Year of the Bible
Revelation 12
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Commentary on the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12:
The appearance of the Ark of the Covenant was accompanied by great signs of nature (11:19) and now another great sign appears: a woman clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars. As she gives birth to a son destined to rule all nations, a dragon, an ancient symbol of evil, tries to devour her child. God takes the child to His throne and cares for the woman. A heavenly war follows as the Archangel Michael and his angels fight the dragon and his angels. We learn the dragon is the devil and Satan, and he is thrown out of Heaven and down to earth with his followers. The dragon/Satan pursues the woman clothed with the sun, and when he cannot conquer her, he turns his attention to waging war on the rest of her offspring on earth: the people who keep God’s commandments and believe in Jesus.
The Book of Revelation, Chapter 12:
The Woman and the Dragon
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; 5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Michael Defeats the Dragon
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, be cause he knows that his time is short!”
The Dragon Makes War against the Woman’s Offspring
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
"War arose in heaven" (vs 7) In this Passage we experience two major scenes: the Woman (Mary) bearing the son (Jesus) and the scene of Michael the archangel battling with the Devil. The Devil is then thrown down from heaven. What is drawing your attention in these dramatic scenes? How is it relating to your life in this right now?
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
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1 Una gran señal apareció en el cielo:
una mujer vestida de sol, la luna a sus
pies, y sobre su cabeza una corona de doce
estrellas.
2 Está encinta y grita al sufrir los dolores
del parto y los tormentos de dar a
luz. 3 Apareció entonces otra señal en el
cielo: un gran dragón rojo, con siete cabezas
y diez cuernos, y sobre sus cabezas
siete diademas. 4 La cola arrastró una
tercera parte de las estrellas del cielo y
las arrojó a la tierra. El dragón se puso
delante de la mujer, que iba a dar a luz,
para devorar a su hijo en cuanto naciera.
5 Y dio a luz un hijo varón, el que va
a regir a todas las naciones con cetro de
hierro. Pero su hijo fue arrebatado hasta
Dios y hasta su trono. 6 Entonces la mujer
huyó al desierto, donde tiene un lugar
preparado por Dios, para que allí la
alimenten durante mil doscientos sesenta
días.
7 Y se entabló un gran combate en
el cielo: Miguel y sus ángeles lucharon
contra el dragón. También lucharon el
dragón y sus ángeles, 8 pero no prevalecieron,
ni hubo ya para ellos un lugar
en el cielo. 9 Fue arrojado aquel gran
dragón, la serpiente antigua, llamado
Diablo y Satanás, que seduce a todo el
universo. Fue arrojado a la tierra y sus
ángeles fueron arrojados con él. 10 Entonces
oí en el cielo una fuerte voz que
decía:
«Ahora ha llegado la salvación,
la fuerza, el Reino de nuestro Dios,
y el poderío de su Cristo,
porque ha sido arrojado el acusador
de nuestros hermanos,
el que los acusaba ante nuestro Dios
día y noche.
11 Ellos lo vencieron por la sangre del
Cordero
y por la palabra del testimonio que
dieron,
y despreciaron su vida
hasta la muerte.
12 Por eso, alegraos, cielos,
y cuantos en ellos habitáis.
¡Ay de la tierra y del mar!,
porque ha descendido hasta vosotros
el Diablo,
con gran ira,
al saber que le queda poco tiempo».
13 Cuando el dragón vio que había
sido arrojado a la tierra, persiguió a la
mujer que había dado a luz al varón.
14 Pero se le dieron a la mujer las dos alas
del águila grande para que volara al desierto,
a su lugar, donde es alimentada
durante un tiempo, dos tiempos y medio
tiempo, lejos de la serpiente. 15 Entonces
la serpiente arrojó de su boca
como un río de agua tras la mujer, para
arrastrarla con la corriente. 16 Pero la tierra
ayudó a la mujer: abrió la tierra su
boca y absorbió el río que el dragón había
echado de su boca. 17 El dragón se
enfureció contra la mujer y se marchó
a hacer la guerra al resto de su descendencia,
a aquellos que guardan los mandamientos
de Dios y mantienen el testimonio
de Jesús. 18 Y se detuvo sobre la
arena del mar.
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
Aunque sabemos que el poder de Satanás no se compara con el Poder y la Autoridad de Dios, la batalla entre el bien y el mal es real. ¿Qué "guerra" está proponiendo el Diablo para perturbar tu corazón, el corazón del santo de Dios, en este momento? ¿Qué quiere Dios que hagas como defensa contra esta tentación?
La Biblia de Navarra
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para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).