(Part 7)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 11/12/2017
If you’ve been with us the last few weeks, you know we are about half way through the mysterious and melodramatic book of Revelation. I hope this series has been engaging, encouraging and enlightening for you. While Revelation is likely the most challenging book of the Bible, God promises that if you will immerse yourself in the truth of this, you will be blessed! I hope that’s been your experience so far.
Last week, in Revelation 11, John steps into his own vision when he’s told to measure the Temple symbolizing God’s plan to build a bigger and better Temple not made with human hands in the wake of Jerusalem’s destruction. He then sees two mysterious witnesses sharing their testimony in the face of violent opposition. When they finish their testimony, a violent tremor destroys a portion of the city and announces God’s arrival. Then all of heaven begins singing about Christ’s greatest triumph—establishing a kingdom over which he shall reign forever and ever.
As we reach chapter 12, the action and adventure intensify as the real villain of the story, the archenemy of all that is good, Satan himself roars into John’s vision. The primary purpose of this chapter is to give John and his readers a peak behind the scenes at the true source of evil, the one pulling the strings. It also answers questions that first-century Christians must have been wondering: Why? Why is this happening to us? Why does Rome hate us?
If you have a Bible or an app on your phone, please open it to Revelation 12. This chapter unfolds in three scenes. First, John sees the great wonders.
• THE GREAT WONDERS
In this first scene, John see’s two “wonders” appear in heaven—a mother and a monster. He writes, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven” (Revelation 12:1 KJV). He continues, “I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth” (Revelation 12:1-2 NLT).
A clue to understanding the imagery here is the word wonder; it means a spectacular sign, a picture of something with deeper significance. Thus, the woman represents so much more than a woman. Portrayed as superhuman, she is clothed with the sun, rests her feet on the moon, and wears the stars in her crown.
The imagery of the sun, moon and stars is reminiscent of Joseph’s dream back in Genesis 37. In his dream, Joseph saw the sun, moon, and 11 stars—representing his father, mother, and 11 brothers—bowing down to his star. Similarly, the twelve stars in the mother’s crown likely represent the twelve tribes (or twelve sons) of Israel. In the Old Testament, Israel was often pictured as God’s wife.
However, throughout Revelation, Israel is the object of God’s wrath and judgment, while this mother is portrayed as innocent and even protected by God. Thus, rather than representing the entire nation of Israel, this mother symbolizes faithful or spiritual Israel; the faithful Jews in Israel—like Simeon and Anna (Luke 2)—who anxiously awaited, like a pregnant mother, the birth of the Messiah. They acknowledged and accepted Jesus when he came.
And, of course, the baby the mother carries represents Jesus, the child promised so long ago in Isaiah: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV). When Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, the entire universe took notice, for this event held cosmic significance.
But hot on the heels of this beautiful mother comes a brutal monster. John writes, “And there appeared another wonder in heaven” (Revelation 12:3 KJV). Suddenly, John sees “an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born” (Revelation 12:3-4 NIV).
Unlike the mother, we don’t have to deduce the identity of the monster. John identifies him as “the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan” (Revelation 12:9 NIV). While the dragon is a symbol for Satan, Satan himself is not a symbol or a fantasy; he is very real. Today, Satan is often pictured as a caricature with little red horns and a pointy tail. But that isn’t what John saw. John beheld a terrifying monster bent on devouring Christ and destroying Christians. Put simply, the Bible defines Satan as an angelic being who fell from his position in heaven due to pride and is now completely opposed to God, doing all in his power to thwart God's purposes. Satan has great power and persistence, but we should know that he is doomed to failure.
Speaking of the mother, John writes, “She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne” (Revelation 12:5 NIV). The period between these two sentences stands in place of thirty-three years of history. During that time, Satan must have attempted to destroy Jesus a thousand times, starting with the slaughter of all the baby boys in Bethlehem by Herod. But Satan failed, and he always will. In fact, as John’s vision continues, we see Satan’s failure again in the great war.
• THE GREAT WAR
As the next scene begins, John writes, “Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels” (Revelation 12:7 NLT).
Popular Christian mythology supposes that this passage refers to Satan’s origins, when he first rebelled against God’s loving authority and was cast down from heaven. However, that view rips the passage from its context.
Keeping this imagery in context, this battle is not a historical account of the devil’s original fall, but a metaphor for the devil’s failed attempts to devour Christ and destroy Christianity.
Michael is called an archangel, meaning he is a high-ranking angel with other angels under his command. Daniel, Jude, and Revelation all describe him as a warrior angel who engages in spiritual combat on behalf of believers. His appearance in Revelation fulfills a prophecy given to Daniel six centuries earlier, which says, “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered” (Daniel 12:1 NIV). Both the appearance of Michael and the protection of God’s people are fulfilled here in John’s vision.
While Michael is certainly a compelling character that we might like to know more about, he isn’t really the one hero of the story. As Satan is hurled to the earth, John hears a loud voice in heaven cry out: “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth… And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony” (Revelation 12:10-11 NLT).
Michael may battle Satan, but Jesus is the one who beat Satan. His death on the cross was Satan’s greatest defeat. The name Satan means the accuser, and that’s what he does. He stood before God night and day accusing believers, like you and me; pointing out every fault, every failure, every wicked deed or wayward thought. But when Christ died on the cross, all Satan’s accusations were overruled. When we’re washed in the blood of the Lamb, our sins are washed away and we stand before God flawless.
This is when Satan is essentially kicked out of the courtroom—thrown out on his butt, cast down to earth in humiliation and shame and defeat.
How angry do you suppose that makes Satan? Very angry. In fact, the next scene in John’s vision focuses on the great wrath of Satan.
• THE GREAT WRATH
The devil just doesn’t know when to quit. Following Satan’s failure, a loud voice again proclaims, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Revelation 12:12 NKJV).
After Jesus’ victory on the cross, Satan realized that he’s already lost, and his days are numbered. So, in a fit of rage, the monster seeks to take out his wrath on the mother. John writes:
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. (Revelation 12:13-14 NIV)
Unable to defeat the Messiah, Satan turns his attention back toward his figurative mother, faithful Israel. But God protected his faith followers for a time, times and half a time—in other words, 3 ½ years.
You’ll recall that the Roman siege on Jerusalem lasted exactly 3 ½ years. While hundreds of thousands of Jews were slaughtered in that siege, some escaped. Those who put their faith in Jesus and listened to his warnings avoided the slaughter. Remember that Jesus warned the people of Israel, saying, “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near” (Luke 21:20 NIV).
In ancient times, when people who lived in or around walled cities like Jerusalem saw enemy armies approaching, their first instinct was to retreat within the city walls and close the gates. That’s precisely what most Israelites did when Rome’s army approached. Jesus warned his listeners, however, “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak” (Matthew 24:16-18 NIV). In other word, Jesus is saying, “Hightail it out of here! Hit the road and don’t look back!”
Eusebius and other ancient historians record that believers obeyed Jesus and fled Jerusalem to the small village of Pella and other places beyond the Jordan River. Thus, while unbelieving Jews suffered starvation, slaughter, and seizure, Jewish Christians escaped to safety.
The mother flying to a safe place prepared for her in the wilderness vividly portrays the believers’ flight to Pella in 66 AD at the beginning of Jerusalem’s siege.
Unsurprisingly, this just infuriates Satan all the more. The Bible says, “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus” (Revelation 12:17 NIV).
The “rest of her offspring” refers to Christ’s brothers and sister—all Christians (not just the Jewish believers) scattered throughout the vast Roman empire. Unable to defeat Christ, Satan seeks to satisfy his bloodlust by killing as many Christians as possible. To do so, he enlists two more monsters to do his bidding. But we’ll have to wait until next week to discover the intriguing identity of the two beasts of Revelation.
Conclusion:
In the meantime, what do we do with this strange portrayal of Satan as a scary scarlet, seven-headed dragon bent on defeating Christ and destroying Christians?
I believe this whole scene was meant to encourage and empower the Christians of John’s day. Yes, Satan is a very factual and frightening threat. But ultimately, his bark is worse than his bite. He can swing his mighty tail and rear his many heads, but the truth is he’s already been defeated—knocked down and cast out. And while you and I may still face spiritual battles of our own, the most important victory has already been won by Christ on the cross. So long as you and I remain faithful followers of Jesus, obeying his Word and his warnings, Satan can’t even touch us. He’s just a snake with no fangs. Rather than fearing Satan, this chapter encourages us to have faith in our Savior.
Next week, we’ll continue our adventure through Revelation.
Invitation:
Today, maybe you’re experiencing a spiritual battle of your own. Maybe it feels like the devil is waging war on you and your life. Whatever monsters you’re facing, I just want to encourage you to trust in Jesus. To borrow a line from Christ Tomlin, “The God of angel armies is always by your side.” Let him be your sword and shield. [Heed his warnings, obey his Word, and the victory is already yours.] If you’re not sure how to do that, then come talk with me after church, call me at home, or come forward now while we stand and sing. Let’s sing together church!
