Revelation 12 begins a new chapter, in more ways than one. In 10:11, John was told to prophesy again to the nations. From here forward, the action gets more intense. We have a new series of visions, yet still tied to the previous as we are in the interlude between the 7th trumpet and the seven bowls of God’s undiluted wrath. Before the final destruction of God’s enemies (chapters 15-19), and the reward for His own (20-22), we are introduced to the “actors on the stage” so to speak. Mounce (230) calls chapter 12 the “theological heart of the entire book.”
In a previous writing of John, he records these words of Jesus Christ: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20). Faithfulness to the word of Christ brings death and persecution, it does not inhibit persecution.
Let’s jump to chapter 13 before we back up to chapter 12. In chapter 13, we are introduced to the two lackies, or minions if you will, of Satan. One beast arises out of the sea of humanity having ten horns of authority, seven heads of astuteness, and ten diadems of royalty. This beast is the civil government of the Roman Empire. It is a composite image of the beasts from Daniel’s visions, the fourth beast in whose time the God of heaven would set up His kingdom.
Those who followed the beast worshipped the dragon, Satan, as well as the beast. The beast was arrogant and spoke blasphemy against God and the tabernacle of God. He went so far as to make war with God’s children and overcame them (13:7). While we believe the beast in Revelation refers to the Roman Empire, the flexibility of the symbolism would allow us to apply its imagery to any and all secular governments, including our own, that persecutes Christians.
The second beast comes up out of the earth pretending, himself, to be a lamb but speaking with the authority of the dragon. He forces the earth to worship the first beast and deceives them into this behavior through false miraculous signs (13:13-14). He also brought about the death of the saints. In later imagery, we see that the second beast is false religion: 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.
When we lived in Romania, we originally received our visas through the Ministry of Health, for humanitarian purposes. The representative of the Ministry of Health in Iasi was a Dr. Olympia Macolve. She had no authority on religious grounds to deny our visa. But she did what she could, for her own religious reasons, to make a headache for us to receive our visas on humanitarian grounds. False religions still persecute those who live and teach the truth.
Thus we see a modern illustration of two aspects of a society working together – secular and religious – to inhibit the spread of the Gospel of Christ.
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But the point of chapter 12, as we see from John 15:20, is to show that Satan’s animosity toward Christians is a result of his animosity towards Christ. He failed to destroy Christ so he turns his power against Christians.
The dragon tried to devour the Child as soon as He was born but the Child “was caught up to God and to His throne” (12:5). We see, then, that John is not giving a chronological description of history. The whole life of Jesus (some 30+ years) is telescoped into one verse, from death to ascension.
But because the dragon, “Satan, who deceives the whole world” (12:9), could not succeed with the Child, he turns his wrath on the “brethren” (12:10). Yet, the brethren “overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (12:11).
The brethren of the Child, Christians, are still persecuted by Satan. He “makes war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (12:17). He engages that war through the form of secular governments and false religions.
The lesson here that gives us hope is this: Persecution of Christians will never end before Jesus comes again. But we can be victorious through His blood and preaching and living the Gospel message.
Paul Holland
