Know Your Enemy Revelation 12

Scripture: Abel

Intro: We Were Soldiers

In the movie We Were Soldiers we see the battle between Mel Gibson’s character Hal Moore and the Vietcong commander Nguyen Huu An

They both follow Sun Zu’s Art of War and the movie is shown as a chess match between these two enemies

The whole premise is to know your enemy and get an upper hand

Today, John is going to show us our enemy

Not only that, we are going to see how to defeat the enemy and understand that he still rages even thought he has been defeated

Chapter 12 explains why the Tribulation is so violent: a defeated enemy, thrown out of heaven, is taking out his rage on God’s people.

In Revelation chapters 12, 13, and 14 the main figures of the Great Tribulation are introduced and described

C.S. Lewis on balance.

In the preface to The Screwtape Letters, Lewis wrote that people make two equal and opposite errors about devils.

One is to disbelieve in them. The other is to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.

Revelation 12 avoids both: Satan is real and furious, but he is defeated and on a short leash.

The Enemy’s strategy vs. 1–6

To know your enemy you have to know his strategy

We see this Woman, whom John calls a great sign

She is clothed with the Sun and moon, and has a crown of 12 stars

This is Israel and harkens back to Joseph’s dream in Genesis

She is with child, who is Jesus

Satan is the red dragon

His tail takes down 1/3 of the stars

These are the demons that followed Satan when he rebelled against God in heaven

Satan tries to destroy the Child, and he fails.

Satan’s plan all along is to wipe out David’s lineage

It started with Cain murdering Abel

Pharoah tried to wipe out all of the Jewish boys, and Moses was saved

Athaliah had all the seed of David executed but Jehosheba hid 6 year old Joash for 6 years

Finally, Herod had all the boys under 2 in Bethlehem put to death but God told Joseph in a dream to take the family to Egypt

Here he tries to kill the baby, who is Jesus, and fails

This is how Satan attacks us

He doesn’t take us out, he tries to take Jesus out of us

If he can get us busy, distracted, or discouraged he will drive a wedge between us and Jesus

That then leads to temptation, which often leads us down the wrong path

There are so many distracted, bitter, and defeated Christians who are trying to appear like they are ok, but are drowning on the inside

You have to know how your enemy attacks you

It’s subtle, has good causes behind it, sounds true

He will deceive you by telling you that you can handle it

Then when you are tired and over your head he has you

Fortunately there is a way to defeat the enemy

The Enemy’s defeat vs. 7–12

You have to know your enemy to defeat your enemy

We don’t want to get caught fighting the wrong battles

John shows us three ways that we defeat the enemy

The enemy is defeated by the Blood of the lamb, our testimony, and self-denial

There was a battle in heaven between Satan and Michael

Satan is cast out heaven

Notice that Satan has several names

These are important for us to know our enemy and how he works

The great dragon: his ferocity.

That serpent of old: a deliberate echo of Genesis 3. The enemy in Eden is the enemy at the end.

The Devil (diabolos): slanderer.

Satan: adversary

Who deceives the whole world: his primary method.

He is cast out of heaven for good but until then was able to stand before God and accuse the brethren

Satan stands before God accusing Christians of all their sins

This is like a courtroom scene

That should make you nervous

There is nothing worse than someone outing you for what you’ve done

Fortunately, we have an advocate who is defending us

1 John 2:1 ESV

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Jesus is our advocate

He declares us innocent before God by the blood of the lamb

Satan accuses, God looks at His Son, Jesus says I got them covered

This section shows us three ways we defeat our enemy

The Blood of the Lamb

First, and foremost, it is by the blood Jesus shed on the cross

Luther and the accuser.

There is a well-known story, possibly legendary, that the devil came to Martin Luther with a long list of his sins.

Luther asked whether that was all, and the devil produced more.

Luther then said to write across the whole list: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Luther wrote a hymn that says the same thing:

“The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”

Second, it is by the word of our testimony

Our Testimony

When we tell people what Jesus has done in our lives we

So many Christians are afraid to share what Jesus has done in their lives

Others don’t even know what He has done

Romans 5:1–2 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Tell People what Jesus has done

There are people in your world who are desperate to hear

Denying Ourselves

Matthew 16:24 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

We are disciples

Disciples = One who has the dust of his rabbi

That means we carry the cross and live in the ways of Jesus

You can overcome the enemy if you are fighting with the right weapons

The Enemy’s Fury vs. 13-17

The enemy, Satan, still rages against God’s people, but God will protect them.

When Satan sees Jesus on the throne, he turns on the woman

He pursues her but God gives her wings

She flies to the wilderness

God protects her for 3.5 years

He pours out water like a river to sweep her away

Most scholars agree this isn’t physical water, but a massive army

Maybe a billion Muslims?

Then God opens the earth and swallows them

Satan then turns his fury on her follows

For the last 3.5 years he will declare war on Christians who remain on earth during the tribulation

Satan knows he can’t win

He is doing everything he can to take as many with him