Living in the Last Days (17)

“The Six Key Personalities of the Great Tribulation”

Revelation 12:1-13:18 “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prev…”

I. Intro

So far, we have journeyed through the seventh trumpet. Although the trumpet sounded in 11:15, the judgments are not recorded until chapter 16. Chapters 12-14 record an interlude between the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the beginning of the seven bowls of wrath. This parenthetical section describes the six key personalities who play important roles during the latter part of the Great Tribulation, beginning with.....

II. The Sun Clothed Woman, the Dragon, and the Male Child (12:1-6)

This chapter symbolically describes the satanic hatred towards God’s plan for the messianic line-Israel. The word translated ‘wonder’ (semeion) [say-mi-on] means an indication or a token. It is a symbol representing a reality. The woman in these verses represents Israel. The Sun will later reign during His millennial Kingdom in Revelation 19:15. The phrase ‘rod of iron’ means He will swiftly and firmly judge all sin. The crown of twelve stars probably represents the twelve tribes. Next, John sees another wonder appear in Heaven: a great, red dragon, Satan, who clearly relates to the beast. He had seven heads and ten horns, which represent power and Satan’s control over the world during the Great Tribulation. He had seven crowns upon his heads. These are royal ‘crowns.’ (diadema) [di-ah-day-ma] rather than the victor’s ‘crown’ (stephanos) on the sunclothed woman. Stars are often used in the Bible to refer to angels. Many believe when Satan was cast out of heaven, one-third of the angels were cast out with him. 2 Peter 2:4 “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;” The dragon stands before the woman, who is about to give birth, so he can devour the child. This certainly fits Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus shortly after His birth. Matthew 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Beth-lehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.” The woman’s son is caught up to God and His throne [Christ’s ascension]. The woman flees to the wilderness where God has prepared a place in which she will be fed for 1,260 days, or 3 1/2 years. During the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist’s desecration of the temple will cause the Jewish people to flee into the wilderness. Wherever this is, they will be protected by God. As Christians, we must never forget Satan’s enourmous hatred of the Jews. He still wants to destroy the messianic line. Therefore, he has influenced anti-Semitism from Pharoah to Haman to Hitler and to those who want to destroy Israel today.

III. Michael the Archangel

Michael is the only angel in the Bible specifically called an Archangel, who is the guardian of God’s people. Jude 1:9 “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” He is also called a prince, which means ‘commander.’ Daniel 10:21 “But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” Michael and his angels defeated Satan and his angels, and they were cast down out of Heaven to earth. This doesn’t mean Satan has personal access to God. It means Satan’s accusations go up to God in the same way our prayers do. Until Satan is cast into the lake of fire, he will continue to slander God’s people. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” Since Satan can’t hurt God, he does the next best thing-he hurts the people God loves. Now, John writes in past tense of a future time. Because of its certainty, John sees the ultimate victory over Satan as already won because they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. The death blow to Satan was when the blood of the Lamb was shed on Calvary. Therefore, true believers confirm their loyalty to Him through their testimony to the point of death. Because of the defeat of Satan, the loud voice in heaven says, “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath.” The dragon continues to pursue, or persecute, the woman who gave birth to the male child. Therefore, the woman is given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness. This pictures swift, powerful protection. This same picture is used when God reminds the Israelites of their deliverance from Egypt. God protects the fleeing remnant for 3 1/2 years. Like a raging river, the serpent (Satan) tries to attack the Jews’ hiding place. But God causes the Earth to swallow the river pouring from Satan’s mouth. This symbolically refers to Satan’s attempt to exterminate Israel. Enraged by his inability to destroy the woman (Israel) Satan makes war against the remnant of her seed who obey God’s commandments....and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The remnant of her seed could refer to Gentiles who become believers during the Great Tribulation through the witness of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

IV. The First Beast (The Antichrist-13:1-10)

This beast has already been mentioned as rising from the bottomless pit, so the sea is probably symbolic of the bottomless pit. The first beast represents the Antichrist. He has seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads, ten crowns, and upon his horns the name of blasphemy. Apparently, Satan summons the beast to do his bidding because he gives the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. One head has a deadly wound that is miraculously healed. Therefore, the whole earth marvels and worships the beast. The first beast, (Antichrist) will use deception to fool the lost world because they refuse the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thess. 2:10 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” The first beast is allowed to do whatever he wants for forty and two months (3 1/2 years.) He utters blasphemies against God and those in Heaven. He makes war on the saints and has authority over the entire world. Everyone will worship the beast, except those whose names are written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God knows from eternity past who will be saved. Their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. The phrase “If any man have an ear, let him hear” means to pay close attention to verse 10: ‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.’ The message is clear. When God’s plan is complete, the captor will be taken captive, and God will divinely dispose of him.

V. The Second Beast (The False Prophet- 13:11-18)

Revelation 16:13, 19:20, and 20:10 call the second beast the false prophet. He has all the power of the first. Now we have the ‘unholy trinity’ Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. The second beast doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of man. The second beast doesn’t promote himself but performs miracles on behalf of the first beast, deceiving them that dwell on the earth. He orders a great statue of the first beast to be made and given the power to speak. The image of the first beast causes anyone refusing to worship the image to be killed. The image of the first beast also commands all people to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. No one can buy or sell anything without the mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Some believe the three numbers represent the unholy trinity. However, no one knows the meaning of this number but one day it will identify the beast, or the Antichrist. This section reveals that during the second half of the Great Tribulation, there will be a one world ruler, one government-sanctioned religion, and one world economic system.