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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(60) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation12:10-17 |
Date |
2008-04-04 |
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Revelation 12:10-17
[10] Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
[11] "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
[12] "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."
[13] And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
[14] But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
[15] And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
[16] But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
[17] So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Even though the spiritual realm is invisible to normal people, it surely does exist.
And this spiritual realm can be divided into two.
The one is the spiritual realm that belongs to God, and the other is the evil spiritual realm that belongs to the darkness.
The spiritual realm that belongs to God has such attributes as the light, goodness, and love.
On the other hand, the evil spiritual realm has attributes such as the darkness, evilness, and all kinds of untruths.
The evil spirits rule over the darkness of this earth, and manage the evil in the hearts of people.
Such evil spirits are in the air now.
Here, the air doesn't refer to the sky that is visible to your eyes, but it's the second heaven.
Ephesians 2:2 says, "...in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."
In other words, the evil spirits have power over the air, and rule the darkness and evil of this earth.
However, when it becomes the latter half of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the time comes when the evil spirits that have power over the air are thrown down to this earth.
They are not thrown down unresistingly; they are defeated in the war against the Archangel Michael and his angels, and they are driven out.
Revelation 12:9 says, "the great dragon was thrown down" but, the great dragon doesn't mean only the dragon.
It continues to say, the dragon is "the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world."
The great dragon, here, refers to Lucifer, the head of the evil spirits, and at the same time it symbolically refers to the whole of the evil spirits.
The world of the evil spirits has strict order and organization; Lucifer as the head, the four dragons, and their messengers, and Satan, the devil, and demons.
In Luke 11:18, Jesus says, "If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul."
At the command and instruction of Lucifer, the world of evil spirits also operates as one in perfect and strict order for a single goal.
And it's possible because they are all spiritually connected as one
The mind and heart of Lucifer is conveyed to the evil spirits that are of the lowest ranks.
Their goal is a single one.
It is to deceive the whole world to fall into sin and evil, and eventually into hell.
Since the evil spirits deal with evilness, no goodness can be found in them.
You cannot expect any sort of good words, any goodness of heart, no goodness of the eyes or the ears, nor any mercy.
The people who are managed by these evil spirits eventually become the same.
Of course, depending on how much evil they have in their heart, the degrees that they are managed by the evil spirits are different.
However, the more evil they pile up, the greater they will be managed by the evil spirits.
In the beginning, they are just controlled by Satan in their thoughts, but gradually they become controlled by the devil.
Then, they start to do the things of the body, and further they commit all kinds of sin that belong to the things of the devil.
When the situation goes to an extreme, some may be seized and possessed by demons.
You must know this evil spiritual realm.
Only then can you protect yourself and overcome it, and you can become a worker or a servant of God with power.
When you know the schemes of the evil spirits precisely, you can protect the souls that are entrusted to you, and you can also drive the darkness away from them.
Now, I said such evil spirits are in the air, and rule the darkness of this earth.
During the 7 Year Great Tribulation, their work reaches its peak, and they are finally thrown down to the earth.
Then, the evilness in the earth also reaches its peak.
That's because the people who are left in the earth are directly incited by those evil spirits who are thrown down to the earth.
It's like controlling the people from right beside them instead of giving orders or instruction to them through phone lines, for example.
Therefore, the more strongly the evil is that they have received, the more strongly they can be incited to do evil.
There is also a greater number of people who come to worship the enemy devil and Satan.
But, the fact that the evil spirits are thrown down to the earth from the air means that their authority is also about to come to an end.
Now, Revelation 12:10 says, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night."
"The salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come" means that the authority of the darkness comes to an end.
In a physical sense, it is in the latter half of the 7 Year Great Tribulation when the evil is reaching its peak.
In other words, the 7 Year Great Tribulation will end, and the Millennium Kingdom where the Lord reigns will come.
The evil spirits will lose their authority, and face the Judgment Day.
By the way, the scripture says that the evil spirit is "the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
Satan is always looking for the opportunity to accuse someone for something.
Especially, Satan is looking for people to accuse from among the believers of the Lord.
It's just as 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
While prowling around like this, when Satan does find someone to accuse according to spiritual law, Satan accuses him.
Then Satan brings trials, afflictions, pains, or diseases on him, so that he may do more evil things, and eventually leave God.
However, Satan doesn't need to accuse those who don't believe in the Lord because they will actually live in sin and go to hell.
During the period of human cultivation, the evil spirits play a role of the accuser. Then, the time comes when they lose the authority.
The enemy devil and Satan, by every means possible, has tried to accuse the children of God in order to lead them to death.
But those who are truly forgiven of their sins by the blood of Jesus and become children of God will eventually overcome it by faith.
Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."
Those who have faith will never collapse no matter what kind of affliction or hardship they may be facing.
They may seem to fall down for a while, but they will soon get up and run toward heaven.
They will not step back nor return to the world.
Only when you walk in the light like this, you are deemed to have fellowship with God, and the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse you from your sin.
However, those who don't have faith will complain when they are faced with afflictions and hardships, and then they may leave God.
Or, they leave God because of ill feelings or misunderstanding.
However, if they truly have faith, they will not leave God even if they have to risk their lives.
Those who have such true faith can be caught up into the air when the Lord comes back, and join the Wedding Banquet.
Among the people who fall to the 7 Year Great Tribulation, those who are forgiven of their sins even late by the blood of Jesus Christ and hold on to the word can reach salvation.
This time, they have to pass through severe tests even to the point of giving up their lives, and then they can reach salvation.
Those who have faith can overcome the enemy devil and Satan even in this way, and become part of those who are saved.
Many people of Israel accept Jesus as their Savior in this period of the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Even though it is late when they accept Jesus as their Savior, they reach salvation by the faith of martyrdom risking their own lives.
Since they have such an unchanging heart for God, once they accept Jesus Christ, they risk their lives for the Lord as well.
Now, do you think the enemy devil and Satan, who are thrown down to the earth, will just sit back and observe what is happening?
They make frantic attempts to persecute Israel and the believers.
Since they know not much time is left for them, they do all the more evil.
The latter half of the 7 Year Great Tribulation begins in earnest.
Revelation 12:12 says, "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."
During the 7 Year Great Tribulation in this earth, there is the 7 Year Wedding Banquet in the air.
Those souls who join the wedding banquet enjoy the banquet.
Furthermore, those souls who are saved through the Gleaning Salvation during the 7 Year Great Tribulation won't have to suffer from sorrow and pain any longer.
However, I already told you that not all of them who are saved during the 7 Year Great Tribulation have the same level of salvation.
Those who remain in the earth in God's providence and play the role of bond-servants of God during the 7 Year Great Tribulation meet the condition to become a bride of the Lord.
However, it's different for those who were chaff-like believers who fell to the earth, but reach salvation through martyrdom.
They can join neither the Wedding Banquet nor the Millennium Kingdom in the future.
They wait in a separate place in the 2nd heaven.
That's why Revelation 6:9 says they are 'underneath the altar.'
However, because they also escaped from the suffering of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, and because they can enter heaven soon, how pleased will they be?
When the scripture says, "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them," it means that al the souls who reach salvation will rejoice.
On the other hand, it says, "Woe to the earth and the sea."
When the latter half of the 7 Year Great Tribulation arrives, close to the very end, the enemy devil and Satan are thrown down to the earth. So, then how much more evil will there be in the darkness that will be covering the world?
Since the evil spirits know that their time is almost up, they become all the more enraged and do more evil things.
Then, the persecution of the believers becomes beyond all imagination. All kinds of evil methods are used.
Especially, the persecution of Israel is much more fierce.
Revelation 12:13 says, "And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child."
Here, 'the woman who gave birth to the male child' refers to Israel.
Since the dragon lost its authority and it is thrown down to the earth because of Jesus Christ, it wreaks its wrath on the people of Israel.
Through the force of the antichrist, the persecution on Israel begins in earnest.
I told you that God has prepared a place where the people of Israel can flee for this time.
However the situation is critical at this time.
Matthew 24:16-19 says, "then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains; Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!"
Then, God has a plan for the salvation of Israel.
Revelation 12:14 says, "But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent."
It says that they are given the two wings of the great eagle when the people of Israel flee to the wilderness.
'The two wings of the great eagle' refer to a means of transport.
At the time that this was written, there were no airplanes. That's why the Apostle John had no other way but to describe it this way.
In this verse, 'the serpent' refers to the force of the antichrist that is incited by Satan.
And this verse mentions "a time and times and half a time." It refers to the latter 3 and a half years of the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
('A time' is one year, 'times' is two years, and 'half a time' is half an year. The total is 3 and a half years.)
I explained that it is the latter 3 and a half years when the true identity of the antichrist is revealed and the persecution begins in earnest.
Israel flees to a place God has prepared, but the force of the antichrist doesn't give up.
The process of the persecution of the antichrist over Israel for the period of 3 and a half years can be divided into three parts.
This is the reason the scripture expresses the 3 and a half years as 'a time and times and half a time.'
First, for a period of a year, the antichrist uses all kinds of equipment to find the place where the people of Israel are hiding.
It is a time for a probing action prior to the actual attack.
And then, during the next 2 years, the force of the antichrist wages a total war against Israel.
They attack the place where the people of Israel are hiding with all kinds of weapons.
Because of this, many people of Israel die.
Since the place God has prepared is a fortress blessed with natural barriers for defense, it can stand against the fierce attack.
But still, confronting the cutting-edge weapons and the great fire-power, many people will have no choice but to die.
After the total war against the Israel, the force of the antichrist changes its plan and begins to use a conciliatory plan; this is the 'half a time.'
Some people are deceived by this conciliatory plan.
Since they are tired of fleeing and hiding, and they see no hope, some of them are deceived by the conciliatory policy of the antichrist.
And still some of them realize that they are being deceived and chose to die in martyrdom.
Like this, among the people of Israel, some of them die in martyrdom in one way or another. Some others survive and enter the Millennium Kingdom.
The same thing is taking place in many parts of the world.
People hide from the persecution of the antichrist, and the pursuers follow and kill these people; people are arrested and killed and they die in martyrdom, but some people deny the Lord as a result of the fierce torture, and there are some others who survive and enter the Millennium Kingdom in the end.
This is what will take place during the latter 3 and a half years.
Jesus mentions this time that Israel will go through.
He says in Matthew 24:20-22, "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."
God still wanted to give one more last chance to the people of Israel.
If Israel is exposed to the persecution of the antichrist as she is, it would not be a great number of the people of Israel who will reach salvation.
That's why God has prepared a place where they can flee so that a comparatively large number of people can reach salvation in reduced tribulations.
Now, the verses 15 and 16 say, "And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth."
While attacking Israel, the force of the antichrist tries to persuade the whole world.
They make up reasons for their attack on Israel, and they justify their actions.
Then, many people ally themselves with the antichrist and help the antichrist to attack Israel.
Meanwhile they use various kinds of weapons, and they attack the people of Israel who are hiding in the refuge.
This situation is described by the verse 15, which reads, "the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman."
But God knew this situation already, and prepared a refuge.
Even though the force of the antichrist attacks Israel using various kinds of weapons, due to natural barriers and environment, the effectiveness of the attack is remarkably low.
For example, the antichrist tries to attack Israel using a gas-like weapon, but thanks to the geographical conditions, the air is well ventilated so that it has no effect.
In addition, when God works, natural disasters such as an earthquake can take place, and it brings great damage to bear on those who attack Israel.
The force of the antichrist's attempt to destroy Israel turns out to be in vain.
This situation is described as the verse 16, which reads, "But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth."
Of course, many people of Israel die from this attack.
But the result is that the attack of the antichrist to destroy Israel doesn't completely succeed.
That's why the antichrist uses the conciliatory measure later.
In this situation, the force of the antichrist does even greater evil.
That's why the verse 17 says, "So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."
After the failure in the attack of the people of Israel who are hiding themselves, the force of the antichrist extends its persecution to the whole world.
They first persecute the Jewish who fail to flee to the refuge, but remain in the land of Israel.
There are many old people, children, and the pregnant women who didn't flee but remained in the land of Israel.
The antichrist persecutes the people mercilessly
Even though not all the people of Israel flee, they all know the identity of the antichrist.
And many of them accept Jesus as their savior.
It is these people whom the antichrist ruthlessly persecutes and kills.
In addition, they severely persecute the Jews who are scattered all over the world, especially those who accepted Jesus as their Savior, and other countless believers.
When the scripture says, "the dragon makes war with the people who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus," it is referring to this situation.
Revelation 13:1 says, 'the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore,' and it means that the persecutions take place in every part of the world.
Many people die in martyrdom due to this persecution, but at the same time, some of them deny the Lord since the persecution and torture are so severe.
Likewise, during the latter three and half a years of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the persecution and oppression of the believers goes to the extreme.
The detailed explanation about this is well written in the 13th chapter of Revelation.
We will look into this in the next lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
As you heard in tonight's lecture, in order to save the people of Israel, God leads them in His providence even in the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Even though they are not caught up in the air but fall down to the earth according to the law of the justice, God gives yet another chance of salvation to those who are still holding onto the name of the Lord.
Of course, they have to overcome all the persecutions and sufferings by themselves with a determination of dying as martyrs.
But even in these times, God leads those believers to be able to keep their faith.
That's why God sets up 144,000 bond-servants of God, and the two witnesses.
And then, even though it is not a big number, some of them can receive the Gleaning Salvation.
It is like this even after the Holy Spirit is taken away. So, how much more is the opportunity that God is giving in this era of the Holy Spirit?
I hope you will never miss this chance, but seize hold of it.
2 Corinthians 6:2 says, "for He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation""
You should not miss this time when the grace of God through the Holy Spirit is overflowing.
You should not miss this opportunity to come into spirit and whole spirit.
You should ride on this flow of spirit.
It's April, 2008 already.
May you remember the determination you made in the beginning of this year, and run once again, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray!
Amen |
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