We concluded our third message on the Book of Revelation titled, "Trumpets and Prophets" at verse 19 of Chapter 11 with the sounding of the last of the seven trumpets of the Tribulation Period.
Chapter 12 then begins to blazon forth an amalgamated pageantry of past history and future events with the woeful sounding of this seventh trumpet.
The vast scope of information we are privileged to survey once again lends support to the fact that the Church is no longer found on earth as the focus of God's attention, but instead Israel now fills the vacuum left by the Raptured Church.
In verse 1 of Ch. 12 we are shown a woman with notable Old Testament symbolism that identifies her as representing the nation of Israel.
In Genesis 37:9 Jacob, which means Israel, told of a divine dream he had. In this dream he saw the sun and the moon paying homage to him. He then also spoke of eleven stars, which represented his brothers who would bring forth the tribes of Israel. Including himself, we are shown that the twelve stars of Rev. 12:1 are representative of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Verse 2 speaks of the anguish Israel has endured in her wait for her messiah to be brought forth.
Verses 3 & 4 weave together how the great dragon Satan has and will try again to prevent the Messiah Jesus Christ from establishing His throne upon the earth at the close of this present age. During the Tribulation Period Satan will attempt to usurp Christ with a unified resistance from a composite of entities.
In the past the Devil tried to prevent Christ from ruling upon the earth when he motivated Herod in his attempt to murder the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
Verse 5 conclusively verifies that the woman written of in verses 1 & 2 is Israel and the child she had been waiting to bring forth is Jesus Christ. We quote, "And she (that is Israel, the wife of God according to the Old Testament) bore a male Child (that is Jesus) who was to rule all nations with a rod of Iron. And her Child (the resurrected Christ) was caught up to God and to His throne." (See Rev. 19:15 & Acts 1:9-11).
Verse 6 then crosses the 2,000 year span of time from when the woman (Israel) first brought forth Jesus Christ until the closing 3 ½ years of this age before He returns. God promises her special protection during these final 3 ½ years of great tribulation. It will be those of Israel who heed Christ's words found in Matthew 24:15-16 who will receive this special protection.
Verses 7-10 then describe one of the most spectacular wars of the ages taking place in heaven. The Archangel of God, Michael and his angels wage a victorious battle against the Devil and his angels and cast these unholy beings down to the earth.
Verse 10 dovetails with Rev. 11:15 to pinpoint the precise time as being the moment the woeful seventh trumpet is being blown. The Devil had been banished from the Heaven of heavens where God dwells long ago, but he still had access to the lower heavens of outer space and our atmosphere where he continues to this day to approach the boundary of the Heaven of God's domain to accuse the brethren. The brethren of Christ are the Jews in particular (II Cor. 12:2 & Matt. 11:12).
It is interesting that eyewitness accounts by astronauts, along with verified NASA tracking accounts, have reported that a number of our flights into outer space have been followed and even badgered by unidentified flying objects. Could this be secret technology at work or even more intriguingly manifestations of the fallen angels presently still residing in the realm of the lower heavens? Revelation 12:11-12 then make it disturbingly clear why the episode of events brought on by the sounding of the seventh trumpet is called the "third woe" in Rev. 11:14-15.
We are shown that because the Devil will find himself confined to the earth and is aware that he has only 3 ½ years left before Jesus Christ returns; his wrath will be great. He will become like a caged wild animal looking into the face of impending judgment. His intended decimation of the tribulation saints, revealed to us in Rev. 7:9-14, then commences with a bloodthirsty vengeance.
We are told of this terrible time of affliction for angels and men in Isaiah 24:21-22, "It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will punish on high the host of the exalted ones. And on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days (the Millennium) they will be punished."
From this point on Satan will no longer be the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2), but an unmerciful bane upon the earth.
Revelation 12:13-17 then conclude
with the Devil first focusing his hatred primarily against Israel. This passage of Scripture conclusively discredits the teaching that the woman written of is Mary. Mary died almost 2,000 years ago and could never fulfill what is written of the woman at the close of this age.
The woman, which is the chosen of Israel, will flee to the wilderness (that is Petra) to receive divine protection as they did when they fled Egypt with Moses upon symbolic wings of eagles (Ex. 19:14). After the Devil's attempt to destroy the fleeing Israelites is miraculously thwarted, he then directs his rage towards the remaining Jews still adhering to the old Covenant and against those who have found salvation in their Messiah Jesus Christ (see Matt. 24:20-22).
Revelation Ch. 13 continues to disclose greater details concerning the seventh trumpet and along with Ch. 17 contains some of the most cryptic of all the chapters of the Book of Revelation.
Verses 1 & 2 of Ch. 13 associate the final world dictator, commonly referred to as the Anti-Christ, with a composite beast. He is described as being one in the same with a beastly final world power which is identified by various symbols and animals. We are told that, "The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority."
Verses 3 & 4 tell us that a wound, which should have been and will at first appear as fatal, will be inflicted upon the Anti-Christ and that then "his deadly wound was healed." The apparently miraculous nature of this healing will cause all of those whose names have not been written in Jesus Christ's Book of Life to worship this beastly man and his master Satan (Rev. 13:8).
One possible explanation for how this remarkable restoration may be accomplished is that during the time of this near death experience, the evil spirit of the beast of Rev. 11:7 & 17:8, which ascends into the bottomless pit, will enter into and demonically revitalize the Anti-Christ.
This pit, or shaft, leads into the abyss of Hell. It is from this same pit that Apollyn and his demonic locusts were released.
Isaiah 66:24 reveals that during the Millennial Reign the inhabitants of the earth will apparently be able to look down this open shaft into the depths of Hell. The sight will perhaps be similar to the view Abraham had of Hell's torment in Luke 16:23-31. It is feasible that the evil spirit which possesses the Anti-Christ will be released during the same volcanic disturbance that liberated the demonic locusts of Rev. 9:1-11.
Revelation 13:5-6 again pinpoint the timing of this seventh trumpet event as transpiring in the middle of the 7 year Tribulation by noting that the Anti-Christ's authority will continue for 3 ½ years. During that time we are told that he will not only blaspheme God, but also of particular interest (to a saint who will have been caught up to God at the Rapture), is that he will blaspheme "those who dwell in heaven."
Satan's railings through his man of sin against the Raptured saints and all who dwell in heaven is fueled beyond measure because of uncontrollable loathing and jealousy. Men, once subject to his torment, now soar through even the Heaven of heavens from whence he was long ago banished while he is forced to confinement upon the earth like a common man. They are forever more beyond his and his Anti-Christ's reach and he intends to make the most of the time he has left to make humanity pay for this insufferable humiliation.
Revelation 13:7-8 then disclose how the Anti-Christ is Satan's designated man to receive worship and to carry out his vicious goal to murder all those who came to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior during the Tribulation Period.
Verse 9 once again supports that the Church will have been Raptured prior to this time of tribulation by an obvious omission of language. Six times in Rev. Chapters 2:7 11, 17 & 29 & 3:6 & 22, when Jesus addresses the churches while they were still on the earth before the Tribulation Period began, He used the phrase, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
In Rev. 13:9 just after we are shown that the Anti-Christ is not only granted to make war with the saints, but also to overcome them (see Dan. 8:24), we again find an admonition for people to listen, but this time there is no mention of the personal Spirit of God delivering the message. What is even more noteworthy is the blatant absence of any comfort or encouragement directed to the Church during this horrible time.
The specific avoidance of any address to the Church at this opportune moment is of particular significance. Instead we read only, "If anyone has an ear, let him hear."
If at any point in history the Church would be in need of a personal word of comfort from the Spirit of God, if she were still upon the earth, would be at this moment. There is no word for the Church because the Church will have been removed to heaven at least 3 ½ years earlier at the Rapture.
Revelation 13:10 is a companion verse for Rev. 6:9-11 where God assures the tribulation saints that His justice will most certainly come to pass and that all are held accountable.
Revelation 13:11-12 introduce a second personality as part of Satan's ruling duo during the close of the Tribulation. This man identified as, "the false prophet" in Rev. 19:20 first appears as a gentle lamb. This lamb is unusual because it has two unnatural horns on its head. He is revealed to be another spokesman of the Devil as he shares power with the Anti-Christ. It is this False Prophet who forces the world to worship the apparently resurrected Anti-Christ.
Revelation 13:13-15 tell us of the great signs this false prophet will be able to produce as he convinces the world to make an image of this man of sin.
Three of the most amazing signs which he can only a accomplish while in the sight of the Anti-Christ will be to call down fire from heaven and to bring breath and voice to the manmade image of the Anti-Christ. It is decreed that those who refuse to worship this vocal idol are to be killed. The martyrs we read of in Rev. 6:9 will be the first wave of victims condemned by this devilish law.
Verses 16-18 then close the thirteenth Chapter of the Book of Revelation by showing to us how the False Prophet will force the world's population to receive a mark upon their right hands or foreheads.
In order to buy or sell under this New World Order a person will need to have this "mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." We are told that the personal number of the Anti-Christ is 666.
Verses 1-5 of Ch. 14 of the Book of Revelation continue the disclosure of these 144,000 had been martyred or Raptured. We are only told that they are "firstfruits" redeemed to God which is representative of the best of their kind, according to Num. 18:12,and that they sing a privileged new song before the throne of the Lord.
Verses 6-13 of Rev. Ch. 14 then tell us of three heavenly angelic announcements.
The first brings the fulfillment of the prophecy of Matt. 24:14 by heralding the preaching of the Gospel to all those who dwell upon the earth.
The second angel proclaims the fall of religious Babylon which is detailed in Ch. 17 of the Book of Revelation.
The third angel warns that anyone who joins in the worship of the beast and receives his mark will be eternally damned. We are told that,
"the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and they have no rest day or night."
A dramatic contrast between the eternal fates of those who worship the beast and those about to be martyred for worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ is then presented in Ch. 14:11-13. This will be the time of the final great and tragic reaping of the souls of the righteous and the wicked before Jesus Christ returns to the earth.
Verses 14-20 then conclude Ch. 14 by revealing more details concerning these two violent harvests from the earth. Both harvests are conducted with sharp sickles and once again, at the completion of 7 more chapters, we are brought to the conclusion point of the Tribulation Period at the great battle called Armageddon.
The first harvest found in verses 14-16 is that of the believing martyrs and it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who oversees this ingathering. This harvest is illustrated for us in the parable of the Lord in Mark 4:26-29 where we are told, "...The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
Verses 17-19 of Rev. Ch. 14 then reveal the harvest of the wicked which is also described in Joel 3:9-14. At that time all the wicked will be supernaturally gathered and thrown "into the great winepress of the wrath of God," which is the Battle of Armageddon. This harvest is further revealed in Matthew 13:37-43 & Luke 17:33-37.
Verse 20 of Rev. Ch. 14 then concludes this chapter by informing us that the blood from this battle, which will transpire outside the city of Jerusalem in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12), will run on the ground to the depth of the horse's bridles for two hundred miles, that is, the length of Israel.
In our next message, "The Wrath of God" we will find that Chapter 15 opens with a great and marvelous sign seen in heaven as the woeful seventh trumpet continues its magnificent revelation.
The days of our lives pass by swiftly. Our sojourn here will become like a lost vapor to those who come after us, but God remembers all, loves all and finally judges all. There will come a day of closure and the signs of the times the Lord told us to watch for surround us at every turn and declare that that day of closure is at hand.
Very soon all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will be called up by the Lord to begin a glorious, eternal adventure of joy in the Kingdom of God. Until that moment we will continue to remind all who are hesitating, "...Behold, now is the accepted time; Behold; now is the day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2).