12 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
The Church - the Israel of God
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Bringing forth the Christ, and His Church, the saving-Gospel
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven;
Being another wonder, every detail does not necessarily occur subsequently to the previous wonder described above, but partly preceding, partly concurrently with it, and partly the outcome of it
...and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
The devil, manifesting through human polity
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Since his fall from heaven to the earth, and the fall of a number of angels with him, Lucifer set about to thwart God's purpose
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
The Messiah, of the seed of Abraham - promised for all nations - and His ascension to the Throne
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
The Church - Jew and Gentile - preserved in the soul though persecuted in this present life - for a time
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Looking back to a past event - decreed since the beginning, and set in place and set in motion through the cross of Christ
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
The victory of the cross made possible this Gospel dispensation
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
The patience of the saints
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
The Gospel time
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
The source of the Church's then-imminent persecutions was to be understood to be the devil
14 And to the woman were given two 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.
The Church - the promise and purposes of God - the believers - though persecuted in body would be preserved in soul
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Persecution
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.
God's purposes in the Church would outlast the present ordeal
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The devil's ongoing anger against the Israel of God - the Church
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