Last week, you and I briefly examined the future fall of
Satan. More specifically, we consider
the second of four falls of the devil that the Book of
Revelation describes. And this second fall, as we
learned, will take place during the Tribulation period.
It will banish Satan from heaven forever, and it will bar him
from having access to God to accuse the children of God.
This is a marvelous outcome out of this conflict between the
Evil 1 and Michael the Archangel, because it will also,
in a sense, clear the path for Christ's return.
But what is wonderful in one sense is also woeful in another,
specifically for those who will dwell on the earth after Satan
is cast down in this way and is confined to this world.
And what we are going to consider is that although Satan
loses this war in heaven that we studied, he's going to declare
another World War on earth. He's going to declare another
war on earth. And the introduction to this
escalation of Satan's fury is given to us in great detail in
the remaining verses of Revelation chapter 12.
And I invite you to turn with me there to that chapter, because
we're about to see that after being cast out of heaven, the
devil will rise from his humiliation and great wrath.
He's not going to take this embarrassing eviction lightly.
He's going to do something about it.
And we're going to read about it beginning in verse 13.
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the
earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male
child. But the woman was given the two
wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly from the
serpent into the wilderness to the place where she is to be
nourished for a time and times and half a time the serpent
poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to
sweep her away with a flood. 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.
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 the ESV adds this. And he stood on the sand of the
sea. Father, we pray, Oh, we pray for
your grace. There is a lot of material to
cover in our time in the word today.
So we need your help to be able to seize every truth, to be able
to understand your mind, to look at these prophetic things and be
able to leave out, leave with a confidence and understanding
what you have in store for the days to come.
And Lord, we pray that it would impact the way we Live Today,
but only You can translate those things into our hearts.
So we pray with humility and dependency that You would guide
us into Your heart as revealed in Your Word.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
If you're reading carefully, you might have noticed something
about these verses that we just read.
Satan is going to declare war on the earth, but he's actually
going to perform three waves of attack.
There are three assaults that are highlighted in these verses.
And I think organizing our thoughts around these Satanic
strikes will make these truths more memorable for us.
And so we're going to look at these things individually and
they're going to be many questions asked and hopefully
answered. But there is a main one that I
want to bring to your attention. The main question we want to ask
is what can we expect Satan to do in the latter part of the
tribulation just before Christ is going to return?
And you might be thinking, can we actually know that?
And I'm here to tell you with an emphatic, absolute yes, we can
know that because this passage tells us exactly what he's going
to plan to do and understand that his time is short.
He is going to launch three major and targeted assaults of
historic proportions. And so this is what we're
planning to do together as a church.
Let's look at these three assaults separately.
Assault number one is found in verse 13 to verse 14.
We read it. The first thing that the devil
will do after he learns that he is expelled from heaven during
this tribulation period is pursue the woman.
And we know that the woman represents the nation of Israel.
Hopefully remember that her identity is confirmed in the
earlier portions of Revelation 12.
And if you weren't here for that message, I highly encourage you
in your own time to listen to that teaching because you will
see that there is evidence proving that this woman is
exactly that. She is representing and
symbolizing the nation of Israel.
And just in case you haven't heard that teaching yet or maybe
you forgot, just what we find here in these verses actually
further confirms her identity. So look down at verse 17 again.
Notice what the dragon will do after his failed attempts to
harass and oppress the woman. And verse 17 we read and the
dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war
on the rest of her offspring. Highlight that on those who keep
the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
So if you are among those who claim that this woman represents
the church or the people of God as a whole, I have a question
for you. How would you explain the
distinction being made in this verse?
There's a clear difference being drawn here between the woman and
the rest of her offspring who are identified as who followers
of Jesus Christ. It's a double title.
Those who obey or keep the commandments of God and hold to
the testimony of Jesus. So let's just step back then.
If this woman is supposed to be apparently the church, then why
is there a difference being made between her and the object of
Satan's new focus after he tries to devour the woman?
Who are the offspring then? And you can revisit the first
few verses of this chapter to see again how there's more
evidence to conclude that what makes the most biblical sense is
that this woman is the entity Israel, ethnic Israel, the
Jewish people. But for most of us, that's
already been established. Yet there still may be questions
that remain, one of the main ones being perhaps, OK, why?
I get it. It's very difficult to debate
that this is speaking about Israel.
But why does Satan seem to have such special interests for her?
Why does he find it in himself to pursue her with such
aggression and hatred? And I believe that in this text
alone there are two answers, 2 answers to why Satan will make
it his top priority as time is winding down, as his faith is
about to be sealed, to actually run after the woman.
The 1st is because of Israel's history.
Israel's history. Notice how this verse here in
verse 13 tells us who he is pursuing.
He pursued the woman at the end of the verse who had given birth
to the male child. And we know that the male child
to be Jesus Christ. And so we see here that Satan
goes after this woman, understanding her role and what
she did in God's redemptive purposes on the earth.
Her history, her resume, so to speak, is enough for Satan to
hold great animosity towards her.
And what I find interesting is that the very things that Satan
hates Israel for are the very characteristics and truths that
inspired great affection in the heart of Paul for them.
I want you to turn to Romans 9 with me.
Look at verse 3 down to verse 5, Romans 9, verse 3 to verse 5.
Satan no longer has access to the immediate presence of God.
That's what we've learned in Revelation 12 so far.
And So what does he do? He will go after whom God loves.
He will go after Israel, who played a major, major role in
what God has done in the earth. Notice how Paul says in Romans
9, verse 3. For I could wish that I myself
were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
Pause. These are astounding
confessions. I don't have time to open this
up, this one verse. But what I want to highlight is
that Paul is speaking about his love, his concern for the people
according to his flesh, who share his ethnicity.
He's not talking about spiritual Israel.
He's talking about actual Israel, the Jewish people.
Notice what he says in verse 4. They are Israelites, and to them
belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the
law, the worship and the promises.
To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according
to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed
forever. Amen.
So here's the apostle expressing his sorrow and his woes.
Because of what His His brethren, according to the
flesh, have denied the Messiah, and His pain is not merely
because He shares their blood, but as we just read, because the
Lord has used them in a very special way to accomplish His
will across the ages. Paul highlights 9 specific
privileges that were granted to this people.
We won't get into them now, but they can be summarized in this
way. Israel was a designated vehicle
that was used by God to usher in progressive revelation on the
earth concerning who He is. In other words, God had selected
this people group to be a national platform on the earth
to display the multifaceted glory of God to the rest of the
world. And the climax of this is that
through this race came the Savior of humanity.
Through this race came the Jewish Messiah, yes, but it was
also the Redeemer of all mankind.
Jesus Christ himself speaks about these crowning privileges
that the Jews shared. When He was speaking to the
Samaritan woman, what did he say in John 4/22?
For salvation comes from who? The Jews?
So one would either have to be
ignorant or blinded by unjustified hatred to deny that
the Lord placed a peculiar calling upon these people and
listen, one which the Christian faith has its roots in.
And I believe many, many churches are doing a great
disservice to the people of God, especially the pastors who
ignored the Old Testament in their preaching and their
teaching, who do not provide a regular diet of the Hebrew
Scriptures. It makes many people,
Christians, I'm speaking about professing Christians, think
that Jesus just appeared out of nowhere.
He just showed up on the scene, gave some beatitudes, and died
on the cross for our sins. And if you want to go to heaven,
just believe on them. Yes, the gospel message is
beautifully simple, but it is rich with history.
There's depth to it. There's context, and Paul
reminds the Romans about the history of the Jewish people and
the history of their own faith. So there are people who don't
understand, they don't get it because they don't have a grasp
of the Scriptures. But there is one who hates this
people precisely because of what God has done through them,
precisely because of how they were the foundation for the
gospel, precisely because they were the means through which the
Messiah entered into history. His name is Satan, and he will
always hold this against them. He has bitterness towards them.
He despises them. And you have to remember this,
Satan always hates whatever and whomever God loves, and he is
set an elective love upon the people of Israel.
He did something with them in the past and he's going to do
something with them in the future.
That brings me to the second reason why the great dragon
pursues the woman, because of Israel's future, not just their
history, but what's to come. Go back to Revelation 12, verse
12. Here's where I get that from.
This is where we closed last week, but let's consider it
again. The last part of verse 12 says,
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.
So we have to ask this question, what is the relationship between
Satan realizing that his condemned faith is about to be
sealed? He understands at this point of
the Tribulation, Christ is about to crash into this world with
this Kingdom. That means I'm going to be
condemned. What relationship does Satan's
understanding of that truth and him hunting down Israel, what
kind of connection is there in that?
How do those things relate? Well, evidently say to know
something about this people group.
He understands that Israel will play a crucial role in God's
plans for Christ's return in the establishment of his Kingdom.
He knows this. And so by targeting them, he
really believes that he can either hinder or even prevent
what the Scriptures promises about Christ's second coming.
And we can spend the rest of this afternoon looking at all
the connections, how Israel's future intertwines with the rest
of God's redemptive program, namely in his return through
Christ. But I want to just look at one
Scripture, just one Scripture, because we have so much to cover
today. Go to Matthew 23, look at verse
37 down to verse 39. This is a familiar passage but I
think many people miss the implications of it.
And Matthew 23 verse 37 down to verse 39.
We are nearing the end of Jesus earthly ministry and he offers
his own lament. Matthew 2337 reads O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those
who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered
your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her
wings, and you were not willing see your house is left to you
desolate. Pause.
Many people build their eschatology.
That's a fancy word for their doctrine for the end times.
Not considering the following verse, how Jesus ends this verse
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
So this scripture is often quoted to show Christ's lament
over the unbelief of His people. But I want to see with you the
end time prophecy contained in it.
Notice how the Lord places a condition upon his return.
What does he say? You?
He's speaking about the people of Jerusalem.
He's speaking about the leadership of Israel.
You will not see me again until you accept and you acknowledge
and you welcome me as the promised one.
That's what this translates to because he's quoting a passage
from Psalm one 18118, which is a Messianic Psalm.
Blessed is you comes in the name of the Lord.
But read it carefully. The Lord did not say unless you
say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, right
until there's a difference. If Christ had said unless you
say, then that leaves the possibility that Israel would
never do it. We're not going to confess, but
he doesn't say unless he says until implying what that it is a
certainty that it will happen. It's only a matter of time until
until you say and this I don't think it's coincidental where
it's placed in our Bibles. Israel's future faith in
crowning Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah is mentioned
immediately before what Matthew 24?
Do you see that in your Bibles? And what's Matthew 24 about?
At least the first part, Jesus teaching about the last days
until you say it, anticipating their acceptance which coincides
with his arrival. So how does this play into
Satan's schemes? Well, Satan is aware that there
is a future for this people to be saved by this Messiah.
But if he can destroy this people, then there's no one left
to say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And not only. If Satan even were to be able to
accomplish such a thing, not only would he vaporize so many
other promises that God has made, but he would ultimately
prove Christ unfaithful. He would discredit the word of
God. And so in his mind, he
understands if I can, if I can destroy this race, if I can
delete them, if I can remove them from the face of the earth,
then that will cause some trouble for many prophecies and
ultimately for the reign of Christ on the earth.
So This is why he's going to step up his aggression in the
Tribulation period as he realizes that his time is short.
But we have to see what he's going to do.
We haven't even considered his first assault yet, and if we
want to, we got to go back to our main text.
So what is he going to do? Now that we've established why
he's going after the woman, let's consider what he will try
to do against her. Revelation 12.
Look at verse 13 and 14 again. And when the dragon saw that
he'd been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who
had given birth to the male child.
But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that
she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, the place
where she used to be nourished for a time and times and half a
time. This woman, the nation's flight
into the wilderness is something Jesus Christ spoke about.
We don't have to turn there. But in Matthew 24, what did he
say after speaking about global catastrophes and all these
things that are going to shake up the earth?
He zeroes in and he focuses on the Jewish people.
And do you remember the beginnings of his ominous
warning? He said.
But when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the
prophet Daniel sitting or standing rather in the holy
place, let those who are in Judea do what?
Flee to the mountains? And he gives all these other
practical exhortations. Don't look back.
Woe to those who are nursing. Pray that it wouldn't be in the
winter. Pray that it wouldn't happen on
the Sabbath. Then he says something along the
lines of for then there will be great tribulation, such as not
been from the beginning of the world until now.
No, and never will be. Here's how this all ties in
together. There will be a point in the
tribulation where the Antichrist has gained global power, yes,
but he will also enter into the temple that is in Jerusalem,
declare himself to be God, and will turn on the Jewish people
specifically and the Jewish people alive at this time.
Many of them will recognize that this is indeed an act of
betrayal. It could be that even many of
them who have been hearing the preaching of the 144,000 and and
others might have been introduced to the warnings of
Jesus in Matthew 24. And so there will be a
collective effort to flee. They will realize now that there
is a rising attack against them specifically, and so they will
abandoned everything. This is emergency protocol.
This global political power is now declaring himself to be God
in our very temple. Run for your life.
And that's the that's exactly what they will seek to do.
But John in Revelation 12 gives us the spiritual activity behind
all of this. So yes, the abomination of
desolation who ultimately symbolizes a person who will
stand in the holy place, declare himself to be God according to
the Second Thessalonians 2. But we learn in this chapter of
our main text that it's the great dragon behind all of that
Satan, who's energizing the Antichrist, who's using this
great empire in this future time to now focus all their energy
and efforts towards liquidating this people.
In other words, he wants there to be a new Holocaust.
And so the people flee. And we know that this is Satan's
agenda ultimately, but we also see God's intervention in it as
the people flee, as they run. And there's a lot of terrain in
the Middle East for people to be able to run to.
What do we read in that verse, verse 14?
But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that
she might fly. A lot of a lot of interesting
interpretations about that, but I think it's very simple.
Put some of the pieces together. Eagle's wings, wilderness,
Israel. Does any of that sound familiar?
That's all reminiscent of the experience of the Jewish people
in the original Exodus. Is that not right?
Do you remember what the Lord said to the Jewish people, to
the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Pharaoh,
rescued from Egypt in the wilderness?
Let me read this verse to you. In Exodus 19, verse 4, God says
to Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians
and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.
What do we hear almost every single week?
And I am not ashamed to repeat it.
The Book of Revelation is dripping with Old Testament
allusions and motifs and themes, and it's no different here.
The imagery that John is granted is to show that the same God who
faithfully delivered Israel thousands of years ago will
preserve and deliver his people in the future.
God has not forgotten these people, and God will do what
only he can do to spare them and save them.
It's almost like this is a kind of new Exodus.
They've experienced many of those exoduses, not just in
their flight. It's not that he's going to
enable them supernaturally to be able to escape against all odds.
You got to remember the Antichrist is going to take over
the world. He has the world at his
disposal. He has all the resources
available, but they will escape. It will be supernatural how they
will be able to flee from him, but not just in their flight,
but even in their experience in the wilderness.
Because what do we read that he's going to nourish them.
He's going to feed them. They're going to be cut off from
from all items, all resources. They're going to be in some kind
of desert. And there's the debate where
they're actually going to be planted, but they're going to be
in some kind of refuge and shelter.
And the Lord himself is going to supply their daily needs.
Like what? Like, like Israel in the
original Exodus, he rained down mana.
He supplied water from unlikely sources.
We're seeing the repeated faithfulness of God in this
future prophecy. But this successful escape is
not going to discourage the dragon.
He will not be able to initially grab a hold of them, but that's
not going to stop him, which is bringing us now to our second
assault. Assault number 2 is found in
verse 15 down to verse 16 and Revelation 12.
We are not told where the Jews will find refuge.
I mean, there's some speculation from the book of Daniel and
other places, but what we do know is that Satan will be aware
of it. He will know exactly where their
location is. And once Israel does find
shelter, we're told in verse 15 that the serpent is going to
pour out water from where? Out of his mouth, and it will
come like a tsunami, and it will seek to sweep away this people
and destroy them. Now, we know that this can't be
literal water. Some people, some people think
it is. But this particular passage of
scripture is rich in symbolism, and so this has to mean
something else. If you focus on the fact that
it's coming from Satan's mouth, you might be on to something.
Because we know that things that come out of the mouth can be
destructive, like dangerous lies and slander and propaganda.
And it could be that that's what Satan will orchestrate at this
time, that he is going to do many things, deceiving things to
try to trick Israel or even persuade the rest of the world
to turn against them and join him in his hatred.
And the fact that it comes like a flood speaks about the volume
of these lies, the force of them, how intense and
destructive these narratives will be.
And listen, this is not so far fetched.
Many theories and slander against the Jewish people have
proven historically to be the cause of many atrocities
committed against them. So this is not a surprising
interpretation. But there is another way of
looking at this because again, if we look at the Old Testament
themes, then would realize that a flood and many Hebrew passages
actually speak about invading army speaks about a mighty force
coming and destroying everything in its path towards a vulnerable
foe. And there's so many references
to this, but I want to just read to, I'm just going to ask you to
listen to these passages to solidify this interpretation.
And Isaiah 8 verse 7 to 8, it says, therefore, behold, the
Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the river.
Is he talking about literal waters?
Well, let's find out mighty and many, the king of Assyria, and
all his glory. And it will rise over all its
channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into
Judah. It will overflow and pass on,
reaching even to the neck. And it's outspread wings will
fill the breath of your land. O Emmanuel.
Listen to Jeremiah 46, verse 8. Egypt rises like the Nile, like
rivers whose waters surge. He said, I will rise, I will
cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.
And we can go on and on and on to see how rising waters floods.
The language of sweeping away is very common to the Hebrew mind
in interpreting an actual army coming in a terrifying manner.
Both of these interpretations work, right?
And whether it's deception or whether it's actual forces
rising against this people, it could be a combination of both.
But because of what we read back in verse 16 to Revelation 12,
it's more likely that this is actually speaking about a
coordinated military effort to advance and eradicate the Jewish
people. What do we read in verse 16?
Well, when this flood comes, it's going to yet again prove to
be unsuccessful. Why?
Because the earth is going to open up and swallow the water
and render them fruitless, and there will be no ability for
them to go on. It will be a terrifying blow to
whatever this dragon is spewing out.
What do we make of that? What do we make of the earth
opening up and swallowing this water?
Well, let's put some pieces back together again, right?
We have additional characters in this portrait, so to speak.
Israel Wilderness wings, eagle's wings more specifically, and now
what? Potentially A marching army of
massive proportions to destroy this people.
I think we're back at the Exodus again.
I think we're back at that very same scene.
The same theme is being presented here now.
Do you remember some of the words that the Jewish people
used to celebrate the fact that they had been successfully
brought through the Red Sea in that same water destroyed
Pharaoh and his Chariots? Let me give you one of the
lyrics in Exodus 15. Listen to this in Exodus 15
verse 11 to verse 12, they said, who is like you, O Lord among
the gods, who is like you, majestic and holiness, awesome
and glorious deeds, doing wonders.
You stretched out your right hand.
The earth swallowed them. The earth swallowed them.
And it seems as though John, as he is writing out what he's
seeing, is borrowing from this kind of description as he is
putting together a very similar motif to Israel's past as he's
describing this prophecy. So how do we make sense of verse
seeing this earth swallowing up this water?
It seems to suggest that there's going to be a supernatural
intervention that is going to put a stop and neutralize the
Satanic onslaught, as the Antichrist himself will try to
launch against them in order to destroy them.
And he fails. So Satan so far is 0 for two,
and this is going to infuriate him even more.
He's not going to let up, but he is going to change his strategy.
His time now is only getting shorter and whatever he does,
he's unable to actually do anything about this people group
who are critical, a critical part to the storyline of the
last days. So what is he going to do now?
One thing is certain, he will not give up, but he's going to
have to change his target. He's going to look elsewhere,
and this is what we're going to consider with his 3rd and final
assault, at least at this point. It's summarized in verse 17 of
Revelation 12. Let's read it one more time.
And 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.
So he realized that they're impenetrable.
There's a protective grace upon this nation.
I can't keep wasting my resources and the time on them.
So he's bubbling up with even more rage now.
He can't access the immediate presence of God.
He can't touch this people group.
So what does he do? He goes after those who bear the
testimony of Jesus Christ. He goes after believers in the
tribulation. He goes after the Saints.
Now again, this is a double title and because it says that
they are the rest of our offspring, that has caused some
people to say different things. Maybe there are more specific
group. Is it just Messianic Jews like
the 144,000 who are witnessing Fort cries?
Is it just the Gentiles? I think is a combination of
both. It's all of those who believe
the truth of the gospel during this time.
And what is he going to do against him?
Exactly? What is he going to perform?
It's very simple. He is going to complete the
number of the Saints who will die for their faith.
That's what we read earlier, right?
When the souls beneath the altar were asking God to act on their
behalf. Lord, where's your vengeance?
And one of the things that they were told was to rest a little
longer until the number of their brethren would be slain to
completion before things move on.
And it could be that at this point there will be an
amplification of persecution against Christians unlike what
we've ever seen before. It will be global.
It'll be fierce. It'll be swift.
And you might be hearing this and thinking to yourself, wait a
minute. So you're saying that in this
window of time, God is going to shelter and put a canopy over
Israel, ethnic, unbelieving Israel, and let Satan slaughter
Christians. You're saying that the Lord is
going to let this perverted, powerful serpent dragon,
deceiver of the whole world touch his bride while concealing
and containing this nation. This bothers people, by the way.
It does, but I want to offer just one simple answer.
That is not the case at all. To say that somehow God loves
the Jewish people more than his church.
Let me ask you this, is there any difference between an
unbeliever facing death and a believer dying?
I hope you know enough of your Bible to say yes.
Death for the unbeliever, Jew or non Jew, is the seal of their
condemnation. Death for the believer, however,
is a doorway to their eternal rest and reward.
So is it so hard to believe that the Lord would permit Satan to
expedite the believers hope while protecting this nation
whom he had made promises to ultimately save?
At this time, it shouldn't be hard to grasp.
Persecution has been part of the Church's experience since her
inception, but the oppression against the Saints at this point
will will reach a scale and a severity that will be hard to
imagine. And that's what we're prepared
to learn. Actually, at the last part of
verse 17, the ESV adds this here.
Other translations added in the beginning of chapter 13, we read
and he stood on the sand of the sea.
Now other translations would say, and I stood John speaking
on the sand of the sea. We'll get into that more next
week. But what we're here looking at
is that is Satan is going to turn his attention against the
worshippers of Christ. He's going to do it in a very
sophisticated way. And that's going to be covered
as we look more and probably the most detailed passage about the
Antichrist and what he'll accomplish on on the earth in
this new chapter. I'm tempted to go there.
I won't. I'll keep that for next week.
But I want to end this message on a different note.
Today we got another sample, hopefully, of how prophecy
works. Maybe you got a little bit more
illumination in understanding the last days.
That's my prayer, at least. I'm sure that some of us here
have exercised the muscle of interpreting Scripture with
Scripture. It's beautiful when we see that
happen. But you might be sitting here
and I hope you haven't been enduring this message.
I hope you've been enjoying it. But maybe the the thought
crossed your mind. This is great, but how does this
practically help me? I got a lot of things going on
in my life and I appreciate your honesty, so I want to leave you
with at least one take away. There is a ringing truth in this
passage that demands immediate notice concerning your walk with
Christ, and it's this. The enemy of your soul and mine
is a persistent foe. You get that impression, don't
you? Three ways of attacks, 3
assaults. He doesn't throw in the towels
so quickly. He's very calculated.
So he tries one thing that doesn't work, he'll do something
else. And if you can't get to that,
he'll go. He'll go elsewhere.
And listen, you and I have to understand that the schemes of
the Evil One are far more personal and persistent than we
often realize. We're talking, yes, about
nations. We're talking about a future
time, but these are trademarks of his character that exist now.
So he'll tempt you and he'll tempt you and he'll tempt you
and you don't budget. So he'll tempt you in another
way. And he brings sin to you,
perhaps a past sin that you once enjoyed, but it's not working.
So he'll wait for another season when you're more vulnerable and
unsuspecting, and he constantly sits on the sidelines of your
heart and he tries to puff you with pride.
He tries to present mirages before the eyes of your heart to
distract you. Like the love of money so that
you chase it and you chase it and you chase it.
And years go by and you pause and look back and realize I've
wasted my energy. I've wasted my resources.
I've wasted opportunities. For what?
He dangles promises before you while he holds a knife behind
him. He overwhelms you with guilt.
He let he whispers in your ear so that you lose sleep,
reminding you of your failures, of your past, of your
inconsistency, so that you're crushed by it.
And you have no joy, so you have no witness, and you have no more
energy to serve the people of God because you're trying to get
yourself together and you're questioning if God even loves
you or if he's even saved you. And his arsenal is vast.
It's deep. And the thing that's probably
the most disheartening is that he is very, very, very committed
to his 'cause he's stubborn. He doesn't care if you're old.
He doesn't care if you've been married for 40 years.
He'll he'll try to destroy that marriage.
He doesn't care if you only have one child, 135.
He wants to pollute all of them. And so he strategizes and he
thinks and he walks to and fro on this earth.
And at this point he's still able to go up to heaven and
accuse the brethren. And you're probably hearing all
this and you're like, OK, So what hope do we have?
And here's how one exhort you at the same time.
Yes, we see this great force who's able to recruit
politicians and armies, but he's up against a great God.
So this this puny people. And they're still puny people to
this day. They're able to run on foot and
hide in some desert and be taken care of.
Why? Because God, He gave them those
wings. He supplied their daily need.
He actually made the earth itself a friend of this people,
and He's the guy that you and I serve.
You know what verse came to mind when I was meditating on them?
They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles that shall run and
I'll be weary. They shall walk and not be
faint. So God can even give me eagles,
wings and you. It's not just for one people
group. It's not just for prophetic
time. There are applications to this
now. Now eagles wings for those who
do what? Wait on God.
You're dependent on God. You seek God, you realize He's
the only one who can provide the power and the efficiency and the
the grace to be able to endure all the things that make you
tired and frustrated. He gives me eagle's wings,
meaning what? He's able to give me the speed
to escape temptation when it arrives, is the First
Corinthians promised that, that there is always a way of escape.
He's able to give me the ability to soar above discouragement.
He's able to elevate me to a heavenly perspective, to see all
my circumstances from God's point of view.
Ego's wings. So there is a great foe who is
persistent, but there is a God who supplies things that enable
you and I to not just endure, but enjoy, to sing as we soar,
to be able to rest as we're being haunted down, and trust in
Him. And so I look at Revelation 12
and I see what God is going to do.
Yes, for this nation, Israel. I see what's going to happen to
believers, but I also see the God that I serve today.
Do you see it? Do you need Him?
You only experience Him when you need Him and you realize you
need him. If you're not a needy person in
this place, God can't give you the grace that he promises to
the humble. And so let's let's respond to
this truth in this way. Yes, Lord, thank you for helping
me understand a little bit more of the Book of Revelation.
Thank you that I have some more clarity on controversial issues.
I don't know why it's controversial.
It's biblical. But now, Lord I, I realize how
you're calling me personally and I and I need you to give me
power. I need, I need your help and the
Lord is ready to supply it. Let's seek them together.
But we thank you, we thank you, we thank you.
We heard your voice today because we opened your word.
And for many, perhaps you have just confirmed what they already
knew. For others, maybe this is brand
new, and maybe even for some, this is a challenge to other
theological perspectives. We pray that your truth would
triumph over all things. And Lord, we come now as your
people, realizing that You're the God who knows tomorrow, yes,
but you also know who we are and what we're doing today.
So help us for those who are weak and weary, who are faint,
who are broken or disheartened, who are disillusioned, whatever
it is. Oh God, we pray that you would
infuse in us now the grace that you're able to provide an entire
nation. Give to us.
Give to each of us today. Lord, let us walk out of here
stronger and lighter. And Lord, we've come now to give
you thanks because you not only taught us, but you have imparted
into us real power. And for this we say thanks in
Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand, let's give him
thanks. He spoke to our hearts today
through His marvelous word.