Revelation 12:1-18 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
God’s Zoo Summer Worship Series Sunday, August 29, 2021 “Dragon”
What animals do you find at the zoo? You might go there to check out the lions or bears. You might see some exotic big cat species. Maybe you will find a zebra or a giraffe. There are all sorts of incredible animals at the zoo. But there are lots of animals, too, that you don’t expect to see in a zoo. And some of those animals are ones that we have included anyway in our God’s Zoo worship series. Just a couple examples: we’ve discussed ants, and I have never seen them in the zoo. I’ve never noticed dogs in the zoo, either. Our series hasn’t been specifically about zoo animals; it’s been about animals that appear in the Bible. And today’s animal, the second-to-last of our series, seems to be the most unusual one of all of them. It is certainly not an animal any of us has seen in the zoo. The dragon is a mythical creature, a creature that appears in stories and legends. It is interesting enough, though, that some people have suggested that dragon legends come from a now extinct creature of some sort that we no longer see around us. Of course, even if a dragon were a familiar creature at some time, that’s not the dragon that is described in our lesson today. The one in Revelation 12 has seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns. Its tail sweeps away stars. This is an unusual and distinct creature that our translation calls a dragon. In fact, there are many things in Revelation that are unusual and strange and surprising. That’s the nature of that book of the Bible. Revelation records a vision that God gave to John. What he saw was strange and unusual. It was filled with symbolism and fanciful imagery. And in the vision, God showed to John the truth about things that had happened and things that would continue to happen. Chapter 12 of Revelation records a vision within John’s vision. It is the start of a series of seven visions that God would reveal to John. And these visions talk about the whole New Testament era or age. They talk about the very beginning of the New Testament all the way to the end of the world, the Last Day. And an important figure in what happens throughout the New Testament is the dragon that represents the devil, Satan. This unreal animal shows us a real enemy. And at every step of the way, this enemy opposes God and his plans and purposes. He is real and powerful. His power is represented by his seven heads, his crowns, and his tail being able to sweep away stars, and he sets out to do some real damage. The woman had been introduced before the dragon, and the vision reveals that they are enemies. The dragon tries to devour the child that she bears. Some have assumed that this woman sounds like Mary, the mother of Jesus. The child is clearly Jesus, but the mother in the vision doesn’t represent his earthly mother, Mary. She represents the church of God, the body of all believers, all of God’s people. Jesus was born through the faithful remnant of believers, including Mary. Now, we won’t be able to consider every single detail of this vision in our sermon this morning, but we easily see how the dragon continues to battle. He is set to devour the child, but the child is rescued. The woman is also taken to a safe place. After that, John sees a war in heaven between the dragon and the archangel Michael along with the other angels. The dragon is cast down to earth, where he goes after the woman, and she is rescued again. And he spews out water after her to carry her away, but she is rescued yet again. Over and over the devil attacks God’s plans. He opposes Christ—we heard about one example in our Gospel today, as the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). And he opposes Christ’s church, represented by the woman in the vision. This unreal animal is a real enemy. But God is more powerful than the devil. His plans succeed. Jesus was born of a woman according to God’s plan to rescue people from the tempter and the deceiver. This spiritual battle between the forces of God and the forces of evil results with the devil losing his power to accuse and to harm. He is thrown down to earth. This is the crucifixion. Satan tried to make Jesus fall and fail. He opposed God’s plan, but God’s plan succeeded. Jesus died to take away the sins of the world. The loud voice in heaven rejoices: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our
brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.”
The Text: Revelation 12:1–18 (EHV) A great sign appeared in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant, and she cried out in pain and agony as she gave birth. 3Another
sign also appeared in the sky: There was a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman, who was about to give birth, so that he could devour the child as soon as it was born. 5She
gave birth to a son, a male child, who will shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God in order that she might be fed there for 1,260 days. 7There
was also a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. The dragon fought back along with his angels, 8but he was not strong enough. There was no longer a place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan, the one who leads the whole inhabited earth astray—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10I
heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11They conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives in the face of death. 12For this reason, rejoice, you heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, for the Devil has gone down to you. He is full of rage, because he knows that his time is short.
13When
the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman, who had given birth to the male child. 14Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so that she might fly to her place in the wilderness, where she is to be fed for a time, and times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent. 15And the serpent spewed water out of his mouth, like a river, after the woman, in order to carry her away in the flowing water. 16But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river, which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth. 17The
dragon was angry about what had happened to the woman, and he went away to make war against the rest of her children—those who keep the commandments of God and who hold on to the testimony about Jesus. 18And
he stood on the shore of the sea.