Satan's Rage

If you’ve been with us for a while you know we started this series last year and it’s been an amazing journey. Throughout we’ve seen the triumph of Christ over every enemy.

Since it’s been a few months let’s review where we’ve been.

A picture of the exalted Lord Jesus in Revelation 1.

Followed by seven letters to seven churches in Revelation 2-3.

A picture of Heavenly worship in Revelation 4-5.

Followed by seven judgments on the earth via the breaking of seven seals in Revelation 6.

Those seven seals are followed by a break in the action in Revelation 7 (144K + Immeasurable multitude.)

The next set of seven judgments is in in Revelation 8-9 and the seven trumpets. (4+3)

Like with the seals, the trumpet judgments are followed by a break in Revelation 10-11.

We would expect at this point in the book to run into the next set of seven (the seven bowls of wrath) but instead John transitions into something totally different.

Revelation 12

It’s almost as if John stops the movie and then invites the reader “behind the scenes.” We’re introduced to a cast of characters and an epic battle between good and evil that has materialized itself in specific ways throughout history.

Revelation 12 and the chapters that follow remind us that the world in which we live is a world in conflict. There are two kings over two kingdoms and those kingdoms are diametrically opposed to one another.

The Kingdoms in conflict are the Kingdom of this World and it’s prince (the Devil) and the Kingdom of our God and son, the Christ.

The fundamental battle that’s raging on all around us is not the battle between the East and West, not China and America, not Russia and Ukraine. The conflict is more cosmic than that. It transcends the physical and material and encapsulates the immaterial and spiritual.

The Kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of light are in conflict today and have been in conflict for a very long time.

Today we’re going to be introduced to a cast of characters as it relates to this great battle out of Revelation 12.

A Primer on the Apocalyptic

Before we read our text let me remind you of a few things about the book of Revelation and the nature of apocalyptic literature.

Apocalyptic literature uses metaphorical and picturesque language to describe realities that extend beyond the reach of our current vocabulary.

Passages like Revelation 12 paint an emotionally moving picture of what’s taking place “behind the scenes” and “beyond the veil.” They’re a rich source of information, explaining realities about which we know very little.

While the words and pictures presented may not always be taken literally… they should be taken seriously. They are not pointing to myths or fairytales. They are describing foundational and ultimate realities that transcend a concrete understanding of the world as we know it.

The Fundamental Cause

If you asked a 7 year old kid how he got his blue eyes, what’s he going to say? He’s not going to explain the technical details of how genetic traits are passed down within our DNA. He’s going to say, “I got it from mom/dad...” And at one level that kid isn’t wrong.

There may be a technical and direct cause for why a kid has blue eyes instead of green but the ultimate and foundational cause is “mom and dad.”

The same is true for the suffering and evil we experience in the world today.

When we see Christians being beheaded by ISIS or children being abused and preyed upon by the scum of the earth the foundational source of that evil is spiritual in nature. It’s demonic and satanic.

We could give a technical answer for each of those tragedies but, at the end of the day, the fundamental answer is Satan’s Rage.

Revelation 12 gives us insight into Satan’s rage against God throughout redemptive history. It also gives us a pathway for overcoming Satan’s rage today.

Revelation 12:1–6 (CSB)

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.

Understanding the Woman

The scene opens with a “great sign” in heaven. The word sign means some kind of great display that brings about the culmination of something long awaited. Elsewhere it’s used to describe deceptive miracles by the representatives of Satan.

Immediately we’re introduced to this woman. She is described in this powerful and majestic language.

She is clothed with the sun.

She has the moon under her feet.

She has a crown of twelve stars on her head.

Who is this woman and what does all of this picturesque language mean?

To help answer that we need to consider the description of the child she gives birth to in verse 5.

He rules all the nations with an iron rod.

He was caught up to God and to his throne.

While there is some disagreement out there… most agree that the child in this vision is a reference to Jesus Christ. He rules the nations with a rod of iron.

Likewise, there’s widespread agreement that the reat red dragon refers to Satan and his attempt to destroy Christ even at the earliest stages of his birth and early childhood.

So if the dragon is a reference to Satan and the child is a reference to Christ then who is the woman?

Different Views

There are actually several different views as to who this woman is in Revelation 12.

Some take a very literalistic and historic view and say the woman is Mary (the mother of Jesus). But why the language of being clothed with the sun and moon at her feet and 12 starts above her head?

Taking that apocalyptic language into consideration others suggest this is a reference to Israel (national Israel) and the twelve stars represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The sun and moon suggestive of her glory and power.

Some say this woman isn’t a reference to Israel. It’s a reference to the Church. The 12 stars represent the 12 apostles and the sun and moon represent the glory and power given to the church through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some take a more nuanced view that the woman is Israel but not in the narrowly defined sense of a nation/state but rather the remnant Messianic community of Israel (True Israel) that patiently waited for and helped usher in the coming of the Messiah.

I personally believe this is a reference to Old Testament Israel and even find the idea that is refers especially to that messianic remnant as persuasive.

Joseph’s Dream & Israel’s Birth pains

The reason is because this imagery is applied to that concept through Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9-10

Genesis 37:9–10 (CSB)

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?”

So here the Sun and the moon referred to Jacob and Rachel (mom and dad) and the 11 stars were his brothers who with Jospeh included made up the 12 tribes of Israel.

It’s also very common in the OT to see (true) Israel described as a woman (particularly a woman in agonizing labor!) (Isa 26:17; 66:7; Mic 4:10)

The birth pains described depict the tribulations Israel experienced in anticipation of the Messiah.

That anticipation can be seen through the giving of the Law and the sacrificial system and all of the things that God did to show Israel their need for a savior.

There were long seasons of Babylonian captivity and/or Assyrian rule that reminded Israel of their need for a deliverer. A true king of kings and Lord of Lords’

Years and year they waited. Centuries they rested in the promise of God that Messiah would one day come. All the while, Satan was raging against that plan and sought to undo utterly destroy Israel as the special people of God because if he could do that then he could stop God’s redemptive plan all together.

Israel or the Church?

Of course, Satan cannot prevent the coming of Messiah and we see a remnant believing community that is ready to receive Jesus as the Christ when he is born into the World.

That’s why I would say the woman isn’t just a reference to national Israel but to that “true Israel” that maintained faith in the promise of God and responded by faith when Christ came into the world.

I say that because of how the woman and her offspring are described later on in chapter 12.

In Revelation 12:6 we see the woman flee into the wilderness to be protected by God for 3.5 years (1,260 days). This happens AFTER the ascension of Jesus.

In Revelation 12:13 Satan persecutes the woman who gave birth to the child. Through God’s help the woman escapes to the wilderness and is nourished (again for 3.5 years).

Finally in Revelation 12:17 we see this opposition by Satan against the woman also include her other offspring who are described as "those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.”

So if you take passages into consideration, the woman includes believing Israelites before the birth of Jesus as well as the believing messianic community after Jesus’ ascension.

That’s what leads certain interpreters to assume this woman is “the Church.” Some would even go so far as to say that the Church has “replaced ethnic Israel” as the covenant keeping people of God but I think that goes beyond what the Bible actually teaches.

The fact that non-Jewish followers of Jesus are “grafted in” to the true Israel of God does not nullify God’s promises to Israel in the OT. They just become partakers in that promise through the Lord Jesus Christ.

What Does it Matter?

Some of you might be saying, “what does it matter who the woman represents?” And the answer from this passage is clear. Before Christ, God’s people lived with the TENSION of Satan’s rage and God’s provision. The tensions they felt in that meantime are similar to what we experience today.

For us to be effective in our calling we must know who our enemy is, how He operates and learn from history the best way to persevere and overcome.

The Jewish believing remnant of the Old Testament had to endure incredible hardship as they awaited the coming of Messiah.

They suffered great physical harm from godless nations like Assyria and Babylon.

They experienced God’s protection and provision even as they wandered in the wilderness and learned to walk by faith.

Because of fear and pride many fell away and shipwrecked their faith. They thought God was too slow in fulfilling his promises and so they compromised.

As Christians today we are living in the midst of a similar tension. We are eagerly awaiting the return of the King. We should learn from them and imitate those who walked by faith.

We too will suffer persecution and harm from godless people and powers.

We too will experience God’s provision and protection even as we wonder in our wilderness.

We too will see many who fall away because they think God is too slow in fulfilling his promises or maybe it was never even true to begin with.

But we, like them, must hold fast. And we can hold fast when we KNOW that our suffering is TEMPORARY, our enemy will one day BE DEFEATED and our deliverance one day will SURELY COME.

Understanding The Dragon

So having understood who this woman is and what she represents, lets now turn to the dragon, the Leviathan, the monster of the deep!

The dragon is a standard symbol in the OT for all that oppose God.

Egypt is referred to as a dragon in Psalm 74:14 describing the exodus.

Pharoah himself is likened to a dragon in Ezekiel 29:2.

Assyria and Babylon are likened to dragons in Isaiah 27:1.

Does that mean Satan caused Pharoah and Egypt to do all of the horrendous things that they did? Was Satan the direct cause of the murderous tirades enacted by the Assyrian and Babylonian regimes?

No! But, the evil inflicted by those nations was animated and influenced by his schemes. He’s a created being and can’t be in more than one place at one time but he is a brilliant and everlasting created being which means his strategies and methodologies greatly exceed what we might think or imagine.

Let’s read again what John says about this dragon in chapter 12.

Revelation 12:3–4 (CSB)

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.

Jealous of God’s Glory

Notice a few things about this dragon.

He is fiery red in color symbolizing his murderous aims and intent to destroy.

He has seven heads with seven crowns and ten horns symbolizing power and authority to rule.

The number 7 is symbolic in the book of Revelation as we’ve already seen but it’s interesting to see how the dragon seeks to imitate the seven horns of the lamb. (Rev 5:6)

John actually defines the meaning of these heads, crowns and horns in Revelation 17:9-13. It boils down to an attempt by Satan to look like, sound like, and act like he is God.

The dragon seeks imitate God (and his Christ) because he is JEALOUS of God’s Glory. He present himself as having authority and power that is on par with or greater than God because he craves that worship for himself.

Just as the anti-christ attempts to look like Christ, act like Christ, make similar promises and deliverances as Christ - so also does the dragon attempt to rule like God, demand worship like God and seek to be treated like God.

Even his crowns are cheap imitations of the true King of Kings and Lord or Lords. Jesus Christ wears the VICTORS CROWN (stephanos) where as Satan makes for himself a diadema - verbal claim to authority and power without the actual victory.

This has always been Satan’s MO. Jealous of God and craving for himself the glory that belongs to God alone.

Thwarting God’s Plans

Because Satan is jealous of God’s glory, He is relentless in his attempt to thwart God’s plan of redemption throughout history and especially through the work of Christ on the cross.

John says of this dragon that he uses his tail to sweep away 1/3 of the stars in heaven, throwing them to the earth.

These stars might be a reference to “fallen angels” as we know such a thing happened. When Satan fell he took a lot of angels with him.

It might also just be a metaphorical way of stating the incredible power of the dragon and his displaying of that power through attempts to thwart the plans of God on the earth.

Killing the Messiah

This opposition to God and his plan of redemption is painted in vivid terms in verse 4 as he is seen waiting for the woman to give birth so he might devour her child.

How did Satan go about this? As you read the Gospels you can see it in a variety of things...

Like Herod’s mandate to kill the Christ Child by killing all boys two years and younger. (Matthew 2:16)

The temptation of Jesus in the desert before He begins his ministry. (Matthew 4:1)

The resistance Jesus experienced as he preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. (demons, pharisees, sadducees, etc)

The resistance Jesus got from Peter (his own disciple) discouraging him from the cross. (Matthew 16:23)

The betrayal of Jesus by Judas and his subsequent crucifixion. (Luke 22:3)

Ultimately Satan’s hope that he had destroyed Christ through his crucifixion by the Romans was shattered by the reality of Christ resurrection from the grave.

Atonement had been made for sin and God’ acceptance of that price was made visible through Christ’s resurrection.

What Satan saw as his victory was ultimately his defeat. Because it was through death that Jesus DEFEATED death. Now that sins had been atoned for the Lord would bring about forgiveness of sins and newness of life through the resurrection of Jesus our Lord!

We see what happens after that failed attempt in Revelation 12:7-9.

Revelation 12:7–9 (CSB)

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.

Now some of you might read that and think, “I thought Satan already fell from heaven? When did the devil become the devil? And in one sense the devil DID from heaven a long time ago. (Gen 3)

But after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Satan and his demons are thrown from heaven again. Some say it is at this point that Satan is no longer even given access to heaven to accuse the people of God before him.

Putting It All Together

Now that we have an understanding of these characters and what they represent let’s answer the more important question of why it matters. What this this text show us about today?

This text is ultimately a reminder that heaven and hell are real. God exists, Satan exists and there’s a battle between the triune God and those that would seek to thwart his redemptive plans for the world.

The Church has been placed on the front lines of this battle and we are central to God’s strategy for winning the war.

His plan of redemption began with the choosing of Israel and their preparation and anticipation of a Messiah.

That plan climaxed with the sending of Christ to the earth and his triumph over Satan through his death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

That plan continues still today through the Messianic community called the Church. That means people like you and me.

And someday that plan will culminate with the return of Christ to destroy Satan and God’s enemies forever.

That’s what Revelation 12 is all about and it’s absolutely relevant for us today!

1,260 Days

There’s a reference at the end of verse 6 and again in verse 14 to 1,260 days or 3.5 years. There are many who say that refers to a future period of tribulation and wrath for 3 and 1/2 year period directly prior to the second coming of Jesus. I agree with the idea that such a period will transpire.

But I also see John using this designation to refer to a longer more indefinite period of tribulation and persecution that extends from the ascension of Jesus all the way to his second coming which means it would include the tribulation and persecution that we experience today.

We experience tribulation and persecution from the hands of our enemy. But we also experience the victory of Christ’s kingdom over Satan through the cross.

This is why John hears the loud voice from heaven saying

Revelation 12:10–12 (CSB)

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.

Already Not Yet Tension

Do you feel the already/not yet tension of the Kingdom in this passage? Christ has won the victory but the battle is not over. The Christian life is war. It’s a war against Satan and evil as they continue to try and thwart the redemptive purposes of God to make a people for himself.

Tribulation is inevitable, but we will overcome! How? Two things: the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

First, the blood. The blood of Christ did not bring about Lamb’s defeat. It brought about victory. The blood of the risen and exalted Lamb secures victory over Satan for the people of God.

It all harkens back to the exodus narrative and the OT sacrificial system. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. The blood was how atonement was made.

Now that Jesus has shed his blood...

We no longer have to fear the power of Satan over our life.

We no longer have to feel shame as a result of his accusations.

Even the fear of death has been overcome because of the victory of Christ over Satan.

The benefits of Christ death are enjoyed in part, now, because of his resurrection and ascension. But the fullness of those benefits will be experienced when he comes again and forever destroys the work of Satan by sending him to his forever home in hell.

Until then, we join Christ in advancing his kingdom and undermining the plans of Satan through the proclamation of His Word. That’s the Word of our testimony. Our testimony is the testimony o f Christ. It’s the Gospel. And we preach that Gospel to advance Christ’ kingdom until he comes again in glory.

A Mighty Fortress captures the heart of this victory and tension

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. 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.

That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever!

Conclusion

In the coming weeks we’re going to be introduced to additional threats to the people of God in the final years before the second coming of Christ. But whether it was the years prior to the birth of Christ or the years directly prior to his second coming, the overall truth is the same.

Satan has oriented himself to rage against God and his redemptive plans for the world. That rage has a direct impact on your life.

One of the chief ways Satan seeks to destroy you is through shame and accusation. By bringing up all of the things in your life that bring you down.

You’re never going to be good enough. accusation

Nobody can love you. You’re unworthy. Unqualified. Ill equipped.

But because of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross you no longer have to listen to the accuser’s voice. The accuser has been thrown down and you can overcome him.

The Better Word

Jesus speaks a better word. He speaks a word of mercy and grace. He says to you and to me, “you are far more love than you could’ve ever dared to hope. You are mine. I will redeem you and restore all that the enemy has taken. If you’ll just trust me. Follow me.

How? The blood of the lamb. By applying the substitutionary death of Jesus to your own life through repentance and faith.

Have you come to a place in your life where you’ve submitted to Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? If not, today is the day of salvation.

For those of you who are Christians, remember this:

He tried to prevent the coming of Messiah and couldn’t do it.

He tried to destroy Jesus the Messiah when he was born all the way to his crucifixion. But he was unsuccessful!

Now he turns his attention to you and me (the other children of the woman) but even in that he will largely be ineffective and unsuccessful.

Why? Because Jesus has given us everything that we need to overcome. And we CAN overcome our enemy through the blood of the lamb and the word of His Testimony.

Don’t allow him to silence your witness or sideline you from the mission because you aren’t walking in the victory that Christ has secured for you on the cross.

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