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The Woman & the Dragon | Revelation 12:1-6 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Church, can we show our appreciation to the praise team?
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Can we do that? They blessed us, even though it
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might have been a little awkward to see a few faces just kind of
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staring into the to the space. But technology has its
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advantages, but it often times betrays us.
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And that's why I'm a huge advocate of physical things,
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like a physical Bible. I never have to worry if this
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Bible is going to die in terms of the battery.
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I never have to worry if I'm going to be interrupted by
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notification. And so I champion a real copy of
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God's Word in your hands. And I would.
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You can get excited about that, too.
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Yeah, sure. And so I, I really hope and I
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know we are a church that loves the Bible, and I pray that we
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would also hold to the tradition of keeping the physical copy of
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God's Word accessible and at our disposal.
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It's a gift from him. And so if you have a Bible with
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you, let's go together to Revelation chapter 12.
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Revelation chapter 12. The Kingdom of the world has
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become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall
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reign forever and ever. That is the message that the 7th
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trumpet in the Book of Revelation announces.
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And we looked at that together at the end of Revelation Chapter
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11. It really is a declaration of
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the coronation and the triumphant return of the Lord
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Jesus Christ who will come back to rule and reign over all
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things. And that is something a true
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Christian believes in and more than just believes in longs for.
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Now here's what's so interesting.
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What follows this electric, electrifying vision in
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Revelation 11, surprisingly, are not the judgments that are
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connected to it. In other words, the final set of
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judgments, which are known as the bowls of God's wrath, will
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not be interacted with. What will not be something that
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we see right away? Those set of judgments will be
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poured out to pave the way for the second coming of Christ, but
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they don't appear until Revelation chapter 15 and said
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What we have in Revelation 12 through 14 is a description of
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the struggle between the Kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of
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God, especially during the Tribulation period.
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It's as though the Holy Spirit is reminding and informing us of
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crucial details related to this ancient battle.
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And as we come to this new chapter, God is going to give us
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a different perspective on it. One that centers on and relays
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relies heavenly upon listen Satan's experience.
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The purpose of this section, when we come to the end of it,
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is that despite all his efforts to thwart the promises of God,
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the evil one will fail and Christ will win.
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That is the impression that we're going to be left with as
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we explore these verses in the coming weeks, and it will all
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begin with a very curious vision.
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I have to say that when I realize what we'll be looking at
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this Sunday, I became even more excited, especially when we're
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considering the Christmas season that we're in.
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Revelation is not frequently referenced this time of the year
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in churches. However, I think we're going to
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be pleasantly surprised to discover just how relevant
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John's vision here is to the truths many are being prepared
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to celebrate. And so I invite you to come to
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Revelation 12. Look at verse one, and let's
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read down through verse 6 together.
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Revelation 12, verse one reads. And a great sign appeared in
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heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her
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feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars.
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She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony
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of giving birth. And another sign appeared in
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heaven. Behold a great red dragon with 7
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heads and 10 horns, and on his heads 7 diadems.
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His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast
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them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the
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woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her
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child, he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child,
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one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
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But her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the
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woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place repaired
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by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.
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Let's pray together, Lord, we know that these truths already,
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just by reading them, declare your victory, Your victory over
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all things, including Satan. And we pray that as we look at
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these passages, You would be exalted in our hearts, that you
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would draw out of us greater affection and adoration.
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And that, Lord, ultimately you would be blessed by the
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faithfulness of our obedience to Your Word.
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And as we come now, Lord, we pray that you would be our
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teacher and that you would help us understand everything that we
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will look at now. In Jesus name we pray.
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Amen. Seems quite cryptic, doesn't it?
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Planets, Dragons, numbers. Well, the best thing that we can
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do to properly interpret this portrait of Scripture is by
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underscoring what John says. Right from the beginning.
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John tells us that these are signs.
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Look again at verse one and a great sign appeared in heaven.
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Similar language is found in verse 3 and another sign
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appeared in heaven. So it's clear that what we are
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presented in this section is not meant to be taken completely
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literally. Instead, there are many symbolic
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representations that point to literal realities.
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And so once that's established, then we can begin to identify
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certain things. And right away what we can
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acknowledge is that there are at least two major signs, two major
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pictures here. The first is this woman, and the
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second is this dragon. Now, there are other details
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that we will examine, but these are the main characters before
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us. And of the two, the most hotly
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debated is the woman. Who is she?
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Who does she represent? Why is she being presented here?
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And the most prominent views that you will hear concerning
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this woman are that she might represent the Virgin Mary.
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That is a view that is proposed by the Roman Catholic Church
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called Mary gave Birth to Jesus. And not only that, they would go
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beyond such an observation and say the fact that she is exalted
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in the cosmos speaks of her heavenly exaltation.
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And there are others who say, no, this can't be the Virgin
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Mary. It in fact speaks of the Church
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of Jesus Christ who has been persecuted and harassed by the
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devil since her beginnings. Well, I I want to take the time
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to address those two main alternative views and hopefully
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clarify how none of it holds water.
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None of these actually makes sense when we consider the
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context carefully. And so let me first, by
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explaining the details here, show why this cannot #1 be about
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the Virgin Mary or Mary. There's some observations here
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that are inconsistent with the Marian dogma of the Roman
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Catholic Church. First, if you consider how the
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Roman Catholic Church teaches about the Immaculate Conception
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of Mary, that Mary herself was born without a sin nature, then
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you run into a problem right away because it would seem
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strange for John here to describe Mary suffering pain in
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labor. Look again in verse 3 it says,
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hear what? That she was pregnant in verse 2
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rather and was crying out in birth pains in the agony of
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giving birth. Now why is that an issue?
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Well, because according to Genesis 316, these kind of
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agonizing pains are considered a curse, a curse that comes from
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sin entering into the world. And the Roman Catholics believe
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that even when Mary did give birth, there was no pain because
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she was immaculately conceived. And so some Catholics would
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usually deny this, referring to physical pain, and would instead
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say that this is actually just a metaphor of spiritual struggles,
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the difficulties that Mary experienced before and leading
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up to the birth of Christ and even afterwards.
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However, this is just one of many interpretive challenges.
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A second observation that can be made is later in this chapter.
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Scroll down to Revelation 12/17 and it says here that the dragon
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became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the
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rest of her offspring. Highlight that the rest of her
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offspring and those who keep the commandments of God and hold to
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the testimony of Jesus and he stood on the sand of the sea.
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So even if you're vaguely familiar with the basic
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doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church considering Mary, here's
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what you have to ask. If Mary is a perpetual virgin,
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then why is she described as having other offspring in this
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verse? It's there, isn't it?
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She has other offspring. And usually the answer you'll
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receive is that this is not Speaking of literal children.
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This is a spiritual seed. Mary being what?
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The mother of all believers. That's what's often proposed.
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So you can see how there can be debates back and forth around
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these issues. But if you want to just not have
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any lengthy conversations, you can skip to the main thought
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that I believe dismisses Mary from being the candidate, at
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least the primary one in this vision.
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Look back at Revelation 12, verse 5.
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She gave birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations
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with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and
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to His throne. Look at verse 6 now and the
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woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared
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by God in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.
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Verse 5 undeniably speaks of who?
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Christ. No debate.
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How do you make sense of verse 6 though when it comes to Mary's
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role in all of this? Even with the wide scope of
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beliefs from the Catholics about Mary, there is no way to
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accommodate this description in verse 6 with her.
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There is no hint historically. There is no vague impression
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biblically that Mary at some point fled into the wilderness
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for 3 1/2 years. That did not happen after the
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birth of Christ. That didn't happen at the
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ascension of Christ. This alone suffices to show that
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she cannot be considered a candidate for the interpretation
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of this woman. It just doesn't fit, and that's
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why some believe instead that this woman in Revelation 12
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typifies the Church. You'll find that opinion among
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Church fathers, and even a minority among a minority of
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modern interpreters today. But there's one obvious detail
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that even disqualifies the Church from being the woman
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here. Look again at verse 5.
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She gave birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations
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with a rod of iron, But her child was caught up to God and
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to His throne. This woman gives birth to the
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child who is undeniably Christ. Scripture clearly teaches us
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that it is Christ who gives birth to the church and not the
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other way around. The church doesn't give birth to
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Christ. Nowhere in the Bible do we find
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the church bringing the Incarnate Son of God into the
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world. And that alone should end the
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debate. And so if it's not Mary, and if
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it's not the church, then we're only really left with 1 credible
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answer, that the woman speaks of the nation of Israel.
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And I want to tell you why. There are two things that we
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have to highlight about this woman.
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Number one, her clothing and #2 her condition, her clothing.
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Look at the raiment. It's exalted, right?
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The sun, moon, and stars. We see it in verse one.
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What will those pictures merged together is strongly alluded to
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in Scripture. This motif of these celestial
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elements together are found in one other place in all of the
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Bible. And John by the Spirit expects
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us as we've come to the end of the Bible to remember since
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we've been faithful reading the rest of it and say, OK, I've
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seen this before. And the only other place where
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you'll find sun, moon and 12 stars mentioned together is back
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in Genesis. Genesis 37 verse 9 to 10, where
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Joseph explains his second dream to his brothers and he tells
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them, I saw the sun and I saw the moon and I saw eleven stars
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bowing before me. Now why 11 stars and not 12 like
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what we see here in Revelation 12?
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Because Joseph would be counted as a 12.
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Now Jacob, the father of Joseph, upon hearing this is a little
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upset and he interprets the dream himself.
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Jacob understands. He represents the son, his wife.
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Joseph's mother Rachel represents the moon, and his
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sons speak of the stars and would later become the tribes of
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Israel. And he rebukes Joseph.
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It's amazing how the Holy Spirit takes that image and brings it
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to this vision because he wants to make the connection.
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If you read Genesis 37 and understood how Jacob interprets
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it, then you would know that those things together symbolize
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the early stages of the nation of Israel.
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Now it's resurfacing here because it's intended to convey
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the similar truth. What we have here with all of
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these things in the early stages of Revelation 12 is the history
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and the people of Israel pictured as a woman.
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It doesn't end there though. You have more here.
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Israel as a nation is frequently brought to our attention in the
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Scriptures depicted as a woman, as a woman, and I believe we are
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acquainted enough with the Old Testament to understand that.
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But where we might be unfamiliar is how the Bible even shows
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Israel as a woman in labor in some instances, especially in
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times of distress and discipline.
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So these are two scriptures worth turning to and writing
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down in your notes. Consider Isaiah 27 or 26.
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Excuse me, Isaiah 26 verse 15. But you have increased the
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nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation.
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You are glorified. You have enlarged all the
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borders of the land. Oh Lord, in distress they sought
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you. They poured out a whispered
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prayer when your discipline was upon them.
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Like a pregnant woman who rise and cries out in her pangs when
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she is near to giving birth, so were we.
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Because of you. Oh Lord, you see it?
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Well, there's an end there. Consider Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah chapter 4 and look at verse 31.
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Jeremiah 431 reads for I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
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anguish as one, giving birth to her first child.
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The cry of the daughter of Zion, gasping for breath, stretching
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out her hands. Woe is me, I am fainting before
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murderers. So shouldn't be strange to us
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then, that John now is describing Israel in a familiar
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fashion. But what's the larger message?
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Why is that being presented here?
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Well, again, look at the context in Revelation 12.
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She's in pain for a reason. And the reason is because she's
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ready to give birth. She's ready to go into labor and
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bring into the world a male child.
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And so when you take all these features, all these ingredients
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and put them together, the message is undeniably clear.
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What John is seeing here with the clothing of the woman and
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the condition of the woman speaks of the distress of the
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nation of Israel that they've known throughout the ages, as
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they have been long, longly waiting and anticipating the
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arrival of the Messiah. All the sin, all the evil, all
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the wars, all the chastisement, all the promises as they become
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more and more clear throughout redemptive history, yet not
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being realized, contribute to the angst and the turmoil and
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the challenges. When will he come?
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When will he arrive? When will the son of David make
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everything right? And as soon as we get acquainted
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or reacquainted with this picture, we are suddenly
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introduced to a new character and the second major one in this
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vision, the great red dragon. Now let's look at the great red
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dragon. It's not difficult to understand
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who he represents, but just in case there's any confusion, look
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at verse 9 of Revelation 12. We are told exactly who the
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dragon is. And the great dragon was thrown
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down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan,
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the deceiver of the whole world, this is Satan.
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And again, this is a symbolic picture, but we're given the
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description, we're given the interpretation of who he is.
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But where things get a little cloudy are the details about
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this great dragon. What are they?
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Look again at verse 3. Behold the great red dragon in
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the middle of the verse with 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his
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heads 7 diadems, which are crowns.
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Now if you're just left with this, we're in trouble.
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This can mean 1000 different things, but what do we do?
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We interpret Scripture with Scripture.
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And so just like we did with the woman and the sun, moon and
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stars, we have to try to investigate and evaluate the
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rest of the Bible and ask where else have we seen these things
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mentioned together? And we don't actually have to go
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very far. We could go to the book of
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Daniel, but we just have to stay in Revelation actually, because
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clarity is provided later on. Now, I don't want to overwhelm
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you, but we have to do this. Here's what's going to happen,
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John. And Revelation 17 is going to
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see yet another vision. He's going to see many of them.
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And in this vision, though, he's going to see a beast, not a
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dragon. And with this beast, he's going
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to find the same details given to him, not the dragon, but a
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beast with these same number of horns and the same number of
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crowns and heads. And here's a short explanation.
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The reason why it's going to be found on the beast is because at
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some point the dragon, who is Satan, is going to hand these
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things over to the beast. That's the simple explanation.
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But as John is looking at this, he's actually given the
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understanding of these things. This is where we have to turn
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now. Look at Revelation 17, verse 9.
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Here's our answer. Revelation 17, verse 9.
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This calls for a mind with wisdom.
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The seven heads are 7 mountains on which the woman is seated.
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There are also 7 kings. Highlight that five of them whom
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have fallen. One is, the other has not yet
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come, and when he does come, he must remain only a little while.
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As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it
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belongs to the seven, and goes to destruction.
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Verse 12 and the horns that you saw are 10 kings who have not
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yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as
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kings for one hour together with the beast.
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A lot of detail. I know it's a mouthful.
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Just take a breath with me. All you and I need to understand
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at this point is that these heads and these horns on this
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dragon refer and represent political leaders and their
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empires. That's all you need to know for
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now. And the reason why they are
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associated and even attached to this dragon is because we are to
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understand that Satan ultimately has dominion over these empires
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and leaders. He's the one who's really at
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work. He's the puppet master over what
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the whole world really and Satan's control, the whole earth
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has been a reality ever since the fall and it will continue to
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remain so until the return of Christ and we learn how the evil
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1 is able to govern this vast planet with such amazing
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influence. Go back to Revelation 12.
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What do we see here in verse 4 after reading that?
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He has these heads and these horns that speak of nations and
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speak of confederacy of governments under his control.
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Look what we read here in verse 4.
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His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast
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them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the
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woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her
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child, he might devour it. This tale we're told sweeps not
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something on the earth, but something in the heavenlies.
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Now, is this speaking about Satan wishing down 1/3 of the
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stars in in space as they come crashing to the the earth?
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That can't be. We've seen many stars, actual
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stars falling on the Earth up to this point in Revelation.
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But the context doesn't suggest that.
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You know this very well, that in certain passages stars can can
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symbolize angels. And that's what seems to be
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proposed here. Let me show you why.
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Look at verse 7 of Revelation 12.
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Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against
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the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
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Look at verse 9. And the great dragon was thrown
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down, that ancient serpent who was called the devil, and Satan,
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the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth,
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and his angels were thrown down with him.
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This is fascinating. We're told that Satan has his
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own angels. How can I be when he himself is
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a created heavenly creature? Well, we're giving the
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explanation of verse four, that in his original rebellion he
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took down with him a third of the angels.
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You see that his tail swept down a third of the stars which speak
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of these angels who joined them in his defiance against the true
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and living God, and they've been working for him ever since.
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Now some might be curious to to wonder, well, how many angels
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exactly followed Satan. We don't have an exact number,
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but we know, if you remember our study of the trumpet judgments,
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that one of the final judgments in that set is that there will
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be hundreds of millions of demons who will assist for
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leading demons and destroying 1/3 of the human population.
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So based on that insight, we know that there are at least
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hundreds of millions of demons who are working for the Kingdom
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of Darkness, and we're being reminded of that here.
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They have been tormenting and deceiving humanity since the
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beginning of time, and one of the strongest displays of
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Satan's dominance over this world was seen at the birth of
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Christ. You see how now this is going to
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tie into the Christmas message. It's not the only Christmas
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message, so don't worry. What do we read in the rest of
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verse four? That after we heard about these
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stars that fall down with Satan, the dragon stood before the
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woman who was about to give birth, so when she bore her
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child, he might devour it. We're just a few days away from
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Christmas. Did you know that there's a
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dragon in the Christmas story? That's what Revelation says.
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And you might object and say, well, I I've read the Gospel
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accounts. I haven't found a dragon
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anywhere. Actually, you have.
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You just didn't notice it. Remember, if this dragon has
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seven heads and 10 horns that speak of governments and rulers
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and Princess and politicians, then you know exactly what
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happened near the birth of Christ that relates this truth
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to that point. Did we see any rise of
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governmental powers at the birth of Christ?
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Of course, Herod. Herod, that evil man who
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commanded that children under the age of 2, especially male
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children in Bethlehem and around the region, would be slaughtered
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in his attempt to snuff out this prophecy of the King of the
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Jews. So you see a man with his ego
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trying to do something vile and despicable, and now you come to
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Revelation. You realize, oh, there's a
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spirit behind that operation. The Herod was just a human
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vessel, but there's a great dragon behind such efforts, and
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it's a reminder to all of us that there are evil spirits,
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evil forces that stand behind agendas and crimes at the
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highest levels. It didn't just happen when
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Christ came into this world. It happens all the time, even
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today, and it's been happening since Genesis.
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But here's the encouraging truth.
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No matter what kind of sway Satan has, he failed to destroy
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the long expected Jesus. He was right there ready to
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devour the child and he was hoping to extinguish God's
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faithfulness and he failed. He failed.
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That's what we find in verse 5 that she gave birth to a male
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child and one who has to rule all the nations that that's his
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destiny. But we also learned that he did
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what he was caught up to God and to his throne.
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The speaks of what the the ascension of Christ, the
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exaltation of Christ. Satan couldn't Vanquish it.
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Satan could not stop it. That's really one of the
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messages of Christmas. Satan was defeated.
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He thought that he could succeed.
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He's so arrogant, so filled with pride and hatred.
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He actually thought that he can overcome God's redemption for
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the world, and he didn't. And we might think that this is
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a good place for the scene to end, but it doesn't.
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Something interesting happens between verse 5 and verse 6.
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So in verse 5 it's clear we have here a description of the birth
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of Christ, and not just the birth of Christ, but his
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ascension and his exaltation. He is now sitting at the right
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hand of God, and he is to come to rule all the nations with a
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rod of iron. But then you look at verse 6 and
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something, something doesn't seem right, at least when you
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consider the timeline verse 6 says.
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And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place
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prepared by God in which she used to be nourished for 1260
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days. What is that have to do with
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everything that we just heard? Up to this point?
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We've been hearing about Israel and the promised Messiah and
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Satan trying to stop the first Advent and he failed.
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And all of a sudden we're we're back to the woman and her
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running into the wilderness where God's going to take care
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of her for 3 1/2 years. God is so gracious to us because
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He has not left us in the dark. He's given us a very strong clue
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in verse 6. And that is the timing.
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That is the duration. That is that number there again,
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1260 days. Have we seen that before?
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Yes, you have. We have.
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Go back to Chapter 11. Look at verse 2, Revelation 11,
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verse 2 do not measure the court outside the temple.
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Leave that out for it is given over to the nations and they
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will trample the holy city for 42 months and I will grant
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authority to my 2 witnesses and they will prophecy for 1260 days
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clothed in sackcloth. Remember, Revelation 11/1 to
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three describe and prophecy key events that are connected to the
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people of Israel for 42 months. Jerusalem will be severely
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oppressed for that same amount of time, God will raise up two
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powerful prophets that will preach to them and to the rest
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of the world. So what we have here again is a
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description of what's to come in this particular period of time,
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which really described the final years of the Tribulation period.
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And clearly God is not finished telling us more about what's to
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take place during that same time frame.
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Yes, the Holy City will be trampled upon.
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Yes, there will be two preachers who will be preaching for that
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same duration of time. And as we come to chapter 12, we
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realize there's more. This woman, clearly, who speaks
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of Israel will be fleeing into the wilderness.
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How do we make sense of this? Here's what it means.
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We see that this woman will be so oppressed that she will
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actually have to escape for a season.
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And when we read the rest of Revelation 12, we'll see exactly
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who's the one oppressing her. It will be the dragon.
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He will actually chase her. So hold on, let's step back for
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a moment. How do we make sense all?
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Here's how we make sense of it. Since Satan failed in his
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attempt to thwart God's promises concerning the first coming of
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Christ, he will seek to stop the 2nd.
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And one of the ways he will try to do this is by destroying the
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Jewish people, a people whom the Lord promised to pour His spirit
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upon in the last days to be saved living in a land of the
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Lord said he would physically rule from forever and ever upon
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his return. And the devil and his great
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pride will do everything he can to make sure that none of that
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happens. And so history also has shown us
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that the great dragon has been trying to do exactly that for
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centuries, but to no avail. So the great dragon turns his
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attention away from the child, the male child, and will now
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pursue the woman. And what's interesting is from
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verse 5 to verse 6, we were talking about the birth and
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ministry of Christ. And we skip over to the last
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days, nothing in between. Why?
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Because in our understanding of Revelation and the rest of
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Scripture concerning the end times, Israel plays a major
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role. And when we look at it from
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Satan's perspective, he understands what some people
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don't even believe, that there is a connection between the
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Jewish people and how Christ will come back again.
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And so this woman will flee into the wilderness for a period of
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time. And this is where we're going to
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end. We have to consider this final
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thought. It could very well be that some
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of these Jews will flee at this point of the Tribulation.
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Do so in obedience to the words of Jesus Christ.
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Do you remember what Christ taught in the Olivet Discourse?
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Let me remind you, in our final passage this afternoon in
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Matthew 2415 to 21, we read Jesus saying, so when you see
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the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel
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standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.
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Pause for a moment. Matthew 2415, Jesus says, let
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the reader understand. You know what that tells me?
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Understanding the last days is possible.
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Don't let other people tell you otherwise.
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There are some people who will never touch the Book of
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Revelation because they think that it's not understandable.
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It's too cryptic, it's too mysterious, it's too
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overwhelming, it's too symbolic. And yet here's my Jesus saying,
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let the reader understand, understand what this concept
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called the abomination of desolation.
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So it's knowable. We just have to do the work.
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And that's what we've been doing, flipping from passage to
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passage. This is what will make us mature
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Christians. What do we read later?
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We saw it early in the passage. Revelation 17.
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This calls for wisdom. So there is an effort on our
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part to know these things. And I think the one of the
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reasons why people don't know them is because they don't want
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to put in the work. We're going to put in the work.
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So Jesus says when you see the abomination of desolation spoken
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of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let
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me remind you, the abomination of desolation speaks of an
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individual who will come into the physical temple in Jerusalem
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and desecrate it. How will he desecrate it?
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He will claim himself to be God. He will demand worship.
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He will sit in that place and expect the world to honor him
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and to deify him. And Jesus says, listen, when you
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see that, then he gives these instructions here, what's fast?
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Here's what's fascinating. He localizes these instructions.
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Up to this point in Matthew 24, He's been giving insight to the
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whole world about the world. But then when you come to this,
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it's a turning point. Listen to what he says in verse
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16. Then let those who are aware in
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Chicago, in Judea, let those who are in Judea do what?
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Flee. Flee to the mountains.
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Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take
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what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not
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turn back to take his cloak. And alas, for women who are
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pregnant, for those who are nursing infants in those days,
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pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath, for
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then there will be great tribulation, since has not been
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from the beginning of the world until now.
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No and never will be. What you saw in Revelation 12,
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verse 6, the woman fleeing into the wilderness, is an expansion
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of what Jesus taught here. And it could be again, it could
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be that some of these Jews who will run, remember Jesus's words
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are doing so in accordance with what Christ commanded.
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Here's what this means. As you and I continue in
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Revelation, we are witnessing the Jewish people coming closer
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and closer to putting their trust in Messiah, to putting
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their trust in Jesus of Nazareth as their savior.
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Now, this woman fleeing into the wilderness for this period of
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time is going to be expanded on in the rest of Revelation 12,
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but for now, I'll end here. Does this description of God
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supernaturally providing for his own in a wilderness for this
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same period of time sound familiar to you?
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It should. Do you remember a man named
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Elijah? Elijah was one of the greatest
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prophets in Israel's history. And Elijah confronted an
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apostate nation and he, through his prayers, caused a drought to
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take place in Israel. For how long again?
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3 1/2 years according to James. But what you read in First Kings
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17 is that when Elijah pronounces this judgement, God
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tells him to do what? Flee.
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Flee to the brook, Careth. And there I will take care of
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you. I've commanded Ravens to feed
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you. And by faith, God was taking
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care of his servant. And at the right time, he says,
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now go to a widow, she's going to take care of you.
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A widow, really. Yes, go.
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And he did. And God took care of him and at
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the right time, according to James.
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Again, after 3 1/2 years, he appears once more and he
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continues his ministry. I was meditating on this last
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night, and here's what I thought.
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This God who governs the nation's, this God who according
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to Revelation 12, will take special care of Israel.
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Why? Because he promised to save
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them, is the same God who cares about the One.
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He took care of Elijah in the same way that he takes care of
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this entire country. And I'm here to tell you today
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that he cares about you. This one who is supreme over all
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things, who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron, has
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his eye on you. You.
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Yes, you. You say, well, I'm not a
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prophet. I can understand God taking care
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of Elijah, but who am I? Well, let me remind you what
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else James said. Elijah was a man like us.
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He has the same nature. He had a St. the same
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temptation, same discouragement. Elijah actually barely made it
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in ministry. He submitted his resignation to
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God because I'm I'm done, Lord, and Lord said, no, I'm not going
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to accept it. You still have some things for
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me to do through you. God looks at you.
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God looks at me. That's what I thought of.
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Oh, Lord, you're taking care of this woman who is exalted in
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your sight, but you're also, as I remember the Old Testament,
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willing to shepherd the one. Brothers and sisters, why is
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this important? Because how we interpret this
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ultimately determines how we view God.
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And here's the Christmas message at this point.
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Satan lost. Satan lost, Christ came in.
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He's exalted. He's ready to return, but he is
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so foolish he thinks he can still win.
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And here's what Revelation tells us.
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He's actually going to lose again.
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He's going to lose again. We have already won.
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We're a victorious people. We're just waiting to see it
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happen. And so you and I can know, we
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know the end of the story. We are going to be redeemed.
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Christ is going to conquer and we will be with him forever and
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ever and ever. Merry Christmas to you, Lord, we
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thank you. How even Revelation 12 can
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actually speak to us at this time of the year.
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It's amazing, Lord, how if we just go through Your word, it's
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timely. And Lord, we just want to
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rejoice in Your presence because You've given us that much more
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light that You've used this church family with the hunger
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for Your Word to bring us that much closer into our
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understanding of who You are and Your ways.
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And so, Lord, we just pray that You would always keep us in the
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truth that no matter what popular opinions are out there,
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that we would always say, thus says the Lord, that no matter
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what kind of opposing views may come our way, we would say, but
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it is written. So Lord, we pray your blessing
41:09
over Maranatha Bible Church to remain and every other church
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that's represented here, that we would be people of the book,
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that we would always go to Scripture, that we would always
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understand your mind through these verses, and that we would
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always submit to what your word says.
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So Lord, we do thank you today. We thank you that you've shown
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us in this text that Satan, even though he might have convinced
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hundreds of millions of angels to obey him, and though he has
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seven heads and though he has 10 horns, though he does hold sway
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over this entire world, he will never win.
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He lost 2000 years ago and he will lose again in the days to
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come. And for this we say thank you
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because we belong to you and to you alone.
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In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Let's stand church.