Rev 12 begins in heaven, John then describes a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She is pregnant and in much agony as she is about to give birth (vv 1,2). Next we see a great red dragon (Satan) with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his head. He is waiting for the child to be born so he can eat him. As he waits he sweeps down a third of the stars to earth (v 4). I think the stars are a symbol of the angles that side with Satan. The women gives birth to a son, “who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod,” but before the dragon can devour the child, God intervenes and takes the child to his throne (v 5). After the women escape to a safe place to be nourished, a battle breaks out in heaven between the archangel Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels (vv 7,8). The dragon is defeated and thrown down to the earth. All heaven rejoices at the victory, “but woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath” (v 12). The dragon now seeks to find and destroy the women, but when he is unable to do so he turns his wrath to “make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (v 17).

Rev 13 takes place on earth. John starts by describing a beast arising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names (v 1). He looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s and a mouth like a lion. The dragon then gives this beast all his power and his throne and great authority (v2). One of his heads receives a death blow, but he somehow miraculously heals. All the people then worship the beast, as he speaks blasphemous words against God. He is even given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. The next actor is the beast which rises out of the earth (v 11). It holds all the power of the first beast and makes the whole world worship the first beast. The beast of the earth performs great miracles and even makes fire come down from the heavens on command. This beast convinces all the people of the earth to take the mark of the first beast, which is to be 666. So essentially the two beasts have been given power by Satan to do his work against God’s plan.

John’s view in chapter 12 would predict the coming of the messiah. The woman is Israel and the dragon represents Satan’s power at work through Herod’s evil desire to kill Jesus, the baby she births. The children are the Jewish people or probably all the Christians. The shift in location shows Christ’s birth and how the Romans were opposed to him from the very start. John has a very negative view of Rome as he sees them as the one who carry out the work of Satan. This shift also shows that John believes the return of Jesus is soon. The beast most likely represent the emperors of Rome, most specifically Caesar Nero. The presence and actions of these Caesars are John’s best example of why Christ’s return is immediate. Furthermore when the Nero is translated into Hebrew it is Neron, which in numerical value is 666. This evidence gives us an almost absolute answer to who John is talking about and continues to express his view of Rome as an uncontainable evil. Who is in direct opposition to Jesus and his followers.