Act III · Milestone 5 of 9
Revelation 12–14 — The Conflict
A woman clothed with the sun, a dragon sweeping a third of the stars, a beast rising out of the sea for exactly forty-two months — Daniel's framework, filled in with color.
Revelation 12–14 · about 20 minutes
1And 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:
2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4And 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.
5And 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.
6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
6And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Watch the scene first
A woman appears in heaven — clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, a crown of twelve stars — crying in labor. A great red dragon waits to devour her child the moment it is born. The child is 'caught up unto God, and to his throne'; the woman flees into the wilderness for 1,260 days, fed by God. Then the camera pulls back to a war in heaven, and the dragon — 'that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan' — is cast down to the earth, furious, 'because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.' Out of the sea rises a beast with seven heads and ten horns, speaking great things for forty-two months. Then out of the earth comes a second beast with lamb-like horns that ends up speaking like a dragon.
You have met this beast before
Revelation 13's sea beast is Daniel 7 in a single frame: it is 'like unto a leopard' (Greece), with 'the feet of a bear' (Medo-Persia) and 'the mouth of a lion' (Babylon) — the very animals of Daniel 7, in reverse order as John looks back at them. And 'the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority' — pagan Rome handing its capital and throne to papal Rome. Its career is timed twice: 1,260 days and 42 months, the same period Daniel 7:25 gave the little horn — the long medieval supremacy, 538 to 1798, ending in the 'deadly wound' when the pope was taken prisoner. The safeguards hold: this is not Antiochus, not a future superman, not a gap in time — it is the same power Daniel watched, now wearing its own name.
The lamb-like beast with a dragon's voice
The second beast rises 'out of the earth' as the first is wounded — a new power appearing around 1798, lamb-like in profession (a nation built on liberty), yet finally speaking 'as a dragon': making an image to the beast and enforcing its mark. This is the chapter's warning about end-time religion wedded to civil power — the very pattern this app traces in every age: whenever the church reaches for the state's sword, the lamb's voice turns dragonish. The 'mark of the beast' is the counterfeit of God's seal — worship enforced by law against worship commanded by conscience.
Heaven's answer: three angels
Chapter 14 is God's reply to chapter 13. Against the beast's counterfeit gospel, an angel flies 'in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth... Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth' — the Creator, in an age when Daniel's court has been seated since 1844. A second angel announces Babylon's fall; a third warns against the mark. And then the chapter defines the saints in one sentence that gathers the whole book: 'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'
Check what you saw
Two questions on this scene. Answers show an explanation either way.
What is the centre of Revelation 12?
What is the counter-movement to the beast powers of chapter 13?
Talk it through
- —Why does Revelation answer coercion with a message rather than a weapon?
- —How does chapter 12 change the way you read chapter 13's mark?
Good prompts for a study group, or for the reflection journal on the Today page.