532. CHAPTER 12
1. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven jewels 1 on its heads.
4. Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
5. She bore a male Child who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought,
8. but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, which leads the whole world astray; it was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it.
10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11. And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that it has a short time."
13. Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
14. But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15. So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river.
16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth.
17. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
18. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. 2
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The subject now is the New Church and its doctrine. The woman here means the New Church, and the child that she bore, its doctrine.
Dealt with also are people in today's church who, in accordance with their doctrine, believe in a trinity of Persons and a duality in the Person of Christ, and in justification by faith alone. These are meant by the dragon.
Depicted finally is these people's persecution of the New Church because of its doctrine, and the Lord's protection of it until it grows from being among few to being among many.
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: | A revelation from the Lord concerning His New Church in heaven and on earth and the difficulty of its doctrine's being accepted and the antagonism to it. |
| a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, | The Lord's New Church in heaven, which is the New Heaven, and the New Church to come on earth, which is the New Jerusalem. |
| and on her head a crown of twelve stars. | Its wisdom and intelligence resulting from its concepts of Divine goodness and truth drawn from the Word. |
| 2. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. | The emerging doctrine of the New Church and the difficulty of its being accepted owing to the opposition to it by people meant by the dragon. |
| 3. And another sign appeared in heaven: | A revelation from the Lord concerning people antagonistic to the New Church and its doctrine. |
| behold, a great, fiery red dragon | People in the Protestant Reformed Church who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity. |
| having seven heads | Irrationality owing to their falsifying and profaning the Word's truths. |
| and ten horns, | Much power. |
| and seven jewels 1 on its heads. | All the Word's truths falsified and profaned. |
| 4. Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. | By falsifying the Word's truths they exiled all spiritual concepts of goodness and truth from the church, and by appeals to falsity completely destroyed them. |
| And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. | Those people meant by the dragon endeavor to snuff out the doctrine of the New Church at its first appearance. |
| 5. She bore a male Child | The doctrine of the New Church, |
| who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. | which by truths drawn from the literal sense of the Word, together with rational arguments in accord with people's natural sight, will convince all those willing to be convinced whose worship is a lifeless worship owing to their divorcing faith from charity. |
| And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. | The Lord's protection of the doctrine and its being guarded by angels in heaven. |
| 6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, | The church being at first among few. |
| where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. | The state of that church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people, until it grows to its appointed state. |
| 7. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought, | The falsities of the previous church fighting against the truths of the New Church. |
| 8. but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. | They were convicted of being caught up in falsities and evils, and yet they persisted in them, and therefore they were forcibly withdrawn from any conjunction with heaven and cast down. |
| 9. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, | Those people now turned away from the Lord to themselves, and from heaven to the world, and so were caught up in the evils of their lusts and in falsities. |
| which leads the whole world astray; | They pervert everything having to do with the church. |
| it was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it. | They were cast into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, from which a direct conjunction is formed with people on earth. |
| 10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come, | The joy of angels in heaven that the Lord alone now reigns in heaven and the church, and that those people are saved who believe in Him. |
| for the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. | By the Last Judgment those were removed who stood in opposition to the doctrine of the New Church. |
| 11. And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, | Victory gained by the Divine truth of the Word and acknowledgment of the Lord, |
| and they did not love their lives to the death. | and they did not love themselves more than the Lord. |
| 12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! | The new state of heaven, that the inhabitants are in the Lord and have the Lord in them. |
| Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, | A lamentation over people in the church who are caught up in the falsities of their faith and thus in evil practices, because they are in league with followers of the dragon, |
| knowing that it has but a short time." | because it knew that a new heaven had been formed, that a new church on earth was therefore imminent, and that it would then be cast into hell, along with its followers. |
| 13. Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child. | After they were cast down, followers of the dragon in the world of spirits immediately began to harass the New Church because of its doctrine. |
| 14. But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, | The Divine vigilance for that Church and protection while it was still among a few. |
| where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. | Because of the cunning of those leading astray, to provide vigilantly for the New Church to spread among more people, until it grows to its appointed state. |
| 15. So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river. | A multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities in order to destroy the church. |
| 16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth. | The multitude of reasonings come to nothing in the face of the spiritual truths rationally understood that are advanced by the Michaels of whom the New Church is formed. |
| 17. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. | The hatred ignited in those people who believe themselves wise because of their arguments in support of the mystical union of the Divine and the human in the Lord and in support of justification by faith alone, against those who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth, and the Ten Commandments as law to be lived, and their attacking new converts with the intention of leading them astray. |
| 18. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. 3 | John's spiritual state now natural. |
THE EXPOSITION
Now a great sign appeared in heaven. (12:1) This symbolizes a revelation from the Lord concerning His New Church in heaven and on earth and the difficulty of its doctrine's being accepted and the antagonism to it.
A sign from heaven means a revelation concerning things to come, and a great sign appearing in heaven means a revelation concerning the New Church, for the woman clothed with the sun, as described in this chapter, symbolizes that church. The male child that she bore symbolizes its doctrine. Her being in pain to give birth symbolizes the difficulty of that doctrine's being accepted. The dragon's attempting to devour the male child, and then persecuting the woman, symbolizes its antagonism. All this is the meaning of the great sign that appeared in heaven.
In the Word a sign is mentioned in relation to things to come, and it is then a revelation. It is mentioned in relation to truth, too, and it is then an attestation. And it is also mentioned in relation to the character of a state or object, and it is then an indicator.
A sign is mentioned in relation to things to come, and is then a revelation, in the following places:
Let them... declare to us what will happen..., that we may... know the latter end of them; or give us to hear things to come. Show signs for the future... (Isaiah 41:22-23)
(The disciples said to Jesus,) "What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3, cf. Mark 13:4, Luke 21:7)
...there will be... signs from heaven... There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. (Luke 21:11, 25)
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear... (Matthew 24:30)
(Hezekiah the king was told:) "This will be the sign... that Jehovah will do this thing... I will bring the shadow... on the sundial of Ahaz... backward." (Later Hezekiah said,) "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?" (Isaiah 38:7-8, 22)
And so, too, elsewhere.
That a sign is mentioned in relation to truth and is then an attestation, and in relation to the character of a state and is then an indicator, is apparent from other passages in the Word.
Footnotes:
1. The word translated as "jewels" here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer's definition of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
2. In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.
3. In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.
