The two great adversaries in the war of Revelation 12 are Michael and the Dragon. Also present is a woman who gives birth to a son. Each character represents a spiritual being.

Michael

The name Michael means “He that is what God is.” Michael is Christ, the leader of the angels. Who would contend with Satan over the body of Moses (Jude 9) other than Christ Himself? And the voice of the archangel that calls forth the dead at the Second Coming of Christ can only be the voice of Christ Himself.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: And the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

In the Old Testament, Christ is called the “Angel of the Lord” or the “Angel of His Presence,” and Michael is called the great prince:

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people (Daniel 12:1).

The Angel who redeemed me from all evil (Genesis 48:16).

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire (Exodus 3:2).

For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them (Isaiah 63:8-9).

The Woman

The woman symbolizes the Church (see Isaiah 54:5-6; 62:5; Jeremiah 6:2). In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul called the Corinthian church the bride of Christ: “for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

What an apt description of the Church of Christ! She has not committed fornication with the world, and her doctrines are pure. The sun, moon, and stars represent the light of heaven that illuminates her.

The Catholic Church teaches that this woman, clothed with the sun, is Mary, because she gave birth to Jesus. However, according to Revelation, the woman is persecuted by the Dragon, flees into the wilderness, and is taken care of for 1260 days (see Daniel 7). Then, the Dragon makes war on the remnant of her offspring. The symbol refers to God’s faithful people (of which Mary was a member). It was out of God’s people that the Messiah was to come.

The Child

She bore a male Child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne (Revelation 12:5 NKJV).

This child is Christ. It is He that will rule the nations, and He that ascended into heaven. Psalm 2:7-9 says this:

I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me,“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel (NKJV).

Ahead to the The Dragon, who represents Satan.
Back to The Great Controversy.