Revelation 12:4 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.’ That is the fall of Satan, and those who joined him in his rebellion. The words look back to the beginning of the world and to the original fall of Satan. This fall preceded the fall of man, but by how long we are not told. Under his influence – represented as his tail – a minority but a significant portion of the angelic beings fell with him and became the demons of darkness. This is confirmed in verse 9 of this chapter. Angelic beings are referred to as stars also in Job 38:7. Every demon was once a glorious angel in heaven. There they shone like stars in the sky, beings of great beauty which enhanced the glory of heaven. Satan is given the title of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12, the name given to Venus, the morning star, one of the brightest objects in the night sky. The name suggests that as one star differs from another in glory, Satan was comparatively more glorious than the other angels. Isaiah describes Satan’s fall, which Christ refers to when he says: ‘I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven’ (Luke 10:18), and Peter and Jude both refer to this event (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). Satan convinced them that he could succeed, otherwise they would never have joined him. He told them enough of his plan for them to see its evil genius. Their spiritual safety and well-being lay in putting their trust in God. To resist Satan’s lies they had to focus on what God had already revealed to them of his goodness and truth. ‘And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour [consume] her child as soon as it was born.’ So there is the dragon, standing before the woman who is about to give birth. He knows the significance of this child, and that God’s purposes are so tied up with this child that if he could destroy him, they would be ruined. He apparently saw more clearly than any human being the significance of this birth. This child was the subject of so much Old Testament prophecy, the one first promised to Eve, who would bruise the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). Often it seemed that the devil would succeed in stamping out the royal line, for the promise became more and more specific and the devil could see where he should aim. First he prompted Cain to murder his brother Abel. Then he tried to corrupt the line of Seth by encouraging intermarriage with the sons of men. He corrupted the world to such an extent that God willed to destroy it with a flood, but Noah was saved and the promise continued. But the most obvious fulfilment of these words came at the actual time of Christ’s birth. Then Satan stirred up the malice of Herod. We know from the Christmas story and how Herod determined to kill the promised Messiah, and in fact murdered all the babies of two and under in the entire Bethlehem region in order to get his way, prompted by this bloodthirsty dragon. But he did not succeed. God allowed this to take place. He allows the devil enough freedom to express his hatred and show his character, but he was not allowed to succeed.