What is the Church? 7 - The Woman Pursued by The Dragon

Reading: Revelation 12
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:17 (NIV)

I.   The Woman gives Birth

     A.  Dazzling beauty

           1.  Clothed with the sun (talk about dazzling!)

                 a.  Judges 5:31 Celebrating the victory of Deborah and Jael But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.

           2.  Moon under her feet

                 a.  Psalm 89:35-37

           3.  Crown of twelve stars

                 a.  The twelve tribes (Gen 37:9)

                 b.  The twelve apostles

     B.  Vulnerable to Attack

           1.  She is a woman, not a warrior.

           2.  She is pregnant.

           3.  She is about to give birth.

     C.  The Mother of a King

           1.  She bears a son who will rule all nations with an iron scepter.

           2.  Psalm 2.

           3.  She is the people of God — the Church.

II.  A war in Heaven

     A.  A creature of Power

           1.  A Red Dragon with seven heads and ten horns.

                 a.  Red the color of sin in Isaiah 1:18, the color of blood and violence.

                 b.  7 heads: maybe a reference to Rome (a city on 7 hills) or just a fullness of wisdom

                 c.  10 horns -- Rome had 10 provinces, but maybe just a symbol of fullness of power. But Daniel 7:7 also refers to the fourth beast (identified with Rome) as a beast with 10 horns.

                 d.  7 Crowns — seven leaders or just one crown per head?

           2.  Sweeps a third of the stars out of the sky.

                 a.  May be a reference to a third of the angelic beings that followed Satan in his rebellion.

                 b.  Or to a third of the faithful who will be swept away by a great persecution.

     B.  Poised for Attack

           1.  The dragon is playing catcher here.

           2.  He wants to devour the child because he knows what this child means.

           3.  But the child is snatched away before the dragon can devour it.

                 a.  A reference to Jesus being hauled off to Egypt shortly after his birth.

                 b.  And to the Father raising Jesus out of the clutches of death and later his ascension into heaven.

     C.  Thrown out Permanently

           1.  Somehow connected with these events is a great cosmic struggle in heaven.

                 a.  Michael, the hero of Daniel 10 leads the home team and defeats the rebells.

           2.  The dragon wasn’t strong enough and so was defeated.

           3.  He is hurled out of heaven.

                 a.  See Luke 10:17-20

                 b.  Heaven celebrates (vv.10-12)

III. War on Earth

     A.  The dragon Pursues the Woman

           1.  Defeated in heaven, he knows his time is short (v.12) and he is filled with fury.

           2.  He cannot win, but he is taking out his anger on the one thing he can which is dearest to Gods heart: His church.

           3.  He pursues to destroy.

     B.  God Protects the Woman

           1.  In v.6 the woman flees to a place God prepared in the desert (a place of refuge)

                 a.  for 1260 days (3 1/2 years)

           2.  She is given wings in verse 14.

                 a.  like those of Exodus 19:4 and Isaiah 40:31

                 b.  She flies off to the protection of the desert for a time, 2 times and half a time (3 1/2 years).

                 c.  Probably a different description of the same thing that happened in v.6.

           3.  The serpent can’t reach her in the desert.

     C.  The war Rages on

           1.  The dragon tries to wipe out the woman with a flood

                 a.  Maybe a reference to the great persecutions of the Roman Empire that tried to eradicate Christianity completely.

                 b.  But history itself swallowed up the wave of persecutions and they ended at least that wave came to an end.

           2.  This only made the dragon more angry.

                 a.  If he can’t kill the Church, he’ll do what he can to the children of the Church.

           3.  We’re at war because the dragon is at war with us.

                 a.  Don’t worry because on the rock of the testimony of the apostles Jesus had built his Church and the gates of Hell cannot withstand us.

                 b.  Though our enemy attacks us, and though we suffer his onslaughts in a million different ways, he is a defeated enemy, spewing out his last bullets as he fights for his last breaths.

                 c.  Don’t be surprised when you feel attacked, sometimes we really are attacked. Just remember. . .

The Bottom Line:

. Romans 8:37 (NIV)

Song: Onward Christian Soldiers Red 181

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