Revelation Survey Part 3

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 12

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

This week is part three of our survey through the Book of Revelation. In parts one and two we looked at two important themes that underpin John’s Apocalypse, and this week we’re going to look yet another one of those themes. The first theme I pointed out was that in the minds of Christ’s disciples, and ultimately the early church, was an expectation that within their own generation Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies and the Temple destroyed, that judgement would come against apostate Israel to avenge Christ’s prophets and saints. The second second theme was that John’s Apocalypse carries forward redemptive history, by prophesying and explaining history’s transition from the old covenant to the new covenant. That the judgement against Jerusalem served, not only to bring justice, and to avenge the blood of God’s prophets and saints, but to carry forward redemptive history. To bring a determined end to the old covenant and it’s practices, and to sever the new covenant church from it. This is why we see John’s visions move from judgement against Jerusalem to the arrival of the new Jerusalem (in chapter 21), coming down out of heaven from God, the Bride of Christ. The harlot is put away and the bride is revealed from heaven.

Themes and storyline

Now, my goal in surveying the themes that comprise John’s Apocalypse is that by doing so we will begin to understand the overarching storyline of the book. Because once we have a grasp of the book’s purpose and storyline we can begin to appreciate it. We can begin to learn from it, to see how it related to the churches then, and how it relates to the church today. Only then can we rightly obey its commands, heed its warnings, it’s exhortations, rebukes, and experience its encouragements. John tells the church in Revelation 1:3 that,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it,

John received visions for the church and wrote them down, and in his preface to those visions he wrote, “blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it.” The Book of Revelation was meant to be understood that those who read it or heard it would keep what was written in it. Therefore, understanding the book is essential to the application of the book.

Satan’s war against the saints

That being said, the third theme we must recognize is persecution against the church, or as Revelation 12 puts it, Satan’s war against the saints. We read in Revelation 12:17,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

One of the primary themes of John’s Apocalypse is Satan’s war against “those who keep the commandments of God.” When John wrote this book, the churches in Asia Minor, and throughout the Roman Empire were experiencing this persecution first hand (both from the Jews and the Romans), therefore these visions directly related to their circumstances. In fact, John’s Apocalypse is intended to reveal the spiritual reality behind their circumstances, that they might see the fundamental source and reason for their persecution. That they would not be plunged into despair, but that they would see that their persecution was not in vain, nor permanent, but that Satan’s doom was sure, that his time was short, that they must overcome him by the word of their testimony and by the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation chapter 12 is particularly helpful, because it provides a sweeping picture of this redemptive period. We see the birth of Christ, the ascension of Christ, and Satan’s war against those who keep the commandments of Christ. Revelation 12 is also a prelude to what will happen later in chapter 20, when Satan’s efforts to make war against the saints is ultimately thwarted when he is seized, thrown into the bottomless pit, and rendered unable to deceive the nations any longer.

But between chapters 12 and 20 we witness Satan’s efforts to destroy the church. And he carries this out vicariously through the pagan Roman Empire and apostate Israel, or as Revelation chapter 13 describes them, as beasts. One beast that rises out of the sea (the pagan Roman Empire) and a beast that rises out of the land (apostate Israel). Two terrifying enemies of the church that threatened its very existence. And we’re meant to see in chapters 12-13 that it was Satan that animated these beasts against the church. It was at the hands of these beasts that the first century church experienced immense persecution. First, at the hands of the Jews, then later at the hands of the Roman Empire and its emperor, Nero Caesar. These beasts undoubtedly seemed invincible, how could the kingdom of God advance, let alone survive, in the face of these enemies? Well, John’s Apocalypse is meant to answer that question, to sustain and embolden the saints of God in the face of an indomitable adversary, the Dragon, who has come down to make war against the saints.

Revelation 12

Now, let’s take a closer look at Revelation chapter 12 and walk through it together. We begin in chapter 12, verse 1,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

The woman here represents both OT and NT saints, and her child, who is Christ, is born from this faithful remnant. However, it’s not without great pain an agony, persecution and affliction, that Christ is finally revealed in history. Then a great red dragon (who is the devil), with seven heads and ten horns, wearing seven diadems (which represents the extent of his demonic power and his attempts to establish his own demonic kingdoms upon the earth), he appears in order to devour the child, but the child is caught up to God and to his throne. The dragon fails to devour the child, and Christ ascends into heaven to sit upon his throne. We’re also told that the woman fled into the wilderness where she was protected by God.

And we’re told why in verses 7-12,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Here, John explains why the woman fled into the wilderness. That, at Christ’s first coming, there was a great war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels were defeated and thrown down to the earth. Christ had triumphed, so there is great rejoicing in heaven, but a loud voice says, “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” The woman had fled into the wilderness because the devil had come down with great wrath, because he knew his time was short!

So, John goes on there in verse 13,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Again, one the major themes of Revelation is Satan’s persecution of the church, Satan’s war against the saints. However, even in light of that persecution, we’re repeatedly shown in John’s visions that God sustains and nourishes his church, that he even carries her on eagles wings to escape the full wrath of the serpent. Now, this isn’t to promise that the church will be without suffering or persecution, but it certainly indicates that Christ’s kingdom will not fail and will not fall. That the church will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of its testimony.

Two beasts

Now, I mentioned earlier that the wrath of the dragon is carried out vicariously, that he empowers two beasts, two indomitable enemies of the church in the first century, specifically, the Roman Empire and apostate Isreal. This is what we see described in chapter 13, a beast that rises out of the sea and a beast that rises out of the land. At the end of chapter 12 we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

It’s as if he’s standing on the sand of the sea to enlist the beasts, that will follow, against the church, and in chapter 13 two such beasts emerge. And the imagery here is not unique to John’s Apocalypse. Much of the imagery is like that of Daniel’s visions, particularly chapter 7. There, Daniel describes 4 beasts, a lion, bear, leopard, and a fourth beast that’s terrifying and dreadful, with ten horns. All four beasts are described as coming out of the sea, and these beasts are described as kings, or kingdoms. They represent the four kingdoms from Babylon to Rome. They’re described as arising out of the sea because they’re pagan, gentile nations, who oppress God’s people.

Sea Beast

And so, similarly, we read starting in Revelation 13:1,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

Notice this beast also rises out of the sea, and that it’s described similarly to the beasts in Daniel chapter 7, as being like a leopard, bear, and a lion. Like the beasts described in Daniel the beasts in Revelation 13 are kings, or kingdoms, and these are kingdoms empowered by the dragon. John is describing two indomitable foes. In fact, when we pickup in verse 3 we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

This beast that rises out of the sea, and to any mortal man appears invincible, for “who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

The John goes on in verse 5 writing,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

10  If anyone is to be taken captive,

to captivity he goes;

if anyone is to be slain with the sword,

with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

In light of this seemingly invincible enemy the church is called to endure, to not give up, to keep the faith. Like courageous men at war, persevering despite the appearance of a terrifying enemy. Which is still applicable to the church today, that no matter the darkness seen in the world we’re called to endure and to have faith, not to despair or to shrink back.

666

This beast is the same beast we see later in Revelation 17. The beast on whom the Harlot Babylon sits, the beast that has seven heads, which are seven mountains on which the woman is seated (17:9), this is Rome. In fact, John expects that the one who has wisdom can calculate the number of the beast, that it’s number is that of a man. In other words, John fully expects that these first century churches in Asia Minor would be able to determine the identity of this beast. Look at verse 18,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Now, to us this might seem quite cryptic and ambiguous, but to John’s audience that wouldn’t have necessarily been the case. In fact, I think this beast is one of the most easily identifiable characters in John’s Apocalypse. And if we can identify this beast we can have a greater degree of certainty that we’re rightly understanding the storyline of these visions.

In the ancient world alphabets pulled double-duty, that is to say, letters also served as numbers. While we’re accustomed to our alphabets being distinct from our numbering systems, this wasn’t the case in the ancient world. For instance, most of us are familiar with the Latin numerical system composed of seven Latin letters (I, V, X, L, C, D, and M), where I=1, V=5, X=10, and so on. Moreover, when you combine these letters they represent larger numerical values, for instance, XXI=21, 10+10+1=21. If you’ve ever watched the NFL Super Bowl you’ve probably noticed that they use these Latin letters to name and identify each year’s event. And this was how both the Hebrew and Greek languages worked, their alphabets pulled double-duty, their letters also served as numbers.

This also meant that words and names had numerical values, numbers were often employed as riddles to conceal names. Modern scholars call these cryptograms, the Jews called them a gimatriya (which literally means “mathematical”). Cryptograms can be found in all types of ancient literature, including both Jewish and Christian literature. For instance, Jesus is referred to as 888 in the ancient Christian Sibylline Oracles.

Therefore, when John employed a number to conceal the identity of the beast, and tells the churches in Asia Minor, “let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast” he’s using a cryptogram that would not have been uncommon to them. So what does 666 spell? Well, in Hebrew is spells out Neron Kaiser, or Nero Caesar, the first Roman Emperor to carryout empire-wide persecution of the church in AD 64.

616

Now, some of your Bibles may have a footnote that says something to the effect that some manuscripts read 616. And at first glance this may appear to present a problem for identifying Nero with 666 if some manuscripts read 616. Is this merely a copyist mistake? Well, this is where it gets even more interesting. The number 616 in Hebrew also spells out Neron Kaiser, but just in its Latin form. This has lead some to speculate that perhaps the change from 666 to 616 in some later manuscripts was intentional as Latin became more prevalent within the church.

And it wasn’t just within the church that Nero’s name was concealed using a cryptogram. Nero was hated universally throughout the Empire, not just by Christians for his persecution against them. In fact, anti-Nero cryptograms were circulating around the Empire in John’s day. Nero may be the single most recognizable name of all the Roman Emperors, second only to Julius Caesar himself, even today. And this is because of his unprecedented wickedness, which prompted many to refer to him as a beast.

Nero

Nero was born in AD 37 to Agrippina, the sister of the emperor Caligula. He was born feet first, which to the Romans was an evil omen, even Nero’s father predicted that “he could only be abominable and disastrous for the public.” (Suetonius, Nero 6) Nero was later adopted by the emperor Claudius Caesar, and eventually became emperor at the age 16 in AD 54. One historian writes that the first five years of Nero’s reign was characterized by remarkably good government and prudence, due to being guided by the wise tutors Seneca and Burrus. (E.M. Blailock, “Nero”) This was about the same time the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Romans, and probably why he had a more favorable attitude toward the Roman Empire at that time.

However, Nero became increasingly wicked, and his tutors attempted to shield the Empire from his wickedness. Roman historian, Gaius Suetonius writes, “Although at first his acts of wantonness, lust, extravagance, avarice and cruelty were gradual and secret. Yet even then their nature was such that no one doubted that they were defects of his character and not due to his time of life.” Eventually Nero descended into shocking wickedness, like Germany’s Hitler, Nero made a name for himself by the depths of his depravity.

He castrated the boy Sporus, tried to make a woman of him, married him, and treated him as his wife. He sometimes dressed himself like a wild beast, would be “let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women, who were bound to stakes.” Nero plotted and secured his own mother’s death, despite that she was responsible for bringing him to power. Nero turned against his tutor, Seneca, and ordered him to commit suicide, which he did. Nero divorced his first wife Octavia to marry his mistress, Poppaea. Poppaea had Octavia banished to an island and later had her beheaded. Three years later Nero kicked Poppaea to death while she was pregnant and ill. Nero exhausted the imperial treasuries on self-glorifying building projects, even bringing false charges against various Roman nobles in order to confiscate their estates. Suetonius writes that “he showed neither discrimination nor moderation in putting to death whomsoever he pleased on any pretext whatever.”

Persecution

“In AD 64 the great Roman fire broke out, destroying most of Rome.” (Gentry K., The Beast of Revelation) Initial suspicion was cast upon Nero for causing the fire, therefore Nero falsely accused Christians for starting the fire in order to deflect attention away from himself. This was the first and most severe, persecution directed at Christians by the Roman Empire.

It was under Nero that both Peter and Paul were martyred, and John banished to the island of Patmos. Incidents like these would have undoubtedly shaken the church’s confidence, therefore John’s letter and call for endurance and faith is timely, probably written during Nero’s persecution that started in AD 64, but before Rome turned on Jerusalem in AD 66 in the Jewish-Roman War.

Land beast

Again, Rome and its Emperor Nero are described here in Revelation 13 as a beast rising out of the sea, and to whom the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. This is the seemingly invincible enemy of the church beginning in AD 64. Moreover, it’s this first beast that rises out of the sea that also empowers the second beast. We read there in verse 11,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

This beast is harder to identify than the first but I believe it represents apostate Judaism, that it’s more religious in nature, and that it’s power and authority are derived from the first beast. That it “exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence”. In other words, without the first beast the second beast would be powerless to persecute the church. This beast has the appearance of a lamb, unlike a leopard, lion, or bear. It bears the image of a sacrificial animal, yet it speaks like a dragon. This beast appears religious but is really a synagogue of Satan. As Jesus said to the church in Smyrna back in Revelation 2:9,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

9 “ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

This beast is also referred to as the false prophet in Revelation 19:20 which, again, suggests its religious nature, and describes it’s counterfeit claims.

Conclusion

These beasts, rising both from the sea and the land, were the threats these first century churches faced. Yet in the face of these beasts the church was called to endure, and to remember that though the dragon had come down to make war against them that their suffering would be temporary and the devil’s time short. That their vindication would soon come. That these satanic beasts would be brought low, and that the kingdoms of this world would ultimately become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and that he would reign forever and ever. And we would do well to to follow their example, and to remember our Lord’s promise to sustain his church despite persecution, despite being alienated from society. To remember that it is Christ who reigns, not the dragon.

Prayer