Thru the Bible

Guest (Male): If the last several chapters in Revelation haven't boggled your mind, this one will. That's what our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, promises about this study on Thru the Bible. Now, that's meant to make you smile because we're in safe hands as the Bible bus travels another stretch of road through the last book of the Bible. Our bus driver, of course, is the Holy Spirit who promises to lead us into truth and our tour guide is Dr. McGee, who will point out key sites along the way.

Now, there's no doubt that Revelation sometimes feels like a puzzle, but keep in mind that the centerpiece is Jesus, high and lifted up. My favorite part of this lesson is seeing the example of tribulation saints who will put Jesus first in their lives in spite of certain consequences. And we'll learn about the three principles these saints used in overcoming the evil one. Principles that are available to us so that we can have victory in spiritual warfare today as well.

If you've been on the Bible bus for very long, you know that Dr. McGee encouraged us to be acquainted with every book in the Bible, even those that are seldom read or studied, or those that are particularly hard to interpret, like our current study in Revelation. In the very beginning of his ministry, Dr. McGee prepared a resource that he called Guidelines for Understanding Scripture. And for more than half a century, it's been helping believers learn how to study God's word for themselves.

So when our study in Revelation is complete, we'll be resetting our five-year journey through the whole Bible in April on the third, now starting with Dr. McGee's 10-part series on these guidelines. You can listen to them then. They're included in our free compilation of Dr. McGee's notes and outlines called Briefing the Bible. Or you can get it separately as a beautiful digital booklet called How to Understand the Bible. You'll find both for free download in either our app or at ttb.org. Now, before we dive into God's word together, be encouraged by a fellow Bible bus passenger in Uganda.

"I used to experience significant despair," she writes, "due to the way I live and the obstacles I've encountered. My heart was truly struggling with no solution. However, after studying God's word, I no longer feel despair. I have no worries when it comes to challenges. Thank you for changing my life. May God grant you more wisdom." Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word that changes our lives. Open our hearts to listen to your Spirit and draw those who don't yet know you to your son Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Here's our study of Revelation 12 on Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now friends, we come to verse 10 in 12. I'm going to read them together here in the 12th chapter of the book of Revelation. And as we read here, I want you to note that we are coming to the third woe and the third woe is really a woe, let me tell you. And I'm reading now beginning at verse 10. "And I heard a great voice in heaven saying, Now is come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, the one accusing them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony and they loved not their life even unto death. Therefore, rejoice oh heavens and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea because the devil is gone down unto you having great wrath knowing that he has but a short time."

Now John says here, "And I heard," and this reminds us that John is still the spectator and auditor of these events. He doesn't want us to forget that because it's very important. And we saw last time that Satan was cast out of heaven. Now it caused great rejoicing there among the redeemed that were in heaven. And we see here that there is a great company of Old Testament saints or the tribulation saints or both who have been martyred up to this point and they mention their brethren on the earth. You'll notice the accuser of our brethren is cast down.

And I think the first great demonstration of power exerted against evil after the death and resurrection of Christ is the casting out of Satan from heaven. That's the beginning of the movement that will lead to the Lord Jesus taking over the reins of government down here. Now when Christ died on the cross, he paved the way for Satan being cast out of heaven. Listen to the language of Colossians 2:14 and 15, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross." And that's what he did. He made it possible for man now to be saved by his death and that man could no longer attempt to work out salvation in his own power and in his own strength. He just wouldn't be able to do it at all. And not only that, we're told, "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it."

I personally believe that began when he ascended into heaven and took that great company with him, led captivity captive and took them into the presence of God. Those were the Old Testament saints and I think they're in this group now that are saying that salvation is come. And what is it? It opens the way for the coming of four great blood-bought heavenly freedoms. Now we talk about four freedoms down here which have not yet come to pass. Well, here are four freedoms that are going to come to pass when Christ comes. The salvation, the consummation of it, and that is the person of Christ. And you and I will not have our salvation consummated until we're in his presence. Beloved, it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him when we see him. And that will be true when he comes to the earth down here.

And this speaks, I think here, of his visible return to the earth. And the power. You see the nations today have handled power and it has been tragic and that's been true of every great nation. Some great nations have been able to make war and like a great forest fire or a prairie fire, they spread across another nation destroying cities and killing people. And that power nations have abused down here. And it'll be wonderful when he takes the power and controls this earth.

And then the third great freedom is, "And the kingdom our God" is going to be established here upon the earth. Not until then will there be peace and will there be righteousness and freedom on this earth. We don't really know what freedom is today. I found out in this land that's the home of the free and the brave, there are not many brave left and I don't know that there are many free that are left today. I find out I have to stand in line everywhere I go today. No, there's no freedom in that. I can't imagine back in the early colonies anybody standing in line to get anything or do anything, but believe me, today we do. And it'll be wonderful when his kingdom comes on this earth.

Now that very statement reveals that the kingdom was not established at the first coming of Christ. And then there's something else here. That's the fourth freedom. And it's the authority of his Christ and that shows that Christ has not yet taken over the governmental authority of this world. He's not building a kingdom today. He's not establishing his kingdom today. You wait till he starts moving and all of these judgments are in preparation for his return to the earth. There's always a note of grace in the judgment of God and giving man here a warning and an opportunity to turn to him and multitudes will as we've seen.

Now we're told that the one accusing them day and night before our God is now cast out of heaven. Now that reveals that this is part of the present strategy of Satan which attempts to thwart Christ's purposes with his church today and the tribulation saints tomorrow. And this necessitates Christ's present ministry as an advocate for us. Now we have here the victory for the accused saints comes through three avenues that are mentioned to us in this section that I've read to you. First is the blood of the Lamb. There is wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb and don't you forget that and let's not minimize that. The many references to the blood of the Lamb necessitate it being there on display.

And this is not a crude conception. It's rather the crudity is in our sins that made it necessary for him to shed his blood. And friends, if you and I get any victory, it'll be because he shed his blood for you and me. You and I will never be able to lead what people call today the victorious life. The most defeated people I have ever met as a pastor have been people who are supposedly living the victorious life. I don't know why this is true. All of them look anemic to me. They look to me like they are fugitives from a blood bank. My, they are shallow and sallow looking. They need a blood transfusion. They don't live the victorious life. He does. And if we overcome, it'll be through the blood of the Lamb.

Now the second way is the word of their testimony. It reveals that they were true martyrs. Those who are Christ's cannot deny him. He made that very clear. "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 10:33. And friends, it's the word of their testimony. There is something that is strengthening in giving a testimony. Now don't misunderstand me. Many of you know that I do not buy all this giving testimonies today that we have. Some of them are pretty shallow. Some of them are given by those who ought not to be giving testimonies because the people close to them know them and it makes them rather cynical and makes them rather skeptical and rightly so.

There are so many instances that we could give. Now the place to give your testimony is not before the well-fed church banquet where all the saints say amen to everything you say. The place to give your testimony is out yonder in the world, friends, when you're up against that godless blaspheming crowd, to let them know that you belong to Christ and that you're in Christ. That's what we're talking about here. And there's something strengthening in that. There's something that makes a man stand up tall when he can give a testimony like that. And I know a man in business today. He's a great big double-fisted fellow and he is an executive in a concern of a very hard-hitting concern too, let me tell you. And there are a lot of blaspheming folk around him. And you know when he hears someone blaspheme, he always in a very quiet manner tells about, he said, "You know, I'd like to tell you what Jesus Christ means to me." My, the Lord Jesus said if you deny me before men, I'll deny you before my Father in heaven. And these are the true martyrs. The word martus means witness. These are the ones that witness for.

And then the next thing is they loved not their life even unto death. And that, my friend, is an exalted plane to come to. When you and I make the Lord Jesus the first love in our life and love of self we can put it down second, third, fourth, or somewhere else. But sure we ought to have respect for ourselves and there ought to be a dignity about us, but let's put him first. And when we put him first, we'll not have any problem, you see, in living for him down here. The great problem today is not the set of rules that are being given. They're no good, of course, as far as anything back of them is concerned. Here's what you need back of them is the blood of the Lamb, word of your testimony, and then it's to love him above everything else. And that's the very basis of service. He said to Simon Peter, "Do you love me?" And when Simon Peter finally could come through on a weak plane, the Lord Jesus said, "Then I'm going to use you. You're going to feed my sheep. You're going to preach the first sermon in the church. You're going to see more people saved per capita of those that were there than probably anytime in the history of the world."

Now will you notice there are two radical views of the casting out of Satan from heaven that we have here. There is rejoicing in heaven for this awesome, treacherous, dangerous, and deadly serpent is out forever. And then there's woe on the earth. And this is the third woe, which extends through the pouring out of the seven bowls of wrath. And the only consolation for the earth is that Satan's sojourn on earth is brief. 42 months and it's an intensification of tribulation during this period. Now we see when Satan is cast to the earth, he persecutes the woman. And we have that in verses 13 and 14 here, in fact, all the way through 16, but let me read the first two verses, 13 and 14. "When the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness into her place where she's nourished for a time and times and half a time."

Now this is the last wave of anti-Semitism that'll roll over the world and it's the worst because Satan is cast down to the earth and he knows his time is short. And he hates this nation because Christ came from that nation according to the flesh. And this is the time of Jacob's trouble. And that's the reason I cannot rejoice, never been able to rejoice in the present return of Israel back to that land. Some people seem to think they're going back for the Millennium. They're not. They're going back for the Great Tribulation period if they're going back for any purpose at all according to the word of God.

Now we're told here that there are two wings of an eagle given to her that she might fly into the wilderness. Now there are those that see in this the airplane that's going to take them to their hiding place and they always pick the rock-hewn city of Petra as being that place. And I don't know how an airplane would land in that place, but that's the problem of those that give that explanation. Now will you notice though that two wings of a great eagle is not something that is unusual or peculiar to these people at all. That's reminiscent of the grace of God in delivering Israel in the past from Egypt. You remember God said to them in Exodus 19:4, "Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bare you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." You see, they had not come out by their own effort or by their own ability. They came out because God brought them out and eagle wings became a symbol to them. And here again in the Great Tribulation, Israel cannot deliver themselves and no one is interested in delivering them, but God will get them out on eagles' wings by his grace. And you can see how this has worked in the past in the life of this nation.

Now it says, "into the wilderness under her place." Now it doesn't say the rock-hewn city of Petra. Could be, I don't misunderstand me. I just simply don't know where it is and I'm disturbed when somebody else finds it before I do and I don't know how in the world they found it. Now it's been variously identified. Petra's not the only place. The wilderness of the peoples of the world, that it'll be another worldwide scattering of them. Well, Christ said, "flee unto the mountains." We believe it to be a literal wilderness, possibly the same one in which Israel spent 40 years under Moses. And this time it will be 42 months for that's the meaning of time, times, and half a time here. The important thing is not the place, but the fact that God will protect them by his grace. Now where she's nourished, that reminds us that in the past God sustained them with manna from heaven and water from the rock and he'll nourish them again in possibly the same way.

Now in verses 15 and 16, "And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth." Now in view of the fact that the wilderness is literal, the water also could be literal. God had delivered Israel out of the water both at the beginning of the wilderness march, the Red Sea, and then again at the end of the wilderness march, the Jordan River. However, the floods of water could be armies flowing like a river upon them. This figure of speech has been used by Isaiah and I'll not turn to it, but it's in Isaiah the 8th chapter verses 7 and 8. Now in Ezekiel's picture the last days, the King of the North is seen marching on Israel. How will he be stopped? No nation is there to stop him, but God is there and he will destroy him with natural forces when he invades Palestine. Listen to Ezekiel 38:22, "I will plead against him with pestilence, with blood. I will rain upon him and upon his bands and upon the many people that are with him an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." That gives us an indication of what John is talking about here. Satan will use every means to destroy the people.

Now verse 17, the last verse in this chapter, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman and he went away to make war with the rest of her seed that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus." Now the rest of her seed refer to the remnant who is God's witness in this period. The 144,000 who have been sealed, they are evidently witnessing throughout the world and these keep the commandments of God which places them back under the law and this precludes the possibility of the witnesses being the church. Now all anti-Semitism is Satan-inspired and it will finally culminate in Satan making a supreme effort to destroy this nation from the brickyards of Pharaoh's Egypt, Haman's gallows, Herod's cruel edict, through Hitler to the world of the Great Tribulation. Satan has led the attack against these people because of the man child, Jesus Christ.

Now we come to chapter 13 and we have the last two personalities here. The two beasts, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth. You see in chapter 12, we've been introduced to the woman, Israel, to the red dragon, Satan, to the child of the woman, Christ, to Michael the archangel, and to the remnant, the 144,000 sealed of Israel. And now the last two and believe me, these will really boggle your mind if the last couple of chapters hasn't done that, this surely will. The wild beast out of the sea and then the wild beast out of the earth. We're now going to look at Antichrist and of course we're going to have to wait to do that until next time. So until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Guest (Male): How are you listening to these studies in Revelation? On the radio? Do you download them from ttb.org or catch us by app or on YouTube? My favorite way to listen is with the app and I'd love to hear yours too. So when you're in contact, tell us. This information really is a big help as we continue to take God's whole word to his whole world. Especially if you listen by radio, make sure you tell us the call letters of your station. You can drop us a note through our app, you can email us at biblebus@ttb.org, or write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. You can also call and leave a message at 1-800-65-BIBLE. We'd love to hear your story in your own voice.

And when you're in touch, be sure to sign up to receive our monthly newsletter because each issue is filled with updates from the ministry, teaching from Dr. McGee, and helpful prompts to deepen your time in God's word. Now, we'd also love to send you a free pack of our Bible bus passes. These small cards feature a QR code that links directly to Dr. McGee's teaching, making them a simple way to invite others to discover God's word. And it's always a great time to continue your study with our Bible companions. They include summaries of Dr. McGee's teaching and thoughtful questions for personal reflection or group discussion. Download them in our app or purchase a printed copy at ttb.org. Now for more on the newsletter, Bible bus passes, and the Bible companion, call 1-800-65-BIBLE or just head over to ttb.org. Next time, we'll learn about the Antichrist. Will we be able to recognize him? Discover what to look for. I'll save you a seat here on the Bible bus.