A Journey through Revelation: The Triumph of God s People Lesson 14: The Woman, the dragon and the wilderness

Transcription

1 A Journey through Revelation: The Triumph of God s People Lesson 14: The Woman, the dragon and the wilderness 1. Let s begin by looking at Revelation 12:1-6. a. Now a great sign appeared in : a clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in : behold, a great, fiery red having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His drew a third of the of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the, where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. i. Here are the major places and people in this text The. 3. A. 4. The red. 5. The of Heaven. 6. The. 2. Where and who are each of these places and people and what is their significance? a. is spoken of twice and alluded to once. By using heaven as the staging point of this vision it firmly places the emphasis on a and perspective rather than an and perspective. 1

2 b. The In the bible a woman symbolizes God s here on the. i. Jeremiah 6:2 - I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate. ii. 2 nd Corinthians 11:2 - For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 1. The woman is beautifully adored to illustrate her total dependence on God. a. Clothed with the sun is a reference to Malachi 4:2 where the coming Messiah was named the of Righteousness, thus this church is clothed in of God. b. The moon under her feet is reference to how the Old Testament Sanctuary service perfectly reflects the of Christ just as the moon reflects the light of the sun. c. The twelve stars that form her crown represent the twelve who laid the foundation for the New Testament church which is spiritual Israel. c. The The man child referenced here is Jesus, born through the people of God (Israel at the time) to be the Savior of the world. i. Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a is born, unto us a is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. d. The red According to v. 9 of this same chapter is. His color, red, is the color of oppression and bloodshed and given what we have learned so far this color accurately portrays his character. i. Additionally the text says that the dragon tried to the male child as soon as it was born. 2

3 This is clearly a reference to King Herod s decree to execute all babies so as to execute the Savior before He could accomplish His mission. 1. While the dragon is ultimately a symbol for Satan, in this sense it also serves as a symbol for whom Satan uses to try and carry out this task as well as others throughout the course of history. e. The of heaven In Revelation symbolize and in this case these are who work for Satan in deceiving the people of this world. f. The With Satan s failed attempt to take the life of Christ he now turns his anger towards the and although the church is persecuted in the cities and states the wilderness represents a place of from these hard times. i. In this verse the time prophecies of Daniel come into play as the period of time is 1260 days. This time period starts in 538 A.D. and continues on to 1798, during which time Christianity was under heavy persecution and was only preserved by a humble few. 3. Let s look at the next part of this chapter verses 7-12 a. 7 And war broke out in : Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the and by the 3

4 word of their, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. i. Five points we learn from the text 1. The dragon s warfare against Christ started in. 2.This war lead to the of Satan from Heaven. 3. Earth becomes the where Satan would wage against the people of God that espouse to the principles of the kingdom of God. 4. The war is not and Satan s time is. 5. There will be a group of. 4. What weapons of spiritual warfare do the overcomers use? a. Revelation 12:11 - And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. i. The text identifies three weapons of spiritual mass destruction 1. The of the. a. Our victory is assured through the Blood of Jesus, thus the overcomers recognize Jesus as the source of everything that they need. The Cross reveals God s ultimate act of love for us and therefore the overcomers are strengthened by the love of Christ. 2. The word of their. a. Our own experience with God should be a personal testimony that we share with others, 4

5 the more we share it the deeper our experience becomes. 3. They did not love their lives to the. a. The overcomers get to a place where they value being right with God more then they value even their own lives. The good news about this thinking is that if we lose our lives for our faith we re actually gaining more then we ever lost because eternity awaits us. 5. The final act of Revelation 12 introduces a few important themes. a. Revelation 12: Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given of a great eagle, that she might into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. i. The dragon is seen persecuting the people of God but this time they take flight to a new land of, and. 1. Here the bible is foretelling of the Christian pilgrims coming to North America in search of religious freedom. ii. The two main characters in the final drama of earth s history are identified here the dragon who is Satan and of the woman. 5

6 1. The offspring can also be translated. 6. What is so unique about the Remnant church? a. Two things.. i. They keep the of God. 1. Jesus s own words found in Matthew 5: Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ii. They have the of Jesus. 1. Revelation 19:10 - And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the. 6