The Woman and the Dragon

A great sign appeared in heaven consisting of a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Another sign appeared in heaven: a great red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads, whose tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and flung them to the earth (Revelation 12:1-4). The dragon stood before the woman to devour her child the moment it was born. The woman gave birth to a male child who is to rule all nations with an iron scepter, but the child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman then fled into the wilderness to a place prepared by God, where she would be taken care of for 1,260 days.

War subsequently broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. However, the dragon was not strong enough, and he and his angels lost their place in heaven (Revelation 12:7-8). The great dragon—identified as the ancient serpent, the devil, or Satan—was hurled down to the earth along with his angels. Upon his arrival on earth, the dragon pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, away from the serpent.

From his mouth, the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. The text does not say how the water was produced, but the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed (Revelation 12:15-16). Enraged at the woman, the dragon went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, defined as those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. The text does not say the specific duration of this earthly war beyond the mention of a time, times, and half a time.