In a time long ago, the heavens were electric with anticipation of a series cinematic events that would unfold in ways unimaginable to man. In the midst of this pervasive uncertainty, a vision was given to John, who was in exile on the Greek Island of Patmos. He saw an extraordinary sign materialize in the heavens – an enchantingly beautiful woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars atop her head. Symbolizing the people of God, this woman was with child, her pain-filled cries echoing as she travailled to give birth.
Suddenly, another sign manifested in the skies – a great red dragon, having seven heads, ten horns, and seven crown-ridden diadems topped the heads. The Dragon, an embodiment of the supreme enemy of God, Satan, swished its tail vehemently, causing a third of the stars to fall to earth. It then positioned itself right before the woman, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born.
In the throes of labor, the woman brought into existence a male child, a child of destiny, who was destined to rule all nations with a rod of iron. But before the Dragon could commit the ghastly act of infanticide, the child was snatched up to God and protected at His throne.
The woman took flight into the wilderness where an abode had been prepared for her by God. Here, she would be nourished and kept safe from the Dragon for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The celestial panorama continued to unfold as a great war erupted in heaven. Michael, the Prince of Angels, leading his angels, clashed with the Dragon and its minions in an epic celestial conflict. The Dragon fought back viciously but failed to secure victory. Its place was found no more in heaven, and it was cast out onto the earth alongside its minions, their angelic contingent completely defeated.
And so began the earthly horrors. The Dragon, boiling with fury due to its ejection from the heavens, began its persecution of the woman who had brought forth the male child. But the woman was given two great wings of an eagle to fly into her wilderness sanctuary, far from the presence of the serpent. The Dragon, thwarted, spewed out water like a river, to carry the woman away and drown her. Yet, the earth came to her rescue, swallowing the river spewed by the Dragon.
Enraged by his failure, the Dragon declared war on the rest of the woman’s offspring who kept the commandments of God and held steadfastly to the testimony of Jesus Christ. And then, standing on the sand of the sea, the Dragon summoned two beasts to assist in his malicious agenda, marking the beginning of a new, even more, grim chapter.
This prophetic vision that John saw is a dramatic cosmic portrayal of the spiritual warfare that rages between the forces of good and evil. The courage of the woman and the ultimate defeat of the Dragon stand as powerful testaments to God’s victory over evil and His unwavering protection of His people. In the unfolding of these celestial dramas, there is an assurance: When the world is pregnant with terror and the evil seems unrelenting, remember, God is in control.
