Why Are the Dragon & Woman in Revelation 12? | Ian Paul

In this episode of Exploring the Language of Scripture on Revelation, Daniel Mikkelsen is joined by Ian Paul—Anglican minister, New Testament scholar, and author of the Tyndale Commentary on Revelation—for a wide-ranging conversation on the meaning and message of Revelation 12.From the strange imagery of the pregnant woman and the dragon to the central question of the problem of evil, Revelation 12 offers both a cosmic drama and a message of hope. Ian Paul explains why this chapter is often seen as the heart of Revelation, unpacks its use of myth and symbol, and shows how it speaks to fragile first-century life and to our world today.Whether you’ve wrestled with apocalyptic literature before or are new to Revelation, this episode explores what makes this text unique, how it fits within its historical context, and what it means to trust Christ in the face of evil.Don’t Miss the Next Episode: A conversation with Steve Walton on whether Acts contains eyewitness accounts.📚 Free Guide — Why Struggle with Greek? Avoid the 4 most common pitfalls and start making real progress: 🔗 https://ntgreektutoring.com/why-struggle-with-greekChapters: 00:00 – Coming up... 01:04 – Meet Ian Paul: Scholar of Revelation 02:43 – How Biblical Languages Change the Way We Read Scripture 11:36 – What Exactly Is Apocalyptic Literature? 21:09 – Why Revelation 12 Is the Heart of the Book 27:18 – The Pregnant Woman and the Dragon: Decoding the Imagery 36:54 – Reading Revelation Through Its First-Century World 39:52 – Exile, Exodus, and the Journey from Tribulation to Hope 41:14 – The Woman’s Offspring: A New Kind of Family in Christ 44:48 – Fragile First-Century Life and Revelation’s Message 50:17 – Revelation 12: Past, Present, and Future 57:31 – How Revelation Shapes Our Lives TodayMusic Credits: Music from #Uppbeat 🔗 https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/aspirePlease, let us know what you thoughts on the episode.If you enjoyed this episode of Exploring the Language of Scripture, please consider becoming an Explorer! Your support helps keep the podcast ad-free, allows us to bring in more guests, and enhances the content we create. By joining our Explorer community, you’ll receive exclusive benefits, including Q&As, priority for Greek tutoring applications, and discounts on tutoring. Explore more and join the Explorer programme here: Become an Explorer. Podcast Keywords:biblical languages, New Testament, Old Testament, Christ, bible study,  Relationship with God, learn biblical languages, Biblical Theology, Christianity, Covenants, New covenant, old covenant, language acquisition, Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew.