17.12 | Fight the Dragon
Revelation 12
“Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:12
Most truly, prophecy invites us out of our stories, and into God’s. It is an interruption of every narrative of the world, and every narrative of our wounded hearts and fractured minds, into seeing all things as happening within the unfolding Story of God. The most renewed mind sees all things has happening within the context of God’s Story.
We’ve reached a hinge moment in Revelation, where the vision pauses on the cycles of seven (seals, trumpets, bowls) that we’ve been getting into the rhythm of. We now have three chapters1 where we get a step back, big picture view of the whole story again. And in these chapters, we’re reminded of massive themes of the Scriptures and history, inviting us to view all things again within the framework of God’s intentions through global history.
What does it show us?
The vision describes a woman, crowned with twelve stars. The number twelve grabs our attention, as the number of the tribes of Israel, and the number of apostles. It is the number of the people of God through history. From this people (read: Israel) came a male child, born to be King of all nations (Jesus). This is a sweeping summary of the Old Testament to the birth of Jesus.
This King, however, was opposed by a dragon, who is quickly identified as the devil and Satan. A third of the angels of heaven are swept to this mission with him—demonic minions of a demonic ruler. The dragon sought to destroy the King, and yet the King could not be destroyed, but ascended to heaven. And so, the dragon turns his attention to the woman—the people of God (now read: Church) remaining upon the earth.
The vision describes the defeat of the dragon and his hoards in the heavenly places, defeated (as he always is) by ‘the blood of the lamb’—the Cross of Jesus. The dragon now inhabits the world with the sole mission of opposing the people of God. His wrath is great, but his time is short.
These people, God’s own people, find themselves in a wilderness time, for 1,260 days, or ’a time, times, and half a time.’ This is a phrase from the book of Daniel,2 describing a time period of three and a half years.3 It is significant both as being half of seven (as the number of perfection and eternity), pre-empting the final victory of God, and echoes the three-and-a-half years of drought called by the prophet Elijah.4 It is used to describe a specific and yet limited time of suffering (drought), that is followed by the saving intervention (or the coming rains) of God.
Are you capturing the richness of this story? Most truly it is all the stories, woven together into a graphic portrayal as all things of history unfolding and completing the Story of God.
And you, child of God, are in this story. You are a part of His people—in a time of wilderness and opposition, at war with the dragon and his forces. Your enemy is clear. Your fight in the authority of the death of the Lamb and through the telling of His Story. And this time is measured, short, and specific.
Let not the fantastical imagery confuse you, my friends. This chapter is not there for causing confusion, but for building the Church in greater clarity. It is there to teach us to see. For this chapter tells the very Story in which we find ourselves. It is the framing ideas through we are to see the world.
Reflect:
How does this retelling of the Story invite you to see the world differently today?
Pray:
Father,
Restore me,
For I have lived in a world of other stories—
Stories where it is irrational to believe in
That which I cannot see;
Stories where your people will meet no opposition;
Stories that are all about me.
Father,
Restore me,
Inviting me to see afresh
My life and my moments,
Within the framing of your truth.
Father,
Restore me,
That I may tread these moments
In the power of the victory of Jesus
And the truth of His Story.
In His Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
Micah 4-5 | Proverb 30:18-23
Revelation 12-14
Daniel 7:25, 12:7,11
This comes from a time (one) plus times (two) plus half a time (half) adds up to three and a half, with ‘years’ being implied by ‘time’. Thus, sometimes this period of time is described as 42 months (12 months + 24 months + 6 months), or as 1,260 days (assuming a year to be 12 x 30 days) or 1,290 days (assuming a year to be 365 days.
See Luke 4:25