Revelation 12:4: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Lucifer, the red Dragon in Revelation 12:3,¹ was the first of God's spirit children to openly rebel against the Father² during the premortal grand council in heaven.³ After Lucifer rebelled, other spirits irrevocably committed themselves to his cause while the grand council was still in progress.⁴ Lucifer had incredible powers of persuasion⁵ and he was extremely cunning.⁶ He falsely promised that he could and would guarantee the salvation of all God's spirit children without effort on their part if they accepted him as the Redeemer instead of Jehovah.⁷ Many of God's spirit children desired this guarantee and in Revelation 12:4, Lucifer's symbolic tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven⁸ to his rebellion⁹

The stars of heaven in this verse are not a symbol of earthly ministers as some scholars have suggested.¹⁰ Here, the stars of heaven represent the premortal spirit children of God¹¹ who were all present on Kolob for the grand council.¹² From among this fixed number of premortal spirits, Lucifer drew the third part.¹³ These rebellious spirits became part of Lucifer's premortal church and kingdom,¹⁴ and his followers became fallen angels.¹⁵ They forever damned themselves¹⁶ because they loved Lucifer more than God.¹⁷ They became, and are called, sons of perdition¹⁸ because perdition is another name for Lucifer.¹⁹ He became their spiritual father during the grand council.²⁰ As members of Lucifer's premortal church and kingdom²¹ these sons of perdition became mirror opposites of the noble and great spirits that accepted Jehovah during the grand council and became members of the premortal church of God.²² In that premortal setting, Lucifer and his sons of perdition were the antithesis of Jehovah and the sons of God.²³

After the Dragon's symbolic tail drew a third part of God's spirit children to Lucifer's church and kingdom, Revelation 12:4 states that his tail did cast them to the earth.²⁴ Revelation 12:9 has similar language, saying, the great dragon was ... cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.²⁵ Most scholars believe that the similar wording in verses 4 and 9 is repetitive and that the words in both verses convey the same thought and meaning.²⁶ That is not the case. The similar words have very different meanings, and they describe two events that are separated by a vast period of time.²⁷

The rebellious spirits in Revelation 12:9 were cast down to earth when the war in heaven ended after the physical creation of this earth.²⁸ At that time, Lucifer and his angels were literally cast out into the (physical) earth as unembodied spirits.²⁹ The rebellious spirits in Revelation 12:4, by contrast, were metaphorically cast ... to the earth during the grand council, which was long before the war in heaven even began.³⁰ In other words, when Lucifer's tail caused his followers to be cast ... to the earth in Revelation 12:4, they were still in heaven and the grand council was still in session.³¹ This is obvious because even after the stars of heaven were cast ... to the earth in Revelation 12:4, Lucifer was still in heaven and he still stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered.³²

Revelation 12:4 symbolically describes the spiritual fall of one third of God's spirit children during the grand council on Kolob.³³ Lucifer was the first to fall, or die spiritually, because he sinned first³⁴ when he offered himself to be the Redeemer and sought the glory of God.³⁵ Lucifer's followers also fell spiritually when the Father chose Jehovah to be the Redeemer and they voted³⁶ against the Father's decision.³⁷ By this act of rebellion³⁸ a third part of the stars fell and they suffered a permanent spiritual death.³⁹ They committed an unpardonable sin because they knowingly rebelled.⁴⁰ Thus, they spiritually fell or were cast down on Kolob from a state of heavenly glory and innocence⁴¹ to an earth-like state of darkness and wickedness.⁴²

Lucifer's rebellion introduced sin and uncleanness on Kolob, which caused Kolob to spiritually fall in the same way that this physical earth fell when Adam partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.⁴³ Thus, when the third part of God's spirit children sinned and fell spiritually on Kolob in Revelation 12:4, Lucifer's tail did cast them to the earth metaphorically. They remained on Kolob in their fallen condition. John said these fallen angels were cast ... to the earth because (1) the conditions on Kolob had become earth-like or worldly at the time of this spiritual fall, and (2) Kolob was destined to become the spirit world within this physical earth.⁴⁴ Since Kolob eventually became the spirit world within this earth and they are two parts of the same world, Lucifer's spiritually fallen angels were cast ... to the earth in a very literal sense.

The spiritual fall in Revelation 12:4 occurred while the grand council was still in session. Therefore, even after the Dragon (Lucifer)⁴⁵ caused one third of God's spirit children to spiritually fall and his tail did cast them to the earth‒that is, the fallen Kolob‒the Dragon still stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered.⁴⁶ In other words, when the Father chose Jehovah (Christ) to become the creator, Redeemer, and a God during the grand council,⁴⁷ this prompted Lucifer and others to rebel. However, the woman who represented the premortal church was still not delivered⁴⁸ because the members of the premortal church still had to vote⁴⁹ and give their common consent for Christ to become their creator, their Redeemer, and their God.⁵⁰ When the membership of the premortal church finally voted in favor of Jehovah during the grand council‒after what may have been a lengthy period of travail‒the woman representing the premortal church then metaphorically gave birth to a God.⁵¹

When Christ was elevated to Godhood, with the common consent of the premortal church, the Joseph Smith Translation of Revelation 12:4 states that the Dragon confronted the woman "which was delivered, ready to devour her child after it was born."⁵² These JST changes add additional insight into the nature of Lucifer's rebellion even after members of the premortal church had already voted in favor of Jehovah. After the vote, Lucifer and his fallen angels were ready to immediately fight Jehovah,⁵³ who is identified as the man child in Revelation 12:5.⁵⁴ They must have perceived some advantage in seeking to destroy the man child as soon as Jehovah was born or delivered,⁵⁵ and while the premortal church was still in its infancy. Lucifer did not waiver in his commitment to the cause of rebellion even after Jehovah was elevated to Godhood. Lucifer's commitment to evil is self-evident from the war in heaven that followed.⁵⁶