The Dragon, the Woman, The Child and The Beasts. Revelation 12 &13

Transcription

1 The Dragon, the Woman, The Child and The Beasts Revelation 12 &13 Chapter 12: This review of the conflict of the ages between God and Satan is used to show how Satan s past enmity to God, mankind, and Israel fits in with God s consummation of all things. This tells the story from a heavenly perspective, beginning to end, not constrained to time as we are. It has always been the plan of the devil to stop the plan of God. The war against the devil that we find ourselves involved in is actually part of a bigger war between God and Satan. Satan has already lost this war, it is already written. Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

2 The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon The Woman must be Israel, for it is the Jewish nation who gave birth to Christ. She referred to the wife of God in Isaiah 54:5-6; Jeremiah 3:6-8; 31:32; Ezekiel 16:32; Hosea 2:16. The Church is the bride of Christ. The moon alludes to God s covenant relationship with Israel. New moons are associated with covenant worship & feasts. The Twelve Stars are the twelve tribes of Israel. This vision is seen much as Joseph saw in Genesis 37:9-10. Birth pains refer to the harsh experience of the Jewish nation throughout the centuries. The red dragon is Satan, as we will see in verse 9. The Seven Heads of the dragon are the seven world kingdoms of bible prophecy. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. The end time government of the Antichrist made up of ten horns (Daniel 7-8) The one-third of the stars is believed to be the angels who fell to the earth with Satan when he rebelled against God. Satan tries to devour the Messiah at birth. Possibly refers to King Herod s attempt to kill Jesus when he massacred the male children. The Man Child is Jesus Christ, for it is He that shall rule all nations with a rod of iron in verse 5. Caught up to heaven Jesus ascended to heaven following His resurrection. Notice this is dealing with Israel, not the church. The church shall be in heaven with Christ during this time.

3 They shall possibly flee to Edom or Petra for a persecution worse than the holocaust days The Jewish nation will be forced to flee into the wilderness during the second 3 ½ years of the tribulation. (After the Antichrist breaks the covenant) Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Satan Thrown out of Heaven This could be a reference to Satan and his angels original fall centuries ago. Could be a reference to Satan being literally cast down to the earth, no longer allowed to access God to be the accuser of the brethren any longer.

4 o Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: o John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. If so, Satan would not be able to bring accusation against the people of the Church, who are probably appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ during this time. Satan knows his time is short, only ½ of the tribulation remains. By the Blood of the Lamb and The word of our testimony, no accusation of Satan can stand! Revelation 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The Woman Persecuted Satan will use the Antichrist to try to destroy Israel (the Woman) but he cannot.

5 Not able to destroy Israel, he will go after the Jewish converts, many of whom will die as martyrs. Two wings of the great eagle represent protection. Many will survive. But according to Zechariah 2/3 of them will die as martyrs. The flood o Possible literal flood to destroy the Jews. o Possible metaphorically satanic driven army coming against the Jews like a flood. o Could also be an outpouring of haterid and anti-semitism. So the earth coming to help would be an army of people coming to help or the earth itself opening up to swallow the flood of water. The Rise of the Antichrist & False Prophet Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle,

6 and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. The Beast from the Sea The beast from the sea is the Antichrist, who shall gain his power from the final ten nation world government. (Revelation 12:2, Daniel 7-8) He shall be the most dominant personality during the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation. The sea may refer to the people of the Mediterranean region. Seems to be the embodiment of the beastly governments Daniel saw in his vision. All the empires of the beast have one thing in common: they are indwelt by the dragon, Satan himself. One of his heads was mortally wounded. Some believe the Antichrist will be mortally wounded and supernaturally raised up by Satan before all the people. Possibly even indwelt personally by Satan himself. This will be an attempt to copy the resurrection of Christ, if possible to deceive even the very elect. He would then be able to tell the world false things about the hereafter.

7 No one will be able to stand against him and his government. He will blaspheme God, the saints, and everything about God. This will last throughout the final 3 ½ years of the tribulation. the people of the whole earth will worship him, those who do not will be martyred. This is the patience of the Saints. Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. The Beast from the Earth This is also referred to as the False Prophet.

8 He rises out of the earth. (Human) He controls religious affairs. (Often a stumbling block to government agendas.) He is motivated by Satan. He will promote the worship of the Beast. There are three dominant religions is Jerusalem: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. He will take charge of the religions of the world, merging apostate Christian and Islamic religions. (The Jews will be in the wilderness at this time.) These two religions are his two horns. He looks religious, like a lamb, but talks like a devil, the mouth of the dragon. He will set himself up to be Christ. Many Catholics teach that he is a defective Pope. He will perform miracles. (calling down fire) With the true believers gone after the rapture, he will have no problem deceiving the whole world. (No salt, no light) Those who know that they have been left behind from their religious teachings and denominations will look for hope in Him. He will set up The Image of the Beast The image will become or at least appear to come alive. The False Prophet will require all people to receive a mark. This is a counterfeit of the mark of God that is upon his people. The mark of the beast is 666. Apparently the numerical value of his name will some way equal this number. This will bring all people into a global economy that the Antichrist will control.

9 It will be almost impossible to feed their families without the mark. Satan, The Antichrist, and the False Prophet make up what is referred to as the unholy trinity. (Satan the father, the Antichrist the son, the False Prophet the holy spirit) The Spirit of Antichrist that is now at work, is preparing the way for the False Prophet to rise to power, the False Prophet will then in turn, give power to the Antichrist. The great system he represents is called The Great Harlot in Revelation 17:6 The ultimate mixing of false religion and evil government is his goal.