Revelation - Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 – The Red Dragon

Read Chapter 12 - Chapter 14

We begin this chapter with great imagery of the period that most scholars call the Great Tribulation. But as with any story we may need some background information. Chapter 12 is really the background we need to move to the end of the story and the introduction of the players for that period of time. It doesn’t particularly matter what view you have of John’s Revelation to understand chapter 12 since the imagery is for all time. Whether the great battle described happens at the beginning of the world or during the Resurrection makes little difference to the outcome but it does at least explain to us the basic story we already know well. Christ is Lord and Savior through the crucifixion and resurrection and that His death and resurrection overcomes death by sin and He alone now carries the keys of death. Satan’s frustration at the cross must have been tremendous when we think that at the moment of death he, Satan believing that he had won and was victorious, learned that he truly was defeated. I believe in those moments following Jesus death, when He descends into Hell, as the creeds tell us, and has secured the keys for all time Satan realizes his peril. So let’s meet the players.

We first are introduced to the woman who is clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars surrounding her head. She is pregnant. So who is she? The vast majority of those that study the Bible indicate that she represents Israel. More specifically they point to Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9 where Jacob is the sun, Rachel is the Moon and the Stars are their sons, the tribes of Israel. ^NRS  Genesis 37:9 He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, "Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." The mother is pregnant with a son who is universally explained to be Jesus. Jesus comes from the lineage of Israel. Roman Catholics believe that the woman is Mary, mother of Jesus and though we can also see that as a possibility the imagery here would suggest a broader understanding like the nation of Israel.

We are introduced to the second great figure of the Apocalypse, the Great Red Dragon. John paints us an image of a creature with seven heads, ten horns and 7 diadems on each head and a tail that sweeps 1/3 of the stars from heaven to earth. We have met this great dragon before in Genesis 3:1 as the serpent, in Job as the Devil and in Isaiah as the morning star. Some of the commentary argues that Satan was the greatest of angels until he wanted to place himself equal or above God. More on this in a moment! There is of course discussion about the image itself though as I said, it is universally accepted that we are talking about Satan. When Satan was sent from heaven he was given dominion over the earth. As we get into the 7 heads and ten horns we get some disagreement between Preterist and Futurist. Preterists believe that the seven heads are the Seven Hills of Rome and so the Red Dragon represents the Roman Empire of John’s Day. In fact Rome is built on seven hills and at the time of John’s writing which we believe to somewhere between 69 AD and 96 AD there will be a total of ten emperors before Rome begins its divide. Based on that the Preterist historical thought is that the ten horns are the ten emperors of Rome, the sixth being Nero and the tenth being Vespasian. In between these two are three rulers, Galba, Otho and Vitellius who combined ruled for about 1 ½ years from July 68 AD to December 69 AD. More on these three’s significance in the Revelation later! I had difficulty here finding consensus among the Futurists about the image of Satan other than all agreed that we are meeting Satan in this imagery. In the scripture Satan wants to devour the child as the child is a threat to his dominion and power. The child must be defeated if Satan has any hope of defeating the forces of good.

The woman gives birth and the child is taken up into heaven out of the Devil’s reach. We are told that the child will rule with an iron rod which leads us back to Psalm 2:9 ^NRS  Psalm 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Preterists believe that the birth pangs represent the persecution and suffering of the nation of Israel up to the time of Jesus birth. Now it gets a little interesting here as to how to interpret the events that take place in the next few verses. We are told that the child, who is universally accepted as being Jesus, is taken up into heaven. Are we talking about a literal event which clearly would point to the Ascension through the resurrection or are we talk about a metaphorical summary of the fact that Jesus is beyond the reach of the Devil? What we are told is that the woman escapes to the wilderness for 1,260 days or 42 months. Preterists point to three different historical events that fit this picture. During the Greek rule of Israel Antiochus Epiphanes conquers Jerusalem around 170 BC and included in that destruction is a desecration of the Temple itself. The entire campaign lasted 42 months. During that crusade many of the Jewish people fled into the wilderness. The second story is the Jewish-Roman war from March 67 AD to September 70 AD. During this 42 month campaign which ends with the destruction of the Temple, the people also fled into the wilderness because of what Jesus had told them (see Matt 24: 15-21). And the final scenario which fits this passage is Nero’s persecution of the Jews from November 64 AD to June 68 AD. Futurists on the other hand believe this period to be the second half of the Tribulation period when Satan has free reign. They base this on the prophecy in Daniel, ^NRS  Daniel 11:41 He shall come into the beautiful land, and tens of thousands shall fall victim, but Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites shall escape from his power.

We now arrive at the story of the battle in heaven. Does this occur at the beginning of time as most believe or is the telling of the story at the time of the resurrection? Preterists almost universally agree that this is a telling at the time of the resurrection. They base their belief on the idea found in John 12:31 ^NRS  John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. They believe that prior to this moment Satan has access to heaven as we find in the story of Job, where we see Satan appearing to freely move in and out of heaven. If this is in fact that period of time it would explain the anger of Satan towards the people of God. Having lost the great battle at the crucifixion and resurrection Satan begins in earnest to wage war on the Church. Satan pursues the woman (nation of Israel) but cannot catch her and so he begins to attack the children of the woman. Again there appears to be consensus among the views that the children are either Jews or the Christian church or both.

In dispensationalist thought, we have reached the halfway point of the Great Tribulation. Here we are introduced to a new player. In chapter 13 the Dragon stands on the sea and a beast arises out of the sea with seven heads, ten horns and ten diadems on each horn. The beast is like a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. Here again we have a disagreement as to the meaning of the beast that we see. Preterists believe the 7 head are the 7 hills of Rome and the 10 horns are the ten emperors up to and including Vespasian. They believe that the blasphemous names are in fact the idea that the emperors declare themselves to be God and demand that they people worship them as such. Some Preterists believe the ten horns are the ten alliances of the Old Roman Empire when it fell held loosely together by the Papacy in Rome. In Futurists thought, the sea represents the nations or Gentiles and that the ten horns are a ten nation alliance which will form prior to tribulation possibly from the old Roman Empire. The beast is the Anti-Christ that will emerge from within the New Empire which originates from the Old Roman Empire (see Daniel’s two visions, chapter 2). Some futurists believe that the Beast is the collection of the cultures from all three prior generations based on Daniel’s vision. Whatever you believe it is not a good time for the Christians.   

Satan gives the beast full power just as God has given Christ full authority in heaven and earth. We have this interesting issue where one of the heads is mortally wounded and then apparently resurrected causing the world to worship the Beast. In Preterist thought this is the death of Nero and the rising of Vespasian who brings order back to Rome and is the ruler who causes the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Dispensationalists point to an event where the Anti-Christ will be mortally wounded and then resurrected causing many to believe that he is in fact the Messiah. The beast has authority for 42 months where he makes war on the Christian church and wins those earthly battles. During this time, there will be consolidation of power and a One World Government.  To the Preterist’s, this was a time when Rome had conquered the entire known world and was under Roman domination.

During this time, another lessor beast appears that is inferior to the first beast with two horns looking like the lamb. Futurists believe this beast to be the Roman Catholic Church or even the Papacy itself. They glean this from the idea that the Lamb is Jesus so the two horned lamb would be the church. This beast will have great power including the building of an idol statue to the first beast and gives it breath. I am reminded of the story in Daniel of the great statue of Nebuchadnezzar that all were required to bow down and worship.

We come now to one of the frightening pieces of the Apocalypse for most people, the control of the world finances and the ability to prevent people from buying and selling. The mark of the beast has been discussed throughout the generations. Interestingly Preterists point to Nero while Futurists point to the Anti-Christ. The mark of the beast from the Preterist view is the stamped image on the coins of the Roman Empire and a requirement to use only Roman coinage to purchase or sell. Craig C. Hill suggests that it may well represent the total economic power of Rome where even the coins themselves become idolatry to the Christians. The Idealist point to the fact that 666 could represent many different people and so this is in fact simply a universal number. The fact that 6 is one less than the perfect number 7 indicates that it is simply representative of the evil in the world. The futurists point to the idea of a super currency where we cannot purchase and sell without having that currency in our possession. They point to the idea of the current global economy as indicative of this idea and they also point to technologies like bar coding and the microchip. Two points of hope if you follow any of these lines of thinking. It does not say that Christians will starve, simply that they will not be able to buy or sell. And likewise there will be no doubt that you have made a choice to stand against God to receive whatever the mark is.

Chapter 14 begins with the image of Christ on Mt. Zion. Most believe that He is in heaven at this moment looking down as He begins His descent for the Second Coming. But prior to that he seals 144,000 blameless witnesses. There is great discussion about who these witnesses are. Futurists believe they are Jews and they represent the final push to bring the nation of Israel back to God. Preterists believe that they represent the Christian church or some perfect number of witnesses down through the ages that have brought countless souls to Christ. Some, like the Jehovah Witnesses believe this is the final number of those who reside with Christ in heaven. But once these witnesses have the opportunity to do their job, judgment comes in the imagery of the sickle and the wine press.