By the woman then clothed with the sun," he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father's word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the "moon under her feet" he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, "upon her head a crown of twelve stars," refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, "she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. "And she brought forth," he says, "a man-child, who is to rule all the nations; "by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, "her child was caught up unto God and to His throne," signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." "And the dragon," he says, "saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: "And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings."
At the start of the explanation of the vision it was said that the vision, in its wish to set out in greater detail the facts about the Antichrist, begins with the conception and birth of the Lord, which was why that vandal had been chosen by the universal foe and enemy of all to enslave again those who had been gathered together by the Lord. So it must now be said that the vision, in its wish to explain in detail all that concerns the Antichrist, reverts to the original event preceding the beginning already mentioned—I mean the birth of the Lord. This concerns Satan, and the way he was thrown down from heaven, even though he says this more clearly in the following vision, when he adds that he had also plotted against the Lord. In this way he laid some kind of prior foundation on which to build the future explanations of the Antichrist’s affairs and his deeds.
After this preface, we must move on to consider the text.
“And another sign appeared in heaven.” As though rebuking Satan, that author of evil, who although a heavenly being became base because of his pride, the passage shows him first in heaven, so that the apostate might know from what heights to what depths he has fallen. “Behold, a great red dragon,” it says. He calls Satan a “dragon” because of his deceitful ways. Isaiah also speaks of him in this way, saying, “against the dragon, that twisting serpent.” He is said to be red because of his thirst for blood and his angry nature. He had “seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems upon his heads.” The prophet also knew that he had many heads, and therefore he says to God, “You have crushed the heads of the dragon; you did give him as food to the people of Ethiopia.” It refers to him as having many heads, since, as we have often noted, seven signifies many, for he exercises many dominions and performs many crafty plots against people by which he enslaves them. The diadem too is a symbol of tyranny, and the ten horns signify his very great power, for the number ten is perfect and the horn is a symbol of power. For it is said, “My horn will be exalted like that of a wild ox.” And one may learn that he is powerful by reading the book of Job.
He says, And with his tail he swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them down to the earth. For he cast down with himself a very great number of the angels, persuading them to rebel with him against God, and so he has made the heavenly beings earthy, and those who were bright as stars he has turned into darkness. With his tail means that he has done this by means of his uttermost and hindmost trespasses; for when he first considered his mad rebellion, and then went on consciously to nurture it in the arrogance of his purpose, he thus came to destroy the rest too.
He says, And the serpent stood in front of the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth. These are some of the events concerning the Lord: when he was to be born, the one who was planning to bring his power to an end carefully watched his opportunity so that when the Virgin gave birth he might destroy the child. So he did not miss his opportunity but stirred up Herod to destroy the manly male child, who had nothing weak or womanish about him. For “before the child knows how to call ‘father’ or ‘mother,’” Isaiah proclaims to us, “he will take the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the face of the king of Assyria.”
And who this one is who was born, this male child, reveal to us, John, more clearly. He who is, he says, to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. You have plainly told us, divine seer, that he is our savior and Lord, Jesus the Messiah. For he had been promised by his own Father, “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession; you will rule them with a rod of iron, you will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
And, he says, her child was caught up to God and to his throne. But the poisonous serpent was lying in wait and provoked Herod to destroy the children in Bethlehem, because [he thought] he would at all events find the Lord among them. But the child, by the forethought of his Father, escaped the plot. For Joseph heeded a divine warning to take the child along with his mother and escape to Egypt as Herod was about to seek the child’s life.
And the woman fled into the desert, where she has a place prepared by God, so that she might find shelter there for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. So while the child was rescued from the serpent’s plot, was the woman given over to destruction? No, but she, too, was rescued by the flight into Egypt, which was desert and exempt from Herod’s plot. And there she lived, he says, and was sustained for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which comprise almost three and a half years. The Mother of God spent all that time in Egypt until the death of Herod, after which an angel’s divine message brought them back to Judaea.
"And she brought forth a son, who begins to rule all nations with a rod of iron." The rod of iron is the sword of persecution.
"I saw that all men withdrew from his abodes." That is, the good will be removed, flying from persecution.
"And her son was caught up to God, and to His throne." We read also in the Acts of the Apostles that He was caught up to God's throne, just as speaking with the disciples He was caught up to heaven.
If any one, for there is no difficulty in speaking distinctly, should be troubled and reply to what we have said: “But how, O virgins, can this explanation seem to you to be according to the mind of Scripture, when the Apocalypse plainly states that the church brings forth a male, while you teach that her labor-pains have their fulfillment in those who are baptized?” We will answer: … Long before the Apocalypse, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word was fulfilled. John speaks concerning things present and things to come. But Christ, long ago conceived, was not caught up to the throne of God when he was brought forth, from fear of the serpent injuring him. But for this purpose he was begotten and came down himself from the throne of the Father: that he should remain and subdue the dragon who made an assault upon the flesh. So you also must confess that the church labors and gives birth to those who are baptized. As the Spirit says somewhere in Isaiah: “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth her son.” From whom did he flee? Surely from the dragon, that the spiritual Zion might bear a masculine people, who should come back from feminine passions and weakness to the unity of the Lord and grow strong in manly virtue.… I think that the church is here said to give birth to a male child; since the enlightened receive the features, image and the manliness of Christ, the likeness of the form of the Word being stamped on them and begotten in them by a true knowledge and faith. Thus in each one Christ is spiritually born. And, therefore, the church swells and labors until Christ is formed in us, so that each of the saints, by partaking of Christ, has been born a Christ. To this end it is said in a certain scripture, “Do not touch my anointed, and do my prophets no harm,” as though those who were baptized into Christ had been made Christs by communication of the Spirit, the church contributing here their clearness and transformation into the image of the Word.
“And she brought forth a male child.” The church brings forth Christ who, although he was God, deigned to be born as man. He speaks of a “male child,” because through his victory the devil, who had conquered a woman, ceased to be a conqueror. “Who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron.” Indeed, [he speaks here] of his whole body. For the same Lord said of this, “He who conquers and keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father.” “And her son was caught up to God and his throne.” This means that whoever shall be resurrected in Christ will sit with him on the throne of God at the right hand of the Father.
Rightly is Christ, the Head of the church, said to be born in each [of his] members, who is known to rule [in them]. For he himself is both the Author and the Finisher of faith in whom we shall accomplish virtue. He reigns among the good with a rod of iron, that is, with an inflexible righteousness, but he breaks the evil into pieces. What is from the head is joined also to his church as to his body, “for all who have been baptized have put on Christ,” and “the two shall be one flesh,” because whatever is to be understood “in Christ,” the apostle says is also “in the church.” “Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” Although Christ, when his work was completed, went on before as the Head and so ascended to the Father, this nonetheless also corresponds to the church. For this reason the apostle can speak like this: “He who raised us up, made us to sit in the heavenly places,” and “Our citizenship is in heaven,” and “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Should you wish to interpret [this passage] as referring especially to the person of Christ, you can appropriately gather other stories together and consider the treacheries of the red dragon to be all those persecutions that Christ had to face from his cradle because of Herod even unto death on the cross to which he willed to submit. For although the dragon sought his death, as it were, with gaping mouth, yet he was brought to naught by his resurrection. However, we must except from these agonies his birth from the blessed Mary, for we know that in conceiving she experienced no sin of sexual desire.
Through those who are baptized, the church is always giving birth to Christ, since in them he is being formed unto the fullness of spiritual maturity, as the apostle says. The “male child” is the people of the church who are not effeminate in their desires, through whom Christ, our God, as though an iron rod has already ruled the nations by the mighty hands of the powerful Romans. However, also after the resurrection of the dead he will establish those strong in the faith as judges and will rule as with iron the nations who are crumbling and weak vessels. For by their unfaithfulness they did not possess the mystical new wine. “But her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” The saints are caught up in midst of temptations, lest they be subdued by difficulties beyond their powers. And “they will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,” and they will be with God and his throne, that is, with the most excellent of the angelic powers.
And she brought forth a male child. The Church always bears Christ, despite the opposition of the dragon. He is called a male because he is the victor over the devil, who had conquered the woman. For who but a male child? Who will rule all nations with a rod of iron (Psalm II), governs the good with inflexible justice and breaks the wicked. This is also promised to the Church in the earlier parts: I will give him power over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron (Revelation II). For the Church daily gives birth to the Church, ruling the world in Christ.
And her child was caught up to God, etc. Thus Christ, spiritually born in the minds of listeners, cannot be seized by wickedness because he reigns in heaven with the Father, who has also raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Revelation 12:1-5