Revelation 12:13: And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

Satan and his fallen angels were cast down from heaven (Kolob)¹ to this physical earth as unembodied spirits when the physical earth was created and the war in heaven ended.² Revelation 12:9 describes this event, saying, the great dragon was cast out ... into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. John seems to repeat the same event in Revelation 12:13, which states that the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth. John is not repeating himself, however. He describes these two separate events from his vision in strict chronological order.

Revelation 12:13 is part of a new vision and a new event in John's day many centuries after the physical creation.³ That is, in Revelation 12:9, Satan was cast down to earth at the time of the physical creation and in Revelation 12:13, the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.⁴ The words in Revelation 12:13 describe Satan's spiritual fall and defeat⁵ when Christ successfully finished the atonement.⁶ The Dragon (Satan) then saw that he was subdued⁷ or brought low in the dust.⁸ In other words, when the Savior rose to victory on the cross,⁹ the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth in defeat.¹⁰

The woman in Revelation 12:1 symbolized the premortal church of God, but she evolved and matured in Revelation 12:13 to represent the ancient earthly church that Christ organized before he died.¹¹ The woman who is the earthly church in Revelation 12:13 is the antitype of the woman who was the premortal church of God in Revelation 12:1, which the Father organized during the grand council.¹² The image of the woman in both verses represents the same church, but at very different stages of her development,¹³ first in heaven and then on earth.¹⁴

The priesthood and callings within the earthly church began in the premortal church.¹⁵ Organizationally, the premortal church became the ancient church of Jesus Christ on earth in the same way the ancient church became the restored church of Jesus Christ in 1830.¹⁶ The restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will further progress and evolve into the millennial Church of the Firstborn at the Second Coming.¹⁷ John identified the Church of the Firstborn as the woman who becomes the bride of Christ in Revelation 19:7-8.¹⁸

Revelation 12:13 also refers to a man child, which the woman (premortal church) brought forth during the grand council in Revelation 12:5.¹⁹ The imagery in verse 13 means that after Christ's successful atonement, Satan persecuted the woman‒who represents the ancient earthly church‒and who previously brought forth the man child during the premortal stage of her existence.²⁰ In other words, the woman representing the ancient earthly church did not give birth to the man child as an earthly event in verse 13 because she had already given birth to him in verse 5 during the premortal grand council.²¹ The woman who now represents the earthly church in verse 13 is the same woman who previously brought forth the man child when she represented the premortal church of God in heaven in verse 5. The reference to the man child simply confirms that John is talking about the same woman who evolves and matures from her premortal time in heaven to the meridian of time on earth.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have differing views about the symbolism of the woman and the man child in verse 13. Some say the man child represents the priesthood in Christ's ancient church.²² Others say that the man child is the political kingdom of God on earth as opposed to the ancient ecclesiastical church.²³ Some also conclude that the priesthood or political kingdom grew out of the ancient church of Jesus Christ,²⁴ partly because the political and ecclesiastical kingdoms of God previously co-existed among God's people in the Old Testament.²⁵ The foregoing views have also led others to say that in Revelation 12:14,²⁶ the priesthood and/or political kingdom represented by the man child fled with the ancient earthly church into the wilderness of heaven as a symbol of the Great Apostasy on earth.²⁷

The foregoing interpretations misapply, in whole or in part, the symbolism and typology from John's vision in Revelation chapter 12. Some of the errors are both illogical and self-evident to people within the Church. For example, Christ organized his ancient earthly church, which means he could not be the metaphorical offspring of that ancient church.²⁸ Furthermore, Christ used the priesthood to organize his earthly church, which means the priesthood did not come from, nor did it grow out of, the ancient church.²⁹ Finally, Christ's political kingdom did not grow out of, nor was it ever part of, the ancient ecclesiastical church that Christ organized among the Jews.³⁰

On the day of his death, Christ confirmed to Pontius Pilate that his earthly kingdom was not political, saying, "my kingdom is not of this world."³¹ Neither did Christ establish his political kingdom during his 40-day ministry among the Jews after his resurrection.³² Christ may have established a temporary kingdom among the Nephites that was both political and religious during their golden era.³³ However, this was merely a precursor and foreshadow³⁴ of Christ's worldwide political kingdom (Zion)³⁵ that will exist during the millennium.³⁶ Christ's political kingdom will begin to grow out of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the future gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman.³⁷ The merger of Christ's ecclesiastical and political kingdoms will then be complete when the Lord makes a full end of all nations at the Second Coming.³⁸ The Book of Daniel symbolically describes this process as a small stone³⁹ that rolls forth and grows until it fills the whole earth and then subdues all other kingdoms⁴⁰ at the Second Coming.⁴¹

According to Isaiah's Second Coming symbolism, Christ will establish his political kingdom without opposition. In other words, the woman who represents the latter-day restored church will deliver a man child who represents Christ at the head of his political kingdom⁴² "before she travailed."⁴³ The prophecy in Isaiah 66:7-8 describes perfectly the peaceful arrival of Christ's political kingdom at Adam-ondi-Ahman before the final 3½ years of Great Tribulation that precedes the Second Coming.⁴⁴

Since the woman in Revelation 12:13 represents the ancient church of Jesus Christ,⁴⁵ this same verse must also describe how the dragon and his host of evil spirits⁴⁶ persecuted the woman representing the ancient church after the death of Jesus Christ.⁴⁷ Furthermore, the imagery in Revelation 12:14-17 must also describe Satan's efforts to destroy the ancient church during the 3½ decades of time known as the apostolic era⁴⁸ between the Savior's death⁴⁹ and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.⁵⁰ This period is referred to as a time of great tribulation,⁵¹ and it foreshadows the Great Tribulation during the last 3½ years before the Second Coming.⁵²

Revelation 12:13 also confirms that the great tribulation in John's day came about because the Dragon (Satan) was filled with great wrath from the sting of his defeat by the Savior's atonement as described in Revelation 12:12.⁵³