Chapter 12
[Revelation 12:1] -- And a great sign appeared in heaven. What now also appears in the Church: God becoming man.
[Revelation 12:1] -- The woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. The Church of Christ, clothed in light, tramples upon temporal glory: In his days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace until the moon be no more (Psalm LXXII). That is, the abundance of peace will grow until it consumes all the changeableness of mortality, when the last enemy, death, is destroyed (1 Corinthians XV). Or, because the same Church, partly in heaven, enjoys Christ the sun, partly on earth, journeys away from the Lord. This can be understood by the phrase: His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me (Song of Songs VIII).
[Revelation 12:1] -- And upon her head a crown of twelve stars. The Church is adorned with the number of the twelve apostles on its head, whether you understand Christ, or the very beginning of the nascent Church designated by the name of the head. You have set a crown of precious stones upon his head (Psalm XXI).
[Revelation 12:2] -- And being with child, she cried out in travail. The Church, spiritually, both gives birth to those she brings forth and continues to labor for those already born. As she herself says: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians IV).
[Revelation 12:2] -- And she was in pain to deliver. Thus the Lord in the Gospel: A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world (John XVI). Explaining this to His disciples, He added: Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice (John XVI).
[Revelation 12:3] -- And behold, a great red dragon, etc. The devil, bloody in cruelty, is armed against the Church with the power of an earthly kingdom. In the seven heads, he speaks of all his kings, and in the ten horns, all his kingdoms.
[Revelation 12:4] -- And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, etc. This indicates the strength and malice of the enemy, whom the Church, with the Lord's help, overcomes, who by deceit like a tail has cast down an innumerable part of the angels or men. For the tail is a blind part, an unclean part, covering its filth with its own veil so it does not appear. Tychonius, in his manner, interprets the third part of the stars that fell as false brethren, suggesting that one-third is the Church, one-third is external enemies, and one-third is the stars that fell.
[Revelation 12:4] -- And the dragon stood before the woman, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born. The devil lies in wait for the Church, striving to extinguish the faith of Christ in the hearts of believers, so that whom she brings forth by teaching, he may kill by deceit. His plot was shown in Herod, who, like internal enemies, pretended to want to worship the Lord in order to kill Him.
[Revelation 12:5] -- And she brought forth a male child. The Church always bears Christ, despite the opposition of the dragon. He is called a male because he is the victor over the devil, who had conquered the woman. For who but a male child? Who will rule all nations with a rod of iron (Psalm II), governs the good with inflexible justice and breaks the wicked. This is also promised to the Church in the earlier parts: I will give him power over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron (Revelation II). For the Church daily gives birth to the Church, ruling the world in Christ.
[Revelation 12:5] -- And her child was caught up to God, etc. Thus Christ, spiritually born in the minds of listeners, cannot be seized by wickedness because he reigns in heaven with the Father, who has also raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
[Revelation 12:6] -- And the woman fled into the wilderness. The Church, living under the hope of eternal things, rejoices in the pilgrimage of the present wilderness, having received the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the red dragon, like the Israelite people, who, fed with heavenly bread in the wilderness, by the sight of the bronze serpent, conquered the fiery serpents.
[Revelation 12:6] -- Where she has a place prepared by God. Be to me, he says, a God of protection, and a place of refuge to save me.
[Revelation 12:6] -- That they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. This number of days, which makes three and a half years, encompasses all times of Christianity, because Christ, whose body this is, preached for that time in the flesh.
[Revelation 12:7] -- And there was a great battle in heaven. Michael and his angels, etc. Heaven signifies the Church, in which he says Michael and his angels fight against the devil, because according to God's will, they struggle by praying for the pilgrim Church and providing help. Daniel also said that Michael would come to the Church's aid in the final and most severe tribulation, wherefore some believe the Antichrist will be killed by him. His angels are said to be his, as our angels are ours. The Lord says: Their angels always see the face of my Father (Matthew XVIII), meaning those whose citizens they are.
[Revelation 12:7] -- And the dragon fought, and his angels. The angels of Satan are not only those who are like him in nature and will but also humans ensnared by their traps.
[Revelation 12:8] -- And they did not prevail. That is, throughout all time.
[Revelation 12:8] -- Nor was their place found anymore in heaven. That is, in holy men, who have now become heaven through his expulsion, and who, once believing, do not accept him again.
[Revelation 12:9] -- And the great dragon was cast out to the earth. The ancient enemy, expelled from the spiritual realm, is confined more tightly to the earthly realm. This is to be cast out of heaven and sent to the earth. To whom it is said: You shall eat dust all the days of your life (Genesis III). On this earth, he is trampled under the feet of the saints, as it is written: You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk (Psalm XCI).
[Revelation 12:10] -- Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, etc. It is clearly shown in which heaven these things happen. We know that the victory of Christ's salvation has been accomplished in the Church. For which he says: All power is given to me in heaven and on earth (Matthew XXVIII). Not the power he always had, but the power he began to have in the Church from the time he willed, as the head in the members.
[Revelation 12:10] -- For the accuser of our brethren is cast down. The angels rejoice over the salvation of their brethren, that is, future fellow citizens, who are now pilgrims.
[Revelation 12:10] -- Who accused them before our God day and night. He criticized them for using prosperity badly and for lacking patience in adversity.
[Revelation 12:11] -- And they did not love their lives unto death. They rightly despise their lives for Christ, who by the blood of Christ have so greatly conquered the adversary.
[Revelation 12:12] -- Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Here, the inhabitants of heaven must be understood as both angels and holy men, and it is fitting for both to rejoice together in the Lord, as men are united with angels, and angels minister to the human nature in Christ.
[Revelation 12:12] -- Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down, etc. Just as he taught joy to the redeemed, so he taught those perishing to expect lamentation. And a great woe awaits those whom the most wicked enemy possesses in his wrath.
[Revelation 12:13] -- And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, etc. The devil, attacking the Church with inextricable cunning, persecutes all the more intensely the more he is cast down.
[Revelation 12:14] -- And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, etc. The Church, supported by the two Testaments, avoiding the turbulent poisons of the world, daily seeks the solitude of a quiet and modest spirit with the affection of the mind, joyfully singing: Lo, I have fled far away and have dwelt in the wilderness (Psalm LIV). It is not inconsistent that there she seeks the dove, while here she receives the wings of an eagle. Just as the former represents the gift of the Holy Spirit, so the latter represents the high flight and keen sight with which the Church, with a pure heart, sees God. Her youth will be renewed like the eagle's.
[Revelation 12:14] -- Where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. This represents the entire time of the Church, as previously encompassed in the number of days. For a time signifies a year, times signify two years, and half a time signifies six months.
[Revelation 12:15] -- And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, etc. The flood signifies the onslaught of persecutors. Hence it is said: Perhaps they would have swallowed us up alive, like water (Psalm CXXIII). Therefore, the Church, not only lifted up by the word of God but also driven by the force of persecutions, hastens to fly out of the world.
[Revelation 12:16] -- And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood. This earth is the holy flesh of the Lord, which, swallowing the death that temporarily prevailed over it, taught us also to swallow it. It can also be understood as the Church, whose admonitions and prayers of the mouth ward off the enemy's snares.
[Revelation 12:17] -- And the dragon was angry with the woman, etc. Seeing that the persecutions could not continue because they were averted by the mouth of the holy earth, he armed himself even more to persist in the mystery of iniquity, so that he could continually lie in wait.
[Revelation 12:17] -- Who keep the commandments of God, etc. To keep the commandments of God in the faith of Jesus Christ is to fight with the dragon and provoke him to battle. And thanks be to God, who has nullified the attempts of the savage dragon. For behold, having tried to destroy the Lord born in the flesh, he is frustrated by His resurrection. Then, laboring to break the confidence of the apostles in teaching, he strove to remove the woman, that is, the whole Church, from human affairs. But having failed in this, he now attacks individual ages of the faithful everywhere. Hence it follows:
[Revelation 12:17] -- And he stood on the sand of the sea. That is, over the multitude of the people, whom the wind drives away from the face of the earth. Without a doubt, it is the same enemy who is accustomed to devouring the enemy's schemes, now intending to stir up snares and wars.