THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST IS THE GREAT WONDER JOHN BEHELD (vv. 1-4). In these first four verses, John describes three things which were revealed to him in vivid, symbolic language. The woman in this chapter symbolizes and represents the church (Isa. 50:1; 54:1; Hos. 2:1; Eph. 5:32). The church, which is the body, bride, and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, is made up and consists of all God's elect in every age, the people loved, redeemed, and saved by Christ (Eph. 5:25-27), all true believers, past, present, and future. The church of the Old Testament and the church of the New Testament is one church. To the people of this world, God's church seems to be insignificant and worthy of ridicule and scorn. But in the eyes of God, she is glorious. All the beauty, glory, and splendor of heaven is lavished upon her (v. 1). She is "clothed with the sun" because she is exalted and glorious in God's eyes above all the nations and people of the earth (Isa. 43:3-4). "The moon (is) under her feet" because she has dominion as the bride of Christ, she is "a royal priesthood," a generation of priests and kings (I Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). She wears "a crown of twelve stars" because she is always victorious (Rom. 8:37; II Cor. 2:14). She is described as a woman "with child, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered" (v. 2) because she must bring forth the Christ, God's Messiah (Rom. 9:25). NOTE: As Christ was brought forth into the world physically through his chosen, so he must be brought forth into the world spiritually by the faithful witness of his church (Matt. 28:18-20). The "man child" is the promised seed of woman, the Lord Jesus Christ who came to save his people from their sins (v. 5; Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4-5; Matt. 1:21; Heb. 10:5-10). This is indeed the great wonder of heaven. God himself came into the world as a man to redeem and save fallen men! The dragon is satan, Lucifer, the fallen son of the morning, whose constant aim is the destruction of Christ (v. 3-4). Satan's seven crowned heads represent his usurped dominion over the sin cursed earth (Eph. 2:2; 6:12). The stars that fall from heaven are all the rebelling, reprobate angels, who followed satan in his rebellion (Isa. 14:12-16; Job 38:7; II Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). The "ten horns" symbolizes the old dragon's destructive power.
VERSES 5-6 DESCRIBE THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AFTER HE HAD FINISHED HIS WORK UPON THE EARTH. Though satan tried to destroy him as soon as he was born into the world, the old serpent was foiled. Herod slew multitudes of infants, but not the man child (Matt. 2:13-20). He was foiled again in the wilderness of temptation (Matt. 4:1-11), foiled again in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:47-56), and foiled again at Calvary (John 12:31-32; Rev. 20:1-3). Calvary was not satan's defeat of Christ, but Christ's conquest of satan! At last, when his earthly work was done, King Jesus was snatched up to heaven, out of the reach of the dragon's hands, to rule as King over all things (John 17:2; Phil. 2:5-11). Once Christ was caught up to heaven, forever out of satan's reach, the dragon turned upon the woman in a rage of anger because of her relationship to the man child. (More about this when we get to verses 12-17). As the result of our Savior's obedience, death, resurrection, and ascension as our Substitute, the serpent's head was crushed. His power was broken. His usurped dominion over the nations of the world was overthrown.
THEREFORE JOHN DESCRIBES THE DEFEAT OF SATAN NEXT (vv. 7-9). John Gill suggests that Michael the archangel is Christ himself. The name "Michael" signifies "one who is God." Without question, the work described in these verses is the work of Christ himself (John 12:31-32; Rev. 20:1-3). Notice the reproachful names given to our adversary in verse 9. Because he is furious with rage, he is called "the great dragon." Because he is the deceiver of the whole world (II Cor. 4:6), he is called "that old serpent," the one who deceived Eve in the garden (Gen. 3:1-6). Because he ever accuses God's saints and seeks to turn God against us and us against our God, he is called "the devil and satan," who as a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour (I Pet. 5:8). But the accuser who was cast out of heaven has also been cast out of his power over the nations. He who held the Gentile world in bondage, idolatry, and ignorance throughout the Old Testament era was cast out by Christ, so that he could no longer deceive the nations. Thus, by his death on the cross, the Son of God opened the way for the gospel to be preached to the whole world, so that he might gather in his elect from the four corners of the earth (John 12:32; Rom. 11:25-26).
VERSES 10 AND 11 ANNOUNCE THE SALVATION OF GOD'S ELECT BY CHRIST. Salvation is never presented in the Scriptures as a possibility, an opportunity, or an offer. Salvation is declared to be a thing already accomplished by our God (Rom. 8:29-30; II Tim. 1:9-10). God's servants are men who come preaching salvation finished (Isa. 40:1-2; 52:7). When the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, left this world and ascended back into heaven, he had finished the work of salvation for his elect and said so. He brought in everlasting righteousness by his active obedience to God as our Representative (John 17:4). And he made an end of sin by his sacrificial, sin-atoning death as our Substitute (Dan. 12:24; John 19:30). Christ's ascension and exaltation is a declaration of his finished work of redemption (Rom. 8:34-39; Heb. 10:10-14). And the fact that Christ is seated upon the throne of God, exalted as Head and Lord over all things, guarantees that all whom he came to save shall be saved. All God's elect, all redeemed sinners overcome satan and his accusations "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." The blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, by which sin has been put away and salvation has been accomplished, is the message of the gospel (the word of testimony) by which faith is given to God's elect (Rom. 10:13-17; I Cor. 1:21-24). And every believer will persevere in faith because he is preserved and kept by grace. "They loved not their lives unto the death." All true believers continue in the faith all their days (John 10:27-28). They live in faith and die in faith (Heb. 11:13).
VERSES 11-17 DESCRIBE SATAN'S PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH. Though he is defeated, his rage has not diminished. He can do no harm to God's cause or his people. Therefore, there is cause for all heaven to rejoice. But, like a mad dog in a cage or a roaring lion on a chain, satan's hatred of Christ is demonstrated in his growlings and roarings against his church and people. He knows he has but a short time. Therefore "he persecuted the woman" (v. 13). But God protects her (v. 14). Satan spews out floods of heresy to destroy God's church. But it does no harm (v. 15; I Cor. 11:19; Matt. 16:18). The reprobate of the earth swallow up the floods of heresy (v. 16). And God, by the wise arrangement of providence, sees to it that all things done in the earth help the woman (his church), and never do any harm (v. 16; Hos. 2:18; Rom. 8:28).
The remnant of the woman's seed, the saints of God are described as
those who "keep the commandments of and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
They have the gospel. They believe the gospel. They cannot be turned away
from the gospel. Though the dragon makes war with them, he cannot harm
them, for Christ makes intercession for them (Lk. 22:31-32).