Revelation 12-13

SLIDE 1  As much as I dislike giving Satan too much attention, we need to be prepared for his attacks.  Although Revelation describes a hideous red dragon, we should not expect the devil to appear to us like this. By his name Lucifer means son of Dawn or Day Star. Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations! (O Day Star, ESV Morning Star)

As one of God’s finest angelic creations, he was beautiful and very prideful. In fact when he tries to tempt us he is very appealing and speaks in a pleasing voice.

Reading the commentary on chapter 12-13, we must regard this as a backward look at events.  Satan has been trying to destroy man, specifically Israel since the beginning.

Let’s take a look at his history:
 Genesis Satan appears as a serpent in the garden.

SLIDE 2  The deceiver uses God’s creation, man, to destroy the Davidic line and prevent his plan of Salvation through Christ

o   Esau to kill Jacob father of 12 tribes

o   Pharaoh to murder all Jewish baby boys Egypt-Moses

o   King Ahaziah’s sons murdered save Joash-lone survivor of Davidic line

o   Haman to eradicate all Jews-saved by Queen Esther

o   King Herod had a babies in Bethlehem murdered-Jesus to Egypt Matthew 2

o   Satan confronts Jesus in desert

o   Jews to throw Jesus off hill Luke 4:29

o   Pharisees tried to stone Jesus John 8:59

o   Stormy sea trying to destroy boat  Mark 4:35-41

Lucifer was a prideful Archangel on the same level with Michael and often they are pitted against each other in battle. Only three angels are mentioned by name in the Bible and they were called princes.  

Daniel 10¹³ The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,

10:21 But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.

Daniel 12¹ "At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

Jude 1:6 Satan battles Michael for Moses body.

SLIDE 3  REVELATION 12-13

·        The Woman and the Dragon

·        Unholy Trinity

o   Dragon-Satan 12:3 GOD THE FATHER

o   1st beast-Antichrist 13:1 JESUS THE SON

o   2^nd beast-False Prophet 13:11 HOLY SPIRIT

·        The first Beast’s power and deceit

 Satan is defeated.

SLIDE  4  Revelation 12: The Woman and the Dragon

¹And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth

Mary did give birth to Jesus; however Satan did not chase Mary throughout the wilderness. The woman’s appearance is similar to the dream of Joseph in Genesis 37:9   SLIDE 5  He told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” The sun would be Jacob and the moon Rachel, Joseph’s mother. It makes more sense for the Woman to be interpreted as Israel bringing the Messiah through the lineage of David.  The children of Israel did go through the wilderness, the twelve stars could represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

SLIDE 6   ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,(Ps.37:7,9) but her child was caught up to God and to his throne (could symbolize Jesus transcending to heaven,)

⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. (3 ½ years of tribulation.  God will protect his remnant of Israel. Some have noted Petra is a historical and archaeological place in the southern Jordan, is well-known for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit developing system. )

Psalm 37:7,9 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you..9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s

SLIDE  7 FOUR FALL OF SATAN 

·        From glorified to profane (Ezekiel 28:14-16)

·        From having access to heaven (Job 1:12) to restriction to the earth (Revelation 12)

·        From the earth to bondage in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20)

·        From the pit to the lake of fire (Revelation 20)

Satan Thrown Down to Earth Satan is defeated.

SLIDE  8 7-10 ⁷Now war arose in heaven,  Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back,⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

.⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world---he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

This is not just war between Satan and Michael but the continual conflict between good and evil. But we read the back of the book and Satan is defeated.

SLIDE 9   ¹³And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be for a time, and times, and half a time.(3 ½ yrs., 1260 days,

SLIDE  10 Three times the eagles illustrates God’s care and protection of Israel.

·        In Egypt Ex.19:4 … how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

·        In the desert Deut.32:11-12 ¹¹   Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,

·        Return from Babylon Isa. 40:31 they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

SLIDE  11 15-17 ¹⁵ The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

The woman, Israel, will be protected through the 3 ½ yrs of tribulation time. The water pouring from the serpent’s mouth could be symbolic of blasphemous speech or anti-semantic actions toward the Jews. The earthquake Verse 17 he went off the make war with her offspring.

Isaiah 59:19, When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. Satan is defeated.

The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, Proverbs 18:4. 

The mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things, Proverbs 15:28. 

SLIDE 12 From Christianity today

One day, they told us, an enormous snake—much longer than a man—slithered its way right through their front door and into the kitchen of their simple home. A machete-wielding neighbor came to the rescue, calmly marching into their house and decapitating the snake with one clean chop.

The neighbor assured the missionaries that the reptile had been defeated. But there was a catch, he warned: It was going to take a while for the snake to realize it was dead.

A snake can take considerable time to stop moving even after decapitation. For the next several hours, the missionaries were forced to wait outside while the snake thrashed about, smashing furniture and flailing against walls and windows, wreaking havoc until its body finally understood that it no longer had a head.

They had a mutual epiphany."Do you see it?" asked the husband. "Satan is a lot like that big old snake. He's already been defeated. He just doesn't know it yet. In the meantime, he's going to do some damage. But never forget that he's a goner."

We have to remember, tribulation won't last forever. Jesus has already crushed the serpent's head.

Satan is defeated.

SLIDE 13 Unholy Evil Trinity

•         Dragon-Satan 12:3  GOD THE FATHER

•         1st beast-Antichrist 13:1 JESUS THE SON

•         2^nd beast-False Prophet 13:11 HOLY SPIRIT

As Christians we must believe God is in ultimate control.
Satan is defeated.

1- And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, (D. Jeremiah- refer to the restless nations of the earth-sea of humanity) Others see this as a counterfeit of God’s creation of the earth from the face of the deep waters. Genesis 1

SLIDE 14 1:The ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems(just like the Dragon) on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Same as Daniel 7:7 It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.) ² And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth.

Most commentaries this beast as represented in Daniel's vision 7:7-8 The first three animals are a lion (in Daniel, a picture of the Babylonian Empire), a bear (a picture of Medo-Persian Empire), and a leopard (a picture of the Greek Empire). The fourth animal was a dreadful, indescribable beast which shared the most terrifying characteristics of the previous beasts. Click

(Specifically representing  ten kingdoms in a world empire under the leadership of a final world dictator under Satanic control.

I see this beast is a counterfeit of the four living creatures before the throne in chapter 1.

SLIDE  15Prophesied in Daniel

•         Little horn 7:8

•         King of fierce countenance  8:23

•         Prince that shall come  9:26

•         Willful king 11:36-45

SLIDE  16 And to it the dragon (Satan) gave his power and his throne and great authority.³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

The mortal wound is a counterfeit of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

⁴ And they worshiped the dragon,(this is what Satan wanted from the start) for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"

The antichrist doesn’t always mean against Christ. Sometimes it means instead of Christ. He will try to replace Christ or come to power instead of Christ.

SLIDE  17 The word Antichrist only appears in the Bible five times in four verses (1 John 2:18, 2:22, 4:3, and 2 John 7).But he has other names

•         John 5:43- The one who comes in his own name 

•         2 Thessalonians 2:3

o   The son of perdition

o   the man of sin

o   the lawless one

SLIDE  18The lawless one must fulfill all 10 requirements
The anti-Christ will:

·        Rise to power in the Last Days: Daniel 8.19-23.

·        Not come on the world scene until after the Rapture:2 Thessalonians 2:3-8.

·        Rule the entire world: Revelation 13.7.

·        Rule by international consent: Revelation 17.12,13.

·        Rule by deception: Daniel 8.24,25.

·        Be intelligent and persuasive: Daniel 7.20.

·        Control the global economy: Revelation 13.16,17.

·        Be assisted by the False Prophet: Revelation 13.11-18.

·        Make & break a peace treaty with Israel: Daniel 9.26,27

·        Claim to be God: 2 Thessalonians 2.4.

Edward Hindson

SLIDE  19 For 42 months 13:6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (This is nothing new, like satan the beast will accuse and taunt all those in heaven because he has been thrown down.)

Authority given by God to Satan to test Job 1: 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Luke 22:31"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

7- 9 Only God can give the beast authority, unbelievers will be attracted to the charismatic leader who makes promises to save the world through his plans and programs. He will make peace with Israel and rebuilt the temple. And try to unite the world powers and create a one world religion.

The Second Beast

¹¹Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. (This is the false prophet. He will seem meek as a lamb but will makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

SLIDE  20 False Prophets counterfeits work of Elijah calling fire from heaven.¹³ It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

2 Corinthians 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Similar to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar this image was made to be worshipped or be martyred.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,⁴ who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

SLIDE  21 Mark of the Beast

¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.¹⁸ This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

SLIDE  22 The number seven represents God’s completeness, His perfection. The number six portrays man’s incompleteness and imperfection. Six falls short of seven. “[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This beast embodies man’s imperfection tripled!

Satan is defeated.

How to recognize a counterfeit; know the real thing. While looking for an illustration I found how to know if you have a fake Rolex. Well, the biggest indication is the amount you paid for your watch. A genuine Rolex sells for over ten thousand dollars, if you find one on eBay for $100; that is a pretty good indication of a fake. But to know a fake you have to know the real thing and compare by looking at the original. Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 of false prophets and lawlessness at the end of the age. Satan can't create, but he can effectively deceive with imitation.

You will be able to recognize them because you are a child of the King and you know your father.

Satan is defeated.

Pray

Yes indeed I got carried away. Here are my references.

• The Bible God's Holy Word-inerrant, indisputable, undeniable,inspired.
• CBS Commentary and Teaching Helps
• Tim Lahaye
• Prophetic Study Bible
• Charting the End Times
• Revelation Unveiled
• Warren Wiersbe Series BE Victorious
• David Jeremiah
• Escape the Coming Night
• Agents of the Apocolyse
• David Guzuk's Commentaries on Revelation
• http://www.enduringword.com/ audio and text
• http://biblehub.com/commentaries
• Christianity today
• Edward Hindson