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 wilderness. During 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
