First Baptist Cleveland – You Belong Here



Quick Review of Signs Beginning in Rev. 12

* Remember Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g., Daniel and Revelation) has lots of visions, signs, symbols, angels, warnings (woes), etc.

* Here in Chapters 12 – 13 we see 7 main figures of the Great Tribulation

* 1 – Woman, representing Israel (12:1)

* 2 – Dragon, representing Satan or Devil (12:3)

* 3 – Man-child, who is Jesus (12:5)

* 4 – Angel Michael, head of the heavenly angelic host (12:7)

* 5 – Offspring of the woman, Gentiles who come to faith in Tribulation (12:17)

* 6 – Beast out of the sea, representing the antichrist (13:1)

* 7 – Beast out of the land, false prophet who promotes the antichrist (13:11)

Lesson 27 – Satan’s Fall from Heaven – Rev. 12:9 - 17

* Many ask, “what is an evil being like Satan doing in heaven in the first place”?

* I thought he was expelled for his sin of pride along with his angels

* Although this is true, he still has access to God’s throne in the heavenlies and no clearer example than in the life of Job found in Job 1 – 2

* Job we know was a righteous man, having been blessed by God

* Satan accused Job of being faithful to God only because he was so blessed

* Thus, Satan tested Job by destroying everything he had and yet he remained faithful

* Failing at this effort, Satan asked to attack his health; yet he remained faithful

Satan’s Attack on Job and Us

* He receives lots of advice from his friends including his wife who said “curse God and die”

* In the end, we read that Job declared the ways of God are too wonderful to understand (Job 42:1 – 6)

* So, he repented and humbled himself

* What does this say to us? We, like Job, have an accuser (Satan) (Rev. 12:10) but we have an Advocate with the Father (I John 2:1)

* Here in Rev. 12 we have the last period of Satan’s existence as he enters God’s presence to accuse the brethren

* Rev. 12:9 shows that, after the war between Michael and Satan and their angels, Satan is cast to earth to accuse the brethren continually

Meaning of the Names for Satan

* Rev. 12:9 mentions several names for this accuser: great dragon, serpent of old, devil and Satan, and deceiver

* 1 – Satan means “to oppose”; an OT term; his fall was due to pride (Isaiah 14:12); now he is confined to earth as “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:1 - 2) but still has access to God’s presence

* 2 – Devil from Greek word diabolos means “slanderer”; NT term indicates he wants to cause God’s people to fail and fall

* Bible is full of examples of this: 1 – seduce Jesus (Mt. 4); 2 – betrayal by Judas (John 13:2, 27); 3 – make Peter fail as a leader (Lk. 22:31); 4 – Ananias’ lie (Acts 5:3); 5 – illness and pain (Lk. 13:16; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 12:7; 6 – hinders gospel work (Mt. 13:36 - 43)

* Although he does all of this, we have our defense (Mt. 6:13; Luke 22:31 – 32; Rom. 8:34; I John 4:1 – 6)

The Praise in Heaven – Rev. 12:10

* Loud voice praises Satan’s being cast down – who is this?

* Many scholars believe it is one of the martyrs described in Rev. 6:9 – 10

* Good news – he is leaving heaven; bad news – he is coming to earth

* How have the martyrs overcome Satan? Three ways

* In Rev. 2 and 3, we have word “overcomer” mentioned 7 times with each of the 7 letters – how does one become an “overcomer”?

* 1 – By the blood of the Lamb being given in Rev. 7:14; our robes of righteousness made white by the blood Jesus shed on Calvary (positional)

* On the cross, Satan’s defeat was legislated; our sins were paid for, meaning Satan has no grounds on which to accuse repentant, faithful believers

* 2 – By the word of their testimony – spoken witness for the Lord (proclamation)

Becoming an Overcomer and Examples

* 3 – By loving God more than life itself – having no fear of death (portrayal)

* John Hus – with flames engulfing him, he sang praises

* Felix Mantz – marched through streets of Zurich with his mother by him encouraging him to persevere; mocked the ritual of baptism by drowning him in the river

* John Bunyan – in jail for 12 years and never failed to call the jailers to repentance

* These and countless others have had no fear of death and are free to live their lives in obedience knowing that nothing will separate them from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38 -39)

Third Woe in Rev. 12:12

* Recall the word “woe” in the Bible is associated with God’s judgment and grief, sorrow, anger, and regret are associated with this warning

* Rev. 8:13 gives us three “woes” coming on earth dwellers as the three last trumpets (5, 6, and 7) are about to be sounded

* Rev. 9:12 – says 1st woe is past; two woes are coming

* Rev. 11:14 – says 2nd woe is past; 3rd woe is coming

* Rev. 12:12 – is this 3rd woe!

* What is unique about this woe? NOW, the devil has come down to earth with great wrath for he knows his time is short (last 3 ½ years)

What are the things contained in this 3rd woe?

* 1 – Great tribulation such as never was or will be again (Mt. 24:15 – 22; Dan. 12:1; Rev. 7:9 – 17; 11:15 – 19:21)

* 2 – War on Israel (Rev. 12:13 – 15)

* 3 – War on the remnant (those of Israel who do not flee from Judea into the wilderness) (Rev. 12:17)

* 4 – Forced worship of Satan and Antichrist (13:4 – 18; 14:9 – 11; 15:2 – 4; 20:4 – 6)

* 5 – War on Christians (12:11; 13:7 – 10; 14:13)

* 6 – Deception by miracles (13:13 – 17)

* 7 – Physical brand (mark) enforced by law and death penalty (13:16 – 18)

* 8 – Forced denial of Trinity (13:1 – 6)

* 9 – Mobilization of all nations to Armageddon where millions die (16:13 – 16)

The Persecution of Earth – Rev. 12:12b - 13

* The exultation of praise in Satan being cast down from heaven is matched by Satan’s energy with which he attacks us on earth

* 1 – Aggravated assault – knowing his time is short (3 ½ years), Satan fills the earth with his wrath; he is then bound for 1,000 years and released for another brief rebellion against God; then doomed for eternity

* This is what we are seeing in the Tribulation period as he is a caged lion with unconstrained fury

* 2 – Anti-Semitic assault – seen in verse 13 where the woman is Israel; Satan has persecuted God’s chosen people (Jews) since the beginning

* Why such hatred? The Redeemer of mankind who abolished mankind’s fear of death was born a Jew (Heb. 2:14 -16)

* God’s special place for the Jew causes Satan’s focus on them

* This is why we must be pro-Israel for whoever Satan is against, we MUST be for!

Satan’s Persecution of the Earth

* 3 – Aggressive assault – verse 15 – very difficult to interpret; is this a future flood to occur in the Tribulation

* More a symbolic reference of the onslaught of the enemy or suffering; some organized effort of Satan to destroy the Jews

* Fury poured out against Israel after the abomination of desolation (marking the half-way point of the 70th week of Daniel) was spoken of by Jesus Mt. 24:15- 22 in distinctly Jewish terms (housetop... pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath)

* This verse describes the fury that Jesus told them to flee.

* 4 – Angry assault – verse 17 – against two groups

* A – Toward Israel as a people, symbolized by the woman

* B – Toward the remnant who keep the commandments and their testimony – 144K sealed Jewish evangelists and remnant of Israel who do not flee Judea

* Satan’s mission – prevent the 144K from spreading the gospel during the Tribulation

The Protection of God – Rev. 12:14

* Not sure how but this verse indicates God will take His people away from Satan’s direct attacks to a secure place for “a time and times and half a time” (3 ½ years; 1,260 days, or 42 months)

* Israel will be protected in these last horrific days of Tribulation initiated by the abomination of desolation in the temple at the mid-point of Tribulation when Antichrist breaks his 7-year covenant with Israel

* OT passages suggest many Israelites will take flight into the wilderness (Isaiah 16:1 – 5; 26:20 – 21; 42:11 – 13; 63:1 – 5; Ezekiel 20:33 – 44; Daniel 11:36; Hosea 2:14 – 23

* Somehow Israel will be shielded and ultimately they will come to see Jesus as the promised Messiah (Matthew 23:37 – 39)

* Some scholars suggest the “two wings of the great eagle” might suggest a great wind that sweeps Jews to the city of Petra, Jordan

* OT image of Israelites being born on “eagles’ wings” as they were delivered from Egyptians (Ex. 19:1 – 4)

* Some even suggest this imagery could be a large transport plane taking people away in an emergency situation

Rev. 12:14 – 16

*  Woman is nourished during this 3 ½ year period during this dramatic persecution of Israel – takes place during the 70th week of Daniel 9

* Serpent pouring water out of his mouth like a river – symbol of armies of Antichrist pursuing defeated Israel (12:15)

* Yet Isaiah 59:19 predicted God’s ultimate prediction of this event when he prophesied “when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him”.

* Rev. 12:16 – some scholars suggest that the earth will open up and destroy (swallow) these armies of Antichrist as happened to Korah and his company in Numbers 16:29 – 35

What can we conclude from this passage?

* 1 – Satan, who is a deceiver, accuser and tempter, has as his plan to try and to ultimately destroy God’s plan

* 2 – We must recognize that God has a time period for His plan and He has allowed Satan and his demonic angels to exist and persecute the earth and Christ followers (as we saw with the example of Job)

* 3 – Yet this passage shows us that, although Satan has pitched his throne on high, God has His pitched even higher

* 4 – Our challenge is to be able to wait patiently for God’s plan to be implemented – recall the response the Lord gave to the souls crying under the altar in Rev. 6 – they were told to “rest or wait a little while longer”

* 5 – Claim Isaiah 55:6 – 11 and echo the conclusion that Job came to after all of his Satanic attacks!

Sources: The New Inductive Study Bible. New American Standard Version. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2000.

Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. Lawrenceville, Georgia. Dake Publishing, Inc. 2017.

David Jeremiah. Escape the Coming Night. Volume 3, Lesson 27. San Diego, California: Turning Point Ministries, pp. 39 – 52.

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