Friday, July 16, 2021

Revelation 12:6-12

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6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” ~ Revelation 12:6-12

In these few verses, we move from eternity past and the fall of Satan all the way to the end of the tribulation. These verses underscore war in heaven and wrath on earth. And, in the midst of all of this, Israel will flee into the wilderness where she will have a place prepared for her by God, and she will be provided for and protected by God for three and a half years.

This is exactly what was spoken of by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24:15-21 which reads, "15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again."

In v.6 of today's text we read, "The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

Many believe Israel, during the last half of the Tribulation, will flee to Petra which is located in southern Jordan. Petra can only be entered through an opening fit for one person. But inside the entrance is a massive city carved out of the rock walls. Petra's narrow entrance is roughly a mile long with towering cliffs above reaching as high as 300 feet. The long winding entrance opens up into open spaces and canyons large enough to hold 5 million people, when fully excavated.

In the ancient book of Isaiah we are given some hints that supports this idea that Israel will flee to Petra. In Isaiah 2:10-11 we read, "10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty. 11 The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." 

And, in Isaiah 2:19 we read, "And men will go into caves of the rocks, and into holes of the ground." And then, in Isaiah 2:21 we read, "...In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs." And, this is all written in the context of Jacob's Trouble. Whoever is still remaining in Jerusalem at the end of the Tribulation, they will be cared for by God, even though they will be continually pursued by Satan. Yes, Satan has always wanted to destroy God's chosen people. This underscores the fact that Satan is not bound in Hell, yet. In fact, Satan has yet to go to Hell. But, He will be banished to Hell for eternity after the Millennium.

In v.7-9 of today's text we read, "7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

Satan and his demons have been waging an ongoing war with Michael and the holy angels since Satan's rebellion against God. This is not a battle between Satan and God. No, this is a battle between Satan and Michael the archangel. Satan is identified in Ephesians 2:2 as the prince of the power of the air. He is also described in 2 Corinthians 4 as the god of this world. So, the theater of his operations descends from heaven right down to earth, where he and his demons are engaged in controlling this world's system, including its religions and governments.

In v.10-11 of today's text we read, "10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."

In response to the defeat of Satan, a loud voice in heaven sounds. And, from believers in heaven, rejoicing will explode because those in heaven will recognize the defeat of the accuser, and he will be finally defeated. And, praise in heaven in v.11 will turn to praise for triumph on earth in v.12. 

In v.12 we read, "Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

The scene now moves from heaven to earth, partly because for the first time, Satan has no more access to heaven. The people of God will not only rejoice over what will happen in heaven, but they will rejoice over what will happen on earth. As always, when Satan and his demons try to destroy Israel, they will fail and they will be defeated. And, John reminds us that they will overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb.

As with all of God's redeemed, they will overcome Satan because their sins will be cast out of existence and no accusation from the evil one will be able to endure. And, it will not be that these will have some personal power of their own. No, the weapons of our warfare are not physical, they are spiritual because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. And, in us is the Christ who is our advocate, along with the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. All of the accusations of the wicked one against all believers will fall on deaf ears because all believers have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.

And, it is and will always be that God's presence in His people's  hearts will cause us to persevere in the faith. The believer in Christ always overcomes because of the word of our testimony, and our testimony is our story with the Lord Jesus. We have and will forever overcome because He is and will always be the One who overcomes and He has given to each believer this testimony.