April 2002

BOOK OF REVELATION      (continued from previous issue)
By Carlos Mesters


Chapter VII

Guideposts for the second stage (Chapters 12-22)

 In the first plan, John had led us to heaven, far from earth. In the second, he first looks at heaven (12:1) and then comes down immediately and remains on earth, by the side of the struggling and suffering people (12:12). At the end, heaven itself will come down to earth (21:2) and will be for ever the dwelling-place of God with human beings (21:3).

The first plan represented the new Exodus, God liberating His people. The second describes the judgement: God condemns the oppressors of the people. This is a different judgement, present in history, hidden in the events. Once again John raises the veil so that the people may be able to see. This judgement has three stages: The past (12:1-17) : from 33 AD to 95AD.
The present (13:1-14:5): the persecution of Domitian around 95AD.
The future (14:6-22:21): between 95 AD and the end.

 We too shall witness the judgement, bearing in mind the history of our people and the actual situation of our country and communities. Thus the light of the judgement of God will illumine the events of our own early pilgrimage.

The Past: the combat between the Woman and the Dragon (12:1-17)
  1. God takes His stand by the side of the threatened life (12:1-6)

     The first vision is one of strife. On the one side, a pregnant Woman cries out in labour (12:1-2). On the other side, the fire-red Dragon, "the primeval serpent" (12:3-4). In the earthly paradise, God had announced this combat and prophesied the victory of the Woman over the Dragon (Gen. 3:15).

    The Woman who cries out in labour (12:2) is Eve, the first woman. She is humankind, that is, all of us when we fight to defend life against the constant threat of death. She is the people of God fighting to bring forth and build a new life. She is Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

    The Dragon is "the primeval serpent, Satan" (12:9); it is the power of evil and of death. He stands before the Woman so as to devour the child at the very moment of its birth (12:4). The fight is unequal. This is the situation of humankind up to now. Life is already threatened and losing ground to death.

    God takes a stand. He protects the child (12:5) and the Woman (12:6). At its birth, the child is taken up to God's side (12:5). The child is Jesus: he is born, he lives, he dies, he rises again, he goes up to heaven, he receives from God the power "to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre" (12:5). The Woman too is freed from the threat of the Dragon and takes flight into the desert (12:6) as the people of God had fled Egypt and gone into the desert. She is also the figure of the newborn Church.

    God has overcome the Dragon. The resurrection of Jesus is the new beginning. The victory of the Woman over the Dragon is already ensured. The history that follows will only be the consequence of this already acquired victory. In his second plan, John will take off the veil and thus help the people to see the victory of God present in the events of their own lifetime.

  2. The Dragon, expelled from heaven, comes down to earth (12:7-12)

     In the thinking of those days, Satan, the Dragon, was "the accuser of our brothers" (12:10). He lived at God's side to keep Him informed of the sins and weakness of human beings (Job 1:6-12, 2:3-7).

    But Jesus has won the victory over him and God has forgiven our sins (Col 2:13-15). Faith in Jesus and the gift of our life are stronger than this Devil who accuses us. The accuser is no longer needed. The Dragon loses his job. There is no longer place for him in heaven (12:8). During a battle led by the archangel Michael (12:7), the Dragon is expelled from heaven (12:9). "For you, earth and sea, disaster is coming because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that he has little time left" (12:12). We are the beginning of the Church and at the beginnings of the persecution.



. . . to be continued  

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