The Woman & the Dragon | Revelation 12:1-6 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series)

Church, can we show our appreciation to the praise team?

Can we do that? They blessed us, even though it

might have been a little awkward to see a few faces just kind of

staring into the to the space. But technology has its

advantages, but it often times betrays us.

And that's why I'm a huge advocate of physical things,

like a physical Bible. I never have to worry if this

Bible is going to die in terms of the battery.

I never have to worry if I'm going to be interrupted by

notification. And so I champion a real copy of

God's Word in your hands. And I would.

You can get excited about that, too.

Yeah, sure. And so I, I really hope and I

know we are a church that loves the Bible, and I pray that we

would also hold to the tradition of keeping the physical copy of

God's Word accessible and at our disposal.

It's a gift from him. And so if you have a Bible with

you, let's go together to Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

Revelation chapter 12. The Kingdom of the world has

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall

reign forever and ever. That is the message that the 7th

trumpet in the Book of Revelation announces.

And we looked at that together at the end of Revelation Chapter

Revelation 11 · chapter mention

11. It really is a declaration of

the coronation and the triumphant return of the Lord

Jesus Christ who will come back to rule and reign over all

things. And that is something a true

Christian believes in and more than just believes in longs for.

Now here's what's so interesting.

What follows this electric, electrifying vision in

Revelation 11, surprisingly, are not the judgments that are

connected to it. In other words, the final set of

judgments, which are known as the bowls of God's wrath, will

not be interacted with. What will not be something that

we see right away? Those set of judgments will be

poured out to pave the way for the second coming of Christ, but

they don't appear until Revelation chapter 15 and said

Revelation 15 · chapter mention

What we have in Revelation 12 through 14 is a description of

the struggle between the Kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of

God, especially during the Tribulation period.

It's as though the Holy Spirit is reminding and informing us of

crucial details related to this ancient battle.

And as we come to this new chapter, God is going to give us

a different perspective on it. One that centers on and relays

relies heavenly upon listen Satan's experience.

The purpose of this section, when we come to the end of it,

is that despite all his efforts to thwart the promises of God,

the evil one will fail and Christ will win.

That is the impression that we're going to be left with as

we explore these verses in the coming weeks, and it will all

begin with a very curious vision.

I have to say that when I realize what we'll be looking at

this Sunday, I became even more excited, especially when we're

considering the Christmas season that we're in.

Revelation is not frequently referenced this time of the year

in churches. However, I think we're going to

be pleasantly surprised to discover just how relevant

John's vision here is to the truths many are being prepared

to celebrate. And so I invite you to come to

Revelation 12. Look at verse one, and let's

read down through verse 6 together.

Revelation 12, verse one reads. And a great sign appeared in

heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her

feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars.

She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony

of giving birth. And another sign appeared in

heaven. Behold a great red dragon with 7

heads and 10 horns, and on his heads 7 diadems.

His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast

them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the

woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her

child, he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child,

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

But her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the

woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place repaired

by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.

Let's pray together, Lord, we know that these truths already,

just by reading them, declare your victory, Your victory over

all things, including Satan. And we pray that as we look at

these passages, You would be exalted in our hearts, that you

would draw out of us greater affection and adoration.

And that, Lord, ultimately you would be blessed by the

faithfulness of our obedience to Your Word.

And as we come now, Lord, we pray that you would be our

teacher and that you would help us understand everything that we

will look at now. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Seems quite cryptic, doesn't it?

Planets, Dragons, numbers. Well, the best thing that we can

do to properly interpret this portrait of Scripture is by

underscoring what John says. Right from the beginning.

John tells us that these are signs.

Look again at verse one and a great sign appeared in heaven.

Similar language is found in verse 3 and another sign

appeared in heaven. So it's clear that what we are

presented in this section is not meant to be taken completely

literally. Instead, there are many symbolic

representations that point to literal realities.

And so once that's established, then we can begin to identify

certain things. And right away what we can

acknowledge is that there are at least two major signs, two major

pictures here. The first is this woman, and the

second is this dragon. Now, there are other details

that we will examine, but these are the main characters before

us. And of the two, the most hotly

debated is the woman. Who is she?

Who does she represent? Why is she being presented here?

And the most prominent views that you will hear concerning

this woman are that she might represent the Virgin Mary.

That is a view that is proposed by the Roman Catholic Church

called Mary gave Birth to Jesus. And not only that, they would go

beyond such an observation and say the fact that she is exalted

in the cosmos speaks of her heavenly exaltation.

And there are others who say, no, this can't be the Virgin

Mary. It in fact speaks of the Church

of Jesus Christ who has been persecuted and harassed by the

devil since her beginnings. Well, I I want to take the time

to address those two main alternative views and hopefully

clarify how none of it holds water.

None of these actually makes sense when we consider the

context carefully. And so let me first, by

explaining the details here, show why this cannot #1 be about

the Virgin Mary or Mary. There's some observations here

that are inconsistent with the Marian dogma of the Roman

Catholic Church. First, if you consider how the

Roman Catholic Church teaches about the Immaculate Conception

of Mary, that Mary herself was born without a sin nature, then

you run into a problem right away because it would seem

strange for John here to describe Mary suffering pain in

labor. Look again in verse 3 it says,

hear what? That she was pregnant in verse 2

rather and was crying out in birth pains in the agony of

giving birth. Now why is that an issue?

Well, because according to Genesis 316, these kind of

agonizing pains are considered a curse, a curse that comes from

sin entering into the world. And the Roman Catholics believe

that even when Mary did give birth, there was no pain because

she was immaculately conceived. And so some Catholics would

usually deny this, referring to physical pain, and would instead

say that this is actually just a metaphor of spiritual struggles,

the difficulties that Mary experienced before and leading

up to the birth of Christ and even afterwards.

However, this is just one of many interpretive challenges.

A second observation that can be made is later in this chapter.

Scroll down to Revelation 12/17 and it says here that the dragon

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

rest of her offspring. Highlight that the rest of her

offspring and those who keep the commandments of God and hold to

the testimony of Jesus and he stood on the sand of the sea.

So even if you're vaguely familiar with the basic

doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church considering Mary, here's

what you have to ask. If Mary is a perpetual virgin,

then why is she described as having other offspring in this

verse? It's there, isn't it?

She has other offspring. And usually the answer you'll

receive is that this is not Speaking of literal children.

This is a spiritual seed. Mary being what?

The mother of all believers. That's what's often proposed.

So you can see how there can be debates back and forth around

these issues. But if you want to just not have

any lengthy conversations, you can skip to the main thought

that I believe dismisses Mary from being the candidate, at

least the primary one in this vision.

Look back at Revelation 12, verse 5.

Revelation 12:5

She gave birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations

with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and

to His throne. Look at verse 6 now and the

woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared

by God in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.

Verse 5 undeniably speaks of who?

Christ. No debate.

How do you make sense of verse 6 though when it comes to Mary's

role in all of this? Even with the wide scope of

beliefs from the Catholics about Mary, there is no way to

accommodate this description in verse 6 with her.

There is no hint historically. There is no vague impression

biblically that Mary at some point fled into the wilderness

for 3 1/2 years. That did not happen after the

birth of Christ. That didn't happen at the

ascension of Christ. This alone suffices to show that

she cannot be considered a candidate for the interpretation

of this woman. It just doesn't fit, and that's

why some believe instead that this woman in Revelation 12

typifies the Church. You'll find that opinion among

Church fathers, and even a minority among a minority of

modern interpreters today. But there's one obvious detail

that even disqualifies the Church from being the woman

here. Look again at verse 5.

She gave birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations

with a rod of iron, But her child was caught up to God and

to His throne. This woman gives birth to the

child who is undeniably Christ. Scripture clearly teaches us

that it is Christ who gives birth to the church and not the

other way around. The church doesn't give birth to

Christ. Nowhere in the Bible do we find

the church bringing the Incarnate Son of God into the

world. And that alone should end the

debate. And so if it's not Mary, and if

it's not the church, then we're only really left with 1 credible

answer, that the woman speaks of the nation of Israel.

And I want to tell you why. There are two things that we

have to highlight about this woman.

Number one, her clothing and #2 her condition, her clothing.

Look at the raiment. It's exalted, right?

The sun, moon, and stars. We see it in verse one.

What will those pictures merged together is strongly alluded to

in Scripture. This motif of these celestial

elements together are found in one other place in all of the

Bible. And John by the Spirit expects

us as we've come to the end of the Bible to remember since

we've been faithful reading the rest of it and say, OK, I've

seen this before. And the only other place where

you'll find sun, moon and 12 stars mentioned together is back

in Genesis. Genesis 37 verse 9 to 10, where

Genesis 37:9–10

Joseph explains his second dream to his brothers and he tells

them, I saw the sun and I saw the moon and I saw eleven stars

bowing before me. Now why 11 stars and not 12 like

what we see here in Revelation 12?

Because Joseph would be counted as a 12.

Now Jacob, the father of Joseph, upon hearing this is a little

upset and he interprets the dream himself.

Jacob understands. He represents the son, his wife.

Joseph's mother Rachel represents the moon, and his

sons speak of the stars and would later become the tribes of

Israel. And he rebukes Joseph.

It's amazing how the Holy Spirit takes that image and brings it

to this vision because he wants to make the connection.

If you read Genesis 37 and understood how Jacob interprets

it, then you would know that those things together symbolize

the early stages of the nation of Israel.

Now it's resurfacing here because it's intended to convey

the similar truth. What we have here with all of

these things in the early stages of Revelation 12 is the history

and the people of Israel pictured as a woman.

It doesn't end there though. You have more here.

Israel as a nation is frequently brought to our attention in the

Scriptures depicted as a woman, as a woman, and I believe we are

acquainted enough with the Old Testament to understand that.

But where we might be unfamiliar is how the Bible even shows

Israel as a woman in labor in some instances, especially in

times of distress and discipline.

So these are two scriptures worth turning to and writing

down in your notes. Consider Isaiah 27 or 26.

Excuse me, Isaiah 26 verse 15. But you have increased the

Isaiah 26:15

nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation.

You are glorified. You have enlarged all the

borders of the land. Oh Lord, in distress they sought

you. They poured out a whispered

prayer when your discipline was upon them.

Like a pregnant woman who rise and cries out in her pangs when

she is near to giving birth, so were we.

Because of you. Oh Lord, you see it?

Well, there's an end there. Consider Jeremiah.

Jeremiah chapter 4 and look at verse 31.

Jeremiah 4 · chapter mention

Jeremiah 431 reads for I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,

anguish as one, giving birth to her first child.

The cry of the daughter of Zion, gasping for breath, stretching

out her hands. Woe is me, I am fainting before

murderers. So shouldn't be strange to us

then, that John now is describing Israel in a familiar

fashion. But what's the larger message?

Why is that being presented here?

Well, again, look at the context in Revelation 12.

She's in pain for a reason. And the reason is because she's

ready to give birth. She's ready to go into labor and

bring into the world a male child.

And so when you take all these features, all these ingredients

and put them together, the message is undeniably clear.

What John is seeing here with the clothing of the woman and

the condition of the woman speaks of the distress of the

nation of Israel that they've known throughout the ages, as

they have been long, longly waiting and anticipating the

arrival of the Messiah. All the sin, all the evil, all

the wars, all the chastisement, all the promises as they become

more and more clear throughout redemptive history, yet not

being realized, contribute to the angst and the turmoil and

the challenges. When will he come?

When will he arrive? When will the son of David make

everything right? And as soon as we get acquainted

or reacquainted with this picture, we are suddenly

introduced to a new character and the second major one in this

vision, the great red dragon. Now let's look at the great red

dragon. It's not difficult to understand

who he represents, but just in case there's any confusion, look

at verse 9 of Revelation 12. We are told exactly who the

dragon is. And the great dragon was thrown

down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan,

the deceiver of the whole world, this is Satan.

And again, this is a symbolic picture, but we're given the

description, we're given the interpretation of who he is.

But where things get a little cloudy are the details about

this great dragon. What are they?

Look again at verse 3. Behold the great red dragon in

the middle of the verse with 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his

heads 7 diadems, which are crowns.

Now if you're just left with this, we're in trouble.

This can mean 1000 different things, but what do we do?

We interpret Scripture with Scripture.

And so just like we did with the woman and the sun, moon and

stars, we have to try to investigate and evaluate the

rest of the Bible and ask where else have we seen these things

mentioned together? And we don't actually have to go

very far. We could go to the book of

Daniel, but we just have to stay in Revelation actually, because

clarity is provided later on. Now, I don't want to overwhelm

you, but we have to do this. Here's what's going to happen,

John. And Revelation 17 is going to

see yet another vision. He's going to see many of them.

And in this vision, though, he's going to see a beast, not a

dragon. And with this beast, he's going

to find the same details given to him, not the dragon, but a

beast with these same number of horns and the same number of

crowns and heads. And here's a short explanation.

The reason why it's going to be found on the beast is because at

some point the dragon, who is Satan, is going to hand these

things over to the beast. That's the simple explanation.

But as John is looking at this, he's actually given the

understanding of these things. This is where we have to turn

now. Look at Revelation 17, verse 9.

Revelation 17:9

Here's our answer. Revelation 17, verse 9.

Revelation 17:9

This calls for a mind with wisdom.

The seven heads are 7 mountains on which the woman is seated.

There are also 7 kings. Highlight that five of them whom

have fallen. One is, the other has not yet

come, and when he does come, he must remain only a little while.

As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it

belongs to the seven, and goes to destruction.

Verse 12 and the horns that you saw are 10 kings who have not

yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as

kings for one hour together with the beast.

A lot of detail. I know it's a mouthful.

Just take a breath with me. All you and I need to understand

at this point is that these heads and these horns on this

dragon refer and represent political leaders and their

empires. That's all you need to know for

now. And the reason why they are

associated and even attached to this dragon is because we are to

understand that Satan ultimately has dominion over these empires

and leaders. He's the one who's really at

work. He's the puppet master over what

the whole world really and Satan's control, the whole earth

has been a reality ever since the fall and it will continue to

remain so until the return of Christ and we learn how the evil

1 is able to govern this vast planet with such amazing

influence. Go back to Revelation 12.

What do we see here in verse 4 after reading that?

He has these heads and these horns that speak of nations and

speak of confederacy of governments under his control.

Look what we read here in verse 4.

His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast

them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the

woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her

child, he might devour it. This tale we're told sweeps not

something on the earth, but something in the heavenlies.

Now, is this speaking about Satan wishing down 1/3 of the

stars in in space as they come crashing to the the earth?

That can't be. We've seen many stars, actual

stars falling on the Earth up to this point in Revelation.

But the context doesn't suggest that.

You know this very well, that in certain passages stars can can

symbolize angels. And that's what seems to be

proposed here. Let me show you why.

Look at verse 7 of Revelation 12.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against

the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

Look at verse 9. And the great dragon was thrown

down, that ancient serpent who was called the devil, and Satan,

the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth,

and his angels were thrown down with him.

This is fascinating. We're told that Satan has his

own angels. How can I be when he himself is

a created heavenly creature? Well, we're giving the

explanation of verse four, that in his original rebellion he

took down with him a third of the angels.

You see that his tail swept down a third of the stars which speak

of these angels who joined them in his defiance against the true

and living God, and they've been working for him ever since.

Now some might be curious to to wonder, well, how many angels

exactly followed Satan. We don't have an exact number,

but we know, if you remember our study of the trumpet judgments,

that one of the final judgments in that set is that there will

be hundreds of millions of demons who will assist for

leading demons and destroying 1/3 of the human population.

So based on that insight, we know that there are at least

hundreds of millions of demons who are working for the Kingdom

of Darkness, and we're being reminded of that here.

They have been tormenting and deceiving humanity since the

beginning of time, and one of the strongest displays of

Satan's dominance over this world was seen at the birth of

Christ. You see how now this is going to

tie into the Christmas message. It's not the only Christmas

message, so don't worry. What do we read in the rest of

verse four? That after we heard about these

stars that fall down with Satan, the dragon stood before the

woman who was about to give birth, so when she bore her

child, he might devour it. We're just a few days away from

Christmas. Did you know that there's a

dragon in the Christmas story? That's what Revelation says.

And you might object and say, well, I I've read the Gospel

accounts. I haven't found a dragon

anywhere. Actually, you have.

You just didn't notice it. Remember, if this dragon has

seven heads and 10 horns that speak of governments and rulers

and Princess and politicians, then you know exactly what

happened near the birth of Christ that relates this truth

to that point. Did we see any rise of

governmental powers at the birth of Christ?

Of course, Herod. Herod, that evil man who

commanded that children under the age of 2, especially male

children in Bethlehem and around the region, would be slaughtered

in his attempt to snuff out this prophecy of the King of the

Jews. So you see a man with his ego

trying to do something vile and despicable, and now you come to

Revelation. You realize, oh, there's a

spirit behind that operation. The Herod was just a human

vessel, but there's a great dragon behind such efforts, and

it's a reminder to all of us that there are evil spirits,

evil forces that stand behind agendas and crimes at the

highest levels. It didn't just happen when

Christ came into this world. It happens all the time, even

today, and it's been happening since Genesis.

But here's the encouraging truth.

No matter what kind of sway Satan has, he failed to destroy

the long expected Jesus. He was right there ready to

devour the child and he was hoping to extinguish God's

faithfulness and he failed. He failed.

That's what we find in verse 5 that she gave birth to a male

child and one who has to rule all the nations that that's his

destiny. But we also learned that he did

what he was caught up to God and to his throne.

The speaks of what the the ascension of Christ, the

exaltation of Christ. Satan couldn't Vanquish it.

Satan could not stop it. That's really one of the

messages of Christmas. Satan was defeated.

He thought that he could succeed.

He's so arrogant, so filled with pride and hatred.

He actually thought that he can overcome God's redemption for

the world, and he didn't. And we might think that this is

a good place for the scene to end, but it doesn't.

Something interesting happens between verse 5 and verse 6.

So in verse 5 it's clear we have here a description of the birth

of Christ, and not just the birth of Christ, but his

ascension and his exaltation. He is now sitting at the right

hand of God, and he is to come to rule all the nations with a

rod of iron. But then you look at verse 6 and

something, something doesn't seem right, at least when you

consider the timeline verse 6 says.

And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place

prepared by God in which she used to be nourished for 1260

days. What is that have to do with

everything that we just heard? Up to this point?

We've been hearing about Israel and the promised Messiah and

Satan trying to stop the first Advent and he failed.

And all of a sudden we're we're back to the woman and her

running into the wilderness where God's going to take care

of her for 3 1/2 years. God is so gracious to us because

He has not left us in the dark. He's given us a very strong clue

in verse 6. And that is the timing.

That is the duration. That is that number there again,

1260 days. Have we seen that before?

Yes, you have. We have.

Go back to Chapter 11. Look at verse 2, Revelation 11,

Revelation 11:2

verse 2 do not measure the court outside the temple.

Leave that out for it is given over to the nations and they

will trample the holy city for 42 months and I will grant

authority to my 2 witnesses and they will prophecy for 1260 days

clothed in sackcloth. Remember, Revelation 11/1 to

three describe and prophecy key events that are connected to the

people of Israel for 42 months. Jerusalem will be severely

oppressed for that same amount of time, God will raise up two

powerful prophets that will preach to them and to the rest

of the world. So what we have here again is a

description of what's to come in this particular period of time,

which really described the final years of the Tribulation period.

And clearly God is not finished telling us more about what's to

take place during that same time frame.

Yes, the Holy City will be trampled upon.

Yes, there will be two preachers who will be preaching for that

same duration of time. And as we come to chapter 12, we

realize there's more. This woman, clearly, who speaks

of Israel will be fleeing into the wilderness.

How do we make sense of this? Here's what it means.

We see that this woman will be so oppressed that she will

actually have to escape for a season.

And when we read the rest of Revelation 12, we'll see exactly

who's the one oppressing her. It will be the dragon.

He will actually chase her. So hold on, let's step back for

a moment. How do we make sense all?

Here's how we make sense of it. Since Satan failed in his

attempt to thwart God's promises concerning the first coming of

Christ, he will seek to stop the 2nd.

And one of the ways he will try to do this is by destroying the

Jewish people, a people whom the Lord promised to pour His spirit

upon in the last days to be saved living in a land of the

Lord said he would physically rule from forever and ever upon

his return. And the devil and his great

pride will do everything he can to make sure that none of that

happens. And so history also has shown us

that the great dragon has been trying to do exactly that for

centuries, but to no avail. So the great dragon turns his

attention away from the child, the male child, and will now

pursue the woman. And what's interesting is from

verse 5 to verse 6, we were talking about the birth and

ministry of Christ. And we skip over to the last

days, nothing in between. Why?

Because in our understanding of Revelation and the rest of

Scripture concerning the end times, Israel plays a major

role. And when we look at it from

Satan's perspective, he understands what some people

don't even believe, that there is a connection between the

Jewish people and how Christ will come back again.

And so this woman will flee into the wilderness for a period of

time. And this is where we're going to

end. We have to consider this final

thought. It could very well be that some

of these Jews will flee at this point of the Tribulation.

Do so in obedience to the words of Jesus Christ.

Do you remember what Christ taught in the Olivet Discourse?

Let me remind you, in our final passage this afternoon in

Matthew 2415 to 21, we read Jesus saying, so when you see

the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel

standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.

Pause for a moment. Matthew 2415, Jesus says, let

the reader understand. You know what that tells me?

Understanding the last days is possible.

Don't let other people tell you otherwise.

There are some people who will never touch the Book of

Revelation because they think that it's not understandable.

It's too cryptic, it's too mysterious, it's too

overwhelming, it's too symbolic. And yet here's my Jesus saying,

let the reader understand, understand what this concept

called the abomination of desolation.

So it's knowable. We just have to do the work.

And that's what we've been doing, flipping from passage to

passage. This is what will make us mature

Christians. What do we read later?

We saw it early in the passage. Revelation 17.

This calls for wisdom. So there is an effort on our

part to know these things. And I think the one of the

reasons why people don't know them is because they don't want

to put in the work. We're going to put in the work.

So Jesus says when you see the abomination of desolation spoken

of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let

me remind you, the abomination of desolation speaks of an

individual who will come into the physical temple in Jerusalem

and desecrate it. How will he desecrate it?

He will claim himself to be God. He will demand worship.

He will sit in that place and expect the world to honor him

and to deify him. And Jesus says, listen, when you

see that, then he gives these instructions here, what's fast?

Here's what's fascinating. He localizes these instructions.

Up to this point in Matthew 24, He's been giving insight to the

whole world about the world. But then when you come to this,

it's a turning point. Listen to what he says in verse

16. Then let those who are aware in

Chicago, in Judea, let those who are in Judea do what?

Flee. Flee to the mountains.

Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take

what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not

turn back to take his cloak. And alas, for women who are

pregnant, for those who are nursing infants in those days,

pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath, for

then there will be great tribulation, since has not been

from the beginning of the world until now.

No and never will be. What you saw in Revelation 12,

Revelation 12:6

verse 6, the woman fleeing into the wilderness, is an expansion

of what Jesus taught here. And it could be again, it could

be that some of these Jews who will run, remember Jesus's words

are doing so in accordance with what Christ commanded.

Here's what this means. As you and I continue in

Revelation, we are witnessing the Jewish people coming closer

and closer to putting their trust in Messiah, to putting

their trust in Jesus of Nazareth as their savior.

Now, this woman fleeing into the wilderness for this period of

time is going to be expanded on in the rest of Revelation 12,

but for now, I'll end here. Does this description of God

supernaturally providing for his own in a wilderness for this

same period of time sound familiar to you?

It should. Do you remember a man named

Elijah? Elijah was one of the greatest

prophets in Israel's history. And Elijah confronted an

apostate nation and he, through his prayers, caused a drought to

take place in Israel. For how long again?

3 1/2 years according to James. But what you read in First Kings

17 is that when Elijah pronounces this judgement, God

tells him to do what? Flee.

Flee to the brook, Careth. And there I will take care of

you. I've commanded Ravens to feed

you. And by faith, God was taking

care of his servant. And at the right time, he says,

now go to a widow, she's going to take care of you.

A widow, really. Yes, go.

And he did. And God took care of him and at

the right time, according to James.

Again, after 3 1/2 years, he appears once more and he

continues his ministry. I was meditating on this last

night, and here's what I thought.

This God who governs the nation's, this God who according

to Revelation 12, will take special care of Israel.

Why? Because he promised to save

them, is the same God who cares about the One.

He took care of Elijah in the same way that he takes care of

this entire country. And I'm here to tell you today

that he cares about you. This one who is supreme over all

things, who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron, has

his eye on you. You.

Yes, you. You say, well, I'm not a

prophet. I can understand God taking care

of Elijah, but who am I? Well, let me remind you what

else James said. Elijah was a man like us.

He has the same nature. He had a St. the same

temptation, same discouragement. Elijah actually barely made it

in ministry. He submitted his resignation to

God because I'm I'm done, Lord, and Lord said, no, I'm not going

to accept it. You still have some things for

me to do through you. God looks at you.

God looks at me. That's what I thought of.

Oh, Lord, you're taking care of this woman who is exalted in

your sight, but you're also, as I remember the Old Testament,

willing to shepherd the one. Brothers and sisters, why is

this important? Because how we interpret this

ultimately determines how we view God.

And here's the Christmas message at this point.

Satan lost. Satan lost, Christ came in.

He's exalted. He's ready to return, but he is

so foolish he thinks he can still win.

And here's what Revelation tells us.

He's actually going to lose again.

He's going to lose again. We have already won.

We're a victorious people. We're just waiting to see it

happen. And so you and I can know, we

know the end of the story. We are going to be redeemed.

Christ is going to conquer and we will be with him forever and

ever and ever. Merry Christmas to you, Lord, we

thank you. How even Revelation 12 can

actually speak to us at this time of the year.

It's amazing, Lord, how if we just go through Your word, it's

timely. And Lord, we just want to

rejoice in Your presence because You've given us that much more

light that You've used this church family with the hunger

for Your Word to bring us that much closer into our

understanding of who You are and Your ways.

And so, Lord, we just pray that You would always keep us in the

truth that no matter what popular opinions are out there,

that we would always say, thus says the Lord, that no matter

what kind of opposing views may come our way, we would say, but

it is written. So Lord, we pray your blessing

over Maranatha Bible Church to remain and every other church

that's represented here, that we would be people of the book,

that we would always go to Scripture, that we would always

understand your mind through these verses, and that we would

always submit to what your word says.

So Lord, we do thank you today. We thank you that you've shown

us in this text that Satan, even though he might have convinced

hundreds of millions of angels to obey him, and though he has

seven heads and though he has 10 horns, though he does hold sway

over this entire world, he will never win.

He lost 2000 years ago and he will lose again in the days to

come. And for this we say thank you

because we belong to you and to you alone.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Let's stand church.