Revelation 12
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Earth’s newspapers are used to wrap dead fish. But heaven’s headlines will be remembered forever.
Some world’s headlines this Christmas 2003:
- Earthquake in Iran kills 10,000 and still counting (called “Apocalypse” by some papers);
- Suicide bombers in Pakistan and Iraq;
- Christmas present bomb in Italy;
- Gas leak in China kills 198;
- Mad cow disease in US;
- Beagle on Mars seems lost;
- Son drowns in Hermanus while spreading ashes of father
As we look into the realm of heaven what is the heavenly headline? “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” Now here comes the realm of heaven (Lk 2:13) “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” The glory of God is the headline of heaven. Jesus is the headline of heaven. The angels were always there, but this time the shepherds saw it. At that point they were able to see the heavenly realm praising God but that’s what’s always going on in heaven. After this glimpse of what is happening in heaven we must also become joyful witnesses like the Shepherds.
We serve the God of little, insignificant people, of little Mary and little Joseph, Shepherds etc. We’re the ones in the headlines of heaven. When God sees this world He doesn’t see the political rulers but sees the world through the men and women of God. Evil men like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Herod are known in God’s history because they were there at the same time as God’s people (Moses, Daniel, Joseph and Mary).
Let’s look at some of Heaven’s Headlines about Christmas. We don’t have to guess for it is written.
Like Mark, John in his gospel omits the birth narrative and basically begins the story of Jesus with John the Baptist. He rather chooses to save the birth story for the book of Revelation (12:1-17). His story has no shepherds, wise men — it has a dragon! It is a flashback to the first Christmas.
This conflict between Satan and the women began back in Genesis 3:15, after the fall of man.
Throughout the Old Testament, Satan has tried to prevent the birth of the Redeemer.
There has always been a dragon standing close by.
Pharaoh is called a dragon in Ezekiel 29:3.
So is Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 51:34.
When Jesus was born, Satan used King Herod to try and destroy Him. (Satan had been preparing Herod for this role. He was already a brutal and bloodthirsty man. Ceasar Augustus once said that it is “safer to be Herod’s dog than his son” because he killed 3 of his sons.)
Names Used For The Devil:
- “An enormous red dragon” (verse 3). He is red because he is the motivating force behind much of the bloodshed in human history.
- “That ancient serpent” (verse 9). This refers to the first time the devil is seen in the Bible, in the Garden of Eden.
- “The devil” (verse 9). This is the name used in the Gospels for this enemy of God. It means “slanderer” or “accuser”.
- “Satan” (verse 9). This name means “adversary.” The devil is the adversary of all God’s children.
- “The accuser of our brothers” (verse 10). This indicates his work before the throne of God today, seeking to discredit the saints before God.
So John shifts the point of view; he tells the story from a Heaven’s perspective. He tells it from the viewpoint of heaven. Christmas is the reason for the war! God came into Satan’s domain to face down the dragon on his own turfAll the fury of hell would be released against the child born on that silent night
Four heavenly perspectives not shown in Matthew and Luke:
1. The birth of Jesus was a declaration of war: We tend to picture the birth of Jesus as a tranquil, quiet and peaceful event. We picture shepherds in wordless wonder gazing at Jesus. We picture animals silently milling about in the stable. Even our songs tell us that when Jesus awakes, “no crying he makes.” It’s a silent night, in which all of creation holds its breath in silent wonder. But in the unseen world all hell breaks out, as God finally seeks to wrestle back creation from the power of evil. The birth of Jesus was the launch of God’s assault on the power of evil.
Evil is clearly in the world: examples of abortion, terrorism, family murders.
2. His birth brought the world’s rightful ruler to earth: Jesus was the rightful king from his very birth, which is why Herod tried to destroy him. Yet Jesus isn’t just king of the Jews, the rightful heir to King David’s throne in Israel. Jesus is truly king of kings, lord of lords, the rightful ruler over the entire earth.
3. His birth was an invitation to the human race. Evil has infected the human race like a deadly virus. This deadly virus is called sin in the Bible, and it’s a condition of rebellion to God. According to the Bible, all people have been infected with sin, it’s worked itself into the very fabric of our lives. God is going to destroy the sin and evil, but first he wants to offer the human race a cure of the virus, so they don’t get swept away when he destroys evil. Ebola virus is like sin (except, instead of killing just 90% of its victims, it is totally destructive – “the soul that sins must die”). The new Ebola vaccine is made up of virus-like particles (VLPs) which are non-infectious but are capable of triggering a strong response by the immune system. The vaccine resembles the virus. Jesus “became sin” for us on the Cross. We overcome the Dragon by the “Blood of the Lamb” (12:11)
4. Jesus has already overcome the power of evil. Although Satan may still be active on the earth, from the perspective of heaven, he’s been defeated and his days are numbered. Any opposition he gives in the meanwhile is simply an enraged act of desperation by a defeated foe. Though we may still suffer and see evil active in our world, these are merely the desperate convulsions of a defeated enemy. So we overcome in the midst of such evil, not by striking back with evil ourselves, but by appropriating the power of Christ to finish what he started. We overcome through Christ’s death, the blood of the Lamb, and our faithfulness to follow Jesus, even in the face of death.
In fact, you and I are part in this nativity play! The dragon can’t get the child, and God protects the mother (now a symbol of church). So now the hungry dragon comes looking for us, “Then the dragon was very angry at the woman, and he went off to make war against all her other children—those who obey God’s commands and who have the message Jesus taught” (Rev 12:17). So at the heart of this telling of the birth of Christ is a hungry dragon seeking to take a bite out of you and me!
Make sure that you’re not on the side of the defeated dragon but that you are part of those in verse 17: “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”