Revelation 12:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

John also speaks of the affliction of the persecution that is to come upon the Church from the adversary.

The devil fought against Christ and was defeated after the Baptism. Then he armed himself against the holy Apostles and was put to shame, seeing that through death they attained eternal life. After this he was condemned to live on the earth, to crawl upon it like a serpent, and to feed on it, that is, on earthly thoughts and wisdom. Then he again began to persecute the Church, which was giving birth to a male child, the people of God, and which was not weakened by earthly goods.

When the dragon saw into what evil circumstances he had fallen, and that he had been torn from angelic glory, he fiercely hated men and the Woman who had borne their Savior. He began to persecute Her in order to kill Her. He persecuted the Woman because he knew that the One born of Her was too great to be taken captive. He envied men because they had been saved by the Lord. While he himself was cast from heaven and had no possibility of reversal, men are raised from earth to heaven by virtue.

As we said above, the devil bears within himself a hopeless hatred for the Church. The more painfully he feels his defeat and expulsion, the more persistently he continues to multiply his devices.

When the devil, who fought against Christ, was defeated, and when he armed himself against the Apostles and was put to shame, seeing that by death they gained eternal life, he raised up persecution against the Church of Christ. He attacked her faithful children in order to tear them away from Christ. But the children born by the Church were male, that is, strong in faith in the battle with the devil. They yielded neither to the enticements nor to the threats of the enemy, and they remained faithful to Christ.

In these words of the seer one may see an indication of the cruel persecution from the Jews. Satan raised it against the young Church of Christ, newly arisen and beginning to grow and multiply, after her first encounter with paganism. Satan stirred up unbelieving Jews to impose every kind of restriction and oppression on Christians. He brought a great number to death. He tried to draw an even greater number into apostasy through inward temptations and the scandals of unbelief.