War Of The Ages
Notes
Transcript
Introduction - Reality of Spiritual Warfare
Introduction - Reality of Spiritual Warfare
Though the trumpet was recorded in chapter 11 verse 15 as having sounded, I remind you the details of that trump blast will not be disclosed until chapter 16. Chapters 12-15 reveal end time prophecies through personages or signs.
The key to understanding chapter 12 is identifying the persons or the signs within it. If these signs are properly identified then understanding follows with great ease. Understanding Chapter 12 is necessary because it operates as a key to the understanding of the rest of the Apocalypse and understanding the plan of God for the ages.
Context of chapter 12 is the war that has been raging on for the ages. It is a war many of us are oblivious, or ignorant to for a time until again we are reminded of its reality. You know there are times where the Christian walk and life is relatively easy but those times come and we all can testify and share of the various ways and times we have all felt like we have been attacked or under attacked. Not necessarily from people (although they can sometimes be used in that) but from what we would say is just life - but sometimes we know its more than just normal life.
There has been a war that has been raging from the before the Garden of Eden. This war is a major theme throughout history and the Bible and as such it takes precedence in the end times as it comes to its culmination. Christian whether you like it or not you are a part of this on going battle. The Christian life is not lived on a playground but on the battleground of this spiritual war. As we read Revelation 12 and go into this study we remember that it is revealed for the end times purpose and how it all will play out on the grand stage of the theater of time, but it also serves as not only a reminder of the reality of spiritual war but also as a light for us in how to stand and fight in the battles we find ourselves in today right now.
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns.
4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child. 5 She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short.
13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.
15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth.
17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus. 18 The dragon stood on the sand of the sea.
The Start
The Start
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns.
4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child. 5 She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
As we read we come to the first great sign. The word for great is Greek word MEGA - means great and large particularly in magnitude. We have been interpreting Revelation literally so far and we come to an example of how we know when not to interpret it literally. A sign points to something or identifies something other than itself. For example when driving - because we see so many of the signs during this activity - if you drive on I10 and head west and you see a large yellow sign after Anthony exit 0 and this sign says welcome to New Mexico the land of enchantment - we know thats a sign right? We dont park and get out and hang on the sign and say I am visiting New Mexico right? No we know the sign is not literally New Mexico it points us to New Mexico. This great sign appeared in heaven and this was the sign a woman. Since this woman is a sign we are not expecting a woman to appear literally. Who is this woman? Revelation actually has four women listed who represent religious systems
Jezebel - Revelation 2:20 - False Teaching
The Great Harlot - Revelation 17:2 - False Religion
The Bride - Revelation 19:7-8 - The Church
The Woman - Revelation 12:1 - national Israel
The woman that we see here is Israel and not as some would believe Mary the mother of Jesus for she does not fit the description and she did not flee for 1,260 days. The Sun, Moon and 12 Stars would have been known to Jews familiar in the writings of Moses and the prophecies there in. I bring you to Genesis 37:9-11.
9 Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?”
11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Jacob is the Sun, Rachel is the Moon, and the Twelve stars are the 12 Sons - with Joseph there are 12 stars. They make up the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. Here in Revelation the woman is described with queenly terms to bring out the prominence of Israel in the plans and promises of God especially in the coming Millennial Reign.
5 Indeed, your husband is your Maker— his name is the Lord of Armies— and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth. 6 For the Lord has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God.
20 However, as a woman may betray her lover, so you have betrayed me, house of Israel. This is the Lord’s declaration.
19 I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. 20 I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.
Another sign appeared in heaven a great fiery red dragon. This dragon is Satan - named in verse 9 for us. As a sign though be reminded that Satan does not look like a great red dragon, but that this is more descriptive of his character as a terrible beast of destruction and murderous nature depicted by the color red. As a great red fiery dragon the fullness of evil in Satan in all its hideous brutality is pictured. Described as having seven heads and ten horns and each heads having a crown. More detail about these will be given in the following chapter but refers to Satan’s great power and claimed royal authority. The tail of this beast swept a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.
This speaks to the fall of Satan and the rebellion when he wanted to be like the Most High. The stars refer to the angels who sided with Satan.
The woman is pregnant and ready to give birth and the dragon stood in front of the woman so that he might devour her child.
The next personage we see is that the woman gives birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule all the nations with an iron rod. This Son born is none other than Jesus Christ. This is here is why many believe that the woman is Mary and also why the woman cannot be the church - Jesus births the church not the other way around.
Satan has from the beginning since Genesis 3:15 stood ready to devour the offspring of the woman (Israel). Pharoah with Moses, Haman and his gallows, Herod, Nero, Hitler - this gives us a picture as to why there is such a demonic hatred and attack upon the Jewish people.
Verse 5 ends with a strong support for the Pre-Tribulational rapture. Probably havent heard this because many may gloss over it or just take the easy route and say the child caught up is Jesus in His ascension. The word caught up - the same greek word Harpazo - violently snatched away. Thats not how I remember Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The difficulty in this lies in the fact that the sign points to a person and the person points to a nation.
Woman —> 12 Tribes —> Israel
Dragon —> Devil —> 10 nations
Son —> Jesus —> The Church
7 Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
8 Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her sons.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
It is the same word used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where it is obviously describing the rapture. The word has a connotation of being rescued at the last possible minute from imminent danger. This most certainly does not describe the ascension of Christ after his resurrection. It makes the best sense of the limited use of this word to see John as making a deliberate description of the rescue of the church before the dragon seeks to attack Israel.
Now, I understand why this would not be persuasive to an amillennialist, or to a preterist. If someone doesn’t see a future demonic attack on Israel described in Revelation 12, then they are certainly not going to see the rapture of the church in verse 5.
But for premillennialists and those who see that Revelation (along with the Olivet Discourse) does describe the devil using the anti-Christ to attack Israel, then verse 5 puts the rapture immediately before that attack.
Battle in Heaven
Battle in Heaven
6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short.
Verse 6 and the reference of the woman fleeing into the wilderness takes us to the trials of Israel in the last half of the Tribulation where she will be persecuted greatly for 3 1/2 years. Since Satan failed to kill Christ he will with the fury of a dragon come against the woman Israel and take his rage on her. Verses 13-18 are the details of the persecution but here in verse 7 - 12 we see the immediate cause.
Very future from our standpoint we see a major conflict in heaven. The war is between Michael and the angels of heaven and Satan and his angels.
Michael - Mi-Cha-El “Who is like God?” Poses a rhetorical and negative question, demanding a negative answer. The archangel’s name stands as a rebuke to Satan’s boast
14 I will ascend above the highest clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
His position is archangel a chief angel among the angels. I believe Michael is the angel over Israel
1 At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.
this indicates that as chief prince he has a special responsibility as guardian of Israel, especially during the Tribulation. Without the protection of Michael, the Jews, who have miraculously remained a distinct people throughout all their persecutions, would have ceased to exist. Behind the power and work of Michael, however, is the sovereign authority and might of God, for “who is like God?”
Until this point Michael has never laid a hand on Satan
9 Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
However now he does and he and his angels defeat Satan and in that defeat we see that there was no longer a place in heaven for him and so he is thrown out. We dont like to think about at present Satan having access to heaven but he does for now. And as he is thrown down it is declared by a loud voice in heaven salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ has come because the accuser who accused relentlessly has been thrown down! Verse 11 tells us how Satan is conquered and how the Spiritual war is fought victoriously. These are our weapons we must equip ourselves now and today.
How to conquer Satan
By the blood of the Lamb
The word of their testimony
Loving God more than your life
The battle with Satan is spiritual and is fought on the fronts of Truth and Faith. This is why Satan deceives and brings fear and doubt.
The blood of the lamb gives us victory over anything Satan can accuse. God doesnt see our sin only Jesus’ blood.
Testimony - martyria - martyrs
25 The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Rejoice you heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down with great fury, because he knows his time is short. Satan can no longer enter heaven at this point and because of that his full attention and wrath is no upon those on the earth.
Relentless Attack
Relentless Attack
13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.
15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth.
17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus. 18 The dragon stood on the sand of the sea.
The scene of this war is now back on earth and directed towards the woman. The persecution against Israel is greatly increased at this point for the mere casting out of heaven Satan knows his time is short. Continuing in his relentless war against those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus.
The woman is given two wings of an eagle so she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness where she is nourished for a time, times and half a time.
This could be massive jets airlifting and rescuing Israel to take her to her protective place. This could be America - with our symbol being the Bald eagle. No idea and no way to know for sure. More than likely though this is as the great exodus was in which God supernaturally protected and kept Israel safe while being pursued by Egypt.
Satan may pursue but God protects
The secure place is not identified but many believe that the place is a city called Petra in which there is a protective area that could hold the persecuted nation and protect them from the enemy for a time until Jesus returns. In fact so believed is this that one bible scholar has purchased and hidden several million copies of the New Testament in the multitude of caves out there.
Satan will spew water like a flood flowing after the woman to sweep her away. Could be literal flood or it could be a flood of armies but the earth will open its mouth and swallow the river - perhaps an earthquake or sinkhole or something along those lines. Once this happens Satan will wage war with the rest of her offspring. Continuing to try to bring the plans of God to nothing by wiping out the Jewish people.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The last verse tells us that the dragon stood on the sand of the sea - now this picture is that Satan has always been behind the scenes in the affairs of men and nations - the sea of men.
Revelation pulls back the curtain on this spiritual war that has been going from the beginning before the Garden when Satan boasted and fell. He convinced Adam and Eve to sin, and has been wrecking havoc on humanity ever since in an effort to wreck God’s promises and plans. We see that this spiritual war of the ages has involved us today and it will continue through the end of the tribulation period. It will be put to an end and God is keenly aware and able to handle Satan and his schemes.
God is revealing that He knows the devil’s schemes and is not taken by surprise.
While we look forward to and anticipate the doom of Satan and his kingdom we must remember that the war rages on today and right now with us. We have to understand this battle is raging now or we will be caught off-guard.
We dont win the victory over Satan by our own merit, victory or strength - but only by the blood of the Lamb.
Believers are victors in Christ and through Christ Satan is a defeated foe.