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Commentary on Revelation 12 verses 1–11
Here we see that early prophecy eminently fulfilled in which God said he would put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, Gen 3:15. You will observe,
I. The attempts of Satan and his agents to prevent the increase of the church, by devouring her offspring as soon as it was born; of this we have a very lively description in the most proper images.
1.We see how the church is represented in this vision. (1.) As a woman, the weaker part of the world, but the spouse of Christ, and the mother of the saints. (2.) As clothed with the sun, the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having put on Christ, who is the Sun of righteousness, she, by her relation to Christ, is invested with honourable rights and privileges, and shines in his rays. (3.) As having the moon under her feet (that is, the world); she stands upon it, but lives above it; her heart and hope are not set upon sublunary things, but on the things that are in heaven, where her head is. (4.) As having on her head a crown of twelve stars, that is, the doctrine of the gospel preached by the twelve apostles, which is a crown of glory to all true believers. (5.) As in travail, crying out, and pained to be delivered. She was pregnant, and now in pain to bring forth a holy progeny to Christ, desirous that what was begun in the conviction of sinners might end in their conversion, that when the children were brought to the birth there might be strength to bring forth, and that she might see of the travail of her soul.
2.How the grand enemy of the church is represented. (1.) As a great red dragon - a dragon for strength and terror - a red dragon for fierceness and cruelty. (2.) As having seven heads, that is, placed on seven hills, as Rome was; and therefore it is probable that pagan Rome is here meant. (3.) As having ten horns, divided into ten provinces, as the Roman empire was by Augustus Caesar. (4.) As having seven crowns upon his head, which is afterwards expounded to be seven kings, Rev 17:10. (5.) As drawing with his tail a third part of the stars in heaven, and casting them down to the earth, turning the ministers and professors of the Christian religion out of their places and privileges and making them as weak and useless as he could. (6.) As standing before the woman, to devour her child as soon as it should be born, very vigilant to crush the Christian religion in its birth and entirely to prevent the growth and continuance of it in the world.
II. The unsuccessfulness of these attempts against the church; for, 1. She was safely delivered of a man-child (Rev 12:5), by which some understand Christ, others Constantine, but others, with greater propriety, a race of true believers, strong and united, resembling Christ, and designed, under him, to rule the nations with a rod of iron; that is, to judge the world by their doctrine and lives now, and as assessors with Christ at the great day. 2. Care was taken of this child: it was caught up to God, and to his throne; that is, taken into his special, powerful, and immediate protection. The Christian religion has been from its infancy the special care of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. 3. Care was taken of the mother as well as of the child, Rev 12:6. She fled into the wilderness, a place prepared both for her safety and her sustenance. The church was in an obscure state, dispersed; and this proved her security, through the care of divine Providence. This her obscure and private state was for a limited time, not to continue always.
III. The attempts of the dragon not only proved unsuccessful against the church, but fatal to his own interests; for, upon his endeavour to devour the man-child, he engaged all the powers of heaven against him (Rev 12:7): There was war in heaven. Heaven will espouse the quarrel of the church. Here observe,
1.The seat of this war - in heaven, in the church, which is the kingdom of heaven on earth, under the care of heaven and in the same interest.
2.The parties - Michael and his angels on one side, and the dragon and his angels on the other: Christ, the great Angel of the covenant, and his faithful followers; and Satan and all his instruments. This latter party would be much superior in number and outward strength to the other; but the strength of the church lies in having the Lord Jesus for the captain of their salvation.
3.The success of the battle: The dragon and his angels fought and prevailed not; there was a great struggle on both sides, but the victory fell to Christ and his church, and the dragon and his angels were not only conquered, but cast out; the pagan idolatry, which was a worshipping of devils, was extirpated out of the empire in the time of Constantine.
4.The triumphant song that was composed and used on this occasion, Rev 12:10, Rev 12:11. Here observe, (1.) How the conqueror is adored: Now have come salvation, strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. Now God has shown himself to be a mighty God; now Christ has shown himself to be a strong and mighty Saviour; his own arm has brought salvation, and now his kingdom will be greatly enlarged and established. The salvation and strength of the church are all to be ascribed to the king and head of the church. (2.) How the conquered enemy is described. [1.] By his malice; he was the accuser of the brethren, and accused them before their God night and day; he appeared before God as an adversary to the church, continually bringing in indictments and accusations against them, whether true or false; thus he accused Job, and thus he accused Joshua the high priest, Zac 3:1. Though he hates the presence of God, yet he is willing to appear there to accuse the people of God. Let us therefore take heed that we give him no cause of accusation against us; and that, when we have sinned, we presently go in before the Lord, and accuse and condemn ourselves, and commit our cause to Christ as our Advocate. [2.] By his disappointment and defeat: he and all his accusations are cast out, the indictments quashed, and the accuser turned out of the court with just indignation. (3.) How the victory was gained. The servants of God overcame Satan, [1.] By the blood of the Lamb, as the meritorious cause. Christ by dying destroyed him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil. [2.] By the word of their testimony, as the great instrument of war, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, - by a resolute powerful preaching of the everlasting gospel, which is mighty, through God, to pull down strongholds, - and by their courage and patience in sufferings; they loved not their lives unto the death, when the love of life stood in competition with their loyalty to Christ; they loved not their lives so well but they could give them up to death, could lay them down in Christ's cause; their love to their own lives was overcome by stronger affections of another nature; and this their courage and zeal helped to confound their enemies, to convince many of the spectators, to confirm the souls of the faithful, and so contributed greatly to this victory.
By the woman then clothed with the sun," he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father's word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the "moon under her feet" he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, "upon her head a crown of twelve stars," refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, "she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. "And she brought forth," he says, "a man-child, who is to rule all the nations; "by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, "her child was caught up unto God and to His throne," signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." "And the dragon," he says, "saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: "And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings."
“She was with child,” not in her womb but in her mind, “and she cried out, groaning (in the valley of tears) and was in anguish that she might deliver.” The church spiritually gives birth to those with whom she is in the pangs of childbirth, but she also never ceases to be in the pangs of childbirth with those to whom she has already given birth. For this reason the apostle says, “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.”
“She was with child and cried out in pangs of birth.” This means that by her preaching [the church] desires to gather together the nations of the Gentiles. “She is in anguish for delivery” as long as [the church] is either gathering together the multitude of the Gentiles or is excluding the hypocrites from its womb.
We say that the church is in birth pangs for each one of those who are being born anew through water and the Spirit, “until Christ is formed in them,” as the apostle says. Those who have fallen from the true light of Christ are regarded as miscarriages and experience death at the end of their life because of unfaithfulness.
And she was in pain to deliver. Thus the Lord in the Gospel: A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world (John XVI). Explaining this to His disciples, He added: Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice (John XVI).
And being with child, she cried out in travail. The Church, spiritually, both gives birth to those she brings forth and continues to labor for those already born. As she herself says: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians IV).
And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. This cannot refer specifically to blessed Mary, but it refers to the Church, which suffers here a certain difficulty in childbirth when it tries to give birth once again to people it had already given birth to, until, according to the apostle's saying, we all meet unto a perfect man. [Eph. 4:13]
And it says she was pregnant, and crying out in labor pains and anguish to give birth; and Isaiah speaks about her before she begins to labor and before the pains of childbirth come, saying she escaped and gave birth to a male child (Isa. 66:7). Gregory, in the thirteenth discourse of his Commentary on the Song of Songs concerning the Lord, says that her pregnancy remains without intercourse, and her delivery is without defilement. The birth was painless. Therefore if, according to such a great prophet and teacher of the church, the Virgin escaped the pain of labor, how then does she cry out in labor and give birth while being in anguish here? The statement is not a contradiction, far from it; for nothing could be contrary to the one and the same speaker addressing both sides. Rather, what is expressed here cries out and is troubled as you might understand. Until the divine angel spoke to Joseph about her, saying that the one conceived is from the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20), the Virgin was understandably distressed, having blushed [ἐρυθριῶσα] toward the one betrothed, and she was considering whether perhaps he might suspect her of secret unions causing her labor pains. Her distress and sorrow, he called, according to the laws of allegory, crying out and anguish, which is not surprising.
For even the divine Moses, when he was spiritually encountering God and feeling disheartened, saw Israel in the wilderness surrounded by sea and enemies. It is said by God, "Why do you cry out to me?" (Ex. 14:15) Likewise, now the vision declares a cry concerning the sorrowful disposition in the mind and heart of the Virgin. But you, who are the pure servant and mother according to the flesh, of my Lady, the holy Mother of God [θεοτόκου], having relieved your distress through your ineffable birth, also relieve my sins; for glory belongs to you forever. Amen.
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SUMMARY
Revelation 12:2 vividly portrays a mysterious woman, introduced in the preceding verse, in the throes of intense labor. Her cries and severe pain underscore the profound struggle and suffering associated with the imminent birth of a male child, a pivotal event in the cosmic drama unfolding in this apocalyptic vision. This verse sets the stage for the unveiling of God's redemptive plan amidst fierce spiritual opposition, highlighting the anguish preceding a monumental divine deliverance.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Revelation 12:2 is rich in Symbolism, where the "woman" and her "child" represent larger spiritual realities rather than literal individuals. The woman is widely understood to symbolize either Israel, the source from which the Messiah came, or the faithful people of God (the Church) throughout history, while the "male child" unequivocally symbolizes Jesus Christ. The act of "travailing in birth" serves as powerful Imagery, evoking the universal experience of intense pain and struggle associated with childbirth. This vivid imagery is also a form of Metaphor, where the physical agony of labor stands for the spiritual and historical suffering endured by God's people as they awaited and prepared for the Messiah's arrival, and as they faced opposition from the forces of evil. The verse also employs Anticipation, building suspense and setting the stage for the dramatic conflict with the dragon that immediately follows, emphasizing the high stakes involved in the birth of the Messiah.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
The profound imagery of a woman in agonizing labor in Revelation 12:2 resonates deeply with the biblical narrative of suffering preceding salvation and new creation. The "birth pains" symbolize not only the long-awaited coming of the Messiah but also the intense spiritual conflict and tribulation that accompany God's redemptive acts throughout history. This cosmic struggle is essential to understanding the cost of salvation and the divine necessity of Christ's advent. It reminds us that God's greatest works often emerge from periods of intense trial and that the path to ultimate deliverance is frequently paved with suffering, mirroring the very suffering of Christ Himself. This theme is echoed throughout Scripture, from the groaning of creation to the trials faced by believers.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Revelation 12:2 offers a profound lens through which believers can understand their own experiences of struggle and anticipation within God's overarching plan. Just as the woman endured excruciating pain for the glorious outcome of birth, we are called to endure suffering and hardship with unwavering hope, knowing that God is working out His redemptive purposes in and through us. Our current struggles, whether personal or collective, may be part of a larger divine process, leading to greater joy, spiritual maturity, and the manifestation of God's kingdom. This verse reminds us that the coming of Christ, and indeed the advancement of His kingdom, was not and is not without fierce opposition. Therefore, believers must maintain an awareness of the ongoing spiritual battle against evil forces, recognizing that our challenges are often part of this cosmic conflict. Yet, despite the pain and the struggle, the birth was assured, providing immense comfort and assurance that God's ultimate victory and the fulfillment of His promises are certain, even in the most turbulent times. We are invited to participate in this divine labor, trusting that our present "birth pains" will yield eternal joy.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Who is the woman in Revelation 12?
Answer: The identity of the woman in Revelation 12 is one of the most debated symbols in the book. While some interpretations suggest she is a literal figure like Mary, the mother of Jesus, the highly symbolic nature of apocalyptic literature points to a broader meaning. The most prevalent interpretations are:
Ultimately, the woman symbolizes the divinely chosen lineage or community through whom God's redemptive plan, culminating in Christ, unfolds.
What do the birth pains symbolize in this context?
Answer: The "birth pains" (Greek: ōdínō and basanízō) in Revelation 12:2 are rich in symbolic meaning. They primarily represent:
Is this a literal event or symbolic language?
Answer: Revelation 12:2, like much of the book of Revelation, employs highly symbolic language rather than describing a literal, historical event. The imagery of a woman clothed with celestial bodies, giving birth in the heavens, and a dragon attempting to devour the child, clearly indicates an apocalyptic vision meant to convey spiritual truths through powerful metaphors. These symbols represent cosmic realities, historical processes, and theological principles related to the conflict between God and Satan, the coming of Christ, and the destiny of God's people. Interpreting it literally would miss the profound theological insights and the nature of apocalyptic literature itself.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Revelation 12:2, with its depiction of a woman in agonizing labor to deliver a male child, finds its profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the incarnation, life, and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The "male child" is explicitly identified in Revelation 12:5 as the one "who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron," unequivocally pointing to Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. The "travailing in birth" symbolizes the long, arduous history of God's people, particularly Israel, awaiting the Messiah, a period marked by suffering, longing, and prophetic anticipation. This pain culminates in the divine act when "in the fullness of time God sent forth His Son, born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4). Jesus' birth was not merely a biological event but the pivotal moment in cosmic history, initiating the direct confrontation with the powers of darkness that sought to thwart God's redemptive plan. The "pained to be delivered" foreshadows not only the suffering of God's people but also the immense suffering Christ Himself would endure—His life of humility, His rejection, and ultimately His sacrificial death on the cross, which was the ultimate "labor" through which humanity's deliverance was secured. Through His death and resurrection, Christ "delivered us from the domain of darkness" (Colossians 1:13), bringing forth a new creation and a new covenant. Thus, the anguish of the woman in Revelation 12:2 points directly to the painful yet triumphant work of Christ, the faithful witness and firstborn from the dead (Revelation 1:5), through whom all things are made new.