As I was preparing this sermon this week, I kept
thinking of the story behind one of my favorite television series of all time,
the hit show, LOST. It tells the story of
a group of survivors who crash landed on a mysterious island in the middle of
nowhere. Over the course of the series,
it is revealed that these survivors have actually been brought to this island
to take part in an epic battle between good and evil.
In Revelation
12:1-17, John described the ancient war between the woman (God’s people)
and the dragon (Satan) to remind the church that they too are in an epic
struggle between good and evil. This
would serve put the church’s persecution into perspective and call them to
persevere. Believers today also need to
realize that they are part of a much greater conflict, one that demands we
persevere to the very end. I pray that
God would enable us to be faithful warriors in this greatest war the world has
ever seen. How can we be faithful
warriors in this great conflict?
[12:1] And
a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. [2] She was
pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
[3] And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with
seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. [4] His tail
swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the
dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she
bore her child he might devour it. [5] She gave birth to a male child, one
who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up
to God and to his throne, [6] and the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for
1,260 days.
[7] Now
war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And
the dragon and his angels fought back, [8] but he was defeated, and there
was no longer any place for them in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was
thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the
deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels
were thrown down with him. [10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven,
saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the
authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been
thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. [11] And they
have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death. [12] Therefore, rejoice, O
heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the
devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is
short!”
[13] And
when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the
woman who had given birth to the male child. [14] But the woman was given
the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into
the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time. [15] The serpent poured water like a river out of
his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. [16] But the
earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and
swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. [17] Then
the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest
of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the
testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation
12 ESV)
I.
Know the Great War (12:1-6)
This first section pulls back the curtain in epic
fashion to remind these churches that they are engaged in a great conflict that has been raging
since creation between the woman and her offspring and the serpent/dragon. If you know the Bible very well at all, that
should ring a bell! We are first
introduced to the characters in this
Great War. John sees two signs in heaven: a beautiful, royal
woman in labor and a great red dragon.
Who this the
woman? I take the woman to be a
symbol for the whole people of God throughout history (the messianic community,
or true Israel). The reasons I do so are
because, first, she is a “sign” (1) meaning
that she is a symbol for something
else. Second, this woman is “clothed with
the sun, with the moon under her feet,” and is wearing a “crown of twelve stars” on her head
(1). This seems to be an allusion to Genesis 37:9-10, where the sun, moon,
and stars refer symbolically to the family of Jacob, Israel. But, and thirdly,
this woman is more than just ethnic
Israel because, as we will see, her and her offspring also represent the church as true Israel later in this chapter when,
after the defeat of Satan at the cross, her and her offspring (obviously no
longer talking about ethnic Israel because after the cross, true Israel
includes more than just ethnic Jews) are pursued by Satan. Fourth, the male child she gives birth to is
the Messiah (5). The “one who is to rule all the nations with a
rod of iron” is a Messianic reference to Psalm 2:9. It’s an
appropriate picture because the Messiah comes from the messianic community, the
people of God. There should be nothing
strange about the woman starting out with a Jewish description and then being
seen as the church because there is only one
people of God in the Bible. They do
start out as the family of Israel and go on to become the nation of Israel in
the Old Testament, but the New Testament is also clear that the church is the
true Israel (Romans 2:28-29, Ephesians
2:11-22). The church is not seen as
a replacement of Israel, but as an expansion of the true Israel.
The
dragon is clearly identified in
this passage as “that ancient serpent,
who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (9). He is described as “great red dragon” with “seven
heads and ten horns” with “seven
diadems.”
Once the characters have been introduced, their conflict is described. The dragon (Satan) hates the woman (God’s
people) and her offspring (the Messiah) and wants to devour them. Satan, however, is not successful in his attempts to devour the Messiah. The child, after being born, is “caught up to God and to his throne” (5).
This is language for Jesus’ ascension, and indicates that we have
now covered the Messiah’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension back to the
Father’s throne. The big idea here is
simply that Satan’s attempts were futile
to conquer Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, the
woman “fled into the wilderness, where
she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished” for 3.5
years.
In a nutshell, this passage describes the war
between the serpent and the woman and her offspring. It is an allusion to Genesis 3:15, where God, in cursing the serpent (Satan), also made
this promise: [15] I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This is a declaration of holy war. Notice that God is declaring that there will
be “enmity” between the serpent and
the woman, the serpent’s offspring and woman’s offspring, and between the
serpent and the woman’s offspring (the Messiah). Most people see here a promise of both a Messiah who will conquer Satan
and His messianic community (God’s
people), who will be at war with Satan and “his
offspring” (his people) throughout history and emerge victorious. This is the greatest war that has ever been
waged and you are a part of it. If more
of God’s people could understand that, how it would change the way we live our
lives!
II.
Know the Great Victory (12:7-12)
Another “war
arose in heaven” between “Michael and
his angels” and “the dragon and his
angels” (7) after the Messiah is caught up to God and His throne in which Satan
and his angels are “defeated” and “thrown down to the earth” (7-9). This is the second victory over Satan described
so far in this passage. I want you to
notice that this victory is not only celebrated but also interpreted in the hymn of verses 10-12. What we’re going to see is that the implications
of Satan’s defeat here sound a lot like the implications of Christ’s victory on
the cross. I think upon careful
observation, we’ll see that both Michael’s and our victory here are
consequences of Christ’s victory on the cross.
First, the throwing
down of Satan is what initiates “the
salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his
Christ” coming (10a). Jesus spoke
this way when He spoke of His work on the cross as marking the time when “the ruler of this world” would “be cast out” (John 12:31). Second, this
victory (the throwing down of Satan)
results in Satan no longer being able to accuse God’s people (10b). The hymn implies that a legal battle has been won. Satan
is called here “the accuser of our
brothers… who accuses them day and night before our God.” But because of the victory being elaborated
on here, this “accuser” can no longer
accuse God’s people of sin. Why? The next verse tells us. Those who were being accused (and were guilty of those accusations) have “conquered” their accuser “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony” (11). The “blood of the Lamb” seems to be what
gives Michael the green light to thrown Satan out of heaven. So the true Victor in this scene is not
Michael but the Lamb! That is why we need to see here, not just a kick in the
teeth by the archangel Michael, but also the great victory won by Jesus on the
cross. These words remind me of Romans 8:33-34: [33] Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who
justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more
than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is
interceding for us. Colossians
2:13-14 is another passage that echoes here: [13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven
us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood
against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
[15] He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by
triumphing over them in him.
But notice that those whom Satan accuses not only
conquer him by the blood of the Lamb but also “by the word of their testimony,” which is further elaborated upon
as them not loving “their lives even unto
death” (11). So “the word of their testimony” is that they persevered until the very end, to the death. They did not love their lives so much that
they wouldn’t gladly part with them for the sake of their King.
When you stop and think about it, a believer’s
willingness to lay down their lives for Christ is one of the greatest evidences
of true conversion. It gives evidence
that they are so devoted to Jesus Christ that they would forsake everything in
this world in order to remain faithful to Him.
That is the demand of every disciple of Jesus: to be willing to lay down
their lives for their King. Will
you?
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.[1]
III.
Know the Great Reality (12:13-17)
As great as this victory is, however, it does not end the war. While Satan’s
defeat in heaven is reason for those
who dwell in the “heavens” to “rejoice,” it is woeful news to the “earth and
sea” because Satan “has come down in
great wrath” because He knows “his
time is short!” This reminds us of a
great reality that we currently live in: a time when the war has already been won, but is not yet over.
This final scene resumes the conflict between the
dragon/serpent and the woman and her offspring.
A war on earth now ensues
that will continue all the way until the end of chapter 14, beginning with the dragon’s pursuit of the woman. Satan, although he is a defeated foe, is
relentless in persecuting the people of God.
“In great wrath,” he pursues
the woman who gave birth to the Messiah (13) in order to devour her. God, however, intervenes twice here and
provides supernatural protection for
the woman. The first time, she is given “the two wings of the great eagle” so that
she might escape the serpent (14). This
is language from the Exodus story to describe how the Israelites escaped
Pharaoh’s pursuit (Exodus 19:4). The second time, God causes the earth to
swallow up the great flood that comes form the dragon/serpent’s mouth. This is now the third defeat that Satan suffers.
The place where this woman experiences God’s
supernatural protection is the place God has prepared for her in “the wilderness” (6, 14). Whatever “wilderness”
may imply, in this text it signifies a place of refuge and provision. She is protected there and also “nourished” there for 3.5 years. As I said in chapter 11, I take 3.5 years to
be a symbol for a time period of great tribulation, in which God’s people are
both persecuted and protected. If you think about it, the “wilderness” communicates that reality
in a powerful way. It was a place that
God’s people were provided for and tested.
Finally, now that the dragon/serpent fails to harm
the woman, in his fury he turns his attention to “make war on the rest of her offspring” (17). He is relentless in his desire to devour the
people of God. He reminds me of General
Zod’s character in the new Man of Steel movie:
he is relentless in reeking havoc upon the world no matter how futile his quest
becomes. This chapter ends with Satan
standing on the seashore, about to initiate this war and we see this war played
out in chapters 13-14.
Notice again the strong emphasis on perseverance in this chapter on the part
of God’s people. They are described as “those who keep the commandments of God” and as “those…who hold to the testimony of Jesus.” This makes it obvious that
at least the rest of the woman’s offspring is a reference to the people of
God.
Are you persevering in the greatest war the
universe has ever seen? You are part of
it whether you realize it or not. There
is no neutrality in this war. Jesus even
said that anyone who was not for Him was against Him (Matthew 12:30). The sad
reality is that many in the American church today do not look like warriors who
are ready to die for their king. They
have been rocked to sleep by the serpent, having bought into his lies. Would to God that we would wake up and see
that his agenda is to devour the people of God.
I remember once when my high school basketball coach came in at
half-time and punched a dent in a locker and kicked a trash can across the
locker room, furious because we were losing to a team we should have been
beating by 50 points. I know it seems an
odd illustration, but don’t you realize that many of us in this room are
getting our clock cleaned by an enemy that has been defeated and cannot win
against us? For some of us, if God were
to walk in our spiritual locker room, He would punch the entire set of lockers
plum over to Mars and punt the trash can to Venus! Why?
Because we living in defeat to an opponent that cannot touch us. God help us wake up and stop loving our lives
so much!!!
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