Rev 12:1-17
The Wrath of Satan
We continue preaching through the book of Revelation and through the
Seventh Trumpet also called the third woe. The Seventh Trumpet
started in \\#Rev 11:15\\ and will continue through to the end of the
tribulation.
I think chapter 12 is a unique chapter for several reasons:
1. I believe that from here to chapter 13, we are as close to the
half way point of the tibulation as we can get. In these
chapters, we have the last references to 3 1/2 years.
a. \\#Rev 12:6\\
b. \\#Rev 12:14\\
c. \\#Rev 13:5\\
2. I think it is entirely symbolic. Throughout this book, I have
told you that I maintain the belief that IF you can interpret
an event literally, do so. However, I do not think you can
interpret this chapter literally—all though all of it has
a very literal meaning. So think this chapter is symbolic.
3. I also think that this most of this chapter is parenthetical;
that is, it is not really necessary to the remainder of the
book. Having said that, I want to add quickly that the
chapter is still important and I will tell you why I believe
it is included here before we finished.
With those remarks, let’s look at chapter 12.
I. The Characters of the Chapter.
A. There are three.
1. A woman
2. A Child
3. A red dragon.
B. \\#1-2\\ Who is the woman?
1. Her name is not given so we must speculate.
2. \\#5\\ I believe the woman is a picture of Israel and I
believe that because of the her Child.
a. He is to rule the nations with a rod of iron.
b. He will ascend up unto God and to His throne.
c. That has to be Jesus.
3. Israel is the mother of Jesus.
a. That was Israel’s role in time and in the plan of God.
b. To be honest, it is the only thing that makes Israel
important—but it does make Israel important.
(1) God choose Israel and blessed her with a position
in His plan forever.
(2) \\#2\\ Partly because of that position and partly
because of their sin, Israel has and is
enduring pain.
(3) As long as I live, I will stand with Israel!
4. Notice that Israel is described as being clothed with the
son, having the moon under her feet, and having a crown
of twelve stars.
a. The twelve speaks of the twelve tribes of Israel.
b. But the sun, moon, and stars are also associated with
Israel.
Ge 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and
told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have
dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and
the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to
me.
c. Joseph was telling of his dream and he was the 12th
star.
C. Who is the Child?
1. \\#5\\ I have already stated, the Child is Jesus.
a. No one else will rule the nations with a rod of iron
and no one else will ascend to God.
b. \\#4\\ Also notice that there was an attempt against
the Child from His birth.
(1) As soon as He was born, Herod sought to kill Him
and killed all of the babies in Bethlehem to do
it.
(2) And it would not surprise me if there were more
attacks that we do not know about.
2. Notice that \\#2\\ speaks of Jesus’ birth and \\#5\\
speaks of His ascension to heaven.
a. The story is living out some details, is it not? His
live, death, and resurrection?
b. That is the way prophetical passages are.
(1) That is the reason we must study the WHOLE Bible.
(2) It is also the reason why we must keep an open
mind when we study prophecy. We probably do not
know as much as we think we know.
D. Who is the red dragon?
1. \\#3, 9\\ He is described in \\#3\\ and named in \\#9\\.
2. He is the devil.
II. The Conflict of the Chapter
A. \\#1-9\\ Describe the conflict that has always been.
1. Everything that has ever happened on this earth has
centered on these three and the conflict between them,
everything!
2. This conflict predates man’s existence; yet, it is
recorded in the Bible.
3. Satan’s beginnings:
Eze 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon
the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;
every precious stone was thy covering, the
sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the
onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald,
and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of
thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee
in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy
mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in
the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day
that thou wast created, till iniquity was found
in thee.
a. Satan was created as the most beautiful of all angels.
b. But iniquity, sin, was found in him.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy
beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason
of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the
ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they
may behold thee.
c. Pride and rebellion was found in him.
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the
north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to
the sides of the pit.
d. Lucifer wanted to be as God.
e. Instead, God degreed his punishment long ago…. "He
will be brought down to hell."
f. Satan’s sentence is not dependent upon God defeating
him.
(1) All God has to do is speak the word and Satan is
defeated.
(2) But God decided to let Satan roam for a time and
to use Satan to select a people for himself, a
people who choose to love and follow God.
g. However, God did cast Lucifer, the angel and cherubim,
from heaven.
Luke 10:18 And he (Jesus) said unto them, I
beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
h. That first casting out is being alluded in
\\#Rev 12:4\\.
(1) At that time, Satan took 1/3 of the host of
heavenly angels with him.
(2) Those angels became Satan’s demons.
i. From that moment to this, Satan has done all he can to
hurt God.
(1) Of course, he can’t hurt God directly.
(2) So Satan turned his wrath to the crowning
creation of God, man.
(3) And when God selected a people to bring
redemption to mankind, the Jews, he turned his
wrath to them.
(4) And when Jesus put on flesh and walked among men,
he turned his wrath toward Jesus.
(5) And when Jesus birth the church into this world
to represent Christ, Satan turned his wrath upon
the church.
j. During the tribulation, Satan will garner to himself
the most power that he has ever had on earth.
(1) He will accomplish that by two means:
(a) Man will become more proud and rebellious
toward than he has ever been.
(b) Satan will fill a man with himself. He will
literally walk on this earth in human flesh.
B. \\#10-11\\ Describe a change in the conflict.
1. We read that when the 7th trumpet sounds, "the kingdoms of
this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his
Christ" \\#Rev 11:15\\.
a. I told you that God begins to take possession of all
that Jesus had purchased. That involves the former
manager, Satan, being evicted.
b. \\#Rev 12:10-11\\ Satan is evicted from heaven.
2. Satan had already been "cast out" as an angel, but when
Adam and Eve sinned and he became the prince of this
world, he gained the right to come into God’s presence
to tell God what man was doing on HIS planet.
a. The earth WAS Satan’s planet.
b. The people still belonged to God so Satan reported to
God what the people were doing.
c. Can you believe? Every report was bad!
d. In fact, \\#10\\ calls Satan the "accuser of the
brethren," the saved.
3. However, once God starts to take possession of the earth
again, Satan gets the boot out of heaven for the
SECOND time!
4. Even better for us, that tattle-tale can’t tattle on us
anymore!
a. God never needed Satan to tell on us.
b. He always knew.
c. Satan just did it to rib God.
5. What will that do to the conflict on earth?
a. Satan, although he was an angel, is still a created
being.
b. As long as he was tattle-tailing on us in heaven, he
could not be personally hurting us on earth.
c. Once he gets boot from heaven, he will be free to do
two things:
(1) Concentrate more fully and more personally on
hurting the people that God loves. (Hence, the
tribulation heats up!)
(2) Since he will not be going to heaven anymore, he
can now take possession of whatever man had
picked out. (In other words, the anti-Christ
is about to come into being.)
d. What people will Satan go after?
(1) He can’t heart the Christ. He has ascended into
heaven.
(2) He can’t hurt the church. We were raptured out
in Revelation 4:2.
(3) The only one who left is the Woman, Israel!
C. \\#12-17\\ Describe the conflict intensified against the
Woman.
1. \\#12\\ Woe to the inhabiters of the earth! Why? Satan
has come down!
2. \\#13\\ Who is he going after? The woman!
3. \\#14-16\\ What does God do to help Israel?
a. \\#6, 14\\ God will provide a sanctuary in the
wilderness.
(1) God has created a place or places for Israel to
hide.
(2) Some think it is Petra.
(3) The time that Israel will abide there is given
twice:
(a) \\#6\\ 1,260 days = 3 1/2 years
(b) \\#14\\ A time, times, and a half time -
3 1/2 years.
(4) We have seen this time reference, 3 1/2 years,
several times. \\#Rev 11:2, 3, 13:5\\
(5) The difference is that Israel will go into
hiding and stay there until the tribulation is
over.
(6) In fact, God will send His angels to gather them
back to Israel.
Mt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other.
(7) So this event is marking THE half way point in
the tribulation.
b. \\#7-8\\ God’s angels will help Israel.
(1) I think these verses are not describing Satan’s
first casting out of heaven but his second.
(2) \\#6\\ The angels help AFTER the woman flees to
the wilderness.
(3) \\#Dan 12:1\\ which I also think is speaking of
this exact time, also mentions Michael standing
up for Israel.
(4) God is going to send His angels to miraculously
help Israel just like \\#15-16\\ say.
(a) Satan will send a flood.
(b) The earth will swallow it up.
(5) That doesn’t mean that Jews won’t die. It just
means the last half of the tribulation is going
to be a powerful, miracle-working time period!
III. The Conclusion of the Chapter
A. The conclusion is not at the end but in the middle.
B. \\#11\\ God’s people will overcome.
1. Not because they do not suffer and die!
2. But because
a. they will learn that there are some things more
important than life!
"they loved not their lives unto death."
b. They will trust in the blood of the Lamb.
3. In other words, those who overcome likely will die, but
they will have trusted in Jesus!
4. That is the same thing that I have been telling you all
along that you need to do right now!
C. If this chapter was not necessary to the chapter
(parenthetical), why is it important?
1. It tells you the reason of every bad thing in this world.
It is Satan trying to overthrow God.
2. It tells you the only solution to mankind. Quit loving
life and start loving Jesus.
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