Revelation 12:1 (TS2009)
And a great sign was seen in the heaven: a woman clad with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

I believe this woman symbolizes God's faithful people. The sun symbolizes the shield of God (Psalms 84:11) or the throne of God's Son (Psalms 89:36). The sun is the physical light of the world, but the Son of God is the spiritual light (John 8:12, John 12:35). The moon symbolizes everlastingness (Psalms 89:36-37). The crown signifies rulership. The number twelve points to the twelve tribes of Israel. In prophecy stars also symbolize messengers of God (Revelation 1:20). These are perhaps the 12 messengers which are found at the gates of the wall around the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven (Revelation 21:12).

Revelation 12:2 (TS2009)
And being pregnant, she cried out in labour and in pain to give birth.

God's faithful people will yearn more and more for the coming of the Son of God to bring an end to Satan's reign on earth. In Revelation 6 God's chosen ones who are already in heaven yearn for the second coming of the Son of God to avenge their blood, but they were told to be a little more patient until both the number of their fellow servants and their brothers, who would be killed as they were, was completed (Revelation 6:10-11). This confirms that there still is a remainder of God's chosen ones on earth and that the 144,000 are not complete yet in heaven.

Revelation 12:3 (TS2009)
And another sign was seen in the heaven: and see, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads.

Satan is called dragon and serpent (Revelation 20:2) and the ruler of this world (John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 4:4). The seven heads and ten horns coincide with those of the final global beast empire mentioned in Revelation 13 and 17. The dragon symbolizes Satan and he has complete spiritual power over the final global empire. In the Scriptures the number seven is identified with something being finished or complete*. The number ten is identified with completeness and perfection*.

Revelation 12:4 (TS2009)
And his tail draws a third of the stars of the heaven and throws them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Satan deceived a third of God's messengers in heaven who also rebelled with Satan against God (Luke 11:15). They are the fallen messengers or demons. The woman was about to give birth. In Matthew 24 the Messiah talks about the beginning of birth pains close to the time of the end. Revelation 6 also mentions that the stars of the heaven fell to the earth at the time of the end (Revelation 6:12-13). Satan's fallen messengers or demons are thrown down to the earth when the final global empire is in existence.

Satan wants to destroy God's plan by deceiving the remainder of God's chosen ones. Likewise, Satan tried to hinder God's plan by killing the Messiah as soon as He came to earth. Herod and the Jewish authorities, under the influence of Satan, wanted to kill the newborn Messiah (Matthew 2). Later Satan persecuted and killed His disciples.



There is also a parallel with the story in Genesis 3 were Eve is deceived by the serpent which represents Satan. Genesis starts with the physical mother of all people, when all the trouble began. Revelation ends with the spiritual mother symbolizing God's people. Satan is the cause of all trouble from beginning to end.

Revelation 12:5 (TS2009)
And she bore a male child who was to shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught away to Elohim and to His throne.

The male child represents the remainder of God's chosen ones on earth in the time of the end. The rod of iron is used in reference to the Messiah (Psalms 2:9) and God's chosen 144,000 who will rule together with Him in His Kingdom of heaven (Revelation 2:27).

Revelation 12:6 (TS2009)
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by Elohim, to be nourished there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

In Scriptural prophecy the meaning of the wilderness has to do with the condition of God's people after they turn their backs on God and start intermingling with foreign nations and their ungodly traditions (Isaiah 64:10). The wilderness is a place of trial for Godly people (Mark 1:12, 1 Corinthians 10:5). I believe this means that God's people will be nourished with spiritual food, perhaps it is like the bread of life (John 6:47-51). 1,260 days equals 3,5 years (360 days/year) which is a time period mentioned several times in Daniel and Revelation related to the time of the end.

Revelation 12:7-9 (TS2009)
And there came to be fighting in the heaven: Mika’el and his messengers fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his messengers fought, but they were not strong enough, nor was a place found for them in the heaven any longer. And the great dragon was thrown out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who leads all the world astray. He was thrown to the earth, and his messengers were thrown out with him.

Michael is a chief messenger (Daniel 10:13) who will lead God's army of messengers against Satan and his army of fallen messengers or demons. Satan and his demons are then banned from heaven. This happens at the beginning of the time of the end.

Revelation 12:10 (TS2009)
And I heard a loud voice saying in the heaven, “Now have come the deliverance and the power and the reign of our Elohim and the authority of His Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been thrown down.

With the expulsion of Satan from heaven God's Kingdom in heaven can be set up. This is during the time of the end.
Shortly before His death on earth the Messiah said: Now is the judgment of this world, now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men unto Myself (John 12:31-32). The death of the Messiah on earth sealed the fate of Satan.

Revelation 12:11-12 (TS2009)
And they overcame him because of the Blood of the Lamb, and because of the Word of their witness, and they did not love their lives to the death.

God's chosen ones will overcome Satan because of the sacrifice of the Messiah.

Revelation 12:12 (TS2009)
Because of this rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time.

God's chosen ones will be taken up into heaven to form God's government headed by the Son of God. Satan and his demons are thrown out of heaven to earth at the beginning of the time of the end.

Revelation 12:13 (TS2009)
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.

From the moment that Satan is cast out of heaven the time of the end starts. He knows that his time is short and he will not delay to persecute God's people on earth (Matthew 24:9, 1 Peter 5:8).

Revelation 12:14 (TS2009)
And the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

The wings of a great eagle symbolize God's power to protect His people (Exodus 19:4, Isaiah 40:31). The phrase time and times and half a time talks about a certain time period in which God's people are protected from Satan. This time period coincides with the 1,260 days or 3,5 years mentioned earlier. God's people will get (spiritual) nourishment that leads to everlasting life (John 6:27). The Messiah said: I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not get hungry at all, and he who believes in Me shall not get thirsty at all. (John 6:35) and For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink (John 6:55). See also 1 Thessalonians 2.

Revelation 12:15 (TS2009)
And out of his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river after the woman, to cause her to be swept away by the river.

Water symbolizes the unstable nations on earth under Satan's power (Psalms 144:7, Isaiah 17:12-13, Psalms 65:7, Isaiah 57:20, James 1:6). Satan uses his power to try to destroy God's plan and achieve his own goals. Babylon the Great is seated on many waters and these waters symbolize peoples, and crowds, and nations, and tongues (Revelation 17:15). The Jewish authorities influenced the Jews and the Romans to kill the Messiah. In the period between the crucifixion of the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem Satan used the Jewish authorities for persecuting God's people.

Revelation 12:16 (TS2009)
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

The earth is often used to symbolize the place where God's people dwell (Habakkuk 2:14, Isaiah 66:1, Psalms 103:11). It symbolizes stability as opposed to water or sea which symbolizes instability. God's people will receive help.

Revelation 12:17 (TS2009)
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of YHWSO Messiah.

This confirms that the "male child" or "her seed" are God's chosen ones. Satan attacks the remainder of God's chosen ones coming from God's faithful people. This confirms that in the time of the end there is a remainder of God's chosen ones on earth. During the time that the Messiah was on earth His disciples of course literally witnessed Him. But Paul persecuted God's chosen ones until after the death of the Messiah and only became one of God's chosen ones after being encountered by the Son of God in the spirit. So Paul witnessed the Son of God in spirit, not in flesh. The witness of YHWSO Messiah likely means the witness of the Son of God in the spirit. The remainder of God's chosen ones might possibly also be encountered by the Son of God in a similar way as Paul was, namely in the spirit (Acts 9). See also 2 Corinthians 5.

TS2009 - Isaiah 21