Our Past and Future Hope – Chapter Nine: The Fate of the Church

Revelation 12

It can be discouraging to dwell on the state of the church today. In the United States, political partisanship has caused a deep divide in denominations and congregations. High-profile believers are leaving the faith and calling for deconstruction. More pastors are suffering burnout and retiring earlier than ever. Secularism and atheism have been steadily rising in the West for decades. Worldwide, critics claim that there are 40,000 Christian denominations, and even though that number is massively overinflated, the fracturing of the church can seem overwhelming.

And this is in countries where we are relatively prosperous and have religious freedom. In many nations, it is illegal to preach the gospel. There are more Christians persecuted now than have ever been in the world. As encouraging as it is that believers in these countries stand firm even in the face of death, it is hard to imagine the sheer amount of pain and suffering they go through daily.

The bride of Christ is in rough shape. One begins to wonder how God could let it get so bad. How much longer will we be an object of mockery, the target of the world’s disdain?

It stings a little less when we realize that our current condition was foretold in Scripture. It’s also comforting that he promised to protect and take care of us in the midst of it, to the very end. It’s downright encouraging when we see that there truly is an end in sight, a time limit he set that we may very well be in the last stages of. The story of our low estate is found in Revelation 12, the great sign of the woman and the dragon. The first six verses summarize the story, and the rest of the chapter goes into a little more detail.

The Woman…

A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth. 3 Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. 4 His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days. (Revelation 12:1-6, WEB)

The first thing that might come to mind when reading this prophecy is the Nativity story, when the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. There are a few reasons why this prophecy is not about that event in particular:

• John received this prophecy almost 100 years after the birth of Christ, and he was told to write things “which will happen hereafter” (Revelation 1:19b, WEB).
  
• Jesus was not “caught up to God” (Revelation 12:5b, WEB, the word is ‘snatched up’ in the NIV) as a helpless baby or child. “The verb, ‘to snatch’…, here in the passive voice, conveys the idea of taking up by an outside force or even by aggressive action in which the subject is passive… The ascension of Jesus is described in the Gospels as a deliberate and voluntary act of our Lord, surely not suitably described by the passive mode.”¹
  
• There is no corresponding event of Mary fleeing into the wilderness for 1260 days after Jesus ascends into heaven. 

Instead, the woman in this prophecy has been generally agreed on by interpreters to symbolize the church. This is a familiar symbol in the Bible, where a woman represents God’s people. The ‘daughter of Zion’ is mentioned throughout the Old Testament representing Israel as the people of God (2 Kings 19:21; Isaiah 1:8; Jeremiah 4:31; Isaiah 62:11; Micah 4:13; Zechariah 9:9). In the New Testament, the church is called ‘the bride of Christ’ (Ephesians 5:24-27; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7-9, 21:1-2).

In this beautiful picture, the woman is “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1b, WEB). Solomon speaks of his bride similarly: “Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?” (Song of Solomon 6:10, WEB). Here the church is pictured as shining with the brightness of the gospel, the “comparatively feeble light”² of the Old Covenant underneath her feet, bejeweled with the twelve tribes of Israel- or rather the twelve apostles now- shining in her diadem.

This is the church, nearly ready to give birth to a generation of Christians who would see “increase and prosperity – as if a child were born that was to rule over all nations.”³ This is how the same symbol is used elsewhere in the Bible:

“Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. 8 Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. (Isaiah 66:7-8)

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:1)

The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’ (Isaiah 49:20)

This destiny of the church was assured, for the child “‘will rule all the nations with an iron scepter’”(Revelation 12:5a). For now, however, she was crying out in the pain of labor- the church was being severely persecuted.

…And the Dragon

The source of this persecution was the dragon. One who is familiar with Daniel 7 and other parts of Revelation will recognize this beast, as it is described in nearly the same way in those places. It is explained in more detail in this book in chapters five, six, and seven, but a summary is as follows:

The dragon is Satan – The identity of the dragon is explained later in the chapter: “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). The dragon is identified again in chapter 20: “He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:2, WEB). This dragon is the devil working through the nations of this world, deceiving them into doing his bidding of persecuting the people of God. “There can be no doubt, therefore, that the reference here is to Satan, considered as the enemy of God, and the enemy of the peace of man, and especially as giving origin and form to some mighty power that would threaten the existence of the church.”⁴

The dragon is enormous – In the other passages of Scripture where a beast like this is mentioned, it symbolizes empires. It is insinuated in the Bible that the devil has some sway over kingdoms: the devil took Jesus “to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said to him, ‘I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8-9, WEB). Satan deceives those in power into doing his bidding, and he had long worked within the Roman Empire, persecuting the church in hopes of destroying her. The Roman Empire was enormous, the largest empire the world had ever seen.

The dragon is red – The beast in Revelation 17:3 is also red. Red was a favorite color in Rome, and the one that appears the most in modern depictions connected to their armies. Red could also symbolize the dragon’s bloody persecutions of the church.

The dragon has seven heads – The beast in Revelation 17:3 also has seven heads. There it was explained by the angel that “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.” (Revelation 17:9b-10). This is explained in more detail in chapter 7 of this book, and to summarize, the seven heads represent Rome as ‘the city of seven hills’. They also symbolize that in John’s time, the Roman Empire had seen five forms of government come and go; they were currently under the imperial form, and there would be one more to come later. The dragon is once again identified as Rome.

The dragon has ten horns – Just like the beast in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and 17, the dragon has ten horns. This is explained more in chapters five and six of this book. To summarize, this symbolizes the ten kingdoms that would arise after the Roman Empire fell.

The dragon has seven crowns – According to Barnes, “this would merely denote that kingly or royal authority was claimed.”⁵ However, Collins points out that there is likely something more to it than that- diadems were not in use until Emperor Diocletian introduced them as his imperial crown in the year 293. “Prior to that time the laurel wreath crown was ordinarily used.”⁶ This small detail synchronizes with all of the other descriptions perfectly, and pinpoints the time period the prophecy is speaking of.

One more interesting fact is that Rome used a dragon as its royal standard in the same period:

The dragon was first used as an ensign near the close of the second century of the Christian era, and it was not until the third century that its use had become common; and the reference here, according to this fact, would be to that period of the Roman power when this had become a common standard, and when the applicability of this image would be readily understood. It is simply Rome that is referred to – Rome, the great agent of accomplishing the purposes of Satan toward the church.⁷

The dragon “stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born” (Revelation 12:4b). Satan, using the power of the Roman Empire, was ready to take down the church once and for all, before it could prosper and increase in the world.

Snatched from the Jaws of Defeat

The dragon failed, however. The rest of chapter 12 gives us more details:

7 There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. 8 They didn’t prevail. No place was found for them any more in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death. 12 Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”

13 When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 16 The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. 17 The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony. (Revelation 12:7-17, WEB)

The dragon could not stop the sudden increase and prosperity of the church that the birth of the male child symbolized. The child was ‘snatched up’ to heaven, and the dragon and his angels were thrown down. In other words, the church was given power and protection, while Satan’s use of power in government was taken away.

Even still, the dragon takes down a third of the stars as he goes: “His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth” (Revelation 12:4a, WEB). The majority of Satan’s persecuting power through kingdoms and rulers was taken away, and yet he was able to retain a third of them.

In his fury, the dragon still pursues the woman and her offspring- the church, those “who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus” (Revelation 12:17b). The woman flees into the wilderness to escape, and she is aided in getting there: “two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place” (Revelation 12:14a, WEB). This is an act that represents “the obscure, and humble, and persecuted state of the church… this would well represent the fact, that the true church became for a time obscure and unknown – as if it had fled away from the habitations of people, and had retired to the solitude and loneliness of a desert.”⁸

In the wilderness she is kept safe, nourished for “one thousand two hundred sixty days” (Revelation 12:6b, WEB), or “a time, and times, and half a time” (Revelation 12:14, WEB)- two different ways of saying the same amount of time. This is the same time period given in Daniel 7:25 that the little horn oppresses the church; also in Revelation 13:5 where the beast does the same. The group of these passages refer to the same events: the church is kept safe during the 1,260 years that the dragon (a.k.a. the beast, the man of sin, and the prostitute- Satan using Roman powers in all of their different forms) persecutes the people of God. See chapters five, six, and seven of this book for more details on these passages and this time period.

During these 1,260 years, Satan still attempts to destroy the church through various means: “The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream” (Revelation 12:15, WEB). Yet the earth helped the woman: “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth” (Revelation 12:16b, WEB). Floods in the Bible typically symbolize armies that invade like a ‘flood,’ like a river overflowing into the surrounding lands: “Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks” (Isaiah 8:7, WEB); see also Jeremiah 47:2 and Jeremiah 46:7-8. Somehow the earth swallowed up the flooding river- the armies were dispersed and absorbed, and were not allowed to hurt the church.

The Historical Fulfillment

The use of symbols in this prophecy is consistent with other parts of the Bible- the woman is used in many parts of both the Old and New Testament to symbolize God’s people, the birth of a child as their increase, and the dragon matches its other appearances in Daniel and Revelation. But does this passage have a specific historical fulfillment?

It turns out that as ‘simple’ as this vision is, there is a very specific period of church history that it points to! It also speaks to the current plight of the church, and why we are in such a humble estate centuries later.

For a little over two-hundred years after Jesus founded the church, persecution of Christians was fierce at times, but largely localized- “persecution came mainly at the instigation of local rulers, albeit with Rome’s approval.”⁹ Claudius (41–54), perhaps the first to persecute Christians, expelled them from Rome. Nero (54–68) blamed Christians for starting a major fire in Rome and burned many of them alive in retaliation; Peter and Paul are said to have been martyred under his reign. Domitian (81–96), the emperor who banished John to Patmos where he authored Revelation, insisted on being acclaimed as ‘God the Lord’ and killed those who refused to do so. Trajan (98–117) specifically targeted Christians as fully distinct from Jews, calling for them to be punished if they would not worship Roman gods. Marcus Aurelius (161–180) followed in Trajan’s footsteps, and fueled greater persecutions that continued under Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. Finally, Septimius Severus (193–211) forbade further conversions to Judaism and Christianity, killing many believers in North Africa and Egypt.

Later persecutions, however, became Empire-wide. The church’s continued growth bothered Decius (249–251), who sought to reinstate the deification of Roman rulers. Everyone in the Empire was expected to perform pagan religious observances, receiving a ‘Certificate of Sacrifice’ for doing so. Many faithful believers were killed for refusing to compromise. After him, Valerian (253–260) blamed Christians for the plagues and barbarian invasions that racked the Empire, intensifying the policies of Decius. Finally, we come to the point where Revelation 12 begins- the ‘Great Persecution’ of Diocletian (284–305):

It was the first time in almost 50 years that an emperor had taken the trouble. Yet, as never before, the motive of this Great Persecution was the total extinction of Christianity. It was, it seems, the final struggle between the old and new orders, and therefore the fiercest.

The first of Diocletian’s edicts prohibited all Christian worship and commanded that churches and Christian books be destroyed. Two further edicts, required in the eastern provinces, ordered clergy to be arrested unless they sacrificed to pagan deities. By 304 this edict was extended to all Christians and was particularly vicious in Africa, under Diocletian co-Augustus Maximian.¹⁰

This was the “final struggle between the old and new orders” as Galli puts it, the war in heaven between the dragon and his angels, and Michael and his angels.

These fierce persecutions continued until 311, when Galerius issued an edict canceling them. More famously, in 312, Constantine the Great won the battle at Milvian Bridge while purportedly bearing the sign of the Chi (X) Rho (P), representing the first two letters of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Christos). He became the first Roman Emperor to endorse Christianity, and in 313 issued the Edict of Milan, which decreed full legal toleration of Christianity.

The Roman Empire’s persecution of the church finally ended. Under Constantine,

Gradually, Rome became Christianized. On his own instructions, the statue of the emperor erected in the Forum depicts Constantine bearing a cross – “the sign of suffering that brought salvation,” according to the inscription provided by Constantine. In 321, Constantine decreed that Sundays should become public holidays. Christian symbols began to appear on Roman coins. Christianity was now more than just legitimate; it was on its way to becoming the established religion of the empire.¹¹

This monumental historical event matches the setup to the vision in Revelation 12 perfectly: the woman clothed with the sun, a symbol of the church, is suffering the pain of labor- she is experiencing fierce persecution. She is about to give birth to a child, symbolizing the prosperity and increase of the church. The dragon, symbolizing Satan’s power over a pagan Roman Empire, lies in wait, hoping to wipe out the church completely in his greatest campaign of persecution to date. The dragon loses the war in heaven, however, and the increase of the church is assured. Stripped of its authority over the Roman Empire, the dragon is thrown down to heaven (but not without taking down ‘one third of the stars’ with him- that is, retaining some earthly authority in the East, continuing persecution).¹²

Two seemingly small details also confirm this period of history- the use of the symbol of the dragon, and also the presence of diadems. As stated previously, the Roman battle standard of the dragon was not common until about this time in the third century. Also, the dragon wears seven crowns on its seven heads in this vision, and the Roman use of crowns starts precisely with Diocletian, the very emperor who initiates the ‘Great Persecution’ of the church! “The appearance of the diadems on the heads of the dragon is clear indication of the detailed accuracy of this temporal prophecy.”¹³

Filled With Fury

The dragon, having been thrown down, is filled with fury. “Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time” (Revelation 12:12b, WEB). He continues to persecute the church in every way he can. This is when the woman flees to the wilderness, being brought safely there and nourished for 1,260 years.

This next stage of persecution is clear: the very next chapter of Revelation concerns the continuation of the Roman Empire, wounded nearly to death, and resurrected in the form of the Holy Roman Empire (see chapter 7 of this book). Even though the survival of the church is guaranteed, more Christians will die under this persecution than ever before:

What’s most interesting is when the heroic age stopped and when the Church itself converted into being a form of Roman imperial culture, after the conversion of Constantine in 312… Christianity’s effort to reclaim its own heroic history after it had already become an arm of government, itself, and was, of course, persecuting other Christians. More Christians were persecuted by the Roman Government after the conversion of Constantine, than before. The difference is that it’s a Christian government who’s persecuting the other Christians.¹⁴

Both good and bad things came from the rise of Constantine. While there was much-needed relief from persecution and important doctrinal debates were settled, the corruption of the church and the rise of Antichrist had also begun. It was understood by the early church that Daniel 7 foretold the fall of the Roman Empire. It would be split into ten kingdoms, and the little horn would claim direct authority over three of them- then his campaign against the church would last for 1,260 years (see chapters five and six of this book). The rise of the church into high stature in government foreshadowed this fate.

The church continues to survive in the wilderness to this very day. Remember, this exile is “emblematic of the long period of obscurity and persecution in the true church, and yet of the fact that it would be protected and nourished.”¹⁵ The true church has been through some extremely brutal times at the hands of the beast (Papal Rome), the false prophet (Islam), and the dragon (satanic secular power). This exile will not fully end until the 1,260 years are over, when the dragon is bound (Revelation 20:2), and the beast and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). The beast has already received some of the judgments apportioned to it, and the true church has benefited from it- but we are not out of the wilderness yet (for more, see chapter 11 of this book),

Traditional Vs. Modern Interpretation

In the modern futurist interpretation, the woman symbolizes Israel, and the child she bears is Jesus Christ. “Satan failed to destroy Jesus at His birth, and because he also failed to destroy Him during His life and in His death, Jesus Christ ascended victoriously into heaven.”¹⁶ Satan then turns to persecute Israel- in the future, of course. The rest of the chapter is pushed into the mysterious and unknown future.

Earlier in this chapter, it was shown how this is unlikely for a few reasons: God told John to write down what would happen in the future, and the birth and ascension of Christ were decades in the past when John wrote it. The baby in this vision is passive while being actively ‘snatched up’, but Christ ascended to the Father as a man, in a deliberate and voluntary act rather than passively.¹⁷ Additionally, the woman had other children (Revelation 12:17), making the symbol hardly appropriate if it references Jesus, demeaning the uniqueness of his birth.

The modern futurist interpretation results in confusion over how these symbols are used elsewhere in Scripture, and a staggering amount of conjecture. For example, take this explanation of the flood that comes out of the dragon’s mouth (Revelation 12:15) from Dr. Constable:

Perhaps Satan will use literal water to try to drown this group of Israelites. If they take refuge in a place such as Petra this might seem to be a possibility. Another possibility is that he will pursue them with soldiers as a river (cf. Jeremiah 46:7-8; Jeremiah 47:2-3). A flood is also a biblical metaphor for overwhelming evil, persecution (Psalms 18:4; Psalms 124:2-4; Isaiah 43:2). Probably this is a picturesque way of describing Satan’s attempt to destroy the Jews who will have congregated in Palestine following the Antichrist’s covenant with them. He may seek to do it with deceptive false teaching, since the water comes out of his mouth. Both water and fire (cf. Revelation 9:17; Revelation 11:5) proceeding from the mouth picture punishment in Scripture.¹⁸

This attempt at an explanation reveals a strange hybrid of hyper-literal and symbolical interpretation that results in an inconsistent hermeneutic. Dispensationalists take pride in using a “consistently literal method of interpretation” but apply it inconsistently in the biblical apocalyptic genre. The truly ‘literal, grammatical’ approach in this case is to recognize that Revelation is full of biblical symbols foretelling chronological events. It is to be interpreted literally, meaning:

The text should be understood in its normal or ordinary sense. Accordingly, a literal understanding includes figures of speech and any other language phenomena that would normally be found in the particular kind of literature as they were known and recognized when they were written. As it is an apocalyptic writing, one should expect the Revelation to abound in figurative language, yet the book to be taken literally- that is, according to the norms by which at the time of writing that kind of language was understood. This is the method which must be pursued when seeking an authoritative message from any part of the Bible.¹⁹

The type of example commonly used today is to compare modern genres: we are going to interpret a cookbook differently than say a poem, or a romance novel differently than a legal document. We understand the rules of each genre, and interpret them appropriately. Context matters.

The modern hyper-literal interpretation has led to confusion over the timing of these prophecies. Futurists will accept the day-year principle- where a day equals a year in prophetic language- in Daniel 9, but ignore it elsewhere in Daniel and Revelation. Confusion abounds in these passages: as seen above, is the flood literal, or symbolic? Are the locust-scorpion-man-beasts literal demon monsters that will appear, incomprehensible modern machinery, or are they symbolic?

The traditional historicist interpretation takes Scripture literally, letting it speak for itself in its own grammatical-historical context. The angels often explain the symbols, and the symbols are applied consistently. Other passages of Scripture set the ground rules for their usage. Speculation is kept in check until the historical fulfillment appears, revealing the remarkable power and sovereignty of our God.

This includes understanding Israel’s place in prophecy. As seen in the modern futurist interpretation of the woman in this passage, Jews and national Israel play a major part in their understanding of the end times. Historicists are accused of ignoring or downplaying God’s future plans for Israel, but traditionally this was not the case. In the next chapter we will explore the exciting and hopeful future of the Jews in prophecy.

1. Oral Collins, “The Final Prophecy of Jesus”, 280. ↩︎
2. Albert Barnes, “Notes, Critical, Illustrative, and Practical”, Revelation 12:1.
   Available online at https://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/cmt/barnes/rev012.htm ↩︎
3. Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:5. ↩︎
4. Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:3. ↩︎
5. Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:3. ↩︎
6. Collins, ibid, 287. ↩︎
7. Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:3. ↩︎
8. Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:6. ↩︎
9. Mark Galli, “Persecution in the Early Church: A Gallery of the Persecuting Emperors.”
   Available online at https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/persecution-in-early-church-gallery ↩︎
10. Galli, ibid, emphasis mine. ↩︎
11. Alister McGrath, “Historical Theology”, 36. ↩︎
12. According to Barnes, “There were times under the emperors when, in a considerable part of the empire, after the establishment of Christianity, the church enjoyed protection, and the Christian religion was tolerated, while in other parts paganism still prevailed, and waged a bitter warfare with the church… ‘In two-thirds of the empire, embracing its whole European and African territory, Christians enjoyed toleration; in the other, or Asiatic portion, they were still, after a brief and uncertain respite, exposed to persecution, in all its bitterness and cruelty as before’ (Elliott).”
    See Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:4; Edward Bishop Elliott, “Horae Apocalypticae – Volume 3”, 17.
    Available online at https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=ZL87AAAAcAAJ ↩︎
13. Collins, ibid, 287. ↩︎
14. Wayne Meeks, “The Martyrs”, emphasis mine.
    Available online at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/martyrs.html ↩︎
15. Barnes, ibid, Revelation 12:2. ↩︎
16. Thomas Constable, “Constable’s Expository Notes”, Revelation 12:5.
    Available online at https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/revelation-12.html ↩︎
17. Collins, ibid, 280. ↩︎
18. Constable, ibid, Revelation 12:15. ↩︎
19. Collins, ibid, 18. ↩︎