Revelation 12:13-17
A Godly Remnant
Read
Luke 12:8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son
of Man also will confess before the angels of God.
Luke 12:9 “But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
Pray
Introduction
√ The Godly Remnant
The next participant that John introduces us to in the unfolding drama of the Tribulation period is the…
Godly Remnant
…a small group of saints who minister during the Tribulation and have the distinct honor of really ticking off the Antichrist and Satan!
Why?
Because they confess their love and loyalty to Jesus before the people of this world in direct violation of the religion of the Antichrist!
Therefore, they hold a special place of hatred in the heart of the Devil.
Ap. Standing for Jesus – note what it is that Jesus esteems in our lives…
By way of application we find that this group of End Time saints serve as a model to every generation of saints. They’re witness to us reminds us that no matter…
What the personal cost
How unpopular it may be to follow Christ
How “un-cool” the world says it is to be a Christian
…we must never deny the Lord Who gave His life for us.
Because, while the culture of the
And, don’t forget that the world is passing away and the only thing that will count at the end of Time is what is popular with Jesus – that which He esteems as valuable.
Persecuted (vs. 13)
Rev 12:13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
√ Persecution
John picks up the story of the persecution of
Rev 12:6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
John is now describing events that will take place in the 2nd half of the Tribulation period.
Satan's been tossed from heaven
The Antichrist has made his intentions known (seated in the Holy of Holies)
Therefore, the Antichrist empowered by an enraged Satan
unleashes the greatest persecution of
the Jews in the history of
That may be hard to believe in light of…
Babylonian conquest of
The slaughter of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanies
The genocide of the Roman Legions
The horrors of the Holocaust
…yet, that is exactly what John describes and Jesus predicted.
Jesus described this time in Matt. 24...
Mat 24:15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),
Mat 24:16 "then
let those who are in
Mat 24:17 "Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.
Mat 24:18 "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
Mat 24:19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days!
Mat 24:20 "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
Mat 24:21 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
So, during the second half of the Tribulation the Jewish people will be subject to the worst persecution there has ever been.
In fact, the Bible tells us that 2/3 of the Jewish people will be killed!
Note the prophecy of Zechariah…
Zech. 13:8 And it shall come
to pass in all the land,” Says the LORD, “That
two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it:
Zech. 13:9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”
√ Why?
The question comes to mind - why does Satan target
It isn't because of any special quality they posses as a people, in fact God testified that they were the...
"...least of all people" - Deut. 7:7
So why does Satan focus all his fury on this little nation?
Because it's the only target he has left on the planet!
He's lost his place in heaven so he can no longer accuse the believers.
The Church is safe in heaven beyond his reach.
He knows he's been beat by God.
So the only thing left on earth for him to vent his fury on
is
Ex. Some wimp who beats up your little brother.
Pursued (vs. 14-15)
Rev 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great 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.
Rev 12:15 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.
√ Pursued
Using lots of symbolism John describes for us how it is that many of the Jews will escape from the wrath of Satan and the Antichrist.
To really get a hold of this section we have to do a little work so that we can understand the prophetic language used by John.
Woman;
we already know is
Two wings of a great eagle; what's he taking about!?
This is a symbol that is used throughout the Bible and
speaks of God’s divine intervention to protect
Ex. Ex. 19:4
'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.
and Deut. 32:11-12
"As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings,
so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him."
So, what John is communicating to us here in Rev. 12:14 is
that the Lord Himself will enable the people of
A place in the
wilderness; we're not told where it is that God takes
…but we are told that they will be "nourished there".
Reminds us of the story of Elijah when he was forced to flee into the wilderness from the pursuit of Ahab and Jezebel. Remember it was there at the brook Cherith that God fed Elijah.
Also reminds us of the wilderness experience of
So, the main point that we're to understand from Rev. 12 is
that God will provide a place for many of the children of
Time, times and half a time;
Rev 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great 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.
The word "time" = kairon, which is also translated "season". Used often in prophetic language to mean a unit of time.
Ex. Daniel’s prophecy of the same period of time that John is here describing.
Dan. 7:25 He shall speak pompous
words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And
shall intend to change times and law. Then the
saints shall be given into his hand For
a time and times and half a time.
And…
Dan. 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand
and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of
the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.
But how long is that unit of time?
We're given the answer in vs. 6
Rev 12:6 Then the
woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that
they should feed her there one thousand
two hundred and sixty days.
1,260 days = 3 and a half years.
Therefore...
Time = 1 year
Times = 2 years
Half a time = half a year
God communicates the length of this last half of the Tribulation in various ways in the Revelation so that we might not miss the time frame.
Rev. 11:2 & 13:5 = 42 months
Rev. 11:3 & 12:6 = 1,260 days
Rev. 12:14 = Time, times and half a time
So we don't miss the literal meaning! It's a literal 3 and a half years of all out Satanic warfare!
Serpent & the flood; we've already identified the serpent as Satan, but what is the flood that he spews out of his mouth?
Here again we have symbolic language being used.
Remember our rule, if it's not interpreted within the Revelation then look in the rest of the Bible to see if it's there.
Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
and...
Jer 46:8
Notice that in both these prophetic verses a "flood" represents the attack of an enemy - whether it's Satan or a nation through which Satan works.
So, in our study this morning in Rev. 12 the flood that the Serpent spews out of his mouth after the Woman…
…represents the attacks of Satan through the armies of the Antichrist as they persecute the Jewish people.
Yet, many will be protected by God's supernatural intervention as we're told in vs. 16...
Protected (vs. 16)
Rev 12:16 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.
John tells us that the earth helps the people of
“opening its mouth”
…to swallow up the attack of the Antichrist. While it is probably best to interpret this imagery as symbolic…
…it is possible that it may be more literal than we would think!
Ex. The Egyptian army
was "swallowed" up
by the Red Sea when they tried to pursue
Korah who rebelled against Moses was literally swallowed up when the earth opened up!
Whether symbolic or literal, the point is that God intervenes to protect the Jewish people as they flee from the persecution of the Antichrist and his armies.
People (vs. 17)
Rev 12:17 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.
√ People
Having been thwarted in his attacks against
"...the rest of her offspring” – Vs. 17
The question of course is, who are the "rest of her offspring"?
To answer that question we need to remind ourselves who the “mother” of the “offspring” is?
She is the Woman who we've already identified as the Nation Israel.
We also know from Rev. 12 that the woman bore a “Male Child” whom we identified as Jesus Christ.
The “rest of her offspring” then are somehow related both to
Note that John also tells us in vs. 17 that they…
1. Those who "keep the commandments of God."
2. They "have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
This group of people then are of the nation of
…but they are distinct from
Sound like any group of people we’ve already studied in the Revelation?
144,000 sealed in Rev. 7
And…
Those Jews who have been saved through their ministry
This group that John describes as "the rest of her offspring" then is that Godly remnant of Israel that have come to know Jesus as Messiah and who serve Him faithfully during the Tribulation period.
Ex. The
We know that is not true.
What they mean is they believe they are Christian because they were born and raised in families that celebrate Christmas and Easter.
The true Christian according to Jesus in Matthew 7 is the one who both hears and does the Words of God.
So it is in
They are a "Jewish nation” by religious affiliation - yet the vast majority of Israelis are not Jews by practice or life style.
The same will be true during the Tribulation period. The entire nation will be persecuted by Satan because of who they are, yet, only a remnant will be truly be servants of God.
Ex. Elijah
Like in the days of Elijah when he was sure that he was the
only one in
In every wicked generation God has always had a remnant of faithful servants.
Noah - one of only 8 righteous people on the earth before the flood.
Joshua and Caleb - who did not rebel against God at Kadesh Barnea.
Martin Luther - who stood up against the apostate Church.
The same will be true during the darkest and most wicked time in human history. God will preserve a remnant who will serve Him faithfully…
…and who will be the object of the Antichrist’s fury.
Close
Ap. Standing for Jesus
In our study this morning we’ve been introduced to a group of End Time saints who serve as a role model. They’re witness to us reminds us that no matter…
What the personal cost
How unpopular it may be to follow Christ
How “un-cool” the world says it is to be a Christian
…we must never deny the Lord Who gave His life for us. In our text this morning we discover what Jesus esteems in our lives.
Let’s be a Godly Remnant in our generation!