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REVELATION 12
THE WOMAN AND THE DRAGON
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Following the intense action of the Great Tribulation with the sounding of the 7th Trumpet (chapter 11:15-19), we have now arrived at the third interlude in the book of Revelation. It's the interlude between the Seventh Trumpet and the first Bowl Judgment. It takes up all of chapters 12 and 13. In these pages, our Lord will reveal to us a good many crucial things about ... events, conditions, peoples, and politics that play key roles in the Great Tribulation. They also go a long way to help us understand why he strikes the Earth-dwellers with such a clenched fist during the final closing hours of earth's history as we know it.
As far as timing is concerned ... please allow me to reiterate. When the Seventh Trumpet is blown, the seven Bowl Judgments will commence on earth in rapid succession. These judgments will happen in a matter of days or even hours … culminating in the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the Lord has a good deal of information to give to us before we actually look at these events. So, they may appear much further away (timewise) than they actually are.
Rev. 12:1-5
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and his throne.
12:1-2
What awesome visages greeted John’s eyes in this new vision! First, a resplendently clothed pregnant woman appeared who was in the throes of childbirth. Then, ominously, a terrible seven-headed red dragon with ten horns appeared and murderously positioned itself before the woman to eat her Child as soon as it was born. This twice-used word, sign, here, tells us that these are symbolic representations. Careful analysis will make their significance clear. Let's look at them.
…the woman. There is something vaguely familiar about her. Oh yes, some of these same elements of her makeup were also in Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9-10. There we read,
Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, ’Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.’ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, ’What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?’
The woman was clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. These are the same three elements Joseph saw in his dream. He saw the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowing down before him. It was clear to Joseph's family that the sun represented Jacob; the moon represented their mother, Rachel, and the eleven stars, Joseph’s eleven brothers. They were all greatly incensed by Joseph’s dream.
Later, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28), and his sons became the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 49:28). The Apostle Paul, speaking about the descendants of Israel, says in Romans 9:35,
For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
The woman ... sign that John saw is clearly symbolic of the nation of Israel from whom, Paul says, Christ came.
12:3-4
…the dragon. What a fearsome and murderous specter the fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns presented to John’s eyes. As he watched, its gigantic tail thrashed across the skies and drew a third of the stars of Heaven and threw them to the earth. Then, the awful thing halted menacingly before the woman. Its evil intent was obvious. It was awaiting the birth of the woman's child in order to gobble it up as soon as it was born! The dragon ... sign represents Satan. Verse nine identifies him as such, by name. Let’s consider some of the elements of his symbol and see if we can discern what they might allude to.
a. He is red. I believe this speaks of his bloody and murderous nature. Our Lord says of him in John 8:44b,
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
b. He has seven heads. Like many other monsters in ancient mythology, this speaks of Satan’s perceived indestructibility. It would be a very formidable task to kill a seven-headed monster such as this.
c. He has ten horns. His ten horns speak of his self-perceived power. I say self-perceived because, although he is powerful, his power is not nearly as great as he thinks. As we have noted, horns are often used as a symbol of power in the Scripture. Back in chapter 5, we saw that the Lamb had seven horns, a symbol for total or complete power. Satan's symbol, having ten horns, is an indicator that he sees himself as stronger than the Lamb!
d. He dragged a third of the stars of heaven down to Earth with his tail. As previously noted, stars are sometimes used as symbols for angels in the Bible. I believe that to be the case here. We know from Scripture that Lucifer (Satan), was not the only angel who fell in ancient pre-earth history. (First Peter 3:18-20). The stars, that the dragon threw down to earth with his tail, no doubt refer to angels who Satan caused to fall along with him. We refer to them as demons today. And, by the way, a third of the angels of Heaven is no small number. The Bible states that angels are are innumerable (Hebrews 12:22).
e. He positioned himself before the woman to gobble up the male child as soon as it was born. This is an obvious allusion to Satan’s attempt through king Herod to kill the baby Jesus. An account of it is found in Matthew 2:16,
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
No mistake about it, Satan was the one behind King Herod in that gruesome incident.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
Christ is the promised Seed that the Lord was referring to there. I take it that Satan’s seed refers to his demons as well as all the unsaved human beings that are currently under his control. People who don't know the Lord belong to Satan, just as the fallen angels do. They are his property and his confederates, and he uses them as he pleases. So, in a very real sense, they are all Satan's seed. As Jesus put it to the Pharisees in John 8,
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. John 8:44a
Paul, speaking of lost and unsaved people, said,
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. Second Timothy 2:26 (KJV)
Jesus, when he commissioned the Apostle Paul, said he was sending him out with the gospel...
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Acts 26:18 (KJV)
The Hebrew word translated bruise in Genesis 3:15, means to crush. God's word to Satan that day was unmistakable. Someday the Seed of the woman will be born, and he will kill you! Doubtless, these words have ever made Satan sweat. No one can fully understand biblical, or even secular, history until they understand how its events are related to Satan’s attempts to STOP the promised Seed from coming into the world!
Shortly after this prophecy was in effect, Satan moved Cain to kill Abel to keep the Seed from coming ... but God raised up Seth. During the time of the great Flood, Satan moved all of mankind to be so wicked that God would have to destroy them and nullify the coming of the Seed ...but God raised up Noah. When Abraham came upon the scene, God made a covenant with him saying, in your seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed (Genesis 22:18). And, from that day on, the coming of the promised Seed was narrowed down to the descendants of Abraham. So, Satan began to attack Abraham's line and he moved Esau to eliminate his brother ... causing him to say, I will slay my brother Jacob (Genesis 27:41). Through Jacob, you see, the promised Seed was to come. But, Rebekah sent Jacob away by night to Laban's house.
During the days of the kings of Israel, God further limited the coming of the promised Seed to the royal line of king David (II Samuel 7:12). The aftermath of this new narrowing of the path of the Seed can be read about in First and Second Kings and First and Second Chronicles, as well the prophets and several other places in the Old Testament. These books are replete with accounts of Satan's onslaughts against David's royal line. Take for example, the account of wicked Queen Athaliah in Second Kings 11. When her son, king Ahaziah, died, she seized the throne and immediately set about exterminating all the royal seed so that she alone would sit on the throne of Israel. She almost pulled it off too, having murdered, she thought, every last one of her grandchildren. But God saw to it that she missed one. While Athaliah was busy killing all the royal seed, Jehoshiba whisked away little baby and his nurse and brought them to Jehoiada, the priest, for protection in the temple. And, for six years the promised Seed rested in the single life of that one little boy. Then, when Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada set him on the throne of David as the boy-king of Israel and wicked, Satan instigated, Athaliah, was put to the sword! So, the promised Seed >was secured and preserved. Finally, Satan not being able to stop it, the Seed of the woman came down from Heaven and was born on Earth. Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, writes,
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law... Galatians 4:4
Satan was now faced with the Seed Himself. He had arrived. Immediately, he moved Herod to destroy the child, but the plan failed. The Maji returned home to their land by another way (Matthew 2:1-12), and Joseph, being warned in a dream, fled with the young child into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14). However, all through Christ's life on Earth, Satan continued to plot to kill him. Finally, by means of Jewish and Roman leaders, the Seed was nailed to a Roman cross. Satan’s laughter must have echoed throughout the universe! At long last, he thought, he had succeeded in destroying the promised Seed! He had killed the one who God had said would kill him ... and the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was nullified. What Satan didn’t know, however, was that it was in the sovereign plan of God that Jesus had come to our world to give his life as a sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (First John 2:2). Then, having satisfied God’s righteous demands for sin (Romans 6:23), the Seed arose from the dead!
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out. Romans 8:33
What a shock it must have been, when Satan realized that he had not only lost, but now, he was set up to lose scores of his slaves as well! As we have it in Hebrews 2:14-15,
In as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Ha!Ha! Because of our Savior’s death for us on the cross, a Door has been thrown wide so Satan's captives can now enter and be set free (John 10:9)! Through faith in Christ, Satan can no longer be the Master and death, which brings so much fear to everyone, has lost its sting. Nevertheless, even after that wonderful resurrection morning, Satan still resists, doggedly pursuing his opposition to the Seed ... opposing anything and everyone related to Christ ... while stalking the Earth seeking whom he may devour (First Peter 5:8b). He scratches and claws for every advantage to thwart the Seed’s people and purposes … ... especially Christ's coming back to Earth AGAIN one day. But, Satan is a loser. He is a defeated foe. He lost in Eden, and he has lost over and over again down through the centuries in his opposition to God and the woman’s Seed. He lost big time at the cross and he is losing today. Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Inexorably, Christ Jesus is now ransacking the strong man's house (Mark 3:27), as he goes about calling out a people for his name's sake.
We are given this history lesson in Revelation 12, to remind us of the great struggle that has gone on in the past and continues to go on today concerning the Seed of the woman. The struggle will greatly intensify during the dark days of the coming Great Tribulation. At that time, Satan will pull out all the stops to attempt to hold on to what is his and to oppose the Seed. He will seek to exterminate anyone and everyone who has anything to do with Christ and, ultimately, will make war with the Lamb Himself at his Second Coming. But as the saying goes, The bigger they are, the harder they fall!
12:5
…the male Child. John says, She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This universal rule with a rod of iron points unmistakably to the prophecy of the Son in Psalm 2:7-9. There we read,
I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to me, 'you are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'
Clearly, the male Child represents Christ. As John continued to watch the awesome drama acting out before him, indeed, the woman did give birth to a male Child but before the dragon could gobble him up, he was caught up unto God and to his throne. This is an obvious reference to Christ's ascension and exaltation to the right hand of God. As you have it in Acts 1:9,
...And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (KJV)
And, in Hebrews 1:3, we read,
…and when he had by himself purged us from our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High...
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Rev. 12:6
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days [3 1/2 years].
12:6
When Antichrist breaks his treaty with the Jews ... in the exact middle of the Tribulation (3 1/2 years in) ... and seizes their temple for himself, Jesus told his covenant people, the Jews, they must immediately flee out of Jerusalem.
Therefore, when you see 'the abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… Matthew 24:15-16
We read in our text, Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God. God will make a place of refuge in the wilderness for his covenant people who obey him and flee on that awful day when Antichrist breaks his treaty with them, seizes their temple, and immediately sets out to kill them all. How will God protect them there? Let me assure you, he will have no problem on that score. Do you remember how Jesus escaped from the mob in his home town of Nazareth? The citizens of Nazareth were hell-bent on throwing him off a cliff (another instance, by the way, of Satan's attempt to destroy the Seed). Jesus, however, simply walked right through the angry crowd (Luke 4:28-30). With God, such things are nothing.
Our passage continues... that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days (3 1/2 years). Who do you suppose the ... they ... are, who are actually going to be feeding them at the place of refuge? Also, what do you suppose they will feed them for those three and a half years? Would it surprise you if they were fed manna as was their forefathers who were delivered from Egypt? That is the implication here. I believe they refers to angels who will feed these refugees, just as they fed their ancient counterparts in that same wilderness in Moses' day. Once again, God's chosen people will dine on angel’s food (Psalm 78:25).
One more thing before we move on. Previously, we talked about how many Jews of the Tribulation will be saved by direct confrontation ... as was the Apostle Paul before them. However, they will not all be saved at the same time. Many will be saved as the result of the nature of the events of the Sixth Seal Judgment. I place the 144,000 in that group. However, this group, who flee for their lives from Antichrist here in Revelation 12, are a different group. They are Judean Jews who have been living in and around Jerusalem and worshipping at the temple there. Suddenly, they will find themselves confronted by Antichrist who has invaded Jerusalem and siezed the temple for himself! For 3 1/2-years the Judean Jews will have been prospering under Antichrist’s protection and blessing and abiding by his treaty with them. But, on that day, they will see his treachery, as prophesied in Daniel 7, and warned about by Jesus in Matthew 25.
’And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead my case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead my case with you,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; [I take this to refer to the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34)] I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
What an amazing prophecy, is it not? Wouldn’t you like to be “a fly on the wall” observer when this takes place?!
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Rev. 12:7-12
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 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. 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. 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. 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.
12:7-9
As previously stated, the events in Revelation are given to us in the chronological order in which they will actually occur in future histor. This passage adds weight to that important fact because ... right here in the middle of the story of these fleeing Judean Jews ... it's as if the phone rang and we are suddenly summoned to return back up to Heaven! Why? Because, at that exact same point in time, an extraordinary parallel event is also occurring up there. A parallel crisis is being played out up in Heaven. Down below, as the Lord’s Judean Jews are fleeing for their lives from Antichrist ... up above, God Almighty is making his own move against Satan and his gang… to permanently cast them out of Heaven itself! Tit for tat! My, how our great God loves you and me ... and his covenant chosen Israel as well.
Now, it is important to understand that Satan and his demons presently have access to Heaven. Up there, our passage says, they accuse the brethren before our God day and night. At this very moment, Satan and his demons are hard at work tattling to God about the people of God and making accusations against them. Did you know that your name is being brought up before God in Heaven by demons, dear saint? Our sins, our defeats, our weaknesses, our falters, our indecisions, our failures, and Heaven only knows what else, are constantly being presented before God by Satan and his crowd. Don’t think for a moment they don’t keep track of you and me. But thanks be to God, we have an Advocate, Jesus the Righteous One, who steps in and stands up for us! As you have it in First John 2:1,
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And again, in Hebrews 7:25-26,
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens…
Satan has access to Heaven today, just as he has had throughout history. Job’s story is more than ample proof of that fact. We learn here in Revelation 12:9-10, however, that a day is coming when our God will no longer tolerate his presence and scurrilous accusations ... and he and all his are going to be literaly tossed out of Heaven! Our text says, there was a war in Heaven. As the Judean Jews are fleeing Satan’s man on Earth, Satan will suddenly find himself thrust into hand to hand combat in Heaven ... attacked by God’s angels under the command of Michael the archangel! Could anyone have imagined such a thing?!
I picture it unfolding something like this. God ... observing his people fleeing from Antichrist down on Earth ... suddenly says to Michael, Throw Satan out! Satan says, What! God says, Michael, throw him out ... and all his demons with him. Satan says, Michael? ... you must be kidding! ... why, I'm so much greater than Michael that he didn't dare make an accusation against me when we were disputing over Moses' body ... remember that?! (Jude 9). Michael will never see the day he can take me! I was above him from the beginning. I am Lucifer, son of the morning! What a scene that will be, brothers and sisters. It says here that war broke out in Heaven. Combat raged for every inch of Heaven's domain. But Michael, whose name means (who is like God) will live up to his name on that day. He will prove to be far more of a match than Satan has bargained for. Our scripture says the war continued until Satan and his demons could no longer hold onto any part of Heaven's domain ... nor was a place found for them in Heaven any longer. Satan and his demons will seek to retain a fingerhold in every nook and cranny of Heaven, but to no avail. And, at last, the whole sorry lot will have been tossed out!
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. Satan has always thought of himself as greater than all the angelic beings and, incredibly, even God himself. It is going to be quite a shock when he discovers that he's not even Michael's equal when, at that great Archangel's hand, he is unceremoniously ejected from Heaven! Looking down the annals of time, Isaiah prophecied it right when he said,
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Isaiah 14:12-15
12:10-12
After Satan’s expulsion from Heaven, John heard a loud voice saying, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." The cleansing of Heaven will be a giant step in the establishment of Christ’s dominion. With the expulsion of Satan from Heaven, Christ's train will have truly left the station and will relentlessly continue on its unstoppable course to total victory.
The loud voice continued …
...and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. Satan's accusations cannot and will not stand in the face of Jesus’ shed blood on the behalf of his saints. They had all been washed in the blood of the Lamb, you see. Regardless of what anyone has to say about a true child of God, as far as God is concerned, they have been made perfect in Christ. As you have it in Ephesians 5:26-27,
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (KJV)
...and by the word of their testimony. Satan's accusations cannot and will not stand in light of any other words the saint's might say. Their confession of Christ sets them apart from all accusations. As we have it in Romans 10:9-10,
…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
And again, in Romans 8:33-34,
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
…and they did not love their lives to the death. Nor could Satan's accusations stand in light of the perseverance of Christ's saints. As Satan already knows, and all other intelligent beings will one day find out, a true child of God just never never quits believing!
…Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! God's victory call for a celebration. In joyful obediance, it thunderously began!
…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. After Satan's eviction from Heaven, he was livid. So, with these words, John’s attention was once again drawn back down to the earth below where so many Judean Jews and Israelites were fleeing for their very lives. There, Satan had just arrived... filled with wrath. This did not bode well for God's fleeing chosen people.
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Rev. 12:13-17
Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, [Hebrew idiom for 3 1/2 years] from the presence of the serpent. 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. 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. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. [NU omits: Christ].
12:13-14
When Satan arrived on Earth, filled with wrath from being expelled from Heaven, his anger was immediately directed at Israel. As it reads here in our text, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. At that time, Satan will throw his full weight behind Antichrist's forces as they pursue the Judean Jews who are fleeing out of Jerusalem. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. When it says these Jews were given two wings of a great eagle, doubtless it is referring to supernatural assistance from God. Isaiah 40:31, comes to mind, does it not?
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Although this passage from Isaiah is speaking figuratively, in fact, it has been fulfilled literally on several occasions. For example, when Elijah tirelessly out-ran Ahab's galloping chariot all the way from Mount Carmel to Jezreel ... around thirty miles! (First Kings 18:46). Also, we see it in the life of Sampson as well (Judges 14-16). Apparently, there will be a literal fulfillment again of Isaiah 40:31. The implication is that Israel will be given supernatural strength, speed and agility in the day they flee from Satan and his Antichrist. Truly, as we have it in Romans 8:31b,
If God be for us, who can be against?
12:15-16
In a way, I envy those fleeing Jews of that future day. They are in for an incredible experience of deliverance by the great, omnipotent hand of their God. Forthermore, it will come about in the same manner that Moses and ancient Israel experienced when they were fleeing from Pharaoh's pursueing chariots. Once again, there will be a powerful pursuing enemy behind them (Antichrist and his armies), and a seemingly insurmountable water barrior in front of them ... Satan's supernatural flood of the Jordan River. Daniel 9:26, also speaks of this flood ...
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince who is to come (Antichrist) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it (the entire event of Antichrist's sudden seizing of the Jews temple and subsequent pursuit of the fleeing Jews) shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war (Armageddon) desolations are determined.
God’s chosen people will have to cross the Jordan River to reach their place of safety in the wilderness. Satan, knowing this, will simply cause a flood in the Jordan River to stop them and to hold them until Antichrist's armies can catch up and destroy them. Most likely, Satan will simply cause a torrential rain to fall in the terrain just above where the Israelites need to cross. I suspect that it will be like no other flood the Jordan basin has ever experienced. One can only imagine how terrifying that will be to those Jews who are fleeing for their lives from Antichrist's soldiers. But God, (I love that phrase, don't you?) … but God … the same God who divided the Red Sea and delivered fleeing Israel from Pharaoh's army, is going to intervene once again. Our text says, But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood. An earthquake … the earth cracked open … Satan’s flood went cascading down into the bowels of the earth and God's chosen crossed over the Jordan River on dry ground! Wouldn’t you love to be there to see it!? At that time, that great promise of Isaiah 43:1-3a, will be literally fulfilled,
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel: ’Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior…’
The prophecy of Psalm 124 will likewise be fulfilled on that day,
But “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say— “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.” Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Isn't our God good? His power ... his faithfulness ... his Word ... is amazing!
12:17
Once again, Satan will be turned back in defeat. But, as he goes, he will be vowing bloody war on the rest of the people of God. Our text says he will go to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. After all these humiliating defeats, Satan will concentrate on the remainder of the Jewish people. Undoubtedly, that will put the 144,000 at the top of his list. This, I believe, will begin the days of the systematic slaughter of Israelites and all other people of God on Earth. Thus, this chapter ends.
We have been given a great deal of important information here. Our Lord has given us a panoramic view of his purpose for the Jew from the time when he, himself, came into our world through them … and, then, all the way down in history to their future flight out of Jerusalem during the opening days of the Great Tribulation. We have read about two key players in the coming Great Tribulation: Satan and the Jews. We have learned about two key events: the fleeing of the Jews from Antichrist and the expulsion of Satan from Heaven. These characters and events, rightly understood, add greatly to our understanding of the Great Tribulation. This chapter also adds further weight to the proposition that the entire Tribulation period is fundamentally about God's program for his covenant people, the Jews. It is designed to refine and purify them and set the stage for their God and Savior to deliver them ... once and for all for his name's sake ... and give them their long promised kingdom on earth.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
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