Latest / Admonition Podcast / Revelation 11 (Lesson 4) - Aaron Cozort - May 03, 2026
Transcript
- 0:00Amen.
- 0:08Isaiah, go plug the screen in.
- 0:11We're in chapter 11 and by way of review, well, nothing is going to work this morning.
- 0:20So we'll just review it without the screen.
- 0:22So by way of review, oh as you open the book, you find John, he is worshiping on the Lord's day.
- 0:29There's a reason, by the way, that we go through this review each time because if, as we're going through it,
- 0:36we should be capturing in our mind the flow of the book.
- 0:42The book is not like some other books where you just open it up, you read a few verses or a psalm and that psalm and that chapter is detached from the previous one.
- 0:53This is kind of like opening a novel.
- 0:56And if you open a novel that you've never read, you know nothing about, and you decide to open the page 100 out of 300 and you just start.
- 1:05How's the novel gonna go?
- 1:08Poorly, because it's not being used the way it was designed to be used, okay?
- 1:14So as we go through the book of Revelation, we're taking the time to review at beginning of each class for one, because somebody might have missed a class and somebody might be
- 1:25catching up, but for another, because as we're looking at this, it is a progression.
- 1:31There are events that,
- 1:33lead from this event to that event to the next event.
- 1:36eh So John is in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
- 1:40He's in exile on Patmos and he is there worshiping and as he is worshiping he hears a voice behind him and he turns around to see one who is represented by this glorified
- 1:52figure of Christ.
- 1:54Christ is the one who has the stars in his right hand and he has the golden lampstands around him.
- 2:02He tells us that the stars are what in chapter one?
- 2:10Seven churches, do not miss, as we get into chapter 11, that we've already been told what stars represent, okay?
- 2:23So, he's there, and he holds seven stars in his right hand, and they are the seven churches.
- 2:33And he's surrounded by seven golden lampstands, and what do those represent?
- 2:40the angels of the seven churches, the messengers of the seven churches.
- 2:45Okay.
- 2:46So then as the book is introduced, the introduction is written to these seven churches of Asia Minor.
- 2:52And then in chapter four, John sees an open door.
- 2:55John goes through the open door and we're presented with a visionary picture of the throne room of God.
- 3:01The one who's sitting on the throne just got to the throne.
- 3:05He'd never been on the throne before.
- 3:07He just started reigning that day, right?
- 3:12No.
- 3:14You mean the one who's on the throne when John goes into the throne room and the one he sees who's on the throne has been there the entire time?
- 3:26That's gonna be important to remember when we get into chapter 11, that John didn't show up and suddenly God's now reigning.
- 3:36You remember what Nebuchadnezzar learned in Daniel chapter four, when God put Nebuchadnezzar quite literally out to pasture for a period of time?
- 3:48When Nebuchadnezzar came back to his senses and was returned back to his throne, what did Nebuchadnezzar declare?
- 3:59That the God of the Hebrews was the only true God, and that He ruled in the kingdoms of men.
- 4:10Now that was a true statement.
- 4:13And He also said that He gives power to whom soever He wills.
- 4:23In other words, not only does He rule, He rules exclusively
- 4:28He rules exhaustively.
- 4:30There is no one who matches His authority anywhere, at any point, at any time.
- 4:37And that has been true since the day that the world began.
- 4:40It was true when Nebuchadnezzar was on the throne.
- 4:43It is true when Caesar is on the throne.
- 4:45It's true when John walks into the throne room.
- 4:49At no point in time did God hand over His authority over this universe.
- 5:00He was ruling when John went through the door.
- 5:04Okay?
- 5:04So all those who are in heaven, the beasts that are before the throne, the elders that are before the throne, they fall down and they worship the one who is before the throne.
- 5:15They cast their crowns of victory before the one who's on the throne.
- 5:19And then you see in chapter five, there's a book in the hand of the one who's sitting on the throne.
- 5:27And they go searching heaven and earth to find anyone who's worthy to open the seven seals that are closing the revelation from God that is standing or that is sitting there in the
- 5:39right hand of the one who's on the throne.
- 5:41And John wants to know what it says and John begins to weep because there's no one worthy in heaven or on earth or who's in the grave who's able to open the seals.
- 5:54As John begins to weep, someone comes to John and says, do not weep for one who has been found who is worthy.
- 6:02To open the book and notice it is Jesus Christ.
- 6:07It is the lamb that was slain.
- 6:10It was the one who appears to be dead but is standing upright.
- 6:16It is the lion of the tribe of Judah.
- 6:19and he is worthy to open the scrolls.
- 6:22So he is declared worthy to open the scrolls and again worship is offered by those who are in heaven, by those who are on earth, by those who are the elders who are before the
- 6:33throne and they praise the one who's worthy to open the scrolls.
- 6:39As he opens the first seal, begins to show John what's in the Revelation, a white horse goes forth and he's conquering.
- 6:51The one who's on the white horse looks like the primary enemy that Rome could never defeat.
- 7:01And he's going forth and he's conquering like a Parthian warrior.
- 7:05And then there's this red horse.
- 7:08difficulties start to arise.
- 7:10And then there's this black horse and more difficulties start to arise.
- 7:13Then there's this pale horse and death starts to come.
- 7:16And then you have the fifth seal open and the saints who are dying as a result of the persecution from horse two, three, and four...
- 7:28are crying out under the altar asking the Lord, how long are you going to let this go on?
- 7:34And they're told to rest for a little while, they're given white robes, and then the sixth seal is opened.
- 7:40Sixth seal is opened, and you have an initial picture of the wrath of the Lamb coming against those who are persecuting the people of God.
- 7:53This is picture one of the point of the book.
- 7:58This is like reading the preface on that novel.
- 8:04It sets up the book because when the seventh seal is opened, then you're gonna get a partial judgment that is part of the picture in the sixth seal.
- 8:19The sixth seal is a representative forecast, if you would.
- 8:25You know, when we turn on the Weather Channel and we look at what's
- 8:28coming when there's a storm on the way and you look at the forecast, do you watch the forecast before the storm arrives, during the storm, or after the storm?
- 8:40If you're paying attention to the weather, you watch it before it arrives.
- 8:44It's a little late when it's past you.
- 8:47Like, hey, give me an update on what happened.
- 8:49That's the news versus the forecast.
- 8:53Okay, the forecast is what's coming.
- 8:55That's what the sixth seal is.
- 8:57It's a forecast of what's coming.
- 8:59The difference is when God gives a forecast, God's always right.
- 9:02When the weatherman gives a forecast, God's always right.
- 9:06But anyway, so.
- 9:09As the sixth seal is opened and as this judgment is forecasted, the angels say, wait, wait, wait, wait, you can't start the judgment yet.
- 9:18We've got to mark all the people of God so none of them get judged.
- 9:24They're exempted from the judgment.
- 9:26So they need a stamp on their foreheads that has the name of God on it so that we know not to judge them.
- 9:35This is a picture.
- 9:37like the lamb's blood on the doorposts in Egypt.
- 9:41Every house that had the blood on the doorposts in Egypt didn't have what happened.
- 9:49Firstborn didn't die because all of the people who belonged to God, who obeyed God, had a sign on their house that indicated we're exempt from the judgment.
- 10:02That's the picture.
- 10:04So then the partial judgment begins and you've got the seven trumpets.
- 10:09As the seven trumpets begin to sound, a third of this is judged and a third of that is judged and a third of this is judged and all of these things begin to happen.
- 10:20and you start seeing things like the sun turns dark and the moon turns to blood and the stars fall from the sky and the earth is ripped open and all these fantastic things begin
- 10:30to occur and you think, no, the world's coming to an end.
- 10:34Except all it is is Old Testament language like Isaiah chapter 34, where God uses all the same figures to describe the fall of a nation like Edom.
- 10:49At what point in Old Testament history was Edom a world power that affected the entire planet?
- 10:57Never.
- 10:59Not one time in all of history.
- 11:01Yet when Edom, the descendants of Esau, as a nation fell and their fall was prophesied by Isaiah, Isaiah spoke of it in language as if the world was coming to an end.
- 11:14Because in the nation of Edom, the world was coming to an end.
- 11:20The nation was going to be judged.
- 11:25So in Isaiah 34, Isaiah uses language like the sun turns to darkness and the moon turns to blood and thundering and lightning and all these things occur and all these forecasting is
- 11:36the fall of the nation that is a miniscule nation that exists in one small subset of one small part of the world.
- 11:46In this case, God speaking of Rome.
- 11:50And we're gonna see that.
- 11:51Then, as those uh trumpets begin to sound, you get the fifth trumpet and one woe is pronounced.
- 12:00And the sixth trumpet and another woe is pronounced.
- 12:03And before the seventh trumpet sounds, as you're getting a warning, the seventh trumpet is about to sound, there's another pause.
- 12:12And John sees an angel, a mighty angel, a high representative of the throne of God.
- 12:19He's got God's rainbow over his head.
- 12:22He's a mighty angel.
- 12:24He's got one foot on the land and one foot on the sea, and he speaks.
- 12:29And John is told to go to him, and he goes to the angel, and he says, give me the little book that's in your hand, another revelation from God.
- 12:38And John takes the little book and he eats the book because this is Old Testament Ezekiel imagery.
- 12:45And it's sweet as honey in his mouth, but it's bitter in his belly.
- 12:49The message is not going to be a positive one except it's a message from God, so it's good, but it's forecasting a hard time.
- 13:01And so John begins to deliver to the Christians what he's seeing and he's going to see two witnesses.
- 13:09These witnesses come forth and they've got the representation of the Old Testament prophets.
- 13:15They look like Moses and Elijah, not physically, but in the deeds that they do.
- 13:20They speak great things.
- 13:22They speak the message of God and while they're speaking, nobody can touch them.
- 13:28But when the message ends, the world comes forth and it kills them.
- 13:34Matter of fact, the great city comes forth and kills them.
- 13:39the great city that was known as Egypt and Sodom and the city that killed our Lord.
- 13:46Now we've talked about before and we talked about last week that the city that killed our Lord was what city?
- 13:53Jerusalem.
- 13:55But they used whose authority and power to do it?
- 14:01Rome.
- 14:03But we also talked about that the picture here is a three-fold picture.
- 14:09Egypt represented those who persecuted God's people, those who rejected the authority and the Word of God.
- 14:20Sodom represented those whose immorality was so degraded that they had rejected God entirely and they were judged for it.
- 14:31Corruption morally, corruption politically.
- 14:36The third city, Jerusalem,
- 14:38represented religious corruption because it wasn't a great government that opposed Jesus Christ.
- 14:50It was the religious leaders in Israel who opposed Jesus Christ.
- 14:57Those who were supposed to be the shepherds of God's people opposed the shepherd from God and they killed him.
- 15:08And so the great city here is pictured three ways, with corrupted political power, with corrupted morality, and with corrupted religion.
- 15:16But the city that is the great city in Revelation sits on seven hills.
- 15:22And what city in New Testament power sat on seven hills?
- 15:28Rome.
- 15:31So Rome is pictured as the ones who kill God's two witnesses.
- 15:37And then they do what?
- 15:39Throw a party.
- 15:41They start rejoicing.
- 15:42They don't even bother to bury them.
- 15:45Leave them dead in the streets.
- 15:47God's witnesses are left.
- 15:50And as they throw a party and rejoice and just have a grand old time, three and a half days go by.
- 15:57What happens at the end of the three and a half days?
- 16:04God breathes life back into them and like the bones, the valley of dry bones in the book of Ezekiel where this entire valley of dry bones stands up and comes to life, God's people
- 16:16are resurrected back to life and they're not left in the earth, they are taken up into heaven.
- 16:23In other words, God's message is going to be declared, God's people are going to be persecuted, some of God's people are going to be killed, but once they're killed,
- 16:33People on earth can't touch them.
- 16:36They're safe as soon as they're dead.
- 16:40And so in chapter 11, we find the witnesses resurrected and we're gonna pick up in verse 11 of chapter 11.
- 16:53Yeah, verse 11 of chapter 11, we're going to read through this and then primarily we're going focus on chapter 12 as we get into it.
- 17:00Now, after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
- 17:09And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here.
- 17:14And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
- 17:19In the same hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell.
- 17:23In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
- 17:29Now notice this, the people of the earth witness a group of people get killed.
- 17:37Now how many people die?
- 17:43All right, 7,000.
- 17:44So here's what we gotta do because we know how we're supposed to handle the book of Revelation.
- 17:48We're supposed to read the number and assume the number's literal, and we're supposed to go find in history where 7,000 people to the number died and prescribe that that was the
- 17:57event that John was writing about, right?
- 18:01No.
- 18:02What does the number seven represent?
- 18:06Perfect.
- 18:07What does the number 1,000 represent?
- 18:12Cattle on a thousand hills belong to the Lord.
- 18:14Does that mean that only the thousand hills belong to the Lord?
- 18:19It means all, okay?
- 18:21So, perfect and all.
- 18:24A perfect number of people were judged.
- 18:29And what did it result in?
- 18:32Notice that resulted in people who became afraid and glorified God.
- 18:40What does that sound like?
- 18:42That sounds like Nebuchadnezzar when Nebuchadnezzar learned his lesson and he glorified God, but it didn't necessarily change the nation of Babylon, it?
- 18:52Because as soon as you get out of chapter four of uh Daniel and you get into chapter five, you've got Nebuchadnezzar's grandson reigning on the throne.
- 19:03And as Nebuchadnezzar's grandson is reigning on the throne, he's throwing a grand old party using God's.
- 19:10ah utensils out of the temple to drink wine out of and declare that he's the ruler of everything.
- 19:20just because there is a moment where someone observes God's judgment and they see God's judgment and they say, know what, it is the God of heaven who is in charge.
- 19:32It doesn't mean it's going to change their life.
- 19:34It doesn't mean they're going to repent.
- 19:37It doesn't mean that from that point forward they're going to be faithful to the Lord.
- 19:41It means something happened and they woke up for a period of time.
- 19:47and realize that there's a God in heaven that they need to be accountable to.
- 19:51You ever known anybody who lives their entire life completely ignoring God, His commands, His ordinances, everything that God has told them to do, living a life of sin, and then
- 20:03they get sick and they're near the point of death and they suddenly start repenting of things?
- 20:11And if that continued, and if they remained faithful from that point, it'd be great.
- 20:17But what happens more often than not?
- 20:19They get better.
- 20:20And what do they do?
- 20:24Go right back to the life they've been living.
- 20:28That's the picture here.
- 20:31They witness a whole bunch of people who are judged for some action and they see it occur and they go, the God of heaven is the only God.
- 20:44but it doesn't cause them to repent.
- 20:47They give glory to the God of heaven.
- 20:49The second woe is passed.
- 20:50Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
- 20:54Then the seventh angel sounded.
- 20:56We talked about before that all of the seven angels that are sounding, the seven trumpets are occurring inside the seventh seal.
- 21:08Well, as the seventh angel sounds, you're about to get introduced to seven bowls.
- 21:13And the seven bowls are going to be inside the seventh trumpet, and the seven trumpets are inside the seventh seal, and the seven seals are on the book that John wanted to know what
- 21:28it said.
- 21:30All of this is on the book that you're introduced to in chapter 5.
- 21:35All of this is the continuing revelation of what you find God introducing in chapter 5.
- 21:44So the seventh trumpet sounds, and there was a loud voice in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
- 21:57forever and ever.
- 22:00Seventh trumpet sounds and a uh pronouncement occurs.
- 22:05A herald comes forth and he says, Jesus Christ is going to reign forever and ever.
- 22:15So we are to assume, right, that it's at this moment after all this persecution, after all this tribulation, after all this time that Jesus Christ finally comes to the throne.
- 22:29Right?
- 22:31You're wrong.
- 22:34wrong.
- 22:37This isn't a pronouncement about some future time when John says, revelation from me tells you that Jesus Christ is finally going to arrive on His throne.
- 22:49No.
- 22:53Go back to chapter one.
- 23:03Verse 9.
- 23:06I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, endurance, holding up under hardship the patience of Jesus Christ.
- 23:32was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- 23:40When John wrote this book, when John received this vision, was there a kingdom that already existed?
- 23:53Yes!
- 23:54And John had been a part of it since Acts chapter 2 and the day of Pentecost.
- 24:00Was Jesus already on the throne?
- 24:04Yes!
- 24:06Matthew chapter 28 verse 18,
- 24:17This pronouncement is not the pronouncement about the beginning of Christ's thousand-year reign as the premillennialist.
- 24:30Sorry, I got rebuked by somebody on Facebook because I said premillennialist.
- 24:34They said, not all premillennialists are dispensationalists.
- 24:39Accurate.
- 24:40They're all wrong, but they're not all dispensationalists.
- 24:43So dispensationalist premillennialists.
- 24:48are waiting for the thousand year reign of Christ to commence.
- 24:53They're two thousand years late!
- 24:56He's been raining since AD 33.
- 25:02He's been reigning in a kingdom that John was a brother in.
- 25:10He's been reigning in a kingdom he set up in the days of the fourth kingdom of Daniel's prophecy, Rome.
- 25:21He's been reigning for 2,000 years and they're only looking for a thousand year reign.
- 25:32This pronouncement has nothing to do with the beginning of His reign.
- 25:37has everything due to the commencing of judgment because of His reign.
- 25:46Go back to chapter six.
- 25:56Chapter 6 verse 9, when He opened the fifth seal, saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held.
- 26:09And they cried with a loud voice saying, long, oh Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?
- 26:23Question, did the Christians who were dying in the first century in John's day cry out and ask, Christ, when are you finally going to get to the throne?
- 26:36They said, when are you going to finally start judging these people?
- 26:41And that's what you have proclaimed in this verse.
- 26:46God tells them in chapter six, have a robe, rest, wait.
- 26:56In essence, watch and you're going to see the answer to your question.
- 27:02So in chapter.
- 27:0511, they've received six.
- 27:10They, the people who dwell on the earth, the enemies of God, the people who are persecuting God's people, they've received six warning judgments, six partial judgments.
- 27:26and at the very end of the last one they pause for a moment having observed it and they glorify God.
- 27:35but they don't repent.
- 27:38And so now you have a proclamation as the seventh trumpet commences that Christ is on his throne.
- 27:48He's always been on his throne.
- 27:51And he begins to give final judgment to those who dwell on the earth.
- 27:59He begins to give final judgment to the persecutors of his people.
- 28:04He gives complete judgment to them.
- 28:09and it is pictured as the authority of the throne going forth.
- 28:18He says, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
- 28:27And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God.
- 28:33What were they doing in chapter four?
- 28:36Same thing.
- 28:37What were they doing in chapter five?
- 28:40Same thing.
- 28:41Guess what they're doing now?
- 28:43The same thing.
- 28:45because he was on the throne then and he's on the throne now.
- 28:49But notice they say, give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned.
- 29:04The pronouncement here is not about the beginning of his reign.
- 29:08It's not about him coming to the throne.
- 29:11He's the one who's ruled, who is, who was and always will be.
- 29:16But power has now gone forth from the throne and his authority has put those who dwell on the earth in their place.
- 29:29Notice we read the nations were angry and your wrath has come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your righteous servants, sorry, and
- 29:44that you should reward
- 29:46your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name small and great and should destroy those who destroy the earth."
- 29:59Notice the judgment that is coming.
- 30:05It is coming against those who destroy the earth.
- 30:11They've made it completely uninhabitable for the righteous people.
- 30:19And God's judgment is going to come forth from them.
- 30:25Then verse 19, then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple.
- 30:34So again, movie scene moment here.
- 30:39John's watching and he looks up into heaven and there's the temple.
- 30:45It's the figure of the Old Testament temple.
- 30:49And you see something that never was seen in the temple.
- 30:54Not in all the days from Solomon's temple being laid and the foundation being laid and the walls being set up to the commencement of it, never did this occur.
- 31:06You look straight through the front doors of the temple, you look and you see straight through to the Ark of the Covenant.
- 31:14Why did that never occur in the temple made by Solomon?
- 31:21There was a veil.
- 31:25And the only time someone could go through the veil was what day?
- 31:31Day Atonement.
- 31:33And who was the only person who could go through the veil?
- 31:37The high priest.
- 31:39And he had to have a certain robe on and bells on to make sure that he didn't die when he walked through.
- 31:45And the day that he would go through the whole uh holy place would have been filled with the smoke and the incense.
- 31:52You wouldn't have been able to peer through and see the Ark of the Covenant.
- 31:57by the way, also add to the fact
- 32:00that the Israelites hadn't had the Ark of the Covenant for 600 years before Jesus came.
- 32:12So something occurs in John's vision that never could have happened in real life.
- 32:17He sees straight through.
- 32:21to the very mercy seat of God.
- 32:26and notice what we read.
- 32:30and there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
- 32:40Now where have we seen that language before?
- 32:44When a nation falls.
- 32:46This is the Old Testament language we were talking about earlier from Isaiah 34 and from other passages.
- 32:51When a nation falls, God's temple opens up, God begins to rain, and a nation falls.
- 33:02because God's power went forth and judged those who dwell on the earth.
- 33:11but we're not done comforting the people of God yet.
- 33:17One more message to the people of God before the seventh trumpet actually sounds.
- 33:25Chapter 12 opens, now a great sign appeared in heaven.
- 33:29So, John sees the temple open up in heaven.
- 33:33He sees the ark of the covenant and he sees the power begin to come forth out of the temple.
- 33:40and a nation falls.
- 33:42But wait a minute, there's a sign up there.
- 33:44Let me read the sign.
- 33:46Here's a sign that appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with a moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars.
- 33:59Now, what is the number 12 representing the book?
- 34:07We've said there are 12 tribes of Israel and there are 12 apostles and there are 12 of the elders multiplied by two, there's 24 elders.
- 34:21There's 12 of this and 12 of that and those who belong to the Lord who were marked with God's name, there's 12 multiplied by 1,000 multiplied by 12.
- 34:3212 represents the people of God.
- 34:37Here's a woman on her head.
- 34:41She represents the people of God.
- 34:46She's got a crown that represents God's people.
- 34:51She's a woman who's about to give birth.
- 34:56God's people give birth to the Messiah.
- 35:00Okay?
- 35:01So watch this.
- 35:04The moon was under her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars.
- 35:09Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
- 35:15And another sign appeared in heaven.
- 35:17Behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his head.
- 35:24and his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as
- 35:34it was born.
- 35:35bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up to God and His throne.
- 35:43Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days.
- 35:54and war broke out in heaven.
- 35:57Michael and his angel fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
- 36:06So the great dragon was cast out.
- 36:08That serpent of old called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
- 36:17Then I heard a loud
- 36:18voice saying, heaven now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day
- 36:29and night, has been cast down.
- 36:32And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
- 36:40Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them."
- 36:43woe 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.
- 36:53Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she
- 37:03might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent.
- 37:11So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
- 37:18But the earth helped the woman and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
- 37:25And the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who kept, who keep the commandment of God and have the testimony of Jesus
- 37:35Christ.
- 37:38and you say, oh my, what is this?
- 37:45Well, we've only got five minutes.
- 37:47So let's talk about it for a moment.
- 37:49Here's what we know.
- 37:52Here's what we know.
- 37:53We know there's a woman who gives birth to a child and the child is going to be what?
- 38:03She bears a male child, verse five, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
- 38:19Read Psalm two.
- 38:29In the second Psalm.
- 38:33We read, and it opens with the words, why do the heathens rage?
- 38:39And the people plot a vain thing.
- 38:42The question from the psalmist writer is, why are the nations raging against God and plotting to do something they'll never succeed at?
- 38:53It is a vain thing.
- 38:55If you go to the book of Ecclesiastes and you remember that phrase that keeps getting repeated over and over, vanity of vanities, all is.
- 39:03Vanity.
- 39:05The nations are plotting a vain thing.
- 39:07They're plotting something that's never going to work.
- 39:11They're going to fail.
- 39:13Now notice, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His anointed saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away
- 39:25their cords from us.
- 39:27They say, know what?
- 39:28God has entrapped us and ensnared us long enough.
- 39:32He's bound us up to do His will long enough.
- 39:35We're going to break His hold over us.
- 39:37We're going to kill His anointed one.
- 39:42and then we'll get to do what we want.
- 39:45Sound like the vineyard keepers in Jesus' parable?
- 39:50You know what?
- 39:51Here comes the son.
- 39:53Let's kill him and then the vineyard is ours.
- 39:55Okay?
- 39:56Now notice, he who sits in the heavens does what?
- 40:03She'll laugh.
- 40:07The idea here in the Hebrew is, shall laugh with derision at the audacity of the nations to think that they could defeat the authority of the Lord.
- 40:23Notice, the Lord shall hold them in derision, then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure.
- 40:35Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion.
- 40:41I will declare the decree.
- 40:44The Lord has said to me, you are my son.
- 40:49Today I have begotten you.
- 40:52Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.
- 41:00You shall break them with a rod of iron.
- 41:04and shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.
- 41:09Now therefore be wise, O kings.
- 41:12Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
- 41:15Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
- 41:18Kiss the Son, lest ye be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
- 41:25Blessed are those who put their trust in him.
- 41:31question.
- 41:34Where does the child that becomes the Messiah, that becomes the one who God says, are my son?
- 41:47Where does he come forth from?
- 41:53He comes forth from heaven, but he's born of a woman who is a part of what nation?
- 42:05Israel, the people of God.
- 42:10Remember what the woman had on her head, right?
- 42:1512 stars.
- 42:18She represents the people of God.
- 42:21The Messiah comes forth out of the people of God.
- 42:27He's born into the world by the people of God.
- 42:32And when he enters this world and the world rejoices and the angels come forth and rejoice, not long after that, there's a king who wants to do what?
- 42:42Kill him!
- 42:46Except he sends his soldiers to go kill all the children age two and down.
- 42:52And guess what?
- 42:53Before the soldiers ever get there, God takes the child off into Egypt.
- 43:04brings a child back to Nazareth, child's raised, child comes to his power, the child ends up Jesus Christ who, yes, goes to the cross, yes, looks like he's going to die, yes, looks
- 43:18like he's going to be defeated entirely by the devil.
- 43:24except He's put to death and He doesn't stay dead.
- 43:28Just like God's witnesses, He might go to the grave, but He comes forth.
- 43:34And then He ascends out of the reach of all of the nations of the earth to go reign on His throne.
- 43:45And the nations are reminded in Psalm 2, hundreds of years before Jesus is ever born.
- 43:50You better be careful when you start messing.
- 43:54with the people of God.
- 43:59because they have someone who sits on the throne that when you make him just a little angry.
- 44:08He's going to rule with a rod of iron and He is going to bring His wrath upon you.
- 44:17You see, when you get to chapter 12, this is an Old Testament picture from Psalm 2, where it looks like the devil's got power and the devil can do what he wants and the devil's
- 44:33going to defeat the people because who wins, a dragon or a woman?
- 44:38The answer is the woman.
- 44:42Because every time the devil tries to use his power to defeat the woman,
- 44:46God just snatches her out of his grasp.
- 45:01Absolutely.
- 45:03And it's also pointing out that Satan is always co-opting the forces of this world to do his work.
- 45:11But guess what?
- 45:12The other part of the message is he always loses.
- 45:15All right?
- 45:16So our significant point out of chapter 12, as you're going to see it, is the devil is a three-time loser.
- 45:24And he is always going to lose to the child who's on the throne.
- 45:29Okay?