The Dragon Behind The Curtain

If you aren't already there in your Bibles, if you go ahead and turn to Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

In the iconic 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, the main character, Dorothy, is told to follow the yellow brick road.

To go to the what city?

Emerald City.

Someone's seen it.

That's good.

And there, she meets with the great and powerful Wizard of Oz.

And she asks him for help to get back to Kansas, which is where she's from.

He's a very mysterious and intimidating wizard.

He's got this green head that floats in midair.

And his voice is loud and intimidating.

His very presence calls forth fire and smoke.

But after defeating the Wicked Witch of the West at his request, Dorothy and her friends return to the Wizard a second time.

And this time, he is not going to help her still.

Dorothy's little dog, Toto, wanders off to the side of the throne room of the Wizard and pulls back a curtain and reveals a little old man who is behind the Wizard.

He is the guy pulling all the Wizard of Oz.

He's the guy pulling all the levers and pushing the buttons.

He's the person who is behind all the intimidation and impressive display.

The real identity of the Wizard is unmasked.

The curtain is pulled back and we know where the source of all the intimidation and fire and smoke comes from.

We're right in the middle of the book of Revelation.

We're in chapter 12, literally the middle of the book.

It's 22 chapters long and we just got done with chapter 11.

And in the middle of the book, it's like we've been penetrating all the craziness that's going to happen at the close of the age.

And we are getting greater and greater insight the more we get into the very heart of this book as to what reality is really like.

And that's the strength of the apocalyptic literature that Revelation is written in.

All the symbols and the pictures, it kind of gives us a different picture of reality.

And the picture we're going to get right here in the very middle of the book.

After we've gone through these judgment cycles and we've seen these little interludes happen that tell us about who the church is in the middle of these judgment cycles.

Right now, at the end of the second judgment cycle and there's one more to come.

Right now, we get to the very heart of reality.

The curtain is pulled back.

And we see what is going on behind the scenes of human history.

So, what we're going to do this morning is we're going to look at this vision in chapter 12 that Nancy read for us just a moment ago.

And we're going to see it unfold in three scenes.

We're going to spend most of our time just trying to get a handle of what's going on in these three scenes.

And I'll walk us through each one.

At the end, I'm just going to try to, we're going to kind of wait for the main point of this vision until the very end.

And then when I state it, it'll be like, oh, yeah, of course, I see it now.

And after we kind of get that main point, like figured out, okay, this is what it's all about, I'm going to give us three reflections to kind of bring it home so we can walk it out in faith and obedience.

You guys good with that?

Okay, good.

Let's jump in.

Let's look at the first scene.

I'm going to call the first scene, The Conflict and the Triumph Part 1.

The Conflict and the Triumph Part 1.

So right at the beginning of this vision, verse 1 of chapter 12, two signs appear.

The first is a woman.

And what a woman she is.

She's clothed with the sun.

Her feet are on the moon.

And she's got a 12-star crown on her head.

Now, by now, we're veterans in Revelation.

And we know like, okay, she's not literally clothed with the sun.

She's not literally standing on the moon.

She doesn't literally have 12 stars on her head.

But these are symbols.

They're pointing at something.

And even the word of sign shows us that she's a sign.

She's pointing to a reality that's not herself.

Okay?

So this is meant to get our eyes on a reality.

So this is some woman.

And on top of this, she's pregnant.

And not just pregnant, but she is in labor.

She is in the turmoil of labor.

She's crying out with birth pains, verse 2.

Agony of giving birth.

But who is this woman?

I'm guessing you're already thinking, okay, it could be this person.

It could be this person.

Well, let's ask another question before we try to pinpoint somebody.

Are there other women that show up in the book of Revelation?

And if so, how do they show up?

That might give us a little clue to interpret who this woman is.

And yes, the answer to the question is yes.

Other women do show up in this book.

In chapter 17, we see one.

And in chapter 19, we see one.

In chapter 17, we meet the great prostitute.

She's called Babylon the Great.

And in chapter 19, we are introduced to a very different woman, the bride.

The bride of the Lamb.

These women represent big groups of people.

One is corrupted and opposed to God and to his people.

And the other is God's faithful saints.

His pure, holy people who belong to him by faith.

Okay?

So, all right.

If God's using, or if God, John, through John, is using these women as symbols of different groups of people,

then we got a little further down the path of understanding who this is.

But the whole sun, moon, and 12 stars thing, that kind of makes us, well, what's that all about?

Well, the whole pregnancy thing, well, what's that all about?

Back in Genesis 37, Joseph, one of the patriarchs of Israel,

he had a dream that the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to his star.

It was a picture of his family, the covenant family of Israel, Jacob, Jacob's wife, the 12 sons of Jacob.

And that was the origin of the people of God in the Old Testament, the people of Israel.

And, so not just all that Old Testament kind of people imagery, but she's also pregnant.

And in verse 5, we see that she gives birth to a very special child,

who sounds very much like what Brian read about earlier at the start of our service in Psalm 2,

Jesus, the Messiah, the one who was born to rule with an iron rod.

Okay, so who is this woman?

Well, I think all these clues are pointing to this.

I think it makes most sense that this woman represents the faithful, covenant people of God throughout all of history.

Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

But in this first scene, her Old Testament roots are showing pretty clearly.

The whole sun, moon, and stars thing, as well as she's getting ready to give birth to the Messiah.

My wife is eight months pregnant.

And this past week, she shared with me, I'm starting to feel it.

I'm starting to feel the reality of the late stages of pregnancy.

The longing for it to be over, to have the baby.

The discomfort that accompanies that last stage of pregnancy.

And the expectation of, man, I just can't wait to see this kid.

In a similar way, the Old Testament people of God were also kind of in the agonies of labor.

They were longing to see the birth of the Messiah, the deliverer of Israel.

And one day, after a long and difficult pregnancy with great labor pains,

the faithful Old Testament people of God delivered their deliverer in the birth of the Messiah.

Mary was one of that faithful covenant people.

The faithful covenant people of God were the kind of surrounding context into which the Messiah was birthed.

So in that sense, we have this woman representing the people of God throughout the ages,

but particularly here in this first scene, the Old Testament people of God.

And she's gasping for breath.

And she's pushing through waves of labor.

And God's faithful community is ready to deliver the Messiah.

That's the picture.

But, enter the second sign.

Look at verse 3.

Woman in labor, dragon.

You got to love apocalyptic literature, right?

I mean, it's so graphic.

It just kind of startles you.

It shocks you.

It's this utterly weak, vulnerable woman screaming with labor pains.

And then there's this dragon.

Not just a wolf or a snake or a lion.

A dragon.

I mean, you can't picture anything more sinister, cruel, powerful.

And what's up with these seven heads and these ten horns and these seven crowns?

Well, the numbers, the seven and the ten, they symbolize completeness.

And the heads and crowns and horns, they all symbolize strength, authority, power.

So this dragon is not just a dragon, which would be scary enough.

But he's a dragon with complete power and authority.

Now, it's given to him.

It's not inherent in himself.

But he's a dragon, nonetheless, with complete power and authority.

I'm guessing you probably have figured out who this dragon is by now.

He's the real enemy behind the curtain.

The ultimate arch nemesis of God and God's people.

The bad guy of all bad guys.

Remember, the book of Revelation is written to a group of churches in Asia around A.D. 90.

About 50 years after Jesus rose from the dead.

And they're experiencing persecution and hostility and opposition from all sorts of different groups of people.

And John is wanting to get their eyes on saying,

Okay, yeah, you are facing that.

But the real enemy behind all that is the dragon.

And in case you're in any doubt who this dragon is,

he's named in verse 9.

The ancient serpent.

The devil.

Satan.

But what's this dragon doing?

Look at verse 4.

It's grotesque.

The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth

so that when she bore her child, he might devour it.

I mean, as soon as it gets in our imagination, we're like,

Ugh.

Ugh.

This poor woman about to deliver a baby and he's just there, ready to eat it up.

It's grotesque.

Instead of a doctor standing there, we've got a dragon.

And that's just what happened, right?

Remember the Christmas story?

Beyond the warmth and the sentimentality of birth of Jesus,

dozens of baby boys are slaughtered in Bethlehem by King Herod

because he's trying to take Jesus out.

As soon as he is born, he's born into the dragon's opposition and hostility.

Satan's trying to snatch him up.

He opposes and tempts Jesus in the wilderness when he grows up.

He fills Judas with the desire to betray Jesus.

This dragon is opposed to God.

He is opposed to God's people and he is especially opposed to God's purposes

to deliver his people through his Messiah, Jesus.

Okay, well, what happens?

Well, this male child is born.

Verse 5, she gave birth to a male child,

one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

It's the one that Brian read about at the beginning of the service.

He's the great king who would deliver and shepherd God's people forever.

He's born.

But interestingly, we don't get any description of his life or his ministry

or his death or his resurrection, anything.

We just get this little phrase,

he was caught up to God on his throne.

So his birth, his life, his ministry, his death, resurrection

is all squashed into he's caught up to God on the throne.

Bam.

Now, in one sense, Satan devoured the child

in that Satan was instrumental in getting Jesus crucified.

But he did not devour the Messiah.

He did not eliminate the Messiah.

Jesus, up, thrown on it.

He is above the dragon now.

So the idea here is that this child, Jesus, the Messiah,

was born to rule.

Isn't that what Gabriel told Mary back in Luke chapter 1?

Luke 1 · chapter mention

The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his kingdom there will be no end.

He was born to be king, to rule,

to share the throne of his father.

So do you see the conflict, and do you see the triumph?

Eh, not really, right?

It's kind of a weird battle.

Weak, pregnant, vulnerable woman in labor, nasty dragon.

Child.

Not much of a conflict and a triumph.

Billy, why'd you name the scene the conflict and the triumph?

Not much of an epic battle.

Well, there's a connection we need to make before we move on.

Let's think about the main characters of the story so far.

Woman.

Woman's reptilian enemy.

Woman's child.

Maybe the word offspring will help.

Woman.

Woman's reptilian enemy.

Offspring.

Woman.

What John is trying to get our attention on

is the conflict

that has been going

since the beginning of time.

Keep your place in Revelation 12,

but go back to Genesis 3,

the very beginning of your Bible.

Flip back in your Bibles to Genesis 3.

It's all the way in the beginning.

It's pretty easy to find.

We need to make this connection

if we're going to understand

what just happened in this scene.

There was a day,

a very dark and sad day,

that got lit up by a promise of hope.

Adam and Eve are human parents

whose sin we share

have just rebelled against God

and His goodness.

And Satan was the one

who was embodied as a serpent

and he tempted them,

enticed the woman in particular

into the rebellion

with crafty words.

And God, in verse 15,

14 and 15,

is speaking words to the serpent,

words of curse to the serpent,

but they were words of promise

and life to Adam and Eve

and to us.

Listen to Genesis 3, 15.

I will put enmity,

this is God speaking to the serpent,

I will put enmity

between you and the woman

in between your offspring

and her offspring,

and he shall bruise your head

and you shall bruise his heel.

Did you notice that word enmity?

It means conflict,

hostility,

opposition,

fighting.

God,

at this very dark day,

the rebellion of Adam and Eve,

God would begin a work

of resistance against Satan.

He might have won the day

and the garden,

but God is saying,

you're not going to win the war.

There's this work of resistance

that God is going to bring about

through Eve's offspring.

There would be conflict

and opposition,

and the offspring of Satan

and the offspring of the woman

would be going at it.

And not an endless conflict,

did you notice?

A conflict that would end

in costly yet decisive victory.

The serpent would bruise the heel

of the woman's offspring.

It would cost the woman's offspring,

but the woman's offspring

would crush the serpent's head.

And throughout the entire story

of the Old Testament,

God's people longed

for that offspring to come,

who would bring a decisive end

to the work of Satan.

Their hopes would rise

at the birth of a Noah

or an Abraham

or a Moses

or a Samson

or a Samuel

or a David.

But these heroes of the faith,

however good they were,

at some point they would succumb

to the influence of the serpent

and prove themselves

not to be the offspring,

the one who would crush

the serpent's head.

And the conflict continued

for ages,

the woman opposing the serpent,

the serpent opposing the woman,

until the long-awaited offspring,

singular,

was finally born,

snatched up to God's throne,

and established as king,

and the age-long conflict was won.

The offspring of the woman triumphed.

So that's the conflict

and the triumph

from an earthly perspective.

Part one.

Now let's move to the second scene,

the conflict and the triumph

from a heavenly perspective.

Part two.

All of a sudden,

in verse seven,

we get a shift of scene.

War arose in heaven.

Suddenly,

we're no longer on earth.

We are no longer

looking at the events

of human history.

However symbolic they were,

they were earthbound events

of human history.

The offspring of the woman

being born.

Satan opposing

the offspring of the woman.

Jesus living,

dying,

rising again,

ascending to his father's throne.

All events within human history

in time and space.

And now,

we're going to see

how

the spiritual realm

was affected

by that

human history

earthbound event.

In the Bible,

heaven and earth

are not mutually exclusive spheres.

From a biblical perspective,

they are interrelated.

What happens

on earth

affects heaven.

What happens in heaven

affects earth.

And John is not just

shifting the scenery

just for fun.

This is not random.

No,

he is giving us

a heavenly perspective

on the conflict

that was waged

and won

in the first scene

with the birth

of the male child.

So,

verses seven and eight,

we see how

the earthly events

of Jesus' birth,

life,

death,

resurrection,

ascension,

monumentally affected

the heavenly sphere.

Michael,

the archangel,

and his angels,

they make war

with the dragon

and his angels,

but Satan is defeated

and there's no place

for him

in heaven.

And then,

comes this

decisive statement

of triumph

for heaven

in verse nine.

Notice the repetition

of what happens

to the dragon

in verse nine.

And the great dragon

was thrown down.

That ancient serpent

who is called

the devil and Satan,

the deceiver

of the whole world,

he was thrown down

to the earth

and the angels

were thrown down

with him.

Thrown down.

That language

shows up again

in verse 10,

in verse 12,

verse 13,

again and again,

six times in this chapter.

Satan is thrown down.

He's out.

But maybe that makes

you ask the question,

wait a minute,

I thought that

happened earlier.

Didn't Satan get kicked out

like at the beginning

in the garden?

Well,

if we read

our Old Testament closely,

we can see that

before the Messiah came,

Satan was permitted

to be in God's presence.

He used this privilege

unjustly

to accuse God's people.

Remember the story

of Job?

The whole thing

started with poor Job

when Satan

is in the heavenly

council of the angels

before God

and he begins

accusing Job.

He's like,

Job's only faithful

because you're blessing him.

So,

stop blessing him

and he won't do it.

He won't be faithful to you.

But now,

he's thrown down.

Well,

what was it

that threw him down?

Did Michael have

some ingenious

angelic warfare tactics

that kind of

confounded the old dragon?

Nope.

Look at verse 10.

Now,

now,

now,

now,

the salvation

and the power

and the kingdom

of our God

and the authority

of his Christ

have come.

Now,

what is this now

all about?

What has just happened

in the heavenly sphere?

Or,

sorry,

the earthly sphere.

The male child

who was born

to rule the nations

with a rod of iron

was born

and ascended

to his father's throne.

The resurrected Lord Jesus

is on his throne

now

and therefore

say it is booted out.

In John 12,

just days before

Jesus' crucifixion,

he said these words,

now

is the judgment

of this world.

Now

will the ruler

of this world

be cast out

and I,

when I am lifted up

from the earth

referring to his crucifixion,

will draw all people

to myself.

Jesus knew

that his sacrificial death

and his triumphant

resurrection

would not only be

the turning point

of human history

but also of heavenly history.

From that point on,

Satan would be thrown down

and cast out

and his doom

would be sealed.

But,

why is that important?

What significance

does that have?

Look at verse 10.

Here,

God's saints

are making this announcement

who are,

they're already in heaven

and they're excited

that Satan is thrown down.

This is why.

Did you notice that?

The accuser

of our brothers

has been thrown down

who accuses them

day and night

before our God.

So,

because God the Son

became a human,

lived righteously

for 30 plus years,

died a sacrificial death

for sinners,

rose again triumphantly

from death

and sits now

on his father's throne,

there is now

no prosecuting attorney

gunning for a guilty verdict

for God's people

in God's courtroom anymore.

He's out.

He's banished.

He's gone.

And notice another thing

in verse 11.

They have conquered him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word

of their testimony.

We know that Jesus

won the conflict.

He's the conqueror,

the one who triumphs

over the dragon.

But in verse 11,

it says that

we also conquer.

It says that God's people

conquered the accuser

of the brothers.

We,

as Jesus' people,

share in his triumphant

victory over the dragon.

Because he conquered,

we also conquer.

Paul later states

this crazy thing

in Romans 16, 20.

Well,

he's speaking to Christians

and he says,

the God of peace

will soon crush Satan

underneath

your feet,

the church's feet,

your feet,

my feet.

We get to share

in the defeat

of Satan

and the victory

of Jesus.

We,

the offspring of Eve,

the singular,

the promised male child

to rule with a rod of iron,

he crushes the serpent's head

through his triumphant

death and resurrection.

But the remaining offspring,

plural,

of the people of faith,

we share in his serpent crushing.

But how?

By the blood of the Lamb

and by the word

of their testimony.

We conquer

because he conquered

on the cross

on our behalf.

We conquer

by the blood of the Lamb.

We celebrate it this morning

right here at this table.

But we also conquer

as we,

in our daily lives,

we live out

that truth

in faith

and obedience.

It's the word

of our testimony.

Not perfectly,

but really,

truly.

We start to grasp

that that's true

and we start

to live out of it.

And every little bit

of that spirit-inspired,

spirit-given

faith and obedience

is tramping

on the serpent's head.

In short,

we get to share

the triumph of the Lamb

by resting in

and faithfully living out

what he has already done

on our behalf.

So,

the birth,

the life,

the death,

resurrection,

ascension of the woman's

offspring,

Jesus,

in the first scene

on earth,

it brings about

a simultaneous

and decisive defeat

of the dragon

in the heavenly sphere.

And if we look

at the last verse

of this scene,

verse 12,

the heavenly places

are rejoicing

because the dragon's gone.

You can't bring accusation

against God's people anymore.

But with an ominous note,

we also see

that the conflict,

although it's decisively won,

it's not over.

Woe to the earth,

verse 12 says,

because the dragon

has been thrown down there

and he is not happy.

Which brings us

to the third

and final scene

of this vision

we'll call this scene

God's care

and the dragon's rage.

God's care

and the dragon's rage.

Oscar Coleman,

a theologian

of the last century,

once used this analogy

to illustrate the truth

that we find

in verses 12 and 13.

When the Allies

invaded Europe

on D-Day,

June 6, 1944,

everybody,

except for a deluded Hitler,

knew that the war was over.

The Allies had established

a beachhead

in France

and there's mounting pressure

on the eastern front

in Russia.

The German forces

were just stretched too thin.

They couldn't win the war.

It was over.

But,

Hitler,

though defeated,

was not going

to go quietly.

He raged.

Thousands

upon thousands

more

would die

over the next year

before the Allies

finally reached Berlin

and Germany

capitulated.

D-Day

ensured

Hitler's

imminent defeat,

but V-E Day,

Victory in Europe Day,

was still

a ways away.

And the conflict

in between them

would be fiercer

and bloodier

than previously

because of Hitler's

blind rage.

When Jesus

accomplished

our D-Day

on the cross,

in the resurrection,

in his ascension

to his father's throne,

Satan was done.

War's over.

No way

Satan can win.

And he knows it.

And he hates it.

He plans to go down

raging,

fighting tooth

and nail,

causing as much

havoc as he possibly

can because he knows

his time is short.

You see that

in verse 12?

In great wrath

he's coming

because he knows

his time

is short.

So what does he do?

Look at verse 13.

He pursues

the woman.

He can't defeat God.

He can't defeat

God's Messiah.

So who does he go after?

The ones

whom God

loves the most.

The ones

for whom

the Messiah

shed his own blood.

But,

look what happens

in verse 14.

Satan's going after

the woman,

the church.

But,

the same thing

happens in verse 14

that verse 6

foreshadows

that we kind of

skipped over

a little bit

before.

The woman,

which is God's

people,

flees to the

wilderness

where she is

to be nourished

for a specific

amount of time.

In verse 6,

it's 1,260 days.

In verse 14,

it's time,

times,

and half a time.

But as we saw

a few weeks ago

in chapter 11,

whether it's 42 months,

it's used in chapter 11,

or 1,260 days,

or time,

times,

and half a time,

those are all

different ways

of referring

to the same

amount of time,

the same period

of time,

three and a half years,

which is half

of seven.

And what does seven

symbolize in the

book of Revelation?

Completeness,

fullness.

So,

in other words,

it's not a fullness

of a time period.

It's cut short.

In chapter 11,

the church is

a faithful witness

to Jesus

in the world

that's the picture.

She's going to be

faithfully witnessing

to Jesus

and suffering

for Jesus

for a limited

amount of time.

Not the full seven,

three and a half.

It's cut short

for mercy.

And then she'll

be called home.

The church is going

to be in the wilderness,

what it describes

here in the wilderness,

for a relatively

short amount of time.

In other words,

God's not just going

to forget us here.

Our suffering

for bearing witness

to Jesus

will be relatively

and mercifully

short.

But,

what's with this

wilderness thing?

Why are we talking

about wilderness?

Well,

notice the passive

voice of the verbs

in verse 14.

She was given

the two wings

of the great eagle

so that she might

be nourished

in the wilderness.

So,

what should be

popping in your mind

is,

okay,

who gave her the wings

and who's going

to be nourishing her?

Verse 6

makes it really clear.

She flees to a place

where it is prepared

for her

by God.

The dragon,

her powerful enemy,

might be raging,

but she has a place

of security

and nourishment,

the wilderness.

And God

is there,

eager to be with her

and to care for her.

So,

that language

of eagle's wings

in wilderness

was designed

to prick

John's listeners' ears

with the memory

of the Exodus

back in the Old Testament.

God's people

were freshly delivered

from a dragon-ish enemy,

the Pharaoh,

who pursued them

into the wilderness.

God brought his people

into a place

of safety

and focused fellowship

with himself

as if snatched up

by a great eagle

and flown out

of the reach

of harm.

But,

that wily dragon,

he won't give up

very easily,

will he?

Look at verse

15.

The serpent

poured water

like a river

out of his mouth

after the woman

to sweep her away

after a flood.

He opens his mouth

and a flood

comes after her.

The focus here

is not so much

on what the water

symbolizes

as it is that

the dragon

opens his mouth.

What verbs

have we already seen

in this chapter

that are associated

with the dragon

opening his mouth?

Look back up

at verse 9

and 10.

The deceiver

of the whole world

verse 9

and verse 10

the accuser

of our brothers.

What comes out

of Satan's mouth?

Deception

and accusation

and slander.

Lies.

He is a master deceiver.

He is a relentless

accuser

and all that junk

comes out of his mouth

and that's what he's

throwing out of his mouth

at the church

to sweep her away

like a flood.

And yet

look at verse 16.

The earth

comes to the help

of the woman.

The earth

swallows the flood

of lies and slander.

God yet again

comes to the rescue

this time

telling the earth

itself to swallow

the dragon's flood.

God's care

for his people

in the wilderness

in the middle

of being raged at

by Satan.

Verse 17

shows us again

the dragon's rage

is dreadful.

He's being frustrated

by God at every turn

and he keeps on

making war

with the rest

of the woman's

offspring.

All those who have

trusted in the Messiah

all of those

who are part

of a faithful

community in Christ.

These are the folks

who keep God's commandments

as we see in verse 17

and they hold

to the testimony

of who Jesus is

and what he has done

for them.

And this verse

ends with the dragon

standing on the sand

of the sea.

It's rather ominous.

And it's a signal

that the dragon's

not done.

In fact,

we learn in chapter 13

how exactly

the dragon

is going to

try to make war

on the offspring

of the woman.

He's going to use

the unholy

anti-trinity.

He,

the dragon,

the beast

that comes out

of the sea

and the beast

from the land

who is the false prophet.

See that all

in coming weeks

in chapter 13.

It's going to unpack

what that flood

of lies

and slander

is going to look like

and how it will

really,

truly

affect the church

but not ultimately.

So as this third

scene closes,

it's clear

that the dragon

rages

against the church

but God's care

will sustain her

during her short time

in the wilderness

of the world

before she is called home.

So what's this

whole thing about?

We've looked at

the three scenes,

what's this all about?

Let's just summarize

it this way.

I think as we pull

back the curtain

on the whole story

of redemption

that chapter 12

is doing for us,

we see this.

Through the triumph

of the promised offspring,

God shelters

and gives victory

to his faithful people

over their raging enemy.

through the promise

of the,

through the triumph

of the promised offspring,

the Messiah,

Jesus,

God shelters

and gives victory

to his faithful people

over their raging enemy.

Folks,

D-Day

has come

2,000 years ago.

The war is over.

It's won.

Through great cost,

the God,

the Son,

entered human history.

He crushed

the head of the serpent

and he sits triumphantly

on his father's throne.

And yet,

our time

on the battlefield

is not done.

Our enemy's wrath

still has to be endured

until the day

that his doom comes.

And we shouldn't

be surprised by that.

Bullets are whizzing

by our heads,

bombs are exploding,

and the carnage

of deception

and accusation

and opposition

will only get worse.

But,

our God

has not just won.

He is with us.

He's on the battlefield.

He is sheltering

and nourishing

and giving us victory

as we fight

our adversary

by trusting

in the blood

of the Lamb

and living out

the word

of our testimony.

So,

let's make three

brief reflections

on this

emboldening vision

that we see here

and to seek

to respond well

with faith

and obedience.

First is this.

This vision

gives us,

God's people,

a cosmic perspective

on our current struggle.

It gives us

a cosmic perspective

on our current

struggle.

I'm guessing

that many of you

are feeling

the difficulty

of living

in between D-Day

and V-E-Day,

between Christ's

triumph on the cross

and His final return.

Perhaps it's

just simply living

in a universe

that is suffering

from the corruption

and decay

that started

on that first day

in the garden.

The day that the serpent

deceived our ancestors

into rebelling

against our good

creator

and our king.

Perhaps you're

suffering

from physical

hardship,

illness,

chronic pain,

a dysfunctional body.

Perhaps you're

struggling with

the clear

and tragic effects

of sin

maybe in your life

or in the lives

of those you care about.

You are grieved

with your own sin

and guilt

or with relationships

marred by selfishness

or bitterness.

You bear the scars

of being sinned

against by others

or you feel the shame

of having inflicted

those scars

on others.

Perhaps you feel

helpless and sad

as you watch

others succumb

to the deception

of the dragon.

But behind

this curtain

that we get

a little peek

into in this chapter

we see a panoramic

cosmic view

of history.

It's a cosmic

war that began

when the universe

was fresh

and good

and young

and has led

to incalculable

suffering

and loss

and evil.

There is an evil

force,

an adversary

who seeks

to set himself

up as God's rival

and to ruin

and corrupt

what God

has made

to be good.

It kind of

helps us,

doesn't it?

It helps us

see things

from a good

perspective.

That cosmic

perspective

puts our

current struggles

in a helpful

light.

Every couple

of years

I find myself

rereading

J.R.R. Tolkien's

Lord of the Rings

trilogy.

My wife always

kind of laughs at me

like,

are you reading

that again?

I love entering

into that world

because every time

I pick it up

and I read about

little,

helpless,

comfort-loving

hobbits.

I feel like

one most of

the time.

Emphasis on

little and small

and comfort-loving.

They're entering

this massive

conflict that

feels way too

big for them.

And I'm reminded

that my little

life is a part

of something

really big

and far

greater than

me.

and yet

there is

something

far greater

than the

far greater

something

good

that is

for me

as I'm

walking

through the

journey.

When we

step back

and we see

this ancient

conflict from

the perspective

of Revolution

12 it reminds

us that our

current struggles

are par for the

course.

Jesus promised

us no less.

It's part of the

package and if

we are trusting

in ourselves

it's not going

to be pretty.

But if we

commend our

bodies and

our souls

to the one

who has

and finally

will triumph

over the

enemy

we have hope

in the middle

of the current

struggle

and

1260

days

time

times

and half

a time

it's cut

short

it's not

forever

we're not

home yet.

Second thing

our adversary

is both

decisively

defeated

and still

very dangerous

our adversary

is both

decisively

defeated

and still

very dangerous

D-Day

has come

and we're

somewhere

in the

middle of

France

pressing

forward

by faith

in the

Lamb

and by

the word

of our

testimony

bullets

are flying

the enemies

counterattacking

it's

dangerous

our current

struggle

as Ephesians

6 puts it

is not

against

flesh and

blood

it is

against

the

fiendish

schemes

of our

ultimate

adversary

who is

behind

the

curtain

of all

this

he's

been up

to this

since the

beginning

and he's

still up

to it

and he's

dangerous

yet

don't

forget

he has

been thrown

down

his

accusing

voice

is no

longer

heard

before

your

God

who is

also

your

savior

and your

father

so if

you are

hearing

the

accusing

voice

of

Satan

reminding

you of

past

regrets

or of

current

failures

or fears

of the

future

call

this

to mind

your

accuser

has been

thrown

down

decisively

defeated

the

prosecuting

attorney

has been

disbarred

and thrown

out of

God's

courtroom

you have

forever

and finally

been

pronounced

not only

not guilty

but

righteous

God's

son

God's

daughter

because

of the

blood

of the

lamb

shed

for you

or maybe

the voice

of Satan

is not

accusing

you

he is

seeking

to deceive

you

he is

enticing

you

and you

know it

you've

been

listening

to his

lies

you've

been

attracted

by his

empty

promises

that

true

happiness

is not

found

in listening

to the

good

words

of God

but it's

on that

attractive

highway

over there

your enemy

is still

after you

but the

lamb

has triumphed

remember

what Jesus

has accomplished

for you

how faithful

and true

he is

for you

and how

sweet

and good

his

words

of life

are

to you

so cling

to him

listen

to him

do not

follow the

voice

of the

dragon

listen

to the

voice

of your

savior

lastly

thirdly

God's

presence

and God's

word

are sufficient

for our

spiritual

well-being

in the

wilderness

of the

world

God's

presence

and God's

word

are sufficient

for our

spiritual

well-being

in the

wilderness

of the

world

all that

wilderness

language

in the

third

scene

do you

remember

that

remember

verse

six

God is

a place

prepared

for the

woman

to flee

to

and be

nourished

for the

time

she continues

in the

world

while the

dragon

pursues

her

what did

Israel

have

when they

were in

the

wilderness

they were

delivered

from their

pursuing

dragon

what did

they have

they had

God's

abiding

presence

the pillar

of fiery

cloud

went with

them

guided

them

protected

them

and later

on that

presence

dwelled

in the

ark of

the

covenant

in the

tabernacle

so God's

presence

upheld

and sustained

and protected

and comforted

his people

on the

dangerous

and dusty

road

to the

promised

land

and his

presence

also

nourished

them

every day

bread

from heaven

he fed

them

with bread

from heaven

and water

from rocks

he nourished

and cared

for them

like a

mother

in the

midst

of the

dangerous

wilderness

but not

only did

they have

his

presence

but they

had his

speaking

presence

his word

to them

he spoke

to them

there

he gave

them

his good

words

in the

law

he instructed

them

and promised

them

and led

them

by his

word

it is

the same

what he

promises

for us

his presence

is with us

not in a

tent

but his

very spirit

abiding

within our

tent

wherever we

go he's

with us

he nourishes

our spirits

with his

true and

abiding

words

which we

amazingly

have in

our own

language

right here

to treasure

and to

cherish

and to

savor

and to

consume

nourishes

us

so yes

we are

in a

battlefield

but we're

not just

in the

battlefield

like David

said in

Psalm 23

you prepare

a table

before me

in the

presence

of my

enemies

you anoint

my head

with oil

my cup

overflows

our God

in the

middle of

the battlefield

pitches a

tent right

where we're

at

and he

sets his

table

with his

banquet

feast

of his

presence

and his

words

his very

person

relating

to and

abiding

with us

in the

middle

of the

battle

isn't that

what we

just did

a few

minutes

ago

we

nourished

ourselves

with his

grace

at the

table

and he

meets us

right in

the middle

of our

real life

struggles

we're going

to walk

out this

door

in just

a little

bit

we walk

back

into the

wars

and remember

that his

presence

and his

words are

totally

sufficient

to sustain

you

and to

uphold

you

and to

shelter

you

in the

middle

of the

battle

in the

wilderness

if you're

feeling this

and particularly

you're feeling

in the

battle

go to

Ephesians

6

this afternoon

start in

verse 10

and just

start meditating

on the

spiritual conflict

you're in

and the

armor

that God

not only

gives to

you

but is

for you

as you

fight the