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Satan's Wrath on Earth | Revelation 12:13-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Last week, you and I briefly examined the future fall of
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  Satan. More specifically, we consider
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  the second of four falls of the devil that the Book of
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  Revelation describes. And this second fall, as we
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  learned, will take place during the Tribulation period.
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  It will banish Satan from heaven forever, and it will bar him
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  from having access to God to accuse the children of God.
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  This is a marvelous outcome out of this conflict between the
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  Evil 1 and Michael the Archangel, because it will also,
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  in a sense, clear the path for Christ's return.
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  But what is wonderful in one sense is also woeful in another,
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  specifically for those who will dwell on the earth after Satan
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  is cast down in this way and is confined to this world.
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  And what we are going to consider is that although Satan
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  loses this war in heaven that we studied, he's going to declare
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  another World War on earth. He's going to declare another
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  war on earth. And the introduction to this
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  escalation of Satan's fury is given to us in great detail in
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  the remaining verses of Revelation chapter 12.
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  And I invite you to turn with me there to that chapter, because
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  we're about to see that after being cast out of heaven, the
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  devil will rise from his humiliation and great wrath.
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  He's not going to take this embarrassing eviction lightly.
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  He's going to do something about it.
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  And we're going to read about it beginning in verse 13.
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  And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the
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  earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male
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  child. But the woman was given the two
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  wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly from the
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  serpent into the wilderness to the place where she is to be
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  nourished for a time and times and half a time the serpent
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  poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to
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  sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help
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  of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed
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  the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
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  Then the dragon became furious with the woman, and went off to
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  make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the
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  commandments of God, and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
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  And the ESV adds this. And he stood on the sand of the
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  sea. Father, we pray, Oh, we pray for
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  your grace. There is a lot of material to
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  cover in our time in the word today.
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  So we need your help to be able to seize every truth, to be able
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  to understand your mind, to look at these prophetic things and be
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  able to leave out, leave with a confidence and understanding
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  what you have in store for the days to come.
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  And Lord, we pray that it would impact the way we Live Today,
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  but only You can translate those things into our hearts.
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  So we pray with humility and dependency that You would guide
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  us into Your heart as revealed in Your Word.
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  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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  If you're reading carefully, you might have noticed something
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  about these verses that we just read.
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  Satan is going to declare war on the earth, but he's actually
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  going to perform three waves of attack.
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  There are three assaults that are highlighted in these verses.
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  And I think organizing our thoughts around these Satanic
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  strikes will make these truths more memorable for us.
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  And so we're going to look at these things individually and
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  they're going to be many questions asked and hopefully
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  answered. But there is a main one that I
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  want to bring to your attention. The main question we want to ask
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  is what can we expect Satan to do in the latter part of the
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  tribulation just before Christ is going to return?
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  And you might be thinking, can we actually know that?
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  And I'm here to tell you with an emphatic, absolute yes, we can
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  know that because this passage tells us exactly what he's going
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  to plan to do and understand that his time is short.
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  He is going to launch three major and targeted assaults of
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  historic proportions. And so this is what we're
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  planning to do together as a church.
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  Let's look at these three assaults separately.
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  Assault number one is found in verse 13 to verse 14.
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  We read it. The first thing that the devil
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  will do after he learns that he is expelled from heaven during
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  this tribulation period is pursue the woman.
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  And we know that the woman represents the nation of Israel.
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  Hopefully remember that her identity is confirmed in the
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  earlier portions of Revelation 12.
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  And if you weren't here for that message, I highly encourage you
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  in your own time to listen to that teaching because you will
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  see that there is evidence proving that this woman is
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  exactly that. She is representing and
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  symbolizing the nation of Israel.
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  And just in case you haven't heard that teaching yet or maybe
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  you forgot, just what we find here in these verses actually
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  further confirms her identity. So look down at verse 17 again.
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  Notice what the dragon will do after his failed attempts to
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  harass and oppress the woman. And verse 17 we read and the
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  dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war
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  on the rest of her offspring. Highlight that on those who keep
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  the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
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  So if you are among those who claim that this woman represents
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  the church or the people of God as a whole, I have a question
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  for you. How would you explain the
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  distinction being made in this verse?
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  There's a clear difference being drawn here between the woman and
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  the rest of her offspring who are identified as who followers
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  of Jesus Christ. It's a double title.
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  Those who obey or keep the commandments of God and hold to
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  the testimony of Jesus. So let's just step back then.
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  If this woman is supposed to be apparently the church, then why
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  is there a difference being made between her and the object of
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  Satan's new focus after he tries to devour the woman?
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  Who are the offspring then? And you can revisit the first
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  few verses of this chapter to see again how there's more
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  evidence to conclude that what makes the most biblical sense is
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  that this woman is the entity Israel, ethnic Israel, the
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  Jewish people. But for most of us, that's
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  already been established. Yet there still may be questions
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  that remain, one of the main ones being perhaps, OK, why?
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  I get it. It's very difficult to debate
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  that this is speaking about Israel.
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  But why does Satan seem to have such special interests for her?
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  Why does he find it in himself to pursue her with such
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  aggression and hatred? And I believe that in this text
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  alone there are two answers, 2 answers to why Satan will make
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  it his top priority as time is winding down, as his faith is
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  about to be sealed, to actually run after the woman.
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  The 1st is because of Israel's history.
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  Israel's history. Notice how this verse here in
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  verse 13 tells us who he is pursuing.
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  He pursued the woman at the end of the verse who had given birth
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  to the male child. And we know that the male child
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  to be Jesus Christ. And so we see here that Satan
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  goes after this woman, understanding her role and what
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  she did in God's redemptive purposes on the earth.
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  Her history, her resume, so to speak, is enough for Satan to
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  hold great animosity towards her.
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  And what I find interesting is that the very things that Satan
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  hates Israel for are the very characteristics and truths that
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  inspired great affection in the heart of Paul for them.
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  I want you to turn to Romans 9 with me.
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  Look at verse 3 down to verse 5, Romans 9, verse 3 to verse 5.
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  Satan no longer has access to the immediate presence of God.
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  That's what we've learned in Revelation 12 so far.
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  And So what does he do? He will go after whom God loves.
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  He will go after Israel, who played a major, major role in
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  what God has done in the earth. Notice how Paul says in Romans
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  9, verse 3. For I could wish that I myself
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  were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
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  brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
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  Pause. These are astounding
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  confessions. I don't have time to open this
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  up, this one verse. But what I want to highlight is
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  that Paul is speaking about his love, his concern for the people
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  according to his flesh, who share his ethnicity.
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  He's not talking about spiritual Israel.
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  He's talking about actual Israel, the Jewish people.
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  Notice what he says in verse 4. They are Israelites, and to them
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  belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the
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  law, the worship and the promises.
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  To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according
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  to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed
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  forever. Amen.
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  So here's the apostle expressing his sorrow and his woes.
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  Because of what His His brethren, according to the
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  flesh, have denied the Messiah, and His pain is not merely
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  because He shares their blood, but as we just read, because the
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  Lord has used them in a very special way to accomplish His
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  will across the ages. Paul highlights 9 specific
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  privileges that were granted to this people.
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  We won't get into them now, but they can be summarized in this
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  way. Israel was a designated vehicle
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  that was used by God to usher in progressive revelation on the
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  earth concerning who He is. In other words, God had selected
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  this people group to be a national platform on the earth
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  to display the multifaceted glory of God to the rest of the
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  world. And the climax of this is that
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  through this race came the Savior of humanity.
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  Through this race came the Jewish Messiah, yes, but it was
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  also the Redeemer of all mankind.
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  Jesus Christ himself speaks about these crowning privileges
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  that the Jews shared. When He was speaking to the
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  Samaritan woman, what did he say in John 4/22?
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  For salvation comes from who? The Jews?
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  The Jews? So one would either have to be
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  ignorant or blinded by unjustified hatred to deny that
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  the Lord placed a peculiar calling upon these people and
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  listen, one which the Christian faith has its roots in.
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  And I believe many, many churches are doing a great
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  disservice to the people of God, especially the pastors who
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  ignored the Old Testament in their preaching and their
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  teaching, who do not provide a regular diet of the Hebrew
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  Scriptures. It makes many people,
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  Christians, I'm speaking about professing Christians, think
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  that Jesus just appeared out of nowhere.
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  He just showed up on the scene, gave some beatitudes, and died
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  on the cross for our sins. And if you want to go to heaven,
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  just believe on them. Yes, the gospel message is
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  beautifully simple, but it is rich with history.
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  There's depth to it. There's context, and Paul
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  reminds the Romans about the history of the Jewish people and
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  the history of their own faith. So there are people who don't
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  understand, they don't get it because they don't have a grasp
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  of the Scriptures. But there is one who hates this
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  people precisely because of what God has done through them,
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  precisely because of how they were the foundation for the
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  gospel, precisely because they were the means through which the
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  Messiah entered into history. His name is Satan, and he will
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  always hold this against them. He has bitterness towards them.
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  He despises them. And you have to remember this,
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  Satan always hates whatever and whomever God loves, and he is
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  set an elective love upon the people of Israel.
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  He did something with them in the past and he's going to do
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  something with them in the future.
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  That brings me to the second reason why the great dragon
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  pursues the woman, because of Israel's future, not just their
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  history, but what's to come. Go back to Revelation 12, verse
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  12. Here's where I get that from.
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  This is where we closed last week, but let's consider it
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  again. The last part of verse 12 says,
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  but woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to
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  you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short.
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  So we have to ask this question, what is the relationship between
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  Satan realizing that his condemned faith is about to be
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  sealed? He understands at this point of
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  the Tribulation, Christ is about to crash into this world with
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  this Kingdom. That means I'm going to be
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  condemned. What relationship does Satan's
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  understanding of that truth and him hunting down Israel, what
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  kind of connection is there in that?
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  How do those things relate? Well, evidently say to know
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  something about this people group.
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  He understands that Israel will play a crucial role in God's
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  plans for Christ's return in the establishment of his Kingdom.
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  He knows this. And so by targeting them, he
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  really believes that he can either hinder or even prevent
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  what the Scriptures promises about Christ's second coming.
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  And we can spend the rest of this afternoon looking at all
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  the connections, how Israel's future intertwines with the rest
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  of God's redemptive program, namely in his return through
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  Christ. But I want to just look at one
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  Scripture, just one Scripture, because we have so much to cover
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  today. Go to Matthew 23, look at verse
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  37 down to verse 39. This is a familiar passage but I
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  think many people miss the implications of it.
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  And Matthew 23 verse 37 down to verse 39.
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  We are nearing the end of Jesus earthly ministry and he offers
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  his own lament. Matthew 2337 reads O Jerusalem,
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  Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those
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  who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered
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  your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her
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  wings, and you were not willing see your house is left to you
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  desolate. Pause.
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  Many people build their eschatology.
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  That's a fancy word for their doctrine for the end times.
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  Not considering the following verse, how Jesus ends this verse
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  39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,
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  blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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  So this scripture is often quoted to show Christ's lament
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  over the unbelief of His people. But I want to see with you the
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  end time prophecy contained in it.
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  Notice how the Lord places a condition upon his return.
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  What does he say? You?
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  He's speaking about the people of Jerusalem.
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  He's speaking about the leadership of Israel.
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  You will not see me again until you accept and you acknowledge
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  and you welcome me as the promised one.
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  That's what this translates to because he's quoting a passage
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  from Psalm one 18118, which is a Messianic Psalm.
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  Blessed is you comes in the name of the Lord.
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  But read it carefully. The Lord did not say unless you
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  say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, right
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  until there's a difference. If Christ had said unless you
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  say, then that leaves the possibility that Israel would
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  never do it. We're not going to confess, but
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  he doesn't say unless he says until implying what that it is a
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  certainty that it will happen. It's only a matter of time until
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  until you say and this I don't think it's coincidental where
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  it's placed in our Bibles. Israel's future faith in
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  crowning Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah is mentioned
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  immediately before what Matthew 24?
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  Do you see that in your Bibles? And what's Matthew 24 about?
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  At least the first part, Jesus teaching about the last days
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  until you say it, anticipating their acceptance which coincides
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  with his arrival. So how does this play into
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  Satan's schemes? Well, Satan is aware that there
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  is a future for this people to be saved by this Messiah.
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  But if he can destroy this people, then there's no one left
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  to say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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  And not only. If Satan even were to be able to
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  accomplish such a thing, not only would he vaporize so many
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  other promises that God has made, but he would ultimately
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  prove Christ unfaithful. He would discredit the word of
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  God. And so in his mind, he
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  understands if I can, if I can destroy this race, if I can
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  delete them, if I can remove them from the face of the earth,
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  then that will cause some trouble for many prophecies and
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  ultimately for the reign of Christ on the earth.
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  So This is why he's going to step up his aggression in the
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  Tribulation period as he realizes that his time is short.
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  But we have to see what he's going to do.
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  We haven't even considered his first assault yet, and if we
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  want to, we got to go back to our main text.
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  So what is he going to do? Now that we've established why
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  he's going after the woman, let's consider what he will try
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  to do against her. Revelation 12.
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  Look at verse 13 and 14 again. And when the dragon saw that
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  he'd been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who
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  had given birth to the male child.
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  But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that
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  she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, the place
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  where she used to be nourished for a time and times and half a
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  time. This woman, the nation's flight
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  into the wilderness is something Jesus Christ spoke about.
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  We don't have to turn there. But in Matthew 24, what did he
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  say after speaking about global catastrophes and all these
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  things that are going to shake up the earth?
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  He zeroes in and he focuses on the Jewish people.
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  And do you remember the beginnings of his ominous
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  warning? He said.
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  But when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the
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  prophet Daniel sitting or standing rather in the holy
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  place, let those who are in Judea do what?
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  Flee to the mountains? And he gives all these other
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  practical exhortations. Don't look back.
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  Woe to those who are nursing. Pray that it wouldn't be in the
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  winter. Pray that it wouldn't happen on
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  the Sabbath. Then he says something along the
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  lines of for then there will be great tribulation, such as not
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  been from the beginning of the world until now.
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  No, and never will be. Here's how this all ties in
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  together. There will be a point in the
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  tribulation where the Antichrist has gained global power, yes,
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  but he will also enter into the temple that is in Jerusalem,
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  declare himself to be God, and will turn on the Jewish people
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  specifically and the Jewish people alive at this time.
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  Many of them will recognize that this is indeed an act of
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  betrayal. It could be that even many of
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  them who have been hearing the preaching of the 144,000 and and
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  others might have been introduced to the warnings of
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  Jesus in Matthew 24. And so there will be a
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  collective effort to flee. They will realize now that there
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  is a rising attack against them specifically, and so they will
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  abandoned everything. This is emergency protocol.
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  This global political power is now declaring himself to be God
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  in our very temple. Run for your life.
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  And that's the that's exactly what they will seek to do.
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  But John in Revelation 12 gives us the spiritual activity behind
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  all of this. So yes, the abomination of
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  desolation who ultimately symbolizes a person who will
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  stand in the holy place, declare himself to be God according to
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  the Second Thessalonians 2. But we learn in this chapter of
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  our main text that it's the great dragon behind all of that
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  Satan, who's energizing the Antichrist, who's using this
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  great empire in this future time to now focus all their energy
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  and efforts towards liquidating this people.
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  In other words, he wants there to be a new Holocaust.
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  And so the people flee. And we know that this is Satan's
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  agenda ultimately, but we also see God's intervention in it as
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  the people flee, as they run. And there's a lot of terrain in
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  the Middle East for people to be able to run to.
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  What do we read in that verse, verse 14?
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  But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that
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  she might fly. A lot of a lot of interesting
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  interpretations about that, but I think it's very simple.
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  Put some of the pieces together. Eagle's wings, wilderness,
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  Israel. Does any of that sound familiar?
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  That's all reminiscent of the experience of the Jewish people
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  in the original Exodus. Is that not right?
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  Do you remember what the Lord said to the Jewish people, to
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  the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Pharaoh,
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  rescued from Egypt in the wilderness?
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  Let me read this verse to you. In Exodus 19, verse 4, God says
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  to Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians
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  and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.
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  What do we hear almost every single week?
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  And I am not ashamed to repeat it.
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  The Book of Revelation is dripping with Old Testament
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  allusions and motifs and themes, and it's no different here.
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  The imagery that John is granted is to show that the same God who
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  faithfully delivered Israel thousands of years ago will
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  preserve and deliver his people in the future.
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  God has not forgotten these people, and God will do what
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  only he can do to spare them and save them.
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  It's almost like this is a kind of new Exodus.
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  They've experienced many of those exoduses, not just in
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  their flight. It's not that he's going to
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  enable them supernaturally to be able to escape against all odds.
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  You got to remember the Antichrist is going to take over
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  the world. He has the world at his
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  disposal. He has all the resources
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  available, but they will escape. It will be supernatural how they
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  will be able to flee from him, but not just in their flight,
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  but even in their experience in the wilderness.
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  Because what do we read that he's going to nourish them.
• 25:04
  He's going to feed them. They're going to be cut off from
• 25:07
  from all items, all resources. They're going to be in some kind
• 25:11
  of desert. And there's the debate where
• 25:13
  they're actually going to be planted, but they're going to be
• 25:14
  in some kind of refuge and shelter.
• 25:16
  And the Lord himself is going to supply their daily needs.
• 25:20
  Like what? Like, like Israel in the
• 25:22
  original Exodus, he rained down mana.
• 25:25
  He supplied water from unlikely sources.
• 25:28
  We're seeing the repeated faithfulness of God in this
• 25:31
  future prophecy. But this successful escape is
• 25:37
  not going to discourage the dragon.
• 25:41
  He will not be able to initially grab a hold of them, but that's
• 25:44
  not going to stop him, which is bringing us now to our second
• 25:48
  assault. Assault number 2 is found in
• 25:51
  verse 15 down to verse 16 and Revelation 12.
• 25:54
  We are not told where the Jews will find refuge.
• 25:58
  I mean, there's some speculation from the book of Daniel and
• 26:01
  other places, but what we do know is that Satan will be aware
• 26:05
  of it. He will know exactly where their
• 26:07
  location is. And once Israel does find
• 26:09
  shelter, we're told in verse 15 that the serpent is going to
• 26:13
  pour out water from where? Out of his mouth, and it will
• 26:17
  come like a tsunami, and it will seek to sweep away this people
• 26:21
  and destroy them. Now, we know that this can't be
• 26:24
  literal water. Some people, some people think
• 26:27
  it is. But this particular passage of
• 26:30
  scripture is rich in symbolism, and so this has to mean
• 26:34
  something else. If you focus on the fact that
• 26:38
  it's coming from Satan's mouth, you might be on to something.
• 26:44
  Because we know that things that come out of the mouth can be
• 26:46
  destructive, like dangerous lies and slander and propaganda.
• 26:53
  And it could be that that's what Satan will orchestrate at this
• 26:55
  time, that he is going to do many things, deceiving things to
• 26:59
  try to trick Israel or even persuade the rest of the world
• 27:03
  to turn against them and join him in his hatred.
• 27:08
  And the fact that it comes like a flood speaks about the volume
• 27:11
  of these lies, the force of them, how intense and
• 27:14
  destructive these narratives will be.
• 27:17
  And listen, this is not so far fetched.
• 27:19
  Many theories and slander against the Jewish people have
• 27:22
  proven historically to be the cause of many atrocities
• 27:25
  committed against them. So this is not a surprising
• 27:29
  interpretation. But there is another way of
• 27:35
  looking at this because again, if we look at the Old Testament
• 27:38
  themes, then would realize that a flood and many Hebrew passages
• 27:46
  actually speak about invading army speaks about a mighty force
• 27:54
  coming and destroying everything in its path towards a vulnerable
• 27:58
  foe. And there's so many references
• 28:01
  to this, but I want to just read to, I'm just going to ask you to
• 28:04
  listen to these passages to solidify this interpretation.
• 28:09
  And Isaiah 8 verse 7 to 8, it says, therefore, behold, the
• 28:15
  Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the river.
• 28:18
  Is he talking about literal waters?
• 28:19
  Well, let's find out mighty and many, the king of Assyria, and
• 28:25
  all his glory. And it will rise over all its
• 28:28
  channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into
• 28:32
  Judah. It will overflow and pass on,
• 28:36
  reaching even to the neck. And it's outspread wings will
• 28:39
  fill the breath of your land. O Emmanuel.
• 28:43
  Listen to Jeremiah 46, verse 8. Egypt rises like the Nile, like
• 28:51
  rivers whose waters surge. He said, I will rise, I will
• 28:56
  cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.
• 29:02
  And we can go on and on and on to see how rising waters floods.
• 29:08
  The language of sweeping away is very common to the Hebrew mind
• 29:13
  in interpreting an actual army coming in a terrifying manner.
• 29:20
  Both of these interpretations work, right?
• 29:24
  And whether it's deception or whether it's actual forces
• 29:28
  rising against this people, it could be a combination of both.
• 29:31
  But because of what we read back in verse 16 to Revelation 12,
• 29:34
  it's more likely that this is actually speaking about a
• 29:37
  coordinated military effort to advance and eradicate the Jewish
• 29:42
  people. What do we read in verse 16?
• 29:46
  Well, when this flood comes, it's going to yet again prove to
• 29:50
  be unsuccessful. Why?
• 29:51
  Because the earth is going to open up and swallow the water
• 29:58
  and render them fruitless, and there will be no ability for
• 30:06
  them to go on. It will be a terrifying blow to
• 30:09
  whatever this dragon is spewing out.
• 30:11
  What do we make of that? What do we make of the earth
• 30:13
  opening up and swallowing this water?
• 30:17
  Well, let's put some pieces back together again, right?
• 30:20
  We have additional characters in this portrait, so to speak.
• 30:26
  Israel Wilderness wings, eagle's wings more specifically, and now
• 30:35
  what? Potentially A marching army of
• 30:39
  massive proportions to destroy this people.
• 30:44
  I think we're back at the Exodus again.
• 30:48
  I think we're back at that very same scene.
• 30:51
  The same theme is being presented here now.
• 30:55
  Do you remember some of the words that the Jewish people
• 30:57
  used to celebrate the fact that they had been successfully
• 31:01
  brought through the Red Sea in that same water destroyed
• 31:04
  Pharaoh and his Chariots? Let me give you one of the
• 31:08
  lyrics in Exodus 15. Listen to this in Exodus 15
• 31:13
  verse 11 to verse 12, they said, who is like you, O Lord among
• 31:19
  the gods, who is like you, majestic and holiness, awesome
• 31:22
  and glorious deeds, doing wonders.
• 31:25
  You stretched out your right hand.
• 31:28
  The earth swallowed them. The earth swallowed them.
• 31:34
  And it seems as though John, as he is writing out what he's
• 31:38
  seeing, is borrowing from this kind of description as he is
• 31:43
  putting together a very similar motif to Israel's past as he's
• 31:48
  describing this prophecy. So how do we make sense of verse
• 31:51
  seeing this earth swallowing up this water?
• 31:55
  It seems to suggest that there's going to be a supernatural
• 31:57
  intervention that is going to put a stop and neutralize the
• 32:01
  Satanic onslaught, as the Antichrist himself will try to
• 32:07
  launch against them in order to destroy them.
• 32:14
  And he fails. So Satan so far is 0 for two,
• 32:20
  and this is going to infuriate him even more.
• 32:23
  He's not going to let up, but he is going to change his strategy.
• 32:26
  His time now is only getting shorter and whatever he does,
• 32:30
  he's unable to actually do anything about this people group
• 32:35
  who are critical, a critical part to the storyline of the
• 32:38
  last days. So what is he going to do now?
• 32:44
  One thing is certain, he will not give up, but he's going to
• 32:47
  have to change his target. He's going to look elsewhere,
• 32:50
  and this is what we're going to consider with his 3rd and final
• 32:53
  assault, at least at this point. It's summarized in verse 17 of
• 32:58
  Revelation 12. Let's read it one more time.
• 33:02
  And the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to
• 33:05
  make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the
• 33:08
  commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
• 33:12
  And he stood on the sand of the sea.
• 33:16
  So he realized that they're impenetrable.
• 33:18
  There's a protective grace upon this nation.
• 33:23
  I can't keep wasting my resources and the time on them.
• 33:29
  So he's bubbling up with even more rage now.
• 33:32
  He can't access the immediate presence of God.
• 33:34
  He can't touch this people group.
• 33:37
  So what does he do? He goes after those who bear the
• 33:40
  testimony of Jesus Christ. He goes after believers in the
• 33:46
  tribulation. He goes after the Saints.
• 33:49
  Now again, this is a double title and because it says that
• 33:54
  they are the rest of our offspring, that has caused some
• 33:56
  people to say different things. Maybe there are more specific
• 33:59
  group. Is it just Messianic Jews like
• 34:01
  the 144,000 who are witnessing Fort cries?
• 34:04
  Is it just the Gentiles? I think is a combination of
• 34:07
  both. It's all of those who believe
• 34:09
  the truth of the gospel during this time.
• 34:15
  And what is he going to do against him?
• 34:17
  Exactly? What is he going to perform?
• 34:19
  It's very simple. He is going to complete the
• 34:22
  number of the Saints who will die for their faith.
• 34:25
  That's what we read earlier, right?
• 34:29
  When the souls beneath the altar were asking God to act on their
• 34:33
  behalf. Lord, where's your vengeance?
• 34:36
  And one of the things that they were told was to rest a little
• 34:40
  longer until the number of their brethren would be slain to
• 34:45
  completion before things move on.
• 34:49
  And it could be that at this point there will be an
• 34:52
  amplification of persecution against Christians unlike what
• 34:57
  we've ever seen before. It will be global.
• 35:01
  It'll be fierce. It'll be swift.
• 35:06
  And you might be hearing this and thinking to yourself, wait a
• 35:08
  minute. So you're saying that in this
• 35:09
  window of time, God is going to shelter and put a canopy over
• 35:14
  Israel, ethnic, unbelieving Israel, and let Satan slaughter
• 35:21
  Christians. You're saying that the Lord is
• 35:27
  going to let this perverted, powerful serpent dragon,
• 35:34
  deceiver of the whole world touch his bride while concealing
• 35:41
  and containing this nation. This bothers people, by the way.
• 35:46
  It does, but I want to offer just one simple answer.
• 35:51
  That is not the case at all. To say that somehow God loves
• 35:55
  the Jewish people more than his church.
• 35:59
  Let me ask you this, is there any difference between an
• 36:01
  unbeliever facing death and a believer dying?
• 36:05
  I hope you know enough of your Bible to say yes.
• 36:08
  Death for the unbeliever, Jew or non Jew, is the seal of their
• 36:13
  condemnation. Death for the believer, however,
• 36:18
  is a doorway to their eternal rest and reward.
• 36:21
  So is it so hard to believe that the Lord would permit Satan to
• 36:26
  expedite the believers hope while protecting this nation
• 36:31
  whom he had made promises to ultimately save?
• 36:36
  At this time, it shouldn't be hard to grasp.
• 36:42
  Persecution has been part of the Church's experience since her
• 36:45
  inception, but the oppression against the Saints at this point
• 36:49
  will will reach a scale and a severity that will be hard to
• 36:54
  imagine. And that's what we're prepared
• 36:57
  to learn. Actually, at the last part of
• 36:59
  verse 17, the ESV adds this here.
• 37:02
  Other translations added in the beginning of chapter 13, we read
• 37:06
  and he stood on the sand of the sea.
• 37:08
  Now other translations would say, and I stood John speaking
• 37:11
  on the sand of the sea. We'll get into that more next
• 37:13
  week. But what we're here looking at
• 37:16
  is that is Satan is going to turn his attention against the
• 37:21
  worshippers of Christ. He's going to do it in a very
• 37:24
  sophisticated way. And that's going to be covered
• 37:27
  as we look more and probably the most detailed passage about the
• 37:30
  Antichrist and what he'll accomplish on on the earth in
• 37:34
  this new chapter. I'm tempted to go there.
• 37:37
  I won't. I'll keep that for next week.
• 37:39
  But I want to end this message on a different note.
• 37:44
  Today we got another sample, hopefully, of how prophecy
• 37:48
  works. Maybe you got a little bit more
• 37:50
  illumination in understanding the last days.
• 37:52
  That's my prayer, at least. I'm sure that some of us here
• 37:56
  have exercised the muscle of interpreting Scripture with
• 38:00
  Scripture. It's beautiful when we see that
• 38:02
  happen. But you might be sitting here
• 38:06
  and I hope you haven't been enduring this message.
• 38:08
  I hope you've been enjoying it. But maybe the the thought
• 38:12
  crossed your mind. This is great, but how does this
• 38:14
  practically help me? I got a lot of things going on
• 38:20
  in my life and I appreciate your honesty, so I want to leave you
• 38:26
  with at least one take away. There is a ringing truth in this
• 38:30
  passage that demands immediate notice concerning your walk with
• 38:34
  Christ, and it's this. The enemy of your soul and mine
• 38:39
  is a persistent foe. You get that impression, don't
• 38:43
  you? Three ways of attacks, 3
• 38:47
  assaults. He doesn't throw in the towels
• 38:50
  so quickly. He's very calculated.
• 38:56
  So he tries one thing that doesn't work, he'll do something
• 38:58
  else. And if you can't get to that,
• 38:59
  he'll go. He'll go elsewhere.
• 39:03
  And listen, you and I have to understand that the schemes of
• 39:06
  the Evil One are far more personal and persistent than we
• 39:08
  often realize. We're talking, yes, about
• 39:10
  nations. We're talking about a future
• 39:12
  time, but these are trademarks of his character that exist now.
• 39:21
  So he'll tempt you and he'll tempt you and he'll tempt you
• 39:23
  and you don't budget. So he'll tempt you in another
• 39:26
  way. And he brings sin to you,
• 39:29
  perhaps a past sin that you once enjoyed, but it's not working.
• 39:35
  So he'll wait for another season when you're more vulnerable and
• 39:37
  unsuspecting, and he constantly sits on the sidelines of your
• 39:42
  heart and he tries to puff you with pride.
• 39:49
  He tries to present mirages before the eyes of your heart to
• 39:53
  distract you. Like the love of money so that
• 39:57
  you chase it and you chase it and you chase it.
• 39:59
  And years go by and you pause and look back and realize I've
• 40:02
  wasted my energy. I've wasted my resources.
• 40:05
  I've wasted opportunities. For what?
• 40:09
  He dangles promises before you while he holds a knife behind
• 40:18
  him. He overwhelms you with guilt.
• 40:23
  He let he whispers in your ear so that you lose sleep,
• 40:27
  reminding you of your failures, of your past, of your
• 40:29
  inconsistency, so that you're crushed by it.
• 40:32
  And you have no joy, so you have no witness, and you have no more
• 40:37
  energy to serve the people of God because you're trying to get
• 40:39
  yourself together and you're questioning if God even loves
• 40:42
  you or if he's even saved you. And his arsenal is vast.
• 40:49
  It's deep. And the thing that's probably
• 40:52
  the most disheartening is that he is very, very, very committed
• 40:57
  to his 'cause he's stubborn. He doesn't care if you're old.
• 41:04
  He doesn't care if you've been married for 40 years.
• 41:05
  He'll he'll try to destroy that marriage.
• 41:11
  He doesn't care if you only have one child, 135.
• 41:14
  He wants to pollute all of them. And so he strategizes and he
• 41:20
  thinks and he walks to and fro on this earth.
• 41:24
  And at this point he's still able to go up to heaven and
• 41:26
  accuse the brethren. And you're probably hearing all
• 41:30
  this and you're like, OK, So what hope do we have?
• 41:36
  And here's how one exhort you at the same time.
• 41:40
  Yes, we see this great force who's able to recruit
• 41:44
  politicians and armies, but he's up against a great God.
• 41:52
  So this this puny people. And they're still puny people to
• 41:55
  this day. They're able to run on foot and
• 42:00
  hide in some desert and be taken care of.
• 42:05
  Why? Because God, He gave them those
• 42:09
  wings. He supplied their daily need.
• 42:14
  He actually made the earth itself a friend of this people,
• 42:21
  and He's the guy that you and I serve.
• 42:24
  You know what verse came to mind when I was meditating on them?
• 42:27
  They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
• 42:30
  They shall mount up with wings like eagles that shall run and
• 42:34
  I'll be weary. They shall walk and not be
• 42:35
  faint. So God can even give me eagles,
• 42:40
  wings and you. It's not just for one people
• 42:44
  group. It's not just for prophetic
• 42:46
  time. There are applications to this
• 42:48
  now. Now eagles wings for those who
• 42:51
  do what? Wait on God.
• 42:53
  You're dependent on God. You seek God, you realize He's
• 42:57
  the only one who can provide the power and the efficiency and the
• 43:02
  the grace to be able to endure all the things that make you
• 43:04
  tired and frustrated. He gives me eagle's wings,
• 43:10
  meaning what? He's able to give me the speed
• 43:12
  to escape temptation when it arrives, is the First
• 43:15
  Corinthians promised that, that there is always a way of escape.
• 43:21
  He's able to give me the ability to soar above discouragement.
• 43:28
  He's able to elevate me to a heavenly perspective, to see all
• 43:31
  my circumstances from God's point of view.
• 43:35
  Ego's wings. So there is a great foe who is
• 43:40
  persistent, but there is a God who supplies things that enable
• 43:46
  you and I to not just endure, but enjoy, to sing as we soar,
• 43:58
  to be able to rest as we're being haunted down, and trust in
• 44:02
  Him. And so I look at Revelation 12
• 44:06
  and I see what God is going to do.
• 44:07
  Yes, for this nation, Israel. I see what's going to happen to
• 44:09
  believers, but I also see the God that I serve today.
• 44:13
  Do you see it? Do you need Him?
• 44:22
  You only experience Him when you need Him and you realize you
• 44:28
  need him. If you're not a needy person in
• 44:31
  this place, God can't give you the grace that he promises to
• 44:35
  the humble. And so let's let's respond to
• 44:39
  this truth in this way. Yes, Lord, thank you for helping
• 44:41
  me understand a little bit more of the Book of Revelation.
• 44:43
  Thank you that I have some more clarity on controversial issues.
• 44:46
  I don't know why it's controversial.
• 44:49
  It's biblical. But now, Lord I, I realize how
• 44:55
  you're calling me personally and I and I need you to give me
• 44:58
  power. I need, I need your help and the
• 45:02
  Lord is ready to supply it. Let's seek them together.
• 45:06
  But we thank you, we thank you, we thank you.
• 45:20
  We heard your voice today because we opened your word.
• 45:24
  And for many, perhaps you have just confirmed what they already
• 45:28
  knew. For others, maybe this is brand
• 45:30
  new, and maybe even for some, this is a challenge to other
• 45:34
  theological perspectives. We pray that your truth would
• 45:40
  triumph over all things. And Lord, we come now as your
• 45:45
  people, realizing that You're the God who knows tomorrow, yes,
• 45:50
  but you also know who we are and what we're doing today.
• 45:54
  So help us for those who are weak and weary, who are faint,
• 45:57
  who are broken or disheartened, who are disillusioned, whatever
• 46:01
  it is. Oh God, we pray that you would
• 46:02
  infuse in us now the grace that you're able to provide an entire
• 46:06
  nation. Give to us.
• 46:08
  Give to each of us today. Lord, let us walk out of here
• 46:10
  stronger and lighter. And Lord, we've come now to give
• 46:16
  you thanks because you not only taught us, but you have imparted
• 46:19
  into us real power. And for this we say thanks in
• 46:24
  Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand, let's give him
• 46:27
  thanks. He spoke to our hearts today
• 46:29
  through His marvelous word.