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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 49

TITLE: SATAN'S WAR AGAINST GOD, PART I

TEXT: REVELATION 12:1-6

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE OPENING CAMPAIGN OF SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD TOOK PLACE IN HEAVEN.

* THIS BATTLE IS RECORDED IN ISAIAH 14:12-15 AND EZEKIEL 28:12-17.

** IN THIS ENCOUNTER AND MUTINY, ONE THIRD OF THE ANGELS FOOLISHLY TEAMED UP WITH SATAN, LUCIFER, AND BOTH SATAN AND THE ANGELS WERE CAST OUT OF HEAVEN.

*** SINCE THAT SKIRMISH, THESE FALLEN ANGELS (DEMONS) BECAME SATAN’S STORM TROOPERS, DOING THE BIDDING OF THEIR EVIL GENERAL.

**** THEY FIGHT AGAINST GOD BY MAKING WAR WITH BOTH THE HOLY ANGELS AND THE HUMAN RACE.

(2) NOW THE FIRST CLASH ON EARTH TOOK PLACE WITH ADAM AND EVE.

* AND WHEN ADAM AND EVE WERE TEMPTED BY THE SERPENT – THE DEVIL - AND CHOSE TO LISTEN TO HIS LIES AND DISOBEY GOD, THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE THAT WOULD FOLLOW BECAME EMBROILED IN THIS WAR.

** IN FACT, SINCE ADAM AND EVE’S FALL, PLANET EARTH HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY STAGE OR THEATER IN WHICH THIS WAR HAS BEEN FOUGHT.

*** YET, THE FINAL CLASH OF SATAN’S LONG UNHOLY WAR AGAINST GOD HAS YET TO BE FOUGHT.

**** IT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE DURING THE TRIBULATION ON EARTH AND AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST ON THE EARTH.

(3) AND IN THIS CLASSIC CONTEST BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, HOLY AND UNHOLY, LIGHT AND DARKNESS, THE LORD JESUS WILL CRUSH SATAN AND HIS FORCES IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON IN REVELATION 19:11-21, AS JESUS COMES BACK TO THE EARTH TO REIGN.

* AND AT THAT TIME, SATAN WILL BE SENT TO THE ABYSS FOR 1,000 YEARS.

** AT THE END OF THE RULE OF CHRIST ON THE EARTH, SATAN WILL BE RELEASED IN REVELATION 20:7-10 AND WILL DECEIVE THE NATIONS AND MAKE WAR AGAINST GOD AND HE WILL BE FINALLY CRUSHED AND CONSIGNED TO ETERNAL PUNISHMENT WHERE IT SAYS IN REVELATION 20:10 (READ IT).

*** NOW SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD WILL END FOREVER AT THAT TIME.

**** BUT UNTIL THAT TIME, THE BATTLE RAGES.

(4) AND A PRELUDE TO THAT TIME TAKES PLACE UNDER THE SOUNDING OF THE 7TH TRUMPET IN REVELATION 11:15-19.

* FOR SOUNDING OF THE 7TH TRUMPET WILL PROCLAIM THE TRIUMPHANT VICTORY OF CHRIST OVER THE USURPER SATAN.

** FOR REVELATION 11:15 SAYS: THEN THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED; AND THERE WERE LOUD VOICES IN HEAVEN, SAYING, “THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD HAS BECOME THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST; AND HE WILL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.”

*** NOW THIS VERSE COMMUNICATES A FUTURE EVENT THAT IS SO CERTAIN TO HAPPEN THAT IT CAN BE SPOKEN AS IF IT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE.

**** THE TRUTH OF CHRIST’S FUTURE KINGDOM AND REIGN IS STILL FUTURE, YET IT’S A DONE DEAL, IT IS VIEWED HERE AS ANTICIPATORY, AS AN ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED FACT.

(5) BELOVED, THE 7TH TRUMPET TRIGGERS AN ANTICIPATION OF THE FINAL TRIUMPH WHEN THE FUTURE VISIBLE KINGDOM ON EARTH WILL BECOME A REALITY.

* AND THERE WILL BE GREAT WORSHIP IN HEAVEN BECAUSE CHRIST HAS DEFEATED SATAN AND ESTABLISHED HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM.

** THUS, THE OUTCOME OF SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD IS NOT IN DOUBT. CHRIST’S ULTIMATE AND COMPLETE TRIUMPH IS CERTAIN. THE VICTORY HAS BEEN SECURED.

*** BUT THOUGH THE VICTORY IS SECURE, IT WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL REVELATION 19&20.

*** FOR THE SEVENTH TRUMPET’S AFFECTS COME TO PASS, ARE CARRIED FORTH, ARE BROUGHT TO PASS IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 15-18.

**** IN FACT, THE SEVENTH TRUMPET ROLLS OUT THE 7 BOWL JUDGMENTS WHICH ARE DESCRIBED IN REVELATION 16.

(6) SO IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 12, 13 & 14 WE HAVE ANOTHER PARENTHESIS, A THIRD PARENTHETICAL PORTION IN THIS GREAT BOOK.

* AND UNDERSTAND THAT THIS PARENTHESIS PROVIDES A PAUSE IN THE CHRONOLOGICAL MOVEMENT OF THE BOOK, AN INTERLUDE.

** IN THE PARENTHESIS OTHER RELATED TOPICS ARE EXPLAINED AND INTRODUCED WITHOUT GOING FORWARD CHRONOLOGICALLY.

*** FOR EXAMPLE, CHAPTERS 12&13 DEAL WITH THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD.

**** IN CHAPTER 13 WE’LL SEE THE COMING OF SATAN’S MEN IN THE WAR, THE ANTI-CHRIST AND THE FALSE PROPHET.

(7) THEN IN CHAPTER 14 WE WILL SEE THE LAMB, ANGELS AND REDEEMED SAINTS, GENUINE WORSHIP AND THOSE SAVED BY GOD, AND A PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME.

* AND THEN THINGS WILL BEGIN TO UNFOLD, WE WILL SEE A PRELUDE TO THE BOWL JUDGMENTS IN CHAPTER 15.

** THE CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE OF THE TRIBULATION EVENTS RESUME IN CHAPTER 15.

*** NOW THAT BACKGROUND HELPS US TO SEE WHERE WE ARE AT IN REVELATION 12.

**** SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD IS VERY EVIDENT.

(8) AND SPECIFICALLY TODAY WE ARE INTRODUCED TO 3 OF THE SEVEN PERSONAGES TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 12&13 THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THIS TRUE HOLY WAR THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE FALL OF SATAN.

* IN LIGHT OF THAT, I’VE TITLED OUR STUDY TODAY, SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD, PART I, AS 3 OF THE MAIN PLAYERS ARE IDENTIFIED IN THIS BIBLICAL GENUINE HOLY WAR.

** AND THE THREE PERSONAGES OF THIS TEXT WILL FORM OUR OUTLINE. PERSONAGE #1, THE WOMAN, VV. 1&2; PERSONAGE #2, THE GREAT RED DRAGON, VV. 3&4; AND PERSONAGE #3, THE MAN CHILD, VV. 5&6.

*** AND WITH OUR TITLE AND OUTLINE TO WORK FROM, LOOK AT V. 1 WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE PERSONAGE #1, THE WOMAN. LOOK AT REVELATION 12:1 PLEASE.

I. PERSONAGE #1, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW THE FIRST THING JOHN SAW IN THIS VISION WAS A GREAT WONDER, A WONDROUS SIGN, A GREAT SIGN WHICH IS THE FIRST OF SEVEN SIGNS THAT WILL FOLLOW IN THE REST OF OUR STUDY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

* AND THE WORD GREAT IS THE GREEK WORD MEGAS FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD MEGA, SOMETHING BIG, AND HERE IN THIS CONTEXT, SOMETHING REMARKABLE, SOMETHING VERY SIGNIFICANT AND VAST IN IT’S APPEARANCE, SOMETHING HUGE IN SIZE OR SIGNIFICANCE.

** THEN THE ADJECTIVE WONDER OR SIGN DESCRIBES A SYMBOL THAT POINTS TO A REALITY.

*** AND IN OUR STUDY IN REVELATION 12 WE WILL SEE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE THAT POINTS TO A LITERAL REALITY.

**** IN OTHER WORDS, WE WILL LOOK AT A SYMBOLIC WOMAN, NOT A REAL WOMAN. THIS WOMAN IS A SIGN OR SYMBOL OF AN IMPORTANT TRUTH.

1. THIS WOMAN REPRESENTS SOMETHING, SHE IS NOT A LITERAL WOMAN.

* AND THIS IS FURTHER ILLUSTRATED IN V. 17 OF THIS CHAPTER WHERE IT SAYS: “SO THE DRAGON WAS ENRAGED WITH THE WOMAN, AND WENT OFF TO MAKE WAR WITH THE REST OF HER CHILDREN, WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HOLD TO THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.”

** NOW THE PHRASE “THE REST OF HER CHILDREN” IN V. 17 SHOWS THIS WOMAN IS A SYMBOLIC MOTHER.

*** AND THE QUESTIONS IS, WHO IS THIS WOMAN?

**** WELL, MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS WOMAN ABOUND, BUT THE 3 MAIN ONES ARE, THIS WOMAN IS THE CHURCH, THIS WOMAN IS A LITERAL WOMAN, MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS AND THIS WOMAN IS ISRAEL.

2. NOW I STRONGLY BELIEVE THE CONTEXT AND THE REST OF THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THIS WOMAN IS ISRAEL AND FOR SEVERAL REASONS.

* NO. 1 ISRAEL IS REFERRED TO AS A WOMAN IN THE O.T., AS THE WIFE OF JEHOVAH, THE ADULTEROUS WIFE OF JEHOVAH IN THE FOLLOWING TEXTS ON THE SCREEN, JEREMIAH 3:1, 20; EZEKIEL 16:32-35; HOSEA 2:2; ISAIAH 54:5; JEREMIAH 31:32.

** AND AS WE RETURN TO REVELATION 12, IN THE SYMBOLISM HERE THE EMPHASIS DOES NOT LIE UPON HER STATE BUT UPON HER STANDING IN THE COUNSELS OF GOD.

*** FURTHER, ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DISTINCT AND ISRAEL’S PRESENCE DURING THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL’S PROPHECY IS IN KEEPING WITH GOD’S PROMISES TO HER OF A KINGDOM AND HER NATIONAL SALVATION AND KEY ROLE IN THE TRIBULATION, DANIEL 9:24-27; DANIEL 2:44; ISAIAH 65:17-25; EZEKIEL 37:21-28; ZECHARIAH 8:1-13; ZECHARIAH 12:10 – 13:1; 13:8&9; AND ROMANS 11:26.

**** FURTHER, THIS IS NOT A LITERAL WOMAN LIKE MARY, FOR IN V. 17 IT TALKS ABOUT HER CHILDREN WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HOLD TO THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.

3. BEYOND THAT THE IMAGERY USED HERE TO TALK ABOUT HER CLOTHING, POSITION, CROWN AND CONDITION POINT TO THIS WOMAN BEING ISRAEL.

* SHE IS CLOTHED WITH THE SUN, WITH THE MOON UNDER HER FEET, THE SUN BEING THE SOURCE OF LIGHT, THE MOON BEING A REFLECTOR OF LIGHT.

** AND THESE SYMBOLS POINT TO THIS WOMAN BEING A LIGHT BEARER WHICH WOULD BE ISRAEL IN THE O.T. AND IN THE TRIBULATION WHERE 144,000 JEWS ARE LIGHT-BEARERS.

*** AND YES THE CHURCH IS A LIGHT BEARER IN THE N.T. BUT THE SYMBOL THAT SEPARATES ISRAEL FROM THE CHURCH HERE IS ON HER HEAD, A CROWN OF 12 STARS.

**** AND THIS FASCINATING DESCRIPTION REFLECTS JOSEPH’S DREAM RECORDED IN GENESIS 37:9-11 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 9 – NOW HE HAD STILL ANOTHER DREAM, AND RELATED IT TO HIS BROTHERS, AND SAID, “LO, I HAVE HAD STILL ANOTHER DREAM; AND BEHOLD, THE SUN AND THE MOON AND ELEVEN STARS WERE BOWING DOWN TO ME.”

V. 10 – HE RELATED IT TO HIS FATHER AND TO HIS BROTHERS; AND HIS FATHER REBUKED HIM AND SAID TO HIM, “WHAT IS THIS DREAM THAT YOU HAVE HAD? SHALL I AND YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR BROTHERS ACTUALLY COME TO BOW OURSELVES DOWN BEFORE YOU TO THE GROUND?”

V. 11 – HIS BROTHERS WERE JEALOUS OF HIM, BUT HIS FATHER KEPT THE SAYING IN MIND.

4. NOW IN THE IMAGERY AND SYMBOLS OF JOSEPH’S DREAM, THE SUN REPRESENTS JACOB WHO IS ISRAEL, THE MOON RACHEL, AND THE 11 STARS JOSEPH’S BROTHERS, JOSEPH BEING THE 12TH STAR REPRESENTING THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL, NOT THE 12 APOSTLES.

* BUT ALSO JOSEPH’S DREAM IS FITTING, SINCE HIS LIFE PARALLELS ISRAEL’S HISTORY.

** FOR BOTH JOSEPH AND ISRAEL ENDURED CAPTIVITY IN GENTILE NATIONS, YET WERE IN THE END DELIVERED AND EXALTED TO A PLACE OF PROMINENCE IN A KINGDOM.

*** AND FOR THESE REASONS I BELIEVE THAT THE WOMAN IS ISRAEL, WHICH LEADS US TO V. 2 TO TALK ABOUT HER CONDITION, LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 2. NOW THIS WOMAN’S CONDITION IS SHE IS WITH CHILD.

* AND THAT THIS WOMAN IS WITH CHILD FURTHER COMMUNICATES AND CONFIRMS THAT SHE IS ISRAEL; FOR THE CHURCH IS NOT A MOTHER, SINCE SHE IS NOT MARRIED YET AND HER MARRIAGE BEING PRESENTED AS A PURE VIRGIN TO HER HUSBAND – CHRIST, THE LAMB AT THE MARRIAGE SUPPER IN REVELATION 19:7-9, FOR NOW SHE IS BETROTHED TO CHRIST, II CORINTHIANS 11:2, BUT IN REVELATION 19 THE MARRIAGE WILL TAKE PLACE.

** NOW BEING PREGNANT THIS WOMAN-ISRAEL CRIES OUT BEING IN LABOR AND IN PAIN TO GIVE BIRTH.

*** AND JUST AS A PREGNANT WOMAN IN LABOR FEELS PAIN AND CRIES OUT, SO THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS IN PAIN IN THE O.T.

**** FOR THE CAUSE OF THE PAIN IS THE PERSECUTION BY SATAN, WHO ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY HER CHILD, THE MESSIAH.

1. FOR EVER SINCE THE PROMISE OF A REDEEMER WHO WOULD COME TO DESTROY HIM, SATAN HAS ATTACKED ISRAEL, READ GENESIS 3:15.

* AND BELOVED, NO NATION OR PEOPLE IN HISTORY HAS SUFFERED AS LONG OR SEVERELY AS ISRAEL.

** AND YES FROM GOD’S HOLY CHASTENING HAND, BUT ALSO FROM SATAN’S FURIOUS AND FEROCIOUS EFFORTS TO DESTROY THE SEED OF THE WOMAN, TO DESTROY THE NATION WHOM THE MESSIAH WOULD COME.

*** AND THAT IS HER CONDITION. NOW MOVING ON IN V. 3, WE’LL SEE THE SECOND PERSONAGE IN THIS WARFARE THAT IS THE CAUSE OF HER SUFFERING.

**** LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, PERSONAGE NO. 2.

II. PERSONAGE #2, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW IN V. 3, ANOTHER SIGN, ANOTHER SYMBOL APPEARS IN HEAVEN IN JOHN’S VISION.

* AND THERE IS NO QUESTION WHO THIS GREAT RED DRAGON REPRESENTS, IT IS SATAN, THE ENEMY OF GOD AND THE ONE WHO WARS AGAINST GOD.

** FOR V. 9 CLEARLY IDENTIFIES HIM FOR IT SAYS IN REVELATION 12:9 – “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.”

*** SO THIS GREAT RED DRAGON IS SATAN, THE DEVIL, THE GREAT DECEIVER. AND ONLY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS SATAN IDENTIFIED THIS WAY USING THE WORD DRAGON TO TALK ABOUT THE DEVIL 13 TIMES OF IT’S 14 USES.

**** AND NOTICE SATAN IS CALLED A GREAT RED DRAGON.

1. AND RED PROBABLY MAKES REFERENCE TO BLOOD RED AS HE IS A MURDERER, FOR JOHN 8:44 SAYS “HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING.”

* AND WE WILL SEE THAT SATAN WANTS TO DEVOUR THE WOMAN’S CHILD, HE WANTS TO KILL THE WOMAN’S CHILD, HE IS A MURDERER AND A LIAR, SO RED IS AN APPROPRIATE COLOR HERE REPRESENTING BLOODSHED.

** BUT NOTICE IN V. 3, THIS GREAT RED DRAGON HAS SEVEN HEADS AND 10 HORNS AND ON HIS HEAD WERE SEVEN DIADEMS.

*** HE IS PICTURED AS A SEVEN-HEADED MONSTER THAT RULES THE WORLD.

**** FOR SATAN IS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, THE USURPER, AND HAS BEEN ALLOWED BY GOD TO RULE THE WORLD IN A SENSE SINCE THE FALL AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO UNTIL THE TRUMPET SOUNDS IN REVELATION 11:15.

2. NOW SPECIFICALLY THE SEVEN HEADS WITH THEIR 7 DIADEMS WHICH THE DIADEMS SYMBOLIZE ROYAL CROWNS COMMUNICATING POWER AND AUTHORITY.

* NOW SOME THEOLOGIANS BELIEVE THESE SEVEN HEADS AND DIADEMS REPRESENT 7 CONSECUTIVE WORLD EMPIRES RUNNING THEIR COURSE UNDER SATAN’S DOMINION.

** AND THESE THEOLOGIANS DO THIS BY SCANNING THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL BY PICKING OUT THE NATIONS WHO HAVE BEEN BITTERLY ANTAGONISTIC TO ISRAEL AND SOUGHT ITS DESTRUCTION.

*** AND THESE SEVEN NATIONS WOULD BE: EGYPT, ASSYRIA, BABYLON, MEDEO-PERSIA, GREECE, ROME AND NO. 7 ANTICHRIST’S FUTURE EMPIRE TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 17:9&10.

**** NOW IN THIS INTERPRETATION, THE FINAL KINGDOM RULED BY ANTICHRIST WILL BE A TEN-NATION CONFEDERACY, SOME SUGGESTED A REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE.

3. AND THE HORNS OF THE DRAGON REPRESENT THE 10 KINGS WHO WILL RULE UNDER ANTI-CHRIST IN THIS REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE WHICH SOME YEARS AGO SUGGESTED WOULD BE THE EUROPEAN UNION OR THE EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET, BUT NOW HAS TOO MANY MEMBERS, APPROXIMATELY 15 AND EXPANDING.

* BUT THE 10 HORNS REPRESENT THE 10 KINGS OR NATIONS WHO WILL RULE UNDER THE ANTI-CHRIST, AND I’VE ADDED SOME PERTINENT REFERENCES TO THIS IDEA IN REVELATION 13:1, REVELATION 17:12 AND DANIEL 7:23-25.

** BUT MOVING ON NOTICE THAT THE DRAGON’S EVIL INFLUENCE AND WAR GOES BEYOND THE HUMAN RACE TO THE ANGELIC REALM. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 4. NOW THIS DRAGON’S POWERFUL TAIL SWEPT AWAY, DREW, SWEPT DOWN, ONE THIRD OF THE STARS OF HEAVEN AND THREW THEM TO THE EARTH.

* AND HERE THE FIGURATIVE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE CONTINUES AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN ARE ANGELS.

** AND WE SEE THIS BY CONTEXT FIRST OF ALL, FOR VV. 7-9 OF THIS CHAPTER COMMUNICATES THIS:

V. 7 – AND THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN, MICHAEL AND HIS ANGELS WAGING WAR WITH THE DRAGON. THE DRAGON AND HIS ANGELS WAGED WAR,

V. 8 – AND THEY WERE NOT STRONG ENOUGH, AND THERE WAS NO LONGER A PLACE FOUND FOR THEM IN HEAVEN.

V. 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.

*** SO WE SEE THAT STARS ARE ANGELS BY THE CONTEXT, BUT ALSO BY OTHER SCRIPTURES, FOR ANGELS ARE DEPICTED AS STARS SYMBOLICALLY IN REVELATION 1:20 AND IN JOB 38:7.

**** AND THE TRUTH COMMUNICATED HERE IS WHEN SATAN FELL HE SWEPT AWAY A THIRD OF THE ANGELIC HOST WITH HIM.

1. AND ALONG WITH THEIR DEFEATED LEADER, THOSE EVIL ANGELS, NOW DEMONS WERE CAST FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH.

* AND THOSE FALLEN ANGELS (DEMONS) ALONG WITH EVIL MEN UNDER SATAN’S CONTROL, ASSIST IN HIS UNHOLY WAR AGAINST GOD.

** BUT ALSO NOTICE ONE LAST THING IN V. 4, “THE DRAGON STOOD BEFORE THE WOMAN (ISRAEL) WHO WAS ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH, SO THAT WHEN SHE GAVE BIRTH HE MIGHT DEVOUR HER CHILD.”

*** NOW WE SEE FROM THIS TRUTH THAT SATAN’S STRUGGLE IS PRIMARILY WITH THE WOMAN’S CHILD, NOT SO MUCH WITH HER AT THIS POINT, SO HE STANDS BEFORE HER WAITING FOR THE BIRTH TO TAKE PLACE.

**** FOR HE WANTS TO DEVOUR, TO KILL THIS CHILD. AND BELOVED, O.T. HISTORY TO MATTHEW CHAPTER 2 COMMUNICATES SATAN’S DESIRE TO DESTROY THE SEED OF THE WOMAN.

2. FOR FROM CAIN’S MURDER OF ABEL, BY TRYING TO CORRUPT THE LINE OF SETH TO THE MURDER OF MALE JEWISH BABIES IN EGYPT, FROM HAMAM’S ATTEMPT TO SLAUGHTER THE JEWS TO THE ATTACK OF HEROD AGAINST THE JEWISH CHILDREN IN BETHLEHEM, SATAN HAS DESIRED TO DESTROY ISRAEL AND THE GODLY LINE OF CHRIST TO DESTROY THE MESSIAH.

* AND HE THOUGHT HE WON AT THE CROSS WHERE CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED, BUT CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION SEALED HIS DOOM AND DEFEAT.

** AND THIS SECOND PERSONAGE IN OUR TEXT, THE GREAT RED DRAGON IS A DEFEATED FOE BECAUSE OF PERSONAGE #3 IN OUR TEXT TODAY, THE MALE CHILD. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE AS WE START TO LOOK AT OUR THIRD AND FINAL POINT TODAY.

III. PERSONAGE #3, (READ V. 5)

A. NOW IN SPITE OF ALL OF THE DRAGON’S DIABOLICAL EFFORTS TO PREVENT IT, THE WOMAN (ISRAEL) GAVE BIRTH TO A SON, A MALE CHILD.

* AND THERE IS NO QUESTION WHO THIS CHILD IS, FOR HE IS THE MESSIAH, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

** ISRAEL BROUGHT FORTH THE MESSIAH.

*** AND THE MAN CHILD IS THE ONE WHO WILL RULE THE NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON, WHICH MAKES REFERENCE TO CHRIST’S CORONATION AS HE COMES BACK TO THE EARTH AS THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD, A REFERENCE TO PSALM 2:7-9 FULFILLED IN REVELATION 19:15&16 WHICH SAYS:

V. 15 – “FROM HIS MOUTH COMES A SHARP SWORD, SO THAT WITH IT HE MAY STRIKE DOWN THE NATIONS, AND HE WILL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; AND HE TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF THE FIERCE WRATH OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.

V. 16 – AND ON HIS ROBE AND ON HIS THIGH HE HAS A NAME WRITTEN, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

**** BUT ALSO NOTICE AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 12:5, THIS CHILD “WAS CAUGHT UP TO GOD AND TO HIS THRONE.”

1. AND THIS PHRASE MAKES REFERENCE TO CHRIST’S ASCENSION, FOR BETWEEN HIS INCARNATION (HIS BIRTH) AND HIS CORONATION CAME HIS EXALTATION, HIS ASCENSION TO HEAVEN WHERE HE IS PRESENTLY SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER.

* AND LET ME MAKE AN IMPORTANT POINT HERE. CHRIST’S EXALTATION TO GOD’S THRONE SIGNIFIES THE FATHER’S ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS AND HIS WORK OF REDEMPTION.

** FOR HEBREWS 1:3 SAYS: “AND HE IS THE RADIANCE OF HIS GLORY AND THE EXACT REPRESENTATION OF HIS NATURE, AND UPHOLDS ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER. WHEN HE HAD MADE PURIFICATION OF SINS, HE SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH.”

*** AND NOW CHRIST HAS BEEN EXALTED TO THE RIGHT HAND, THE SEAT OF HONOR AS THE PERFECT SAVIOR FOR REDEMPTION WAS ACCOMPLISHED AND APPLIED BY CHRIST IN HIS DEATH FOR HIS OWN, HIS SHEEP, HIS PEOPLE, HIS CHURCH, A PARTICULAR REDEMPTION FOR HIS ELECT.

**** AND OF COURSE CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION REMOVED THE DRAGON AS A DEFEATED FOE. BUT THOUGH HE IS A DEFEATED FOE, SATAN WILL NOT GIVE UP, LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 6. NOW THE PICTURE HERE IS ISRAEL HAS TO FLEE TO THE WILDERNESS AFTER SHE HAS HER BABY, FOR SATAN HAS DESIRED TO DESTROY ISRAEL IN HER HISTORY THROUGH MEN LIKE HITLER AND STALIN.

* AND A DRAGON ESPECIALLY WILL TRY TO DESTROY HER DURING THE GREAT TRIBULATION, THE LAST 3 ½ YEARS OF THE TRIBULATION.

** FOR MATTHEW 24:15-21 SAYS THIS:

V. 15 – “THEREFORE WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION WHICH WAS SPOKEN OF THROUGH DANIEL THE PROPHET, STANDING IN THE HOLY PLACE (LET THE READER UNDERSTAND),

V. 16 – THEN THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA MUST FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS.

V. 17 – WHOEVER IS ON THE HOUSETOP MUST NOT GO DOWN TO GET THE THINGS OUT THAT ARE IN HIS HOUSE.

V. 18 – WHOEVER IS IN THE FIELD MUST NOT TURN BACK TO GET HIS CLOAK.

V. 19 – BUT WOE TO THOSE WHO ARE PREGNANT AND TO THOSE WHO ARE NURSING BABIES IN THOSE DAYS!

V. 20 – BUT PRAY THAT YOUR FLIGHT WILL NOT BE IN THE WINTER, OR ON A SABBATH.

V. 21 – FOR THEN THERE WILL BE A GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT OCCURRED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL NOW, NOR EVER WILL.”

*** NOW WE SEE FROM THESE VERSES COMMUNICATED BY THE CHILD HIMSELF- JESUS, THAT ANTICHRIST’S DESECRATION OF THE TEMPLE WILL SEND THE JEWISH PEOPLE (THOSE IN JUDEA) FLEEING INTO THE WILDERNESS.

**** AND WHEREVER THIS WILL BE AT THAT TIME, SHE WILL BE NOURISHED AND DEFENDED BY GOD AS THEY WERE EARLIER IN THEIR WILDERNESS WANDERING FOR 40 YEARS.

1. AND THE LENGTH OF HER STAY IN HIDING WILL BE

1,260 DAYS, 3 ½ YEARS OF 30 DAYS MONTHS, THE LAST HALF OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WHICH JESUS CALLED THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN MATTHEW 24:21.

* AND AT THE END OF THAT TIME, ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED IN ROMANS 11:26 AND GOD WILL PROTECT UNTIL HER MESSIAH RETURNS FROM THE DRAGON.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY (1) IN APPLICATION, THE GREAT COSMIC WAR OF THE AGES IN SATAN’S WAR AGAINST GOD RAGES TODAY.

* AND IT WILL REACH ITS CLIMAX IN THE TRIBULATION, BUT SATAN IS A DEFEATED FOE.

** BUT UNTIL THEN WE ARE IN A SPIRITUAL WARFARE EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY.

*** AND WE ARE TOLD IN I PETER 5:8 TO BE (READ IT).

**** AND WE ARE TOLD IN JAMES 4:7&8 TO (READ IT).

(2) AND THEN WE ARE TOLD IN EPHESIANS 6:10-13 TO BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT. (READ THE VERSES)

* AND MY POINT IS WE ARE LIVING IN THE EVIL DAY AND WE NEED TO STAND BY PUTTING ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD LISTED IN EPHESIANS 6:14-18.

** AND WE MUST AND THIS IS ESSENTIAL, WE MUST HAVE A WARFARE MENTALITY AND NOT GO AWOL OR RUN AWAY FROM THE FRONT LINES.

*** BUT SAD TO SAY, MANY PROFESSING CHRISTIANS ARE LIVING WITH A PEACE TIME MENTALITY. THERE’S NO SACRIFICE FOR THE CAUSE, NO REDEEMING THE TIME, PRIORITIES ARE OUT OF WHACK AND THERE IS NO SENSE OF URGENCY.

**** BELOVED LET US WITH FERVENCY SEE THAT WE MUST MAN A WARTIME MENTALITY IN THIS WAR WHICH WILL BE ULTIMATELY WON BY CHRIST.

(3) BUT AS THE DAILY SKIRMISHES GO ON, LET US TAKE HOLD TO THE WAITING SOLDIER MENTALITY COMMUNICATED IN II TIMOTHY 2:3&4 FROM PAUL TO TIMOTHY.

* READ VERSES.

** SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS MAY WE PLEASE OUR COMMANDER AND CHIEF, OUR HOLY GENERAL WHO CHOSE US BY HIS SOVEREIGN GRACE TO BE HIS FOOT SOLDIERS.