***Covenants is one of the foundational topics for understanding the unity and application of the Scripture. Start this course today on Water of the Word.*** BOOK OF REVELATION copyright 2001 by Glenn Davis LESSON 29 Chapter 12 Verse 12 Let the heavens rejoice and all who live there; but for you, earth and the sea, trouble is coming - because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that his days are numbered. [JB] As we saw in the last lesson, because of Jesus' victory at Calvary, Satan lost all standing in heaven. He was cast out. The heavens [i.e. angelic beings, people who have died and are in the presence of God] rejoice because of the victorious lives of the Christians still on earth. In spite of the great persecution, the First Century Christians were following the example of Christ and in His power defeating Satan. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doeth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us..." [Heb. 12:1] Naturally, Satan is not too happy about being defeated. The ungodly in the land of Israel and in the nations had great reason to fear. Satan is extremely angry and he knows he has only a limited time with which to try to wreak damage. He also knows he can only go to the limits God and God's people allow him. It is an incredibly frustrating no-win situation for him. Verse 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man Child. When he was defeated in the heavenly, spiritual realm, Satan immediately tried to vent his rage and take revenge on the Jewish Christians. They had brought this Instrument [Jesus] of his destruction into the world and now they must pay for it. Stephen became the first New Testament martyr but he was by no means the last. "Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only." [Acts 11:19] Satan tried to destroy the church, which was still at that time limited to the Jews, but succeeded only in spreading it! Verse 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. Wings speak of protection. The eagle was the symbol of Rome, which was the
instrument of God's judgment. The persecution of the Jewish Christians by the Jews drove the Christians out into all parts of the Roman Empire where they were protected for a time from the anger of Satan vented through the unbelieving Jews. Satan would have loved, out of malice and hate to destroy these instruments of God. Verse 15 Then out of his mouth the serpent spouted forth water like a flood after the woman, that she might be carried off with the torrent. [Amp.] The unbelieving Jews tried to follow the Jewish Christians and stir up all kinds of trouble for them. A reading of Paul's missionary journeys will show the violence with which the Jews tried to stamp out Christianity. Verse 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. However, the very land itself helped the Jewish believers as they were dispersed across the world. Such a wide-spread group became impossible for Satan to destroy using the Jews themselves. The very scope which Christianity had reached diluted the effect of any local persecution. Jerusalem was no longer the center of Christianity. "...many church members left Jerusalem for Antioch in Syria, which was emerging as the dominant center of Gentile Christianity. Finally, at the outbreak of the Jewish revolt in 66, the remaining church members in Jerusalem fled to the safety of Pella...and with this the important of Jerusalem in the church's early history came to an end. [Reader's Digest Bible Atlas, 205] Verse 17 Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, that is, all who obey God's commandments and bear witness for Jesus. [JB] Satan was frustrated and angry at his failed attempts to contain and destroy the church. It had spread not only to the whole world geographically, but also to people of every nation and tribe. No longer was it confined to the Jews alone. This called for a change of strategy. Destroying the woman - Jewish believers - was no longer enough. He had to reach across the world to try and eliminate the church. The Jewish unbelievers were not powerful enough for such a mission. So in order to make war or persecute the world-wide church he had to turn to the world-wide empire - Rome. "The Dragon is fighting a losing battle, but he has already been defeated at the Cross and at the Tomb...Ever since Christ's ascension, world history has been a mopping up operation. The Church Militant, so long as she is the Church Obedient, will be the Church Triumphant as well." [Days Of Vengeance, 324] The devil is a destroyer. It is what he loves and lives for. The church, empowered by Christ, is the only force which can stop him. That is why all throughout history and until the end of time, Satan has tried and will try to destroy the church. His methods have been varied and met with differing degrees of success but always the church has emerged victorious. Even now the Church marches steadily on to her final victory, forever defeating Satan and being able to gladly welcome her Groom back to an earth in submission to the
government of Christ. As Christ won the victory over Satan and sin for the church, even so must the church - through the power of the Holy Spirit - win a world-wide victory over the effects of Satan and sin for Christ. This is not to say the earth will be perfect or sin-free when Christ returns but sin and its effects will be in retreat. [See the free, two-lesson, e-mail course: http://www.joshuaclub.com/jcmhp.html - Secret Signs Of Christ's Return.] Chapter 13 Verse 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 heads the name of blasphemy. John is standing on the edge of the sea, looking over the nations. Suddenly, out of this sea of nations, there arises one nation to dominate over all the rest. This beast, this wild, uncontrollable animal steps out. Who or what is this beast? Again, John is using Old Testament symbols with which his First Century readers were familiar. The same type of scene along with an explanation appears in Daniel. "I saw in my vision...four great beasts came up from the sea...these great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth...the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth..." [Dan. 7:2-3, 17, 23] The beasts coming out of the sea represent the rise of kings and the empires they rule. Daniel, taking an overview of history, saw four kingdoms. John is only concerned with one - the last one. The four beasts of Daniel are the consecutive world-empires: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The fourth beast of Daniel and the beast of Revelation are the same. Scripture itself sweeps away all genuine controversy by identifying this last beast for us. In Rev. 17:9-12 we read: "The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings...and the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." The seven heads mentioned are connected to the beast and a head controls and shows the nature of the body. So then the beast can represent two different but related things [this is a very important concept]. First, "The seven heads are seven mountains," in other words the city of Rome. Rome was famous as the city built on seven hills. It became the city that ruled the world. [In context this is the historical Rome of the Apostle John's time. There is no Scriptural warrant for a supposed "revived" Rome Empire of our own time. Daniel chapter two makes clear that after the collapse of the historic Roman Empire, there will never be another world empire except the Kingdom of God.] Second, "there are seven kings," which would be the first seven emperors of Rome. Some people object to this by saying the Ceasars were not really kings. Perhaps not by our standards, but the title of 'king' is often applied to the Ceasars in ancient writings, of which the Book of Revelation is one. Just as in Daniel, the beast can represent the kingdom or empire in general or a ruler of the kingdom specifically. Context must determine which is being spoken of. "The Roman beast is seen as a 'ravenous, ferocious animal, untamed and under the Curse." [Paradise Restored, 175] "The ten horns...are ten kings." The ten kings are the rulers of ten provinces of Rome. They reign over their kingdoms with the power and authority of Rome. The Jerusalem
Bible footnotes this verse with the comment: "Seven heads represent a succession of seven Roman emperors; ten crowned heads are ten subject kings." [331] The blasphemous name shows the character of the beast. Rome was going to oppose God. Even though Rome did not persecute the church until Nero, the very fact they worshipped their deceased emperors as "divine" and claimed they had become gods shows the blasphemous anti-god attitude which prevailed thoughout the empire. In parts of the empire outside of Rome itself [especially Asia Minor where the Book of Revelation was directed], the emperors were quite often worshipped while still alive. Nero built a 120 foot statue of himself. The main reason Christians were persecuted was because they refused to join the Emperor-Cult. The High Priest wore the Name of God on his forehead, the beast displays blasphemy on his heads. Satan often tries to reverse or pervert the True for his own dark purposes. Verse 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. The beast is a monstrous combination of three flesh-eating hunters. Rome, like the leopard, was cunning and patient waiting for the right time to strike her enemies. Like the feet of a great bear, she crushed all opposition beneath her. And her enemies felt like they were trapped in the relentless, deadly teeth of a lion. The Roman Empire was not brought to power by accident or the will of man. It was part of a Satanic plot to destroy the Christian church and the kingdom of God in its infancy. As Daniel foresaw, Rome was to be the last, physical, world-wide Satanic Empire. "This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet [Roman Empire] partly of iron and partly of clay...a stone [Kingdom of God] was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces...and the stone that stuck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." [Dan. 2:32-35, NKJV] Verse 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. John saw a most amazing sight. "One of the heads seemed to have a deadly wound [Amp.] but, much to the surprise of the world, the beast recovered and continued on. How does this fit with Rome? In AD 68 Nero committed suicide. For the first time there was no blood-line successor. The following year became infamously known as The Year Of The Four Emperors. Civil war had broken out in Rome itself. In the space of one year four would-be emperors took the throne and three were assassinated. "In AD 68-70, after Nero, the last ruler of Augustus's house, had perished, the absence of a recognized or obvious successor created the ruinous chaos of the Year of the Four Emperors." [World of Rome, 29] It was Vespasian's forces which finally ended the civil war and established him as the new emperor. "In October of 69 the troops of Antonius [Vespasian's general] defeated the
defenders of Vitullius at Cremona in one of the bloodiest battles of ancient times." [Christ and Caesar, 285] The world thought the mighty Roman Empire had been brought to destruction. They watched as she thrashed gasping what appeared to be her last breaths. What would happen when the empire crumbled? "...he [Vespasian when he became emperor] restored the ruined imperial finances, reorganized the army, and created a new aristocracy of provincial origin." [Christ and Caesar, 16] Fortunately, for Rome, Vespasian was able to end the civil war, maintain order, and restore Rome to world dominance. The beast who looked as if he had been killed was revived, much to the surprise and admiration of the world. Both Israel and Rome went through bloody wars at the same time. Israel was to be destroyed and it appeared as if Rome would be as well. But Christians were not to be deceived by appearances. Rome would not be destroyed but would be revived under a new dynasty. The above is my view but here is another view presented in Days Of Vengeance which is worth consideration: The head wound [Gen. 3:15] to the serpent [Satan] at the beginning of Christianity spread quickly and seemed to take hold, churches sprang up everywhere and even members of Caesar's house [Phil. 4:22] became believers. Tiberius at one time even asked the Roman Senate to acknowledge Christ's divinity. Christianity seemed to be taking control, the dragon in the form of Rome appeared to have a death wound as the church gained in popularity. But then things reversed. Although the gospel has spread everywhere so had heresy and apostasy, under persecution by the Jews and the Romans great numbers of Christians began falling away. Most of the churches may have fallen apart and abandoned the faith. They appeared to have been stamped out under Nero's persecution. The beast appeared to have recovered from the gospel's death wound. In Lesson 30 we will venture further into Chapter 13. ***When is The Great Tribulation? What is it about and what does the Bible teach about? Explore the meaning of Matthew 24 with the Water Of The Word course: The Great Tribulation. ***