Toward the Future: The World and the Church
The woman and the dragon
1 ① A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant, and cried out in pain, looking to her time of delivery.
3Then, another sign appeared: a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and wearing seven crowns on its heads. 4It had just swept along a third of the stars of heaven with its tail, throwing them down to the earth.
The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it might devour the child as soon as it was born. 5She gave birth to a male child, the one who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter; then, her child was seized and taken up to God, and to his throne, 6while the woman fled to the desert where God had prepared a place for her; there, she would be looked after for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 ② War broke out in heaven, with Michael and his angels battling with the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, 8but they were defeated and lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon, the ancient serpent, known as the devil, or Satan, seducer of the whole world, was thrown out. He was hurled down to earth, together with his angels.
10Then, I heard a loud voice from heaven:
Now has salvation come,
with the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the rule of his anointed.
For our brothers’ accuser has been cast out,
who accused them night and day, before God.
11They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they gave up their lives, going to death.
12Rejoice, therefore, O you heavens
and you who dwell in them;
but woe to you, earth and sea,
for the devil has come to you in anger,
knowing that he has but a little time.
13 ③ When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14Then the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly into the desert, where she would be looked after for three and a half years. 15The serpent poured water out of his mouth after the woman to carry her away in the flood, 16but the earth came to her rescue: it opened its mouth and swallowed the flood, which the dragon had poured from its mouth. 17Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus. 18And he stood on the seashore.
- Rev 12,1 Here begins the second part of John's vision. The Church has left the Jewish world and the horizon is expanded. The Church is going to win over the nations, by struggling against the power of the devil. We have the beginning of a series of seven signs or visions in the sky. The first two present the protagonists of sacred history, the Woman and the Dragon, the People of God and the Devil. A woman appeared. She seems surrounded with glory, but she is suffering labor pains. This represents humanity. At the beginning of the Bible, it was represented by Eve, the woman who sinned. Now we see humanity the way God wanted it to be: suffering birth pains because our entire history is the painful preparation for our salvation. She gives birth to a boy, who is Christ himself. The Savior is the fruit of God's love for humankind. Salvation comes from God and from people at the same time. The woman represents humanity cooperating with God's plans; it is also Mary who gives birth to Jesus; it is also the Church fleeing to the desert, that is, living spiritually withdrawn from the world and nourished by the Word of God during the persecutions: one thousand two hundred sixty days, or three and a half years (see 11:11). The snake is the one of the first sin, except that it is better clothed. The seven heads indicate the multiplicity of its inventions, the ten horns (imperfect number) state that its power is surmountable. It was defeated in heaven, even though it managed in its fall to drag down a number of angels (a third of the stars). See 8:10. As to the male child, Satan was preparing to destroy him on the cross, but when he rose he escaped from the evil of the serpent. Rev 12,7 God's plan for the world has just been revealed: the Son of God must become a human and rise as the Savior of all people. This mystery causes a double crisis: in the world of spirits (or angels) and in humankind. The Jews imagined the angels were a huge army and they called their head Michael. Similarly, the devil is presented as the head of the army of rebellious angels, the stars fallen from heaven. The following chapters will reveal the devil at work in history. He uses disguises and many substitutes. However, those who are ready to suffer for the truth will recognize him: they triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by their courage in proclaiming him (12:11). Rev 12,13 Sin and rebellion against God began in the world of spirits. Being rejected from that world, the devil attacks those who keep the word of God, beginning with the best and most outstanding people in the Church. The struggle will never end. Those who dream of achieving peace in this world are forgetting the presence of the Evil One.
- Rev 12,1 Here begins the second part of John's vision. The Church has left the Jewish world and the horizon is expanded. The Church is going to win over the nations, by struggling against the power of the devil. We have the beginning of a series of seven signs or visions in the sky. The first two present the protagonists of sacred history, the Woman and the Dragon, the People of God and the Devil. A woman appeared. She seems surrounded with glory, but she is suffering labor pains. This represents humanity. At the beginning of the Bible, it was represented by Eve, the woman who sinned. Now we see humanity the way God wanted it to be: suffering birth pains because our entire history is the painful preparation for our salvation. She gives birth to a boy, who is Christ himself. The Savior is the fruit of God's love for humankind. Salvation comes from God and from people at the same time. The woman represents humanity cooperating with God's plans; it is also Mary who gives birth to Jesus; it is also the Church fleeing to the desert, that is, living spiritually withdrawn from the world and nourished by the Word of God during the persecutions: one thousand two hundred sixty days, or three and a half years (see 11:11). The snake is the one of the first sin, except that it is better clothed. The seven heads indicate the multiplicity of its inventions, the ten horns (imperfect number) state that its power is surmountable. It was defeated in heaven, even though it managed in its fall to drag down a number of angels (a third of the stars). See 8:10. As to the male child, Satan was preparing to destroy him on the cross, but when he rose he escaped from the evil of the serpent. Rev 12,7 God's plan for the world has just been revealed: the Son of God must become a human and rise as the Savior of all people. This mystery causes a double crisis: in the world of spirits (or angels) and in humankind. The Jews imagined the angels were a huge army and they called their head Michael. Similarly, the devil is presented as the head of the army of rebellious angels, the stars fallen from heaven. The following chapters will reveal the devil at work in history. He uses disguises and many substitutes. However, those who are ready to suffer for the truth will recognize him: they triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by their courage in proclaiming him (12:11). Rev 12,13 Sin and rebellion against God began in the world of spirits. Being rejected from that world, the devil attacks those who keep the word of God, beginning with the best and most outstanding people in the Church. The struggle will never end. Those who dream of achieving peace in this world are forgetting the presence of the Evil One.
- Rev 12,1 Here begins the second part of John's vision. The Church has left the Jewish world and the horizon is expanded. The Church is going to win over the nations, by struggling against the power of the devil. We have the beginning of a series of seven signs or visions in the sky. The first two present the protagonists of sacred history, the Woman and the Dragon, the People of God and the Devil. A woman appeared. She seems surrounded with glory, but she is suffering labor pains. This represents humanity. At the beginning of the Bible, it was represented by Eve, the woman who sinned. Now we see humanity the way God wanted it to be: suffering birth pains because our entire history is the painful preparation for our salvation. She gives birth to a boy, who is Christ himself. The Savior is the fruit of God's love for humankind. Salvation comes from God and from people at the same time. The woman represents humanity cooperating with God's plans; it is also Mary who gives birth to Jesus; it is also the Church fleeing to the desert, that is, living spiritually withdrawn from the world and nourished by the Word of God during the persecutions: one thousand two hundred sixty days, or three and a half years (see 11:11). The snake is the one of the first sin, except that it is better clothed. The seven heads indicate the multiplicity of its inventions, the ten horns (imperfect number) state that its power is surmountable. It was defeated in heaven, even though it managed in its fall to drag down a number of angels (a third of the stars). See 8:10. As to the male child, Satan was preparing to destroy him on the cross, but when he rose he escaped from the evil of the serpent. Rev 12,7 God's plan for the world has just been revealed: the Son of God must become a human and rise as the Savior of all people. This mystery causes a double crisis: in the world of spirits (or angels) and in humankind. The Jews imagined the angels were a huge army and they called their head Michael. Similarly, the devil is presented as the head of the army of rebellious angels, the stars fallen from heaven. The following chapters will reveal the devil at work in history. He uses disguises and many substitutes. However, those who are ready to suffer for the truth will recognize him: they triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by their courage in proclaiming him (12:11). Rev 12,13 Sin and rebellion against God began in the world of spirits. Being rejected from that world, the devil attacks those who keep the word of God, beginning with the best and most outstanding people in the Church. The struggle will never end. Those who dream of achieving peace in this world are forgetting the presence of the Evil One.
