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.
6 And 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.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And 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 there appeared a great wonder in heauen, a woman clothed with the Sunne, & the Moone vnder her feete, and vpon her head a Crowne of twelue starres:

2And shee being with childe, cried, trauailing in birth, and pained to be deliuered.

3And there appeared another wonder in heauen, and behold a great red dragon, hauing seuen heads, and ten hornes, and seuen crownes vpon his heads.

4And his taile drew the third part of the starres of heauen, and did cast them to the earth: And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be deliuered, for to deuoure her childe as soone as it was borne.

5And shee brought foorth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of yron: and her child was caught vp vnto God, and to his Throne.

6And the woman fled into the wildernesse, where shee hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred, and threescore dayes.

7And there was warre in heauen, Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon, & the dragon fought and his angels,

8And preuailed not, neither was their place found any more in heauen.

9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the deuill and Satan, which deceiueth the whole world: hee was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10And I heard a lowd voyce saying in heauen, Now is come saluation, and strength, and the kingdome of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11And they ouercame him by the blood of the Lambe, and by the word of their Testimony, and they loued not their liues vnto the death.

12Therefore reioyce, yee heauens, and yee that dwell in them; Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea: for the deuill is come downe vnto you, hauing great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

13And when the dragon saw that he was cast vnto the earth, hee persecuted the woman which brought foorth the man childe.

14And to the woman were giuen two wings of a great Eagle, that shee might flee into the wildernesse into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and halfe a time, from the face of the serpent.

15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood, after the woman: that he might cause her to bee caried away of the flood.

16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed vp the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make warre with the remnant of her seed, which keepe the Commaundements of God, and haue the testimony of Iesus Christ.

1 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. 6 The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, 8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time."13 When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years, and a half-year. 15 The serpent, however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. 16 But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth. 17 Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus. (18) It took its position on the sand of the sea.

v 1. The opening of the seventh seal in 8:1 marked the middle of the Tribulation, but the events of chapter 12 occur almost simultaneously, as if following the seventh trumpet at 12:1. Though this marks the beginning of the last half of tribulation, John goes back in vision to the beginning of earth history, so he can understand what is to be revealed. “Wonder” is sign, so John is telling us that the immediate vision is symbolic rather than literal, for no woman was arrayed in the sun and stood on the moon. The implication is that most of Revelation is to be taken literally. Where the Bible is to be understood figuratively, the immediate or broad context enables us to understand the meaning.
The two witnesses have finished their testimony and the Antichrist has broken his covenant with Israel. Chapter 12 is inserted to reveal Satan’s lifelong conflict with Christ and Israel, and presents the history and future of the nation of Israel. It deals only with the nation of Israel.
Chapter 12 is the key to the book of Revelation and the Bible. Many think the woman is the Church and the twelve stars in her crown  are the twelve apostles who founded it, but I must disagree. 
 The Woman is not the virgin Mary or the Church but is a figure of speech referring to a particular people and nation, Israel. (1)The sun, moon and twelve stars can be compared to Joseph’s dream in Gen. 37. While he referred to his immediate family, that family became the twelve tribes of Israel. (2)The woman is further identified as about ready to deliver a child. The child is identified in v 5 as the Lord Jesus Christ who will rule with a rod of Iron. (Compare Ps. 2:9; Rev. 2:27 and 19:15). (3)Israel is also described as a woman in travail, Micah 4:9,10. (4)The virgin Mary will not be on earth during the Tribulation when this woman is persecuted. (5)”Being, travailing and pained are in the Greek present tense indicating continuous action. Israel has been expecting since Abraham. (6)Israel is described in Isa. 54:5 as the wife of God, whereas the Church before the Rapture is the espoused bride of Christ.

v 2. (It is true that the seed of woman goes back to Eve, so in a sense,, all believers  have been in travail . There is perpetual enmity between the children of the devil and the spiritual offspring of the woman, culminating in Christ on the cross. \

v 3. The Great Red Dragon is Satan, positively identified so in v9, the same as the serpent, or Satan, in the garden. Red dragon refers to his cruelty and  murders, John 8:4. Seven heads refer partially to the perfection of beauty he had as Lucifer, Ezekiel 28:12. The heads and crowns especially relate to his authority over the Antichrist in 13:1 and the government in 17:9,10. (see notes on v9,10). The ten horns refer to the ten nation empire of the Tribulation.
The dragon’s seven heads each had crowns, indicating the power of kings. They are interpreted, Rev. 17:10 as seven kingdoms of the past, and the to horns are represented in Rev. 17:12 as kings of the end times. Similar to vision of Daniel, except his vision had one head and ten horns. Later, in Rev. 17 we will see the identification of these kings. They are under the domain of Satan. Nations are governed by law, and to the extent these are based on the laws of God, nations will conform to God rather than Satan. Our nation is rapidly denying relationship of God’s laws to ours, and we see the corrupting results. As a whole, nations have united with the guiding spirit of the fiery dragon.

v 4. This was the fall of Satan into sin described in Isaiah 14:12-17.  The faithful angels in 5:11 were counted in billions, so even a third following Satan was an immense number. Satan is not omnipresent, but his helpers make him effective throughout the world even though some are currently bound awaiting judgment, 2 Peter 2:4. These may be those who some think cohabited with men in Gen. 6:2-4 (or demonic possession).  Satan caused Eve to fall into sin, and from the time of Abel, Satan has sought to destroy the line through which Christ would be born. He corrupted mankind before the flood, defied God through Nimrod and the tower of Babel, caused Abraham to doubt and fear and lie, barren womb of Sarah, near destruction of Jacob, rejection of Jacob’s first three sons, slaying of Judah’s first two sons, the attempt to kill all Israelite boys at Moses’ birth, caused Moses to doubt, sought to have Saul kill David, only Jehoram’s youngest son was left alive, Athalia had all the seed royal killed but Joash escaped, attempts to corrupt or destroy many of Judah’s kings, Haman’s attempt to destroy all Jews, Herod’s slaughter of baby boys at Bethlehem, the 40 day temptations in the wilderness, people incited to riot tried to throw Christ over a cliff, possibly even the storm on the sea of Galilee while Jesus slept, evil pursuers at the passovers seeking his life, at the crucifixion the dares to “come down from the cross”, etc.  were all attempts of Satan in his battle against Christ. At the cross Satan thought he was victorious, but through death, Christ destroyed the one who had the power of death, Heb. 2:14.  Satan continues to persecute the symbolic woman and her seed.
v 5. The Male Child, This is clearly  Jesus Ps. 2:7-9. Since nations did not submit willingly to Him, He will rule with a rod of iron and sharp sword from his mouth, Rev. 19:15. In a secondary sense, all believers will reign with Him, and as He was caught up to the throne of God at His ascension, today’s believers, two witnesses and possibly Tribulation,. saints are Raptured.
About 2000 years has elapsed between v 5 and 6, about the time between the two comings of Christ.
v 6. This is a preview of v 13 where we will see at least some of Israel fleeing to Petra in Edom for safety. All earlier believers have been caught up, so this woman represents Israel persecuted in the last half of Tribulation. The seven year treaty had been broken and at this time Gentiles rule Jerusalem. This is the abomination of desolation and the fleeing Jesus mentioned, Mt. 24:15-21. Jews will flee quickly to the TransJordan area southeast of the Dead Sea, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Dan. 11:36-45, especially Petra, Isa. 16:1-5. God calls His people to this place, Isa. 26:20-21 and will feed them, probably miraculously.
v 7. Michael, the Archangel, is the protector of Israel and warrior against Satan. Satan has had some limited access to appear before God in heaven. This is born out by 12:10 where he accuses the brethren before God day and night. Also Rom. 8:34 tells us that Christ makes intercession for us. We know Satan appeared before God regarding Job, Job, 1,2 and against Joshua the high priest, Zech. 3:1,2 and the lying spirit, 2 Chro. 18:18-22. Demons have roamed freely above, Eph. 2:2;  6:12; Prince of Persia, Dan. 10:12,13,20. but now they are to be expelled, with Michael in charge of the holy angels.

8. Shortly after the middle of the Tribulation Satan is permanently cast out of all access to the heavens. God could have destroyed Satan with a word, but permits the angels who have had conflict with Satan for ages to do the job. Satanic forces are driven from the three heavens and are limited to earth. We can’t even imagine the supernatural battle among those who can cross the universe in the blink of an eye or change planet orbits. It is at this time that he so violently pursues the woman, Israel. Satan being cast out of heaven is the third woe mentioned in 8:13 and 9:1. He does not go willingly but along with his angels is forced out by Michael and his angels. Now the prince of the power of the air is limited to the earth.

9. This is the middle verse of Revelation. The names leave no doubt as to who is this deceiver, the originator of every false religion in the world. The common factor is not accepting God’s word as absolute. Satan has even deceived himself, thinking to succeed.

10. A victory cry rings out from heaven. No more conflict of accusations.

v 11. Believers, even martyrs overcame by faith and confession, 1 Jn 2:9. The threefold way of overcoming. (1)By the blood of the Lamb. We are more than conquerors....Rom. 8:37. (2)By the word of their testimony, that is God’s Word. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, Eph. 6:17. (3)By willing to be martyrs, which there have been throughout history, but that only as God permitted.

v12. There will be rejoicing in heaven over Satan’s defeat, but terrible danger to those living on earth. The fury of Satan will be intensified, knowing his time is limited to the remaining last half of the Tribulation.

v 13. His anger will be concentrated upon Israel the woman through whom Christ came. This will be Satan’s first  war with her. He is behind the breaking of the 7 year covenant, and he desires to completely eliminate the Jews, who have produced a Redeemer in spite of him. The end result  of persecution will only bring them back to God, Hos. 2:14-23.
14. Perhaps eagle wings refer to angelic help, as the Lord bore Israel out of Egypt  on eagle wings, Ex. 19:4.

v 14. The second battle against Israel will be the pursuit into the wilderness by the Antichrist. The two wings are not airplanes as sensationalists would claim, but a figure of speech about God’s deliverance as in Exodus 19:4, “I bore you on eagle’s wings”. It will be a rapid, safe flight. This refuge in the wilderness may possibly be Petra in Edom. It is a valley surrounded by cliffs 1000- 2000 feet high and the entrance a canyon only 12-40 feet wide. It is prepared from old with excavations up to 300 feet high. As in v 5, the Jewish remnant symbolized by the woman will be fed and protected in their refuge for the last 1260 days.

v 15. This refuge may be the anti type to the cities of refuge in the O.T. A slayer fled to the city for refuge from the avenger of blood, who was a relative of the slain. The Jews who killed Christ admitting “His blood be upon us and upon our children” are fleeing to this refuge to escape vengeance from kin. This kin should be a man descended from Jesus’ own family or relative.  (Since the Antichrist is seen as the beast from the sea, the restless mass of Gentiles, this would need to be the False Prophet, who will be the beast from the land, a Jew - probably but not positively.) That they can be released instead of executed for premeditated murder is born out by Christ’s word’s,”Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Also Paul in 1 Cor. 2:8, had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. In the O.T. the slayer was released upon the death of the high priest, but these will be released from refuge when Christ, the great high priest returns. The lay of the land does not lend itself to the idea of this flood being literal water. It is more likely a vast army sent in pursuit of Israel. This is consistent with Jer. 46:7,8, 47:2; Isa. 8:7, 59:19; Dan. 9:26, 11:22; Amos 8:8, 9:5 and Nahum 1:8 and others.

v 16. The earth swallowing the flood could be as the earth opened and swallowed up rebels, Num. 16:32; by earthquake, a desert sandstorm or a combination. In view of v.15, some think it might be friendly armies.

17. Unable to reach the protected group, Satan is even more enraged and seeks to destroy
v17. The Israelite Remnant Satan will kill two thirds of the Jews according to Zachariah 13:8. This would account for the small area of Petra being large enough for a refuge. He will be so furious at the escape of some of Israel, that he will vent more wrath upon any Jews who had not fled or who live in any other part of the world. This will be the third  battle against Israel. It is not clear if the 144,000 are a part of that remnant, but since they are sealed and protected, they are probably in addition to it. Neither is it clear if this battle will also be part of the battle of Armageddon, chapter 19. 

The Trinity of God and counterfeit trinity of Satan:

FATHER            SON              HOLY SPIRIT
Satan              Antichrist       False Prophet
Dragon  Beast from sea Beast from earth
Political            Religious

Illustration:
l___________________________l___three and one half years_____l

Draw lines connecting all three of these chapters to the last 3 1/2 years/

Chap. 11.  Chap. 12        Chap. 13