17 The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.
then the dragon was enraged with the woman – why was the dragon enraged with the Woman?
① when the dragon tried to kill her Child, the male Child, it only resulted in the Woman giving birth to God’s only begotten Son, through the resurrection of Christ, as described in Acts 13:33-34.
② Satan’s attack on Christ actually put an end to the “sacrifice and offering,” required under the Law, as Daniel described.
③ The unexpected outcome of Satan’s attack was the free gift of salvation for the world! Christ’s death paid the penalty of sin for all mankind.
④ The dragon used the power of Rome to put an end to the sanctified Church, but the Woman (the Bride of Christ) flew into the wilderness. The saints overcame Satan’s accusations “by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”
The dragon tried to persecute the Woman (the Bride of Christ), using the power of Rome, but could not destroy her.
and went off to make war – this is the war described in Dan 9:26, “and til the end of the war desolations are determined.” This is the war of Christ and the Antichrist, that the Book of Revelation explains.
with the rest of her children – as mentioned in verse 1, the first Child of the kingdom of heaven was the Christ, the “rest” are the saints who would follow Him.
who keep the commandments of God – the true children of God are those who keep His commandments, Matt 7:21-23; 1 Cor 7:19; 1 John 5:2-3
and have the testimony of Jesus – this is also described in Rev 12:11, “they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.” After the spirit of truth was taken from the Church, the saints no longer had the seal of salvation that came through receiving the holy spirit. However, when the sanctified Church is re-established, and the spirit of God is poured out again, “the testimony of Jesus” will be explained as “the spirit of prophecy” (Rev 19:10). The expression “spirit of prophecy” was used to describe the spirit of God on Christ in the Targum.