1. Revelation 12:12 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is it that makes the serpent's time short?

Revelation 12:12 (ESV)

12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Since Christ is victorious (Revelation 11:15) and the serpent defeated (Revelation 12:8), Satan’s days are obviously numbered. Already he has been expelled from heaven, already he has lost his ability to accuse God’s own before God’s throne, and so his total exclusion from the kingdom of the Lord must of necessity soon follow. What for the woman is 1,260 days (Revelation 12:6) is for the dragon a “short” time. To the serpent’s way of thinking, there is far too much to do in the brief time allotted to him to accomplish his goal, namely, overcome the woman.