The Red Dragon, The Woman, & The Child/ RevelationChapter 12 Greg Bahnsen {Part 45 of 63}

Well, we come at long last to the great transitional chapter of the Book of Revelation, chapter 12. We've been spending a great deal of time in the former chapters, previous chapters of Revelation, and I want to review them for us here in just a moment. But let's turn to Revelation, chapter 12 and read it before we get into a study of it over the next couple weeks. Chapter one of the Book of Revelation, John not only gives his introductory salutations and gives the background to the book, but he shows us a vision of the glorified Savior as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In chapters two and three, John describes the situation in the seven churches of Asia Minor and exhorts the Church on the basis of its condition and the needs of the Church. And then in chapters four and five, John describes for us the throne room of God in heaven above, magnifying the sovereignty of God in creation in chapter four, then the sovereignty of God and redemption in chapter five. In chapter five, we have introduced the Lamb of God, the one who is worthy to open the seals of the seven sealed scroll that sits in the right hand of God the Father. And as Jesus Christ begins to open those seals, to break the als of the seven sealed scroll, in chapters five, six and seven, we have something of a preview of the judgment that is to fall on the first enemy of the church, that is apostate Jerusalem, or the false religion of the Jews. And so the seals are successively broken. And as each one is broken, we have some glimmer of insight into the contents of that scroll. Then in chapter eight, there is a short pause. There's this dramatic action in heaven, indicating that God is now going to cast judgment upon earth to vindicate his saints. And so then in chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11, we have the sounding of the seven trumpets of judgment. Successively, each of the seven angels of God sounds his trumpet, and some further aspect is revealed to us of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 as God judges apostate Jerusalem for its persecution of the Messiah and the Messiah's people. And then in chapter 11, we see also we have something of a glimmer of insight into the remainder of the book. We see that there's going to be another, a little book revealed to John, which will have to do with many people's tribes and tongues, that having to do with the Roman Empire. But when we come to the seventh trumpet of judgment, that sounds, as I've said already, that's something of a climax to the first half of the Book of Revelation, it's also A climax to the declaration of the Gospel in the New Testament and a climax to the physical theological development of the kingdom of God throughout the Scriptures. For there it's declared. Finally, as God has judged Jerusalem and it is fallen and he's vindicated his saints, the declaration is made that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And with that declaration I stopped and did something for three or four weeks of a study of the Old and New Testaments, of the prospects of earthly triumph and growth for the kingdom of God. Chapter 12 is very important then, because having heard the declaration that Christ now reigns over the nations, the question becomes, how is this possible? And John is now going to give a theological explanation of how it can be that Jesus is indeed the ruler over the earthly nations and shall possess the world nations as his own. Chapter 12 begins. And a great sign was seen in heaven. A woman arrayed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars. And she was with child. And she cried out, travailing in birth and in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven. And behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns. And upon his head seven diadems. And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered, he may devour her child. And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and unto his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her. 12 threescore days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon. And and the dragon warred his angels. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. And he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven saying, now is come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of the his. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. And they loved not their life even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the devil has gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child. And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, the that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, to keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus. It's really kind of an exciting chapter. The imagery is just very unusual, quite dramatic. And I think if we can gain an understanding of this, it will be a great spiritual nourishment to us. John doesn't spare the details in telling us exactly how glorious is the reign of Jesus Christ and how strong his dominion. If we're going to Understand what Chapter 12 is all about and understand how it is explaining the success of Christ's kingdom which had been prophesied in chapter 6 through 11, and also see that it explains the persecution which is about to break out upon the church in terms of the Roman Empire. It might be good for us to do a little bit of background study in terms of Jesus and his encounter with the demons during his earthly ministry. And to begin a study of that, we do well to look at Zechariah, the 13th chapter Old Testament prophecy about the coming of Jesus Christ. Zechariah 13:2. Well, let me read verse one so you get the context. In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness the day of the Messiah, God is going to open a fountain for cleansing men of their sins. And verse two says, and it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. And also I will cause the prophet and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. Zechariah 13:2 then prophesied that the establishment of God's redemptive kingdom would mean the removal of uncle spirits from the land, as well as the cutting off of the names of all idols. By the way, as a post millennialist, that's one of the things that we keep looking for, and that's the purification of the church and the destruction of false religion, the cutting off of the names of all false idols. But in that day, we are told not only would false idols be removed, but the unclean spirits would be taken out of the land. And I guess that's why in retrospect, Peter could describe the ministry of Christ in Acts 10:38 with this phrase that he went about healing those oppressed of the devil. When Peter wants to summarize the ministry of Christ on earth, he says he healed those oppressed by the devil. Christ's ministry signalized the establishment of God's promised kingdom. For it was Christ who had the power to cast out the unclean spirits. Let's look for example at Mark 1:27. And they were all amazed insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this a new teaching? With authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. See, in the first chapter of Mark's Gospel, already we've introduced it, people were amazed. They were in awe before the ministry of Jesus Christ for the simple reason that he with his own voice could say out, and the demons had to flee. Even the demons obey this man. What kind of man is this? What kind of teacher is this that he can say this to the demons and they have to flee. Unfortunately, we are not, in this day, so overpowered with that, because for the most part, our secular environment has made us very insensitive to the presence of demons and angels and the working of angelic forces around us. It isn't often that you'll turn on the six o' clock news and something will be explained in terms of demonic activity or angelic activity or it isn't often that you'll even hear in the pulpits of all land servants on the work of angels ministering to the saints and to the destructive work of demons. And so we are very much, I think, insensitive to this. But in Jesus Day, it was not only something that people believed, but it was something people experienced, the visitation of angels. Remember how the Book of Hebrews says that we should be willing to show hospitality to strangers? For what reason? For in so doing, some people have entertained angels unawares. Again, I've never heard a sermon on that. I Think we should have a sermon, whether here or elsewhere. But I mean, people ought to preach sermons on that sort of thing. You know, the possibility of entertaining angels in your home because you're showing hospitality to strangers, that's a very real possibility. And the demons are still at work today. Now, granted, within the last few years, because of movies like the Exorcist and the Omen and things like that, people have had, in a kind of melodramatic way, they've had it reintroduced to their consciousness. The fear that can come into people's lives and consciousness because of demonic work. But we as Christians, I think, for the most part, read that and just kind of pass it off. Well, that's part of the Bible stories of the past tense. But in Jesus Day, they looked at Jesus and they said, that's really something. This man talks to demons and they have to obey him. Zechariah said that when the fountain for healing would be established by God, it would be indicated that the demons, that is the unclean spirits, would have to pass out of the land. And so the curing of demoniacs was by Christ, the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise concerning the suffering servant of the Lord. Let's look at Matthew 8, 16, 17. When evening was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons. And he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all that were sick. I really wish we could take the time to explore all these passages in depth, but you know how significant that is. It says he cast out the demons with a word. He just speaks and that's it. That's the powerful word of the Creator there. With a word the demons must break. And then verse 17 says, in order that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken through Isaiah, the prophet saying himself, took our infirmities and bare our diseases. Matthew says that the casting out of the demons is the fulfillment of that prophecy of Isaiah. So we see that Zechariah and Isaiah both indicated that with the coming of the Messiah, there would be the casting out of demons. And that's what the New Testament is trying to indicate. In Mark 1 and in Matthew 8, the demons whom Jesus cast out by the way, were among the first to testify to his own divinity. Look at mark 3:11. And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him and cried, saying, thou art the Son of God. You remember when Jesus was triumphantly marching into Jerusalem as the king, right? And all the people were crying out Hosanna. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees approached Him. And they said, why don't you tell your followers to be quiet? They aren't speaking very respectfully. After all, they're making of you more than you really are. Jesus said, I'll tell you something, if they weren't saying these things, the stones would cry out. For God can raise up testimony from stones. And even before you see the people as a whole were willing to account that this was the Son of God. The demons were constantly falling down Markelsus and crying out that this was the Son of God. They also recognized that the coming of God's Son signalized their own torment. However, Matthew 8:29 and behold, they cried out saying, what have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And again a whole series of remarks are called for that one definite article. The before the time, the well known time, the time that the demons had shuddered about and worried about ever since their creation and their fall. The time when God would send his own Son to destroy their kingdom. Have you come to torment us before the time? Aren't you a bit early? We didn't expect it quite so soon. So they're in torment because Christ has come. Let's look at Luke 8:31. There is an indication that this time the demons fear the coming of Jesus Christ was would mean their consignment to the abyss. Luke 8. 31. And they entreated him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss. In Mark 1:23 25 indicates that this would also be their destruction. Mark 1:23 and straight and straightway. There was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus? Thou Nazarene, art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, hold thy peace and come out of me. And the unclean spirit, tearing him and crying with a loud voice came out of him. You see, the spirit is crying out about Jesus coming to destroy him. Alright, so the spirits recognize one the Divinity of Christ. They recognize that the expected time has arrived, the time of their torment, of their being cast into the abyss and their destruction. There's a very elaborate theology of demons in their history to be found just in these few verses and more that we don't have time to look at this morning. And then finally let's look at Matthew, the 12th chapter. The coming of Jesus Christ and his power over the demons in this way signalizes something that's very important theologically, and that's the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus own interpretation of his power to cast out the demons was that the kingdom of God had come and that that meant that it was time to plunder Satan's house. Matthew 12:28, 29. Jesus says, but if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you? Or how can one enter into the house of the strongman and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house? Jesus says, and if I'm casting out demons, you had best know that the kingdom of God is here, it's established, and if I'm binding Satan, then it's now time to split. Jesus says, the time for destroying Satan's work has come very significant. The kingdom of God means that Satan's house will then be plundered and God the Father has confirmed from heaven that Jesus did come to do the Father's business, namely by his death, to depose Satan of his power and to defeat Satan, Satan altogether. John 12:23, 33. Jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone. But if it die, it beareth much fruit. He that loveth his life loseth it. And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will the Father honour. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. A multitude, therefore, therefore, that stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered, and others said, an angel hath spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. But this is said, signifying by what manner of death he should die. Terribly cryptic prophecy I recognize, but John feels it's very important to record this discourse of Jesus with the multitudes. Jesus says, this was said from heaven for your benefit, that when I go to the cross, you'll recognize that God intends to glorify me. Because you see, if I go to the cross, if I'm lifted up, I'm going to draw all men to myself. But that's only possible if the prince of this world is cast out. And then I'll destroy his house. So Jesus is already indicating that. Here's the great paradox of history, the irony of God's plan of salvation, that through the greatest sign of weakness, that is his own crucifixion, Jesus would already be destroying the kingdom of Satan. You see, he'll be opening up this fountain for the healing of sins, for the cleansing of sin. And in so doing, he's going to plunder the kingdom of Satan. He's going to destroy it. Christ's power then to cast out demons was supremely attested in that his casting out of the prince of this world from his domain would take place at the crucifixion. That Satan's position of strength in the created realm would now be lost. Instead of being under the sway of Satan's deceptions, men will now be drawn to Jesus Christ so that the dominion of Satan will be entirely destroyed. Now that overthrow Satan's strength and the downfall of his kingdom, I think was vividly described for us in the 10th chapter of Luke's gospel. Verse 18, Luke 10:18. The 70 that Jesus had sent out preaching had returned to Christ, reporting to him that even the demons were subject to them in Christ's name. Verse 17. And the 70 returned with joy, saying, lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. And it's at that point that Jesus reveals what lies behind that subjugation. He says it's the complete crumbling of Satan's authority that makes this possible. Verse 18. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. Satan's exalted power, Jesus says, has been broken already. Like a flash of lightning, his energy has been spent. You see, when lightning hits the ground, of course that means the grounding out of the power, the energy that is resonant in that lightning bolt. And Jesus says, I saw Satan, like lightning cast down from heaven. He was grounded out in the earth. That is his casting out from heaven means he's toppled from a position of authority and his power has been spent. He's been hurled down from the the sky. And that's indicated in that Jesus disciples already have power over the demons. The reason that his disciples have power over the demons is that their Lord has power over the head of the demons. Christ's statement, I think, should be seen as metaphorical. Quite obviously he's not talking about some spatial plummeting of Satan from the position up in the stratosphere, you see, as though Satan was the prince of the air, meaning a literal. Since he occupies heavenly places and now God's cast him down to the earth in some physical way that would be rather hard. Of course, it means that Satan is an angel along with those that he battles with in heaven. Rather, what we learn here is that because Satan did not overthrow Jesus in the wilderness by his temptations, because Jesus has already begun to plunder Satan's kingdom, we see that symbolically the power and the ascendancy of Satan has fallen dramatically prior to the coming of Jesus Christ. The Bible says Satan deceived the nations. He misled the nations into idolatry, superstition, false religion. But now Satan's kingdom has been dealt a fatal blow by the incarnation of Christ, by the unsuccessful temptation of Satan, by the exercising of the demons by Christ, and then his upcoming death and resurrection and ascension. Now, with this kind of background, now I think we can Understand Revelation, the 12th chapter. John, of course, is very familiar with all these things we've been talking about. And he uses the figure of Satan being grounded out to the earth like a lightning bolt to talk about in Revelation 12 to explain how the kingdom of Jesus Christ will now encompass the world kingdoms. In Revelation 12 we see the defeat of Satan and symbolized as a great red dragon. In the Old Testament, God's opponents, the opponents of God's kingdom were often represented as monsters. Let's look at a few examples here. Job 16, verse 13. Job 26. Job 26:13. By his spirit, the heavens are garnished. His hand hath pierced the swift serpent. It is opposition to God, to his people, seen as the swift serpent. Psalm 74, verses 13 and 14. Thou didst divide the steed by thy sword strength thou breakest the heads of the sea monsters in the waters thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces, Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. So Leviathan, the many headed dragon, many headed dragon of the sea, is here used as the symbol of opposition to the kingdom of God. And God breaks the heads of Leviathan. Look at Isaiah 27, verse 1. From that day John Jehovah, with his hard and great and strong sword, will punish Leviathan the swift serpent and Leviathan the crooked serpent. And he will slay the monster that is in the sea. Isaiah 51:9. Awake. Awake. Awake. Put on strength, O arm of Jehovah, awake. As in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster? This is a little confusing for people who are new to reading the Old Testament because they think of Rahab as being the harlot back in Jericho that helped the spies. But Rahab also turns out to be an ancient name for one of the sea monsters of the ancient world. And what we're reading here is that God has cut Rahab in pieces. He's cut the monster in pieces. He's one who symbolically opposes the kingdom. Then, Ezekiel 32, 2, we'll look at one more. Son of man. Take up a lamentation over Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say unto him, thou wast likened unto a young lion of the nations, yet art thou as a monster in the seas. And thou didst break forth with thy rivers and troublest the waters with thy feet, and foulest their rivers. So opposition to the kingdom of God here is obviously likened to a great lion and to a monster in the seas. So this is the background to revelation, chapter 12, likening the great red dragon to an opponent of God's kingdom. Satan is seen as a monster, then as a dragon. And this dragon is portrayed as a very mighty dragon. He has ten horns, okay, signs of strength. Ten signs of strength. And he's hard to kill. He has seven heads. So if you slay one head of the dragon, then there are six more to go. And his opposition to God's people takes on cosmic dimensions. John wants us to know, for he is seen in the sky. He's seen against the background. You see the evening sky. And he is so large, this dragon is so large, he's of such cosmic proportions that when he moves his tail, just moving his tail sweeps away a third of the stars. And so a third of the sky is already blotted out when he moves his tail. And so you can see the great sign that John had before him. You see in the evening sky a great red dragon who sweeps even a third of his stars away with his tail. And he has 10 heads, or seven heads and 10 horns. And so he's a mighty dragon, and he's hard to kill, and he's awesome in his proportion. A significant minority of the created angels, I think, are being referred to when we read that he sweeps away a third of the stars. Because often in the apocalyptic literature, in the book of Revelation, stars symbolize angels, fallen angels. Now, the one whom the dragon opposes is symbolized by the elements of the Old Testament dream of Joseph. And to understand that, we should look at Genesis 39. 9. Genesis 37:9. Excuse me, Genesis 37:9. And Joseph dreamed in another dream and told it to his brethren and said, behold, I have dreamed yet a dream. And behold, the sun and the moon and the 11 stars made obeisance to me. Not the sort of thing that pleased his brothers, especially as he went on to interpret it, that the 11 brothers would serve him Joseph someday. But notice that it involves the sun and the moon and the 11 stars. Actually 12, because you must include Joseph. And we read here in Revelation 12, a great sign was seen in heaven. A woman arrayed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars. Who's the woman? Whoever she is, she stands in the sight of God, resplendent in her shining beauty. She has the sun as her garment, and she's also one who has dominion, because the moon is under feet. And so she is in the sight of God, resplendent. She has dominion. And there are 12 stars in her crown. Who are the 12 stars according to Joseph's dream? 12 tribes of Israel. Right, the 12 brothers who become the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. So who's the woman? Ah, yes, the church. But that's jumping to conclusions. We need to establish the bridge to that conclusion. Well, she is Israel, right? In God's sight. She's Israel after God's heart. This is Israel shining as the sun, Israel having dominion, the 12 tribes pure in the sight of God. And so we have the true Israel, if you will. We have the genuine Israel after God's heart here. Okay, now if you will, we can say that the. The woman symbolizes the people of God, the true people of God in all ages. And in that sense, then she does represent the church. As we go through the chapter, we'll see that she does take on the definite sign and outward appearance of the church as well. Okay, so she is a woman, and we're told she's travailing to give birth. This picture of a woman travailing to give birth is a common literary picture of Israel in the Old Testament. Let's look at a few indications of that. Isaiah 26:17. Isaiah 26:17. Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pain. So have we been before thee, o Jehovah. Isaiah 66, verses 7 to 9. But she travailed, she brought Forth before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing, who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day shall a nation be brought forth at water? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, saith Jehovah? Shall I that cause to bring forth? Shut the womb, saith thy God. So again Jerusalem Israel designs likens to a woman bringing forth a child. The same kind of image is found in Micah the Fourth Church, chapter, verse 10, Micah 4:10 Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail. For now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and shalt dwell in the field, and shalt come even unto Babylon. There shalt thou be rescued there will Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. And in Micah 5:3 Therefore will He give them up until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth, then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Okay, so over and over again the prophets of the Old Testament liken Israel to a travailing woman. And so John is combining these images in Revelation 12 when he says that the true Israel of God, the twelve tribes resplendent and having dominion in God's sight, are like a woman travailing in birth, in pain to be delivered. And the dragon, the great red dragon, the monster who opposes the people of God, has set himself over against the woman, just waiting for her to give birth. What's he going to do after she gives bir? What is she going to do when the child is born? To die of the child? Rather a gruesome image, isn't it, when you're going to think of the child coming out of the womb of the mother, almost directly into the mouth of the dragon. The dragon is set right there with the woman travailing. She's in her labor pains, and the dragon is just waiting for that child to come forth from the womb. And when the child does, of course, helpless as it is going to devour the child, who's the child that's going to be born to Israel? Who is the child Israel has expected? Who is the child that Israel, true Israel, travailing in pain, is going to give verse to? Well, the Bible tells us that this child to be born is one who is going to rule over the nations. Most.5 and she was delivered of a son, a man child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. That's interesting. This child is to rule the nations. And yet the great monster who opposes the people of God, who opposes the kingdom of God on earth, the great monster is right there at the birth of the child, ready to devour it, ready to stop it from taking that reign over the nations. Why do you think Satan wants to stop Jesus Christ from reigning over the nations? Why should that be such a big deal for Satan who ruled over the nations prior to the coming of Jesus Christ? Well, we know in a transcendent sense God rules over all. He's sovereign, even over the workings of Satan. But now, in terms of right here and now in terms of our human context, politically, historically, who is governing the world nations? Who set the tone for the world nations? Who gave them political and religious and ethical direction? The Bible tells us over and over and over again it was Satan, the one who deceives the world nations. That's the way he's described throughout the book of Revelation. And so Jesus Christ's birth means that he's going to lose his power over the world nations. Obviously he wants to oppose the birth of the child and to devour him. Let's look at Isaiah 9,6 to recall what the birth of Jesus Christ will mean. We studied this in our Old Testament survey of the kingdom of God and its prospects on Earth. Isaiah 9, 6 is a good thing to look at again. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Here's the birth of a man child. And what will it mean? The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth, even forever. That is to convince you, Isaiah says, and the zeal of judge, of hosts will perform it. Nothing's going to stop the birth of this man child. And when he is born, the government will be placed on his shoulders, and his government and his dominion and his reign will increase and increase and increase and increase forever. Of the increase of his government upon the throne of David there shall be no end. And so justice and righteousness and peace shall be established in the earth. Obviously Satan isn't going to want that to happen. Look at Psalm 2, 9. Said of the Messiah, verse 8. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. For Christ will in fact have dominion over the world nations. And I really think it's in the long run, becomes a test of whether the Word of God forms your historical expectations or whether your historical expectations determine how you'll interpret the Word of God. Because we're told that when Christ is born, his government will increase and his kingdom will increase, and the world nations will submit to him. And he'll bring peace and justice to the earth. And he'll break the nations like a potter breaks, you see, of vessels of his displeasure. He'll break the nations resist his rule. And so the second Psalm says, therefore be wise, O kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear and rejoice with trembling. The advice given to the rulers of the world nations is, you had better take, you know, due thought of your response to this one, because if you oppose him, he shall oppose you and break you in pieces. Quite a dreadful prophecy. Revelation 12 incorporates it though, when it says that the woman was delivered of a son, a man child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. The Bible tells us that with respect to the flesh, Israel gave birth to the Messiah. Look at Romans 9, 5. With respect to the flesh, this woman is Israel. Faithful Israel to be sure, but nevertheless, physically it is Israel who gave birth to the Messiah. Speaking of the Israelites, Paul says in Romans 9, verse 5, whose are the fathers and of whom is Christ? As concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. According to the flesh, Christ belongs to Israel. Israel gave birth to the Messiah. When Christ was born, the red dragon then attempted to devour him. How do we see that historically? How did the red dragon attempt to devour Christ right at his birth? That's right, the massacre of the Bethlehem innocence. The infants of Bethlehem, Herod attempted, you see, to destroy the one who would rule over the world nations, to try to put an end to his life immediately. We're told that by Matthew, of course, in the second chapter of his Gospel, Satan attempted to destroy Christ at his birth. And then John tells us, John 14:30, that he attempted to destroy Jesus at his crucifixion as well. But I trust we know that well enough. We don't have to read the passage on it. However, in this passage in Revelation 12, while Satan attempted to kill Christ at his birth in John 12, we don't have any of that related John concentrates on the fact that Jesus escaped the attacks of Satan totally unscathed. It is as though Christ proceeded from the incarnation directly to his ascension. That's why Revelation 12. 5 says that he was product to heaven when she was delivered of a son, a man child who was to rule all the nations with the rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and unto his throne. So in terms of the imagery of Revelation 12, here's this great red dragon, this dragon of cosmic contortions, waiting before Israel as a woman in travail to bring forth a child, waiting. So as soon as the child comes forth from the womb, he might devour the child. But John says the child was born and caught up to God's throne. You say, what happened to the dragon? I mean, he just totally failed, you see, in his endeavors. And I really think this is John taking a very, very hard poke at Satan and his powers in the face of Jesus Christ. What he's saying is, you see that whole earthly ministry of Jesus Christ is this give and take and this tug of war with Satan and finally the conquering of Satan at the crucifixion and resurrection. John was totally. He goes, look, I'll just tell you the setting and I'll tell you the conclusion, because that's all that counts. The setting is Satan wanted to destroy Christ. And the conclusion is Christ ascended to God's right hand. So what do you think of that? You see, he's really telling us that all of Satan's efforts were nothing, nothing at all, not even worthy of mention in terms of the stage play that he's giving us. And she was delivered of a son, a man child who was to rule all the nations with the rod of iron. And he does, because he was caught up unto God and unto his throne. So who rules the Satan? No, Christ does. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her 12 threescore days. Now, what I'm going to do in our remaining minutes here, I'd like to go very quickly through the rest of the chapter and just give you a quick indication of what I think this chapter is talking about. And then when we return in a couple of weeks to this passage of scripture, I'll try to give you a more detailed study of it at that time. But I want to have you have the right setting in your mind as you study it between now and then. Alright? So we see that Christ is born. Satan's efforts are nothing. Christ has ascended and now rules from God's right hand. And the woman fled into the wilderness. Who's the woman? The faithful Jews. Or if you will at this time, the Jewish church. Then that is those who are believers in Jesus Christ. Those who are physically Jews, but spiritually they are Jews before God because they worship the Messiah. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God. What is that referring to historically? Anybody want to tell us? The faithful Jews fleeing to the wilderness to a place prepared by God. What has happened chapters 6 through 11 told us will happen to Jerusalem. It's going to fall. The Roman armies are going to come and destroy it. What's going to happen to the faithful woman? Will she be destroyed too? Will the Israel after God's heart be destroyed? Will the church of Jesus Christ be destroyed? No, she's going to flee to the wilderness. What does history tell us happen? At the beginning of the Roman occupation of the Jerusalem, Christians fled to the wilderness. The Pella. And the Bible tells us here she hath a place prepared of God that there they may nourish her. 1203 score days. How long was the fall of Jerusalem, the siege of Jerusalem and its final destruction? 1203 score days, according to history. That's very interesting. And there was a war in heaven. Now you see, the dragon has tried to devour the man child. The Messiah has failed. The woman has escaped through the wilderness. And there's war in heaven. Michael and his angels go forth to war with the dragon. And the dragon war with his angels. And so now John wants us to see that during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ there was this great war taking place. There was a spiritual battle taking place. Michael and the good angels were warring with Satan and his angels. And they prevailed not. Neither was their place found anymore in heaven. Ok, so Michael and his angels press and press and press until finally Satan and his angels have no place left in heaven. There's not another square inch in heaven where they can stand. Verse 9. And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent that is called the devil. And Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was cast down to the earth and his angels cast down with him. Jesus said, I beheld Satan, fallen as lightning from heaven. He was grounded out into the earth. No more a position of power and ascendancy. No more the deceiver of the world nations, because the man child has been born who will rule the nations with a rod of iron. And then of course, at that, the declaration that Michael and his angels have overcome Satan and his angels. There's this voice in heaven saying, now is come salvation, power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christian. The power, you see, the reign of his Christ. Why? Because the accuser of our brethren is cast down. The one who accused the brethren day and night, and they overcame him. How is it that the saints overcome the accuser? They overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. What does the blood of the Lamb have to do with overcoming the accuser? You see, if the blood of Christ has covered us so that our sins are forgiven, there's nothing the accuser can say before God against us. That's a beautiful thing, isn't it? And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb. You see, with the shedding of the Lamb's blood, Satan can't say a word against us now. And so the accuser has been destroyed. And they've done this by the word of their testimony as well. Now, with the preaching of the Gospel, our testimony to the nations is also overcoming Satan. And they love not their life, even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. But woe for the earth and for the sea, because the devil has gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. What is Satan going to be doing in this age of the gospel? Because look, his demons already know. The time for their destruction and consignment to the abyss has come. The time of their torment is upon them. Satan now sees that Christ does rule over the world nations. And if he rules over over world nations, Satan in a moment's time could be cast into hell. And so Satan knows that his time is short. That's why Peter says that our adversary is a roaring lion, stalks about seeking whom he may devour. Satan, you see, is about ready to be overcome completely personally. And so he, knowing he has a short time, what does he do? What does the symbol of a roaring lion indicate? You all have read my article on Satan, obviously that's okay. That's an Old Testament symbol of a persecuting king. The roaring lion, you see, was a symbol of a mighty king and one who persecuted others especially. And Satan goes about as a roaring lion. Now, in what context does Peter tell us that Satan is going to go about as a roaring lion? He says, brothers, don't be surprised at the fiery trial about to overcome him, free adversary Satan is ruling. Lion was about seeking kings. He made it out. Don't be surprised if they persecution about to come upon the church, Satan's time is short. Satan's going to use political opposition. Satan is going to try to devour us. Verse 13 of Revelation 12 to finish this out. And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child. Okay, so Satan is going to try to kill now Jewish Christians. He's going to persecute the faithful in Jerusalem. And there was given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place where she is nourished for a time and time and times and a half from the face of the serpent. Okay, so God on the wings of an eagle delivers his people into the wilderness. And Satan is not going to let her get away with that. This is a faithful remnant. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river that he might cause her to be carried away by the spring. Okay, what's the symbol here? The Red Sea, I think. You see Israel being exodus from Egypt. Now immediately faces the terror of the Red Sea. They're going to be destroyed at the sea now Israel, the true Israel. Exodus from Jerusalem, the new Egypt, you see, that is Sodom and Egypt in the sight of God. Exodus from Egypt faces the terror of the sea again. Satan casts forth a stream of water. He tries to destroy the church in the wilderness. And then John says, but the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. Just like the Red Sea waters were swallowed up into the ground so that the people might move through them. God will deliver his church again. That's a fascinating chapter. But then verse 17 and the dragon waxed raw Old English and he got madder and matter and matter, you see, because first he wanted to destroy the man child and he couldn't. And he was cast out of heaven and he couldn't prevail there. And so now he tries to persecute the faithful Jewish Christians. And he can't prevail there. And so he's getting madder and madder and madder. His time is short. And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus. As the dragon got madder and madder used to, he couldn't persecute the Jewish Christians and so he went to make war with the rest of the woman's seed. Who's the rest of the seed of the faithful. Are we not all born of Jerusalem, which is above? Paul says the rest of the woman's seed has to do with the Gentile Church. The rest of those you see are faithful before God and those who are born of the woman. And so we have the perfect transition. Chapter 12 comes in right after the declaration. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And one says, how can that be? And John says, I'll tell you how it can be. Satan's been cast down from heaven. Satan has been destroyed and grounded out. And so now the man child rules over the nations. That's how it is. And then also this is a great transition because it explains how the next portion of the book is going to fit in. Because now Satan, having been unsuccessful at Jerusalem, is going to turn to the and use the persecution of the Roman Empire against the Church. He's going to try to destroy the Gentile Church. And John's giving us the indication that this isn't going to work either. Look very quickly at chapter 13 1. And he stood upon the sand of the sea. Okay, there's the great red dragon standing on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. And so across the sea, John sees another beast rising, obviously Rome from across the sea. Rome that would come from across the sea to persecute the Christians. Chapter 14. And I saw and behold the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with him a hundred and forty and four thousand having his name and the name of the Father written on the. And so you see, he set the stage. The dragon is mad and mad and getting madder and madder. He stands upon the seashore and he beckons to the beast Rome to rise. And as John sees Rome rise, he looks to Mount Zion and he sees the Lamb of God and sees there's going to be a battle between the beast and between the Lamb of God. And I hope you'll keep coming to the class because you'll want to see how this little drama ends. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you from the bottom of hearts that we need fear no accusation from the accuser. We thank you that the blood of the Savior Jesus Christ has been shed, cleansing us of all sin. We thank you that you do pardon us of our transgressions. We thank you that we stand right before you because of the righteousness of our Savior. We thank you that he has overcome the great enemy, that monster who has saved him. We thank you. That he has given us of His Spirit, that we might be able to declare triumphantly that greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. Lord, we ask that you would strengthen our witness and testimony that we might daily overcome Satan and all his devices, that we might be purified internally of our own sins, and that we might overcome Satan externally. As more and more people are drawn to Jesus Christ because of our evangelistic efforts. Lord, we pray that you would prosper the kingdom of the Savior. We pray that we might hasten the day in which the kingdoms of this world are indeed the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. For it is in his name we pray. Amen.