Good morning.
Good to see everyone this morning.
Encourage you to get your Bibles out and
turn to Revelation chapter nineteen.
We’re going to open with a word of prayer
and then we’ll get into our study
as we continue our study of the book of
Revelation.
You would let us pray. Our gracious Father
in heaven,
we come before your throne, grateful for
the day you’ve blessed us with,
grateful for the opportunities that we
have to study your word,
to learn more about your will,
to open the scriptures and take the things
that we learn and put them into
our hearts, to store them up, that we
might have the protection against Satan,
that we might have the defenses against
sin,
that we might also have the
sword with which to do battle in our lives
and in the world around us,
in our hearts and in our mouths.
Lord, we pray that you forgive us when we
sin and fall short of your glory,
and all this we ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
As we closed out chapter 19, we discussed
the fact that chapter 19 and 20,
~ as with chapters 17 and 18,
are additional pictures where God
is showing through the visions that John
is having what confidence the Christians
can have because
God knows who their enemy is, God
identifies their enemy to them.
God tells them how he’s going to judge
their enemy.
Then God gives them more pictures and more
detail about the judgment of that enemy.
Then God shows them pictures and detail
concerning the rejoicing that they will
have
and the blessings they will have after
their enemy is destroyed.
And all of these things are intended for
us to come
to the passage, see the picture,
and ask.
What does it mean? We are not to come to
the picture and say,
that’s what John sees, and that’s what it
means.
As we just for a moment step back through
the text
and back through the discussion of the
book of Revelation to bring ourselves
to where we’re at, we notice that the book
of Revelation,
according to John, is written in the days
of Vespasian before Titus comes
to the throne. It is written
Before Domitian, who will make the
persecution of
the church a Roman governmental policy.
So it’s before he comes to the throne,
and it is in Domitian that God says he
will judge Rome.
So when the book opens, John’s on the Isle
of Patmos for the cause of Christ
on the Lord’s Day, and he is in a
Period of worship. He is in the spirit on
the Lord’s Day.
Hears a voice behind him. He sees one who
looks like the glorified Son of God,
the glorified Messiah. And it’s the same
picture that you have described
of the one who’s riding on the white horse
in chapter 19.
It’s a picture of Christ. Christ is
surrounded by the seven golden lampstands,
he’s holding the seven stars in his right
hand.
And John is going to be told to write to
the seven churches of Asia Minor.
When John concludes those short messages
to the churches,
chapter four opens up and he sees an open
door.
He goes through the open door into the
throne room of God and sees the glory
of the throne of God. He sees the sea
that’s before God.
He sees the beasts that are before the
throne of God.
He sees the Spirit of God p pictured by
the seven.
Lamps that never burn out. He sees the
four or twenty-four elders that
are around the throne, and then he sees
the multitudes that are around them.
And he sees all of this glory,
and God is declared to be worthy.
Then chapter 5 opens up after the elders
fall down and worship the one who’s
on the throne, and John sees the
A message in the right hand of the one
who’s on the throne,
and it’s a scroll, and it’s sealed inside
and out,
and it’s sealed with seven seals,
sorry, it’s written on inside and out,
it’s sealed with seven seals, and as the
message
is made available to the people,
John wants to know what it says.
But they search heaven and earth and under
the earth,
they search those who are alive,
those who are in heaven, those who are
dead,
can’t find anyone worthy to open the
scroll.
John begins to weep, but the messenger
comes to John and says,
Don’t weep, for we found the one who’s
worthy.
And it’s Jesus Christ.
It’s the lion of the tribe of Judah.
It’s the lamb that was slain and is alive
forevermore.
And so all those who once,
in the previous chapter, worshiped God,
now worship Christ. And they declare him
to be worthy.
And they give him the same honor and the
same glory that was given
to God the Father. You remember in Jane
John chapter seventeen,
Jesus would pray before he went to the
cross,
before he went to Gethsemane, he would
pray that God restore
the glory that he had with the Father
before the world was.
This is a picture of that glory.
This is a picture of those who are in
heaven and those who dwell with
God honoring Christ as equal with God.
Now, as the sixth chapter opens up,
you find the scrolls, seals beginning to
be open.
So the first seal is open, and a white
horse goes forth and conquers.
We’ve just seen the white horse again in
chapter 19.
Who was the one who was riding on the
white horse in chapter 19?
Christ. Guess who was riding on the horse
in chapter 6?
Christ. He’s pictured differently in
chapter 6.
He’s pictured as a Parthian warrior.
He’s pictured as the enemy of Rome that
they never defeated.
He’s pictured in chapter 19 as the
conquering king.
Okay?
As the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Then the red horse comes forth and warfare
begins to persecute the church.
And then the black horse comes forth and
economic pressures start to hit the
church.
Then the pale horse, the fourth horse,
comes forth, and hell and death,
that is Hades, the grave and death,
are riding with the horse, and they’re
Killing the saints. We know they’re
killing the saints.
We know that’s those are the ones that are
dying,
because when you open up the next seal,
where are the saints? They’re dead under
the altar,
crying out, How long, Lord, are you gonna
allow this to go on?
And so the sixth seal opens, and God gives
a picture there in chapter
six of what’s coming and the judgment that
He’s preparing for their persecutors.
And the question is asked at the end of
chapter six,
who’s gonna be able to stay?
Who’s going to be able to stand in the day
of the wrath of the Lamb?
So chapter 7 opens up. And there’s a big
pause,
and everything’s held back. You can’t
start the judgment yet.
Because we’ve got to mark all those who
can stand in the day of the wrath
of the Lamb. And they’re all the people
who are Christians.
And so they’re marked with the name of God
on their forehead.
Not a single one of them is missed.
God knows exactly who belongs to Him.
So when this judgment starts.
While they may suffer through it,
because John’s telling them they’re going
to,
and while they may even die in the midst
of it,
they should not lose hope. They should
rather be assured God knows exactly
who they are. And God will provide for
them.
So we find the hundred and forty-four
thousand,
we find the twelve tribes of Israel
representative of God’s people,
we find all of those given the name of God
and held forward as
Those who God knows belong to Him.
Chapter 8 opens up, and you have the seven
trumpets.
Seven trumpets are going to begin to
sound,
and inside the seventh seal, you have the
seven trumpets,
and every time a seventh trumpet sounds,
a partial judgment comes forth.
And so you see a number of different
partial judgments that occur.
Some on the earth, some on the trees.
All of these representative and look like
the old plagues of the
the nation of Egypt. So the plagues come
forth just like they did in
the days of Egypt, and God says,
I’m gonna judge them partially,
I’m gonna give them time to repent.
So then chapter 10 opens up.
Chapter 10 opens up, and John sees a
mighty angel standing with one foot
on the land and one foot on the sea,
and he has another message from the Lord.
He has another scroll.
And John’s told to go take the scroll and
to consume it.
And so he takes the scroll and he eats it
like Ezekiel
did in Ezekiel’s prophecy. And it was much
like Ezekiel’s prophecy in that
it was sweet in his mouth and bitter in
his belly.
The message that is coming is God’s in
control,
but you Christians are about to go through
persecution,
and some of you are going to die.
And so John sees two witnesses.
These witnesses look like the Old
Testament prophets.
They have the power of the Old Testament
prophets.
They look like the prophecy of Zechariah
and the prophecy of the high priest
~ in his day and of the governors rebbable
in his day.
They look like those who speak the word of
God,
who do the will of God, and as long as
they’re speaking and doing the will of
God,
nobody can touch them.
But when they stop speaking, when when
their message is concluded,
when God’s message has been declared,
then invariably what would happen to the
Old Testament prophets?
They’d come and they’d speak the message,
they’d declare what God said, and would
Israel hear the message and obey it?
Not most of the time. Would the kings
rejoice in getting
to hear the message of the Lord?
Not most of the time.
What do you often find happening to the
prophets once they declare
the message of God? They’re imprisoned,
or they’re killed, or they’re persecuted.
So here you have the two prophets.
They come and they speak. The witnesses
speak the word of God,
can’t be touched while they’re speaking.
When the message is concluded,
the world kills them. And the city doesn’t
even bury them,
just kills them, live lets them lay in the
street for three and a half days
and throws a party.
But three and a half days transpire and
God resurrects them back to life
and brings them up into heaven.
And persecution begin, or sorry,
judgment begins. By the way, hold on to
this picture because here’s
a picture of God’s people speak God’s
word,
they’re persecuted for it, they’re killed
for it,
and then they’re resurrected. Okay?
Hold on to that picture. You’re going to
see it again in chapter 20.
Okay? So chapter 12 opens up,
and we see a woman, and she’s pregnant,
and she’s about to give birth,
and we also see a great red dragon.
And the red dragon has seven heads and ten
horns,
and the great dragon is Satan.
It’s representative of Rome under Satan’s
control.
But Satan wants to devour the child
because the woman is a woman
who is white.
And holy and righteous and has 12 stars on
her head,
and we’ve seen the stars consistently are
what?
Churches. So here’s a woman that
represents the church.
She represents God’s people. So as the
woman is prepared to give birth
and Satan’s prepared to consume the child
as soon as he comes forth,
the moment the child’s brought forth,
God pulls the child up into heaven,
and Satan loses.
Well, then you see another persecution.
So they or then you see another picture.
Satan and his minions go up and they try
to make war in heaven and they fail.
They’re cast back down to the earth.
So then they decide to go after the woman.
But God takes the woman and carries her
away.
So they decide to just make war with her
children.
You know what? If I can’t get the church
and I can’t get Christ,
then I can at least get.
The Christians. And so Satan begins to
make war with the Christians
and decides to pull in his minions,
Rome. So Rome comes forth,
the sea beast, the land beast,
the picture of the military corporate
power of Rome and the false prophets,
the false priests of Rome, false religion
and military power
are the persecutors of the church under
Rome.
And they’re pictured as the land beast and
the sea beast.
But remember, the land beast comes up out
of the water,
the sea beast comes up out of the land.
Where was the mighty angel standing just a
little bit ago?
On the water and on the land. God says,
I got you covered before they ever come
up.
I’ve got it handled before they ever
start.
You don’t have to worry because I know
what’s coming.
I’m prepared for it before he ever begins.
And so they begin to persecute.
Chapter 14 opens up, reassuring picture.
Hey, they’re going to come, they’re going
to kill you,
they’re going to persecute you,
they’re going to tell you that if you
don’t bow down and
Worship Caesar, they’re gonna lock you out
of the economy,
they’re gonna keep you from being able to
do business,
they’re gonna starve you to death.
Guess what? There’s a lamb that’s standing
on Mount Zion,
and his people are with him, and they win.
Victory’s over. Now,
we haven’t even had the full judgment yet.
We’ve just seen partial judgment,
partial judgment, partial judgment,
persecution. But God says, let me tell you
how it turns out.
The one who’s in charge is about to
commence the reaping,
and the harvest is going to be brought in
in judgment against the persecutors.
So then chapter 15 opens, and you’re
introduced to seven angels.
Inside the seventh trumpet, which is
inside the seventh seal,
you have seven angels given seven bowls of
the wrath of God,
and they’re about to be poured out on the
earth.
So chapter 15 opens, chapter 16 opens,
and they begin to pour out.
The seven bowls of final judgment.
And it’s over. The end is declared.
God defeats his enemies. They’re judged.
Rome is dealt with, and God’s people are
victorious.
But, as is often the case in the book of
Revelation,
chapter 17 opens, and somebody says to
John,
here, let me show you some more detail.
Let me show you.
The great harlot who rides upon the beast.
Let me show you the one who we’re going to
judge.
So there’s no question when it happens,
what happened? You remember when Jesus in
Matthew chapter 24 would
say to his apostles as he opens up that
chapter and they’re showing
him the temple and they’re showing him the
building of the temple
and the structure of the temple,
and Jesus responds to them.
Not one stone will be left upon another.
When God enacts the judgment on Jerusalem,
when God brings forward the blood of all
the prophets from righteous Abel
to Zechariah and brings it upon that
generation of Israel,
when God finally ultimately terminates
every vestige.
Of the covenant relationship that he had
had with Israel in AD 70?
There wasn’t a single Christian who had
heard and read the prophecy that Jesus
made
that could come to the conclusion that
anyone other than the Lord had done it.
~ was it Rome that marched through the
gates?
Yes. Was it, as to use Daniel’s words?
The abomination of desolation standing in
the midst of the temple?
Yes. Was it the armies of Rome dismantling
the temple just so they could steal
the gold that was inlaid in the stones?
Sure.
But who did it? And the answer is the
Lord.
The Lord prophesied it, and the Lord did
it.
When you get to this passage and you see
God saying,
Let me describe to you the city.
Let me give you a picture over and over
and over again to demonstrate to
you that I know that it’s Rome,
that I know that it’s the city that rules
over the earth.
That I know that it’s the city that has
caused all the kingdoms of
the earth to commit harlotry with her so
as to get her riches?
By identifying the city, he makes it clear
and when her judgment comes
and when she falls, you’re gonna know who
did it.
Because I’m going to tell you exactly how
it’s going to happen.
I’m going to destroy her from the inside
out.
I’m going to use all those subjugated
kingdoms that she thought she ruled over,
and I’m going to use them to rip her
apart.
And so chapter 18 opens, and again,
another picture, a deeper picture of the
defeat of the great city.
Chapter 19, the marriage feast and the
victory.
Here comes the white horse. He comes
forth.
Christ is reigning on him. He conquers.
Christ is covered in blood. All the
righteous saints are dressed in fine
linen,
arrayed in white robes. They didn’t even
have to go to battle.
They just showed up for the marriage
feast.
And for the victory And chapter nineteen
ends.
Then the beast was captured, verse twenty,
and with him the false prophet.
Who was the false prophet?
Go back to
Chapter thirteen.
Verse 1, then I stood on the sand of the
sea,
and I saw a beast rising up out of the
sea,
having seven heads and ten horns,
and on his horns ten crowns, and on his
head a blasphemous name.
Now the beast which I saw was like a
leopard,
his feet were like the feet of a bear,
his mouth like the mouth of a lion,
the dragon gave him his power,
his throne, and his great authority.
And I saw one of his heads, as it had
been,
mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was
healed,
and all the world marveled and followed
the beast.
So they worshiped the dragon who gave
authority to the beast,
and they worshiped the beast, saying,
Who is like the beast? Who is able to make
war with him?
And he was given a mouth to speak great
things and blasphemies,
and he was given authority to continue for
forty-two months.
Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God,
and to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle,
and those who dwell in heaven.
It was granted to him to make war with the
saints and to overcome them,
and authority was given him over every
tribe,
tongue, and nation.
All who dwell on the earth will worship
him whose names have not been written
in the book of life, of the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world.
If any one has an ear, let him hear He who
leads into captivity shall
go into captivity. He who kills with the
sword must be killed with the sword.
Here is the patience and faith of the
saints.
Then I saw another beast coming up out of
the earth,
and he had two horns like a lamb,
and spoke like a dragon, and is exer and
he exercises all the authority
of the first beast in his presence.
And causes the earth and those who dwell
in it to worship the first beast,
whose deadly wound was healed.
He performs great signs so that he might
so that e he even makes fire come down
from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
And he deceives those who dwell on the
earth by those signs which he
was granted to do in the sight of the
beast,
telling those who dwell on the earth to
make an image to the beast.
who was wounded by the sword and lived.
He was granted power to give breath.
To the image of the beast, and The image
of the beast should both speak
and cause many who would not worship the
image of the beast to be killed.
He causes all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free enslaved, to receive a
mark on their ~ right hand
and on their forehead, that no one may buy
or sell and ~ sell except one
who has the mark and the name of the
beast,
or the number of his name. Here is wisdom.
Let him who has understanding calculate
the number of the beast,
for it is the number of a man
His number is six six six. So you have two
beasts in chapter thirteen.
They have derived power from the dragon.
They have their authority from the dragon.
They have the picture in the heads and the
horns of the dragon.
They speak when they speak, and you don’t
hear the lamb speak,
and out comes the
Voice of a lamb. No, you hear the lamb
open its mouth,
and out comes the voice of the dragon.
So you have the beast in chapter 19,
~ verse 20. Then the beast,
the beast here, is the sea beast that
comes
up out of ~ the beginning of chapter 13.
~ yeah, so the sea beast comes up first.
And he looks like the dragon, but he’s got
all the characteristics
of Daniel’s Old Testament vision.
Okay? He looks like the four kingdoms in
Daniel’s vision in Daniel chapter seven.
He looks like those kingdoms of old and he
makes war with the saints.
But you don’t just see the sea beast come
up,
you see the land beast come up.
He looks like a lamb. He looks innocent.
Except when he opens his mouth.
And he causes everyone that he can to
worship the sea beast.
Because if they worship the sea beast,
they’re worshiping the dragon,
and they’re ali allied with Satan.
So who are these? These are the false
prophets.
So in chapter 19,
the beast, that is the sea beast,
was captured, and with him the false
prophet,
the land beast. So the sea beast and the
land beast of chapter thirteen
are dealt with in verse twenty of chapter
nineteen.
Okay. They they’re they’re going to reign,
they’re gonna have authority for forty two
months.
How long is forty two months?
Three and a half years. Half of seven.
They have an imperfect power. It’s
temporary.
It’s momentary. They’re going to reign,
they’re going to persecute, they’re going
to be victorious for a temporary period
of time, and then God’s gonna put them
down.
And he does that. The beast was captured,
and with him the false prophet,
who worked signs in his presence,
by which he deceived those who received
the mark of the beast
and those who worshipped his name.
These two were cast alive into the lake of
fire burning with brimstone.
God says, I’ve got an old testament
judgment for you.
I’m going to cast you into Isaiah’s lake
of fire.
I’m going to judge you forever.
I’m going to make your judgment so
complete you never again come forth.
Okay? But it’s not a picture of
Of a historical event where God brings a
final judgment on a group of people.
It’s a picture of God defeating forever
Satan’s
use of Rome in its military power and its
religious power.
His use of those two tools are gone.
They’re never coming back. Okay?
So the rest were killed with a sword.
Which proceeded from the mouth of him who
sat on the horse,
and all the birds were filled with their
flesh.
So picture if you were, if you could,
here’s a great battle about to happen.
And on one side of the of the array,
one side of the valley, You have the
battle army of Satan.
You’ve got the great dragon. And you’ve
got the two beasts,
the sea beast and the land beast.
Then you’ve got all of Satan’s people.
And they’re arrayed in battle against
Christ.
And behind him are all of his servants,
and they’re not even dressed for battle.
They’re already dressed for the war to be
over.
And so what happens?
The first thing is the sea beast and the
land beast are captured,
cast down into hell. Picture of hell from
Isaiah.
And then
What kills all the rest of Satan’s army?
The sword which proceeds out of his mouth?
Believe it or not, You’re never gonna
defeat Satan with military
power.
There’s not a righteous nation under
heaven that could go to war and go
to war long enough to defeat Satan.
Attacking with physical forces.
Attacking with physical armaments.
You can interestingly go into Israel’s
history,
and you can see David go to battle against
the Lord’s enemies,
and you can see David defeat the Lord’s
enemies again and again and again
and again and again, and by the time all
the battles are won.
What location are the Lord’s enemies
inhabitating?
They’re inside the house of David.
They’re inside the kingdom of Israel.
When David writes all those psalms about
all of
his enemies that sat at his own table and
ate his own food,
he’s describing not the the Philistines,
not the Canaanites or the Jebusites.
He’s describing all the people that at one
time were righteous and faithful
to the Lord and were sitting at his own
table,
and now they’re seeking to overthrow him,
to overthrow the ruler that the Lord had
set up,
and they’re seeking to take power
themselves.
Here’s the age-old story of mankind.
You get righteous people fighting a
righteous battle against unrighteous
enemies.
And before it’s all said and done,
you’ve got righteous people inside the
midst trying to grab power
for themselves instead of submitting to
God.
Guess what? Satan’s not new at this.
And Satan doesn’t mind losing an army or
two.
Because he’s always going to find somebody
else.
But the picture here is Rome is defeated.
The power of Rome that Satan’s using
is annihilated. It’s cast into the lake of
fire.
It’s judged permanently.
And the rest of they’re just defeated by
the word of God.
So chapter twenty opens. Yes.
So stretch from what in the picture is
here.
I think the picture you you’ve got to go
to to get the full picture,
you’ve got to go back to chapter two and
three.
And you’ve got to read about the sword
proceeding out of the mouth of God
and out of the mouth of Christ over and
over throughout the text.
~ the the picture is God if if we could if
we could overlay an image,
imagine Genesis one.
The Lord spoke, and it happened.
And it was very good. Come into
Revelation.
And what do you have? How are God’s
enemies defeated?
Christ speaks. See,
this isn’t a picture of the method as much
as it is
the authority of the one who sits on the
throne.
Go back to the occasion.
Where Jesus is approached by the Gentile
centurion who has men under him,
and his servant is dying, and he desires
for his servant to be healed,
and Jesus says he will go with the man to
his house,
and the man says, No, no, no, I my house
is not worthy for you to come into
my house. You speak the word, and he’ll be
healed.
You see, that man who was a Gentile knew
that authority works that
way. If Christ would just say it,
it would be done. He says, I’m a man who
has those under me.
I know how authority works. If I say it,
it’ll get done. So just say the word.
And when you go into the
Descriptions of Christ all throughout the
book of John.
John emphasizes that Christ was the word,
yes. But when Christ is in the flesh,
who does he insist his words belong to?
God the Father. He says, I don’t speak my
own words,
I speak the words of him who sent me.
So this picture
Of the sword that proceeds forth from the
mouth of God comes forth from
the mouth of Christ that defeats all of
God’s enemy is the authority of God.
When God says his enemies are done,
they’re done. You step back in the Old
Testament,
you find Hezekiah is on the throne in the
days of Isaiah.
And Hezekiah is in the city of Jerusalem
because the city is completely besieged
by the Assyrian army. And in comes a
message from the Assyrian king
and the Assyrian general saying,
I’m going to take your city apart.
I’m going to kill all of you. I am going
to show no quarter,
and I’m going to do that because my gods
are better than your gods.
And no one has been able to stand in the
way of my gods.
And Hezekiah is going to take that letter
which he receives from
the king of Assyria, and he’s going to
bring it into the very temple of God,
and he’s going to lay it before the Lord,
and he is going to pray that the Lord deal
with this.
Blasphemer.
And overnight a hundred and eighty five
thousand of the Assyrian army
die without a single Israelite ever
raising a sword.
When God says his enemies are done.
All he has to do is say the word.
When Jesus was before Pilate,
And he told Pilate that he could call ten
thousand legions of angels.
He’s saying, The only thing that’s keeping
me here is my authority,
not yours. The fact that I have authority
to keep myself here
is the reason I’m here. So if Jesus were
to say the word,
Rome would have been defeated in the days
of Pilate.
And Jerusalem could have been defeated at
any moment.
But that wasn’t the plan. That wasn’t what
God had decided to do.
So when the individuals
who oppose the Christians, who war against
them on behalf of Satan,
who have allied themselves with the dragon
and with the beast and with
the false prophet,
When God says their time’s up,
their time’s up. And they’re defeated.
Does that answer the question?
Okay. Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven.
Bear in mind, we’re dealing with pictures.
When the sea beast and the land beast were
cast into the lake of fire,
that was a picture.
When you open up chapter twenty and
somebody comes to you and says,
Here’s how the tribulation’s gonna happen
and here’s how the thousand year reign’s
gonna begin
Just remind them it’s a picture.
You see what he sees, and what does it
mean?
Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven,
having the key to the bottomless pit and a
great chain in his hand.
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent
of old,
who is the devil and Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years,
and cast him into the bottomless pit,
and shut him up, and set a seal on him so
that he should deceive
the nations no more.
Till the thousand years were finished,
but after these things he must be released
for a little while.
All right, there’s the picture.
So what you’re supposed to be looking for
is you’re supposed to be looking
for a literal thousand-year reign of
Christ,
during which Satan’s going to be literally
locked away in a bottomless
pit with a literal chain and a literal
lock.
Really?
No, not really.
What God is pointing out is the same
dragon back in chapter twelve.
Because by the way, we’re working
backwards with God’s enemies.
Chapter 13, up comes the sea beast and the
land beast.
And in chapter 19,
sea beast and land beast are dealt with.
Well, who brought up the sea beast and the
land beast?
The dragon did. Great.
Who are we going to deal with next?
The dragon. God’s dealing with his enemies
one at a time.
God’s giving a picture of their demise and
their judgment again and again and again.
Now the only thing about this one that’s
different than the sea beast
and land beast is it’s temporary.
So there’s something to that. There’s
something we need to learn from this.
Okay? Notice in chapter twelve,
the dragon, as we’re introduced to in
verse three,
we see see a great fiery red dragon having
seven heads and ten horns
and seven diadems on his head.
His tail drew a third of the stars of
heaven and threw them to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman who
was ready to give birth
to devour her child as soon as it was
born.
This one who we’re gonna be told in just a
few verses in chapter twelve is Satan,
is pictured as one who’s gonna knock out a
third of the churches.
He’s gonna take down a third of the stars
of heaven.
Those aren’t literal stars, those are
churches.
They’ve been churches all the way from
chapter one forward.
Verse 7. And war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought with a
dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they did not prevail, nor was a place
found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out,
that serpent of old called the devil and
Satan who deceives the whole world.
He was cast to the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him.
He loses it the woman. He loses to the
child.
He loses in heaven. Notice it again.
Now verse thirteen, now when the dragon
saw that he had been cast to the earth,
he persecuted the woman who gave birth to
the child,
birth to the male child, but the woman was
given two wings of a great ang eagle,
that she might fly into the wilderness to
her place,
where she is nourished for a time and
times and half a time from the presence
of the serpent.
So the serpent spewed water out of his
mouth like a flood after the woman that
he might cause her to be carried away by
the flood.
But the earth helped the woman,
and the earth opened its mouth and
swallowed up the flood,
which the dragon had spewed out of his
mouth,
and the dragon was enraged with the woman,
and he went to make war with the rest of
her offspring,
who keep the commandments of God and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The devil loses again. Even the earth
defeats the devil.
Then you go forward to chapter twenty.
And God takes the devil in his use of
Rome.
And puts an end to it. And it’s not that
it’s
a temporary end.
How does the scripture use the idea of a
thousand?
The cattle on a thousand hills belong to
the Lord.
Does that mean the cattle on the thousand
and first don’t?
How about the Lord keeps his covenant for
a thousand generations?
Does that mean the thousand and first is
out of luck when it comes
to the covenant of the Lord? No.
The picture of a thousand is complete
perfection.
So consider: I saw an angel coming down
from heaven,
having a key to the bottomless pit and a
great chain in his hand.
By the way.
Who was said earlier on in the book to
have the key to the bottomless pit?
You go back to chapter 2 and 3,
and it’s Christ. All right. Here’s
Christ’s authority
enacted. Here comes an angel with a key to
the bottomless pit and a great chain.
And he laid hold of the dragon,
the serpent of old, who is the devil and
Satan,
and bound him for a perfect,
complete period of time.
Thousand years. In other words,
Christ is going to judge the dragon’s use
of Rome,
and he’s never going to use her again.
Because his judgment will
be perfectly complete. Okay?
This isn’t about Satan in every aspect of
his work.
This isn’t about Satan in every aspect of
The tools that he uses. This is about
Rome.
So when the angel came forth in chapter
sixteen and chapter seventeen and cried
out,
Babylon has fallen, has fallen that great
city,
God says, Listen, she’s fallen and she’s
never getting up again.
Satan is cast into the bottomless pit and
shut him and is shut up and set
a seal on him so that he should deceive
the nations no more.
Who did the deceiving of the nations?
How did Satan deceive the nations?
With what did Satan deceive the nations?
The answer is Rome. The picture
is of God’s judgment against Rome.
And Satan’s use of Rome. The harlot?
Gone. Satan’s tool to deceive the nations?
Gone. Satan’s power to influence the
nations through military power?
Gone. Satan’s power to influence the
nations through religious power?
Gone.
God said, I’m gonna take all his tools
away.
And he’s going to be shut up and he’s not
going to have the impact that
he had before. But then notice but after
these things,
he must be released for a little while.
The reassurance to the saints is Christ
wins.
But the moderating of that is a reminder
that doesn’t mean your enemy’s gone.
That doesn’t mean you can imagine that
just because God defeated Satan in
his use of Rome, that he no longer has
anything with which he can attack you.
But this judgment is against your
persecution on this earth.
We’re gonna pause right there and we’re
gonna come back.
We’re gonna see the saints reigning for a
thousand years.
We’re going to see more rebellion.
We’re going to see the great white throne
and the judgment that everybody says
is the end of time and it’s not.
And we’ll get back to that next week.
Thank you for your attention.
