Notes on the New Testament, Explanatory and Practical: Revelation

by Albert Barnes

¶ And by the word of their testimony. The faithful testimony which they bore to the truth. That is, they adhered to the truth in their sufferings, they declared their belief in it, even in the pains of martyrdom; and it was by this that they overcame the great enemy—that is, by this that the belief in the gospel was established and maintained in the world. The reference here is to the effects of persecution and to the efforts of Satan to drive religion from the world by persecution. John says that the result as he saw it in vision was, that the persecuted church bore a faithful testimony to the truth, and that the great enemy was overcome. ¶ And they loved not their lives unto the death. They did not so love their lives that they were unwilling to die as martyrs. They did not shrink back when threatened with death, but remained firm in their attachment to their Saviour, and left their dying testimony to the truth and power of religion. It was by these means that Christianity was established in the world, and John, in the scene before us, saw it thus triumphant, and saw the angels and the redeemed in heaven celebrating the triumph. The result of the attempts to destroy the Christian religion by persecution demonstrated that it was to triumph. No more mighty power could be employed to crush it than was employed by the Roman emperors; and when it was seen that Christianity could survive those efforts to crush it it was certainthat it was destined to live for ever.

12 Therefore[388] rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe[389] to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because [390]he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens. It is not unusual in the Scriptures to call on the heavens and the earth to sympathize with the events that occur. Comp. Notes on Is. i. 2. Here the heavens are called on to rejoice because of the signal victory which it was seen would be achieved over the great enemy. Heaven itself was secure from any further rebellion or invasion, and the foundation was laid for a final victory over Satan everywhere. ¶ And ye that dwell in them. The angels and the redeemed. This is an instance of the sympathy of the heavenly inhabitants—the unfallen and holy beings before the throne—with the church on earth, and with all that may affect its welfare. Compare Notes on 1 Pe. i. 12. ¶ Woe to the inhabiters of the earth. This is not an imprecation, or a wish that woe might come upon them, but a prediction that it would. The meaning is this: Satan would ultimately be entirely overcome—a fact that was symbolized by his being cast out of heaven; but there would be still temporary war upon the earth, as if he were permitted to roam over the world for a time and to spread woe and sorrow there. ¶ And of the sea. Those who inhabit the islands of the sea and those who are engaged in commerce. The meaning is, that the world as such would have occasion to mourn—the dwellers both on the land and on the sea. ¶ For the devil is come down unto you. As if cast out of heaven. ¶ Having great wrath. Wrath shown by the symbolical war with Michael and his angels (ver. 7); wrath increased and inflamed because he has been discomfited; wrath the more concentrated because he knows that his time is limited. ¶ Because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. That is, he knows that the time is limited in which he will be permitted to wage war with the saints on the earth. There is allusion elsewhere to the fact that the time of Satan is limited, and that he is apprised of that. Thus in Mat. viii. 29, “Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” See Notes on that passage. Within that limited space, Satan knows that he must do all that he ever can do to destroy souls, and to spread woe through the earth, and hence it is not unnatural that he should be represented as excited to deeper wrath, and as rousing all his energy to destroy the church.

13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth. That is, when Satan saw that he was doomed to discomfiture and overthrow, as if he had been cast out of heaven; when he saw that his efforts must be confined to the earth, and that only for a limited time, he “persecuted the woman,” and was more violently enraged against the church on earth. ¶ He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. See Notes on [ver. 5]. The child is represented as safe; that is, the ultimate progress and extension of the church was certain. But Satan was permitted still to wage a warfare against the church—represented here by his wrath against the woman, and by her being constrained to flee into the wilderness. It is unnecessary to say that, after the Pagan persecutions ceased, and Christianity was firmly established in the empire; after Satan saw that all hope of destroying the church in that manner was at an end, his enmity was vented in another form—in the rise of the Papacy, and in the persecutions under that—an opposition to spiritual religion no less determined and deadly than that which had been waged by Paganism.

14 And to the woman were given two [391]wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle. The most powerful of birds, and among the most rapid in flight. See Notes on [ch. iv. 7]. The meaning here is, that thewoman is represented as prepared for a rapid flight; so prepared as to be able to outstrip her pursuer, and to reach a place of safety. Divested of the figure, the sense is, that the church, when exposed to this form of persecution, would be protected as if miraculously supplied with wings. ¶ That she might fly into the wilderness. There is here a more full description of what is briefly stated in ver. 6. A wilderness or desert is often represented as a place of safety from pursuers. Thus David (1 Sa. xxiii. 14, 15) is represented as fleeing into the wilderness from the persecutions of Saul. So Elijah (1 Ki. xix. 4) fled into the wilderness from the persecutions of Jezebel. The simple idea here is, that the church, in the opposition which would come upon it, would find a refuge. ¶ Into her place. A place appointed for her; that is, a place where she could be safe. ¶ Where she is nourished. The word here rendered nourished is the same—τρέφω—which occurs in ver. 6, and which is there rendered feed. It means to feed, nurse, or nourish, as the young of animals (Mat. vi. 26; xxv. 37; Lu. xii. 24; Ac. xii. 20); that is, to sustain by proper food. The meaning here is, that the church would be kept alive. It is not indeed mentioned by whom this would be done, but it is evidently implied that it would be by God. During this long period in which the church would be in obscurity, it would not be suffered to become extinct. Comp. 1 Ki. xvii. 3–6. ¶ For a time, and times, and half a time. A year, two years, and half a year; that is, forty-two months (see Notes on [ch. xi. 2]); or, reckoning the month at thirty days, twelve hundred and sixty days; and regarding these as prophetic days, in which a day stands for a year, twelve hundred and sixty years. For a full discussion of the meaning of this language, see Notes on Da. vii. 25; and Editor’s [Pref.] For the evidence, also, that the time thus specified refers to the Papacy, and to the period of its continuance, see the Notes on that place. The full consideration given to the subject there renders it unnecessary to discuss it here. For it is manifest that there is an allusion here to the passage in Daniel; that the twelve hundred and sixty days refer to the same thing; and that the true explanation must be made in the same way. The main difficulty, as is remarked on the Notes on that passage, is in determining the time when the Papacy properly commenced. If that could be ascertained with certainty, there would be no difficulty in determining when it would come to an end. But though there is considerable uncertainty as to the exact time when it arose, and though different opinions have been entertained on that point, yet it is true that all the periods assigned for the rise of that power lead to the conclusion that the time of its downfall cannot be remote. The meaning in the passage before us is, that during all the time of the continuance of that formidable, persecuting power, the true church would not in fact become extinct. It would be obscure and comparatively unknown, but it would still live. The fulfilment of this is found in the fact, that during all the time here referred to, there has been a true church on the earth. Pure, spiritual religion—the religion of the New Testament—has never been wholly extinct.In the history of the Waldenses, and Albigenses, the Bohemian brethren, and kindred people; in deserts and places of obscurity; among individuals and among small and persecuted sects; here and there in the cases of individuals in monasteries,[392] the true religion has been kept up in the world, as in the days of Elijah God reserved seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal: and it is possible now for us, with a good degree of certainty, to show, even during the darkest ages, and when Rome seemed to have entirely the ascendency, where the true church was. To find out this, was the great design of the Ecclesiastical History of Milner; it has been done, also, with great learning and skill, by Neander. ¶ From the face of the serpent. The dragon—or Satan represented by the dragon. Notes, [ver. 3]. The reference here isto the opposition which Satan makes to the true church under the persecutions and corruptions of the Papacy.

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a [393]flood, after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood. This is peculiar and uncommon imagery, and it is not necessary to suppose that anything like this literally occurs in nature. Some serpents are indeed said to eject from their mouths poisonous bile when they are enraged, in order to annoy their pursuers; and some sea-monsters, it is known, spout forth large quantities of water; but the representation here does not seem to be taken from either of those cases. It is the mere product of the imagination, but the sense is clear. The woman is represented as having wings, and as being able thus to escape from the serpent. But, as an expression of his wrath, and as if with the hope of destroying her in her flight by a deluge of water, he is represented as pouring a flood from his mouth, that he might, if possible, sweep her away. The figure here would well represent the continued malice of the Papal body against the true church, in those dark ages when it was sunk in obscurity, and, as it were, driven out into the desert. That malice never slumbered, but was continually manifesting itself in some new form, as if it were the purpose of Papal Rome to sweep it entirely away. ¶ That he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Might cause the church wholly to be destroyed. The truth taught is, that Satan leaves no effort untried to destroy the church.

16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.