Sunday, November 5th, 2017 - AM - Two Wonders (Rev. 12:1-6)
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Rejoicing Through Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 57:36
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· 446 viewsThrough this pair of heavenly wonders, a trio of important characters involved in the tribulation account are described.
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Introduction:
Introduction:
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation is a book of sevens:
- In chapters 2 and 3 we have the seven churches.
- In chapter 5 - the seven-sealed book.
- In chapter 6 - the beginning of the seven seals.
- In chapter 8 - the beginning of the seven trumpets.
- In chapters 12 and 13 - the seven personages.
- In chapter 16 - the seven vials.
- In chapters 17, 18, 19 - the seven dooms.
- In chapters 21 and 22 - the seven new things.
Seven is God’s number of completion - the divine number of divine completeness. In Revelation God is making a complete end of sin and sorrow. He will complete His wonderful plan of redemption for all creation.
Paradise, with all of its original glory, and more, is restored in Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. In the first few chapters of Genesis, Paradise is lost; in the last two chapters of Revelation, Paradise is restored.
[Oliver B. Greene, Revelation, A Verse by Verse Study, Commentaries and Writings of Oliver B. Greene (The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1963), 240–241.]
Main Thought:
May I tell you, these are dangerous days in which we live, and the storm clouds are gathering, and a storm is about to descend, the lightning is flashing, and the lighting rod is Israel. Now Israel is on the front page of every major newspaper in the world today. And Bible-believing Christians cannot deny or ignore the significance of the nation Israel. If you pick up your Bible and read Bible prophecy, you will find out that Israel is in 100% of all Bible prophecy concerning the future, if you read it carefully enough. I want to tell you that the eyes of the entire world are upon this tiny state of Israel, and your eyes need to be upon the land of Israel, because the Jew and Israel are the people and land of destiny. As the Jew goes, so goes the world. Israel is God’s yardstick. Israel is God’s measuring rod. Israel is God’s blueprint. Israel is God’s program for what He is doing in the world.
Now we want to ask this question: Has God turned His back on Israel? Has God forgotten Israel? Has God somehow abrogated the promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Indeed not! Absolutely not! The passage that we have before us deals, therefore, with the nation Israel, and I want us to notice some things about Israel this morning from Revelation chapter 12.
[Adrian Rogers, “Why I Love Israel,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Re 12.]
Sub-intro:
Chapter 12 opens with these tremendous words (verses 1 and 2): “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”
This woman (the “great wonder”) is clothed in a very extraordinary manner. She is wearing the sun - and for shoes she wears the moon. For her hat she wears a crown studded with twelve stars. She is a mother-to-be, and her delivery is imminent.
[Greene, 241.]
Body:
I. The Radiant Woman (Rev. 12:1-2).
I. The Radiant Woman (Rev. 12:1-2).
Woman = Israel
Woman Does not equal Mary (Rev. 12:13-17—persecuted during Tribulation)
Second of four “women” in the Revelation
Rev. 2:20- Jezebel
Rev. 12:1- Israel
Rev. 17:4- the Harlot
Rev. 19:7- Bride, Lambs wife
Satan hates Israel
A. Her Clothing (Rev. 12:1a).
A. Her Clothing (Rev. 12:1a).
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
1. The Sun About Her
2. The Moon Beneath Her
B. Her Crown (Rev. 12:1b).
B. Her Crown (Rev. 12:1b).
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Twelve Starry Jewels
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
C. Her Cries (Rev. 12:2).
C. Her Cries (Rev. 12:2).
And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
1. The Baby in Her Womb (v. 2a).
2. Her Birth-pangs of Labor (v. 2b).
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
And the government shall be upon his shoulder:
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah,
Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore will he give them up,
Until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth:
Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Before she travailed, she brought forth;
Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord:
Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
But praise God, Jesus fulfilled every demand of God the Father, He paid sin’s debt in its fulness. He conquered death, hell and the grave. He arose, He appeared to men, He ascended back to the Father and He is coming again in power and great glory. Jesus will personally supervise putting Satan into the lake of fire, where he will be tormented with fire and brimstone forever and ever.
[Greene, 244.]
II. The Red Dragon (Rev. 12:3-4).
II. The Red Dragon (Rev. 12:3-4).
Red = Bloodthirsty
A. His Infamous Power (Rev. 12:3).
A. His Infamous Power (Rev. 12:3).
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
1. Seven Crowned Heads
2. Ten Horns
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Power behind Antichrist
Crowns (diadems)- authority/ Power (limited)
B. His Influencing Pride (Rev. 12:4a).
B. His Influencing Pride (Rev. 12:4a).
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
1. Drawn
2. Downcast
Tail swept 1/3 “stars” threw- aorist, completed action
• Meteors? (perhaps)
• 1/3 of the angels
• Nations? Probably not.
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
C. His Insatiable Passion (Rev. 12:4b).
C. His Insatiable Passion (Rev. 12:4b).
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
1. Behold, Satan Is At the Door
2. He Seeks to Devour
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
III. The Raptured Prince (Rev. 12:5-6).
III. The Raptured Prince (Rev. 12:5-6).
A. The Rightful Heir (Rev. 12:5a).
A. The Rightful Heir (Rev. 12:5a).
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
The Shepherd's Iron Rod (see Ps. 2; 22-24)
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
B. His Rapture to God (Rev. 12:5b).
B. His Rapture to God (Rev. 12:5b).
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
The Ascension of the Son of God to Glory (see Acts 1)
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
C. His Runaway Mother (Rev. 12:6).
C. His Runaway Mother (Rev. 12:6).
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
1. Her Place of Refuge - the Desert/Wilderness
2. God's Preparation for Her
3. The Time of Her Provision - 1260 days
Fails to destroy Christ, turns devious attention to woman (persecuted especially in the last 3 ½ years)
Details of Tribulation persecution (Rev. 12:13-17)
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.
I was talking to some Jewish friends, and they said, “You Christians ought not to try to proselytize Jews.” I said, “Friend, you proselytized me. I serve a Jewish Messiah.” Israel gave Jesus to this world, and I thank God for it. What I’m talking about is Israel’s special favor. Listen to me. Israel is a God-ordained, God-called, God-protected, and God-blessed nation.
Why did God call and ordain Israel—to make them a blessing alone? No. That through Israel all the world would be blessed. Put this scripture down—Genesis chapter 12 and verse 3. God is speaking to Abraham. God is saying, “Abraham, I’m going to make a great nation of you,” and here’s what God said: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee”—Abraham—“shall all [the nations] of the [world] be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). I stand here today blessed because of Israel. I hold in my hand a Jewish book. I serve a Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And God has made Abraham a blessing to all the nations of the world. And I want to tell you, my dear friend, you are very foolish and on shaky and dangerous ground if you pronounce a curse upon Israel. I’ll tell you something else. When you bless what God has blessed, when you love what God has loved, then God is going to bless you.
Now put this verse down—Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6. We’re talking about Israel’s special favor. Here it is. Listen. God said to Israel, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). If you would be wise, you would learn to bless and not to curse Israel. Our evangelical, Bible-believing Christians need to pray for and love the nation Israel. Do you hear me? And our Jewish friends need to learn that the best friends they have on the face of this earth are Bible-believing Christians. And may the devil not muddy the water. We speak here of Israel’s special favor.
[Rogers, Re 12.]
Conclusion:
Does this bless you? Friend, it makes me shouting happy—it makes me shouting happy—to know that God has a plan. God has not forsaken His ancient people. And God has blessed Israel, that Israel might be a blessing to all of the world. And there’s going to be a fountain open to them.
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
—William Cowper
How can we go, day by day, indolent, careless, living in these pregnant days in which we live, without giving everything we have to Jesus Christ, love Him with a burning, blazing, passionate, emotional love for Jesus Christ? We are to love what God loves, and God loves His Son Jesus—and I do. And God loves His chosen people—and I do. And God loves them, and made them a blessing, that they might be a blessing to this whole world. And every son of Abraham, every daughter of Abraham, that I see, I say, “Oh, if they only knew their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
But thank God, there’s coming a day, and it may not be far off, when all of this begins to unfold. I’m glad for this book. I’m glad for this book. I’m glad for the truth that He gives us. As I’ve told you before, I may not have every jot and tittle correct, because we’re dealing with things hard to see and hard to interpret, but I have this much correct: Jesus is Lord, and He’s coming again. Praise His name. •
[Rogers, Re 12.]