The Red Dragon

INTRODUCTION

This is the 20th “study” from this amazing book. Last week we discussed the seventh trumpet which foresaw the Kingdom of God come to earth.

A great verse to memorize is Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.””

There is a major division in the book right here between ch 11 & 12

Chapter 4-11 focused on the Lord who is bringing judgement to the earth through plagues and other supernatural means calling the world to repent.

In chapter 12-15 we are introduced in depth to Red Dragon, The beast, the false prophet (the counterfeit trinity) who is the great enemy of God and mankind. Up until now we have only had hints of the great enemy of the church, but we learn much about his purpose, his strategy, his history, and his destiny.

Review Questions:

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Revelation 12:1–2 “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.”

The woman: She most likely represents Israel. If you remember the dream Joseph had that the sun, the moon, and the stars would bow down to him. When he told that to his brothers they began to hate him.

Where did the nation of Israel come from? From Jacob, who was Joseph’s parents. And the nation of Israel was made up of twelve tribes who were all of Joseph’s brothers. Those are the twelve stars on her head.

Look down in verse 17: “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

So this is not just Israel, but all the people of God.

Remember there is the ethnic Israel who were Jews by blood. But the spiritual Israel refers to those who walk by faith, the true descendents of Abraham.

“The early church did not view itself as discontinuous with faithful Israel”

(v 2) “and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth”

QUESTION: Who is the child?

QUESTION: Can someone explain to me how the child came from Israel?

The genealogy of Matthew 1 clearly links Jesus all the way back to Abraham who was the grandfather of Jacob, who was also called Israel.

Revelation 12:3–4 “Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.”

The red dragon

There is little question what the dragon represents.

(v 9) Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…”

All throughout the Bible, the devil is likened to or called (a serpent, a creature from the sea, a dragon)

And his first appearance in Scripture is in Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made”

I have heard it taught that the serpent in Gen 3:15 is not Satan. That is simply not true. He is consistently referred to as a serpent and one who deceives mankind.

John 8:44 ““You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Seven heads: What does the number seven represent? completeness

Ten horns: reference to the great beast in Daniel who had great power and authority

Seven diadems: Another word for crowns. They imitate the true crown that Christ wears.

“and his tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven”

QUESTION: What do stars represent in the book of Rev? Angels

Revelation 1:20 ““As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

(v 7) “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war”

Those stars are fallen angels.

Satan himself began as an angel of God.

Created by God, and created GOOD!

Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

QUESTIONS?

(v 4) “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.”

The child is Jesus, how did Satan try to devour Him?

King Herod’s slaughter of the children

Matthew 2:16 “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”

Revelation 12:5–6 “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

“and he was caught up to God and to His throne”

The scene moves from the birth of Jesus to the ascension of Jesus. It skips his life, ministry, suffering and even death and goes right to his exultation.

The reason for this is to show THE RULING CHRIST, who sits victorious on the throne and defeated Satan.

“Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days”

The woman represents the true Israel, the people of God. What she does after giving birth is flee to the wilderness for 1260 days.

It seems best to see this as the church, in a futuristic period during the tribulation period who is fleeing from great persecution coming upon it.

And where do they go? Into the wilderness prepared by God for protection.

Application:

Satan is the great imitator

He imitated God in the garden when he deceived Eve.

He is called the “prince of this world” (John 12:31)

He is called the “prince of the power of the air” in Eph 2:2.

Satan has an army of demons just like God has an army of angels. His demons carry out his desires

Satan has a false gospel that says we need never to repent or even trust in Christ to be saved

He has false converts sowed in many churches Jesus called them “tares”

He has false teachers, false prophets, and false churches who ignore the authority of Scripture

He sows false comfort, false fears, whispers false promises, and tries everything he can to get us to stop trusting in the ONE TRUE GOD.

2 Corinthians 11:13–14 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

Satan is also the great persecutor

It is Satan who is behind every martyrdom

It is Satan behind every religious battle in church

Much (not all) of the hardships we face in this world are due to Satan’s work

And when this age comes to a close, his persecution will intensify greatly!

The Lord has a divine refuge for His church

Though we have a great enemy, we have a great God who is more powerful and able to protect us

Just as he watched over Jesus as a helpless infant, who never allowed a hair to harmed on his head, so He will give refuge to us.

It is wrong to say we will never see this. It is also wrong to say we certainly will see this.

The “end is near”

But we must be sure that God will ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF HIS CHURCH

AND THE CHURCH IS OUR REFUGE

Spiritual warfare is all too often neglected in the life of the average Christian. We cannot be neutral: To be neutral is to lose. Satan’s hatred os all of the people of God is very real.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”