A War For The World

 

 

"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; ² and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. ⁴ And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days."

Revelation 12: 1-6

 

Good Morning my beloved,

 

We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord. It is a privilege to have you here with us today. We are especially grateful for those of you who have been continuing to share the ministry website with all of your family and friends. Your faithfulness to share God's Word with others continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to God's Word! P ray that God will continue to give us boldness to speak the truth in ministry!

   

I want to let all of you know how grateful I am for all of you. We are so thankful your prayers. Prayer is powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith in Jesus Christ. Praise God! May He continue to use you and this ministry mightily to effect change in even more lives. All for His glory!

 

 

In our world today, people are in conflict with one another. Everything from political issues, masks and vaccinations, racial equality, police brutality, gender inequality, LGBTQ rights, illegal immigration and our nations boarders dominate the news headlines.Many of these issues have been around for decades, but are being given new life through news headlines and social media. There are many conflicts which directly threatens the security and safety our nation and the world. Over the past few years, more and more sources have been covering these issues and more. Many of them, from a biased perspective.

However, there has long been a conflict involving Satan has been going on at least since he originally appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden. In Scripture, the existence of Satan is taught in seven Old Testament Books and in all sixty-six of the New Testament Books. The greatest authority on the existence of Satan is God Himself. There two kingdoms in the world today, one that belongs to Almighty God, wherein He is worshipped and served by His people as Lord, while those in the earthly kingdom, under the influence of Satan, remain diametrically opposed to His rule and reign.

In Matthew 13, Jesus said "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age."

 

Ever since Satan became the archenemy of God, there has been a constant war taking place throughout the universe. When Satan fell to earth, he took a third of the angels with him.

A very real spiritual battle waged between Satan and his demons and God and His angels. This great battle is all about the earth. In fact, earth has become the center for the battles that make up this great spiritual war. This battle finally culminates in the end of the age, when Jesus Christ, once and for all and forever defeats Satan and all the demons and casts them into the pits of Hell. This rich and marvelous text before us, introduces the war of wars, a war for the world. There will be war like the world has never seen before or after.

 

Let us pray

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, we thank You for Your Word, we are exhilarated when we consider the glorious truth before us today. May these words  stir our hearts afresh to be vigilant in our efforts to evangelize the lost. Lord, hear our prayer for those that do not yet know you. We ask that today might be the day that they are so overcome by the reality of their sin and their need to be reconciled to a holy God, that they would cry out to You for mercy. May today be that glorious day they experience the miracle of the new birth and the joy of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We ask and pray in Jesus name

Amen

 

Today's Message:  A War For The World

In our culture, the church is under continual assault, the church is besieged in a variety of ways and indeed, this is the picture of what the book of Revelation paints for us. Our world is not right with God and to see this, all one need do is look around with his own eyes.

 

Open your Bibles with me to the book of Revelation chapter twelve. Revelation 12, verses one through six. The conflict reaches a climax, Satan will amass his greatest efforts against God and against Christ. This occurs in the second half of the Tribulation, a time known as Daniel’s seventieth week. So far in our study of this marvelous book, when have witnessed the events from heaven and God's perspective. Now, we see things from Satan’s perspective and Satan’s activities.

 

I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you these first six verses to set the text in our minds as we prepare our hearts for what the Spirit is saying to us. Revelation 12: 1-6. 

 

"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days."

 

Textually speaking, we have concluded our study of chapter 11, which has taken us up to the middle of the week of Daniel’s 70th week judgment or the middle of the period known as the Great Tribulation. We already know the activity of God in the judgments and the work of salvation described on behalf of gentiles and Israel. Now, we will see the activities of Satan as he operates during the same period of time.

 

In Matthew 24, Jesus described it as a time like no other time in the history of the world. Because God is going to pour out His fury and wrath on the ungodly, and Satan will be pouring out his fury on the godly as well. We are going to see this all come together in the worst possible and unimaginable events. By the time we arrive back to the seventh trumpet, in chapter 15, we will have a clear picture of what has gone on in the time of the tribulation, leading up to the seventh trumpet.

 

Chapter 12, provides us with the background when Michael, that ancient defender of Israel will arise and do battle with Satan and will ultimately defeat him. In his rebellion to destroy the purposes of God, Satan attempted to destroy the paradise of heaven and led a mutiny against God among the angels. He then, attempted to destroy the paradise of earth and led a mutiny against God among men. The war against God is coming to its consummation right before our very eyes. What an enormous privilege to look at these amazing truths.

 

In our text today, the scene opens with the great wonder of the seven wonders of Revelation. Here we meet three of the six man characters, which are the woman, the dragon, and the male child, Christ. So, let's begin by meeting the woman. Verse 1, " A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars."

 

John begins with "a great sign appeared," the word great is the Greek word "megas," which means large, in the widest sense. Here, everything John sees is massive, in both size and in significance. The next word that draws our attention, is the word "sign," which means something that is occurring that points to something else, and is is a symbol of the reality.

 

As we drive, we often see signs that indicate an on ramp or exit, pointing the road we need to take. In Scripture, when you see the explicit statement, "This is a sign," it is a reminder that the normal interpretation of Scripture being literal. Generally, the Holy Spirit tells us it is a sign, a symbol pointing to some reality. John sees a symbolic representation of a woman. As a footnote, there are four symbolic women in Revelation. Jezebel, is first one is a symbol of sinful, wicked paganism and we will meet her in chapter 2.

 

So, John sees the sign of a woman. I've heard a number of people say this in the church. While the church is often spoke of in feminine terms, such as the bride of Christ, who is waiting for marriage, which takes place at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Nowhere in the Bible is the church ever called a woman. She is always a bride, and she is a chaste virgin. We know from Daniel chapter 9, that the seventieth week of Daniel is going to relate to Israel, because God has made an inviolable promise to Israel will enter into the Kingdom. So we’re not surprised to see the woman, Israel, coming into play here. It is not surprising, that Satan is still trying to to destroy the Jews, his destructive attack has always been Israel.

John then describes her appearance, "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." Hearing this, anyone who is aware of the Old Testament immediately thinks about Genesis chapter 37, when God is laying out His plan. The Holy Spirit used these very same symbols to describe Israel. The woman represents Israel. And, t he woman is clothed with the sun speaks of glory and brilliance and dignity. T he redeemed Israel that is going to be exalted. The moon under her feet, refers to her exalted status, the concept of Israel’s covenant relationship.

 

"And on her head a crown of twelve stars," In the original language, this is the word "stephanos," the victors crown, the crown which is bestowed upon somebody who had overcome some great difficulty. It is interesting that the story of Joseph pictures the difficult history of Israel that will one day end in triumph. Joseph is a wonderful picture of Israel. There are some who believe that God is finished with Israel, however, God has emphatically stated otherwise over and over again in Scripture.

 

Now, in verse 2, we see "and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth." Israel is seen here as a mother. The Old Testament frequently uses the imagery of a woman travailing in labor to describe Israel’s condition as they long for the delivery of the Messiah and the birth of the kingdom, all the while bearing the pains of persecution brought on by Satan, which only torment her until the delivery occurs. It never kills her. And, of course, the pain would increase just before the birth of the kingdom. By the way, the church is never seen in Scripture as a mother, not as a woman, not as a wife, and certainly not as a mother. Micah chapter 5 describes the interval between Messiah’s rejection and her return to the Lord.

 

In verses 3 and 4, we meet the next figure, the dragon. " Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child."

 

By the way, Satan is called a dragon thirteen times in the book of Revelation, prior to this, he is generally identified as a serpent. Satan is not a dragon, Satan is a spirit being. " Tanniyn," in the Hebrew is also translated "serpent." In Psalm 91, it was associated with a fearsome, deadly, destructive, fierce creature, of the sea. That particular creature would have likely resembled a dragon more than a serpent, standing on two legs. It was not until after he was cursed was he forced upon his belly to slither and to eat the dust.

 

In Ezekiel chapter 29, depicting Pharaoh as the enemy of God, Pharaoh there is called a great sea monster, a great dragon, a beast that rose out of the sea. 

 

The imagery is is more than just a serpent, Satan is symbolized here by a dragon, a monster. Notice the dragon's color is red, in the Greek, it could literally be translated a "flame colored" dragon.  Not only is he depicted here fierce, cruel, vicious and deadly but red speaks of of torment and bloodshed. Jesus said, he is a murderer from the beginning. Now, not to jump ahead, but to clarify the imagery that perfectly symbolizes Satan’s violent character we see here, let's look at verse 9, "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."

 

Notice John says he has "seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems." This represents the seven consecutive Gentile world empires that Satan has raised up against the purposes and the people of God down through redemptive history. We will get into more detail on that in chapter 17. But the seven heads represent the seven kingdoms of the past. Five have fallen, one is and the other has not yet come. They are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then finally during the time of the tribulation, the empire of the antichrist which will consist of a 10 nation confederacy, the revived Roman Empire of Daniel seven.

 

Then, John says he has ten horns. Ten horns. This depicts the 10 kings that will rule under the antichrist. I have been asked many times, "Is the United States mentioned in the Bible?" There is no mention of the United States in Scripture, the United States is technically an extension of the sixth kingdom, the Roman Empire. I believe that the United States will become a mere shadow of it's current self. It will likely be absorbed as part of that 10 nation confederacy. I would remind you, that our moral and economic foundations have been deteriorating for years now. The Marxist ideology that has become so prevalent today, is pushing us further and further to the brink of collapse. I do not believe this is by accident. I believe this explains why in the last half of Daniel’s 70th week, Israel has no ally to assist her in fighting the pogrom of the Antichrist.

 

Satan has through all of the centuries, has ruled the world, and he will continue to rule the world until the blowing of the seventh trumpet. At which time, the kingdom of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord. 

 

The diadems, are transferred from the seven heads of the dragon and placed upon the horns of the beast. During the tribulation, all of the power of these consecutive world empires will eventually be transferred to the 10 kings under the one ruler of the antichrist. We will see this more in the passages to follow. In verse 4, "And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth."

Here, the Holy Spirit takes us back to Satan's fall. The stars of heaven, are the angels and could be translated in the original language, as "belonging to heaven."  At present, Satan still has access to God where he spends part of his time trying to convince God of our unworthiness.

 

Then, John says "And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child." Satan wanted to destroy the child, he has made numerous attempts to destroy the lineage. Herod, as the agent of Satan, wanted to kill every little baby born in that time. In Matthew chapter 2, we see they departed for Egypt and remained there until Harod died. Today, the woman is still being attacked, she is still suffering, even after the child is born. Satan can’t kill the woman, he can't kill the child and he cannot kill the kingdom, try as he will. Though she burns, but she’s never consumed. In spite of Satan's relentless attempts, the messianic line was kept alive by only one child. That brings us to the last character, the child.

 

Verse 5, "And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." This, of course, refers to the birth of the Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. In spite of all of Satan’s vicious efforts, the child was born. The incarnation happened. Satan couldn't stop it! Here, we see His coronation, this is the child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. God’s biblical moral order will be enforced by the Messiah, just as  God ordained it in Scripture.

 

Allow me to take this opportunity to remind you, that Satan is a master counterfeiter. During the tribulation in his ongoing efforts to destroy the woman and devour the male child, he will endeavor to create a facsimile of the glorious millennial kingdom through his counterfeit peace. Satan's nefarious plot will also include a counterfeit unholy trinity consisting of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. 

By the way, it is interesting that the word "rule," is from "poimainō," which means to shepherd, to pastor, to guard. At the end of the verse John says "and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." This is Christ's exaltation, Satan couldn't stop Him from being exalted to the right hand of the Father as a perfect Savior. And, he will not stop Him in glory and righteousness over the whole of the universe! Let me remind you, that this defeated foe is relentless.

 

In verse 6, "Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days." I believe it is that period of time that’s going to send Israel fleeing out of the land. This is reminiscent of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness where the Lord did the same thing. Keep in mind during the tribulation Satan will increase his efforts of Jewish genocide in an attempt to eliminate the Jews. For twelve hundred and sixty days, they will be cared for by God in the wilderness. 

 

In Closing...

 

What an astounding reality that the Lord has provided us here and given to us in the book of Revelation. The Lord has not gone to such great lengths to describe these future events simply to satisfy our curiosity about the future. In spite everything that is falling apart in the world around us, we know that our God is sovereign over all. I pray that we will let these prophetic truths stir our hearts to new levels of worship and praise. May these wonderful truths motivate us all to love the Lord our God, with even greater love. 

 

May it be so..
 

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

 

 

 

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