteousness, when in heaven itself Michael
(Christ) and His angels fought against the dragon (Satan) and his angels.
To prove that Michael is Christ, see Jude 9; 1 Thessalonians 4: 16; John 5:
28, 29.  

"Prevailed Not."--Thank God that in that early conflict the archdeceiver
was defeated. As "Lucifer, son of the morning," with envy and hatred in his
heart, he had presumptuously led a host of disaffected angels in rebellion
against the government of God. But the Scripture says he "prevailed not,"
and "was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."  

Centuries later at the time of Christ's first advent, "the great dragon,"
"that old serpent called the devil, and Satan," put forth a supreme effort
in the guise of the great red dragon, representing pagan Rome, to destroy
the world's Redeemer. Satan had looked forward to Christ's mission to this
earth as his last chance of success in overthrowing the plan of salvation.
He came to Christ with specious temptations, in hope of overcoming Him. He
tried in various ways to destroy Christ during His ministry. When he had
succeeded in laying Him in the tomb, he endeavored, in malignant triumph,
to hold Him there. But in every encounter the Son of God came off
triumphant; and He sends back His gracious promise to His faithful
followers: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, 
even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." 
Revelation 3: 21. This shows us that Jesus while on earth waged a warfare,
and obtained the victory. Satan saw his last effort fail, his last scheme
miscarry. He had boasted that he would overcome the Son of God in His
mission to this world, and thus render the plan of salvation an ignominious
failure. Well he knew that if he was foiled in this his last desperate
effort to thwart the work of God, his last hope had perished, and all was
lost. In the language of verse 8, he "prevailed not," and hence the song
may well be sung, "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in
them."  

Their Place Found No More in Heaven.--Satan and the fallen angels had
suffered a terrible defeat, which Christ describes by saying, "I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10: 18), and Peter tells us that
these fallen angels have been delivered "into chains of darkness to be
reserved unto judgment" (2 Peter 2: 4).  

The hope which he had long cherished of overcoming the Son of man when He
took Himself our nature, had forever perished. His power was limited. He
could no more aspire to a personal encounter with the Son of God, for
Christ had vanquished him. Henceforth the church (the woman) is the object
of his malice, and he resorts to all those nefarious means against her that
would naturally characterize his rage.  

But hereupon a song is sung in heaven, "Now is come salvation." How is
this, if these scenes are in the past? Had salvation and strength and the
kingdom of God and the power of His Christ then come? Not at all; but this
song was sung prospectively. Those things were made sure. The great victory
had been won by Christ which forever settled the question of their
establishment.  

The prophet then glances rapidly over the working of Satan from that time
to the end (verses 11, 12), during which time the faithful "brethren"
overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony,
while his wrath increases as his time grows short.  

It was Satan that moved upon Herod to put the Saviour to death. But the
chief agent of the archrebel in making war upon Christ and His people 
during the early centuries of the Christian Era was the Roman Empire, 
in which paganism was the dominant religion. Thus, while the dragon 
primarily represents Satan, it is in a secondary sense representative of 
pagan Rome.  

Verse 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the 
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out
of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to
be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the
earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast
out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of 
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.  

The Church in the Wilderness.--Here we are once more carried back to the
time when Satan became fully aware that he had failed in all his attempts
against the Lord of glory in His earthly mission. Seeing this, he turned
with tenfold fury, as already noticed, upon the church which Christ had
established. Then we have another view of the church going into that
condition here spoken of as being "in the wilderness." This must denote a
state of seclusion from the public gaze, and of concealment from her foes.
That church which during all the Dark Ages trumpeted her lordly commands
into the ears of listening Christendom, and flaunted her ostentatious
banners before gaping crowds, was not the church of Christ; it was the body
of the mystery of iniquity.  

The "mystery of godliness" was God manifested here as a man; the "mystery
of iniquity" was a man pretending to be God. This was the great apostasy
produced by the union of paganism and Christianity. The true church was out
of sight. In secret places they worshiped God. The caves and the hidden
recesses of the valleys of the Piedmont may be taken as representative
places, where the truth of the gospel was sacredly cherished from the rage
of its foes. Here God watched over His church, and by His providence 
protected and nourished her.  

The eagles' wings given her appropriately signify the haste with which the
true church was obliged to seek her own safety when the man of sin was
installed in power. The assistance of God was provided her to this end. The
like figure is used to describe God's dealings with ancient Israel. By
Moses He said to them, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how
I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself." Exodus 19: 4.  

The mention of the period during which the woman is nourished in the
wilderness as "a time and times and half a time," similar phraseology to
that used in Daniel 7: 25, furnishes a key for the explanation of the
latter passage. The same period is called in Revelation 12: 6, "a thousand
two hundred and threescore days." This shows that a "time" is one year, 360
days; two "times," two years, or 720 days; and "half a time," half a year,
or 180 days, making in all 1260 days. These days, being symbolic, signify
1260 literal years.  

The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood to carry away the
church. By its false doctrines the papacy had so corrupted all nations as
to have absolute control of the civil power for long centuries. Through it
Satan could hurl a mighty flood of persecutions against the church in every
direction, and this he was not slow to do. (See reference to the terrible
persecutions of the church in remarks on Daniel 7: 25.) Millions of true
believers were carried away by the flood, but the church was not entirely
swallowed up, for the days were shortened for the elect's sake. (Matthew
24: 22.)  

"The earth helped the woman" by opening its mouth and swallowing up the
flood. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century began its work.
God raised up Martin Luther and his colaborers to expose the true character
of the papacy, and break the power with which superstition had enslaved the
minds of the people. Luther nailed his theses to the door of the church at
Wittenburg; and the pen with which he wrote them, according to the symbolic
 dream of the good elector Frederick of Saxony, did indeed span the 
continent, and shake the triple crown on the pope's head. Princes began 
to espouse the cause of the Reformers. It was the dawning of religious light
 and liberty, and God would not suffer the darkness to swallow up its radiance.  

The spell was broken. Men found that the bulls and anathemas of the pope
fell harmless at their feet, just as soon as they dared exercised their
God-given right to regulate their consciences by His word alone. Defenders
of the true faith multiplied. Soon there was enough Protestant soil found
in Europe and the New World to swallow up the flood of papal fury, and rob
it of its power to harm the church. Thus the earth helped the woman, and
has continued to help her to the present day, as the spirit of the
Reformation and religious liberty has been fostered by the leading nations
of Christendom.  

War on the Remnant.--But the dragon is not yet through with his work. Verse
17 brings to view another and a final outburst of his wrath, this time
against the last generation of Christians to live on the earth. We say the
last generation, for the war of the dragon is directed against the remnant
of the woman's seed, the true church, and no generation but the last can
truthfully be represented by the remnant. If the view is correct that we
have already reached the generation which is to witness the closing up of
earthly scenes, this warfare against the truth cannot be far in the future.  

This remnant is characterized by its keeping of the commandments of God,
and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. This points to a Sabbath reform
to be accomplished in the last days, for on the Sabbath alone as pertaining
to the commandments, is there a difference of faith and practice among
those who accept the decalogue as the moral law. This is more particularly
brought to view in the message of Revelation 14: 9-12.  

[1] Philip Smith, History of the World, Vol. III, p. 181.
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