Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Today we’re kicking off a new series as we jump back into the book of the Revelation entitled “Kingdom in Conflict”

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).