Center for Biblical Theology and Eschatology

The Birth of Jesus Triumphs Over Satan
Revelation Chapter 12

by Rev. David W. Hall

These Scripture verses may seem odd for a sermon that can be preached at Christmas. Who would have thought we could turn to the Book of Revelation, with all its apocalyptic symbolism and surrealistic word-pictures to inform us about Christmas. Yet Revelation speaks to us in every age and any season. One of the things we learn from this series on Revelation is the timeless application of the message of Revelation. It is most appropriate to mine this final book for an Advent sermon. 
 This book, and particularly these chapters, have more relevance than merely at the end of time. Even though we usually associate the message of the Revelation with the Second Coming of Christ, it also tells us much about his First Coming at Christmas. 

This passage in Revelation 12 unmistakably teaches us about the birth of Christ. It particularly portrays by a vision a cosmic conflict of the ages in which Satan tried to destroy and annul the Incarnate One’s entrance into this world. Satan, symbolically described here as a dragon (12:3, 4, 9), tried to annihilate the Christ child before he was ever born. 

 Chapter 12 describes in symbolic terms both the heavenly warfare and why Christians face such satanic evil and persecution. Throughout, it stresses that God has decisively defeated Satan and assures us that he is already defeated. "Satan’s power on earth is, to be sure, terrifyingly real to believers. But this is not because he is triumphant. It is because he knows that he is beaten and has but a short time." (Leon Morris, in loc.) 

 The dragon tried to destroy both the woman (who signifies the church) and the Messiah (the male child) who would rule all nations with an iron scepter (Ps. 2:9 fulfilled). This highly symbolic vision, however, encourages us that through the Messiah’s incarnation on that First Christmas, Satan’s effort was thwarted. 

 This passage in the Revelation depicts the continuous struggle between God and Satan’s forces. Yet miraculously, God delivered the Messiah from extinction and provided the triumph for Messiah. Before proceeding further, make sure you have the main picture before you. Details should not bog us down to the extent that we miss the main message. There are three main characters in this passage: 

• Pregnant Woman — not Mary. This is a sign according to 12:1. 
• Dragon — clearly Satan according to verse 9. 
• Male Child — who can only be Christ "who will rule all nations with an iron scepter." That was predicted long ago in Psalm 2. The second Psalm predicted that, despite the efforts of kings and nations to conspire against the Lord and his Messiah, nevertheless, he would laugh at them (Ps. 2:4) and install his king who would "rule them with an iron scepter." (Ps. 2:9) 

This male child is unquestionably the long-awaited Messiah, his birth and opposition to him. 

 This vision is about the invisible spiritual warfare surrounding the birth of Christ and ensuing hostility. The reader should not get side-tracked on the sun, moons, stars, number of crowns and heads before beginning. It would be better to keep the conflict between these characters before you, and ask, "What central event and character does this describe?" It is this Triumphant Messiah who was born into the humblest estate, that we worship at Advent. 

 His triumph appears all the more majestic and worthy of worship if we recall the most intense Satanic efforts to eliminate the coming of the Messiah. From the Garden of Eden until the First Christmas, Satan has been at work with all his might trying to exterminate the Messiah who would come. But he never did. God was triumphant on that First Christmas day, successfully avoiding the dark tyrant’s threat. This chapter reviews some of Satan’s efforts and God’s resulting victories. In doing so, we will see the Bible’s triumphant philosophy of history which comforts us at all times. Messiah triumphs every time. 

 Think of an arch-enemy or a rival who tries year after year to defeat his nemesis. This arch-enemy gets close but never quite wins. After years, he is seething and resorts to ever devious methods. He will do anything to stop the Messiah. 

 Thus viewed, this is a great and continuing drama. At Christ’s birth he triumphed over his deadly arch-enemy’s violent efforts. The Revelation speaks to this and unveils the cosmic significance. "Thus viewed the entire Old Testament becomes one story, the story of the conflict between the seed of the woman and the dragon, between Christ and Satan. In this conflict, Christ, of course, is victorious." (Hendriksen, 163) 

 Satan tried to defeat Christ in the Old Testament epoch and up to the birth. At Christmas we may better appreciate and worship our triumphant Messiah if we see this sweep of OT history and providence. 

 The first skirmish and hint of perpetual warfare between Christ and Satan is found in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3 records the temptation, sin, and fall of Adam and Eve. After this, God exacts appropriate judgments on Adam, Eve and the Serpent. In Genesis 3:15, God’s judgment pronounced on the Serpent (Satan) is that he will bruise the heel of the child of the woman (Messiah), but that child will crush (destroy) his head. This is exactly what happened at Calvary’s cross. The Serpent (the same as Dragon in Revelation 12) thought he had won the victory by killing Christ. But No! While it "appeared" a mortal wound, in reality it was, like a foot injury, hardly fatal and caused little more than a temporary halt to activity (3 days in the tomb). 

 So then the conflict is announced (as early as Genesis 3) that the Serpent would repeatedly try to destroy the champion Messiah. But the Messiah will triumph or crush his enemy. Revelation 12 and Genesis 3 both have the same characters in mind (Messiah - Woman - Satan) and proclaim the same message: Messiah is triumphant. 

 In the continuing saga, Cain and Abel are born to Adam and Eve, but Cain slays Abel. Hendriksen comments: "Then Seth is born. Does Satan realize that the family of Seth has been predestined to bring forth the promised seed, the Messiah? One is inclined to think so, for the devil now begins to do all in his power to destroy Seth. He whispers into the ears of Seth’s sons that they must marry the daughters of Cain. He tries to destroy Seth’s generations in order thus to annihilate the promise concerning the Messiah. Does the dragon succeed? It looks as if he might, for the whole world has been corrupted. Satan has triumphed . . . no, not entirely. Among the families that descended from Seth there is one which fears the Lord, that of Noah. God saves this one family, while the Flood destroys the rest. In this one family the promise is continued." (Hendriksen, 166) The line of Messiah is triumphant and Satan cannot exterminate it. God whisks the woman and child to safety. 

 The next stage of conflict is after the Flood. Again the dragon stands in front of the woman in order to destroy the child. "The promise concerning the Messiah is now given to Abraham and Sarah his wife. Humanly speaking, however, that promise will never be fulfilled, for Abraham is old and Sarah is barren. The dragon has almost triumphed, when the miracle happens and Isaac is born! The promise is now given to Isaac. But the Lord orders Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt-offering! And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son . . ." What now will become of God’s promise? Surely, now the dragon triumphs. But does he? You know better. The Angel of the Lord appears and says to Abraham, "Do not kill the lad. Now I know that you fear me, because you haven’t withheld your only son from me. . . and in your seed all the nations will be blessed." Who was this seed to bless the nations? Not just Isaac but Jesus. The New Testament tells us in Galatians 3:16, "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The scripture does not say and to seeds meaning many people, but and to your seed, meaning one person who is Christ." 

 The Messiah would be the triumphant blessing to all nations and people who believe. Revelation 12 teaches us this angle of persistent warfare throughout the OT where Satan tries to kill and destroy. 

 The seed that was going to destroy the serpent’s head would be born from the generations of Isaac and Rebekah, but Rebekah was barren! Again Jehovah, the God of the promise, performs a miracle, and Rebekah conceives so that the promise is continued in the line of Jacob. 

 And we cannot overlook Satan’s attempt to terminate the Messianic line in Joseph’s time. I believe that Satan inspired jealousy in Joseph’s brothers and motivated them to sell him into slavery into Egypt. The line of the Messiah was about to come about and the dragon waits, ready to pounce and destroy it. But God whisks Joseph away to safety. 
 Satan was behind all that. Review how that account of Joseph goes: 

• Joseph was sold into slavery; his brothers were jealous of him. 
• Raised to prominence in Potiphar’s court. 
• Accused of an immoral affair by Mrs. Potiphar. 
• Thrown into jail; looks like he will die out in shame. 
• Interprets dreams; one of which later leads him to interpret Pharoh’s dreams. 
• Then becomes second in command in all of Egypt. 
• Meanwhile famine strikes Israel. 
• Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt in search of grain. 
• Joseph provides for his family. 

If he had not been there, the twelve tribes likely would have starved. 

 But Joseph shows his knowledge of God’s purpose as he says in Genesis 45:8: "It was not you who sent me here, but God. He sent me ahead of you (v. 7) to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." Genesis 50:20 reaffirms: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." In this, God provided a beautiful example of harmony. All throughout Scripture this conflict and attack is present. 

 Satan attempted to use slavery, moral accusations, imprisonment and famine all to stamp out the tribes of Israel so that Jesus would never be born. That was his goal: to devour the son before he could be viable. But in all this our Triumphant Messiah is victorious. Hear Revelation 12:4b: "The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour her child . . . she gave birth to a son, a male child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter." This is a fulfillment of Psalm 2:9 concerning the Messiah. 

 Next the Dragon tries to devour the child of the woman by tempting Israel to become a part of Egypt’s religion. After Joseph, the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians. Before the Exodus, the Jews were nearly acculturated into Egyptian cult worship. But Satan does not triumph! Pharaoh tries to extinguish the line by murdering all males at birth. God sends a deliverer—Moses, who leads the people out and away from the Satanic inspired religion of Egypt. But Satan dogs their tracks in the wilderness. He immediately seduces them into idol worship of a calf and rejecting Moses’ leadership. Yet God protects, refines, and disciplines this people as they head toward the Promised Land. The Messiah of Triumph is coming. Satan is not more powerful. 

 The whole of the Old Testament is the story of Satan’s unsuccessful attempts to prevent Christ’s birth. God is sovereign. Throughout the period after Moses’ death (during the time of Joshua and the Judges), the Messiah’s stock is often seduced away from Yahweh by other false religions. But the dragon is not effective in consuming the seed of the woman. There is always a remnant of faithful followers, looking for the Messiah, who did not capitulate and receive the mark of the beast on their forehead. The promised Messiah would still be born and triumph over Satan. 

 Again history moves on. "Out of the tribe of Judah God chooses one family, that of David. The promised Messiah will be born as the Seed of David. So the devil now aims his arrow at David. David must be destroyed! We read in the Book of Samuel, ‘And Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall.’ Saul did this because an evil spirit (an agent of the Dragon) came mightily upon him. Did the dragon succeed? No, for David escaped out of Saul’s presence twice. The Christ even during the Old Testament is at work on earth, safeguarding the promise concerning himself!" (Hendriksen, 168) 

 The triumphant Messiah will be the shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse (Is. 11:1); the dragon will not devour him prematurely. 

 Later in Elijah’s time, the Dragon nearly succeeds in conquering the seed of the woman. In the late 9th century BC, Israel has virtually given up its worship of Yahweh in exchange for Baal worship. But God sends Elijah to confront this evil and he triumphs over the Baal prophets. He (Elijah) thinks he is alone. Although small in number, God assures Elijah that there are 7000 more who haven’t bowed the knee to Baal. This remnant will result in the Triumphant Messiah . . . unless Satan can first terminate it. 

 Shift to another scene, a century later. "Athaliah, the wicked daughter of wicked parents—Ahab and Jezebel—is reigning. In order that she may have absolute power she conceives in her heart to destroy all the seed of David. Thus again the coming of the Mediator in human form is threatened. The dragon stands in front of the woman; his wrath is directed against the child. And now, finally, Satan is successful. At least, so it seems. Read in 2 Kings 11: ‘Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahazia saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.’ Destroyed all the seed royal! Of course, if ALL the royal seed is destroyed, then the Christ cannot be born as the legal son and heir of David. Then God’s plan is frustrated. Then the promise has failed. Athaliah destroyed ALL the seed royal. That is, she thought she did! Read the next line (2 Kings 11:1, 2ff.) ‘But Jehosheba, a priest, took Joash, the son of Ahazia, and stole him away from among the king’s sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in a bed-chamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain." (Hendriksen, 168) How wonderful are God’s ways. How marvelous his providence! "By and by we see Joash again six years later. And upon his head there is a crown. We hear people shouting: Long live the king! Again the promise is saved. Christ will be born of David’s line." 

 Isaiah witnessed God’s triumph in even more dramatic fashion. Amidst the imminent oppression of the Assyrian military machine, poised to slaughter Judah he prophesied that the young virgin would conceive a "Sign of Hope." Isaiah 7:6ff says, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." God’s purpose must stand. Immanuel must be born . . . from the family of David! 

 This Messiah would be a sign of God’s assured triumph. Still later, Isaiah saw God deliver Hezekiah and Judah from the Assyrian horde. Isaiah envisioned the coming of the Triumphant Messiah and knew that God would safeguard the Messiah’s parentage. Yet by the time of Isaiah’s successor, Jeremiah, Satan appears to have all but triumphed. The darkness of the Babylonian captivity clouded Israel’s horizon. The people had been taken from the land—the birthplace of Abram’s seed was stolen. Humiliated Judah was exiled from the ash-heap of defeat and carted off in exile to Babylon. Isn’t this the end of this Messiah’s people? How can he come from a tribe cut off at its roots? 

 Now hasn’t the Dragon conquered? No more than before. God forbid! God’s people will be kept in exile and even return to yield God’s own Messiah. For God used men like Daniel in exile, still to preserve the remnant. Even in captivity God’s purposed plan for the Messiah from the Jews could not be thwarted. The Dragon will not triumph by devouring the woman’s child who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. This son is safeguarded by God’s throne. 

 A little later, "King Ahasuerus is reigning. It is the fifth century BC. At the request of Haman, the king now issues a decree that throughout his vast domain all the Jews should be put to death, Esther 3:13. This decree is sealed with the king’s ring! This promise could not be broken. But Jehovah’s promise concerning the Mediator, to be born of the seed of David, was sealed with the oath of the King of Kings! Need I relate what happened? Read the book of Esther. The Jews, again, were saved!" (Hendriksen, 169) The Messiah would come! 

 Even in the period between the Testaments, when Greece and Rome tried to exterminate the pestiferous Jews (as Herod called them), God preserved these people for the particular purpose of producing the Messiah. Satan seemed to triumph, but what empty victories. Praise to our Triumphant God! 

 Clarence Larkin acknowleged: "The history of the Christian Church [indeed all of human history] is but one long story of the ‘Irrepressible conflict’ between Satan and God’s people." The lesson is clear: The OT is the chronicle of warfare between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The serpent and his agents constantly try to knock the child of the woman off the throne that is so rightly is. But he is never successful. That’s why the NT assures us of Christ’s superiority: "Greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world." 

 This drama was played out once again at the birth of Jesus. 

 Consult Matthew 2:1-18 for what seems to be the final act in this mighty drama. "Yet it is not really final. The scene is Bethlehem. There in a manger lies the Christ-child. But although he is not actually born, the Dragon tries to destroy him." (Hendriksen, 169) Remember Revelation 12 covering with one stroke of the pen the entire previous history of Satan’s warfare against the Christ, applies also to the events that took place in connection with Christ’s birth. Note v. 4: "And the Dragon stand in front of the woman who is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child." The Dragon stalks Joseph and Mary before the birth of Christ. 

 Hence in Matthew 2 we see wise men from the East. We see them in the audience-chamber of Herod. They inquire about the Messiah’s birth and location, attracting Herod’s jealousy. "Be sure," says Herod, "to report to me as soon as you shall have found the child, that I also may come and worship him." The record in Matthew 2:7-8 states his intention was to kill the child. The Dragon used Herod to try to ruin God’s plan. But the wise men, warned of God, returned to their country another way after they had found and worshiped the Christ (v. 12). Still, the Dragon refuses to admit defeat. The infants of Bethlehem and surroundings, two years old and under, are slain. Satan stops at nothing; there is no end to his seething brutality. 

 Notice how Satan indiscriminately murders infants in his attempt to kill the Messiah, but God triumphantly and miraculously provided. Earlier, Herod failed (cf. Mt. 2:13-15a.). So did the Dragon. The Christ-child was safe in Egypt. God’s purpose can never be frustrated, not even by human choices. Christ’s birth in Bethlehem is God’s victory over the Dragon. The Savior’s death on the cross for his people is his further victory. Christ triumphs! — And the angels sing: "Glory to God in the highest." 

 The Bible is a marvelous unity. Revelation is tied into Genesis, and that is all on display at Advent. One might even suspect that this book had a unity of authorship or that the plan was written in advance by a all-knowing God. 

 This passage in Revelation 12 applies not to the spiritual significance of Christmas only, but is also relevant to our daily struggles with Satan. It is not just end-time material. And if God can triumph like this over such an enemy in such dire circumstances, he can still triumph over any enemy and any circumstance through Jesus our Messiah. Messiah came and triumphed over Satan’s wiles. He still does that at Christmas. 

 Sometimes, you may wonder if the Messiah will triumph. At this particular time as some may face sadness, loneliness, doubt, a first Christmas without a loved one, a disappointment, or a crisis, or it may seem that the Dragon is about to consume and that the Messiah cannot possibly triumph over these circumstances. Despair seems to envelop the whole of our existence. But remember he has triumphed and he will! Today, in his own way, Messiah is and will triumph over Satan. The Dragon will not triumph. You can rest assured of this because God is faithful, and never once in history of Satan’s contest with God has Satan ultimately triumphed. 

 The birth of Messiah is God’s majestic triumph over the powers of darkness. In this historic event the child of the woman predicted in Genesis 3 escapes the attack of the Dragon and then conquers him. 

 For this, at Christmas we should truly celebrate. Hence this Christmas celebrate the Triumph in which God provided by safeguarding the birth of Messiah. What a Triumph. What a Messiah. Born at Christmas to overcome Satan. Indeed, Good News! The best of news. Messiah of Triumph has come. Celebrate his Triumphant birth in your hearts with Great Joy! 

 Also remember that his Word is always true. "The death struggle of a defeated foe will bring severe tribulation, but the outcome is certain—God will come in judgment to destroy his enemies and reward his own." (Mounce, loc. cit., 234) 
 "Joy to the World!" is appropriate. 

SIDEBAR: Patristic Insight: 
Alexander of Alexandria (ANF 6:336-340) 
CHAP. V.—The Woman Who Brings Forth, To Whom the Dragon is Opposed, The Church; Her Adornment and Grace. 

The woman who appeared in heaven clothed with the sun, and crowned with twelve stars, and having the moon for her footstool, and being with child, and travailing in birth, is certainly, according to the accurate interpretation, our mother, O virgins, being a power by herself distinct from her children; whom the prophets, according to the aspect of their subjects, have called sometimes Jerusalem, sometimes a Bride, sometimes Mount Zion, and sometimes the Temple and Tabernacle of God. For she is the power which is desired to give light in the prophet, the Spirit crying to her: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." It is the Church whose children shall come to her with all speed after the resurrection, running to her from all quarters. She rejoices receiving the light which never goes down, and clothed with the brightness of the Word as with a robe. For with what other more precious or honourable ornament was it becoming that the queen should be adorned, to be led as a Bride to the Lord, when she had received a garment of light, and therefore was called by the Father? Come, then, let us go forward in our discourse, and look upon this marvelous woman as upon virgins prepared for a marriage, pure and undefiled, perfect and radiating a permanent beauty, wanting nothing of the brightness of light; and instead of a dress, clothed with light itself; and instead of precious stones, her head adorned with shining stars. For instead of the clothing which we have, she had light; and for gold and brilliant stones, she had stars; but stars not such as those which are set in the invisible heaven, but better and more resplendent, so that those may rather be considered as their images and likenesses. 

. . . (Chap. IX) So far I have spoken according to my ability concerning the travail of the Church; and here we must change to the subject of the dragon and the other matters. Let us endeavour, then, to explain it in some measure, not deterred by the greatness of the obscurity of the Scripture; and if anything difficult comes to be considered, I will again help you to cross it like a river. 

CHAP. X.—The Dragon, The Devil: The Stars Struck from Heaven by the Tail of the Dragon, heretics; The Numbers of the Trinity, That is, The Persons Numbered: Errors Concerning Them. 
The dragon, which is great, and red, and cunning, and manifold, and seven-headed, and horned, and draws down the third part of the stars, and stands ready to devour the child of the woman who is travailing, is the devil, who lies in wait to destroy the Christ-accepted mind of the baptized, and the image and clear features of the Word which had been brought forth in them. But he misses and fails of his prey, the, regenerate being caught up on high to the throne of God—that is, the mind of those who are renovated is lifted up around the divine seat and the basis of truth against which there is no stumbling, being taught to look upon and regard the things which are there, so that it may not be deceived by the dragon weighing them down. For it is not allowed to him to destroy those whose thoughts and looks are upwards. And the stars, which the dragon touched with the end of his tail, and drew them down to earth, are the bodies of heresies; for we must say that the stars, which are dark, obscure, and falling, are the assemblies of the heterodox; since they, too, wish to be acquainted with the heavenly ones, and to have believed in Christ, and to have the seat of their soul in heaven, and to come near to the stars as children of light. But they are dragged down, being shaken out by the folds of the dragon, because they did not remain within the triangular forms of godliness, falling away from it with respect to an orthodox service. Whence also they are called the third part of the stars, as having gone astray with regard to one of the three Persons of the Trinity. As when they say, like Sabellios, that the Almighty Person of the Father Himself suffered; or as when they say, like Artemas, that the Person of the Son was born and manifested only in appearance; or when they contend, like the Ebionites, that the prophets spoke of the Person of the Spirit, of their own motion. For of Marcion and Valentinus, and those about Elkesaios and others, it is better not even to make mention. 

CHAP. XI.—The Woman with the Male Child in the Wilderness, The Church; The Wilderness Belongs to Virgins and Saints; The Perfection of Numbers and Mysteries; The Equality and Perfection of the Number six; The Number Six Related to Christ; From this Number, too, the Creation and Harmony of the World Completed. 

Now she who brings forth, and has brought forth, the masculine Word in the hearts of the faithful, and who passed, undefiled and uninjured by the wrath of the beast, into the wilderness, is, as we have explained, our mother the Church. And the wilderness into which she comes, and is nourished for a thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is truly waste and unfruitful of evils, and barren of corruption, and difficult of access and of transit to the multitude; but fruitful and abounding in pasture, and blooming and easy of access to the holy, and full of wisdom, and productive of life, is this most lovely, and beautifully wooded and well-watered abode of Arete. Here the south wind awakes, and the north wind blows, and the spices flow out, and all things are filled with refreshing dews, and crowned with the unfading plants of immortal life; in which we now gather flowers, and weave with sacred fingers the purple and glorious crown of virginity for the queen. For the Bride of the Word is adorned with the fruits of virtue. And the thousand two hundred and sixty days that we are staying here, O virgins, is the accurate and perfect understanding concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, in which our mother increases, and rejoices, and exults throughout this time, until the restitution of the new dispensation, when, coming into the assembly in the heavens, she will no longer contemplate the I AM through the means of human knowledge, but will clearly behold entering in together with Christ. For a thousand, consisting of a hundred multiplied by ten, embraces a full and perfect number, and is a symbol of the Father Himself, who made the universe by Himself, and rules all things for Himself. Two hundred embraces two perfect numbers united together, and is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, since He is the Author of our knowledge of the Son and the Father. But sixty has the number six multiplied by ten, and is a symbol of Christ, because the number six proceeding from unity is composed of its proper parts, so that nothing in it is wanting or redundant, and is complete when resolved into its parts. Thus it is necessary that the number six, when it is divided into even parts by even parts, should again make up the same quantity from its separated segment. For, first, if divided equally, it makes three; then, if divided into three parts, it makes two; and again, if divided by six, it makes one, and is again collected into itself. For when divided into twice three, and three times two, and six times one, when the three and the two and the one are put together, they complete the six again. But everything is of necessity perfect which neither needs anything else in order to its completion, nor has anything over. Of the other numbers, some are more than perfect, as twelve. For the half of it is six, and the third four, and the fourth three, and the sixth two, and the twelfth one. The numbers into which it can be divided, when put together, exceed twelve, this number not having preserved itself equal to its parts, like the number six. And those which are imperfect, are numbers like eight. For the half of it is four, and the fourth two, and the eighth one. Now the numbers into which it is divided, when put together, make seven, and one is wanting to its completion, not being in all points harmonious with itself, like six, which has reference to the Son of God, who came from the fulness of the Godhead into a human life. For having emptied Himself, and taken upon Him the form of a slave, He was restored again to His former perfection and dignity. For He being humbled, and apparently degraded, was restored again from His humiliation and degradation to His former completeness and greatness, having never been diminished from His essential perfection. 
Moreover, it is evident that the creation of the world was accomplished in harmony with this number, God having made heaven and earth, and the things which are in them, in six days; the word of creative power containing the number six, in accordance with which the Trinity is the maker of bodies. For length, and breadth, and depth make up a body. And the number six is composed of triangles. On these subjects, however, there is not sufficient time at present to enlarge with accuracy, for fear of letting the main subject slip, in considering that which is secondary. 

CHAP. XIII.—The Seven Crowns of the Beast to be Taken Away by Victorious Chastity; The Ten Crowns of the Dragon, The Vices Opposed to the Decalogue; The Opinion of Fate the Greatest Evil. 

Therefore, taking to you a masculine and sober mind, oppose your armour to the swelling beast, and do not at all give way, nor be troubled because of his fury. For you will have immense glory if you overcome him, and take away the seven crowns which are upon him, on account of which we have to struggle and wrestle, according to our teacher Paul. For she who having first overcome the devil, and destroyed his seven heads, becomes possessed of the seven crowns of virtue, having gone through the seven great struggles of chastity. For incontinence and luxury is a head of the dragon; and whoever bruises this is wreathed with the crown of temperance. Cowardice and weakness is also a head; and he who treads upon this carries off the crown of martyrdom. Unbelief and folly, and other similar fruits of wickedness, is another head; and he who has overcome these and destroyed them carries off the honours connected with them, the power of the dragon being in many ways rooted up. Moreover, the ten horns and stings which he was said to have upon his heads are the ten opposites, O virgins, to the Decalogue, by which he was accustomed to gore and cast down the souls of many imagining and contriving things in opposition to the law, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," and to the other precepts which follow. . . . 

It is important to remember that, undoubtedly, the best of earlier commentators adopted paths of interpretation we might not follow today. However, the application of Revelation to spiritual issues of the day has been a part of Christian interpretation in all ages and is worth preserving. 

The Rev. David W. Hall has been married to Ann since 1980 and is the father of three children and nine grandchildren. He has served as the Senior Pastor of the Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Powder Springs, Georgia, since 2003. Previously, he served as Pastor of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (1984-2003) and as Associate Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Rome, Georgia (1980-1984). Pastor Hall’s undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis (B. A., 1975) was in philosophy. After completing his undergraduate studies, Pastor Hall studied at Swiss L’Abri and then enrolled at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, graduating in 1980. He was ordained in 1980 and later earned a Ph. D. in Christian Intellectual Thought from Whitefield Theological Seminary. His dissertation later became The Genevan Reformation and the American Founding (Lexington Books, 2003).