Sermon Tone Analysis

Dragon, Woman and Child - August 10

Tonight we are starting to look at the second half of the tribulation period as we begin chapter 12, and will see the main character of the second half of the tribulation period, the Dragon.

I listed the Dragon first in the title, even though we will first see and talk about the woman.

The dragon is Satan as we mentioned last week, the dragon is one of the three key characters, with the other two being, the beast from the sea is the false Christ/ Antichrist, and then the beast from the earth is the false prophet; these three make up the evil or false trinity.

We are living in some crazy days, we can all realize that right now, the cost of food, and well really everything is outrageous.

The weather is has been crazy, with the ocean temps in the Atlantic being in the upper 80’s right now and here we are over a week into August and have had three named storms but no hurricanes, thank God, but we have seen some very strong thunderstorms, Monday evening we had a storm come through that produced hail, strong winds, that Donetta and I were driving in and I tell you it was like being in a hurricane.

These are weird and dangerous days in which we live in!

The storm clouds are gathering, the lightning is flashing the lightning rod is Israel.

Christians cannot deny or ignore the significance of the nation of Israel.

If you read Bible prophecy, you will discover that Israel is, in some way, in 100 percent of all prophecy about the future.

Indeed, the eyes of the entire world are upon this tiny state of Israel, and your eyes need to be there, too, because the Jews and Israel are the people and the land of destiny.

As the Jews go, so goes the world.

Israel is God’s yardstick, Israel is God’s measuring rod.

Israel is God’s blueprint.

Israel is God’s program for what He is doing in the world.

Let’s look at what God tells us about the nation of Israel from Revelation 12.

I. Israel’s Special Favor

Who is this wonder woman in heaven?

First let me say who she is not.

She is not the Virgin Mary.

She gave birth to the Lord Jesus Christ, Second, it is not the church, even though it is spoken of as the bride of Christ.

The woman in this passage gives birth to Jesus; Jesus gave birth to the church.

It is not the church.

It seems clear that this wonder woman is Israel.

Jesus came from the nation of Israel.

When God gave Joseph a dream, Israel was described as having the sun, moon, and 11 stars.

Joseph was the twelfth star.

Elsewhere in the Old Testament, Israel is called the wife of Jehovah.

God said to Israel in Isaiah 54:5-6

Then we see a key passage in Romans that explains this woman.

Paul spoke about his concern for the nation of Israel.

He describes the Jews this way in Romans 9:4-5

What is Paul saying?

That Israel gave us the Messiah, and thank God for it.

Israel is a God-ordained, God-called, God-protected, and God-blessed nation.

Did God call and ordain Israel to make them only a blessing?

No, He called Israel in order to bless the entire world through them.

Let’s look at another passage of Scripture.

God is speaking to Abraham in Genesis 12:3

Every Christian is blessed because of Israel.

We have a Bible that is a Jewish book.

We serve a Jewish Messiah.

And God has made Abraham a blessing to all the nations of the world.

Here’s a word of warning: You would be foolish and on dangerous ground if you should pronounce a curse on Israel.

We are to bless what God has blessed, love what God has loved, and pray for Israel.

God said about Israel in Deuteronomy 7:6

Our Jewish friends need to learn that the best friends they have on the face of this earth are Bible-believing Christians.

Satan does not want them to know that.

II.

Israel’s Satanic Foe

Revelation gives us the symbols of a wonder woman and a dreadful dragon.

Who is this ferocious dragon?

It is Satan himself, he is red because of his lust for blood.

He has seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns.

You may recall that seven means perfection and ten means complete.

Horns in the Bible are symbolic of power, so when you put seven and ten together, these things are symbolic of Satan’s diabolical earthly power and wisdom.

Satan is the ultimate rebel.

Isaiah tells us what happened to Satan in Isaiah 14:12-15

Isaiah 14:12–15 (KJV 1900)

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:

I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Lucifer was a beautiful angel in heaven, but one day he decided he was too wise, strong, glorious, and mighty to be anything less than God.

He wanted to exalt himself above the stars of God, so Revelation tells us that his tail swept a third of the stars [angels] from heaven when he led a rebellion and ultimately fell.

No sooner had he unsheathed his sword of rebellion than the thunders of Jehovah’s wrath rolled through heaven.

Do

Does the number of angels who became demons bother you? 1/3

* If it does, then we should remember that 2/3 of the angels did not fall so there are two angels for every demon.

*

Hell is the destiny of Satan and his demons.

This is what Jesus taught about those who will be judged in the final day in Matthew 25:41

God did not make hell for you.

God made heel for Satan and the demons.

But if you choose to follow Satan, or reject Jesus, that will be your destiny.

You will be an intruder.

While Satan wars with Israel, his ultimate war is with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at what the second half of Revelation 12:4

Revelation 12:4 (CSB)

4 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.

Who is her child?

The Lord Jesus Christ.

What does Satan want to do?

He wants to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who do you think influenced Herod to murder all the baby boys who were two years old and under?

Satan was trying to devour the child as soon as the child was born.

But he could not stop the plan of God.

Jesus Christ was born.

He lived a perfect and sinless life, died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the tomb a victorious Savior.

Now He has ascended the high hills of glory.

Song writer John Wilbur Chapman said it best:

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Satan is anti-Christ, and he is anti-Semitic.

Satan hates Jesus, and he hates the Jews.

If you were to study the history of God’s chosen people, you would discover that they have endured satanically-inspired persecution and atrocities under Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Nero, the Turks, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Arab nations, and sadly, even Christians.

Think of the little nation of Israel today.

There is a population of just over 9 million people in Israel today, of that 6.8 million of the 9 million is Jews, leaving the other 2.2 million non-Jews, most being Arabs - Muslims.

In the Middle East countries, which is a total of 17 countries there is a population roughly right now of 475.3 million, with roughly 85% being of the Muslim faith.