The Woman and the Dragon (Rev. 12)
Martyn McGeown
All agree that the man child of Revelation 12:5 is the Lord Jesus. However, many mistakenly believe that the woman is Mary or Israel. In three sermons on Revelation chapter 12, especially "Two Signs in Heaven" (vv. 1-6), Rev. Stewart demonstrates that the woman of verses 1-2 (and, therefore, also of verses 6, 13-14 and 16-17) is the church—one woman, one church of the Old and New Testaments (cf. Isaiah 66:7-8, explained in this audio sermon "Comforted!"). Revelation 12 teaches that the (Old Testament) church (Acts 7:38) was "pregnant" with the Christ for the entire Old Testament age, and that the devil attempted (through all his attacks on the Old Testament church) to prevent the coming of the seed, whom he knew would bruise his head (Gen. 3:15). Satan tried to destroy the church from whom the seed would come, using willing instruments such as Athaliah (II Kings 11:1) and Haman (Esther 3:6). When Christ did come, Satan used others to try to destroy Him, unwittingly fulfilling God's decree (Acts 4:27-28) and sealing his own doom.
Before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—Revelation 12:7 begins with "and" not "then"—the devil accused the Old Testament saints who were in heaven, arguing, that since atonement had not been made, they had no right to be there (v. 7). When Christ came and made atonement, Satan no longer had access to heaven as he did in the Old Testament (cf. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7) and was cast out (for Satan's being cast out or bound listen to "The 1,000 Years of Revelation 20 " or read "The 1,000 Years of Revelation 20"), Christ now having silenced the devil's accusations by His substitutionary sacrifice for His people (cf. "War in Heaven" [Rev. 12:7-12]).
The devil now persecutes the woman—the same woman of verse 1—the (New Testament) church (now no longer confined to the nation of Israel), for the entire New Testament age but she enjoys God's protection (Rev. 12:6, 14-16). This is treated in a comforting sermon on "The Woman in the Wilderness" (vv. 13-17).
For a treatment of the1,260 days or 42 months or a time and times and half a time mentioned in Revelation 12 and preceding and succeeding chapters (Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5), listen to this speech, "The 2 Witnesses of Revelation 11" (Rev. 11:3-13). Also two audio sermons dealing with the battle of Armageddon from Revelation 19:11-21 are available on-line: The Last Battle (I) and The Last Battle (II).