Satan's Wrath on Earth | Revelation 12:13-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series)

Last week, you and I briefly examined the future fall of

Satan. More specifically, we consider

the second of four falls of the devil that the Book of

Revelation describes. And this second fall, as we

learned, will take place during the Tribulation period.

It will banish Satan from heaven forever, and it will bar him

from having access to God to accuse the children of God.

This is a marvelous outcome out of this conflict between the

Evil 1 and Michael the Archangel, because it will also,

in a sense, clear the path for Christ's return.

But what is wonderful in one sense is also woeful in another,

specifically for those who will dwell on the earth after Satan

is cast down in this way and is confined to this world.

And what we are going to consider is that although Satan

loses this war in heaven that we studied, he's going to declare

another World War on earth. He's going to declare another

war on earth. And the introduction to this

escalation of Satan's fury is given to us in great detail in

the remaining verses of Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

And I invite you to turn with me there to that chapter, because

we're about to see that after being cast out of heaven, the

devil will rise from his humiliation and great wrath.

He's not going to take this embarrassing eviction lightly.

He's going to do something about it.

And we're going to read about it beginning in verse 13.

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the

earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male

child. But the woman was given the two

wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly from the

serpent into the wilderness to the place where she is to be

nourished for a time and times and half a time the serpent

poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to

sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help

of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed

the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

Then the dragon became furious with the woman, and went off to

make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the

commandments of God, and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

And the ESV adds this. And he stood on the sand of the

sea. Father, we pray, Oh, we pray for

your grace. There is a lot of material to

cover in our time in the word today.

So we need your help to be able to seize every truth, to be able

to understand your mind, to look at these prophetic things and be

able to leave out, leave with a confidence and understanding

what you have in store for the days to come.

And Lord, we pray that it would impact the way we Live Today,

but only You can translate those things into our hearts.

So we pray with humility and dependency that You would guide

us into Your heart as revealed in Your Word.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

If you're reading carefully, you might have noticed something

about these verses that we just read.

Satan is going to declare war on the earth, but he's actually

going to perform three waves of attack.

There are three assaults that are highlighted in these verses.

And I think organizing our thoughts around these Satanic

strikes will make these truths more memorable for us.

And so we're going to look at these things individually and

they're going to be many questions asked and hopefully

answered. But there is a main one that I

want to bring to your attention. The main question we want to ask

is what can we expect Satan to do in the latter part of the

tribulation just before Christ is going to return?

And you might be thinking, can we actually know that?

And I'm here to tell you with an emphatic, absolute yes, we can

know that because this passage tells us exactly what he's going

to plan to do and understand that his time is short.

He is going to launch three major and targeted assaults of

historic proportions. And so this is what we're

planning to do together as a church.

Let's look at these three assaults separately.

Assault number one is found in verse 13 to verse 14.

We read it. The first thing that the devil

will do after he learns that he is expelled from heaven during

this tribulation period is pursue the woman.

And we know that the woman represents the nation of Israel.

Hopefully remember that her identity is confirmed in the

earlier portions of Revelation 12.

And if you weren't here for that message, I highly encourage you

in your own time to listen to that teaching because you will

see that there is evidence proving that this woman is

exactly that. She is representing and

symbolizing the nation of Israel.

And just in case you haven't heard that teaching yet or maybe

you forgot, just what we find here in these verses actually

further confirms her identity. So look down at verse 17 again.

Notice what the dragon will do after his failed attempts to

harass and oppress the woman. And verse 17 we read and the

dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war

on the rest of her offspring. Highlight that on those who keep

the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

So if you are among those who claim that this woman represents

the church or the people of God as a whole, I have a question

for you. How would you explain the

distinction being made in this verse?

There's a clear difference being drawn here between the woman and

the rest of her offspring who are identified as who followers

of Jesus Christ. It's a double title.

Those who obey or keep the commandments of God and hold to

the testimony of Jesus. So let's just step back then.

If this woman is supposed to be apparently the church, then why

is there a difference being made between her and the object of

Satan's new focus after he tries to devour the woman?

Who are the offspring then? And you can revisit the first

few verses of this chapter to see again how there's more

evidence to conclude that what makes the most biblical sense is

that this woman is the entity Israel, ethnic Israel, the

Jewish people. But for most of us, that's

already been established. Yet there still may be questions

that remain, one of the main ones being perhaps, OK, why?

I get it. It's very difficult to debate

that this is speaking about Israel.

But why does Satan seem to have such special interests for her?

Why does he find it in himself to pursue her with such

aggression and hatred? And I believe that in this text

alone there are two answers, 2 answers to why Satan will make

it his top priority as time is winding down, as his faith is

about to be sealed, to actually run after the woman.

The 1st is because of Israel's history.

Israel's history. Notice how this verse here in

verse 13 tells us who he is pursuing.

He pursued the woman at the end of the verse who had given birth

to the male child. And we know that the male child

to be Jesus Christ. And so we see here that Satan

goes after this woman, understanding her role and what

she did in God's redemptive purposes on the earth.

Her history, her resume, so to speak, is enough for Satan to

hold great animosity towards her.

And what I find interesting is that the very things that Satan

hates Israel for are the very characteristics and truths that

inspired great affection in the heart of Paul for them.

I want you to turn to Romans 9 with me.

Look at verse 3 down to verse 5, Romans 9, verse 3 to verse 5.

Romans 9:3

Satan no longer has access to the immediate presence of God.

That's what we've learned in Revelation 12 so far.

And So what does he do? He will go after whom God loves.

He will go after Israel, who played a major, major role in

what God has done in the earth. Notice how Paul says in Romans

Romans 9:3

9, verse 3. For I could wish that I myself

were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my

brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.

Pause. These are astounding

confessions. I don't have time to open this

up, this one verse. But what I want to highlight is

that Paul is speaking about his love, his concern for the people

according to his flesh, who share his ethnicity.

He's not talking about spiritual Israel.

He's talking about actual Israel, the Jewish people.

Notice what he says in verse 4. They are Israelites, and to them

belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the

law, the worship and the promises.

To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according

to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed

forever. Amen.

So here's the apostle expressing his sorrow and his woes.

Because of what His His brethren, according to the

flesh, have denied the Messiah, and His pain is not merely

because He shares their blood, but as we just read, because the

Lord has used them in a very special way to accomplish His

will across the ages. Paul highlights 9 specific

privileges that were granted to this people.

We won't get into them now, but they can be summarized in this

way. Israel was a designated vehicle

that was used by God to usher in progressive revelation on the

earth concerning who He is. In other words, God had selected

this people group to be a national platform on the earth

to display the multifaceted glory of God to the rest of the

world. And the climax of this is that

through this race came the Savior of humanity.

Through this race came the Jewish Messiah, yes, but it was

also the Redeemer of all mankind.

Jesus Christ himself speaks about these crowning privileges

that the Jews shared. When He was speaking to the

Samaritan woman, what did he say in John 4/22?

For salvation comes from who? The Jews?

The Jews? So one would either have to be

ignorant or blinded by unjustified hatred to deny that

the Lord placed a peculiar calling upon these people and

listen, one which the Christian faith has its roots in.

And I believe many, many churches are doing a great

disservice to the people of God, especially the pastors who

ignored the Old Testament in their preaching and their

teaching, who do not provide a regular diet of the Hebrew

Scriptures. It makes many people,

Christians, I'm speaking about professing Christians, think

that Jesus just appeared out of nowhere.

He just showed up on the scene, gave some beatitudes, and died

on the cross for our sins. And if you want to go to heaven,

just believe on them. Yes, the gospel message is

beautifully simple, but it is rich with history.

There's depth to it. There's context, and Paul

reminds the Romans about the history of the Jewish people and

the history of their own faith. So there are people who don't

understand, they don't get it because they don't have a grasp

of the Scriptures. But there is one who hates this

people precisely because of what God has done through them,

precisely because of how they were the foundation for the

gospel, precisely because they were the means through which the

Messiah entered into history. His name is Satan, and he will

always hold this against them. He has bitterness towards them.

He despises them. And you have to remember this,

Satan always hates whatever and whomever God loves, and he is

set an elective love upon the people of Israel.

He did something with them in the past and he's going to do

something with them in the future.

That brings me to the second reason why the great dragon

pursues the woman, because of Israel's future, not just their

history, but what's to come. Go back to Revelation 12, verse

Revelation 12:12

12. Here's where I get that from.

This is where we closed last week, but let's consider it

again. The last part of verse 12 says,

but woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to

you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short.

So we have to ask this question, what is the relationship between

Satan realizing that his condemned faith is about to be

sealed? He understands at this point of

the Tribulation, Christ is about to crash into this world with

this Kingdom. That means I'm going to be

condemned. What relationship does Satan's

understanding of that truth and him hunting down Israel, what

kind of connection is there in that?

How do those things relate? Well, evidently say to know

something about this people group.

He understands that Israel will play a crucial role in God's

plans for Christ's return in the establishment of his Kingdom.

He knows this. And so by targeting them, he

really believes that he can either hinder or even prevent

what the Scriptures promises about Christ's second coming.

And we can spend the rest of this afternoon looking at all

the connections, how Israel's future intertwines with the rest

of God's redemptive program, namely in his return through

Christ. But I want to just look at one

Scripture, just one Scripture, because we have so much to cover

today. Go to Matthew 23, look at verse

37 down to verse 39. This is a familiar passage but I

think many people miss the implications of it.

And Matthew 23 verse 37 down to verse 39.

Matthew 23:37

We are nearing the end of Jesus earthly ministry and he offers

his own lament. Matthew 2337 reads O Jerusalem,

Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those

who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered

your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her

wings, and you were not willing see your house is left to you

desolate. Pause.

Many people build their eschatology.

That's a fancy word for their doctrine for the end times.

Not considering the following verse, how Jesus ends this verse

39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

So this scripture is often quoted to show Christ's lament

over the unbelief of His people. But I want to see with you the

end time prophecy contained in it.

Notice how the Lord places a condition upon his return.

What does he say? You?

He's speaking about the people of Jerusalem.

He's speaking about the leadership of Israel.

You will not see me again until you accept and you acknowledge

and you welcome me as the promised one.

That's what this translates to because he's quoting a passage

from Psalm one 18118, which is a Messianic Psalm.

Blessed is you comes in the name of the Lord.

But read it carefully. The Lord did not say unless you

say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, right

until there's a difference. If Christ had said unless you

say, then that leaves the possibility that Israel would

never do it. We're not going to confess, but

he doesn't say unless he says until implying what that it is a

certainty that it will happen. It's only a matter of time until

until you say and this I don't think it's coincidental where

it's placed in our Bibles. Israel's future faith in

crowning Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah is mentioned

immediately before what Matthew 24?

Do you see that in your Bibles? And what's Matthew 24 about?

At least the first part, Jesus teaching about the last days

until you say it, anticipating their acceptance which coincides

with his arrival. So how does this play into

Satan's schemes? Well, Satan is aware that there

is a future for this people to be saved by this Messiah.

But if he can destroy this people, then there's no one left

to say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And not only. If Satan even were to be able to

accomplish such a thing, not only would he vaporize so many

other promises that God has made, but he would ultimately

prove Christ unfaithful. He would discredit the word of

God. And so in his mind, he

understands if I can, if I can destroy this race, if I can

delete them, if I can remove them from the face of the earth,

then that will cause some trouble for many prophecies and

ultimately for the reign of Christ on the earth.

So This is why he's going to step up his aggression in the

Tribulation period as he realizes that his time is short.

But we have to see what he's going to do.

We haven't even considered his first assault yet, and if we

want to, we got to go back to our main text.

So what is he going to do? Now that we've established why

he's going after the woman, let's consider what he will try

to do against her. Revelation 12.

Look at verse 13 and 14 again. And when the dragon saw that

he'd been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who

had given birth to the male child.

But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that

she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, the place

where she used to be nourished for a time and times and half a

time. This woman, the nation's flight

into the wilderness is something Jesus Christ spoke about.

We don't have to turn there. But in Matthew 24, what did he

say after speaking about global catastrophes and all these

things that are going to shake up the earth?

He zeroes in and he focuses on the Jewish people.

And do you remember the beginnings of his ominous

warning? He said.

But when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the

prophet Daniel sitting or standing rather in the holy

place, let those who are in Judea do what?

Flee to the mountains? And he gives all these other

practical exhortations. Don't look back.

Woe to those who are nursing. Pray that it wouldn't be in the

winter. Pray that it wouldn't happen on

the Sabbath. Then he says something along the

lines of for then there will be great tribulation, such as not

been from the beginning of the world until now.

No, and never will be. Here's how this all ties in

together. There will be a point in the

tribulation where the Antichrist has gained global power, yes,

but he will also enter into the temple that is in Jerusalem,

declare himself to be God, and will turn on the Jewish people

specifically and the Jewish people alive at this time.

Many of them will recognize that this is indeed an act of

betrayal. It could be that even many of

them who have been hearing the preaching of the 144,000 and and

others might have been introduced to the warnings of

Jesus in Matthew 24. And so there will be a

collective effort to flee. They will realize now that there

is a rising attack against them specifically, and so they will

abandoned everything. This is emergency protocol.

This global political power is now declaring himself to be God

in our very temple. Run for your life.

And that's the that's exactly what they will seek to do.

But John in Revelation 12 gives us the spiritual activity behind

all of this. So yes, the abomination of

desolation who ultimately symbolizes a person who will

stand in the holy place, declare himself to be God according to

the Second Thessalonians 2. But we learn in this chapter of

our main text that it's the great dragon behind all of that

Satan, who's energizing the Antichrist, who's using this

great empire in this future time to now focus all their energy

and efforts towards liquidating this people.

In other words, he wants there to be a new Holocaust.

And so the people flee. And we know that this is Satan's

agenda ultimately, but we also see God's intervention in it as

the people flee, as they run. And there's a lot of terrain in

the Middle East for people to be able to run to.

What do we read in that verse, verse 14?

But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that

she might fly. A lot of a lot of interesting

interpretations about that, but I think it's very simple.

Put some of the pieces together. Eagle's wings, wilderness,

Israel. Does any of that sound familiar?

That's all reminiscent of the experience of the Jewish people

in the original Exodus. Is that not right?

Do you remember what the Lord said to the Jewish people, to

the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Pharaoh,

rescued from Egypt in the wilderness?

Let me read this verse to you. In Exodus 19, verse 4, God says

Exodus 19:4

to Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians

and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.

What do we hear almost every single week?

And I am not ashamed to repeat it.

The Book of Revelation is dripping with Old Testament

allusions and motifs and themes, and it's no different here.

The imagery that John is granted is to show that the same God who

faithfully delivered Israel thousands of years ago will

preserve and deliver his people in the future.

God has not forgotten these people, and God will do what

only he can do to spare them and save them.

It's almost like this is a kind of new Exodus.

They've experienced many of those exoduses, not just in

their flight. It's not that he's going to

enable them supernaturally to be able to escape against all odds.

You got to remember the Antichrist is going to take over

the world. He has the world at his

disposal. He has all the resources

available, but they will escape. It will be supernatural how they

will be able to flee from him, but not just in their flight,

but even in their experience in the wilderness.

Because what do we read that he's going to nourish them.

He's going to feed them. They're going to be cut off from

from all items, all resources. They're going to be in some kind

of desert. And there's the debate where

they're actually going to be planted, but they're going to be

in some kind of refuge and shelter.

And the Lord himself is going to supply their daily needs.

Like what? Like, like Israel in the

original Exodus, he rained down mana.

He supplied water from unlikely sources.

We're seeing the repeated faithfulness of God in this

future prophecy. But this successful escape is

not going to discourage the dragon.

He will not be able to initially grab a hold of them, but that's

not going to stop him, which is bringing us now to our second

assault. Assault number 2 is found in

verse 15 down to verse 16 and Revelation 12.

We are not told where the Jews will find refuge.

I mean, there's some speculation from the book of Daniel and

other places, but what we do know is that Satan will be aware

of it. He will know exactly where their

location is. And once Israel does find

shelter, we're told in verse 15 that the serpent is going to

pour out water from where? Out of his mouth, and it will

come like a tsunami, and it will seek to sweep away this people

and destroy them. Now, we know that this can't be

literal water. Some people, some people think

it is. But this particular passage of

scripture is rich in symbolism, and so this has to mean

something else. If you focus on the fact that

it's coming from Satan's mouth, you might be on to something.

Because we know that things that come out of the mouth can be

destructive, like dangerous lies and slander and propaganda.

And it could be that that's what Satan will orchestrate at this

time, that he is going to do many things, deceiving things to

try to trick Israel or even persuade the rest of the world

to turn against them and join him in his hatred.

And the fact that it comes like a flood speaks about the volume

of these lies, the force of them, how intense and

destructive these narratives will be.

And listen, this is not so far fetched.

Many theories and slander against the Jewish people have

proven historically to be the cause of many atrocities

committed against them. So this is not a surprising

interpretation. But there is another way of

looking at this because again, if we look at the Old Testament

themes, then would realize that a flood and many Hebrew passages

actually speak about invading army speaks about a mighty force

coming and destroying everything in its path towards a vulnerable

foe. And there's so many references

to this, but I want to just read to, I'm just going to ask you to

listen to these passages to solidify this interpretation.

And Isaiah 8 verse 7 to 8, it says, therefore, behold, the

Isaiah 8:7–8

Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the river.

Is he talking about literal waters?

Well, let's find out mighty and many, the king of Assyria, and

all his glory. And it will rise over all its

channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into

Judah. It will overflow and pass on,

reaching even to the neck. And it's outspread wings will

fill the breath of your land. O Emmanuel.

Listen to Jeremiah 46, verse 8. Egypt rises like the Nile, like

Jeremiah 46:8

rivers whose waters surge. He said, I will rise, I will

cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.

And we can go on and on and on to see how rising waters floods.

The language of sweeping away is very common to the Hebrew mind

in interpreting an actual army coming in a terrifying manner.

Both of these interpretations work, right?

And whether it's deception or whether it's actual forces

rising against this people, it could be a combination of both.

But because of what we read back in verse 16 to Revelation 12,

it's more likely that this is actually speaking about a

coordinated military effort to advance and eradicate the Jewish

people. What do we read in verse 16?

Well, when this flood comes, it's going to yet again prove to

be unsuccessful. Why?

Because the earth is going to open up and swallow the water

and render them fruitless, and there will be no ability for

them to go on. It will be a terrifying blow to

whatever this dragon is spewing out.

What do we make of that? What do we make of the earth

opening up and swallowing this water?

Well, let's put some pieces back together again, right?

We have additional characters in this portrait, so to speak.

Israel Wilderness wings, eagle's wings more specifically, and now

what? Potentially A marching army of

massive proportions to destroy this people.

I think we're back at the Exodus again.

I think we're back at that very same scene.

The same theme is being presented here now.

Do you remember some of the words that the Jewish people

used to celebrate the fact that they had been successfully

brought through the Red Sea in that same water destroyed

Pharaoh and his Chariots? Let me give you one of the

lyrics in Exodus 15. Listen to this in Exodus 15

Exodus 15:11

verse 11 to verse 12, they said, who is like you, O Lord among

the gods, who is like you, majestic and holiness, awesome

and glorious deeds, doing wonders.

You stretched out your right hand.

The earth swallowed them. The earth swallowed them.

And it seems as though John, as he is writing out what he's

seeing, is borrowing from this kind of description as he is

putting together a very similar motif to Israel's past as he's

describing this prophecy. So how do we make sense of verse

seeing this earth swallowing up this water?

It seems to suggest that there's going to be a supernatural

intervention that is going to put a stop and neutralize the

Satanic onslaught, as the Antichrist himself will try to

launch against them in order to destroy them.

And he fails. So Satan so far is 0 for two,

and this is going to infuriate him even more.

He's not going to let up, but he is going to change his strategy.

His time now is only getting shorter and whatever he does,

he's unable to actually do anything about this people group

who are critical, a critical part to the storyline of the

last days. So what is he going to do now?

One thing is certain, he will not give up, but he's going to

have to change his target. He's going to look elsewhere,

and this is what we're going to consider with his 3rd and final

assault, at least at this point. It's summarized in verse 17 of

Revelation 12. Let's read it one more time.

And the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to

make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the

commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

And he stood on the sand of the sea.

So he realized that they're impenetrable.

There's a protective grace upon this nation.

I can't keep wasting my resources and the time on them.

So he's bubbling up with even more rage now.

He can't access the immediate presence of God.

He can't touch this people group.

So what does he do? He goes after those who bear the

testimony of Jesus Christ. He goes after believers in the

tribulation. He goes after the Saints.

Now again, this is a double title and because it says that

they are the rest of our offspring, that has caused some

people to say different things. Maybe there are more specific

group. Is it just Messianic Jews like

the 144,000 who are witnessing Fort cries?

Is it just the Gentiles? I think is a combination of

both. It's all of those who believe

the truth of the gospel during this time.

And what is he going to do against him?

Exactly? What is he going to perform?

It's very simple. He is going to complete the

number of the Saints who will die for their faith.

That's what we read earlier, right?

When the souls beneath the altar were asking God to act on their

behalf. Lord, where's your vengeance?

And one of the things that they were told was to rest a little

longer until the number of their brethren would be slain to

completion before things move on.

And it could be that at this point there will be an

amplification of persecution against Christians unlike what

we've ever seen before. It will be global.

It'll be fierce. It'll be swift.

And you might be hearing this and thinking to yourself, wait a

minute. So you're saying that in this

window of time, God is going to shelter and put a canopy over

Israel, ethnic, unbelieving Israel, and let Satan slaughter

Christians. You're saying that the Lord is

going to let this perverted, powerful serpent dragon,

deceiver of the whole world touch his bride while concealing

and containing this nation. This bothers people, by the way.

It does, but I want to offer just one simple answer.

That is not the case at all. To say that somehow God loves

the Jewish people more than his church.

Let me ask you this, is there any difference between an

unbeliever facing death and a believer dying?

I hope you know enough of your Bible to say yes.

Death for the unbeliever, Jew or non Jew, is the seal of their

condemnation. Death for the believer, however,

is a doorway to their eternal rest and reward.

So is it so hard to believe that the Lord would permit Satan to

expedite the believers hope while protecting this nation

whom he had made promises to ultimately save?

At this time, it shouldn't be hard to grasp.

Persecution has been part of the Church's experience since her

inception, but the oppression against the Saints at this point

will will reach a scale and a severity that will be hard to

imagine. And that's what we're prepared

to learn. Actually, at the last part of

verse 17, the ESV adds this here.

Other translations added in the beginning of chapter 13, we read

and he stood on the sand of the sea.

Now other translations would say, and I stood John speaking

on the sand of the sea. We'll get into that more next

week. But what we're here looking at

is that is Satan is going to turn his attention against the

worshippers of Christ. He's going to do it in a very

sophisticated way. And that's going to be covered

as we look more and probably the most detailed passage about the

Antichrist and what he'll accomplish on on the earth in

this new chapter. I'm tempted to go there.

I won't. I'll keep that for next week.

But I want to end this message on a different note.

Today we got another sample, hopefully, of how prophecy

works. Maybe you got a little bit more

illumination in understanding the last days.

That's my prayer, at least. I'm sure that some of us here

have exercised the muscle of interpreting Scripture with

Scripture. It's beautiful when we see that

happen. But you might be sitting here

and I hope you haven't been enduring this message.

I hope you've been enjoying it. But maybe the the thought

crossed your mind. This is great, but how does this

practically help me? I got a lot of things going on

in my life and I appreciate your honesty, so I want to leave you

with at least one take away. There is a ringing truth in this

passage that demands immediate notice concerning your walk with

Christ, and it's this. The enemy of your soul and mine

is a persistent foe. You get that impression, don't

you? Three ways of attacks, 3

assaults. He doesn't throw in the towels

so quickly. He's very calculated.

So he tries one thing that doesn't work, he'll do something

else. And if you can't get to that,

he'll go. He'll go elsewhere.

And listen, you and I have to understand that the schemes of

the Evil One are far more personal and persistent than we

often realize. We're talking, yes, about

nations. We're talking about a future

time, but these are trademarks of his character that exist now.

So he'll tempt you and he'll tempt you and he'll tempt you

and you don't budget. So he'll tempt you in another

way. And he brings sin to you,

perhaps a past sin that you once enjoyed, but it's not working.

So he'll wait for another season when you're more vulnerable and

unsuspecting, and he constantly sits on the sidelines of your

heart and he tries to puff you with pride.

He tries to present mirages before the eyes of your heart to

distract you. Like the love of money so that

you chase it and you chase it and you chase it.

And years go by and you pause and look back and realize I've

wasted my energy. I've wasted my resources.

I've wasted opportunities. For what?

He dangles promises before you while he holds a knife behind

him. He overwhelms you with guilt.

He let he whispers in your ear so that you lose sleep,

reminding you of your failures, of your past, of your

inconsistency, so that you're crushed by it.

And you have no joy, so you have no witness, and you have no more

energy to serve the people of God because you're trying to get

yourself together and you're questioning if God even loves

you or if he's even saved you. And his arsenal is vast.

It's deep. And the thing that's probably

the most disheartening is that he is very, very, very committed

to his 'cause he's stubborn. He doesn't care if you're old.

He doesn't care if you've been married for 40 years.

He'll he'll try to destroy that marriage.

He doesn't care if you only have one child, 135.

He wants to pollute all of them. And so he strategizes and he

thinks and he walks to and fro on this earth.

And at this point he's still able to go up to heaven and

accuse the brethren. And you're probably hearing all

this and you're like, OK, So what hope do we have?

And here's how one exhort you at the same time.

Yes, we see this great force who's able to recruit

politicians and armies, but he's up against a great God.

So this this puny people. And they're still puny people to

this day. They're able to run on foot and

hide in some desert and be taken care of.

Why? Because God, He gave them those

wings. He supplied their daily need.

He actually made the earth itself a friend of this people,

and He's the guy that you and I serve.

You know what verse came to mind when I was meditating on them?

They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles that shall run and

I'll be weary. They shall walk and not be

faint. So God can even give me eagles,

wings and you. It's not just for one people

group. It's not just for prophetic

time. There are applications to this

now. Now eagles wings for those who

do what? Wait on God.

You're dependent on God. You seek God, you realize He's

the only one who can provide the power and the efficiency and the

the grace to be able to endure all the things that make you

tired and frustrated. He gives me eagle's wings,

meaning what? He's able to give me the speed

to escape temptation when it arrives, is the First

Corinthians promised that, that there is always a way of escape.

He's able to give me the ability to soar above discouragement.

He's able to elevate me to a heavenly perspective, to see all

my circumstances from God's point of view.

Ego's wings. So there is a great foe who is

persistent, but there is a God who supplies things that enable

you and I to not just endure, but enjoy, to sing as we soar,

to be able to rest as we're being haunted down, and trust in

Him. And so I look at Revelation 12

and I see what God is going to do.

Yes, for this nation, Israel. I see what's going to happen to

believers, but I also see the God that I serve today.

Do you see it? Do you need Him?

You only experience Him when you need Him and you realize you

need him. If you're not a needy person in

this place, God can't give you the grace that he promises to

the humble. And so let's let's respond to

this truth in this way. Yes, Lord, thank you for helping

me understand a little bit more of the Book of Revelation.

Thank you that I have some more clarity on controversial issues.

I don't know why it's controversial.

It's biblical. But now, Lord I, I realize how

you're calling me personally and I and I need you to give me

power. I need, I need your help and the

Lord is ready to supply it. Let's seek them together.

But we thank you, we thank you, we thank you.

We heard your voice today because we opened your word.

And for many, perhaps you have just confirmed what they already

knew. For others, maybe this is brand

new, and maybe even for some, this is a challenge to other

theological perspectives. We pray that your truth would

triumph over all things. And Lord, we come now as your

people, realizing that You're the God who knows tomorrow, yes,

but you also know who we are and what we're doing today.

So help us for those who are weak and weary, who are faint,

who are broken or disheartened, who are disillusioned, whatever

it is. Oh God, we pray that you would

infuse in us now the grace that you're able to provide an entire

nation. Give to us.

Give to each of us today. Lord, let us walk out of here

stronger and lighter. And Lord, we've come now to give

you thanks because you not only taught us, but you have imparted

into us real power. And for this we say thanks in

Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand, let's give him

thanks. He spoke to our hearts today

through His marvelous word.