Enthronement of the Son

War began in Heaven with the Dragon poised to destroy the Messianic Son as soon as he was “born” – Revelation 12:1-6.

In Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation, John saw a new “sign” in the heavens, the Woman “clothed with the sun, and the moon beneath her feet.” She was wearing a “crown of twelve stars.” She was pregnant and about to give birth to one identified as “son.” This “son” appeared in fulfillment of the Messianic promise in the Second Psalm, the King and Anointed Son of God who was destined to “Shepherd the Nations.”

[Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash]

Satan is symbolized in the vision by the “Great Red Dragon.” He was ready to devour the child as soon as he was born. However, the Son was “caught up to the Throne of God” before the “Dragon” could strike. This image represents the commencement of the final stage in the age-old war between God and Satan.

• (Revelation 12:1-2) – “And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon beneath her feet, and upon her head, a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child and is crying out, being in pangs and in anguish to bring forth.”

The Greek noun translated as “sign” or ‘sémeion’ is related to the verb ‘sémainō’. It is translated as “signify” in the first verse of the Book (“and he signified”). The “Woman” is symbolic, not real or “literal” - (Revelation 1:1).

The description of the “sun and the moon beneath her feet, and her crown of twelve stars” alludes to Joseph’s dream recorded in the Book of Genesis where he saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars rendering homage to him. The twelve stars represented the Tribes of Israel, and Joseph was represented by the twelfth star - (Genesis 37:9).

The “Woman” represented the covenant community, the people of God. Possibly, both the Old and New Testament communities combined are intended. Similarly, in the vision of “New Jerusalem,” the “names of the Twelve tribes of Israel” and the names of the “Twelve Apostles of the Lamb” are found on the city’s gates and foundations, representing the saints of both eras - (Revelation 7:4-8, 21:12-14).

The “crown of twelve stars” is a victor's “wreath” or ‘stephanos’ in distinction from the seven “crowns” or ‘diadems’ worn by the “Dragon.” Elsewhere in Revelation, victory “wreaths” are associated with victorious saints - (Revelation 2:10, 3:11).

The Woman’s labor pains point to the tribulations of the covenant community caused by the “Dragon.” His persecuting efforts culminated in the birth of the “Son.” The image echoes the fall of Adam after his wife was deceived by the “Serpent”:

• (Genesis 3:15-16) - “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, but you will crush his heel. To the woman he said, I will increase your pain of pregnancy. In pain, you will bear children.”

The passage utilizes the Messianic prophecy of the Book of Isaiah - “A Sign <…> in the height above <…> a virgin will be with child and bring forth a son.” Likewise, in the present vision, “a Great sign in the heaven, a Woman <…> with child <…> and she brought forth a son” - (Isaiah 7:10-14).

Thus, the “Son” produced by this Woman is none other than the Messiah of Israel as promised in the Scriptures.

• (Revelation 12:3-4) – “And there appeared another sign in heaven, and behold, a Great Red Dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads, seven diadems. And his tail is drawing the third part of the stars of heaven and casting them to the Earth. And the Dragon stood before the Woman who was about to deliver, that as soon as she brought forth, he might devour her child.”

In the Book of Ezekiel, Pharaoh is compared to the “Great Dragon that lies in his rivers,” and to “the Dragon in the seas.” The image of “seven heads” reflects the character of Leviathan. God “broke the heads of the dragons on the waters” and “crushed the heads of Leviathan” - (Ezekiel 29:1-3, 32:2, Psalm 74:13-14).

God promised to “punish Leviathan, the swift Serpent, and Leviathan, the crooked serpent.” In Revelation, the association of the “Dragon” with Pharaoh is fitting since imagery from Israel’s Exodus and her sojourn in the Wilderness is used in Chapter 12 when the Dragon pursues the “Woman” into the Wilderness. The association of “Leviathan” with the “Sea” is found in Chapter 13 of Revelation when the “Dragon” summons the “Beast from the Sea” - (Isaiah 27:1, Revelation 12:6-17).

The “Ten Horns” of the “Dragon” connect it to the “fourth beast” of the Book of Daniel when Daniel saw four beasts “ascending from the Sea.” It likewise had “ten horns” and “devoured,” and it also represented an imperial power that persecuted the “saints.”

• “Then I desired to be certain concerning the fourth Beast that was diverse from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were iron, and his claws of bronze. He devoured, broke in pieces, and the remnant he trampled with his feet; also, concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that ascended, and there fell from among the horns three that were before it. And this horn had eyes and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was more proud than his fellows: I continued looking when this horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them” - (Daniel 7:7-21).

• “The Dragon stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a Beast ascending from the Sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of slander <…> And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things and slanders <…> And authority was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” - (Revelation 13:1-7).

The downfall of the “third of the stars” in Chapter 12 alludes to another vision from the Book of Daniel when the “Little Horn <…> cast down some of the stars to the Earth and trampled upon them.” This is the same “Little Horn” that appeared on the head of the “Fourth Beast” of Chapter 7 seen by the Prophet “ascending from the Sea”- (Daniel 7:8, 8:10).

The “seven heads” symbolize the Dragon’s control over the political powers of the Earth. The “Seven Diadems” represent his claim to universal sovereignty over the nations. Its red color stresses his violent nature, just as the “Red Horse” of the “Second Seal” is authorized to “take peace from the Earth and make men slay each other.” The Dragon wages continuous war against the “saints” - (Revelation 6:1-8).

THE SON’S ENTHRONEMENT

The “stars” thrown down by the Devil may represent angels, righteous men, or both. Elsewhere in Revelation, stars symbolize “messengers” or “angels.” Regardless, the verse ends with the “Dragon” poised to “devour” the child.

• (Revelation 12:5) – “And she brought forth a son, a male, who was to shepherd all the nations with a sceptre of iron. And her child was caught away to God and to his throne.”

The Woman “brought forth a son, a male” (Greek, ‘eteken huion arsen’). The Greek clause is from the Septuagint version of Isaiah 66:5-8 where “Zion” represents a female figure who “brought forth a male” (‘eteken arsen’). The term “Son” or ‘huios’ is added by Revelation to the original clause from Isaiah to leave no doubt about his identity. He is the Messianic “Son” who will “Shepherd all the Nations with a sceptre of iron”:

• (Psalm 2:6-9) - “Yet I have installed my king on Zion my holy mountain. Let me tell of a decree; Yahweh said to me: You are My son; I, today, have begotten you. Ask of me and let me give nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the Earth. You will shepherd them with a sceptre of iron, as a potter’s vessel you will dash them in pieces.”

The “Son” was born from the covenant community, presumably, from Israel. His identity is made clear in Verse 10 - “Now has come the salvation, and the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the Authority of his Christ” – (Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, 5:5, Revelation 19:15).

Satan’s attempt to destroy the child failed when God “seized him toward His Throne.” Previously, the Lamb’s installment on the Throne was linked to his sacrificial death. Now, his enthronement follows his Death and Resurrection - (Revelation 1:5, 3:21, 5:5-10).

• (Revelation 12:6) – “The Woman fled into the Wilderness where she has a place prepared of God, that there they should nourish her a thousand, two hundred and sixty days.”

The Woman’s flight mirrors Israel’s escape from Egypt. She symbolizes the covenant community of saints formed around the “Son.” Following his exaltation, the Assembly of the Saints began the Greater Exodus in the “Wilderness” and journey to the Promised Land, the City of “New Jerusalem,” while being pursued by the “Great Red Dragon.”

The Woman is on Earth, and no longer “in the Heavens.” The victory of the “Son” does not remove the saints from Satan’s attacks. However, God protects and “nourishes” her in the Wilderness.

The “Wilderness” is not devoid of evil. The “Great Harlot Babylon,” for example, is seen by John in Chapter 17 in the Wilderness (“He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet Beast”).

The “place prepared for” the Woman indicated the same reality as the “sealing” of God’s servants in Chapter 7 (“Hurt not the Earth, neither the Sea nor the trees, until we have sealed the Servants of our God”). God enabled the Woman to endure the onslaughts of the Dragon - (Revelation 7:1-8, 11:1-2, 17:3).

The Woman is nourished for the “twelve-hundred and sixty days.” This is the equivalent of the period described elsewhere as a “time, times, and half a time,” and the “forty-two months.” In Revelation, numbers are symbolic, and three different numeric figures are used for the same period, the “short season” - (Daniel 7:25, 12:7, Revelation 11:2, 13:5-7).

The chronological reference links the flight of the “Woman” to the “trampling of the holy city by the nations” in Chapter 11, the ministry of the “Two Witnesses,” and the “war against the saints” by the “Beast from the Sea” in Chapter 13. Her Wilderness sojourn occurs over the same period – (Revelation 11:1-4, 13:4-7).

The Woman’s “nourishment in the Wilderness” is another link to the “Two Witnesses” whose ministry resembled the activities of Elijah the Prophet. God provided provision for him in the “Wilderness” by sending “ravens to feed him by the brook Cherith” - (1 Kings 17:3-6, Revelation 11:5-6).

The start of the “twelve-hundred and sixty days” coincides with the exaltation of the “Son to the Throne” and the expulsion of Satan “to the Earth.” This reality began with the Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement of the messianic “Son.” It points to a time of intense “warfare” or persecution waged by the “Dragon” against the “saints.”

Though protected, the “Woman” is not yet safe from the Devil’s attempts to destroy her. However, when his attacks fail, he will turn to wage war on the “rest of her seed, those who have the Testimony of Jesus.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Royal Shepherd - (The Lamb’s reign commenced with his death and resurrection, and since then, he has been shepherding the nations toward New Jerusalem)

• Shepherding Kings and Nations - (The Nations and the Kings of the Earth are found in the City of New Jerusalem because of the redeeming work of the Lamb)

• Shepherding the Nations - (Jesus is the promised ruler from the line of David, the King who is shepherding the nations to New Jerusalem – Revelation 12:5)