REVELATION 12 A GREAT FIERY RED DRAGON2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 12 A Great Fiery Red Dragon

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Before we get started going through chapter 12, verse by verse, as is our practice, I want to take a few moments again and remind you about where we are in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is divided into three parts according to the outline that is given to us by Jesus in verse 19 of Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1.19

Well, then the second part of the book of Revelation is the things of the present, where Jesus tells John to write down the things which are. And we dealt with that back in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, where we looked at the seven letters to the seven churches that Jesus wrote.

Dealing with the issues and writing to the churches that existed at the time that John was writing these things. But as we saw when we went through them, these events of the church deal with all of church history and include even the time that we're living now and the time up until the rapture of the church.

And so we're living right now in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation, experiencing the church age and looking forward to the rapture of the church that as events begin to unfold in the world around us, looks to be closer and closer every moment. Jesus Christ is coming back soon.

Well, the third part of the book of Revelation is chapter 4 through 22, where Jesus tells John to write down the things which will take place after this. And so he's giving to us future events, things that, as we read through them today, they've not yet happened. And what are those future events? Well, we've been dealing with them throughout our study here in the book of Revelation, the things which must take place.

beginning with what we studied in chapter 4 was the rapture of the church. That time when Jesus returns for the church and those who are believers in Jesus Christ will be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds.

We will be caught up to be with him and then the scripture says in 1 Thessalonians 4 that we will always be with the Lord from that time on. And so we're going to be with Jesus as he raptures us or catches us up to be with him.

Well then, as the church is caught up to be with the Lord, the world will continue on through seven years of tribulation. That is, tribulation, trouble, devastation like the world has never seen before.

And you and I who've been studying through the book of Revelation can testify to that as we've looked at chapter 6 and 7 and chapter 9. All of the things that are outlined and declared that are going to take place. It's devastating. It's horrendous. It's hard to imagine all of the destruction that is going to be happening during those seven years of tribulation.

But those seven years will come to an end with the return of Jesus Christ. He will come back at the end of the seven years during the battle of Armageddon and he will establish his kingdom here on the earth for 1,000 years.

He will rule and reign upon the earth for that thousand years. It will be a time of peace, of righteousness. The earth will be renewed and restored and Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for those thousand years that he is reigning upon the earth.

There will be a time, however, at the end of that thousand years that Satan will be released and he will lead one final rebellion against God, which of course will be unsuccessful. And so God will bring him into judgment at the end of that failed rebellion. It's called the Great White Throne Judgment. And there at that Great White Throne Judgment, Satan and his angels, his demons, will be cast into the lake of fire.

And also Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 tells us that at that great white throne judgment, anyone whose name is not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. It's the final judgment there before the great white throne.

Then we go on in chapters 21 and 22 to look at the new heavens and the new earth that God will create, the new Jerusalem that descends out of heaven, and then the rest of eternity that spans before those who have relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Some great things in store for us, some great things that we'll be getting into when we get into those chapters. But here in chapter 12, we find ourselves

studying the middle of the tribulation period. If you remember, the tribulation begins with the opening of the scroll with seven seals. We saw that back in chapter 5, we're introduced to the scroll. And then in chapter 6, Jesus begins to open that scroll. And as each seal is opened, there's a judgment that takes place upon the earth.

So we studied through those seven seals that were opened. The first seal was opened and the Antichrist came forth and established himself as a leader, as a prominent person in the world. Then the second seal was opened and war broke out upon the face of the earth. Then the third seal was opened and there was a widespread famine across the earth. Then the fourth seal was opened and a quarter of the earth

was killed as a result of the things that were going on upon the earth. Then the fifth seal was opened and John saw the martyrs who were there before the throne being comforted by God in heaven. And then the sixth seal was opened and there was some catastrophic events that were taking place upon the earth. There was a great earthquake, stars falling from the sky, the sun and the moon darkened. There was some devastating destruction that was going on.

But that's not the end. Then the seventh seal was opened. And there was silence in heaven for 30 minutes. And then seven angels came forward who had seven trumpets. Each of them had a trumpet. And they sound the trumpets. And as each one sounds their trumpet, there's another judgment that takes place upon the earth. And we've gone through the majority of these trumpet judgments as well in our study together.

And then the second trumpet sounded and a third of the sea, that is the oceans, were turned to blood. And then the third trumpet sounded and a third of the fresh water was made bitter and people died from drinking it.

Then the fourth trumpet sounded and a third of the stars were darkened. Then the fifth trumpet sounded and there was five months of torment as there was these demonic locust-like creatures tormenting mankind and destroying

causing great pain. Then the sixth trumpet sounded, and there was four angels who were released, who lead an army, and they kill one-third of mankind. The rest of the population is reduced significantly. After the rapture of the church, the population of people that go into the tribulation period is reduced by half, up to this sixth trumpet.

And then the seven trumpet sounds, we saw this a little bit last week, and the temple is opened, and we'll study it even further in chapter 15 and 16, because when the temple in heaven is opened, then seven more angels come forth, they come forth with vials or bowls of wrath that they will then pour upon the earth. And so there's seven more judgments that will be poured out upon the earth before the tribulation period is over.

And so as we've been studying through the book of Revelation, we've been following chronologically, sequentially, these seals being opened, then the trumpets being sounded. But here in chapter 12, we're right in the middle of some parenthetical thoughts.

Chapter 10 through 14 are what we describe as parenthetical. And a way that I relate to that is, you ever pause a movie to explain to someone a little bit more detail about the background of the story that is going on, because perhaps they're just not getting it? That's kind of what chapters 10 through 14 are. God has paused the sequence of events,

And now he's giving us some background information on some things that are happening that we haven't seen as we've studied the sequence of the seals and the trumpets that have been sounding. And so we're looking at the middle of the tribulation period and God is giving us some insights into the things that are going on behind the scenes and some things that we would not know otherwise.

And so here in chapters 10 through 14, God is bringing us up to speed on some important information. And so where we're at in regards to the tribulation period in our study this morning is we find ourselves right in the middle.

Now we don't have time to get into all the details, but you remember, if you go back to when we started the book of Revelation, and heading into chapter 4, we went over the overview and the timeline and looked at Daniel chapter 9, where it declares to us that the seven years of tribulation begins with a covenant that the Antichrist makes with the nation of Israel.

And that covenant, that agreement that is made begins the seven years of tribulation. And it involves the sacrifices that the Jewish people will be able to offer to the Lord and probably involves the rebuilding of the temple as well.

And so there's sacrifices being offered in Jerusalem again. There's a temple that's rebuilt. And then after three and a half years, the Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel.

And it's the middle of the tribulation period. It's known as the abomination of desolation. It's basically the worst of the worst that could happen. Because what takes place is the Antichrist goes into the temple and sets up an image of himself.

He proclaims himself to be God and he demands that all of the world worship him. It's the worst of the worst as he goes into the temple and proclaims himself to be God. It's the abomination of desolation. And so that happens right in the middle of the tribulation period and then the final three and a half years are a greater intensity of devastation and destruction than the first three and a half years.

And so we're looking at, in chapter 12, the middle of the tribulation period. We've looked at the sequence of events to bring us right to the middle. And here in the middle of the tribulation period, God has hit pause to explain to us a little bit more information about what is going on. And so here in chapter 12, we have some insight to the heavenly scene and to the spiritual things that are going on by this great drama that is presented for us.

There in verse 1, it says that there is a great sign that appeared in heaven. Right at the beginning, we're told right up front here in chapter 12, that all of these things we're about to read is a great sign. And that is that it's not exact when he talks about a dragon or a woman clothed in a certain way. It's not a literal sign.

of something that is actually taking place but it's a sign or symbolic of something that is actually going on and so what we're looking at here in chapter 12 is the symbolic portrayal of some events that God wants to give us some insights into and so it's a dramatization of some things that God wants us to know and in this drama there is three characters and

well, three primary characters rather. The three main characters are the woman, the dragon, and the child. And these three characters we'll see throughout chapter 12 are the focus of the events that are going on. There's a lot of opinions about the identity of these three characters. And as we go through them, you'll probably begin to ask and wonder who these characters are, who they represent.

Now as we study these things this morning, I believe there's enough information here in chapter 12 and other references in the scripture to identify them clearly so that there is no mystery. But I will only be sharing the things that I see in my perspective on what the word says as to who these characters are. There's lots of other opinions and you can spend time researching that and considering those things if you would like to on your own.

Well, as we look at chapter 12, this great drama that is presented to John, there's four scenes or four acts that I would like to point out to you, four scenes to this drama. The first scene that we see is in verses 1 through 5, and what we see there is that the dragon tries to devour the Messiah. Look at verse 1, it says, "...now a great sign appeared in heaven."

And so what we have here in verses 1 and 2 is the first character being introduced to us. This great sign begins with a woman.

And who is this woman? Well, she is described as being clothed with the sun, she has the moon under her feet, and on her head she has a garland of 12 stars. And from this description, we understand this woman to be representing the nation of Israel. And the reason why this is representing the nation of Israel is found in Genesis chapter 37 verses 9 and 10.

We won't go there this morning, but you can write it down and spend some time looking at that later. There in Genesis chapter 37 verse 9 and 10, we have recorded there the dream of Joseph. And Joseph has a dream that the sun and the moon and 11 stars are bowing down to him.

And it's described for us there in Genesis chapter 37 that the sun and the moon is his father and mother and the 11 stars are his 11 brothers and so the whole family represented by the sun and moon and stars are bowing down to Joseph.

And you know as you read the account of Joseph that that dream is fulfilled as he is sold into slavery and through a series of events where God is orchestrating things, he gets raised up to become the second in command of the nation of Egypt and then God brings the family. They don't recognize that it's Joseph and they are bowing down before Joseph fulfilling that dream that God had given to him.

And so the nation of Israel is referred to and pictured by the sun and the moon and the 12 stars. Because the nation of Israel came from the man Jacob.

And Jacob had 12 sons and those sons became the tribes of Israel. And from those tribes of Israel, from Jacob and his family came all of the descendants, all who are Jewish, all who are Israelites are descendants of Jacob and his 12 sons. And so the sun and the moon and the 12 stars represent for us the nation of Israel.

Well, this woman who represents Israel is described as being with child and she's going into labor. She's in pain to give birth. And the child that she's about to give birth to is the Messiah. Because Jesus is from the nation of Israel. He is an Israelite. He is Jewish. He lives.

Just like God promised Abraham, God told Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 verse 3 that the whole world would be blessed through his descendants. Declaring to Abraham that the Messiah, the Savior, would come

And so this woman, representing Israel, brings forth the Messiah. And we'll see that even more clearly in a couple of verses. But now we go on to verse 3. It says,

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.

And so now we see another sign in heaven. Again, pointing out to us these things are symbolic. They're portraying events that have happened and that will happen. And we'll see that as we go forward. And so this second sign that we see now is a great fiery red dragon. Now the second character of this drama is being introduced to us. This great dragon has seven heads.

And so you can ask the question, well, who is this great dragon that appears there in this vision? Well, it's clear from the text that this dragon is Satan, the devil. Because in verse 9, it says this, That great dragon, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan.

That great dragon is that serpent of old, is the devil, and is Satan. And so here the dragon represents for us, symbolically portrays Satan or the devil.

And the dragon here is the inspiration behind the government that is set up by the Antichrist. I think we'll get into this a little bit more in detail later on in the book of Revelation. But there's a final one world government that is established or attempted to be established. And it's portrayed as the ten horns and the seven heads.

If you go back to Daniel chapter 7, again, we don't have time to get into it this morning, I apologize. But go to Daniel chapter 7, spend some time there on your own, where Daniel sees the vision of four different beasts. And each beast represents a world power or a world kingdom.

And they're happening in sequence. Well, the fourth beast, the fourth kingdom is a kingdom that is established by the Antichrist and empowered by Satan. And that fourth beast in Daniel chapter 7 also has ten horns.

That fourth beast also makes war against the saints and prevails, as we will see here at the end of this chapter and next week as well. And the fourth beast has rule and authority for a time, times, and a half of time.

That is three and one half years, just as we will see further on in chapter 12 as well. And so there's great parallels there in Daniel chapter 7 with the kingdom that will be established and inspired by, empowered by the devil represented by this dragon here. Well, he goes on in verse 4 to tell us that his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

And so we understand that when Satan rebelled against God, somehow he convinced other angels to join him. And so he takes a third of the angels...

Now that concerns a little bit of people. You know, when you understand there's multitudes of angels. We saw in the heavenly scene in chapter 4 and 5, just multitudes and multitudes, millions and millions of angels. And so that means that there's quite a few of fallen angels as his tail drew a third of the stars. But if you think about it another way, if a fallen angel,

if a third of the angels fell, that leaves two-thirds that are, you know, still faithful and loyal to God. And that means that God has enough angels to double-team every fallen angel. So, don't worry and don't get freaked out about the demonic works because God's got it under control. I mean, He has His angelic hosts and, of course, He's God. He can just snap His fingers and get rid of them anyways. So, He...

He drew a third of the stars of heaven away from the Lord and they joined him in rebellion against God. And now it goes on to say in verse 4, the dragon stands before the woman who's ready to give birth and his plan, his intention is to devour her child as soon as it is born. And that was Satan's plan to get rid of the Messiah. That's what he's been trying to do all along.

Way back in the garden when he convinced Eve to partake of the fruit. He was trying to mess up God's plan. Then there in Egypt when he inspired the Pharaoh to have them put to death all of the Jewish boys as they were born. So that the people of Israel would be kind of assimilated into the nation of Egypt and the nation of Israel would be no more. And then again in the book of Esther when there was this plot by Haman to...

make a law that all the Jews could be put to death and people could take their possessions. All of these are examples of plots and plans that Satan has put forth and put into action throughout history to try to get rid of God's people and ruin the plan of God. But of course, in all counts, he was unsuccessful.

And in his plan to get rid of the Messiah, he was unsuccessful as well. We read about it in Matthew chapter 2. These things that we're reading about here in verses 1 through 5 have already happened. The Messiah has been born. And Satan sought to devour the Messiah right at his birth. But he was unsuccessful.

There in Matthew chapter 2, you remember the magi or the wise men came to Jerusalem asking, Hey, we've heard that the king of the Jews has been born. We've seen his star in the sky and so we're here to worship him. Where is he at? And so they call the scribes and the religious leaders together. They say, well, the scripture says he's to be born in Bethlehem.

Now Herod's freaked out about this because he doesn't like any threats to his power and so he tells the wise men, you go find the Messiah, you go find the King of the Jews and then come back and tell me where he's at so that I can go and worship him.

that was not Herod's intention. His intention was to put him to death. But he tells the wise men, I want to worship him, so come tell me where to find him. Well, the wise men go, they find Jesus, they worship him, but God warns them not to go back to Herod. And so they return to their home another way. So Herod's

he was tricked that the wise men didn't come back and so he doesn't want this threat to exist and so what he does is he decides to put to death all male children two years old and younger in the whole region of Bethlehem and the surrounding areas and so there's a great slaughter of innocent children as

Herod, freaked out by any threats to his authority, gives the order to put them to death. Here we see that picture. It's inspired by Satan, but it's pictured here by this dragon standing before the woman seeking to devour the child as it is born. But of course you know the account in Matthew 2.

Joseph is warned by God in a dream and they flee to Egypt before the command for the slaughter is given. And so the Messiah is preserved and this attack by the dragon is unsuccessful. Satan's focus now is to prevent the Messiah from returning. He tried to stop the Messiah from ever coming, but now he's trying to stop the Messiah from returning. The Holocaust back in World War II, inspired by Satan,

focusing on the annihilation of the Jewish people by Hitler, that was inspired by Satan, seeking to get rid of God's people so that his word cannot be fulfilled and he cannot return, as he had said. All of the things happening with the Middle East and the pressures and Iran and the threat of nuclear war and all those who desire to get rid of Israel, those are all things that are inspired by Satan as he seeks to remove Israel

and prevent God's word from being fulfilled. And the things that are yet to come in the future that we're reading about here in Revelation are part of Satan's plan. This great dragon who is seeking to defeat the word of the Lord and keep it from being fulfilled. But of course, he will not be successful. Verse 5,

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. So now we have the third character of this drama introduced. This child that is born. And of course this child is the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This child that is born, it says he was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And that's also prophesied in Psalm chapter 2, where God tells the Messiah, ask of me and I'll give you the nations as an inheritance, and you shall break them with a rod of iron. It's promised and prophesied that the Messiah will rule and reign with a rod of iron. Now when Jesus came,

His first coming, that was not the purpose and the intent of His coming. He came to deal with sin, to take care of the sin issue and to die upon the cross for our sins. But His second coming, when He comes to establish His kingdom for a thousand years,

He will be fulfilling that prophecy, that promise, that He will rule with a rod of iron. And so Jesus Christ will come again to rule with a rod of iron. This child that is portrayed here is Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And He was born, and He walked the earth for 30 years. He ministered for another three or three and a half years. He was put to death upon the cross, although He was innocent, not guilty of any sin.

He resurrected on the third day. He ministered to his disciples in the crowds a little bit longer and then he was caught up to sit at the right hand of God in heaven. Matthew chapter 28, Acts chapter 1, you can read about how Jesus ascended into heaven. And so this here in verse 5 is a summary of the life of Jesus Christ, his birth and then his resurrection and ascension to the Father.

Well, that concludes the first scene of this drama. These are events that have already taken place. Now, the next scenes will be looking at the future events, things that have yet to happen. And the next scene that we see is found in verses 6 through 9, where the dragon is now cast out of heaven. It says in verse 6, "...then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1,260 days."

And so here between verses 5 and 6, we have a large gap of time. A lot of time has passed and that's something that is common in prophetic writings and visions as God gives them. Sometimes the first and second coming are talked about in one sentence, but there's a division, there's a great gap of time between those two events.

And similarly, here in verse 5, we see the completion of Jesus' ministry here on earth, and then His ascension to the Father. And then in verse 6, we're fast-forwarding now to the middle of the tribulation period. And we're picking up at the middle of the tribulation period, and the events that are portrayed here are things that will happen during that last three and a half years, and from then on out. And so the woman flees into the wilderness...

Now you remember back in Matthew chapter 24 that Jesus tells his followers when they see the abomination of desolation, that event that marks the middle of the tribulation, when they see the Antichrist go into the temple and set up an image of himself and demand that all of the world worship him, he tells his followers, he says, flee from Jerusalem into the mountains or flee to the wilderness from Judea.

And so he calls his followers to flee from Jerusalem when they see that event take place. And so that is what's being described here. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God. And so where does she flee to? Where is those inhabiting Judea to flee to when that event takes place?

Well, we find in Isaiah chapter 16, again, not enough time to get into the details there. Write it down, spend some time on your own, look at Isaiah chapter 16. But there in chapter 16, we have the reference given to the nation of Moab, which was a little bit east of the nation of Israel and a little bit south of the nation of Israel. They were in the southeast area of the nation or from the nation of Israel.

And there the nation of Moab is given some instruction by God. In verse 4 of Isaiah chapter 16, God tells them,

And here what we find in Isaiah chapter 16 is a reference to this time that God says, Moab, you are to receive my outcasts, my people who are being cast out, my people who need protection. He says, be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler, that is the one who's come to destroy them.

And so Moab is to be the area that they run to to provide shelter and protection for them as they flee from Judea when the Antichrist sets up that image of himself and demands the world to worship him.

Well, the region of Moab is modern-day Jordan, the nation of Jordan. And it gives actually a little bit more detail in Isaiah chapter 16. There's a reference to a particular city that perhaps they are to find shelter in, and that's the city of Sela, S-E-L-A. The word Sela means rock,

which is also what the name Petra means. Modern day Petra is ancient Selah. And so that's why many believe that the place that the Jews will run to in the tribulation period is the rock city of Petra that's located there in the nation of Jordan. Some interesting things to look at and you can spend some time on that on your own.

Well, they're going to be there, it says, that they shall feed her their 1,260 days. And so they're going to be there for a specific span of time.

1260 days which is the same as 42 months which is the same as three and a half years again this seven year tribulation period is divided in two by the abomination of desolation you have the three and a half years at the beginning and the three and a half years at the end and so this event happens in the middle they flee

To Jordan they flee, to Petra they flee to the wilderness, and they're going to be protected there for the last three and a half years of the tribulation period. Verse 7, 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. Verse 8,

And so now as the woman flees, there's a great battle that takes place in heaven. A battle between Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels. The abomination of desolation that takes place is in essence an act of war. The final battle lines are being drawn. The final battles are going to be taking place. And here we find that Satan is getting kicked out of heaven.

Michael here is an archangel. He seems to be, according to what we find of him in the scripture, somewhat like a general of the angelic host, the angelic armies. Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 describes him as the defender of the people. And so Michael, the archangel, leads this battle against the dragon and his angels.

It's important to understand and it's highlighted by this verse that Satan is not the opposite of God. Sometimes we think of Satan as the opposite of God. God is good, Satan is evil. They're kind of always fighting and never able to overcome each other. That's not the reality.

Satan is a created being, he was created by God. If he has an opposite, it would be another created being and perhaps Michael the Archangel would be a good candidate for the opposite of Satan. Satan is nowhere near

As powerful, as intelligent, as wise as God. And so God is in control and is just using Satan to accomplish his purposes. And when he's done with them, Satan will be finished as well. And so Satan and his angels fight, but they will not prevail. Verse 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.

And so this battle goes on. The dragon and his angels are defeated. And so they're cast out of heaven and they're cast down to the earth. Well, here in verse 9 is where we have the identification of this dragon. Again, he describes him as that serpent of old. From Genesis chapter 3, the serpent there in the Garden of Eden that deceived Eve and enticed her to eat of the forbidden fruit. He's called the devil.

which literally means the accuser. And later on in a couple of verses, he'll be called the accuser of the brethren. That's what he does. He accuses you and I as believers to God in the throne room of God. And then he's also called Satan, which means adversary. He is the one who is against us. Understand that this is the work of the devil. He accuses us and he's against us.

This is not the work of God. That's the work of the devil. Understand that God is for you. That's important to know. Sometimes we don't feel that way, do we? Sometimes we feel like God is against us and He's out to get us. But that is Satan. He is the one who's out to get us. God is for us. And He sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross to draw us near to Himself.

And it's a good test for us to know when things are going on in our heart and in our mind, when we're having certain feelings or thoughts, sometimes we wonder, is that from God or is that not from God? Is that from the devil? And here we have a good way to test if something is from God or not. If it leads you away from God, it's of the devil.

Because God is for you. Satan is against you. If it's accusing of you, if it's condemning, and it basically gives you the attitude of, well, I should just give up. I should just walk away. Why should I go to church? Why should I spend time with God? Why am I going to read my Bible? I'm such a scumbag. I act this way, or this happened, or this took place in my life, and I'm mad at God now, and so I'm going to walk away from Him, or I'm not going to pay attention to Him.

Those things are of the devil. He is the one who's against you, who accuses you, and he wants to drive you away from God. And so if there's any thought or emotion or feeling in your mind or in your heart that is pushing you away from God, you can identify it quickly and say, that is not from God. That is not God pushing me away and saying, get away from me, I want no part of you. God is not that way. God is for you. And if there's any thought in your mind or your heart,

That says, I want to draw near to God. And yes, I fail and I blow it, but that's why Jesus died. And so I'm going to come near. I'm going to go to church.

Yeah, even though I blew it, even though I messed up, even though I'm a scumbag, I'm going to go to church, I'm going to spend time in the Word, I'm going to pray to God. That is from God, because God is for you, and He's drawing you unto Himself. And so it's very clear and easy to identify if something is of God or not. If it draws you near to the Lord, if it helps you in your relationship with God, it's of God, because He's for you.

If it pushes you away or encourages you to just give up on the things of God, that is of the devil because God wants you near him. So this dragon, the accuser, the adversary, now he's cast to the earth and his angels are cast down with him. Here in the middle of the tribulation period, he's cast out to the earth and he is going now to be...

Lashing out in his wrath, knowing that he has just a short time left. Now, it can be a little bit concerning here, because some get confused or some get concerned when they see that Satan is cast out, it's the middle of the tribulation period, and you begin to wonder, well, does that mean that right now Satan has access to heaven? And indeed that is true. We find that to take place in the scriptures.

In the book of Job, you remember, in Job chapter 1, Satan comes before the Lord. And God says, hey, where have you been? Well, I've been roaming around like a roaring lion, seeking whom I may devour. And God says, well, have you considered Job? He's a good guy, man. He's really righteous. He loves me. He walks with me.

And they have this discussion and negotiation. Satan wants to test Job and to show God that he's really not faithful to him. And so God allows him. He sets limits on what Satan can do, but he gives him the authority to bring these events upon Job's life. Satan has access to heaven currently. He accuses the brethren, and we'll see that even more in the next part.

Also in Luke chapter 22 verse 31, Jesus tells Peter, he says, Don't let that concern you though.

Because the believers overcome Satan, as we will see in the next few verses. It brings us to the next scene here in Revelation chapter 12. Act 3 of this drama that is being portrayed is that the believers overcome the dragon. Look at verse 10.

And so as Satan is cast down out of heaven, there's this great celebration that takes place in heaven.

Why? Well, because salvation and strength has now come. Now the kingdom of God and the power of Christ has come. Now the accuser has been cast down. And notice, who accused them before our God day and night. Satan stands before God accusing us continually and constantly before God. And you know and I know that we have enough junk in our lives, enough sin in our life, for Satan to be accusing us that much.

To be presenting us to the Father and look at how terrible this guy is and look at the sins that she commits and look at what they're involved in. That He is able to accuse us greatly. But now, they're in heaven. Now remember, here in chapter 12 in the middle of the tribulation period, the church is in heaven with God.

And so as Satan is cast down, we're witnessing this. We're watching this unfold, but from the heavenly scene. We've already been redeemed. We've already been delivered. We're there in victory. We watch it take place and there's great rejoicing. Finally, that scoundrel who's been accusing us continually is cast out. No more can he bring an accusation against us. Finally, he's been cast out of heaven.

And so Satan here is accusing the brethren that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus paid the price completely upon the cross. Your sin, my sin is paid for if you're a follower of Jesus Christ. And so he's cast down out of heaven. He no longer has a place there. Verse 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.

And so they, that is the believers, that's us, the church in heaven, we overcome Satan. We find victory at that time. And even right now, in these three things, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives until death. Here is what is necessary to overcome Satan. In eternity and right now, it's the same. The blood of the Lamb.

Jesus Christ died upon the cross for our sin. You know, if we rely upon our own good works, we've already lost. We've already failed. If we try to work hard enough to be good enough to measure up, to meet God's standard, we've already failed. The only way that we can have victory over Satan so that his accusations against us have no place to stand in our lives, the only way to be delivered from that

It's by the blood of Jesus. Jesus Christ died upon the cross for your sin and for my sin. He paid the price in full so that all of sin has been covered. The judgment for sin has fully been paid. There's no more judgment that's due for sin. Believing in Jesus Christ, we receive this full and complete judgment.

offering for sin that Jesus offered on our behalf. And so we overcome the accusations of the enemy by the blood of Jesus Christ. Well, the second thing is by the word of their testimony. We overcome by the word of the testimony. What is the testimony? I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in the blood of the Lamb. And I receive His offer of Himself, His offer for sin

For myself personally. Remember Jesus said, if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father in heaven. That testimony, that confession.

That Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. It's putting our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Again, not in our own works and not in anything else, not in any religion or anyone else to save us, but putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His whole and complete work for us upon the cross. And then finally, number three, the way that we overcome the enemy is by not loving our lives to the death.

Jesus said, if you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Living for Jesus means dying to self. It means submitting to the will of God even if it costs us our very life. That is what is necessary to overcome Satan. I would ask you to consider this morning, are you overcoming right now? Jesus Christ has died. The blood has been shed.

But do you have that testimony that He is your Savior and Lord, that you have a relationship with God through Him? Is that your testimony? And are you submitted to Him to the point of death, that you will walk with Him and obey Him even if it costs you your very life? Will you overcome the enemy? Because that is what is required. Verse 12,

There's a great celebration in heaven. Rejoice, O heavens, because Satan is no longer here. But now down to earth, woe to the inhabitants of the earth. Woe to them, because that's where Satan is now.

And he's going to spend that last final three and a half years lashing out in great wrath because he knows that he just has a short time left. So woe to the inhabitants of the earth. This is probably the third woe that's referred to in Revelation chapter 8 verse 13. We've been looking at those woes and this is the third woe as a part of the seventh trumpet. He says, for the devil has come down to you.

Again, he's been cast out of heaven. Now he's there on earth, really upset, knowing his time is short, that Jesus Christ is coming back very soon. And so he's giving it all he's got for that last stretch to try to defeat the plan of God. And so that last three and a half years will be extra intense because the enemy will be coming in full force in great wrath to defeat the plan of God.

Well, the final drama here in chapter 12, or the final scene of this act, is in verses 13 through 17. And here we see that the dragon makes war with believers. Verse 13. 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 and

where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. Here again we go back to the woman. The dragon sees that he's been cast to the earth and so he focuses his attention on the woman who is the nation of Israel. And so Satan persecutes Israel with the fullness of his wrath. But there's some protection and provision that God gives to Israel.

It says that the woman is given two wings of a great eagle. It symbolizes the divine protection of God and she's able to fly into the wilderness under God's protection. Those who are in Judea flee to the wilderness of Moab. And we talked about that. It's the same event that happened in verse 6.

The two wings of a great eagle is a reference to the divine protection. And you can see that in Exodus chapter 19 verse 4 where God is talking about how he brought them out of Egypt and he says he bore them on eagle's wings and how God divinely protected them and delivered them from Egypt in a similar fashion. He's going to deliver them and protect them as they flee into the wilderness in the region of Moab.

And there in Moab, there in the wilderness, Israel is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So there's this protection for the duration of a time and times and half a time.

Time is one, times is two, and a half a time, you add that all together, and you have three and a half times, or three and a half years. Again, it's the same as the 1260 days, the same as 42 months, it's that last final period of the tribulation. Verse 15,

And so now, seeing that Israel is getting away and being protected by God, the dragon spews out water...

Now there's some discussion that we could have. We're not going to get into it. Is this literal water? Is it some type of actual flood, some type of actual water that comes down upon the nation of Israel to prevent them from getting away? Or, probably more likely, the waters and the flood represents an invasion and an army that comes against the nation of Israel, the people of God, who are fleeing into the wilderness.

Regardless if it's water or if it's an invading army, there's something supernatural that takes place. The earth opens its mouth and swallows up this flood or this army that's coming against the people of God as they flee into the wilderness. Maybe an earthquake, maybe a sandstorm, maybe something else that God's going to create or invent just for this event. And that's, of course, possible because He's God. Well, finally, verse 17 says,

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 Christ. The Jews who are in Judea at the time of the abomination of desolation, they're the ones who flee. They're the ones who God provides protection to to get out of there. But there's also Jews around the rest of the world. And so at that time, as...

That group of Jews from Judea escape. The dragon will set his eyes on the rest of the Jews around the world and he will persecute them. Also, those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And so, not only the Jewish believers around the world, but all believers, all who have turned to Jesus Christ during the tribulation period will be the focus of the dragon's attack

during that last three and a half years. And of course, that's why the Mark of the Beast will be introduced and we'll talk about that next week.

But that testimony of Jesus Christ is where we end off. The testimony of Jesus Christ is the ones that, or those who have that testimony are the ones that the enemy is attacking during that time. And it's amazing how God works this out so often. Today we get to remind ourselves and celebrate the testimony of Jesus Christ with the partaking of communion.

And the worship teams, Josh is going to come back up. The ushers are going to make ready. We're going to partake of communion together. And as we do, I want to encourage you in the things that we saw in the way to overcome

And the way to overcome the enemy. In three ways we overcome the enemy. In the blood of the Lamb. Now we remember and we have in communion the reminder of the blood of the Lamb in the cup. As Jesus said, look, this is my blood which is shed for you. And then he gave us the bread. He said, this is my body which is broken. Reminding us of the work that he did for us upon the cross.

And you know, many of you today, you're here and you're believers, and I want to encourage you to overcome the enemy as we partake together. Let it be a reaffirmation, a recommitment that I receive the work, the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Let the testimony be real in your life that you believe in Jesus Christ and that you receive His offer of life and salvation.

Also let it be a recommitment that you give your life to God. That you will be obedient to Him and submitted to Him even if it costs you your life. That you will follow Him with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And so as we worship the Lord and partake of communion, let that be what's going on in your heart. Let that be the intent and desire of your heart. But this morning if you're here and you're not a believer, you've not received the

Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Listen, the only way to overcome the enemy is by the blood of the Lamb. You need to be born again. You must receive the offer of life that Jesus has given to us by dying upon the cross for our sin. You don't have to perish. You have the option of eternal life in Jesus. The scriptures tell us that if we believe in Jesus Christ, we have everlasting life.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus Christ is our mediator. He's the one who gives us access to God, right fellowship with God, by the work that he finished for us upon the cross. And so if you're here today and you've not received that work, if you've not received God's offer of life and said, Lord, I want to follow you, and I'm going to commit my life to you,

I want to encourage you to partake with communion with us today. As they pass out the bread and the cup, grab one, hold on to it, and let it be you saying to God, Lord, I receive your offer of life. Forgive me of my sin. Give me new life in you. I want to follow you with all of my heart. And let's let that be the testimony of all of us as we partake together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.