Revelation 12,13 June 28, 2009
Summer Sermon Series on
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 6
“Three Strikes and Out – Almost!”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Since beginning our study on the Revelation of Jesus Christ, I feel like I have heard its words repeated over and over again. It’s like if you are about to welcome a new child into your family, you think carefully about the name you will give the child. All of a sudden people’s names become more interesting to you. Let’s say you choose the name “Austin.” You like the name, and it’s not so popular that this child will be confused with 10 other kids named Austin in school. But after the child has come and the name has been given, all of sudden it seems like everyone is naming their child Austin, boy or girl, no matter. I’ve heard that scenario time and again.
Well, this is what is happening to me regarding the words of Revelation. I hope it is happening to you, too. I’m hearing John’s words everywhere – especially in Christian music. I did not realize how many songs make reference to the great songs and choruses we have encountered already in the first 11 chapters of this great book. At Creation in this past week, song after song paint the Revelation picture of the One seated on the throne, and of the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God. Revelation is not a part of the Bible to be feared. It is not a part to be avoided. Revelation is a part of God’s Word that helps us see the reality of God’s power, the reality of God’s insistence on justice, and the reality of God’s mercy. Revelation is a book that leads us to worship – Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty – who was, who is, and who is to come! Let us pray:
Holy God, how can we keep from singing your praise? Your love is amazing, your patience so longsuffering. Thank you for your words that speak deep into our hearts. Open the eyes of our hearts now, so that what we need to know for your glory and our benefit in righteousness, we may fully receive – this we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Let’s open our Bibles now to Revelation, chapters 12 & 13.
Revelation 12
1A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule ◙ all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
7And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades ◙ has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea,for the devil has come down to you with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 13
1. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast. 4They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.
9Let anyone who has an ear listen: If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
11Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; 14and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.
Something major happened back in chapter 11 with the sounding of the 7th trumpet. In verses 18,19 of that chapter we read, The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and the saints and all who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth. Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Something major happened there. It was if this book of Revelation is a symphony, and we reached the end of the first movement.
In chapter 12 we enter into the great cosmic battle – sort of like so many movies we see or books we read that announce “The End of the World is Coming!” unless the hero can do something really amazing – like Luke Skywalker defeating Darth Vader or Batman putting down the Joker. In Revelation 12 we begin to see what John sees – a picture of the great cosmic battle between good and evil. John begins by saying, “A great portent appeared.” The word portent is often translated ‘sign’ - the same Greek word used in John’s Gospel in 20:30, “And truly Jesus did many other signs.” A sign tells you something you need to know. A sign shows you the way. “Deer crossing.” “Children at play.” “U-Turn ahead.” These are signs that help us be alert to a present reality. John wrote, Jesus did many other signs – meaning the miracles he gave on earth were given to help us be alert to a present reality – they were given to show us the way – to tell us something we need to know: Our God is With Us. Jesus came to set us free. He’s here to bring healing of every kind – physical, emotional, spiritual healing. Jesus posted signs everywhere to show people how to live the abundant life he came to give us.
John saw signs of the great battle that is raging. He saw a woman in childbirth. Now, some biblical scholars insist that this woman is the righteous remnant of the nation of Israel. There is probably some truth in that interpretation that should be considered. But an additional interpretation that makes the most amount of sense to me, looking at the whole teaching of Scripture, is that this woman is a representative of Mary, who carried Jesus in her womb. The dragon is defined for us in verse 9: That ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.
Listen to these verses from Genesis 3:14,15; these words were spoken by God to Eve and to the serpent after the serpent deceived Eve and she disobeyed God. “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
What John is seeing here is that old enemy trying once, trying twice, and trying three times to overcome the plan of God and take God’s place on the throne over all, in all, and through all. He wants his sign on our foreheads, not God’s name identifying us. He wants you and me and everyone we love to be accused before God as liars, losers, and lovers of everything but God. He wants us in his army. But remember, back in chapter 11 we heard the 7th trumpet – we heard that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord! The outcome of the conflict we are seeing is not in doubt, even before it begins, the outcome is not in doubt. The dragon and his beasts will be defeated, and Satan’s traditional role as the one who accuses us to God is ending, for he is being thrown out of heaven, losing his access to the ear of God.
Thursday night at Creation, Chris Tomlin took 70,000+ people into a wonderful place of worshipping God. Before he even came out onto the stage, the music started with a heavy drum beat and these words: “The enemy’s been defeated. Death couldn’t hold him down.” Over and over again. People who had been sitting, waiting to worship, began to stand. They began to shout. This is the news we all need to hear! We need to know it deep in here. We need to shout it: The enemy’s been defeated! Jesus’ death on the cross didn’t hold back his life – in fact it brought forth imperishable, resurrection life. The cross brought defeat to the devil. He is defeated. He is not yet destroyed – that is coming – but he has been defeated. The outcome is sure! There was, and there still is, wonderworking power in the blood of the Lamb!
The question is: Where are you? Are you on the victor’s side or are you still being deceived by the one who still loves to prowl around looking for someone to devour, who lives to accuse you, twist God’s truth, and crush your hope? Oh, I pray that through God’s word, through the sweet example and fellowship of God’s people, and most importantly through the fire of conviction of the Holy Spirit, each of us would find ourselves on the victor’s side! Do you want to be on the victor’s side? Say it: I want to be on the victor’s side!
The enemy’s been defeated. We see it in verses 4,5 when the dragon’s attempt to devour the woman’s child (meaning Jesus) failed. We see it in verses 7-9, when he was thrown out of his place in heaven. And we see it in verses 13-16, when his attempt to destroy the woman in her place of refuge failed. Three strikes – and if it was simply baseball, he’d be out and back on the bench. But this is not a game. This is real. This is people’s eternal destiny we are considering here. This is, again, God’s patience, God’s restraint at work. If after 3 strikes, God would say, “Okay, it’s over. Bring forth the redeemed,” there would still be so many outside the gate. God continues to give us signs to get our attention and draw us into that relationship with him that we all long for. Do you see the signs? Perhaps it is a hard time right now in your family. Perhaps you are sick; your body is failing. Perhaps you need a job, and nothing’s coming through. Maybe you’re trying to walk away from some friends who are influencing you not in a good way. Do you see the sign? “Over here! Keep your eyes on me! Keep walking in faithfulness. I am with you! I can be enough for you!” And get this: until the devil is completely out, he’s after the Church. He knows his time is short (v. 12).
Some would think that the devil’s main area of influence is on those who do not know God. We might think that he lives to keep people out of God’s family – sort of like the security patrol at the gate. “Oh no. You don’t want to go in there. See how much freedom you have out here? In there, you’ve got nothing but rules and restrictions. There is nothing fun for you to do in there. There’s this big kahuna who sits on the throne with a big stick and as soon as you do something wrong, wack! Turn around and run as fast as you can the other way!” You might think this is the devil’s main tactic. It is not. Verse 17 of chapter 12 tells us his tactic: Then the dragon was angry with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Remember: I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. We could consider that the two beasts in chapter 13 are the “offspring” of the dragon in chapter 12. They give glory, they idolize the dragon, some have even called this trio the evil trinity in comparison to the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you remember that the one beast had a mortal wound to its head? He (meaning the offspring of the woman) will strike your head, and you (meaning the devil) will strike his heel.
Church – we are the main target of the devil. Jesus is the offspring of the woman, and we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus – children of God. The devil knows he cannot “uncover” us when we are already covered in the blood of the Lamb. He knows we are already headed for eternity in heaven with God – and he hates us for that! But if we allow him to keep hitting us, wielding nearly mortal blows to our lives, getting us off course, causing us to doubt, putting nasty words in our heads about others so persistently that we allow them to come out our mouths, and then convincing us to insist on our own way and not work for unity within the Body of Christ for the sake of Jesus, if we allow him all that power – the Church has no testimony to the healing – freeing power of Jesus! And that’s just what the devil wants. He wants to make the church irrelevant, boring, and powerless. He doesn’t want the church to be full of healthy, honest people who actually work out their problems inside and outside of the church family in a God-honoring way. He wants the church to be the last place a person would go in a time of trouble – not because of them – but because of the weak witness we give as those being taken down day after day by the predictable deceitful tactics of the one who hates us most.
Church: We have to put our dukes up! We have to be on the alert. We have to watch for the signs the Holy Spirit gives us. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” Listen to the Message’s paraphrase: 11These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. 12Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
We have the victory, brothers and sisters! Jesus Christ on the cross gave us the victory! We just have to walk in it. We have to walk confidently in it. I know I’m going to heaven. I know it. The witness of the Holy Spirit inside of me tells me so. I’m not perfect. But, I’m perfectly covered in Jesus’ blood and his robe of righteousness. Come on, Church. Get your dukes up against the devil by loving each other, caring for each other, forgiving each other, respecting each other, sharing what we have with those who don’t have, rejecting selfishness, and letting the fruit of the Spirit flow and grow: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All that in Revelation 12 & part of 13.
Now, finally to the end of chapter 13 where it seems we are looking at what happens when Satan’s power on earth is being unchecked through its beasts – one of which is identified by the number 666. I took an informal survey at Creation: I asked, “When you hear the number 666, what does it mean to you?” Here are the two most frequent responses:
That’s the devil’s number.
That’s the number people are going to have written on their foreheads in the end times.
I know in my own life, if I’m at the grocery store and the clerk says, “That’ll be six dollars, and sixty-six cents,” I hesitate to write the check. There are so many different thoughts about what this number really represents. Using the ancient numbers game, gematria, in which each letter of the alphabet was assigned a numerical value, virtually any name can be encoded in a number that represents the total of the letters. The problem is that with a little bit of creativity, many prominent names in every generation can be made to add up to 666. One commentator wrote that such identifications “lead to nothing just because they lead to everything.” Most ancient interpreters concluded the number 666 was a hidden reference to Nero, who ruled the Roman Empire for 14 years from A.D. 54 to 68. His reign was a time of intense persecution of Christians. I will spare you some of brutal details I read of the torture of our brothers and sisters for royal amusement. The numbers work quite well, for example, with the name Adolf Hitler. The question is: Is the number really identifying a particular person, or could it be simply characterizing something?
Some say that 666 is the three-fold repetition of the one who falls short of the number 7 – the number that we have seen often in Revelation representing full authority, completeness, wholeness, and rest. The three sixes is a sign of failure, upon failure, upon failure to reach perfect anything. Let me read a few sentences from the InterVarsity Press commentary: “If the name Nero Caesar is somehow concealed here, the point is not that the beast from the sea is Nero, but that the beast is like Nero in its character and evil acts. If 666 is simply an expression of evil as anything that falls short of the good, then its purpose is to dramatize the point that the beast is evil and therefore to be resisted at all costs. In any event, the modern reader should give priority to verse 10, “this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness.” The believer’s responsibility is not to know everything in advance, but to be faithful no matter whether the threat to faith comes from the final antichrist figure itself or from one of its many predecessors. In our preoccupation with the beast in Revelation, we should not forget the words of 1 John 2:18, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. It is every bit as vital for Christians to resist the “many” as “the one.”
Two weeks ago, the Camden Mission Team met for our final meeting together before heading out on the mission. Just that day I had received a call from the director of the Romero Center where we will be staying. A project was emerging. Would we be interested in building a tree house for the children of Camden in a neighborhood area that currently holds a community garden? Well, having my husband on the team with all his building experience, plus Marty, Nick, & Nathan Parsons with Marty’s ability to pull together raw cut wood, a solid design from Nick, a creative look from Nathan – we were feeling it. We were excited about this opportunity to provide something exciting for the children in the city. Well, emails flew, and flew, and flew some more. From the project manager at a Catholic parish in Camden, this project went from a simple tree house, to a huge project with doors, windows, platforms – an ambitious project for sure. John and Marty were talking, Marty was talking to the woman out in Camden, Nick was busy with CAD design, Nathan kept insisting it had to look cool. And on Thursday, we discovered that much ado was made about nothing, for the whole project idea was put on hold by the priest at the church who started asking the liability questions.
Two responses could follow from our team members (especially since Nick, Nathan, and Marty have never been on a mission trip): We could throw up our hands in frustration and say, “That’s what we get for investing all this time and energy? I quit. If that’s what it means to be on mission for God, count me out!” Or, we could decide we’re going with the flow. We could decide that we’re going to follow the signs as they are revealed, and do our best to shine the light of Jesus wherever we end up each day. The devil encourages the former. God’s grace calls us to the latter: When things don’t go the way we think they should go, we’re not going to embrace frustration – we’re choosing to embrace God’s precious, awesome call on our lives to get out there and pass on love of Jesus.
We are a people most blessed. We know whose we are, and we know the ticket to our final destination has been secured. We’re on mission with Jesus – in here, and out there. We’re on mission to worship God with our lives every single day, inviting others to come on this journey with us. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Amen.
Summer Sermon Series on
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 6
“Three Strikes and Out – Almost!”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Since beginning our study on the Revelation of Jesus Christ, I feel like I have heard its words repeated over and over again. It’s like if you are about to welcome a new child into your family, you think carefully about the name you will give the child. All of a sudden people’s names become more interesting to you. Let’s say you choose the name “Austin.” You like the name, and it’s not so popular that this child will be confused with 10 other kids named Austin in school. But after the child has come and the name has been given, all of sudden it seems like everyone is naming their child Austin, boy or girl, no matter. I’ve heard that scenario time and again.
Well, this is what is happening to me regarding the words of Revelation. I hope it is happening to you, too. I’m hearing John’s words everywhere – especially in Christian music. I did not realize how many songs make reference to the great songs and choruses we have encountered already in the first 11 chapters of this great book. At Creation in this past week, song after song paint the Revelation picture of the One seated on the throne, and of the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God. Revelation is not a part of the Bible to be feared. It is not a part to be avoided. Revelation is a part of God’s Word that helps us see the reality of God’s power, the reality of God’s insistence on justice, and the reality of God’s mercy. Revelation is a book that leads us to worship – Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty – who was, who is, and who is to come! Let us pray:
Holy God, how can we keep from singing your praise? Your love is amazing, your patience so longsuffering. Thank you for your words that speak deep into our hearts. Open the eyes of our hearts now, so that what we need to know for your glory and our benefit in righteousness, we may fully receive – this we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Let’s open our Bibles now to Revelation, chapters 12 & 13.
Revelation 12
1A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule ◙ all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
7And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades ◙ has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea,for the devil has come down to you with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 13
1. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast. 4They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.
9Let anyone who has an ear listen: If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
11Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; 14and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.
Something major happened back in chapter 11 with the sounding of the 7th trumpet. In verses 18,19 of that chapter we read, The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and the saints and all who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth. Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Something major happened there. It was if this book of Revelation is a symphony, and we reached the end of the first movement.
In chapter 12 we enter into the great cosmic battle – sort of like so many movies we see or books we read that announce “The End of the World is Coming!” unless the hero can do something really amazing – like Luke Skywalker defeating Darth Vader or Batman putting down the Joker. In Revelation 12 we begin to see what John sees – a picture of the great cosmic battle between good and evil. John begins by saying, “A great portent appeared.” The word portent is often translated ‘sign’ - the same Greek word used in John’s Gospel in 20:30, “And truly Jesus did many other signs.” A sign tells you something you need to know. A sign shows you the way. “Deer crossing.” “Children at play.” “U-Turn ahead.” These are signs that help us be alert to a present reality. John wrote, Jesus did many other signs – meaning the miracles he gave on earth were given to help us be alert to a present reality – they were given to show us the way – to tell us something we need to know: Our God is With Us. Jesus came to set us free. He’s here to bring healing of every kind – physical, emotional, spiritual healing. Jesus posted signs everywhere to show people how to live the abundant life he came to give us.
John saw signs of the great battle that is raging. He saw a woman in childbirth. Now, some biblical scholars insist that this woman is the righteous remnant of the nation of Israel. There is probably some truth in that interpretation that should be considered. But an additional interpretation that makes the most amount of sense to me, looking at the whole teaching of Scripture, is that this woman is a representative of Mary, who carried Jesus in her womb. The dragon is defined for us in verse 9: That ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.
Listen to these verses from Genesis 3:14,15; these words were spoken by God to Eve and to the serpent after the serpent deceived Eve and she disobeyed God. “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
What John is seeing here is that old enemy trying once, trying twice, and trying three times to overcome the plan of God and take God’s place on the throne over all, in all, and through all. He wants his sign on our foreheads, not God’s name identifying us. He wants you and me and everyone we love to be accused before God as liars, losers, and lovers of everything but God. He wants us in his army. But remember, back in chapter 11 we heard the 7th trumpet – we heard that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord! The outcome of the conflict we are seeing is not in doubt, even before it begins, the outcome is not in doubt. The dragon and his beasts will be defeated, and Satan’s traditional role as the one who accuses us to God is ending, for he is being thrown out of heaven, losing his access to the ear of God.
Thursday night at Creation, Chris Tomlin took 70,000+ people into a wonderful place of worshipping God. Before he even came out onto the stage, the music started with a heavy drum beat and these words: “The enemy’s been defeated. Death couldn’t hold him down.” Over and over again. People who had been sitting, waiting to worship, began to stand. They began to shout. This is the news we all need to hear! We need to know it deep in here. We need to shout it: The enemy’s been defeated! Jesus’ death on the cross didn’t hold back his life – in fact it brought forth imperishable, resurrection life. The cross brought defeat to the devil. He is defeated. He is not yet destroyed – that is coming – but he has been defeated. The outcome is sure! There was, and there still is, wonderworking power in the blood of the Lamb!
The question is: Where are you? Are you on the victor’s side or are you still being deceived by the one who still loves to prowl around looking for someone to devour, who lives to accuse you, twist God’s truth, and crush your hope? Oh, I pray that through God’s word, through the sweet example and fellowship of God’s people, and most importantly through the fire of conviction of the Holy Spirit, each of us would find ourselves on the victor’s side! Do you want to be on the victor’s side? Say it: I want to be on the victor’s side!
The enemy’s been defeated. We see it in verses 4,5 when the dragon’s attempt to devour the woman’s child (meaning Jesus) failed. We see it in verses 7-9, when he was thrown out of his place in heaven. And we see it in verses 13-16, when his attempt to destroy the woman in her place of refuge failed. Three strikes – and if it was simply baseball, he’d be out and back on the bench. But this is not a game. This is real. This is people’s eternal destiny we are considering here. This is, again, God’s patience, God’s restraint at work. If after 3 strikes, God would say, “Okay, it’s over. Bring forth the redeemed,” there would still be so many outside the gate. God continues to give us signs to get our attention and draw us into that relationship with him that we all long for. Do you see the signs? Perhaps it is a hard time right now in your family. Perhaps you are sick; your body is failing. Perhaps you need a job, and nothing’s coming through. Maybe you’re trying to walk away from some friends who are influencing you not in a good way. Do you see the sign? “Over here! Keep your eyes on me! Keep walking in faithfulness. I am with you! I can be enough for you!” And get this: until the devil is completely out, he’s after the Church. He knows his time is short (v. 12).
Some would think that the devil’s main area of influence is on those who do not know God. We might think that he lives to keep people out of God’s family – sort of like the security patrol at the gate. “Oh no. You don’t want to go in there. See how much freedom you have out here? In there, you’ve got nothing but rules and restrictions. There is nothing fun for you to do in there. There’s this big kahuna who sits on the throne with a big stick and as soon as you do something wrong, wack! Turn around and run as fast as you can the other way!” You might think this is the devil’s main tactic. It is not. Verse 17 of chapter 12 tells us his tactic: Then the dragon was angry with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Remember: I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. We could consider that the two beasts in chapter 13 are the “offspring” of the dragon in chapter 12. They give glory, they idolize the dragon, some have even called this trio the evil trinity in comparison to the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you remember that the one beast had a mortal wound to its head? He (meaning the offspring of the woman) will strike your head, and you (meaning the devil) will strike his heel.
Church – we are the main target of the devil. Jesus is the offspring of the woman, and we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus – children of God. The devil knows he cannot “uncover” us when we are already covered in the blood of the Lamb. He knows we are already headed for eternity in heaven with God – and he hates us for that! But if we allow him to keep hitting us, wielding nearly mortal blows to our lives, getting us off course, causing us to doubt, putting nasty words in our heads about others so persistently that we allow them to come out our mouths, and then convincing us to insist on our own way and not work for unity within the Body of Christ for the sake of Jesus, if we allow him all that power – the Church has no testimony to the healing – freeing power of Jesus! And that’s just what the devil wants. He wants to make the church irrelevant, boring, and powerless. He doesn’t want the church to be full of healthy, honest people who actually work out their problems inside and outside of the church family in a God-honoring way. He wants the church to be the last place a person would go in a time of trouble – not because of them – but because of the weak witness we give as those being taken down day after day by the predictable deceitful tactics of the one who hates us most.
Church: We have to put our dukes up! We have to be on the alert. We have to watch for the signs the Holy Spirit gives us. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” Listen to the Message’s paraphrase: 11These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. 12Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
We have the victory, brothers and sisters! Jesus Christ on the cross gave us the victory! We just have to walk in it. We have to walk confidently in it. I know I’m going to heaven. I know it. The witness of the Holy Spirit inside of me tells me so. I’m not perfect. But, I’m perfectly covered in Jesus’ blood and his robe of righteousness. Come on, Church. Get your dukes up against the devil by loving each other, caring for each other, forgiving each other, respecting each other, sharing what we have with those who don’t have, rejecting selfishness, and letting the fruit of the Spirit flow and grow: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All that in Revelation 12 & part of 13.
Now, finally to the end of chapter 13 where it seems we are looking at what happens when Satan’s power on earth is being unchecked through its beasts – one of which is identified by the number 666. I took an informal survey at Creation: I asked, “When you hear the number 666, what does it mean to you?” Here are the two most frequent responses:
That’s the devil’s number.
That’s the number people are going to have written on their foreheads in the end times.
I know in my own life, if I’m at the grocery store and the clerk says, “That’ll be six dollars, and sixty-six cents,” I hesitate to write the check. There are so many different thoughts about what this number really represents. Using the ancient numbers game, gematria, in which each letter of the alphabet was assigned a numerical value, virtually any name can be encoded in a number that represents the total of the letters. The problem is that with a little bit of creativity, many prominent names in every generation can be made to add up to 666. One commentator wrote that such identifications “lead to nothing just because they lead to everything.” Most ancient interpreters concluded the number 666 was a hidden reference to Nero, who ruled the Roman Empire for 14 years from A.D. 54 to 68. His reign was a time of intense persecution of Christians. I will spare you some of brutal details I read of the torture of our brothers and sisters for royal amusement. The numbers work quite well, for example, with the name Adolf Hitler. The question is: Is the number really identifying a particular person, or could it be simply characterizing something?
Some say that 666 is the three-fold repetition of the one who falls short of the number 7 – the number that we have seen often in Revelation representing full authority, completeness, wholeness, and rest. The three sixes is a sign of failure, upon failure, upon failure to reach perfect anything. Let me read a few sentences from the InterVarsity Press commentary: “If the name Nero Caesar is somehow concealed here, the point is not that the beast from the sea is Nero, but that the beast is like Nero in its character and evil acts. If 666 is simply an expression of evil as anything that falls short of the good, then its purpose is to dramatize the point that the beast is evil and therefore to be resisted at all costs. In any event, the modern reader should give priority to verse 10, “this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness.” The believer’s responsibility is not to know everything in advance, but to be faithful no matter whether the threat to faith comes from the final antichrist figure itself or from one of its many predecessors. In our preoccupation with the beast in Revelation, we should not forget the words of 1 John 2:18, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. It is every bit as vital for Christians to resist the “many” as “the one.”
Two weeks ago, the Camden Mission Team met for our final meeting together before heading out on the mission. Just that day I had received a call from the director of the Romero Center where we will be staying. A project was emerging. Would we be interested in building a tree house for the children of Camden in a neighborhood area that currently holds a community garden? Well, having my husband on the team with all his building experience, plus Marty, Nick, & Nathan Parsons with Marty’s ability to pull together raw cut wood, a solid design from Nick, a creative look from Nathan – we were feeling it. We were excited about this opportunity to provide something exciting for the children in the city. Well, emails flew, and flew, and flew some more. From the project manager at a Catholic parish in Camden, this project went from a simple tree house, to a huge project with doors, windows, platforms – an ambitious project for sure. John and Marty were talking, Marty was talking to the woman out in Camden, Nick was busy with CAD design, Nathan kept insisting it had to look cool. And on Thursday, we discovered that much ado was made about nothing, for the whole project idea was put on hold by the priest at the church who started asking the liability questions.
Two responses could follow from our team members (especially since Nick, Nathan, and Marty have never been on a mission trip): We could throw up our hands in frustration and say, “That’s what we get for investing all this time and energy? I quit. If that’s what it means to be on mission for God, count me out!” Or, we could decide we’re going with the flow. We could decide that we’re going to follow the signs as they are revealed, and do our best to shine the light of Jesus wherever we end up each day. The devil encourages the former. God’s grace calls us to the latter: When things don’t go the way we think they should go, we’re not going to embrace frustration – we’re choosing to embrace God’s precious, awesome call on our lives to get out there and pass on love of Jesus.
We are a people most blessed. We know whose we are, and we know the ticket to our final destination has been secured. We’re on mission with Jesus – in here, and out there. We’re on mission to worship God with our lives every single day, inviting others to come on this journey with us. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Amen.
