Revelation 12, if you remember, we're looking at the first scene of this dramatic vision that was given to John in chapter 12. And the first scene covers the first six verses. And in those verses, we are told about two wonders in heaven. If you remember, we focused really the last couple of weeks on that first wonder, which is a majestic woman. And in the discussion that we had last Sunday, we recognized that there are different ways of looking at her and seeing who she is and what she might represent. But I think through the glorious description that we find in verse 1 especially about her, she seems to represent the spiritual nature of God's people, who, at least in this part of the vision, God used in history to fulfill the promise of Christ. And of course, we're going to see that as we go forward. But we need to remember that this promise was not just a promise given to Mary, which was the mother of Christ. It wasn't even just given to the people of Israel, if you remember. We can actually trace the promise of the Christ all the way back to Eve in the Garden of Eden. And I think that One of the key allusions that we find in Revelation 12 is Genesis 3.15, which is that proto-evangelium, the first mention of the gospel in the Bible. Because in Genesis 3.15, God says to the serpent, and we know that that serpent is the devil, and of course he's represented here as the dragon in chapter 12. But in Genesis 3.15, the Lord says, I will put enmity between the serpent, and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." And certainly that enmity is on display in this first scene. So this woman seems to represent all of the women who possess the seed of Christ within them, starting with Eve, moving all the way to Mary. but also includes all of those who were and are spiritually related to them. And we need to keep all that in mind because we're going to learn more about this woman throughout this passage. But today we're going to focus on verses three and four, where we're introduced to another main character. And that is, of course, this great red dragon, this great red dragon. So we're going to pick up by reading Revelation 12, 3 and 4. Because we're told that there appeared again to John in this vision, there appeared another wonder in heaven. And behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns. and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So this is the foe that we face, and yet also the foe that we don't need to fear, even though he is put in very fearful terms in this passage. But the first thing that we can learn about this dragon is the account of the dragon at the beginning there of verse three. Because this verse, verse three, actually begins much in the same way as when we were introduced to the woman. Did you notice that? In verse one, there appeared a great wonder in heaven. And then here in verse three, there appeared another wonder in heaven. So there's some similarity here, but there's also some difference. In fact, there's a slight contrast that is suggested even in the way that this second wonder is put. Because if you remember in verse one, the sight of the woman is called a great wonder, right? But here in verse three, the sight of the dragon is just called another wonder. Just a slight contrast. And I think even in this contrast, people have noted that we can see how God sees both his woman and this dragon. So we need to remember this. It's just another wonder. It's not the great wonder. It's just another one. The word wonder is the same here in verse 3 as it was in verse 1. That indicates that they are both signs, and that's another way to translate it, a sign or a symbol. And so there's great significance with both the woman and with this dragon. So some of the things that we learn about this dragon, of course, is the place of the dragon. The place is the same place as the woman. It's described that he also is in the heavens. And this heaven is not so much the heaven where God dwells, but rather the heaven of the sky. And so we're having for us pictured a spiritual universe in this vision that John is going to receive from the Lord. It's not particularly the universe that we're familiar with, but it's a different universe. It's a spiritual universe, and it's meant to vividly display this cosmic battle between the dragon and the woman against the backdrop of a night sky. And just like, you know, When you go outside, I mean, I think even last night, the moon, if it wasn't full, it was almost full. And how much more beautiful and stark is it when it's a clear black night sky? And I think that's what the picture is here. Because we have this woman that is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, the 12 stars on her head. That is a glorious picture, especially if it's a black night sky. But I think we also have the black night sky in view because now we're going to see other stars appear in this vision. So there's a vivid display of this cosmic conflict between the dragon and the woman. And that's the place. So then we also have the picture of the dragon. This is also quite vivid there in the rest of verse three. Behold a great red dragon. 25 times in Revelation, John introduces something that he sees with the word, behold, behold. It's just another way to try to get our attention so that we might try to see what John sees. And there's a number of these verbal cues. And something we need to remember is that Revelation was not just meant for people to read it for themselves, but to hear it read. It was very often there in the churches as they were going from church to church the Revelation would be read and so there are these verbal cues that are really meant to draw God's people in to try to see what John sees and so 25 times you're gonna find that word behold in Revelation. And what John sees this time is truly remarkable. He sees a dragon. This is the only place in the New Testament where we find the Greek word for dragon, or really, Revelation is the only place in the New Testament where we find that word. The Greek is dracon, and you might have heard the word draconian. Okay, that's the idea. That's where we get that word from. The dragon or the dracon. But in Revelation, Including here. We find this dragon mentioned 13 times. So nowhere else in the in New Testament, but here in Revelation We find this dragon 13 times now. We've already seen the character of the dragon Because if you remember if you jump down to verse 9, we're told who he is distinctly Alright, so some of the mystery of the identity of the woman is not the same mystery that we have of this drag We are told there in verse 9 that he is that old serpent called the devil and Satan. And so again, this is another connection back to Genesis 3.15. This is another connection all the way back to the situation that Eve found herself in when she was tempted by that serpent, who is the devil. He is our adversary. He is Satan. He is our accuser as well. Now, even though this kind of creature is only mentioned here in the New Testament, it does seem to point to other places in the Old Testament where other creatures are found that might have a similar character or even a similar look to it. In the Old Testament, there's a creature called a Tanin. I'm probably not pronouncing that right. It's found in several places. The Tanin seems to be something like a serpent, but whose home was in the sea. Kind of like that Loch Ness monster type of thing, perhaps. Hard to tell. Others have pointed to the Leviathan. You might have heard of that or come across that in your scripture reading. The Leviathan is also found in the Old Testament, and it may even be a type of a Tanin, so some kind of sea serpent or some kind of sea creature. Now, more than likely, this was a real and terrifying character. I know Answers in Genesis often uses this idea of a Leviathan to show us that, yes, during the time of men, there were, in fact, dinosaurs. And this may have been one of those kinds of dinosaurs. In fact, there's a lot of pictures of this Leviathan where it's fire-breathing, it's got scales that you can't get through. So it very well could have been some kind of dinosaur, just like the behemoth that you find in Job as well. So even though they are likely real and terrifying creatures that did live during the time of men, it actually came to represent the evil source of danger and distress for God's people. Because obviously these creatures were dangerous. but so dangerous that God wanted to use them as a symbol and a picture of evil and evil danger and evil distress. In fact, there are times in the Old Testament where God's people's enemies are described in these ways, either as Tanin or Leviathan or even both. You don't need to turn there, but in Psalm 74, you're going to look at these another time, but in Psalm 74, verses 13 and 14, the Egyptians are actually pictured as this kind of creature whose heads were broken by God in the water. So there is still sort of a mythological kind of feel and look to these in that it doesn't just have one head, but multiple heads. But in Psalm 74, 13 and 14, it says, Referring to God you did divide the sea by your strength and you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces and gave him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. So it's using that idea of a Leviathan or one of these sea creatures as a picture of the enemies of God, even Egypt. One passage I do want you to turn to is Isaiah chapter 27. Go with me to Isaiah chapter 27 because in this passage, there are some who see Babylon pictured as this kind of creature. And that certainly might be the case. However, it may also be a specific prophecy about the destruction of the devil by the Lord. So, as we go through this Revelation 12, think in terms of Isaiah 27, verse one, where it says, in that day, and a lot of times when you find that phrase in that day in the Old Testament, it's referring to the latter days, which is the time in which we live, and even when Jesus is going to return, in that day, the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword. And of course, in the New Testament, we know that Jesus has a sword coming out of his mouth, and that is the word of God. So, he shall punish with that sword, he shall punish Leviathan, that piercing serpent, even Leviathan, that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. Isn't it interesting that we have parallels with Isaiah 27.1 here in Revelation 12 and other places in Revelation as well. So this might be a strong connection with what we're finding going on here in Revelation 12. But I think this is a particularly interesting verse. Because if you jump down to chapter 26, there's a song in this previous chapter. And we're not gonna take the time to look at all of the verses, but look at verses 17 and 18. And keep in mind the first wonder, which is that great woman clothed with sun. And then we have the second wonder, which is this dragon all in the sky. But here in verses 17 and 18 of Isaiah 26, we find the people of God crying out to God. And they describe themselves in the likeness of that first wonder. At least part of the likeness of that first wonder. He says, like as a woman with child. Isn't that what John saw in the first wonder? He saw a woman clothed with a son who was with child. And yet here the people of God are saying, like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery. Isn't that what we find going on in Revelation 12? is in pain and crieth out in her pains, so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. And yet, in verse 18, we find a difference. Because the people of God in Isaiah 26 says, we've been with child, we've been in pain. We have, as it were, brought forth, though, wind. That is, we've not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. In other words, their expectation had not yet come. Their expectation, of course, is Christ. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the expectation that Eve was given all the way back in the Garden of Eden. And so this expectation, this longing has been with the people of God all sent through that time. And here they're saying, the labor that's described in Isaiah 26 that gives birth to nothing, to win, is now fulfilled in Revelation chapter 12. Because according to both Isaiah and Revelation, this birth will ultimately lead to the destruction of the dragon, because Christ is their salvation. Christ is the one who will destroy the dragon. And so as Robert Mount once put it, the devil is pictured here as a dragon because he is the arch enemy of God and his people. And this has always been the way it's been since the very beginning when he tempted Eve. So when we come back to Revelation 12, So keep that in mind. A lot of different allusions to this dragon, even in the Old Testament. When we come back to Revelation 12, the character of this dragon is actually confirmed by his color. What color is this dragon? Red. Now, the idea of red here is not the red of, you know, like the church here. It's actually related to the word pyros, the Greek word pyros, which is actually the word for fire. So think of a fiery red or a fiery orange slash red. So in some places in Revelation, that fire is actually related to the purity of Christ. His feet were like burnished brass and fiery brass. This fiery color is actually related to conflict and death. And certainly that is the character that is confirmed in this dragon. In fact, in chapter 6, verse 4, remember when we found the four horsemen coming down? And in Revelation 6, verse 4, there was the second horse, which was the red horse, same word, fiery horse, came out of heaven to take peace from the earth. And so this is where this fiery color is connected to this dragon. It's not his purity, but rather his quest for murder and for death. It reminds us, as one writer says, the murderous character of the devil, who Jesus says is a murderer from the beginning. So we already have a picture of who this dragon is and really what this dragon is all about. He wants to bring death and destruction and deception to God's people as much as he can. And of course, this is in stark contrast to the glory of that woman in verses 1 and 2. I mean, here, verses 1 and 2, a glorious picture. Now we have a grotesque creature. an absolutely grotesque creature. And that is the true spiritual nature of the devil. Now, there are places in scripture that teach us that sometimes the devil himself can be transformed into an angel of light. And again, that's deceptive. But this is a spiritual picture of a true nature of the devil. He really is a wicked, grotesque figure who has his beginnings in the garden and even beyond that. And yet we must not be fooled. Though he might appear to be an angel of light, he is this kind of dragon. And we can know even more of who he is because when we come to the second point there in verse three, we find the appearance of the dragon, the appearance of the dragon, Which again gives us a grotesque picture. He has seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head. Now, there we mentioned, I think, last Sunday that there is ancient mythology where dragons appear that have similar descriptions and appearances. But John isn't getting this picture from ancient mythology. He's getting it from God himself through a powerful vision. So what do the seven heads represent? Again, this is a sign. This is a sign with great symbolism and meaning to it. So what we see is going to tell us something about the character of this creature. The seven heads of this dragon there in verse three point to his overwhelming presence, his overwhelming presence. The head is often a symbol for presence and even leadership. You know, just like when you're talking about a company, you've got the head of that organization is the CEO, or you've got the head of this or that organization. We have the head of the church, which is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's a symbol of presence and leadership. 7 heads, of course we know that the number 7 isn't always a perfect number, and certainly the case here when it is applied to the dragon, 7 has the idea of a presence that is full and pervasive. That is, he is this way everywhere he goes. I like how Alan Johnson puts it. It describes this dragon as always having been around, the fullness of evil in all of its hideous strength. So that's kind of the picture of these seven heads. His presence, the presence of evil, the fullness of evil in its hideous strength, that is the devil. And he's been around ever since the very beginning. Now, the seven heads of the dragon, will connect him with a seven-headed beast that we will come to in chapter 13 and chapter 17. In fact, since you're already there in chapter 12, just turn a page over because remember we have this seven-headed dragon And in verse one, where the spiritual vision now has some earthly, worldly counterparts, in verse one it says, John says, I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea. And what does he look like? Having seven heads and 10 horns and upon his horns 10 crowns and upon his heads the name of Jesus. blasphemy. So, again, we have the seven heads of the dragon and the seven heads of the beast, which we would consider to be the Antichrist. And then, of course, we have the ten crowns, or the ten horns, I should say, as well as the ten horns of the beast. So, a lot of connections with this beast that we will learn about. Now, in chapter 17, there's more information given to us about this beast of chapter 13. And in those verses, it talks about how the seven heads of the beast represent seven mountains and seven kings in the world. That may be true of the beast that we'll come to. It doesn't seem to be the same meaning here for this dragon. Instead, these heads represent the devil's ever-present influence of evil over the whole world. And we know that this world is gripped in the devil's evil. I mean, we see it everywhere. We hear it everywhere. It's everywhere around us because of this nature, his overwhelming presence. But then, of course, you have those 10 horns, right? Verse 3, those 10 horns, they point to His overwhelming power. Because horns, again, are a symbol for might and strength, a symbol for might and strength. So they point to His overwhelming power. Now, horns are found throughout Revelation in 10 places. And yet, every time you find them, they're going to be with a different number. You don't need to turn to these verses, but all the way back in chapter 5, verse 6, John sees the lamb, and we know that the lamb represents Jesus, and Jesus had seven horns, okay? And that was meant to express the absolute power of the lamb, right? The Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, here we have the ten horns of this dragon. We also have in chapter 13, the ten horns of the beast, if you will. But what we have here is that the beast of the land in chapter 13 has two horns. He has two horns like a lamb, even though he still speaks like a dragon. Now, one of the things about these horns, okay, there's a number of places that you can find them, they have different numbers, is that Everything else that has horns any creature that has horns is always mimicking the power of the Lord Jesus himself Jesus has the full power the full Seven horns as the lamb and yet here we have the the dragon and the beast thinking that they are more powerful than Jesus, but they're not We have the the beast from the land the false prophet who has two horns were told like a lamb But he still speaks like a dragon but this dragon and this beast's strength is no match for the strength of the Lord. Now the 10 horns of both the dragon and the beast also seem to direct us back to another creature. You don't need to turn there either, but in Daniel chapter seven, we learn about a fourth beast. If you remember, there were four beasts that Daniel saw in a vision, and the fourth beast in Daniel 7 had ten horns. So we have the ten-horned dragon, the ten-horned beast, They seem to direct us back to this ten horned fourth beast in Daniel chapter 7 verse 7 Which again may very likely be the Antichrist that Daniel pictures Listen to this verse Daniel 7 verse 7 Daniel says after this I saw in the night vision and behold a fourth beast Dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly and it had great iron teeth and it devoured and broken pieces and it stamped on the residue With the feet of it and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns. So it's very strong. Now, by most accounts, the beast in Daniel represents the fierce and powerful Roman Empire that John and his audience would be living under at the time that he's writing Revelation. So Rome would have been in their minds as they're thinking through what John is seeing and saying to them. Rome itself would have been seen as deriving its power from this dragon as well, and we know that even today there's still some remnant of that beast, even today. We have the European powers that many of them still hold on to that idea, that grand idea, if you will, of the Roman Empire. And of course, we're gonna see that renewed, this Roman Empire, this Babylon renewed later on in Revelation. So this dragon is described as a great imposing force against God and this woman. He will do whatever he can to distress and discourage and defeat his enemies, and especially for God's people. So he is very powerful. But then he has on his heads, how many crowns? Again, seven crowns. This points to his overwhelming prominence, we can say. His overwhelming prominence and dominance over the world. Again, his presence is everywhere through his evil principles, but his dominance is also over the world. Now, we're not told here how the crowns are placed on the dragon's head. It seems like there would be perhaps one crown on every head. We're not exactly sure how the horns are situated on his head either. So you kind of have to use your imagination to try to picture this. So we're just not told exactly how they're situated. But it seems like there's probably one crown on each head. But there's a little difference, because when we come back to chapter 13, verse 1, the beast there has ten crowns placed somewhere on his seven heads. And so there seems to be another greater dominance, world dominance, in picture here in chapter 13 as well. Now, the word that is used for crown in chapter 12 is actually different than the word for crown that we found for the woman. And that's interesting. We mentioned this, I think, before. Here in verse three, the crowns that are on this dragon's head are diadems, or the Greek is diadema. It is primarily a symbol of royalty and majesty. is found three times in Revelation. Again, the dragon has the seven crowns, the beast has 10 crowns, but there's one other place in Revelation where we find these diadems, and they are on the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, in Revelation 19, 12, we're told that he has many diadems, many crowns, okay? So as powerful and as prominent as the dragon thinks he is, As powerful and as prominent as this beast in chapter 13 will think he is, they are no match for the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever power and prominence the dragon and his allies have, they are limited and they are temporary because Jesus is the one with many crowns. But if you remember, we have the woman, that glorious woman, that majestic woman in verses one and two, her crown is a Stephanus kind of crown. And in Revelation, that is a symbol of victory. So it's not one that she just possesses because she's royalty, though we know that she is the queen of heaven, she's the queen of the Lord, but it's actually something that is given to her. The Stephanus kind of crown is found eight times in Revelation, and most of the time, not always, but most of the time, it is associated with a victory of Jesus and of his people. So there's a lot we can learn about the appearance of this dragon. But no matter how fearful he looks, we need to remember Martin Luther's words from that hymn. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. And we know that word is liar. Martin Luther even told us that years ago. But then the next thing that we learn about the dragon, and that's in verse four, and that is the activity of the dragon. the activity. So we see who he is, we see what he's like, but what is he doing? Look at verse four. His tail, so now we can have something added to this picture of who he is and what he looks like. His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and it cast them to the earth. And the dragon then stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So the appearance of this dragon and all of his evil is on full display in his activity here in this verse. But in the first part of this verse, we find a particular triumph being described. And there's a lot of ways of looking at what he's doing in the first part of this verse. And this is all done with his tail. So again, he's red, he's got all these heads, he's got all these crowns, and of course, now he has this big tail. Again, another picture of that Leviathan from the Old Testament. Only three times in Revelation do we find creatures described as having tails. Here, it's on the dragon, but it's also found in chapter nine when they're found on those demonic locusts, remember? In Revelation 9, 10. Their tails were like serpents, and they also had stings in those tails. And what were they to do with those tails and those stings? They were to hurt men for five months. And of course, remember that was the fifth trumpet judgment. So there's a connection here between the dragon and these locusts. We know that these locusts are out of the pit of hell. We're told that they are ascending the map out of the bottomless pit. Well, obviously that's the domain of the devil too. And so there's a strong connection between the dragon and these locusts because they both use their tails to bring evil and harm on others. They both use their tails to bring evil and harm on others. And even though tails aren't found all that often in the Bible, In Isaiah 9.15, the tail is actually associated with lies and deception. In fact, in Isaiah 9.15, it says that the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. And isn't this, again, something that we see in the devil's character all the way back in the Garden of Eden where he lies, he deceives Eve in order to get her to eat of that forbidden fruit. And so, again, this is what he is known for. He's not just a murderer, he's a liar. But the object of harm here in Revelation 12 is the third part of the stars of heaven. Again, this is probably an area that there's a little bit of debate on is what this might mean. It seems clear, though, that the stars of heaven in this passage represent other beings of some kind, of other beings, in a similar way that stars are used elsewhere in Revelation. But the question is, what kind of beings are these stars? As stars, they do seem connected to, but not equated with, the 12 stars that form the woman's crown. If you remember, the woman was clothed with a sun, so she's a glorious picture. She's got her moon under her feet and then these 12 stars on her head, and that's her crown. So there's this glory of light that is just shining on her. It's just kind of like spotlight after spotlight just focusing on the glory of this woman. And so when you think about stars, stars' light are very similar. There's some differences, but there's also some similarities to them. So the stars that we find here, the rest of the stars of the sky have a similar glory to the stars in this woman's crown because of their glimmering light as stars, but they're not part of the crown itself. So again, think of 12 stars in a circle, and then you have all of these other stars. Now John, I think, probably saw myriads of stars in the sky in this vision, just like we do. But now he sees only a third of them, of whatever amount he saw, that are actually drawn away by the dragon's tail. And that third is a fraction that we've seen before in Revelation, isn't it? In fact, in chapters 8 and 9, we find a third of the water. being turned to blood, and we have a third of the earth being destroyed by fire, and so we have a third of these things. But there is one place in Revelation 8-12 where we have the exact same phrase as we have here. In chapter 8, verse 12, we're told about the third part of the stars that are actually darkened by a third. And that is one of the trumpet judgments. So the question is, is there a connection between the third part of the stars here in Revelation 12 and the third part of the stars there in chapter 8 verse 12? Here, a third of the stars are actually swept out of heaven. Whereas back in chapter 8 verse 12, a third part of the stars are darkened by a third. There's a few that think there's a connection there and they would see it as something very similar going on. I personally don't see a very clear connection between them. And so just because you have the same way something's put in Revelation doesn't always mean that it's going to describe the same thing. So we're talking about different beings. We're talking about different beings in this vision. Now some see these stars as having the same nature as Old Testament saints who are going to go through persecution by the little horn in Daniel chapter 8, verse 10. In Daniel chapter 8, verse 10, you don't have to turn there, but this is what it says, that there's this little horn, which many people believe already happened in history. This is a Greek emperor known as Antiochus Epiphanes. He's a little horn who waxed great, And it says, even to the host of heaven. And it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground and stamped upon them with his feet. Now there's some clear pictures. of this here in Revelation 12. But in Daniel 8, verse 24, those stars are interpreted as the holy people, the saints. And so that's why some would look at Revelation 12 and say, okay, this third part of the stars actually refers to God's people back in the Old Testament being stomped on by the devil and his agents, like Antiochus Epiphanes. And so they would see the third part of the stars as representing a significant portion, one third of God's people back in the Old Testament that experienced persecution. So that's one way of looking at it. Another way of seeing these stars is that they represent true angels. They represent true angels, who at one time possessed the same kind of heavenly glory that was given to the women. Of course, we know that when God created the angels, they were all perfect, they were all pure. They were all holy they were holy ones in fact in in Job 38 verse 7 angels are described as stars When God asked Job, where were you, Job? When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. And so the morning stars are equated with the sons of God or the angels that God created. In Revelation itself, stars are used as a symbol of angelic beings. We've already looked at some of those. But here, these angelic beings, appear to be deceived by the devil. That is, again, he's drawn, they're drawn away by his tale in a deceptive way to draw them away from their previous place and condition and then cast into the earth. Now the word translated drew here is in the present tense. So John has actually kind of seen this unfold before his eyes. So there's not a historical, just a plain historical progression here. He's seen this visionary universe taking place in the sky. And now he sees this third of the stars being drawn away and cast into the earth. The word drew has the idea of capturing. It's used in John as using a net for fish. So if you ever seen a fisherman use a net to cast for fish, it's kind of the idea there. In other places, an axe has the idea of dragging someone to prison and to hold them fast, if you will. So there's a sense here of victory and triumph in the activity of this dragging. So it doesn't seem to be a picture of persecution. but rather of deception in order to bring about the fall of those beings that are pictured here as stars. So what we have here may refer to the fall of angels that we find mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. In Jude, verse 6, it describes how the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, that is, angels who were heavenly beings and now they are earthly and demonic beings, they're cast to the earth. 2 Peter 2.4 says that God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them to hell and delivered them into the chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment. So it may very well refer to these fallen angels who were cast from heaven ultimately by God, but through the deception of the devil. That may, I think, be the best way of seeing these stars in this chapter. It might also explain, if you look down at verse seven, it might also explain how, where the dragon gets his angels in order to fight against Michael and his angels, right? So if the devil, the dragon has angels, where do they come from? And it may be the very historic picture of when the devil swept his tail in order to deceive a third of God's angels to be his own. However, the reference to Daniel chapter 8 is also pretty strong. So what the devil was able to do to the angels first, but some still see this as referring to God's people being stomped on by the devil himself because of the reference to Daniel chapter 8. This is suggested by Tom Schreiner, again, who wrote a really good commentary on Revelation. He says, we may have a both and perspective here. That is, not only does the devil deceive the angels in history to make them fall, but he also deceives and persecutes people. And he even says that the angels may represent the saints on earth. And certainly I think that we see that over and over again. We see this history, the devil, the dragon has a history of persecuting the people of God, doesn't he? And it all started in the very beginning when he drew the third part of the stars from heaven. And it continues on. He continues to persecute those who might be considered stars in the eyes of God. Now, even though the dragon's triumph here does occur in history, we're not given any clear time frame, though I think we can kind of ascertain what that time frame might have been. But that triumph in the past emboldens him so that he might be given an even greater threat to the woman herself. And that's what we find in the rest of verse 4. Because not only would the sky around the glorious woman become more dark, I mean, if you think about it, imagine if a third of the stars in our night sky were swept away. It would make the night that much darker and much more fearful, fearsome, even for this woman in the sky. But here in verse four, we're told that now, having done that with those stars, the dragon stands before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born. This, in history, takes us right up to the time when the fullness of time is come for the birth of Christ. And so again, we have a sweeping drama of the ages, right? Starting with the sweeping of the third of the stars, angelic stars, even now to the desire, the quest to destroy this man-child that is to be born, the birth of Christ. So the dragon here, imagine it appears as an imposing figure just waiting to devour this child. And this is when the woman is at her most vulnerable, and it seems like she is at his mercy. Now, we can't be entirely certain about the historical counterpart. to the stars being dragged down. It may refer to saints, it may refer to angels, but most see a clear historical incident that is reflected in the dragon's threat to the woman and her child. In Matthew chapter 4 we learn of a king named Herod, who sought to destroy Jesus as soon as he knew that he was born. Remember Matthew 4, 16? Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and all the coast thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. So in history, Herod the Great, King Herod, would have been the human agent of the dragon in his attempt to devour the child. And of course, along with that, any hope that he gave to the woman, which would be his own mother. Of course, we know that Herod didn't succeed in history, and we know that the dragon will not succeed in this chapter, not with any attempt that they have against God. But it won't even affect the cross because later on, we're going to notice that the cross is not actually mentioned in this passage. It's as if the cross, even though it did happen. It doesn't happen because Jesus came back to life. So the dragon cannot defeat this foe. We're gonna have to save that until next week when we look at the rest of this first scene of the drama in Revelation 12. So again, verses one and two, we have the first wonder of that great woman. And then in verses three and four, we have that other wonder, which is this great red dragon, again, who is our foe, but it's one we do not need to fear. Let's close a prayer gracious father. We love you. We thank you again for your word. We thank you lord that Even though we have a picture of the devil here yet lord it's a picture that that shows us the real true character of him and Lord, I pray that you'll help us not to be deceived by the way others will portray him, or the way that he might try to deceive us into thinking that he is other than what he truly is. Lord, he is a grotesque wonder, a grotesque sign, and a grotesque figure compared to the glorious figure of that woman in verses one and two. And so, Lord, I pray that you'll help us to see that contrast, and that, Lord, as we go through this chapter, we'll realize that, again, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. And so, Lord, we're thankful that the victory and the triumph that you give us is greater than any success or triumph the devil has ever had, whether it's been over men or angels themselves. So, Father, I pray that you'll help us to rest in that truth, even as we look forward to the rest of this scene where the Lord Jesus, even through his ascension to heaven, claims victory over this dragon, even in his infant state. And so Father, I pray that you'll help us to learn more about the Lord in this chapter, but also to learn to love him more with all of our heart. And Father, I pray that you'll bless the rest of our services today. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.