The Cosmic Christmas Rev 12:5-9

Revelation 5-9
5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, 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. 

The veil comes back a bit further from yesterday’s text. Looking at verse five it feels like this a pretty clear picture of Mary giving birth to Jesus. After all, who else could rule ALL nations? Although, we get left with this question.

Why was he caught up to the throne?

I tend to lean on Dr. Shane Wood’s interpretation here that this is the entire “Christ Event” in one sentence, which is the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Remember, this image of what appears to be Mary will continue to reveal itself more over the next several verses. We won’t get there today, but soon enough.

The woman fled to a prepared place in the wilderness where she was nourished for 1,260 days. This time period simply refers to a time period of persecution or tribulation. It’s used in multiple fashions such as 1,260 days, 3.5 years, 42 months, and even time, times, and half a time. Each description means the same thing, yet the way in which it’s said has a different effect in the way we hear it. I found it interesting that the greek word used for “nourished” means to pamper, bring up, grow up, or fatten. Then I thought, why was this word used when it’s the opposite of a time period of tribulation. Yet as I thought about it a while longer it started to make sense. During difficult times we have 2 options. The first option is to rely on the provision of Jesus whether it be spiritually, physically, mentally, or financially. The second option is to rely on anything else other than option 1. With that being the case we come to this conclusion; When we choose to rely on Jesus, our endurance gets fattened up. Our maturity is brought up and grown up into greater wisdom and understanding.

After this, Michael and his angels waged war against the dragon. They defeated the dragon and he was no longer allowed in heaven. In fact, he was thrown down to the earth along with his angels. While I’m not a practicing Catholic today, I grew up a devout Catholic. My mother would tell everyone that I was going to be a Priest some day to which I never showed the slightest bit of interest, but this was her dream. If she were still here today maybe she’d be happy that I’m writing this blog. Anyhow, I remember Saint Michael the Archangel being the rough and tough imagery of a true warrior and he was invincible much like that of a superhero. In fact, my brother took Michael as his confirmation name probably for that very reason. I recall reading this passage multiple times growing up and yet I never put together what I was reading.

Upon reading verse 9, did you notice anything that stood out to you?

Most of us grew up with the idea that Satan was cast to earth during the fall of man, right? But, what are we reading here? According to the text, it appears that this happened at the birth of Christ! Let’s take this a step further and look at Job 1:6-7 which says this.

Job 1:6-7
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

When reading this verse in Job, we see that Satan did in fact have access to enter heaven as he pleased. We don’t see Satan’s eviction from heaven anywhere else in the Bible other than here in Revelation 12. When I consider this, many things come to light about the Christmas story as we know it. Have you noticed the heavy presence of angels during the Christmas Story? We see an angel appear to Zechariah, then another to Joseph not just once, but twice. Then we see an angel appearing to Mary, and finally we see angels appearing to the Shepherds to tell them about the good news. Without a shadow of a doubt the angels were there to be messengers, but I think there is an additional reason that we’re seeing so many angels. When you have a war and your opponent remains hostile, it only makes sense that your army hangs around to keep things in order, especially when your infant King is in the same location lying in a manger after the enemy was waiting to destroy Him.

Recently, I was riding around with some friends looking at Christmas lights. My wife and I have this particular house we like to sit in front of. It’s one of those elaborate setups where you tune into a radio broadcast and the lights play along with the music. As we were leaving, a friend asked if he could share his favorite Christmas verse to which we were of course intrigued. Once he shared it, I knew that today’s passages would be where I’d write about it. He didn’t share what book it came from or what the verses were. He simply read it as this, “For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.”

My initial thought was, “well that sounds like a bloody war similar to the one in Revelation 12.” The van was quiet and he then broke the silence by asking, “Do you know what comes next?” And it was this… “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He was right in saying, “we never read what comes before this Messianic text” which we find in Isaiah 9. So often we miss what’s really happening and it’s context.

The Birth of Christ was truly an event that moved both Heaven and earth in a way it had never been moved before, all while the Messiah lay in a manger with a cosmic war going on around Him. It was silent for 400 years prior to this night, but this was not a silent night. This was a war stricken night that still rages on today. This was a night that would change the history of the world.

We’re a little over half way through this chapter. More tomorrow!