‘And the monster waxed wroth with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus, and he stood on the sand of the sea.'
The mention of ‘the commandments of God' may be intended to connect this situation with the Exodus and Mount Sinai, although ‘commandments' is in fact a favourite word of John having also in mind the commandments of Jesus (John 14:15; John 14:21; John 15:10; 1 John 2:4; 1 John 3:22; 1 John 3:24; 1Jn 5:2-3; 2 John 1:6; Revelation 14:12; Revelation 22:21).
The anger of the monster, unable to snatch his prey, is now turned against ‘the rest of her seed', i.e. the remainder other than ‘the son, the male child'. This refers to those who have become part of the children of Israel by submission to Christ. They ‘keep the commandments of God' thus demonstrating that they have been brought within the covenant of grace of Sinai.
We must remember that what we call the ten commandments was in fact a covenant of grace whereby Yahweh, having delivered His people, declared His overlordship and what He had done for them through grace, and outlined His requirements from them as His subject people. It is in the form of a typical suzerainty treaty of that time.
Combined with keeping His commandments these ‘children' of the true Israel also ‘hold the testimony of Jesus', declaring their loyalty to Him because of what He has done for them as well as obeying His commandments. As they are the seed of the woman they are ‘true' children of Israel.
‘And he stood on the sand of the sea'. Now is to be outlined the monster's activity against the people of God through those who dwell on earth. He has failed in the wilderness sands, which proved his enemy and swallowed up his wrath, for the wilderness is never his friend and, as the place of solitude and waiting on God, always protects the people of God. So now he will attack from another position. Now he stands on the sandy shore of the great sea to see emerge from there the instruments of his wrath. The basic idea comes from Daniel 7:3. The great sea is the Mediterranean which appeared as a great sea to Israel (Numbers 34:6 and often).
To Israel the sea was an enemy. It was always seeking to break its bounds and overwhelm them, although tightly controlled by God. But unlike in other ancient literature the sea is never depicted in the Bible as out of God's control or battling with God. He always has overwhelming mastery of it (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 65:7). Its battle is with the world.
They remembered how the sea had swallowed up the Egyptian armies (Exodus 15:10; Joshua 24:7 and often), and how it was depicted as overwhelming Babylon (Jeremiah 51:42). The psalmist also likened the sea to a proud enemy whom God controlled, symbolic of the enemies of God, who were seen in the guise of a great sea monster, probably there representing Egypt (Psalms 89:9-10 compare Ezekiel 32:2). The sea roars, like the roaring of a lion and thus again symbolises the enemies of Israel (Isaiah 5:29-30 compare Jeremiah 31:35). Psalms 65:7 compares the roaring of the seas and the waves to ‘the tumult of the peoples' (compare Isaiah 17:12; Ezekiel 26:3). Indeed ‘the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt' (Isaiah 57:20). So the sea symbolises destructive power, the powerful threatening of the people of God, and tumult and restlessness among peoples.
‘The sand of the sea' is also an Old Testament phrase and signifies a number beyond counting (Genesis 32:12; Genesis 41:49; Psalms 78:27; Isaiah 10:22; Jeremiah 15:8; Jeremiah 33:22; Hosea 1:10 see also 1 Samuel 13:5; 2 Samuel 17:11; 1 Kings 4:20). Here therefore it is intended to bring to mind the innumerable numbers of peoples who will be used by him to try to overwhelm the people of God.
‘He stood on the sand of the sea' is in direct contrast with the strong angel who ‘was standing on the sea and on the earth' in Revelation 10:5. The strong angel declares the total dominion of God, Satan's is only partial.
The sand of the sea, however, is also the impregnable barrier that the sea cannot pass (Jeremiah 5:22). Possibly there is therefore here also the idea that the dragon is standing there with a view to breaking that barrier down.
So sand and sea together can be seen as representing the nations and peoples of the world in tumult and as threatening the people of God.