Understanding Why We are At War

Revelation 12

Understanding Why We are at War

Intro: When I was 12 and 13, there were two places you could find me. The Army navy store by my house or the woods wearing or using the stuff I bought at the army/navy store.

I knew I wanted to join the military, i read every book on Viet nam I could find, Serving your country and going to war was something that was inevitable. In the 80s it was the end of the Cold War, then came the first Gulf War. Then I was old enough to join. And when I joined the Air Force, I really learned skills, real skills taught by experts. It was very different than just playing war.

War is very real and you cannot play war. But why do we fight wars? Independence, either your own or for an oppressed people, to preserve a country or stop a split, to stop the spread of enemies in other places. That was the reason for at least in part of the Korean war, the VietNam conflict and some of the smaller little conflicts of the 70s and 80s.

Because if you know what the mission or objective is, it is easier to get and stay motivated to fight the enemy.

It is important for the soldiers to know and understand the mission. And God is taking the time to show John and have him write down, the reasons why there is and has been an eternal conflict raging. And he also shows us who is on which side of the conflict. Who is wearing the Blue or the Grey or the red or the blue.

Read Verses:

Main Point: Christ is Victorious! We are fighting an enemy that does not know he lost.

I. The Prophecy Told (1-6)

By the time. John sees these events, they have technically taken place, but they still function as symbolism and prophecy. This introduces us to three people that are taking part in the war. The woman, the child and the dragon.

The child is easy, it is The Christ, Jesus. The Dragon is also easy, this is Satan. But the woman is a little bit up or grabs according to scholars and tradition

So it may be easier to say who she is not first. Most likely she is not Mary. This is a history and prophecy that extends beyond one human.

So the two main theories are that the woman represents Israel with the 12 star crown representing the 12 tribes.

The other theory is that she is the Church with the 12 stars representing the 12 apostles.

Some believe that she is both Israel and the church and I tend to agree and take it one step further that the Church includes Israel and the Christian church all in one. They are two sides of the coin. Both Israel and The Church are referred to as the Bride or the wife, it is unlikely that God would have two wives.

But the woman is pregnant which coincides with the fact that the messiah will come through Israel and seed of Abraham. While the woman endures her pregnancy we are introduced to the Dragon.

In v. 3 the third sign, the dragon, is introduced. He is warlike, fiery red in color, and has seven heads, 10 horns, and seven kingly crowns, which will identify him with the final form of imperial suzerainty that John will watch as the rising of the dragon-inspired beast from the sea in chap. 13.

The stars most likely represent the third of the angels that were thrown out of heaven for siding with Satan. so forfeited their “home” (Jude 6) in heaven.

Jude 6 says and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.

This fall is plainly mentioned in 2 Pet 2:4; and most likely mentioned again in Rev 12:7–10; and many interpreters believe that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 also speak to the history or history of the Heavenly war.

Finally the time comes for the pregnancy to be over, which is a good way to answer the question as to why it took so long for Jesus to show up. The pregnancy has to go to full term. The child is born, the incarnation and so he lives on earth, but then he is called or caught up to heaven. And God catches him up back to his throne. This idea of Jesus ascending to heaven and to the throne is discussed in several places.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus does not suffer the final curse of permanent death. He is resurrected from. The grave after three days and then 40 days after that ascends back to his home.

God Protects His Child

The child is the savior and so he is the key to the plan.

II. The Failed Coup (7-12)

Next John takes us back a little farther in the story and this is all taking place in heaven again. I always envision this as pre earth creation. So you have God and the angels,and then we have conflict. The word now is not chronologically now, unless the previous section is functioning as a prophetic scene as well as being History as we know how to happen.

Satan or the dragon and angels fight against Michael and his angels. God is defending His kingdom from this failed takeover.

John says that there was no longer Any place in heaven for them. They were Kicked out and thrown to the Earth.

But we see the ramifications and how the accuser shifts his focus and he deceives the whole world. “Satan finds himself arrested and hurled to the earth. He then inaugurates his program of deceiving the whole earth, but in heaven there is rejoicing.”

God Protects the Kingdom

In verse 10, We are Told that Christ's blood has permanently conquered them.

This salvation awaits a final touch of God’s grace, the glorification of the body, and ushering in the final, eternal state. This consummation is now in full view.

That eternal expression is an exhibit of the power of God and of the kingdom of God.

But the Apocalypse brings the reader to the fulfillment, the consummation of the plan and purpose of God. The salvation of mankind is the center focus in the Apocalypse as in all the New Testament. Accomplished in the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus and appropriated by faith, this salvation awaits a final touch of God’s grace, the glorification of the body, and ushering in the final, eternal state. This consummation is now in full view.

So we see the problem, that Satan wants to take over and he focuses on God’s people in order to get to the male child. Then we see the solution is the blood of the Lamb, the sacrifice on the cross was the attack plan and the way to conquer and those who believe will be on the winner’s side, but woe to those who are on Satan’s side.

III. The Indirect Attack(13-17)

Satan could not hit Jesus. We see a little bit of the battle when Satan tries to tempt Jesus before he goes into the wilderness for 40 days.

Satan shifts focus to God’s people again. First in the term of Israel herself. It seems that the whole world is trying to destroy her. And also the rest of God’s followers.

The rest of her offspring are defined as those who obey God’s commandments and maintain the testimony of Jesus. Is it proper to see the Christian faith as in some sense the offspring of Judaism? The answer to that question must be emphatically “yes.” Again, the promise to Abraham was that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). Jesus is a Jewish Messiah, and those who follow him are indebted to the Jewish people for being used by God in providing both the Messiah and the Messiah’s salvation.

God Protects His People but we know that Satan is still in the midst of waking war, because we are not in the Last Day.

Application

Training for Battle

When you join the military, you go to basic training then advanced training

Church, biblical study, personal study, discussions with other church members, they are all training grounds. When I was a kid I was training. Then I joined the military and they gave me more training.

So we know what to look out for, to recognize that things happen because Satan is the one doing things in this world. But we also recognize that God is also working in this world to protect his people. To shield us from too much evil.

But God knows we have to go out and fight the battle. We can’t stay in the fort all the time.

Fighting the Battle

Paul instructs us to put on the full armor of God because the adversary is always looking to exploit weaknesses. Peter says he is a prowling lion.

Armor does no good if it is not worn. That seems like a no brainer. But also Armor becomes less effective if it is not worn properly. Sometimes you see in a war movie where the soldier moves his helmet up so it is more on the top of his head instead of covering his forehead and at that moment, a sniper’s bullet hits him in the forehead and kills him. Would the bullet go through his helmet, maybe, but he may just get a headache or an injury instead of making him an easy target. We must understand God’s word and use it correctly.

Another way we need to be prepared is to take care of our armor. Maintenance is key to your weapons. Keeping them sharp and free from rust. God’s word is said to be sharper than any two edged sword. But that edge needs to be maintained by us.

Conclusion:

This eternal war has been raging for eons. The earth is the main battlefield and the church is part of God’s Military. And we are moving to the final battle, but we need to understand how we got to where we are today. How and why sin entered the world and more importantly what the plan was to fix that problem. Why do we fight? Because you are unliked because of the very nature of your being. You are one of God’s people, the woman’s offspring. You are hated because you love God and Satan cannot stand it. He wants your love. He wants your attention. Not because he loves you, but so you do not love God. And it is a battle everyday to not be deceived by the devil or believe his accusations.

Jesus, God the Son was the one to come to defeat death, to reverse the curse. And He is the one that will ride his horse into the final battles.

So the question is,which side of the battlefield will you be on at the end? The side of God or the side of Satan?

The battle is hard and difficult. And you will be fighting no matter. Which side you are on. But only one side will win.

So do you want to win? If so, join Jesus today. Talk to people about it and tell them about what it is to be on the winning side. Because when you are in the world, you think you are winning. But you don’t know you have already lost. Because God has already won.