Around the world, there are 2.63 billion Christians who are preparing for the Christmas season. The stockings are being hung with care. Sugar plums are being dreamt of. Pine trees, artificial or real, are being decorated with lights, ornaments, and sometimes even popcorn. Some families may be setting out Advent wreaths and candles, while others are setting up Nativity scenes somewhere in their house.
1. What is your favorite family decorating tradition?
For my family, ever since my kids were young, we have allowed them to set our family Nativity scene on our fireplace mantel, but there is always a catch: it has to be biblically accurate. I have talked with each of my older sons about where the wisemen ought to be, and I always enjoy it when my kids put the wisemen figurines in the basement and bring them closer to the baby Jesus figurine after Christmas (It is always fun to find a forgotten wiseman figurine in the furnace room in June). There also is another figure we add to our Nativity scene yearly, and that is the Red Dragon. I have told people for years I do this and love the look on their faces, but equally, I love going to God’s Word to find an amazing truth about Christmas from a cosmic level.
Revelation 12:1-2 says, “And 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. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.”
Revelation chapter 12 opens with the first of several signs. Whenever we see “sign,” we have to understand that a sign is not always 100% literal. Signs are best viewed as associations or representations.
2. How does the Bible describe the woman? Who do you think the woman is?
While today’s lesson is less about the woman and more about the dragon, it is important to know who the woman is here.
Revelation 12:3-4 continues, “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.”
3. How does the Bible describe the dragon? Who do you think the dragon is?
Revelation 12:5-6 adds, “She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.”
4. How does the Bible describe the male child? Who do you think the child is?
To set up the rest of Revelation chapter 12, we have to understand that the three characters introduced are showing the cosmic melee between God and Satan.
Revelation 12:7-8 says, “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.”
5. Who defeated the dragon? Why does this truth bring so much hope?
Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
If we go back to Revelation 12:3-4, we see a more robust description of the dragon. Yet, upon defeat, we see the most epic, “Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.”
Revelation 12:10-11 adds, “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.’”
6. What did the loud voice proclaim?
Revelation 12:12 says, “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
7. Why is verse 12 a verse that brings rejoicing, warning, and then more rejoicing?
The dragon is consumed with pride and does not relent in fighting God. Even upon defeat, he is cast from Heaven and immediately resumes his fight.
Revelation 12:13 continues, “And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.”
Revelation 12:17 adds, “Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”
8. What does the devil do once he is thrown down? Who is his target?
While it might not be biblical, I have read that the fight you do not know you are in is the most dangerous fight you can be in. The truth is that all believers, all who “hold to the testimony of Jesus,” are at war, and sadly, some live as if they are not. We have to understand that there is a cosmic battle being fought, and there is a reality to spiritual warfare.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
9. Because we know we are in a war, how should we respond?
Despite the warring dragon, we who believe must rest in the victory that comes only through Jesus, the male child. Christmas should bring feelings of joy, peace, and love.
We must rest in the truth that the Christmas story was God’s ultimate protection for His people.
All who know Christ as Lord are secure. Jesus has already secured victory over Satan through His death and resurrection. As believers, we share in this victory and can stand firm in the knowledge that Satan’s ultimate defeat is assured.
10. Are you adding a dragon to your Nativity?