Revelation 12:6

And the woman fled— Bishop Newton, explaining this and the foregoing verses, observes, that St. John resumes his subject from the beginning, and represents the church, Revelation 12:1 as a woman, and a mother bearing children unto Christ. She is clothed with the sun;—invested with the rays of Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness; having the moon, the Jewish new moons and festivals, as well as all sublunary things, under her feet; and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; an emblem of her being under the light and guidance of the twelve apostles. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, &c. St. Paul has made use of the same metaphor, and applied it to his preaching and propagating the gospel in the midst of persecution and tribulation, Galatians 4:19. But the words of St. John are much stronger, and more emphatically express the pangs and struggles which the church endured from the first publication of the gospel, to the time of Constantine the Great; when she was in some measure eased of her pains, and brought forth a deliverer. At that time (Revelation 12:3.) there appeared a great red dragon, &c. This is a well known symbol of the Devil and Satan, and of his agents and instruments. We find the kings and people of Egypt, who were the great persecutors of the primitive church of Israel, distinguished by this title in Psalms 74:13.Isaiah 51:9. Ezekiel 29:3 and with as much reason and propriety may the people and emperors of Rome, who were the great persecutors of the primitive church of Christ, be called by the same name, as they were actuated by the same principle; for that the Roman empire was here figured, the characters and attributes of the dragon plainly evince. He is a great red dragon; and purple, or scarlet, was the distinguishing colour of the Roman emperors, consuls, and generals; as it has been since of the popes and cardinals. His seven heads (as the angel, ch. Revelation 17:9 explains the vision,) allude to the seven mountains upon which Rome was built, and to the seven forms of government which successively prevailed there. His ten horns testify the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided; and the seven crowns upon his heads, denote that at this time the imperial power was in Rome,—the "high city, seated on seven hills, which presides over the whole world," as Propertius describes it, lib. 3: eleg. 11: ver. 57. His tail also, Revelation 12:4 drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth; that is, he subjected the third part of the princes and potentates of the earth; and the Roman empire, as we have shewn before, is represented as the third part of the world. He stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, to devour her child, &c. and the Roman emperors and magistrates kept a jealous eye over the Christians from the beginning. As Pharaoh laid snares for the male children of the Hebrews, and Herod for the infant Christ, the Son of Mary; so did the Roman dragon for the mystic Christ, the son of the church, that he might destroy him even in his infancy. But notwithstanding the jealousy of the Romans, the gospel was widely diffused and propagated, and the church brought many children unto Christ, and in time such as were promoted to the empire. She brought forth a man child, &c. Revelation 12:5. As the word rendered child, properly signifies a son, it could not possibly signify any thing but a male; but the addition of the word man or male to it, might be intended to express the vigorous constitution of the child, and what may be called a masculine form, which may or may not be ascribed to the male sex. It was predicted that Christ should rule over the nations, Psalms 2:9 but Christ, who is himself invisible in the heavens, ruleth visibly in the Christian magistrates, princes, and emperors: it was therefore promised before to Christians in general, ch. Revelation 2:26. He that overcometh, &c. But it should seem that Constantine was here particularly intended, for whose life the dragon (or Galerius,) laid many snares; but he providentially escaped them all, and, notwithstanding all opposition, was caught up to the throne of God;—was not only secured by the divine protection, but was advanced to the imperial throne, called the throne of God; for, there is no power but of God, &c. Romans 13:1. He too ruled all nations with a rod of iron, for he had not only the Romans, who before had persecuted the church, under his dominion, but he also subdued the Scythians, Sarmatians, and other barbarous nations, who had never before been subject to the Roman empire. And Spanheim informs us, that there are still extant medals and coins of Constantine with these inscriptions, "The subduer of the barbarous nations;"—"The conqueror of all nations;"—"Every where a conqueror;" and the like. What is added in this verse, of the woman's flying into the wilderness, &c. is said by way of prolepsis, or anticipation; for the war in heaven between Michael and the dragon, and other subsequent events, were prior in order of time to the flight of the woman into the wilderness: but before the prophet passes on to a new subject, he gives a general account of what happened to the woman afterwards, and enters more into the particulars in their proper place.