Apocalisse 12:2 Commento

It is generally agreed by the most learned expositors that the narrative we have in this and the two following chapters, from the sounding of the seventh trumpet to the opening of the vials, is not a prediction of things to come, but rather a recapitulation and representation of things past, which, as God would have the apostle to foresee while future, he would have him to review now that they were past, that he might have a more perfect idea of them in his mind, and might observe the agreement between the prophecy and that Providence that is always fulfilling the scriptures. In this chapter we have an account of the contest between the church and antichrist, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. I. As it was begun in heaven (Rev 12:1-11). II. As it was carried on in the wilderness (Rev 12:12, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 12 This chapter contains a vision of two wonders or signs seen in heaven, a woman and a dragon, and an account of what followed thereon, war both in heaven and earth. The vision of the woman is in Rev 12:1, who is described by her being clothed with the sun; by her having the moon under her feet; by a crown of twelve stars on her head; and by her pregnancy, travail, pains, and cry. The vision of the dragon is in Rev 12:3, who is described by his size, a great one; by his colour, red; by the number of his heads and horns, and the crowns on the former; by the force and strength of his tail, drawing and casting: down to the earth the third part of the stars of heaven; and by his position, standing before the woman, in order to devour her child when born. Next follows an account of the birth of her child, and what became of that and her: the child is said to be a man child, is described as a monarch, and as advanced to great honour and dignity; but she flies into the wilderness, where a place is prepared for her of God, and where she is hid for the space of 1260 days, Rev 12:5; upon this ensues a war in heaven; the combatants on one side were Michael and his angels, and on the other the dragon and his; the issue of which was, that the latter were conquered, and cast out into the earth, Rev 12:7, on account of which victory a triumphant song is sung by the inhabitants of heaven, because of salvation and strength that were come to them; and because of the kingdom and power of Christ, which now took place; and because of the ejection of Satan, the accuser of their brethren; in which song also notice is taken of the manner in which Satan was overcome by those he accused, by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and by their death; and it is concluded with an apostrophe to those that dwell in heaven, calling on them to rejoice, and to the inhabitants of the earth denouncing woe to them, because the devil was among them, whose wrath was great, his time being short, Rev 12:10. Next follow the dragon's persecution of the woman, and her flight into the wilderness, and the care took of her there, as before described, Rev 12:13; then the method the serpent took to annoy her, the help she received from the earth, and the wrath of the dragon upon that; which put him upon making war with the remnant of her seed, who kept the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus, Rev 12:15.

And she being big with child,.... Which may be expressive of the fruitfulness of the church in bearing and bringing forth many souls to Christ, and which were very numerous in this period of time, when it was said of Zion that this and that man was born in her; and particularly of her pregnancy with the kingdom of Christ, to be brought forth, and set up in the Roman empire, under the influence of a Roman emperor: and this being her case, she cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered; which are metaphors taken from a woman in travail; and may either denote the earnest cries and fervent prayers of the members of the church, and the laborious and painful ministrations of the preachers of the Gospel for the conversion of souls, and especially for the setting up of the kingdom of Christ in the empire of Rome; or else the sore and grievous persecutions which attended the apostles of Christ, and succeeding ministers of the word, throughout the times of the ten Roman emperors, and especially under Dioclesian; when the church was big, and laboured in great pain, and the time was drawing on apace that a Christian emperor should be brought forth, who should be a means of spreading the Gospel, and the kingdom of Christ, all over the empire; see Jer 30:6; so the Targumist frequently explains the pains of a woman in travail in the prophets by "tribulation"; see the Targum on Isa 13:8.

And those, "she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world.

“She was with child and cried out in pangs of birth.” This means that by her preaching [the church] desires to gather together the nations of the Gentiles. “She is in anguish for delivery” as long as [the church] is either gathering together the multitude of the Gentiles or is excluding the hypocrites from its womb.

“She was with child,” not in her womb but in her mind, “and she cried out, groaning (in the valley of tears) and was in anguish that she might deliver.” The church spiritually gives birth to those with whom she is in the pangs of childbirth, but she also never ceases to be in the pangs of childbirth with those to whom she has already given birth. For this reason the apostle says, “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.”

And it says she was pregnant, and crying out in labor pains and anguish to give birth; and Isaiah speaks about her before she begins to labor and before the pains of childbirth come, saying she escaped and gave birth to a male child (Isa. 66:7). Gregory, in the thirteenth discourse of his Commentary on the Song of Songs concerning the Lord, says that her pregnancy remains without intercourse, and her delivery is without defilement. The birth was painless. Therefore if, according to such a great prophet and teacher of the church, the Virgin escaped the pain of labor, how then does she cry out in labor and give birth while being in anguish here? The statement is not a contradiction, far from it; for nothing could be contrary to the one and the same speaker addressing both sides. Rather, what is expressed here cries out and is troubled as you might understand. Until the divine angel spoke to Joseph about her, saying that the one conceived is from the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20), the Virgin was understandably distressed, having blushed [ἐρυθριῶσα] toward the one betrothed, and she was considering whether perhaps he might suspect her of secret unions causing her labor pains. Her distress and sorrow, he called, according to the laws of allegory, crying out and anguish, which is not surprising. For even the divine Moses, when he was spiritually encountering God and feeling disheartened, saw Israel in the wilderness surrounded by sea and enemies. It is said by God, "Why do you cry out to me?" (Ex. 14:15) Likewise, now the vision declares a cry concerning the sorrowful disposition in the mind and heart of the Virgin. But you, who are the pure servant and mother according to the flesh, of my Lady, the holy Mother of God [θεοτόκου], having relieved your distress through your ineffable birth, also relieve my sins; for glory belongs to you forever. Amen.

We say that the church is in birth pangs for each one of those who are being born anew through water and the Spirit, “until Christ is formed in them,” as the apostle says. Those who have fallen from the true light of Christ are regarded as miscarriages and experience death at the end of their life because of unfaithfulness.

And being with child, she cried out in travail. The Church, spiritually, both gives birth to those she brings forth and continues to labor for those already born. As she herself says: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians IV).

And she was in pain to deliver. Thus the Lord in the Gospel: A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world (John XVI). Explaining this to His disciples, He added: Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice (John XVI).

And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. This cannot refer specifically to blessed Mary, but it refers to the Church, which suffers here a certain difficulty in childbirth when it tries to give birth once again to people it had already given birth to, until, according to the apostle's saying, we all meet unto a perfect man. [Eph. 4:13]

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, etc. - This, when taken in connection with the following verses, is a striking figure of the great persecution which the Church of Christ should suffer under the heathen Roman emperors, but more especially of that long and most dreadful one under Diocletian. The woman is represented as Being with child, to show that the time would speedily arrive when God's patient forbearance with the heathen would be terminated, and that a deliverer should arise in the Christian world who would execute the Divine vengeance upon paganism.

VISION OF THE WOMAN, HER CHILD, AND THE PERSECUTING DRAGON. (Rev. 12:1-17) This episode (Rev. 12:1-15:8) describes in detail the persecution of Israel and the elect Church by the beast, which had been summarily noticed, Rev 11:7-10, and the triumph of the faithful, and torment of the unfaithful. So also the sixteenth through twentieth chapters are the description in detail of the judgment on the beast, &c., summarily noticed in Rev 11:13, Rev 11:18. The beast in Rev 12:3, &c., is shown not to be alone, but to be the instrument in the hand of a greater power of darkness, Satan. That this is so, appears from the time of the eleventh chapter being the period also in which the events of the twelfth and thirteenth chapters take place, namely, 1260 days (Rev 12:6, Rev 12:14; Rev 13:5; compare Rev 11:2-3). great--in size and significance. wonder--Greek, "sign": significant of momentous truths. in heaven--not merely the sky, but the heaven beyond just mentioned, Rev 11:19; compare Rev 12:7-9. woman clothed with the sun . . . moon under her feet--the Church, Israel first, and then the Gentile Church; clothed with Christ, "the Sun of righteousness." "Fair as the moon, clear as the sun." Clothed with the Sun, the Church is the bearer of divine supernatural light in the world. So the seven churches (that is, the Church universal, the woman) are represented as light-bearing candlesticks (Rev 1:12, Rev 1:20). On the other hand, the moon, though standing above the sea and earth, is altogether connected with them and is an earthly light: sea, earth, and moon represent the worldly element, in opposition to the kingdom of God--heaven, the sun. The moon cannot disperse the darkness and change it into-day: thus she represents the world religion (heathenism) in relation to the supernatural world. The Church has the moon, therefore, under her feet; but the stars, as heavenly lights, on her head. The devil directs his efforts against the stars, the angels of the churches, about hereafter to shine for ever. The twelve stars, the crown around her head, are the twelve tribes of Israel [AUBERLEN]. The allusions to Israel before accord with this: compare Rev 11:19, "the temple of God"; "the ark of His testament." The ark lost at the Babylonian captivity, and never since found, is seen in the "temple of God opened in heaven," signifying that God now enters again into covenant with His ancient people. The woman cannot mean, literally, the virgin mother of Jesus, for she did not flee into the wilderness and stay there for 1260 days, while the dragon persecuted the remnant of her seed (Rev 12:13-17) [DE BURGH]. The sun, moon, and twelve stars, are emblematical of Jacob, Leah, or else Rachel, and the twelve patriarchs, that is, the Jewish Church: secondarily, the Church universal, having under her feet, in due subordination, the ever changing moon, which shines with a borrowed light, emblem of the Jewish dispensation, which is now in a position of inferiority, though supporting the woman, and also of the changeful things of this world, and having on her head the crown of twelve stars, the twelve apostles, who, however, are related closely to Israel's twelve tribes. The Church, in passing over into the Gentile world, is (1) persecuted; (2) then seduced, as heathenism begins to react on her. This is the key to the meaning of the symbolic woman, beast, harlot, and false prophet. Woman and beast form the same contrast as the Son of man and the beasts in Daniel. As the Son of man comes from heaven, so the woman is seen in heaven (Rev 12:1). The two beasts arise respectively out of the sea (compare Dan 7:3) and the earth (Rev 13:1, Rev 13:11): their origin is not of heaven, but of earth earthy. Daniel beholds the heavenly Bridegroom coming visibly to reign. John sees the woman, the Bride, whose calling is heavenly, in the world, before the Lord's coming again. The characteristic of woman, in contradistinction to man, is her being subject, the surrendering of herself, her being receptive. This similarly is man's relation to God, to be subject to, and receive from, God. All autonomy of the human spirit reverses man's relation to God. Woman-like receptivity towards God constitutes faith. By it the individual becomes a child of God; the children collectively are viewed as "the woman." Humanity, in so far as it belongs to God, is the woman. Christ, the Son of the woman, is in Rev 12:5 emphatically called "the MAN-child" (Greek, "huios arrheen," "male-child"). Though born of a woman, and under the law for man's sake, He is also the Son of God, and so the HUSBAND of the Church. As Son of the woman, He is "'Son of man"; as male-child, He is Son of God, and Husband of the Church. All who imagine to have life in themselves are severed from Him, the Source of life, and, standing in their own strength, sink to the level of senseless beasts. Thus, the woman designates universally the kingdom of God; the beast, the kingdom of the world. The woman of whom Jesus was born represents the Old Testament congregation of God. The woman's travail-pains (Rev 12:2) represent the Old Testament believers' ardent longings for the promised Redeemer. Compare the joy at His birth (Isa 9:6). As new Jerusalem (called also "the woman," or "wife," Rev 21:2, Rev 21:9-12), with its twelve gates, is the exalted and transfigured Church, so the woman with the twelve stars is the Church militant.

pained--Greek, "tormented" (basanizomene). DE BURGH explains this of the bringing in of the first-begotten into the world AGAIN, when Israel shall at last welcome Him, and when "the man-child shall rule all nations with the rod of iron." But there is a plain contrast between the painful travailing of the woman here, and Christ's second coming to the Jewish Church, the believing remnant of Israel, "Before she travailed she brought forth . . . a MAN-CHILD," that is, almost without travail-pangs, she receives (at His second advent), as if born to her, Messiah and a numerous seed.