Monday, October 11, 2021

A Woman and a War

 

A young boy was reading a mystery thriller late at night.  Mom appeared at the door and told him to put the book down and go to sleep.  The boy pleaded for a few more minutes.  Mom agreed, Ten minutes, and lights out, young man!  The young reader flipped ahead to the last chapter to satisfy his curiosity.  He read how the bad guy is caught and severely punished.  Closing the book, the boy shakes his head and says to the villain:  Mister, if you knew what was going to happen to you in that last chapter, you'd change your ways in a hurry! 

This chapter is about the first stage of failure for Satan.  He is the bad guy, and there is plenty in store for him!

We are at the half-way mark (in chapters).  John's vision now is filled with pictures from the Old Testament.  Among the mysteries we have:

The Great Woman

THE WOMAN'S SEED OF PROMISE

Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head.  Revelation 12:1

Bible interpreters have debated the identity of this woman since John's vision 2,000 years ago.  Joanna Southcott thought she was the woman.  She lived in 19th century England.  She declared she would give birth to the Messiah in 1814.  She didn't!

Revelation uses great sweeping pictures from both Old and New Testaments.  Here we have the clear picture of God's special people, Israel. 

The dream of Joseph the patriarch (Genesis 37) is in view.  Joseph saw his parents (sun and moon), and his brothers (twelve stars), bowing down before him.  This is the beginnings of the nation of Israel.  The twelve brothers of Joseph are the tribes of Israel, and it is from this beloved people that Jesus, the Messiah, the true seed of woman (Galatians 4.4), was brought into this world.            

THE WOMAN'S SUFFERING PEOPLE

She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth.  Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads.  His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth.  He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born.  She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod.  And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne.  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days. Revelation 12:2-6

No nation has suffered longer or more dramatically than God's nation.  This has always been Satan's intent.  He hates God's people because he hates God.  These verses show us the coming of Jesus upon the earth, and the resultant activity of Satan's influence.  Satan rebelled against heaven, causing one third of the angels to follow him.  He inspired Herod to kill all the children in Palestine under two years of age, supposing to do away with the Messiah. 

The Jews have always been on the run because of Satan's malevolent schemes.  But John pictures the ministry of Jesus (v.5) in the incarnation, execution, and exaltation of the woman's seed for her suffering people.

Historically Israel is always in the wildernessDuring the Great Tribulation there will be one more time for the resurrected nation to flee.  The 144,000 saved Jewish witnesses will find a hiding place from the diabolical extermination attempts of the Beast.  Most scholars agree the place will be Petra, a small, stone-fortified city in the desert.  As there is always a remnant for God's witness, there is always a hiding place beneath God's wings. 

The Great War

The next part of the vision is clearly related to Daniel's 10th chapter, where the prophet has prayed for God's intervention in a time of national crisis.  God sends an angel with God's answer, but the devil detains him.  Michael the archangel comes to the rescue, and gives Daniel insight into what will happen in the last days to the nation of Israel, the Jews:

But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way.  Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.  Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”  Daniel 10:13-14

The rest of Daniel's vision of the seventieth week details the time of the last of the Great Tribulation.  This deals primarily with God's dealings with Israel in these last days.  The church has departed earth in the rapture, and many now turn to the Lord – but many do not.  What follows in the next verses deal with Israel, left on earth to deal with Satan, who is forever banished from the presence of God.  It is not a pretty sight!

VANQUISHING OF SATAN FROM HEAVEN

Then there was war in heaven:

It hardly seems there could be a less-likely place for war than in the pastoral hillsides of heaven.  However, it is likely that after the resurrection of Jesus, Satan chased after Him all the way to the throne room to yell FOUL!  The accuser of the brethren starts with the chief Elder Brother!

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels.  And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.  This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.  Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.  For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.  Revelation 12:7-10

There is a clean sweep; Satan is forever cast out of heaven.  There is an end (finally) to the accusations and slandering against God's family.  The serpent's business has always been to accuse, abuse, and confuse the people of God.  It is not hard to see in this world how Satan has done his job!  There is blind confusion over moral issues in our day.  Our culture is pushing homosexuality, promiscuity, and anything else which is abhorrent to God.  White is black, wrong is right, night is day.  It is all consistent with the perverseness of Satan's character.  He is the god of this world, but there is coming a time when God will have enough!  Satan will be vanquished, kicked out of heaven.  His parking permit in heaven's lot is revoked, his credentials pulled.  He will not like it!  He does not like defeat!

VICTORY OVER SATAN BY THE SAINTS

And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.  And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.  Revelation 12:11

There are three ways in which the Tribulation Saints will experience victory over Satan.

Power in the blood

It has always been the blood of Christ that provides victory.  At  Passover time the temple in Jerusalem saw some 200,000 lambs killed for the sacrifice.  There was a drain which ran from the temple walls, carrying the blood all the way to the Kidron valley.  The river into which that blood flowed was crossed by Jesus on His way from Gethsemane to the trial.  When the Lamb of God's blood was shed on the cross of Calvary it flowed all over the world, cleansing sin.  There is power in the blood for those who accept Him.

Power in the word

The word of testimony of the Tribulation Saints is their unwillingness to deny their faith in Christ.  In the church of my youth, Sunday nights always had a testimony time.  As an eight-year-old I accepted Jesus' offer of forgiveness.  He was in my heart and life from that moment.  I spent the next several years getting up the courage to testify, like the adults did (and the spiritual youth) on Sunday nights.    One evening, though, during the testimony time, I managed to stand up and stammer out a few words about being a better Christian.  I can't recall exactly what I said, but I remember feeling so much better afterward.  I even somehow had the boldness the next week to share Christ with one of my school friends. 

There is something really liberating, powerful and strengthening about witnessing, especially where the witnessing needs to take place, in the world!  (The saints in the church already have heard!)  One immutable principle about sharing your faith, the more you do it, the more you will do it!

Power in surrender

They loved Jesus enough to not be afraid to die.  It is difficult to miss the force of that last phrase.  Many Christians never testify of their faith, even though there is no death penalty for sharing Christ (yet).

How can you come to this kind of brave stand for Jesus?  It is, in a word, commitment!  Social scientists tell us that the word commitment has become persona non grata in our society.  People do not want to commit to anything which is an ongoing responsibility.  One of the reasons church programs are under-staffed and under-achieving, is the lack of commitment to the long-term process.  However, when it comes to Jesus, the commitment is not only long term, its eternal!  And it starts now! 

·       Without commitment you would not have heard of Peter on Pentecost, preaching to a crowd large enough for 3,000 to accept Jesus at the invitation time. 

·       Without commitment you would never have heard of the funny little rabbi who was bald, nearly blind, a terrible public speaker; was bow-legged and had a hook-nose, and hated Christians with a passion.  He reconsidered when he met Jesus, and his commitment to the Lord gave him a change of name.  We call him Paul, and he wrote half of our New Testament. 

·       Without commitment you would not have heard of Dwight.  He was just an average shoe salesman -- maybe even below average.  But he met Jesus -- and committed his life, and Jesus used D.L. Moody to turn the world upside down in the 19th century.

A patriot summed up commitment -- and what it means, when he wrote about our country's need:

These are the times that try men's souls:  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.  Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph.[1]

Victory over Satan by the saints is a matter for the blood, our testimony, and complete commitment of our lives to Jesus.  It is necessary when you face an enemy like the Devil!

VICIOUSNESS OF SATAN

Therefore, rejoice, O heavens!  And you who live in the heavens, rejoice!  But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.”  When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.  Revelation 12:12-13

The principle is like a scale:  as one end goes up, the other goes down.  When Satan leaves a place there is singing and rejoicing.  When he arrives somewhere else there is a woe certain to happen.

VACATING OF JERUSALEM CAUSED BY SATAN

Satan knows his time is short.  He has been kicked out of heaven, and realizes he no longer has God's ear.  The church is nowhere to be found, so he does the next best thing, he picks on the Momma, the Jews.  Anti-Semitism originated with Satan.  He has stirred up vicious anger and hostilities against Israel since Jacob and Esau were in the womb.  At the last this leopard will not change his spots; he will strike out against Jerusalem with all the venom one evil snake can muster.

The Limitations on Satan Even in the End Times

Satan's Limited Time

But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness.  There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.  Revelation 12:14

As with Isaiah (40.12) those who wait upon the Lord will mount up with wings of eagles.  God always finds a way to protect His beloved, even in the worst scenarios.  The time, times, and half-a-time represent the last half of the seven-year tribulation.  God sees His people through; He doesn't always lift them out.  

Satan's Limited Memory

Then the dragon tried to drown the woman with a flood of water that flowed from his mouth.  Revelation 12:15

It is well known that Satan is clever and powerful.  It then becomes incredulous that Satan’s tactics are never changed.  Does it say something about the way we Christians will continue to fall and be deceived?  Do we do the Devil's bidding?  Perhaps we do so with our fascination with the things of this world over the things of the Kingdom. 

At any rate, Satan uses the hardness of heart method, attacking God's people.  It never worked before, so why does he cling to this method now?   His futile belief is that ridding the earth of Jews will break the promise of God; then Satan can take over.  How lunatic is that?  God does not change.  God does not lie.  God cannot be defeated!

Satan's Limited Effectiveness

But the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that gushed out from the mouth of the dragon.  Revelation 12:16

The earth refers to Gentiles who help the fleeing Jews.  During the holocaust of World War 2, many believing Gentiles aided Jews fleeing Hitler's death squads.  Among the more notable is Corrie ten Boom.  Her book, The Hiding Place, is a tribute to the effort one family made to honor God's favored people, Israel. 

The limit on Satan is, no matter how diabolical the scheme, and no matter how perfect the planning, and no matter how wicked the pressure applied, God's people always have an escape. 

·       There will always be a dry path through the Red Sea. There will always be a Moses to say, Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. 

·       There will always be a cross of forgiveness raised, and a hedge of limitation on what Satan can accomplish. 

Christian…don't look to the small gains and inroads Satan makes in the here and now.  Rather, read AGAIN the pages of Revelation 22…Christ WINS!

Satan's Limited Choices

And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus. Then the dragon took his stand on the shore beside the sea.  Revelation 12:17-18

Once again, the woman is the remnant of Israel.  There are 144,000 left.  Satan makes war with them, trying as a last hope, to hurt God enough to gain some more time. 

But note how futile are his attempts.   See what his options are: 

·       When Satan imprisons the Tribulation Saints, they win the guards with their witness. 

·       When he tortures them, they fill up the suffering and glory of Christ. 

·       If he ignores them, they evangelize the world,

·       and when he kills a Tribulation Saint, that child of God is immediately in the arms of Christ in heaven's glory. 

Any which way you turn, Slewfoot, you have a lose-lose scenario!

What about us; what about now?

The church is in much the same boat as the Tribulation Saints. 

·       As we wind down toward the rapture our liberties are slipping away. 

·       Our witness is attacked in media and culture increasingly. 

·       Anti-Semitism rears its’ ugly head even now. 

We are in that battle.  One preacher has it:

All anti-Semitism is Satan inspired and will finally culminate in Satan's making a supreme effort to destroy the nation of Israel.  From the brickyards of Pharaoh's Egypt, Haman's gallows, Herod's cruel edict, through Hitler's purge, and to the world of the Great Tribulation, Satan has led the attack against these people because of the man child, Jesus Christ.[2]

Another preacher Kevin Turner, of Frontline Outreach, has made numerous trips to the former Soviet bloc to witness and distribute medical supplies, following the ethnic cleansing wars in Bosnia (former Yugoslavia).  These people, like the Jews, understand something of being persecuted and driven from their homeland. 

During one of those trips Turner distributed thousands of copies of Help From Above, a small tract-like book about Jesus.  Although Bosnia  is 44% Muslim, there were only three people, out of thousands, who declined to receive a copy.  Turner summarized why:  One thing that has intensified that urge to know God is that they might see Him any minute.[3]

We are in a countdown to Armageddon.  It could begin today.  How is your relationship to God?  To his loved ones, Israel?

As the political patriot Thomas Paine wrote, these ARE the times that try men's souls.  As Christ’s army we cannot afford to be summer soldiers or sunshine patriots of the cross, shrinking from the service of our Lord.  But if these souls of ours are tried, by the times and all the designs of hell…if we will simply lend those souls to the care of our Lord Jesus, Christ, they will be strong.  Christ will use us in defeating hell as certainly as he defeated death and the grave.

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture from The New Living Translation 



[1]Thomas Paine, The Crisis, Dec 1776

[2]J. Vernon McGee, THROUGH THE BIBLE COMMENTARY, Vol 5, (Pasadena, Ca, Through the Bible Radio, 1983) 995

[3]Kevin Turner, BACK TO THE BIBLE TODAY, November/December, p.14

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