A Daily Walk

John Randall: I've seen it over and over again. People who have thought about coming to Christ, people who have stepped forward to come to Christ, and right when they are about to be born again, the devil comes in, tries to draw them back, take them back to the old life, tempt them to go back to what they used to be. And I've seen people come forward and walk away. I've seen other people come forward and then go forward. Which one are you going to be?

Guest (Male): The Battle of Gettysburg, the Alamo, Normandy. There have been some bloody battles fought over the course of time. And today on A Daily Walk, we’ll hear the details of another great battle to be fought in a most unusual venue: heaven.

Welcome once again to the program. As we continue our study through Revelation with Pastor John Randall, we’ve reached chapter 12. We’re going to learn about one of the great battles of all time, one that’s been fought since the beginning of time and one that continues today. It’s the battle between Satan and God. One interesting aspect of this battle is that we already know who has won.

John Randall: A cosmic conflict. Revelation chapter 12 beginning in verse 1. If you'd follow along with me as I read from God's word this morning. "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 crowns on his head. And 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 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. And then the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that he should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days."

It was back in Revelation chapter 11 where the apostle John heard a heavenly chorus singing about the final judgments that were coming upon the earth and the certainty of Christ coming to rule and to reign. All of heaven rejoiced and sang, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever."

But when the chorus of heaven had ended, Revelation chapter 12 opens with another vision. And this vision was of a battlefield of spiritual warfare that portrayed two great conflicts: one in heaven and the other on the earth. And though distinct from one another, these battles are closely related. John's next apocalyptic vision was filled with symbolic meaning. It was a vision that looked at the past and the future.

Revelation chapters 12 through 14 take us from the fall of Satan in the past to the great tribulation in the future with the Antichrist as the world leader. We see the emergence of an evil trinity consisting of Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. And it's within these chapters that we discover some of the tactics and methods of our adversary the devil and how he is to be defeated.

It was the Apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians in his second letter where he warned the church not to be ignorant of Satan's devices. And so often we fail to remember that we are in a spiritual battle. We're fighting against forces that we are not able to see, against principalities and powers in high places, that there is an invisible war that rages all around us and we can see the impact of it within our world. And we discern the ever-growing increase of darkness from every direction.

Listen folks, if you look around at our world today, there's several things that you're going to find: division, deception, fear, and violence. All of these things are some of the tools that Satan uses to destroy. In preparing for a spiritual battle, it's important to know what we're up against and thankfully the Bible tells us how to make a defense and how to stand fast.

The Bible says that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ and that nothing can separate us from his love, that greater is he that is in us than he that is in this world. And don't forget it church. In Revelation chapters 12 through 14, we'll be introduced to seven significant characters, and the first four are mentioned in this chapter.

It begins with a notable woman. In verse 1: "A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars." This is the first of seven signs that appear in the remainder of the book of Revelation and John refers to it as a great sign. The word great is the Greek word mega. It's the same word used in verse 3, verse 12, and verse 14, implying that everything that John sees at this point is massive and of great importance.

The word sign simply means a symbol that points to a reality. A sign represents something. When reading through the Bible, we are to interpret passages of scripture literally unless shown that they are a sign or symbolic and there are countless symbols that are used in the Bible to be a representation of a reality. And here John speaks of a woman as being a sign.

This is the second of four symbolic women that are mentioned in Revelation. In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 20 we read of Jezebel who served as a symbolic representation of paganism that had infiltrated the church. In Revelation 17 we'll read of a scarlet woman who is a prostitute representing an apostate religious system on the earth. In Revelation 19 we read of the wife of the lamb, and here we read of a woman.

There have been several suggestions concerning the identity of the woman mentioned here. There are those that have suggested that the symbolic woman is a representation of Christian Science, which by the way is neither Christian nor scientific, but that's another story. Christian Scientists have proposed that the woman mentioned here is a woman named Mary Baker Eddy, who was the founder of Christian Science. Not true. That's false, that's fake.

Then there is the Roman Catholic church that sees the woman as the Virgin Mary. Still others have suggested that the woman is a representation of the church. But folks, all of those interpretations don't fit the description of the woman giving birth to the one who would rule the nations with a rod of iron. The woman mentioned here is a symbol of the nation of Israel.

You say how do you know that? Because of the description that's given. It says she's clothed with the sun and the moon and the twelve stars as a garland. This description is only mentioned one other time in the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 37 when Joseph had a dream. And he dreamed of the sun and the moon and the stars bowing down before him.

And that representation was the nation of Israel. And these symbols are mentioned in Revelation for the woman, and they're the same symbols that were found in Joseph's dream that described his family from which came the nation of Israel. Also, the sun and the moon are light conveying objects. The moon is a reflector, the sun is the source of light.

Israel was to be God's light bearer to the world. Of course, from the biblical account we find that they failed in being a light, but they will be given another opportunity in the tribulation period. Presently, the church of Jesus Christ is called to be the light of the world. We are to reflect the light of the love of God and the word of God. We are like a city that is set upon a hill that cannot be hid, the Bible says.

We're not to take our lamp and hide it; we are to place it in a prominent place where it can be seen and can shine. Jesus said in Luke chapter 11 that no one when he has lit a lamp puts it in a secret place, under a basket, or on a lampstand that those who come in may see it. How important it is for the church to be the light of the world.

But another feature of the symbolic woman, notice this, she's pregnant. Being with child she cried out in labor and pain to give birth. As the chapter continues to unfold in its context, we will see that the child that is born to the nation is none other than Jesus. Jesus came from the nation of Israel. God promised to Abraham in the book of Genesis that from his descendants would come the Messiah. God also promised to David that from his line, his lineage would come the Messiah. And Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

From the notable woman we see another character revealed and that is a destructive dragon. Look at verse 3: "And another sign appeared in heaven, a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his head. And 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 as soon as it was born."

What we will find is that verse 9 clearly states that the dragon that is mentioned here is none other than Satan himself. In fact, 13 times in the book of Revelation, Satan is likened to a dragon. It says that his color was red. Perhaps that speaks of the bloodshed as a result of what he does. The Bible also gives him several other names, like the prince of the power of the air, the serpent, the devil, Lucifer, the accuser of the brethren.

His identity is revealed, but also notice his authority. This dragon has political influence. It says he had seven heads, ten horns, and crowns. The symbol of the heads, the horns, and the crowns takes us back to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. Folks, in the Old Testament in Daniel chapter 7 we read of a fourth beast that surfaces with horns and heads describing great power and authority.

We'll see it again in chapters 13 of Revelation and 17. But that beast that rises is the revived Roman Empire. Folks, there is coming another superpower if you would that will control the earth and that is the reign and rule of the Antichrist. I believe the church will be taken before that but there will be a revived Roman Empire in the sense that it will be able to dominate the world and there will be a one-world religious system and a one-world government at that time.

And by the way, this is something that the world in a sense is longing for even at the present time. The stage is being set for these things to be put into place. There's just one thing standing in the way, that's the church. And once the church is gone all evil, all hell will break loose and these things will come forth just like the Bible predicts that they will.

But we find that this dragon not only has political power and authority but he also rebels against God's authority. In verse 4 it says his tail drew a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. Folks, right here John is getting a glimpse into the past of an ancient war that happened in heaven where Satan rebelled against God and a third, referred to as the stars also meaning angelic hosts or angels, followed him in his rebellion and they became demons.

In the Old Testament we find out that Satan was created as a beautiful creature, that he had some sort of a place as a cherubim in the leading of worship. And he desired according to Ezekiel 28 and according to Isaiah 14 to be worshipped as God. He wasn't satisfied with worshipping God; he desired to be worshipped as God. And because of his rebellion he was removed and became what he is at the present time. And a third of the angels were part of that rebellion and became his demonic spirits in his army.

But the Bible tells us in verse 4 that the dragon then stood before the woman, again that is before the nation of Israel, ready to give birth to the eventual Messiah and sought to devour the child as soon as it was born. Satan's intention, folks, from the very beginning has always been to destroy the work of Jesus Christ who had come to save people from destruction and eternal separation from God.

Go back to the book of Genesis and in chapter 3 after Adam and Eve fell there in the garden, sinned against God and the Lord began to pronounce the collateral damage of their sin that death would pass to all people. But right there in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 we have the first mention of the virgin birth, the first mention of the gospel. Genesis 3:15, it's called the Protoevangelium and it simply means this: God said that the seed of the woman was going to crush the head of the serpent.

It's talking about a virgin birth. The woman doesn't carry the seed. It was a reference to one who would come and would eventually crush Satan. And from that moment on in the Garden of Eden throughout the Bible all the way even to the book of Revelation, we find the devil opposing the work of God to save people from their sins, standing over the woman wanting to destroy the child. Think about it. Think about it.

Genesis chapter 3, you remember and on, that Cain and Abel, two brothers that came from Adam and Eve. Abel was to be the blessed one, the righteous son. But the Lord protected Abel for a period of time until Cain was, I believe, motivated by Satan to destroy Abel in order to get rid of the Messiah that would eventually come. So what happened? Adam and Eve had another son whose name was Seth and the line leading to the Messiah continued.

But then later on in the Bible Satan caused an evil climactic moment upon the earth during the days of Noah that forced the Lord to destroy the earth with a worldwide flood. And again, almost destroyed the line that would lead to the Messiah and they were there on a boat, just a few families, and from that line would come the Messiah.

But then again, Satan was behind the strife between Esau and Jacob. Jacob had the blessing upon him. From Jacob would eventually come the Messiah. And so Esau sought to destroy Jacob, but God preserved him. Then we find in the book of Exodus that Satan no doubt was behind the plan of Pharaoh to destroy all the Hebrew male boys before one could continue the line that would lead to the Messiah.

And then you come to the point where King Saul tried to kill David on multiple occasions because from David would come the line of the Messiah. But God preserved him. And then you come to the book of Esther and you find Haman being raised up not just to destroy Esther and Mordecai but to wipe out the entire Jewish nation and God thwarted his plans and he was hung on his own gallows.

Oh, but then you come to 2nd Chronicles chapters 21 and 22 where the entire royal seed of Israel that would lead to the Messiah was completely wiped out except for one descendant whose name was Joash. And he was hidden in the temple for six years and in that child lay all the messianic hopes. Satan sought to destroy it and he was preserved and the line continued.

Oh, but then after Jesus was born the gospel records that King Herod sought to destroy all of the male children hoping to wipe out the Messiah that would come. But again, Jesus was preserved. And then finally in Luke chapter 4, Matthew chapter 4, Satan himself tried to destroy Jesus with temptation to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple but Jesus overcame the devil through the power of the word of God.

And then at the cross, Satan assumed he had finally won that the plan of God had failed because Jesus was dead. Oh, but the third day Jesus Christ rose from the dead and conquered the devil. You can see throughout scripture every attempt of the enemy has failed and throughout history to the present time, he still sets his sights on the woman, the nation of Israel. Anti-Semitism is from the pit of hell to destroy any remnant of the kingdom of God to come.

If there's no Israel remaining then there could be no future fulfillment of the promises that the Messiah had made, the everlasting covenant. And so he seeks to destroy Israel. But now we know that regardless of the devil's attacks Jesus will be victorious and preserve his people and keep his promises and fulfill biblical prophecy. That's what we know for sure.

One final note before we continue on and that is think about the dragon. It says he sought to devour the child, notice when, when it was about to be born. At the most vulnerable state, right when it was to be born, he was there to come in and crush it and destroy it. And you know something? That's exactly what the devil does in people's lives today. I've seen it over and over again.

People who have thought about coming to Christ, people who have stepped forward to come to Christ, and right when they are about to be born again, the devil comes in, tries to draw them back, take them back to the old life, tempt them to go back to what they used to be. And I've seen people come forward and walk away. I've seen other people come forward and then go forward. Which one are you going to be?

We've seen it over and over again. He comes in at the vulnerable moment and seeks to attack. But the third character mentioned here is the male child. It says in 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." We move from the past where Satan was thrown to the earth and he sought to devour the child.

But now we see Jesus being born, the only one who could rule the nations with a rod of iron, and the Bible says one day he would. But then it says he ascended. This talks about his ascension back to his throne. This child mentioned here can be none other than Jesus. He alone will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Satan did his best to defeat Christ on the cross but he rose again, accomplished his mission, and ascended back to his throne in heaven where the Bible says he ever lives to make intercession for us even right now. And he's preparing a place for us in heaven, the Bible says.

John sees the past but he also sees the future conflict with Satan and the nation of Israel during the tribulation period. Verse 6: It says "the woman," speaking of Israel, "fled into the wilderness." John is now catapulted into the tribulation period. This is coming during the Great Tribulation period. The last three and a half years of the seven years John sees what's going to happen to Israel.

"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." In Revelation 12:5 it describes the ascension of Jesus and Revelation 12:6 describes the yet-to-occur events of what is called the 70th week of Daniel, the last seven years of human history. Following the rapture of the church, folks, there is a seven-year tribulation period that will come upon the earth and the Antichrist will rise to power with an explanation and a plan for this fallen world.

And he will establish a seven-year peace agreement with the nation of Israel and help them to rebuild their temple. But then in the midst of it he will issue a mark that every person will be forced to take or they will not be able to buy or sell. If they don't take the mark they will be put to death. But then three and a half years into that seven-year agreement the Antichrist will go into the new rebuilt temple, demand to be worshipped as God.

Daniel called it the abomination which brings about desolation. Jesus referred to it as well in his Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapter 24. And Jesus said when you see this, when you see the abomination that brings about desolation in the midst of the great tribulation period, at that moment the Jewish people are to flee because the Antichrist is going to turn all of his attention against Israel to seek to wipe them out.

And yet here it says that the remnant will be preserved for 1,260 days, which is three and a half years, the last three and a half years of the tribulation period. When the Antichrist breaks his covenant he seeks to destroy the nation of Israel and they flee into the wilderness and God will provide for them and protect them. Some people even believe based upon prophetic scripture that they go to the rock city of Petra, a place in the wilderness for a time just south there of the Dead Sea.

But as you move into verse 7, and we're almost through, we get a rare behind-the-scenes look at the spiritual battle that's taking place right now even as we speak. And we also see a decisive blow to the devil and his angels midway through the Great Tribulation. Notice this: "And war broke out in heaven and 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, the 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." Notice where this battle takes place. It says in the heavenly realm, in heaven, in the heavenly realm. In some way Satan had access to the heavenly realm until the final judgment.

Guest (Male): You’ve been listening to A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall. We’ve been in the book of Revelation today, just part of our through the Bible journey. You can listen to the study again at adailywalk.org or oneplace.com. It’s also available through the Calvary South OC app.

Second Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." That beautiful verse served as the inspiration of a book we’d like to send your way called "If My People: A Prayer Guide for Our Nation".

Written by Jack Countryman, this will no doubt stir your heart and mind as you read seven noteworthy prayers from past presidents. They were inspired during some of our country’s darkest days. This prayer guide not only reminds the reader that in God we still trust, but also brings some measure of hope for our country just when we need it.

You can order that today online at adailywalk.org or call us at 877-242-0828. The cost is just eight dollars and anything given above that amount will help us deliver God’s word on stations like this one all across the Great USA and around the world. Again call 877-242-0828 or donate online at adailywalk.org. Thanks for being with us. Come back next time when we’ll again study the book of Revelation together. That’s here on A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall, where you never have to walk alone.

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