02.38. LECTURE No. 38 -- Rev_12:13-17
LECTURE No. 38 -- Revelation 12:13-17
Satan Symbolized by the Dragon Will Persecute National Israel During the Tribulation Period As Never Before - A Remnant of the Jews Now Returning to Palestine in Preparation for the Fulfillment of Those Things Prophesied in This Chapter - The Human Objective - The Divine Purpose in the Regathering of Israel - Jerusalem and Palestine the Center of the Earth Geographically and Spiritually, Therefore They Are Central in God’s Plans and Purposes in Redemption for the Present and the Future - The Jews in the Land Between Two Mighty Forces - The Abomination of Desolation Will Occur in the Rebuilt Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem - When This Occurs the Jews Will Be Driven Out of Their Land and Will Find Refuge in the Wilderness
The Bible a Light
SINCE the Bible is a complete revelation of divine truth concerning God’s plan of redemption, it is perfectly natural that it should reveal truth past, present and future. Unless he Bible did this, it would in no wise be a lamp unto our feet, or a light unto our pathway.
We should be glad and thankful, therefore, that the Bible is filled throughout with words of prophecy, which reveal unto us things that are yet to come to pass. A Book of Prophecy The Book of Revelation is primarily a Book of Prophecy; the vision and scope of which reaches to the very end or consummation of God’s redemptive plan.
Therefore, we claim for ourselves, and for all those who hear this message, the blessing which is promised in Revelation 1:3, where it says,
“Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the Words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.”
We have progressed in our present study to Revelation 12:13, where our present lesson will begin.
Review In our study of Revelation 12:1-17 thus far, we have considered the woman clothed with the Sun with the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, who being with child cried, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered, and found her to be symbolic of National Israel.
We have also considered the Red Dragon, which had seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head, whose tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth, and found the Dragon to be none other than Satan, which stood before the woman, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born.
We discovered also that the man child which the woman brought forth, who was to rule all nations, was none other than Christ, and that the man child also includes the Church, which is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all, which is now being called out from among the Jews and the Gentiles as a people for His name, through the preaching of the Gospel.
According to the lesson text, the man child was caught up unto God and to His Throne. This was historically true of Christ, for He ascended into heaven after He had arisen from the dead, nearly two thousand years ago; and it is prophetically true of the Church, which is the mystical Body of Christ, which will be caught up to be with Christ at the rapture; suggested in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. A Prophetic Announcement In Revelation 12:6, it says,
“And the woman fled into the wilderness, (that is, after the catching away of her child) where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days.”
This was a prophetic announcement of things that would come to pass in the ongoing, and the unfolding of God’s plan in the drama of events during the Tribulation Period.
War in the Heavens In our last lesson based upon Revelation 12:7-12, we learned that at the time, yet future, when the Church is resurrected and raptured away to be with Christ; there will be war in heaven between Michael and his angels, and the Dragon and his angels. We discovered that this war will take place in the atmospheric heavens above the earth, which Satan now occupies as the Prince of the Power of the air. Satan’s purpose for waging this war will be to prevent, if possible the resurrection and the ascension of the saints of God, who belong to Christ, into the presence of God in the upper or highest heavens.
Satan knows that the moment the Church, which is the Body of Christ, is completed, and caught away to be with her Lord, she will be invested with power and great glory to rule and reign with Christ.
Therefore, he hates the Church and will do all within his to prevent the resurrection and ascension of the Church into heaven.
The reason Michael and his angels will fight against the Dragon and his angels will be in order to drive them out of the atmospheric heavens down the earth, thus ridding the heavens of Satan and his angels, and at the same time make way for the safe ascension of the Church up through Satanic territory into the presence of God.
When this had been accomplished in the vision, John said,
“I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is the salvation and strength and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.
“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
Lesson Text We are now ready to advance in, study by reading what is written Revelation 12:13-17, where it says,
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
“And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” A Prophetic Summary
Now, what we have here in these words is really a summary of what is going to happen to Israel during the coming Tribulation Period.
We have already seen how Satan has hated the race of Israel ever since God called Abram and made with him the great Abrahamic Covenant, in which He made him and his seed the depository of the Messianic hope.
In due course of time, when Christ was born, in fulfillment of the Word of God, Satan made every effort to destroy the Christ Child, but failed in doing so. Then at a future time when he shall have failed in his efforts to prevent the resurrection and rapture of the Church, and will himself be cast down to the earth, he will be more angry than ever against the woman which brought forth the man child.
Since the woman represents National Israel, we do not need to be surprised that Satan at that time will persecute the Children of Israel left upon the earth as never before, and will seek in every way possible to destroy them. When we understand conditions as they will be at that time, we do not wonder that John said,
“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
Persecution of the Jews
Everyone knows of the present persecution of the Jews in Germany and other countries throughout the world! All of these things are of striking significance in view of that which is stated in our present lesson text; for we know that which is now taking place is only a beginning of sorrows to the Jews.
That worse trouble is in store for the Jews is confirmed in Jeremiah 30:6-7, where it says,
“Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” The Jews Returning to Palestine In their present distress the Jews are naturally looking toward Palestine as a place of refuge, and they are returning to their own land just as fast as possible with the determination of building up a National Jewish State in the land of their Fathers.
But according to our lesson text, their present return to the land, and their present efforts to build a revived Jewish State in Palestine, will not bring to them the rest and security which they need, and which their hearts long for. A Two-Fold Purpose In the present return of the Jews to their own land, we see both a human and a divine purpose.
The Jews are seeking to return to their own land as a place of refuge, and they are seeking by every means, both politically and financially to throw off the yoke of Gentile overlordship by rebuilding a National Jewish State of their own in Palestine.
That Israel would seek to do this very thing is confirmed in Zephaniah 2:1-2, where it says,
“Gather yourselves together, yea gather together O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.” And that, my friends, is exactly what the Jews are doing today. Finding out by persecution that they are no longer desired by the Gentile nations, they are gathering back to their own land. And their purpose for doing so is that they might have a place of refuge. The Divine Purpose The divine purpose of the present restoration of Israel to their own land is quite different, however. God’s purpose in allowing them to return to their own land is twofold. First, in order that He might purge them by affliction, and then later bestow upon them the full and complete blessing promised to them in the Abrahamic covenant.
That God’s primary purpose in their present restoration is to punish them, and to purge them by affliction, is confirmed in Ezekiel 22:17-22, where it says,
“And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of Man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.”
Jerusalem and Palestine the Center of the Earth
We all know that Jerusalem and Palestine are geographically the center of God’s future plans and purposes for the earth in relation to His great plan of redemption.
Two Camps
We know also that the world is fast dividing itself into two great camps, i. e., Fascism, which seems to be springing up in the Western world, and Communism, which seems to be coming in power among the nations of the North and in between these two mighty forces stands the Jew.
The Jews are now turning to their own land with the hope of rebuilding a national Jewish State and it is perfectly evident that they a not at agreement with either the political or religious ideas of the Fascists or the Communists. Now, here is what will happen. When the Jews have return in sufficient numbers, and shall have reestablished a temporary Jewish State in Palestine they will find themselves, as it were, between the upper and nether millstones, i. e., between Communism on the one hand and Fascism on the other.
We know from the scriptures that both Fascism and Communism will seek to possess and to control Palestine. In Daniel 11:41, where it speaks of the Antichrist, it says, “He shall enter also into the glorious land and many countries shall be overthrown.”
And Ezekiel 38:1-23 reveals the approach of the Communistic armies from the north in their effort to destroy the Children of Israel in the land and to take a great spoil. Thus we see that whether the Jews realize it or not, sooner or later, when they shall have returned to the land of their Fathers, they are going to find themselves in the very midst of a furnace of affliction, even as God has prophesied in His Word!
Therefore, instead of returning to their land and finding security, they will themselves at the mercy of the of the Antichrist on the one hand, and the Communistic armies from the north on the other! The Abomination of Desolation The first thing that will happen to them will no doubt be the deception of the Antichrist, who will commit the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, in Daniel 9:27, and referred to by our Lord in Matthew 24:15.
In Daniel 9:27 we are told that the Antichrist will confirm the covenant with the Jews for one Prophetic week of seven years, and,
“In the midst of the week (or after three and one-half years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
This act of abomination, which will be committed by the Antichrist, refers to the time when he will exalt himself in the rebuilt Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, and demand that the people worship him as God.
That he will do this very thing is confirmed and explained in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, where it says,
“Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God he sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
Looking forward to this very time, Jesus, speaking prophetically, in Matthew 24, said,
“When ye therefore shall See the abomination, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.”
Great Tribulation And then in Matthew 24:21-22 of the same chapter, He said,
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
What Satan Will Do
We are now ready to return to our lesson text in Revelation 12:13-16, where it says,
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly unto the wilderness, into her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”
Now, when we understand that the woman of this passage is national Israel, whom Satan has reason to hate, and whom he will seek to destroy, all that is stated here is in keeping and in perfect harmony with what we have said concerning the future of Israel.
Israel Will Flee to the Wilderness This passage plainly reveals that after the resurrection and rapture of the Church, the terrible time of Tribulation will begin. The Antichrist will commit “the abomination of desolation” in Jerusalem, and the Jews, who will be at that time in Jerusalem and Palestine, will be compelled to flee into the wilderness to escape from the deception and the tyranny and the persecution of the Antichrist. When the Antichrist exalts himself in their Temple, above all that is called God, all who refuse to worship him at the command of the false prophet, will be killed.
This is confirmed in Revelation 13:16, which we will study more about later on.
But even in that terrible time when the Jews will be deceived and driven from their own land by the Antichrist, and his followers, God will not utterly forsake them; for they will flee into the wilderness where they will be nourished by the Lord for a time, and times and half a time, or three and one-half years, from the face of the serpent. This we know is the exact duration of the awful time of tribulation, prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 12:1, and referred to by our Lord in Matthew 24:21. Their Place of Refuge
It is interesting to know that God has a place prepared into which the Children of Israel may flee at that time, and find a safe place of refuge from the fury of the Antichrist, who would utterly annihilate them if he could.
Concerning this place of refuge it is interesting to note that there are certain countries which will escape the control of the Antichrist when he comes into power in Jerusalem, and strange to say these are not far distant from the holy land. In Daniel 11:41, it says, speaking of the Antichrist,
“He shall enter also into the glorious land, (that is into Palestine) and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the Children of Ammon.” The Rock City of Petra
Now, it is interesting to know that Edom takes in the wilderness where Israel wandered for forty years, after they turned back for Kadesh-Barnea, because of their unbelief. It is still more interesting to know that in Edom there is today a city of refuge, called “The Rock City of Petra,” which we are told was a great commercial city in the days of King Solomon.
The city is hewn out of the rocks of the mountains, and the houses are made in the cliffs of the rocks. This strange city, which is now vacant, is protected by a long canyon about two miles long, and we are told that no other city in the world has such a wonderful gateway. Indeed, my friend there is no place on earth which would serve as a better place of refuge for the persecuted children of Israel than this rock fortress in the wilderness Edom.
What Man Thinks: What God Says
Present day newspaper articles, in discussing the Jewish question, are wondering where the Jew can go since he is being driven out of Gentile lands, such as Germany and Austria, and elsewhere. In their conferences, many fine schemes for colonizing the Jews in other parts of the world, are being made by the statesmen of different countries, but all of these plans will eventually fail because we know that conditions will continue to get worse and worse for the Jewish people; for Jesus said, “Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
We know also that it is God’s plan and purpose to bring them into the wilderness as a place of refuge.
The Jews themselves would like to return to their own land, and find refuge there, but we know that God has other plans for them, before He will allow them to enter their land in peace; for in Ezekiel 20:33-38, it says,
“As I live, saith the Lord, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you; and will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God, and I will cause you to pass under the rod, and will bring you into the bond of the covenant, and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, (that is in Palestine; where they are now returning in unbelief) and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
All this, my friends, confirms what is stated in our lesson text, and when Israel flees from Jerusalem and Palestine into the wilderness, from the hands of the Antichrist, it says, “The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood, after the woman (that is, after Israel) that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”
Satan Will Try to Hinder
There is no doubt but what this passage indicates an effort on the part of Satan to hinder their escape into the wilderness, but it indicates also that his effort will utterly fail, and that Israel by God’s help, will reach her place of refuge in the wilderness, where she will be preserved by the Lord and dealt with by Him until the time of Tribulation is past.
When Satan shall have failed in his purpose of completely annihilating the Jews who will flee into the wilderness, we are not surprised that it says, “The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Who Are the Remnant? The believing remnant spoken of here will no doubt be the one hundred and forty four thousand converted Jews, mentioned in Revelation 7:1-17, who will be called out and chosen and sealed as the ministers of Christ during the Tribulation period. Naturally Satan will hate them also and will do his best to destroy them, because at that time they will be scattered abroad throughout the world, teaching and preaching, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
~ end of lecture 38 ~