Ch 1
Rapture
Return of
7 Churches Ch 2-3 4:1 Christ ch
19 New Heaven
Trib ch 6-19 Millenium ch 20 &
New Earth
Vision
of
Reign of Christ ch-21-22
Throne ch 4-5 1000 years
Revelation
Chapter 12
Lesson 33
The Woman and the Dragon - Part 2
Review:
>
12:5 The Child is born
- Here we have a flash back to the incarnation and
a look ahead to His reign!
* So this verse speaks of
Christ's birth, it states that His destiny is to be the ultimate ruler of the
nations; and mentions His returning to the Father accepted!
>
12:6 The flight of the Woman,
- Between the ascension
of vs:5 and the woman, Israel fleeing into the wilderness of vs:6 you have a
gap of time that includes all of the C/A, the first half of the Trib.; right
down to the mid point of Tribulation.
- What has happened at
this time, the Mid point?
>
12:7-13 Fall of Satan; This is a parenthesis within a parenthesis;
Vs:7-13 actually pick up and insert some info on
the ongoing battle behind the scenes in heaven that takes place at the mid
point of the Tribulation; that helps explain why the intense hatred and
persecution of Israel unleashed by Satan at this time!
- Vs:7
describes who is involved in this war:
Combatants are:
#1 Michael and his
angels; lakym who is like God; "chief of princes"
Dan
#2 The dragon
and his angels; Dragon = Satan;
- vs:8 gives us the
results of this war:
- vs:9 Does something more
important;
- 5 descriptions given of
Satan do 2 things for us - they define his character and describes
how he operates!
1. The Great Dragon;
great = scope of power/dragon = intense cruelty and vicious power.
2. The serpent of old;
the tie is the garden of
3. devil
= dia,boloj = identifies him as
slanderer and accuser
4. Satan = adversary; not
only of God but also of anyone who lives the truth, the WOG.
5. "who deceives the whole world" this really describes his purpose of
operation; plana,w (pres act ptc) to lead
astray or to deceive; to wander away from a straight path, the truth.
It's either Dvpt/truth or
Satan's vpt which comes in many guises! Many which sound so alluring.
** Sometimes when we
think of Satanic vpt it almost seems like most are thinking as if they are in
the middle ages where Satan was always depicted as some grotesque, horribly
repulsive looking creature and his vpt equally as grotesque.
He is an angel of light as are his messengers with
a very alluring and deceptive message.
(2 Cor 11:13f.)
Our commitment to the consistent study of the word
of God, God's way, that is in a local
assembly faithfully holding forth the word of truth is essential for our
spiritual health.
If you don't make the decisions necessary to get
the word then you get what is out there by default!
When a condition is monolithic, meaning everywhere,
what are the characteristics of that??
If your passive towards
the word there is no way you can avoid being sucked into the human viewpoint
nonsense of the day!
We absorb the thinking, the vpt of the culture by
default so very easily unless we do something to counter it, namely get this
book, God's vpt into our thinking, making up our F/O/R and the standards of our
conscience!