A. The Woman Clothed With The Sun (12:1-6)
A. THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN (12:1-6)
1.
Sign (s
meion) is used often in the Fourth Gospel of Jesus’ miracles. Here it seems to refer to a significant person rather than to a significant happening (so also in v.3; 15:1). In heaven should perhaps be rather ‘in the sky’ (GNB) here and in verse 3. The action John is describing seems to take place on earth, but he sees the actors in the sky first of all. There is a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head (cf. Song 6:10). In this symbolism we must discern Israel, the chosen people of God. ’She comes standing upon the Old Testament revelation of reflected light and clothed with the New Testament revelation which is as the sun shining in his strength’ (Torrance). The twelve stars will be the twelve patriarchs or the tribes which descended from them. The symbolism is that of Joseph’s dream (Gn. 37:9; cf. also Test. Naph. 5.3-4). In view of this Old Testament symbolism it is unnecessary to see a reference to pagan mythology.
meion) is used often in the Fourth Gospel of Jesus’ miracles. Here it seems to refer to a significant person rather than to a significant happening (so also in v.3; 15:1). In heaven should perhaps be rather ‘in the sky’ (GNB) here and in verse 3. The action John is describing seems to take place on earth, but he sees the actors in the sky first of all. There is a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head (cf. Song 6:10). In this symbolism we must discern Israel, the chosen people of God. ’She comes standing upon the Old Testament revelation of reflected light and clothed with the New Testament revelation which is as the sun shining in his strength’ (Torrance). The twelve stars will be the twelve patriarchs or the tribes which descended from them. The symbolism is that of Joseph’s dream (Gn. 37:9; cf. also Test. Naph. 5.3-4). In view of this Old Testament symbolism it is unnecessary to see a reference to pagan mythology.2. The figure of Israel as a travailing woman is found several times (Is. 66:7-8; Mi. 4:10; 5:3; etc.). Especially important are some words of Isaiah:
As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD.We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind.We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world.(Is. 26:17-18)
The old Israel could not bring ‘salvation to the earth’. That was accomplished only by the Son of God. John writes in the certainty that it has been accomplished. His description is vivid. He uses the Greek present tense, ‘cries’, and his participles ‘travailing’ and ’being in pain’ (the latter not elsewhere in the New Testament of childbirth; it refers to torture) bring the scene before our eyes. The time of birth is near. Israel is about to give birth to the Messiah. For the early Christians there was an important continuity between the old Israel and the church, the true Israel. Here the woman is undoubtedly Israel who gives birth to the Messiah, but later in the chapter she is the church who is persecuted for her faith.
3. A second sign now appears in the sky. The enormous red dragon is undoubtedly Satan. It may not be out of place to recall that Pharaoh is called a dragon (Ezk. 29:3; 32:2; see RSV), for there is a good deal of symbolism associated with Egypt in this book. We have already seen that the language about the plagues is behind many of the troubles introduced by the seven trumpets. The great city, again, is Sodom ‘and Egypt’ (11:8). By contrast the song of deliverance is the song of Moses (who delivered from Egypt) and the Lamb (15:3). Egypt stands for all that is evil, and specifically for the oppression and persecution of the people of God. It is thus natural enough that the dragon has a place in Egypt.
We should also bear in mind other Old Testament passages which refer to the dragon and bring him into connection with kindred evil beings, such as Leviathan or Rahab (Jb. 26:12-13; Ps. 74:13-14; Is. 27:1; 51:9). It is plain that to those versed in Old Testament scriptures the term dragon conjured up many associations of an evil being.
It is not clear why the dragon’s colour is red, but it may be no coincidence that the beast on whom the great whore sits is scarlet, as is her clothing (17:3-4). This red dragon is a fearsome creature with seven heads and ten horns. The horn is a symbol of strength, so that ten horns points to the mighty power of the dragon. Evil is strong; cf. the beast with ten horns in Daniel’s vision (Dn. 7:7,24). The point of the seven heads is not immediately obvious. But in antiquity several terrible beasts were said to have a multiplicity of heads (e.g. the Hydra). The thought may be that of the immense vitality of such an animal. It is very hard to kill. In the same way, opposition to the church on the part of the powers of evil is persistent. No sooner is it defeated in one place than it breaks out elsewhere. We should not overlook the fact that the beast, Satan’s henchman, also has seven heads and ten horns (13:1; 17:3), and is scarlet in colour (17:3). We should understand that the evil we see on earth is made in the image of Satan.
The crowns on the dragon’s head are crowns of royalty, diadmata; stephanos in verse 1, and for which see note on 2:10, may denote rejoicing or victory. Moffatt brings out the difference by translating ‘tiara’ there and ’diadems’ here. John pictures Satan as immensely powerful and as exercising sovereignty (or claiming it).
mata; stephanos in verse 1, and for which see note on 2:10, may denote rejoicing or victory. Moffatt brings out the difference by translating ‘tiara’ there and ’diadems’ here. John pictures Satan as immensely powerful and as exercising sovereignty (or claiming it).4. The dragon’s tail now dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them to the earth (cf. Dn. 8:10). As with a number of the trumpets, a third will denote a significant minority (8:7,8,9, etc.). This perhaps means that the activities of the evil one in other spheres have repercussions here on earth; many think there is a reference to fallen angels. But all this is apparently no more than a preliminary flexing of his muscles. His primary interest is in devouring the child about to be born. Satan was hostile to Jesus from the very beginning (cf. Herod’s attempt to slay the Christ child, Mt. 2:13-18). He tried to destroy him from the moment of his birth. It might be asked why the dragon did not simply devour the woman, which would have effectually accomplished his purpose. But John is setting forth spiritual truth in pictorial form, not giving us a chapter in the natural history of the dragon.
5. The woman gave birth to a ‘male son’, the adjective putting some emphasis on the sex, which is, of course, given in the noun. The child was destined for world dominion. The verb to rule is literally ‘to shepherd’. It speaks of absolute authority (see on 2:27), and the iron sceptre of firmness (not tyranny, as the English idiom might be held to indicate). Who snatched up the child to heaven John does not say, nor how it was done without the dragon’s being able to prevent it. But in this book God is all-sovereign. He does what he wills. So now John’s point is that he protects the incarnate Son from destruction by Satan. The ‘how’ does not matter. Sovereignty is further indicated by the reference to the throne.
Some find difficulty in the fact that there is no reference to any event in the life of Christ. John omits everything between the birth and the ascension. This has been drawn into an argument that John is not composing freely in this section, but taking over a pagan myth. But this is to overlook a feature of his method. John is quite capable of concentrating on one thing at a time so that he omits quite important considerations which are not immediately relevant. Thus he describes heaven in chapter 4 without mentioning Christ, while in chapter 5 he emphasizes the central place of the Lamb. Here his subject is not strictly Christ, but the church. He is showing how the incarnation gives encouragement to believers. Satan tried hard to destroy Christ. But he did not succeed. Christ came right through to the ascension. Let believers take heart. God always effects his purpose.
6.
The woman fled into the desert, more exactly ‘wilderness’ (RSV). She was thus protected from the dragon just as surely as was her Son but in a different way. Many draw attention to the flight of the Christians to Pella at the time of the siege of Jerusalem. This does illustrate flight but does not seem to be quite the point. ’To the Jewish people the wilderness spoke of divine provision and intimate fellowship’ (Mounce). The woman’s place was prepared for her by God. Her flight was foreseen and God provided for her (cf. the manna for the Israelites in the wilderness, and the provision made for Elijah, 1 Ki. 17:4). The agent God employed is not important enough to be mentioned (as often in this book). For the period of 1,260 days see the note on 11:2. The period is given here in exactly the same form as in 11:3, the time of the prophecy of the two witnesses. It is not unlikely that we should link the two. God protects his people during the time of their witness.