Reklamation Ministries
Seeing the Church and the World in Plain View
people as it does today (because they had no Bible in those days), but was reflected on them by men of God, the medium, that is, the prophets before Moses who never wrote down the messages of God but verbally passed them on. (See The Great Controversy, Introduction p. V).
Taking all these points into one common whole, they positively show that the woman is symbolical of God's ever living Church for all times, and that she is His saving Truth, His true wife, the Truth that gave birth to Christ and that gives birth to all His "brethren" (His followers), the "remnant of her seed." (Revelation 12: 17)
The Dragon
When the promise of the coming Savior was made, it was then that the Dragon learned
that the church was to give birth
"man child," and from then on he
watched her closely, hoping to destroy the world's redeemer as soon as He was born. This he endeavored to accomplish through Herod, when he caused a multitude of little children to be slaughtered. The child Christ, never-the-less escaped, and the Devil met his first defeat in this connection.
Her crown of twelve stars originally represented the twelve patriarchs and later the twelve tribes after they went out of Egypt . . . But the crown of twelve stars in the New Testament period stand for the twelve apostles. Number twelve is a symbol of [Gods] government. Jesus said to them: "Ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). This fact is proven by the type (the twelve tribes).Now the Dragon being fortified with seven heads and ten horns, denotes that he controlled all the civil and religious powers in that day (for the symbolic number "ten" denotes universality, just as do the ten toes of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the other Bible beasts, and the ten virgins of Matthew 25.
The horns represent all the civil powers, while the heads represent all the religious powers, for the
Biblical number "seven" denotes
completeness. Moreover, the fact that the Church (the Jews), the only agency through which God worked up to that time, crucified the Lord, is in itself sufficient proof that the Church had apostatized, that she had become the Dragon's seventh head, and that thus was the Dragon armed with ten horns and seven heads—with all the civil and religious powers. And so, you see, the Dragon with his horns and heads represent the world captured by the Devil.
Here are described two different "castings out." Note that in the first instance, the Dragon drew the angels with his tail. But, you wonder, why not with his claws? Simply because such would
falsely indicate that Satan defeated the Lord and consequently dragged out of heaven a third part of the angels. But since he drew them with his tail, the true significance is clear-that a third part of the angels voluntarily followed him. They clung to his tail, so to speak, while he led the way. "They turned from the Father and from His son, and united with the instigator of rebellion." Testimonies Vol. 3 p. 115. The dragon persuaded the angels, and they followed him from heaven to earth, whereupon sought to devour Christ.