Many ancient mythologies contain the story of an evil usurper who is doomed to be overthrown by a prince yet to be born. The usurper attempts to cheat his destiny by killing the child as soon as he is born. But the infant prince is miraculously preserved and protected until he is old enough to overcome the usurper and reclaim his rightful inheritance and throne.

The best known example of this comes from Greek mythology, which tells the story of Leto and Python. Leto, the goddess of daylight, was seduced by Zeus, the god of the gods, and became pregnant with Apollo. She was attacked by the fierce serpent dragon Python, because he knew that Leto’s offspring had been appointed to kill him. Before Python could kill Leto or her child, she was carried off to a safe island by winds sent by Zeus. Then Zeus’ brother, Poseidon, hid the island under water so that Python could not find Leto or her child. After Apollo was born, he found Python in a cave and fulfilled his destiny by slaying the dreaded dragon.

In Revelation 12, John uses this old pagan myth to retell the story of the spiritual conflict that took place at the birth and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This story is what we call a “redemptive allegory” where the fictional characters represent real people and the real story of redemption. This is similar to C.S. Lewis’ book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where the evil ice witch represents Satan, the majestic lion Aslan represents Jesus, and the story parallels the real death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The main point of this redemptive allegory is to show God’s protection of his people against Satan because of Jesus’ decisive victory over Satan through his death and resurrection. The purpose of this story is twofold: first, it reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle every day, and second, it encourages us to persevere and remain faithful to our Lord despite spiritual attacks from Satan. Let’s take a closer look at the story!

The War in Bethlehem (1-6)

John begins by telling us that he sees another sign in heaven. In this vision, he sees “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” She is also described as pregnant and crying out from the pains of childbirth. On a human level, this is a picture of the Virgin Mary about to give birth to Jesus. On a spiritual level, this woman symbolizes the faithful community of God’s people, which existed both before and after the birth of Christ. This identification is based on the Genesis 37 description of the sun, moon, and stars as Jacob, his wife and the tribes of Israel who all bowed down to Joseph in a dream. Jesus came forth from the community of the twelve tribes in the Old Testament and his work was carried on by the community of the twelve apostles in the New Testament.

As the woman was about to give birth, John also a saw an enormous red dragon “with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” The dragon is Satan himself and the heads, horns, and crowns represent evil kingdoms that persecute God’s people. The dragon’s tail sweeping one third of the stars out of the sky is symbolic of Satan leading a rebellion against God whereby one third of the angels in heaven followed him.

John saw this dragon standing in front of the woman giving birth, ready to devour the child, but as soon as he was born, God intervened by snatching him up this king, who was destined to rule the nations, and provided a haven of protection for him in the desert. This is a picture of Satan’s attempt to destroy Jesus the Messiah right after he was born.

Do you remember the story of the wise men coming to worship the newborn king? Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, where they met Herod, the imposter king of the Jews. When Herod found out that another king, the rightful king, had been born, his reign was threatened and he made a decree that all male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem two-years old and under should be slaughtered. But God warned Joseph of this diabolical plot in a dream and told him to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt.

Like the story of Leto and Python, God protected Mary’s child from Satan’s attack by providing them a safe place in the desert. This child’s destiny was prophesied way back in Genesis 3:15, when God punished Satan for deceiving Eve in the Garden of Eden. He said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Indeed, there would come a day when Jesus would grow up and slay the dragon and reclaim his rightful kingship of the earth.

The War in Heaven (7-12)

That day is described in the next section. Verses 7-12 moves us forward in time and shows us the great spiritual war that was fought in heaven when Jesus was crucified on earth. John was given a ringside seat to watch this cosmic battle where God sent the archangel Michael and his angels to fight against Satan and his demons. Satan thought he had won the battle by killing the Messiah, but the old devilish serpent and deceiver of the world, was overpowered and defeated when Jesus rose from the dead.

Immediately after Satan was defeated, John heard a loud voice from heaven singing a victory song. The song announces that Jesus defeated the dragon, delivered his people from the power of the devil, and reclaimed his kingdom. The dragon was overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Jesus defeated the devil by dying for our sins on the cross, thus nullifying Satan’s accusations against God’s people. The church overcomes the power of the devil by witnessing about Christ and being faithful to him unto death.

When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty for our sins and provided salvation for our souls. He has freed us from the accusations of the devil. We can rejoice today because Satan was defeated by the blood of Christ and the faithful testimony of his saints. When we read verse 11, it ought to make us ask the question, “Do I love my life so much that I am afraid to die for my Lord?” Do you love Jesus enough to die for him? Do you believe in the power of resurrection enough to sacrifice your life? Jesus willingly gave up his life for us; are we willing to do the same for him?

The War on Earth (13-17)

After the dragon was defeated in heaven, he turned his attention toward earth—ruthlessly pursuing the woman who had given birth to the male child. This is a picture of Satan persecuting the church. Remember, the woman is primarily a symbol for God’s people—before Christ, it was Israel, after Christ, it is the church. When Satan realized that he could not destroy the Messiah, he turned his wrath upon the Christian community and forced it to flee. This is what happened to the early church in the Book of Acts—persecution forced the church to flee to safety outside of Jerusalem. God’s protection is seen in fact that he provided his people wings to flee to safety.

In verse 15, Satan is pictured as trying to drown the woman by spewing a flood from his mouth, but once again God intervenes by opening up the earth and swallowing all of the water. At this, the dragon becomes enraged and goes off to attack her other offspring, which is a reference to true believers who obey God’s commandments and maintain their witness for Jesus down through the ages. The story ends with the dragon standing on the seashore, getting ready to call up his evil helpers from the abyss, which will carry out his work on earth.

Satan is still angry because Jesus defeated him on the cross. Now he is taking his anger out on us. This, my friends, is why we need to be reminded that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle every day. He has called up his demonic henchmen and released them upon humanity in general and Christians in particular. Indeed, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but it is against the spiritual forces of darkness in this world.

As this passage reveals, there is a spiritual battle going around us all of the time. We can’t see it with our eyes, but be certainly feel its effects. There are spiritual causes for everything that happens in the world. Satan and his demons were the spiritual force behind Adolf Hitler exterminating a million Jews in World War II! Satan and his demons were the spiritual force behind the September 11th terrorist attacks. Satan and his demons have their fingerprints all over the court abolishing prayer from town meeting. Satan and his demons are always lurking in the background causing marital conflict and family quarrels. They are always tempting people to harbor bitterness, commit sexual immorality, lie to their friends, and be selfish with their decisions! How do you experience evil?

 

Allow me to conclude by reading a poem written by Michael Card. It is called The Dragon Slayer:

The star led wizards came to see
Whom might this new born Dragonslayer be
He came the serpent’s lies to cease
To win for us a never ending peace

The serpent reared his ugly head
In the stillness of the garden
To bite the Dragonslayer’s heel
And defeat His plan of pardon

But the Mighty One provided for
The fallen ones instead
And the quest began to slay the beast
To finally crush his head

The dragon sought to take the child
Of the woman clothed in sunlight
But once again the King stepped in
And began to fight the last fight

And so the battle raged between
The heavens and the sky
And the dragon was defeated
And at last was doomed to died

Behold the Dragonslayer
He stills the serpent’s scream
He stops his accusations
He spoils the dragon’s dream

Behold the Dragonslayer
He died to set us free
The dragon thought he’d won then
It wasn’t meant to be

Revelation 12 gives us glimpse of the spiritual battle that has been raging throughout history and is still raging today. Whether you are aware of it or not, we are all in the battle. As we feel the effects of Satan’s fury, we must always remember that the battle is already won. All we have to do is remain faithful to him day after day. Jesus slayed the dragon by dying on the cross and rising on the third day!