1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,160
Well hey, if it is your first time visiting us here at Hosanna in our room, or if you're

2
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,840
joining us online for the first time, we want to say welcome to all of you.

3
00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:12,760
We're so glad you're here to worship with us today at Hosanna Christian Fellowship.

4
00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:21,000
I am Pastor Nathan, and today we are going to be taking a look, a great panoramic look

5
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:28,060
at spiritual warfare by taking a look back from the very beginning of time all the way

6
00:00:28,060 --> 00:00:34,800
up to the point we find ourselves at in Revelation during the great tribulation.

7
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,960
Chapter 12 of Revelation, which we're starting this morning, introduces a section of Revelation

8
00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:45,200
that highlights seven main characters.

9
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:50,280
These characters are characters we know, characters we are familiar with through, or at least

10
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:55,520
you would be familiar with if you're a biblical student, but they're characters that in the

11
00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:01,400
story here in Revelation, some of them have been renamed, given nicknames if you will,

12
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,960
based upon characteristics of their personality, much like we do that with one another.

13
00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:10,800
Sometimes you'll have somebody with a certain personality characteristic and their nickname

14
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,320
will come up out of that.

15
00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:16,120
Mine has been gentle and meek.

16
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,960
No, not all the time.

17
00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:25,480
But the characters that are introduced here in chapter 12 of Revelation are the woman,

18
00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:33,520
the dragon, the male child, Michael the archangel, the beast from the sea, the beast from the

19
00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,920
land, and lastly, the saved remnant of Israel.

20
00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,160
Now these seven characters are going to be introduced over the courses of chapters 12,

21
00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:47,160
13, and 14, and we're going to look at them all in detail as they come up, but this entire

22
00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:54,000
section, 12, 13, and 14 of Revelation, is kind of like a look back over history and

23
00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:00,120
a look back over the entire tribulation period, this entire seven years that we call the tribulation

24
00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:05,000
period, but it's a look back at all of that from the vantage point of Satan, from his

25
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,560
perspective, from his sense of goal and priority.

26
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,200
And really, it's a picture of the spiritual warfare that's taken place from the beginning

27
00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:14,200
of time.

28
00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:19,240
It's since the original fall of Satan from heaven, biblically we know that there has

29
00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,120
been warfare in the spiritual realm.

30
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:29,280
Now the theater of battle for Satan has been earth from the very beginning.

31
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,940
And so this morning we're going to look at the first three of these seven characters

32
00:02:32,940 --> 00:02:37,360
that I've referenced, the woman, the dragon, and the male child, as we look at the first

33
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,080
six verses of chapter 12 of Revelation.

34
00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:46,160
And really what we're going to focus in on is the satanic battlefield, the devil's strategy,

35
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,720
who's involved in this spiritual warfare that we're looking at, and really how we can face

36
00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:58,480
the temptation and the trials that come from the enemy and find victory in those things.

37
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:04,860
As we enter this section of Revelation, however, we can't forget a very, very important truth.

38
00:03:04,860 --> 00:03:07,000
It's a critical truth.

39
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:13,120
We already know who wins, and that is a glorious truth for every believer.

40
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:19,800
Last week as we looked at the end of chapter 11, we saw the victory chant was voiced by

41
00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:20,800
those in heaven.

42
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:22,500
The victory chant was proclaimed.

43
00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:27,600
The winner was declared as what was said in heaven was, the kingdom of the world has become

44
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:33,760
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.

45
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,800
You see, before this great spiritual battle ever began, before the fight even started,

46
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,840
before the battle that we're going to be looking at here in chapters 12, 13, and 14, before

47
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,820
all of that, the battle was over.

48
00:03:46,820 --> 00:03:48,160
It was won.

49
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:49,160
It was decided.

50
00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:50,960
The victor was declared.

51
00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:56,680
The kingdom of this world, as it's said, has become the kingdom of our Lord.

52
00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,680
It's interesting because it was in the past, distant past, that this was written in the

53
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,720
past tense, speaking of a future event that hadn't happened yet.

54
00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,960
But we know that God Almighty is outside of time.

55
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:08,960
He is timeless.

56
00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,140
He's not limited by time the way we are.

57
00:04:11,140 --> 00:04:15,460
He sees the end from the beginning, and he already knows who wins.

58
00:04:15,460 --> 00:04:18,480
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord.

59
00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:24,320
This victory was written about long ago and spoken forth by the one who is outside of

60
00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,520
time himself, the one who sees all things.

61
00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,400
God has won.

62
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,320
And that is one of the great encouragements of the book of Revelation.

63
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,120
That is one of the reasons why we stress over and over that this isn't just a book of future

64
00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:39,120
events.

65
00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,980
It's a revelation of Jesus Christ because Jesus has won.

66
00:04:43,980 --> 00:04:46,880
He has won the victory for his people.

67
00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,880
So these chapters that we're looking at, they're going to take us from time's past, time's

68
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,640
distant past, all the way into time's future, and they're going to show us Satan's plan.

69
00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,880
They're going to show us what his plan was from the very beginning.

70
00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:03,800
We're going to see as we move through these chapters the rise of this great world dictator

71
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,360
referred to as the Antichrist.

72
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:11,720
We're going to see the introduction of what is called the unholy trinity, the unholy trinity

73
00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:19,280
of being a false, wicked, evil counterfeit of the Godhead, which is the Father, the Son,

74
00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:20,280
and the Holy Spirit.

75
00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:23,760
And we're going to see this unholy trinity as we see the devil, the Antichrist, and the

76
00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:29,320
false prophet all come together enacting the plan that the devil has.

77
00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:34,560
We can never forget that Satan is the arch enemy of God, the arch enemy of God.

78
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:35,680
Satan hates God.

79
00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,720
He rebelled in heaven, the Bible tells us.

80
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,840
We're going to see today that he took one-third of the angels with him in that rebellion as

81
00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:45,560
him and those angels fell from heaven.

82
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:50,320
He tried in his original rebellion to overthrow the paradise of heaven.

83
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:55,000
Seeing that, he tried to overthrow the paradise of God on earth, and we read about that in

84
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,520
Genesis as he was cursed for doing so.

85
00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,560
And ever since, he's been trying to ruin everything else.

86
00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:03,560
Satan is a ruiner.

87
00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:04,560
He's a destroyer.

88
00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:10,840
And he's been trying to ruin everything, including trying to prevent God's eternal kingdom from

89
00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:15,760
ever happening, from ever being able to come to the forefront.

90
00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,400
And that's what we're looking at this morning, really a historical look at Satan's plan from

91
00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:24,440
the beginning, how he's attacked, specifically how he's attacked the nation of Israel, trying

92
00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,400
to prevent the very birth of the Messiah Jesus Christ.

93
00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:32,360
And having failed at that, trying so hard to destroy the very people that will make

94
00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,240
up the kingdom of God to come.

95
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,600
But first, we're going to worship God.

96
00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,360
We're going to praise His name because we always want to start with just focusing in

97
00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:40,360
on God.

98
00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:41,360
Why?

99
00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:42,360
Because God has won.

100
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,360
We have victory as His people.

101
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:45,360
And we know that.

102
00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:46,440
We have the hope of Christ.

103
00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:47,680
We have the hope of heaven.

104
00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:48,680
And hallelujah.

105
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:50,480
You want something to praise God for?

106
00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:51,480
Amen.

107
00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,800
God, we're so grateful, Lord, to You.

108
00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,920
We're so grateful for the victory You've given us, Lord.

109
00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:01,560
And we're so thankful, God, for the salvation that You purchased for us by Your blood, Lord.

110
00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,200
God, You set us free.

111
00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:08,360
You granted us victory over sin and death, Lord.

112
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:13,200
And God, we know in the big picture of history, God, we know that Satan has been fighting

113
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:18,840
tooth and nail or tooth and claw, if you will, from the very beginning, Lord, to try and

114
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,000
cause Your plan for the redemption of humanity to fall apart, Lord.

115
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,800
But God, he is nothing compared to You.

116
00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,440
And You win.

117
00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,600
You've already declared Your victory, Lord.

118
00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,040
We're just in the process of living that out, Lord.

119
00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,240
And God, we know today we're living in still in this age of grace where we have an opportunity,

120
00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,560
Lord, to just keep going out and be in lights for the gospel and preaching, Lord.

121
00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,160
But we know a time is coming, Lord, in that age of grace.

122
00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,560
This age of grace will be over, Lord.

123
00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,320
The time of Your judgment will come upon the earth.

124
00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:53,600
And we know, God, that that time will be terrible.

125
00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:58,440
And so, Lord, as we're looking today, God, at really a look back, a historical look at

126
00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:03,040
Satan's plan from the beginning to the end, God, Lord, we would be reminded of who he

127
00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:07,920
is, Lord, because it is important for us to know our enemy, to know our enemy that we

128
00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,240
would fight appropriately, that we would fight accordingly, that we would fight victoriously,

129
00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:17,720
God, not being overcome by the enemy, but standing in righteousness in all times and

130
00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,960
in all ways and in all times, Lord.

131
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:21,460
So God, we love You.

132
00:08:21,460 --> 00:08:24,940
We want to praise Your holy name for the victory You've already granted us.

133
00:08:24,940 --> 00:08:27,440
Thank You so much for everything You do in our lives.

134
00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:29,280
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

135
00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:30,280
Amen.

136
00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:31,280
All right.

137
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:38,400
We are in Revelation chapter 12, and we're going to start here in verse 1.

138
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:40,960
It says, A great sign appeared in heaven.

139
00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:47,200
A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars

140
00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:48,200
on her head.

141
00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,000
Now, one of the first things I want to point out to all of us here is we're looking at

142
00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,560
these pictures and these images and endeavoring to say, what do they mean?

143
00:08:57,560 --> 00:08:58,840
What do they represent?

144
00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:03,560
I want to point out that first phrase there, a great sign.

145
00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:10,920
That phrase in the original language literally means a great symbolic display.

146
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,600
What does that tell you about everything that comes after that?

147
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,560
It's a great symbolic display, okay?

148
00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:24,320
You see, John, as the seventh trumpet is sounded here and he's witnessing this proclamation

149
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:29,720
of the long foretold victory, and in the end of chapter 11 there, he was seeing the redeemed

150
00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:36,320
church worshiping God for His just wielding of His power in judgment.

151
00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:42,880
Because remember, you know, we talked about, like, who wants to celebrate God judging people?

152
00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:44,080
But God is holy.

153
00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,080
God is just.

154
00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:46,080
God is perfect.

155
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:53,440
And it is right and appropriate for a holy and perfect God to judge wickedness and sin.

156
00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:59,180
And He has been giving people for generations and generations the opportunity to receive

157
00:09:59,180 --> 00:10:03,520
forgiveness for sin, but some simply don't.

158
00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,720
They remain in the rebellion against God.

159
00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:06,720
They hate God.

160
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:08,080
They stand against God.

161
00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,640
And during tribulation, it's the last hurrah, if you will, for people to respond to the

162
00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,440
gospel of Jesus Christ.

163
00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:15,960
And yet many don't.

164
00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:17,280
Many stand against Him.

165
00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:23,300
And so as the judgments are falling and as final judgment falls, it is righteous.

166
00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:24,300
It is just.

167
00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:29,800
And so we see the people in heaven celebrating that God is wielding His righteous authority

168
00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,200
and His righteous power in judgment.

169
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:37,600
And then right after that, here in Revelation 12, we see this great symbolic display in

170
00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:38,600
heaven.

171
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,760
And this symbolic display opens with this woman.

172
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,660
This woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve

173
00:10:45,660 --> 00:10:48,600
stars on her head.

174
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:55,480
So again, this woman we see here is not an actual literal woman John is seeing in heaven.

175
00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,240
It's a great symbolic display.

176
00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,280
It's a great sign, as it's told us there.

177
00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:03,960
It's a sign that points to a reality.

178
00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:04,960
Okay?

179
00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,200
It's representative of something.

180
00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:11,840
And that is just a very, very important point in your own Bible study as you read your Bible

181
00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:13,800
and have your devotion time.

182
00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:21,120
Generally, the Bible as a whole, including the book of Revelation, is to be taken literally

183
00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:26,040
unless the content is stated as symbolic.

184
00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:31,260
That is one of the core teachings of studying the Bible.

185
00:11:31,260 --> 00:11:37,480
Because if we get too excited about making everything symbolic, well then you come up

186
00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,280
with all kinds of weird and strange teaching and cults and other things that we see in

187
00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,000
the world today, right?

188
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:48,840
So a basic Bible study rule is what you read is to be taken literal unless the content

189
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:49,960
is stated as symbolic.

190
00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:55,600
And a lot of times throughout Revelation, we've seen literal things stated there that

191
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:56,600
are strange, right?

192
00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,920
John saw these four living creatures and he tried to describe them.

193
00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:02,200
And one had the head of an eagle and the head of an ox, right?

194
00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,840
And we're going, well that has to be symbolic.

195
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:06,760
But it's stated as literal.

196
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:12,840
But then there's other things that are stated like, you know, the locust had a breastplate

197
00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,960
like this and something like that.

198
00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,240
And so you just got to be able to look at that as you study through Scripture.

199
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:24,260
But again, here what we're seeing is not a literal woman as other actual literal things

200
00:12:24,260 --> 00:12:26,200
we've seen in Revelation.

201
00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:27,200
It's a symbol.

202
00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:35,480
Now, we have seen four symbolic women or we'll see a total of four symbolic women in Revelation

203
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,560
or something represented as a woman four different times in Revelation.

204
00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:45,280
Back in chapter two, you had the spirit of Jezebel as the church was addressed there

205
00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,120
having the spirit of Jezebel.

206
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,040
And it wasn't an actual woman named Jezebel.

207
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:55,720
That woman Jezebel there in chapter two was symbolic of paganism, paganism that was infecting

208
00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:57,000
the church.

209
00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:02,640
In chapter 17, we'll see another woman called the scarlet woman who is referenced and called

210
00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:03,800
a harlot.

211
00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,920
She is called a harlot in Revelation.

212
00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:11,620
And that woman when we get there into chapter 17 is symbolic of the apostate false religion

213
00:13:11,620 --> 00:13:13,600
of the end times.

214
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:19,240
In Revelation chapter 19 verse 7, we're going to see a woman that is called the wife of

215
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:20,240
the lamb.

216
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:26,800
And she is representative or symbolic of the church, which is called the bride of Christ.

217
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:32,480
Here in Revelation 12, we see this woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and

218
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,120
this crown of 12 stars on her head.

219
00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:40,400
And so naturally the question is who or what is she symbolic of?

220
00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:42,800
There are a number of different thoughts on this.

221
00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:47,800
If you look into it, some specifically in the Catholic church or from a Catholic background

222
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,600
interpret this as this is the Virgin Mary.

223
00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:57,320
Some like those in the Christian science cult claim that this is the founder of their cult,

224
00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,760
Mary Baker Eddy.

225
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,060
And they say, no, this woman is representative of her.

226
00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:05,400
And they go through the whole chapter and symbolize all this stuff to say it's all about

227
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,160
our Christian science cults.

228
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,320
Some look at this and go, it's the church.

229
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:12,560
It's representative of the church.

230
00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:19,100
And that foundation incidentally is a foundation that is required for some who hold a pre-trip

231
00:14:19,100 --> 00:14:21,600
or a pre-wrath interpretation of Revelation.

232
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,920
I don't have time to get into all the details of that, but I'll deal with that particular

233
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:27,560
interpretation in a little bit.

234
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,520
I, however, say that it's symbolic of the nation of Israel.

235
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:37,640
This woman is symbolic of the nation of Israel, specifically because this whole picture here,

236
00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,880
we see that she was clothed with the sun and there's the moon present under her feet and

237
00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,840
there's a crown of 12 stars around her head.

238
00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:51,640
That picture is almost exactly used another time already in Scripture to specifically

239
00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,680
reference the nation of Israel.

240
00:14:54,680 --> 00:15:02,480
Specifically back in Genesis chapter 37, you had Joseph, who is one of the 12 sons of Jacob,

241
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,140
Jacob who incidentally was renamed Israel.

242
00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:07,380
He is the father of the nation of Israel.

243
00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:12,080
This son of his, Joseph, had a couple dreams that we read about in Genesis chapter 37.

244
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:18,440
Now, in the first dream that he had, he saw 12 sheaves of wheat.

245
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:25,920
There was 12 sheaves of wheat and 11 of those sheaves bowed down to the 12th sheaf of wheat.

246
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,920
He then interpreted this dream or understood in this dream that the 12th sheaf of wheat

247
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,500
was himself, so the other 11 bowed down to him.

248
00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:36,360
In Genesis 37, we read that he went and he told his brothers.

249
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:44,200
Now, Joseph was kind of like the bright-eyed, naive, positive-thinking kid, right?

250
00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,000
His brothers hated him because he was dad's favorite.

251
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,120
He went and told his brothers, brothers, I had this wonderful dream I want to share with

252
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:53,120
you.

253
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:54,120
You're all going to bow down to me one day.

254
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,400
Well, how do you think they took that, right?

255
00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:57,960
They're like, are you kidding me?

256
00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:59,960
No, I don't think so.

257
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:00,960
You're going to rule over us?

258
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:02,760
No, that's not going to happen.

259
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:08,480
Well, he then has a second dream in Genesis chapter 37 starting in verse 9, and it says

260
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:09,480
this.

261
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,040
Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers.

262
00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:18,840
Look, he said, I had another dream, and this time the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were

263
00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,920
bowing down to me.

264
00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,640
He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him.

265
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,920
What kind of dream is this that you've had, he said?

266
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,920
Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before

267
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:32,920
you?

268
00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:37,360
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

269
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:42,480
He has this dream where we see the sun and the moon and 12 stars, right?

270
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,000
Eleven of them bow down to him.

271
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,040
He was the 12th star.

272
00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,840
We see this picture where Jacob then interprets the dream.

273
00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:54,560
Am I your father and mother, the sun and the moon, and your brothers, the 11 stars?

274
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,840
Are we all going to bow down to you?

275
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:02,840
This tells us that Joseph's vision there, that dream that he had, was a dream and a

276
00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,320
vision of the nation of Israel.

277
00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:09,040
It was all about the nation of Israel.

278
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,760
You add to that, looking at Revelation chapter 12, you add to that that throughout the whole

279
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:19,680
Old Testament, numerous, numerous times, the nation of Israel is referenced symbolically

280
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:21,200
as a woman.

281
00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:23,480
She is referenced as the wife of God.

282
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,360
She is referenced as the unfaithful wife of God.

283
00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:30,480
There's even places in the Old Testament where God is symbolically saying, look, I'm going

284
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,720
to divorce you as an unfaithful person to me.

285
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,240
This whole picture of this woman that we see in Revelation 12 that is clothed with the

286
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:44,000
sun and has the moons on her feet and the 12 stars around her head, all of that together,

287
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,840
it's a picture of the nation of Israel.

288
00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,880
It's a symbolic picture of the nation of Israel.

289
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:57,200
That shouldn't surprise us that Israel is featured so prominently in the picture of

290
00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:58,200
redemptive history.

291
00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:03,760
I mean, Israel really takes center stage in the picture of redemptive history and is a

292
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:08,200
major focal point of Revelation as we've talked about in the past.

293
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:14,420
One of the points or intents of this seven-year period of tribulation at the end of history

294
00:18:14,420 --> 00:18:20,600
here is God dealing with his people, his chosen people, Israel.

295
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:25,240
It shouldn't surprise us that this is a representation of Israel.

296
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:26,600
It shouldn't be like, oh, it can't be.

297
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:32,320
It's impossible because God has had a special place for them throughout all of history.

298
00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:37,820
God promised to the nation of Israel a messianic kingdom that would come.

299
00:18:37,820 --> 00:18:41,020
God made them, as I've stated, his chosen people.

300
00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:45,920
Out of all the nations of the earth, God chose the Jews to be his chosen people.

301
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,580
Because of that, they have been harassed throughout history.

302
00:18:50,580 --> 00:18:52,380
They have been harassed.

303
00:18:52,380 --> 00:18:56,720
Some people go, well, why did God choose the Jews?

304
00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,400
Why didn't God choose another people group, another nation?

305
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,080
Why did he choose them?

306
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:07,480
Well, it wasn't because they were more numerous than the other nations.

307
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,240
They weren't the most populous of all the nations.

308
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:18,640
In fact, even today, according to census numbers in 2022, Jews account for two-tenths of 1%

309
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,200
of the entire world's population.

310
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,720
So if you're a number person, that means out of the eight billion people that live on the

311
00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,600
planet, about 15 million of them are Jewish.

312
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,800
So God didn't choose them because they were the most numerous, right?

313
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:37,440
In fact, we read that in Deuteronomy chapter seven, verse seven, where it says this.

314
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:43,100
The Lord had his heart set on you and chose you, and he's speaking to the nation of Israel.

315
00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:47,000
Not because you were more numerous than all the peoples, for you were actually the fewest

316
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:53,320
of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you, and he kept the oath he swore to his

317
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,120
ancestors.

318
00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:58,480
So why did God choose Israel?

319
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,880
Why did God choose the Jewish people?

320
00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:03,640
Because he loved them.

321
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,280
He chose to.

322
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,040
He chose them because he chose them.

323
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,200
That's it.

324
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:16,200
Israel as a people, they didn't have anything of value intrinsically, right?

325
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:20,040
God didn't choose them because they were strong, because they were smart, because they were

326
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:21,040
rich.

327
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:25,880
God didn't choose them for any other reason because he just, I chose them.

328
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:29,080
And it tells us that he chose them because he loved them.

329
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:34,920
And in his choosing them, because he loved them, he chose them to demonstrate his grace,

330
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:39,960
to bring forth his holy scripture to the world, which is where the Old Testament comes from,

331
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,040
and the authors of the New Testament, most of them are Jewish, right?

332
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:49,840
To bring his promises, his covenants, but specifically and most importantly through

333
00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:54,000
the Jewish nation, through the Jewish people, is where he chose to eventually bring the

334
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,960
Messiah, the savior of all mankind, to be born himself into this world, God in the flesh.

335
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:05,920
And so this whole picture of this woman here and the sun and the moon and the stars, it

336
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,720
all represents the nation of Israel.

337
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:15,040
Verse two, it tells us she was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about

338
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,360
to give birth.

339
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:24,640
Now later on in verse five, we're going to see this woman give birth to a son, a child

340
00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,760
who would then rule all the nations with an iron rod.

341
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:33,400
And when we get there, we'll see that this child in this vision, this symbolic vision

342
00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:37,400
that John is seeing here, this child is representative of the Messiah.

343
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,280
It's representative of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

344
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:47,440
But going back to the idea of this woman being representative of the nation of Israel, we

345
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,240
see that she's pregnant and she's crying out in labor and agony because she's about to

346
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:52,240
give birth.

347
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:59,200
The whole picture here, if you study the Jewish nation, culturally the hope of every Jewish

348
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,000
mother was to give birth to a child.

349
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:09,320
That was the hope, but specifically the big hope was that their child would be the Messiah,

350
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:13,440
that they would be the one to give birth to the Messiah because it was prophesied that

351
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,560
God would come through and be born into the flesh that way.

352
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:22,160
And so every Jewish mother's hope was to not just have a child, which was a huge blessing,

353
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,240
but to give birth to the Messiah himself.

354
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:32,240
Nationally, Israel the nation, man, they hoped for, they longed for the Messiah to come.

355
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:33,880
And that's what we read through the whole Old Testament.

356
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:34,880
They were looking forward.

357
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:40,360
They couldn't wait for the Messiah to come and to redeem them.

358
00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:44,920
Prophetically it's even spoken of in numerous places like Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 says

359
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:50,680
this, for a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will

360
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,900
be on his shoulders.

361
00:22:52,900 --> 00:23:00,240
He will be named wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal father, and prince of peace.

362
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,240
And so they hung on to these prophecies waiting for their Messiah to come.

363
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:11,160
In the New Testament we read when Simeon received Jesus in the temple at Jesus' baby dedication,

364
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,700
it says in Luke chapter 2 verse 34 that he held up the baby and he's like, indeed this

365
00:23:15,700 --> 00:23:22,040
child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will

366
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:23,700
be opposed.

367
00:23:23,700 --> 00:23:30,480
And we've seen that from the time of Jesus until now where most many in the Jewish nation

368
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,840
of the Jewish people reject Jesus as their Messiah.

369
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,120
They don't believe he's the Messiah and so they're still waiting.

370
00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,320
They're still waiting for the Messiah to come.

371
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,880
They're still waiting for their worship of God to be restored which we've talked about

372
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,160
as they're waiting for their temple to be rebuilt on the temple mount so they could

373
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,400
start the sacrifices again so they could do everything that they think they need to do

374
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,800
to make God pleased with them as a nation.

375
00:23:53,800 --> 00:24:00,080
But here this woman that represents the nation of Israel is seen given birth to a child,

376
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,360
the Messiah.

377
00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:07,400
And that's incidentally why this woman can't be representative of the church.

378
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,880
You see the church didn't bring forth Christ.

379
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,320
Christ brought forth the church.

380
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:19,780
So for those that go, no this woman is representative of the church, it doesn't make any sense when

381
00:24:19,780 --> 00:24:23,600
you're following the symbolic representation here because Christ is the one who birthed

382
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,760
the church, right?

383
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:30,240
There was Israel then Christ came and lived and died.

384
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:36,680
And then through his death and his resurrection the church was born where the gospel was presented

385
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:42,520
to everybody and Jew and Gentile both alike were able to come into this covenant of salvation.

386
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:49,280
But verse 3 we're now introduced to the second character of the story here, the dragon.

387
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,120
It says, then another sign appeared in heaven.

388
00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:57,820
There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and on its heads

389
00:24:57,820 --> 00:25:00,040
were seven crowns.

390
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,320
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.

391
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,620
And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she

392
00:25:07,620 --> 00:25:12,080
did give birth it might devour her child.

393
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,160
And so we talked about the woman.

394
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,300
Now who is this?

395
00:25:17,300 --> 00:25:20,120
Who is this great fiery dragon represented of?

396
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:24,480
Well we don't have to work really hard or speculate too much on this because later on

397
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:29,440
in verse 9 of Revelation chapter 12 it says, so the great dragon was thrown out, the ancient

398
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:34,320
serpent who is called the devil and Satan.

399
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:35,320
So who's the dragon?

400
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:36,320
Satan, right?

401
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,200
We don't have to argue about that one.

402
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:43,360
And then it says in verse 9 of Revelation 12, the one who deceives the whole world and

403
00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:46,160
it says he was thrown to the earth and his angels with him.

404
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:51,120
So that phrase his angels with him is connected back here to verse 4 where we see that his

405
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:56,000
the tail of this great fiery red dragon swept away a third of the stars.

406
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,380
And that word stars there is used in other places to reference angels, to reference these

407
00:26:00,380 --> 00:26:02,520
supernatural heavenly beings.

408
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,480
And so that's where we get the idea that in his rebellion, this is incidentally the only

409
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:12,000
place that we get that idea that a third of the angels fell with Satan, that a third went

410
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:13,260
with him in his rebellion.

411
00:26:13,260 --> 00:26:17,680
And so they were swept away to the earth in that rebellion with Satan.

412
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:24,400
And so here we have this woman representative of the nation of Israel about to give birth

413
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,080
to her child, the Messiah, which was the plan from the very beginning.

414
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:29,540
We'll talk about that later.

415
00:26:29,540 --> 00:26:34,140
And then we have this dragon who apparently hates this woman and is ready just waiting

416
00:26:34,140 --> 00:26:38,360
for that child to be born so he could devour the child.

417
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,720
Now you'll notice there in verse 3 it says then another sign.

418
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,480
Notice what that word sign is.

419
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:47,760
Great symbolic display.

420
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,240
It's the same word we already saw for the woman.

421
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:57,040
So we see Satan is portrayed symbolically as a great fiery red dragon.

422
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:03,040
Now I mean this whole thing is playing out like a really intricate Dungeons and Dragons

423
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,040
campaign.

424
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:09,280
I mean it's just these pictures of this stuff.

425
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,360
And he uses the word great fiery red dragon.

426
00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:15,480
That word great means remarkable in degree or magnitude.

427
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:21,840
It's like truly these things he's seeing are truly magnificent, truly huge, truly inspiring

428
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:22,840
in that sense.

429
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:28,800
And so as a dragon, he's called a dragon because I believe it's representative of his personality,

430
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,520
who he is in his core.

431
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,560
He is called many things in scripture.

432
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:40,020
Satan, he's called a serpent, he's called a devouring lion, and here he's called this

433
00:27:40,020 --> 00:27:42,000
great fiery red dragon.

434
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:49,080
And I believe that's just kind of one of the most ferocious pictures of who Satan is that

435
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,200
can be brought up, this dragon.

436
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:57,900
Because historically dragons, if you go through different cultures, histories and stuff, oftentimes

437
00:27:57,900 --> 00:28:05,680
dragons are represented as ferocious, terrifying, destructive monsters.

438
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:10,240
They're not necessarily these cute, like the one we have in our foyer, cute little blue

439
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,260
dragon with puppy dog eyes, right?

440
00:28:12,260 --> 00:28:15,600
That's not typically how dragons are representative in culture.

441
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:21,600
And specifically, it's using this idea of fiery red to indicate the destructive nature

442
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:22,600
of fire.

443
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:29,040
And biblically, the color red is often associated with bloodshed and violence.

444
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,360
And so we see that even in fantasy literature.

445
00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:38,160
There's fantasy literature that will represent different colors of dragons.

446
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,600
You have blue dragons, black dragons, and green dragons and stuff.

447
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:48,600
But in fantasy literature, the red dragon is often the archetype of the really, really

448
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:50,800
bad evil dragons, right?

449
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,840
And so that's what we see here.

450
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,960
And then that color red even harkens back to the red horse of Revelation 6, which is

451
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,480
the horse that brought war and death and killing and all of that.

452
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:07,120
And so this red, great fiery red dragon, it says it has seven heads and 10 horns, and

453
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,480
there are seven crowns sitting on those seven heads.

454
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,480
And again, this is a great symbolic display.

455
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,160
So what is it representative of?

456
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,040
Well, the multiple heads and all of that are tied to numbers.

457
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:23,960
And if you remember, the number seven biblically is often a number that represents completeness.

458
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,200
It represents the totality of something.

459
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,600
And so in chapter one, we saw the seven lampstands, right?

460
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,160
And there was a complete picture of the church represented there.

461
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:39,360
And so these seven heads is likely representative of his intelligence.

462
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:40,680
That's the idea of the head.

463
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,800
It's a word that refers to that, your brain, your thinking capacity.

464
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:51,440
And so the idea here is it's a complete picture of his full, total intellect and his thinking

465
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:52,440
there.

466
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:56,200
The idea is that the devil is not a dummy.

467
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,480
And sometimes we can think that, right?

468
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,760
Oh, he's just a big dummy, and he's not.

469
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:10,120
Satan is incredibly intelligent, incredibly intelligent.

470
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:14,940
He's been studying humanity since the very beginning.

471
00:30:14,940 --> 00:30:17,040
On top of that, he's cunning.

472
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,040
He's devious.

473
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:20,800
He's sly.

474
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:22,920
He's a master manipulator.

475
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,680
He's the best liar.

476
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:30,520
He's so intelligent and devious in all these ways that we read in Jude, even Michael the

477
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:36,440
Archangel, it says, dared not bring an accusation against him.

478
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,840
But instead said, the Lord rebuke you.

479
00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:43,920
Now, this is me speculating here, but I think a part of that was because you bring any accusation

480
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,760
against the devil, man, he's going to spin it.

481
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,720
He's smart enough to spin it in a way where you're going to like, oh, yeah, maybe you're

482
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,440
the victim.

483
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,880
That's speculation on my part.

484
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,540
But the idea is don't think you're going to outsmart the devil.

485
00:30:59,540 --> 00:31:03,400
This is one of the ideas of us dealing with temptation and trials in our lives.

486
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,060
Don't think you're going to outsmart the devil.

487
00:31:06,060 --> 00:31:09,000
You're not going to win in a chess match with him.

488
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,680
You're not going to figure it out and in your own intellect go, okay, I got him.

489
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:13,680
I tricked him.

490
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:14,680
You're not going to do that.

491
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:16,640
The devil's smarter than you.

492
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,800
Now, God is greater.

493
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:23,240
Amen, hallelujah, but we're not there yet, okay?

494
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,680
But he says there's seven crowns on those seven heads.

495
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:30,920
And again, since seven is a picture of totality and crowns are representing here the idea

496
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:36,340
of a local type of authority and rulership, that it's a picture of his total authority

497
00:31:36,340 --> 00:31:37,440
over his kingdom.

498
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:43,320
And so what it's telling us here is that this intelligent dragon has a kingdom that he has

499
00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,160
total authority over.

500
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:47,840
And that's an interesting picture.

501
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:52,680
You know, the Bible tells us that he's the prince of the power of the air, that in this

502
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,720
age he kind of has rulership over the earth.

503
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:56,720
Why?

504
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,240
Because man gave it to him in the garden.

505
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:04,640
And so he's been harassing mankind ever since and using his authority in this world to harass

506
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:09,400
not just mankind, but harass Israel specifically and Christians specifically.

507
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,720
And so he has authority.

508
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,280
He has a kingdom.

509
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:16,480
And during the tribulation period, we're going to see that kingdom kind of coalesce into

510
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,880
a very visible, obvious thing.

511
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:21,560
And that is when we get to the ten horns here.

512
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:22,560
Ten horns.

513
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:27,280
And these are biblically something that is often representative of strength, right?

514
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,680
So it's representing his strength.

515
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:37,040
Animals were often said, especially in the cultural context of Jewish thinking, the strength

516
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,640
of an animal was in its horns was the idea, right?

517
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:44,760
We kind of get that today when we see those of you that are hunters, you know, and if

518
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:49,320
you hunt bucks, you know, the greater the antlers of the buck, the more majestic, the

519
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,960
more powerful that buck is considered to be, probably because if it hit you with those

520
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,160
antlers, it could cut you in half.

521
00:32:55,160 --> 00:33:01,080
But still, it's like this great, you know, the antlers, the bigger they are, the more

522
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:08,320
magnificent they are, the greater the trophy when you take down that buck, right?

523
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:13,640
Well ten horns could be a reference to the ten nations that are then banded together

524
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,580
to form the global government during the tribulation time.

525
00:33:17,580 --> 00:33:23,800
This ten nation coalition that Satan has control of, and so the idea of ten horns here could

526
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:29,840
be a picture of Satan's strength being in this global government that comes together

527
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:31,600
that Satan has total authority over.

528
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:33,720
It is his strength during this time.

529
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:38,280
It's how he's able to do what he does during the tribulation period.

530
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:44,700
But it's an interesting note that the devil's kingdom, the devil's authority, even as it's

531
00:33:44,700 --> 00:33:48,640
said in Ephesians that he's the prince of the power of the air, his authority is in

532
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:50,360
this earth.

533
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:54,520
His authority is on this earth, and again, like I said, because man gave it to him.

534
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:57,200
We gave it to him in the garden.

535
00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,880
We traded it to him for what we thought was going to be knowledge of good and evil, that

536
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,240
we were going to be as smart as God was, and he tricked us.

537
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,440
He tricked mankind.

538
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,600
Surprise surprise.

539
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:13,320
The devil never tells you the truth, or only tells you enough of the truth to lead you

540
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,800
into doing something stupid.

541
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,240
But he's a deceiver.

542
00:34:18,240 --> 00:34:20,440
That's who he is.

543
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:29,440
And so this picture here, although his true nature, his true character is one of a horrid,

544
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,800
devastating creature of destruction, and that's what's being pictured here in this great fiery

545
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:34,860
red dragon.

546
00:34:34,860 --> 00:34:38,880
We know that in our age of grace now, and the Bible tells us that, it's often during

547
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,340
this age through his clever disguises that he's most effective, right?

548
00:34:43,340 --> 00:34:47,160
During tribulation, he's going to pull the mask off.

549
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:51,960
He's going to come straight out and be like, you know, hey, worship me as God.

550
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:52,960
We'll talk about that in a little bit.

551
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:53,960
I'm getting ahead of myself.

552
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:59,560
But point is, is during this time, we have to know that although the devil, well, we

553
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,960
have to know that the devil is this horrid, destructive, terrible monster, regardless

554
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,920
of how he presents himself to us.

555
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:12,160
Because in this age, he presents himself as, as the Bible says, an angel of light.

556
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:18,040
He comes to us with, with subtle temptations.

557
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,200
He doesn't come right out and say, I am the devil and I want to destroy your marriage.

558
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:23,320
And so you know what?

559
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:24,320
Do this.

560
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:25,320
No, no.

561
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:30,040
What he says is, oh, wow, you know, that guy at work, he's just so nice and understanding

562
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,120
and he listens like your husband doesn't.

563
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:34,680
Maybe you should talk to him more.

564
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,680
He's subtle in his manipulations.

565
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,400
He'll come to you and say, look, I know you had a struggle with alcohol before, but one

566
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:44,120
drink won't, won't cause a problem.

567
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:49,240
He doesn't come out and say, I want you to die from liver failure.

568
00:35:49,240 --> 00:35:56,000
He's subtle in this age, but we have to understand that underneath that facade, wow, we're getting

569
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,160
a picture of it right here.

570
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:06,520
Beneath his, his disguise as an angel of light is this horrible, disgusting, evil wickedness

571
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,880
that wants nothing more than to destroy you.

572
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,560
And he's going to lie to you and he's going to manipulate you and he's going to make you

573
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:18,360
think the bad things are good things.

574
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:23,960
And the only way you're going to be able to stand against that is through Jesus Christ.

575
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:29,080
It's through being grounded in the word of God to be able to discern the difference.

576
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:33,280
Verse four, it tells us this dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give

577
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,480
birth so that when she did give birth, it might devour her child.

578
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:42,920
So Satan, this, this great fiery red dragon hates this woman Israel.

579
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:43,920
Why?

580
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,960
Because of this child, because of this child.

581
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:52,760
It's in Satan's mind from the very beginning of all things.

582
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:58,960
If I can destroy this nation, I can destroy the plan of God.

583
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:00,620
That was Satan's goal from the beginning.

584
00:37:00,620 --> 00:37:01,620
That's his plan.

585
00:37:01,620 --> 00:37:07,660
And he thought, if I could destroy this nation and destroy God's plan, well then I make that

586
00:37:07,660 --> 00:37:16,840
self-righteous God a liar because he promised a messianic kingdom to this nation, this Jewish

587
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:17,840
nation.

588
00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:19,760
He promised a messiah to the world.

589
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:23,760
And so, you know, this nation, this nation Israel, it's connected to all of it.

590
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:25,560
It's connected to all of redemptive history.

591
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:32,240
So if I can mess that up, then I made God a liar.

592
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:38,080
And so he's been endeavoring to wipe them out, to prevent the child, to outsmart God,

593
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:39,080
to mess up his plan.

594
00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:40,600
And again, follow me here.

595
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,080
We go all the way back to Genesis chapter three, right?

596
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,040
God created man and woman in his image.

597
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,080
He placed them in the Garden of Eden in paradise.

598
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,880
Gave them everything they wanted, right?

599
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:53,840
Didn't have to wake up to go to work.

600
00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:54,840
Paradise.

601
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,280
Didn't have to pay bills.

602
00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:58,280
Paradise.

603
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:02,600
Didn't have to name their car so it would start in the morning.

604
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:03,600
Paradise.

605
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:08,720
Come on, Betsy, you can do it.

606
00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:09,720
Everything was perfect.

607
00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:10,720
Perfect.

608
00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:13,320
God said, it's all yours.

609
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:14,320
Just one thing.

610
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:16,600
Don't eat of that tree.

611
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:18,600
Okay.

612
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:19,880
Certain serpent comes in.

613
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:20,880
What does he do?

614
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,400
Why did God tell you that?

615
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,280
He's trying to hide something from you.

616
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,040
He knows when you eat of that tree, you'll have knowledge like him.

617
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:32,080
I mean, God's being a little selfish.

618
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:33,920
Isn't he withholding from you?

619
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,280
Didn't he tell you everything in this garden is yours?

620
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:44,720
So he tricks Adam and Eve, entices them into sin, and that's the fall of mankind as disobedience

621
00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:47,880
to God brought sin and death into the world.

622
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,840
And then after that, God made a promise to Satan in Genesis 3.15.

623
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:57,520
He said, I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and

624
00:38:57,520 --> 00:38:59,180
her offspring.

625
00:38:59,180 --> 00:39:03,600
And he will strike your head and you will strike his heel.

626
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:08,480
What that phrase means is like, look, he's gonna have, her offspring will have a minor

627
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:10,280
setback, right?

628
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:11,440
Death.

629
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:13,160
He died on the cross.

630
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:17,720
But you are gonna have a major defeat because he's gonna rise from the dead and defeat your

631
00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:18,720
power forever.

632
00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:19,720
Right?

633
00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:20,720
That's the idea there.

634
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:26,320
And Satan goes, well, Genesis 4.

635
00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,400
Cain and Abel are the kids.

636
00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:30,240
Abel's the righteous one.

637
00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:32,960
So I'm gonna influence Cain to kill Abel.

638
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:34,560
And we know that story, right?

639
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,760
Abel was righteous before God.

640
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:38,820
He worshiped God according to God's ways.

641
00:39:38,820 --> 00:39:40,360
God accepted his sacrifice.

642
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,240
Cain tried to worship God according to Cain's own methods.

643
00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:44,880
God said, no, no, no, you have to do it my way.

644
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:46,320
You have to be obedient to my ways.

645
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:47,960
And Cain got mad, killed Abel.

646
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:48,960
Why?

647
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,680
Because he didn't think he was encouraged by Satan to do so.

648
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:55,520
And Satan's like, problem solved, took out the offspring.

649
00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:59,840
There is gonna be no seed that's gonna crush my head anymore.

650
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:00,840
Cain kills Abel.

651
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:01,840
Abel's dead.

652
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:02,840
Cain gets cursed.

653
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:04,040
Aha, they're all out of the picture.

654
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:06,360
And what is Satan thinking?

655
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,920
I just averted the one who was gonna crush my head.

656
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,480
Hallelujah.

657
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:13,960
But then God raises up another line through Seth.

658
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,920
And so on and so forth, we get to Genesis 6.

659
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:19,880
The whole world is getting populated.

660
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,000
Satan's going, hmm, what do I do about this?

661
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:27,760
So he inspires such wickedness, such corruption, such violence on earth that God decides to

662
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:32,800
wipe out the entire population of earth except for eight people that he sustains through

663
00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:34,860
the ark.

664
00:40:34,860 --> 00:40:36,440
They survive the flood.

665
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:42,560
They then go on to repopulate the earth and new civilization comes up.

666
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:48,760
Then we get to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis chapter 27, right?

667
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,120
Jacob is the one that the seed, the line is gonna come through.

668
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:52,120
And guess what?

669
00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,920
One day his brother Esau wants to murder him.

670
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:56,320
Wants to murder him.

671
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:59,880
And I believe it was Satan that inspired Esau to want to kill Jacob because Jacob was in

672
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:02,280
the line of the offspring of promise.

673
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:06,000
But it didn't happen.

674
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,160
Then we get to Exodus chapter 1, Pharaoh.

675
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:11,860
All the male Hebrew children should be murdered.

676
00:41:11,860 --> 00:41:14,260
Kill them all.

677
00:41:14,260 --> 00:41:15,260
Kill them all.

678
00:41:15,260 --> 00:41:16,260
If it's a girl, let her live.

679
00:41:16,260 --> 00:41:19,600
But if it's a boy, throw it in the Nile and let it drown.

680
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:21,240
Wow.

681
00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:25,240
I think again, inspired by Satan to destroy the Jewish race, right?

682
00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:28,280
Because without the males, there's no continuance of the race here.

683
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:32,120
And if there's no continuance of the race, there's no seed.

684
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:33,720
So the Messiah can't come.

685
00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:36,920
The one who's gonna crush my head can't be born if I have Pharaoh murder all the male

686
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:37,920
children.

687
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:44,880
Well, then we have one wonderful mom who says, ah, hides her child.

688
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:46,600
Then we get Moses and the line continues.

689
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:47,600
And we keep going through scripture.

690
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:52,120
And then we read passages in 1 Samuel where King Saul wanted to kill David.

691
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:53,120
He hated David.

692
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:54,120
He hated David.

693
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,160
The people loved David.

694
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:59,800
The king of the land, the most powerful man in the nation wanted to kill David.

695
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:00,800
Why?

696
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:03,320
Well again, David was a part of the royal line.

697
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,080
And so Satan wanted to wipe it out.

698
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:10,800
God's promised already at this point that all his hope would be found in the offspring.

699
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:12,480
And that offspring was gonna come through David.

700
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:13,960
And Satan's like, so wipe him out.

701
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:15,080
Get the king to kill David.

702
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:16,080
But he can't.

703
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,680
And then the histories keep going on.

704
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:21,960
And we get to this really crazy story in 2 Kings 11.

705
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,240
And it's also recorded in 2 Chronicles 22.

706
00:42:25,240 --> 00:42:28,200
In this story, you have a king named Ahaziah.

707
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,400
King Ahaziah dies.

708
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:37,040
And his wife, or I'm sorry, his mother Athalia decides, I'm gonna murder all the royal heirs

709
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:38,600
in the line of Judah here.

710
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:43,040
I'm gonna murder all of them.

711
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:47,080
And if all of the people in the royal line died, guess what?

712
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:48,520
That would include David's line.

713
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:52,400
That would include the line and no offspring.

714
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:58,400
And so all in the royal, all of the royal heirs are murdered except one named Joash.

715
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,520
One little baby.

716
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:04,080
Joash it tells us is hidden away until he's seven.

717
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:05,080
Think about that.

718
00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:09,440
There was a point in history where the redemption of all of mankind, past, present, and future,

719
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:15,040
God's promise, his kingdom, everything hinged on one little baby boy.

720
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:18,680
One little baby boy, but God protects, doesn't he?

721
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:19,680
God preserves.

722
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:25,020
And Joash emerges as a king and the promised lineage continues.

723
00:43:25,020 --> 00:43:29,440
And then we get back up to Revelation chapter 12, five here where it says she gave birth

724
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:30,440
to a son.

725
00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:37,640
So through the nation of Israel, through the lineage, through the promises, God has the

726
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:41,040
woman here, the nation produced the offspring.

727
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:45,600
And so this dragon is trying to kill her back in history before the offspring came, trying

728
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,520
to wipe out the Jewish race, but he couldn't.

729
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,400
And then the Messiah is born.

730
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,120
Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem.

731
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:55,320
And you go into the beginning of the gospels, right?

732
00:43:55,320 --> 00:44:01,480
Those first couple chapters that most of you probably skip over because they're genealogies.

733
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:02,880
Why do I want to read a list of names?

734
00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:04,040
That's boring.

735
00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:10,680
Because it tells us that Jesus is a part of the line all the way back to the promise.

736
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:14,420
As soon as the offspring was born, the devil's strategy shifted.

737
00:44:14,420 --> 00:44:17,760
Since I couldn't prevent the Messiah from being born, I'm going to devour the child.

738
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:18,760
I'm going to kill the child.

739
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,760
And so what does he do?

740
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:21,760
Herod.

741
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:22,760
Herod.

742
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:25,160
He killed all the baby boys under two, murdered.

743
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:26,800
All the baby boys, right?

744
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:28,040
You guys know the story.

745
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:33,840
A satanic attempt to destroy the offspring.

746
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:36,600
But Jesus is saved and his parents flee to Egypt and they come back later.

747
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:38,940
So Jesus is preserved and he grows up.

748
00:44:38,940 --> 00:44:41,880
The Messiah.

749
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:45,720
Then after he's baptized, it tells us that Satan himself took him to the pinnacle of

750
00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:46,720
the temple.

751
00:44:46,720 --> 00:44:48,440
And he said, hey, Jesus, why don't you jump off the temple?

752
00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:51,120
I'm going to misquote some scripture to you talking about how God's going to save you

753
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:54,680
and you're not even going to be able to stub your toe.

754
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:58,400
Trying to trick Jesus into committing suicide.

755
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:00,100
Stop the salvation of the world.

756
00:45:00,100 --> 00:45:01,100
What did Jesus say?

757
00:45:01,100 --> 00:45:04,600
I'm going to paraphrase.

758
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,320
Okay?

759
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:10,560
Luke 4.

760
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:13,200
Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth, right?

761
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:17,440
Where he reads that scroll, he reads from Isaiah and he basically effectively proclaims

762
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:19,840
to all those gathered there, look, I'm the Messiah.

763
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:21,080
I'm God's chosen one.

764
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:22,440
I'm the one that was prophesied.

765
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:23,760
What does it tell us in that story?

766
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,040
They took him out to the edge of a hill that the city was built on and they wanted to throw

767
00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:28,040
him over.

768
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,800
They wanted to kill him for blasphemy.

769
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:32,280
But the story tells us that he passed right through them.

770
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:35,680
They were like, where'd he go?

771
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:37,080
Jesus continues to live.

772
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:45,080
Satan did everything he could to prevent the birth of the seed, the birth of the offspring,

773
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:47,000
the birth of the child of promise.

774
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:52,760
And then failing to prevent it, he did everything he could to devour that child, to kill him

775
00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:59,100
before he did his redemptive work by laying down his life on the altar of atonement, by

776
00:45:59,100 --> 00:46:01,580
dying on the cross for the sins of the whole world.

777
00:46:01,580 --> 00:46:03,920
And after all his failures, because guess what?

778
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:04,920
Jesus died.

779
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:06,260
The devil celebrated.

780
00:46:06,260 --> 00:46:07,260
We did it.

781
00:46:07,260 --> 00:46:12,440
Wait a second.

782
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:17,600
And we have the thing we celebrate every year on Resurrection Sunday, that he came back from

783
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:19,040
the dead.

784
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:20,440
Amen.

785
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,080
Absolutely.

786
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:27,360
After all his failures, he still persists in afflicting the woman, however.

787
00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:31,840
Because again, God promised that in the end, and in the end times picture of things, that

788
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:36,640
Jesus himself, the savior of mankind, he would use Israel, the nation, as chosen people to

789
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:38,640
rule and reign from.

790
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:42,360
The Bible tells us geographically that during the millennial kingdom, he's going to reign

791
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:46,760
from Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

792
00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:50,880
He's going to fulfill all the promises to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

793
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:54,040
He's going to fulfill all the promises to the 12 tribes he's made.

794
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:55,160
He's going to restore them.

795
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:56,640
It's going to be beautiful.

796
00:46:56,640 --> 00:47:04,280
So after the plan that Satan had after the birth of Jesus was, well, if I couldn't stop

797
00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:08,760
him from being born, and I couldn't kill him while he was here, and I couldn't do anything

798
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:11,160
about his redemption of all mankind, well guess what?

799
00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:16,320
Then I'm going to wipe out the entire nation that he's supposed to rule from so there can't

800
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:19,040
be a messianic kingdom.

801
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:23,160
And that's what we've seen over the course of history.

802
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:27,640
And not just the Jews, but any and all who become part of the kingdom of God, any and

803
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:32,240
all who are part of the future inheritors of God's kingdom, he wants to wipe them all

804
00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:34,480
out.

805
00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:36,320
He wants to kill them all.

806
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:43,800
Jews particularly have faced intense, concentrated ethnic extermination multiple times in history.

807
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:44,800
Multiple times.

808
00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:49,360
The nation as a group has, people have tried to wipe them out.

809
00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:50,360
You had Pharaoh.

810
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:52,920
We talked about that, right?

811
00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:58,120
There's another story where Haman tried to wipe out genocide the whole nation in the

812
00:47:58,120 --> 00:47:59,700
Old Testament.

813
00:47:59,700 --> 00:48:04,880
In the 1350s, the Black Plague was raging around Europe.

814
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:08,520
And so they blamed it on Jews.

815
00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:13,840
Fifty percent of the Jewish population was murdered during that time.

816
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:17,920
Then of course, in most recent history we know of Hitler and the Holocaust, round up

817
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:22,640
all the Jews, wipe them out.

818
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:23,880
Satan inspired.

819
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:26,000
Satan inspired.

820
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:29,880
The point is, is whatever God loves, Satan hates.

821
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:32,240
Whatever God loves, Satan hates.

822
00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:38,000
If it's chosen by God, the devil's going to come against it.

823
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:39,860
The devil is going to attack.

824
00:48:39,860 --> 00:48:46,520
And this will be readily and aggressively and terribly seen during the tribulation period.

825
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:51,800
Specifically when we get to that three and a half year mark, where the abomination of

826
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:55,880
desolation happens and the Antichrist who made a peace treaty with them breaks that

827
00:48:55,880 --> 00:49:00,520
treaty, enters the temple, says, I'm God, worship me, desecrates the place.

828
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:02,440
And that's what we read here in verse six.

829
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:07,120
It said the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God to be

830
00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:09,640
nourished there for how many?

831
00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:11,640
1260 days.

832
00:49:11,640 --> 00:49:16,920
1260 days is incidentally three and a half years.

833
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,400
So we've looked all the way back in time.

834
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:21,800
We've seen Satan's fall.

835
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:23,440
He took a third of the angels with him.

836
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:27,360
We've seen him corrupt in the garden.

837
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:28,720
We've seen him attack.

838
00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:33,960
We've seen him come against God and everything God loves over and over and over.

839
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:36,600
And then we come all the way forward through time.

840
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:40,920
We came through the preservation of Israel and we come past the redemption plan of the

841
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:45,840
Messiah being born, the Savior being born and dying on the cross and all of that, that

842
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:50,680
means him living and dying to pay the price for the sins of all who would call upon his

843
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:51,680
name.

844
00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:52,680
Hallelujah.

845
00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:57,320
Him being the only means for salvation and forgiveness and freedom from sin, all of that.

846
00:49:57,320 --> 00:50:01,960
And that is what is available today to all who would call on the name of Christ.

847
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:06,800
But as we're looking in Revelation, we've come through the age of grace.

848
00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:12,040
We've come through the six trumpet judgment or seal judgments or seven seal judgments.

849
00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:16,680
We've come through the trumpet judgments and we've come all the way up to the seventh trumpet

850
00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:24,560
as John is going, okay, let me step back and just see a panorama of what this is all about.

851
00:50:24,560 --> 00:50:29,640
And we're coming up to this last 1,260 days now here in verse six of Revelation 12, a

852
00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:33,560
time that the Bible refers to as Jacob's trouble.

853
00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:35,280
Why?

854
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:38,400
Because Israel is being persecuted.

855
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,260
Jews are being persecuted like they never have.

856
00:50:41,260 --> 00:50:45,960
And during this last three and a half years, we're going to see Satan trying to fully and

857
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:53,480
finally and completely destroy the Jews in a way that's never happened before.

858
00:50:53,480 --> 00:51:00,000
And that's why it says this woman flees, Israel flees, but she is nourished there by God for

859
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:02,120
1,260 days.

860
00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:07,080
That last three and a half years of this 70th week of Daniel, this time referred to as the

861
00:51:07,080 --> 00:51:11,000
great tribulation.

862
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:14,680
But after that, there's a second coming of Christ, we're going to get there, the millennial

863
00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:15,920
kingdom, we're going to get there.

864
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:18,320
But let's close real fast with the third character.

865
00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:20,440
So we have the woman, we had the dragon.

866
00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:22,440
Now we have the child and I've referenced that a little bit.

867
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:24,880
Look at verse five again, just back up one verse for me.

868
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:30,880
It says she gave birth to a son, a male who's going to rule all nations with an iron rod.

869
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:33,540
Her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

870
00:51:33,540 --> 00:51:41,900
So as I've already stated, this child is the Messiah, the Savior of all mankind, born out

871
00:51:41,900 --> 00:51:47,540
of the nation of Israel, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the one whom Satan tried to

872
00:51:47,540 --> 00:51:55,140
prevent from coming, the one who Satan tried to destroy before he could die as the sacrifice.

873
00:51:55,140 --> 00:51:58,920
He's a male going to rule all the nations with an iron rod.

874
00:51:58,920 --> 00:52:02,880
Again, this harkens back to that prophecy at Isaiah 9,6.

875
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:07,240
It says for a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government

876
00:52:07,240 --> 00:52:11,880
will be on his shoulders.

877
00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:23,840
This iron rod is the idea that His rule will be absolute, His rule will be final.

878
00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:27,720
When the kingdom of God comes, it's done, it's forever.

879
00:52:27,720 --> 00:52:33,760
And so this child that this woman gave birth to becomes the King of Kings.

880
00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:38,520
The Lord of Lords is what the Bible keeps teaching us and talking about.

881
00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:43,200
Satan tried to stop Him from being a born, couldn't do it, tried to stop Him from accomplishing

882
00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:48,480
redemption on the cross, couldn't do it, tried to perhaps stop Him from rising from the dead,

883
00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:51,480
couldn't do it.

884
00:52:51,480 --> 00:52:56,440
Neither could He stop Jesus from rising from the dead and then ascending to heaven as we

885
00:52:56,440 --> 00:53:02,400
see here that her child was caught up to God and His throne.

886
00:53:02,400 --> 00:53:08,880
And Satan will not, under any circumstances, be able to stop His rule over all the earth.

887
00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:11,080
This is good news, people.

888
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:13,640
This is great news.

889
00:53:13,640 --> 00:53:19,520
This is fantastic news, you know, but today in the midst of all the temptations we face

890
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:25,440
and the discouragements that come our way, in the face of all the voices telling us give

891
00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:32,160
up, quit, it's too hard, saying it's never going to get better, the voices that might

892
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:35,440
try and speak into our lives and say, God doesn't love you.

893
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:36,880
What a failure you are.

894
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:41,080
Look at how bad you are in the face of all of that.

895
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:44,400
Read the end of the book.

896
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:46,780
God wins.

897
00:53:46,780 --> 00:53:47,780
God has redeemed you.

898
00:53:47,780 --> 00:53:53,800
If you've put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are redeemed.

899
00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:57,760
You're redeemed, you're saved now and forever.

900
00:53:57,760 --> 00:53:59,760
God loves you.

901
00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:08,000
And that is incidentally why Satan hates you so much and why he comes against you so much.

902
00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:11,680
Satan is a defeated foe.

903
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:12,680
Yes he's intelligent.

904
00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:15,600
Yes he's smart.

905
00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:18,320
Yes he has a loud bark.

906
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:20,720
Yes he can be scary at times.

907
00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:21,720
All of that is true.

908
00:54:21,720 --> 00:54:27,040
Yes, a third of the angels fell with him and that's a lot of angels that are now demons.

909
00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:31,120
But as we've said before, that means two thirds of the angels didn't fall.

910
00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:34,080
That tells us that Satan and his army is outnumbered two to one.

911
00:54:34,080 --> 00:54:38,520
What do we have to be afraid of?

912
00:54:38,520 --> 00:54:45,600
But more importantly, Christian, you have God on your side.

913
00:54:45,600 --> 00:54:51,120
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

914
00:54:51,120 --> 00:54:53,800
Yes, you will be attacked.

915
00:54:53,800 --> 00:54:55,840
Yes, you will be harassed.

916
00:54:55,840 --> 00:55:02,160
Just like the woman we've seen here has been attacked, is being attacked, will be attacked.

917
00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:06,400
And we'll get to more details of that as we move through these chapters here when we see

918
00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:12,200
the abomination of desolation and the desecration of the temple and all of that.

919
00:55:12,200 --> 00:55:14,160
We know God protects.

920
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:20,040
We know God preserves because we see it here in Revelation chapter 12.

921
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:25,600
But most importantly, then all of that is he glorifies those who trust in him.

922
00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:28,400
We are saved.

923
00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:31,400
But here and now today, yeah, we need to know our enemy.

924
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:33,500
We find victory in that, right?

925
00:55:33,500 --> 00:55:35,920
We need to know who Satan is, who he really is.

926
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:39,720
We need to know his aims, his lies, his deceptions.

927
00:55:39,720 --> 00:55:43,280
And we only know those things by knowing the truth.

928
00:55:43,280 --> 00:55:46,720
That's why we got to study the word and read the Bible.

929
00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:51,440
This whole thing cover to cover that God gave us that is his revealed will.

930
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:54,240
We have to study all of it and read all of it.

931
00:55:54,240 --> 00:55:56,840
Not just highlighting a few verses.

932
00:55:56,840 --> 00:55:57,840
That's good.

933
00:55:57,840 --> 00:55:58,840
Highlight verses.

934
00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:01,200
Memorize verses.

935
00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:03,240
But not just that.

936
00:56:03,240 --> 00:56:04,240
Is to read all of it.

937
00:56:04,240 --> 00:56:05,640
That's why we teach through all of it.

938
00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:08,060
That's why we study through all of it.

939
00:56:08,060 --> 00:56:11,040
That's why we deal with every single verse because we want to know everything God has

940
00:56:11,040 --> 00:56:18,500
to say to us about who he is, about who we are, about who our enemy is so that we can

941
00:56:18,500 --> 00:56:23,000
fight victoriously as we learn our enemy's strategies and what he tries to do and we

942
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:24,480
learn how to avoid those things.

943
00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:28,480
We learn how to win when the temptations come today.

944
00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:31,920
And not only that, we're then equipped to go out and fight and to share the gospel and

945
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:36,040
to be a part of bringing the light into this dark world.

946
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:43,240
But all along the way Satan is trying to destroy you because God loves you.

947
00:56:43,240 --> 00:56:46,560
And so don't be deceived by the angel of light.

948
00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:49,040
Don't be deceived by his temptations and his lures.

949
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:52,700
See past his disguises.

950
00:56:52,700 --> 00:56:53,760
See him for what he is.

951
00:56:53,760 --> 00:56:57,240
A great fiery red dragon of death and destruction.

952
00:56:57,240 --> 00:57:03,880
A terrible monster who wants to destroy you and to destroy your life.

953
00:57:03,880 --> 00:57:05,880
And pray.

954
00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:07,840
Pray.

955
00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:09,120
Cling to God.

956
00:57:09,120 --> 00:57:13,300
Cling to the one who could protect you and preserve you and provide for your needs and

957
00:57:13,300 --> 00:57:15,960
your life.

958
00:57:15,960 --> 00:57:19,320
You might remember a story when Jesus came to Peter one day.

959
00:57:19,320 --> 00:57:22,960
And I can't imagine this happening, it would scare me.

960
00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:27,560
He goes, hey Peter, bro, the devil's been asking for you lately.

961
00:57:27,560 --> 00:57:32,200
Why do you need to tell me that Jesus?

962
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:33,920
Keep that to yourself, alright?

963
00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:35,880
Come on.

964
00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:37,640
The devil has been asking for you lately.

965
00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:41,980
He wants to sift you like wheat, Peter.

966
00:57:41,980 --> 00:57:46,440
And I imagine Peter was probably nervous at that moment.

967
00:57:46,440 --> 00:57:50,040
But I love what Jesus said to Peter.

968
00:57:50,040 --> 00:57:52,880
But I have prayed for you.

969
00:57:52,880 --> 00:57:54,240
I have prayed for you.

970
00:57:54,240 --> 00:57:58,080
And that is where our ultimate defense lies.

971
00:57:58,080 --> 00:57:59,600
Not in what, but who?

972
00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:01,680
Jesus Christ.

973
00:58:01,680 --> 00:58:02,780
Our hope.

974
00:58:02,780 --> 00:58:03,780
Our Lord.

975
00:58:03,780 --> 00:58:04,780
Our Savior.

976
00:58:04,780 --> 00:58:06,040
Our everything.

977
00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:12,840
And as we are quickly hurtling towards difficult and dark times in our world, and as we know

978
00:58:12,840 --> 00:58:20,000
reading this book what is to come, and as we live every day attacked by Satan and his

979
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:25,720
demons, we know we win.

980
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:27,080
We know we have victory.

981
00:58:27,080 --> 00:58:28,360
Walk in that.

982
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:29,360
Trust in that.

983
00:58:29,360 --> 00:58:32,920
Even in the moment where you're like, this doesn't feel like victory, I'm not quite sure

984
00:58:32,920 --> 00:58:33,920
what's going on.

985
00:58:33,920 --> 00:58:35,440
Trust God.

986
00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:37,600
Because we know the end of the book, amen?

987
00:58:37,600 --> 00:58:38,600
Let's pray.

988
00:58:38,600 --> 00:58:44,560
Father God, we love you so much.

989
00:58:44,560 --> 00:58:48,120
Lord we're so grateful for your plan of redemption.

990
00:58:48,120 --> 00:58:54,960
We're so thankful God that despite the wiles of the devil you preserved all of it.

991
00:58:54,960 --> 00:59:00,840
We're so thankful God that in the midst of his attacks on Israel you protected them.

992
00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:05,840
That through those people, that nation that you chose, that you love so much God, you

993
00:59:05,840 --> 00:59:11,160
chose them to bring the gospel to the world, the holy scripture, the word of God Lord,

994
00:59:11,160 --> 00:59:15,120
and we know that through them so much of it came.

995
00:59:15,120 --> 00:59:19,640
And God so many of us that aren't a part of the Jewish nation Lord, your word says that

996
00:59:19,640 --> 00:59:23,480
through our faith in you we have been grafted in, that we are a part of this new entity

997
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:28,520
called the church, and Lord you love us equally.

998
00:59:28,520 --> 00:59:34,640
Lord you love all those that are yours, and we're so thankful.

999
00:59:34,640 --> 00:59:39,800
And yet Lord we know that there's an enemy out there who hates us, who schemes against

1000
00:59:39,800 --> 00:59:43,360
us, non-stop.

1001
00:59:43,360 --> 00:59:49,020
Lord we pray that you would deliver us from evil.

1002
00:59:49,020 --> 00:59:53,080
We pray Lord you would deliver us from temptation.

1003
00:59:53,080 --> 00:59:58,300
We pray Lord in the midst of the attack we would remember you.

1004
00:59:58,300 --> 01:00:01,200
We would remember the end of the book that we have won.

1005
01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:05,320
But in the midst of hopelessness and despair that we would remember God the end of the

1006
01:00:05,320 --> 01:00:08,520
story because you have revealed it to us.

1007
01:00:08,520 --> 01:00:15,800
And may we then walk in hope and confidence and boldness Lord, despite what's going on.

1008
01:00:15,800 --> 01:00:23,280
Trusting in you, because it's in you that we find everything we need.

1009
01:00:23,280 --> 01:00:29,880
And Lord you are the one, even now, in heaven praying for us.

1010
01:00:29,880 --> 01:00:34,200
Just as you prayed for Peter Lord, and oh how we need your prayers God.

1011
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:42,800
So Lord we thank you for your great grace and your mercy.

1012
01:00:42,800 --> 01:00:48,040
Lord help us to cling to you and not try to fight our battles on our own.

1013
01:00:48,040 --> 01:00:51,760
To not try and fight against the enemy on our own Lord, but to let you do the fighting

1014
01:00:51,760 --> 01:00:52,760
for us.

1015
01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:58,440
God your word told us that victory belongs to you.

1016
01:00:58,440 --> 01:01:05,280
And God I personally am totally fine with you fighting the battle for me God.

1017
01:01:05,280 --> 01:01:07,400
Help us to remember that and cling to that.

1018
01:01:07,400 --> 01:01:08,440
Rejoice in that.

1019
01:01:08,440 --> 01:01:10,340
To praise you and to worship you for that.

1020
01:01:10,340 --> 01:01:12,480
To glorify your name for that.

1021
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:16,920
And then to tell everybody we could come across Lord about the hope and the freedom and the

1022
01:01:16,920 --> 01:01:19,240
victory that is found in you.

1023
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:20,620
God we love you so much.

1024
01:01:20,620 --> 01:01:21,620
We thank you.

1025
01:01:21,620 --> 01:01:23,360
It's in Jesus name we pray.

1026
01:01:23,360 --> 01:01:24,360
Amen.

1027
01:01:24,360 --> 01:01:28,760
Well let's worship guys.