Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000021
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01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:16 Our loving Father, we thank you so much 01:21 for Your Word, which is a sure guide in a world of confusion 01:27 and rebellion. We ask for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit 01:31 as we study that great prophecy of Revelation 12. 01:36 We ask that You will teach us and give us understanding 01:40 that we might be willing to follow Your will. 01:44 We thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayer. 01:46 For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:51 We want to begin our study today by reviewing 01:55 what we studied in our last 01:57 lecture. If you remember, 01:59 we studied the prophecy 02:00 of Daniel chapter 2. 02:02 You remember that king Nebuchadnezzar had this dream 02:07 and in the dream he saw a gigantic image. 02:11 The head of the image was of gold. 02:13 The breast and the arms were of silver. 02:17 The belly was of bronze. 02:19 The legs were of iron, and the feet were of iron and clay. 02:25 And then Nebuchadnezzar saw a gigantic stone 02:30 come from heaven and smite the image on its feet 02:35 and broke the image into smithereens. 02:39 And then that stone became a mountain 02:43 which filled the whole earth. 02:45 Now I'm going to review the sequence of nations 02:49 which are mentioned in Daniel chapter 2. 02:52 The head of gold represents the kingdom of Babylon 02:56 which governed from the year 605 BC 02:59 till the year 539 BC. 03:03 The breast and arms of silver represent the kingdom 03:07 of Medo-Persia which governed from 539 BC to 331 BC. 03:13 The belly of bronze represents the kingdom of Greece 03:19 which ruled from the year 331 BC till the year 168 BC. 03:25 The fourth kingdom of iron represented by the legs 03:29 represents the iron monarchy of Rome. 03:33 In other words, the Roman Empire. 03:35 And of course the feet of iron and clay, ten toes, 03:40 represent the divisions of Western Europe. 03:44 But you'll notice that the divisions of Western Europe 03:47 are a continuation of Rome because the feet have iron 03:52 just like the legs have iron 03:54 but this is a different kind of Rome. 03:57 It is a continuation of Rome because it's the same iron 04:00 as the legs, but it is a different kind of Rome 04:03 because it is a mixed Rome. 04:06 And we studied in our last lecture that the clay 04:09 represents the church. In other words, after the 04:12 Roman Empire was split up you had a period 04:15 where church and state were joined together. 04:18 And actually, that condition lasts until 04:22 the second coming of Jesus Christ. 04:24 Now the kingdom that we're especially going to focus on 04:28 on our study today is the fourth kingdom of Daniel chapter 2. 04:34 We're going to be quite a bit of time in the image 04:40 the portion that has to do with the legs of iron. 04:44 Now we need to look at some background 04:47 before we actually get into the study of Revelation chapter 12. 04:52 Go with me once again to Genesis chapter 3 04:55 and verse 15... that verse which has guided us 04:59 in the study in this seminar. 05:01 Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. 05:05 Very well-known verse. 05:08 God is speaking to the serpent, and He says: 05:28 Four key elements in this verse. 05:31 Number one: enmity. 05:33 Number two: a serpent. 05:36 Number three: a woman. 05:38 And number four: seed. 05:41 Now we're going to find that this verse is in the background 05:45 of Revelation chapter 12. 05:47 I want you to notice that in Genesis 3:15 05:50 though there is warfare between the woman and the serpent 05:54 the real warfare is between the Seed of the woman 05:58 and the serpent. Because the last part of the verse says 06:01 "He... " the Seed of the woman... 06:03 "will bruise your head... " That is, the head of the serpent... 06:06 "and the serpent will bruise His heel. " 06:10 The war is between the Seed of the woman and the serpent 06:13 even though there is also warfare between the serpent 06:16 and the woman. 06:19 Now we've also studied in our seminar that the devil 06:22 tried to keep Jesus from coming 06:25 all throughout the Old Testament. 06:26 We had a whole lecture on all of the episodes of the 06:29 Old Testament which illustrate how Satan tried to keep the Seed 06:34 from coming. He did it by trying to kill the Seed 06:38 and then he also did it by trying to corrupt the holy line 06:43 from which the Seed would come. 06:46 But folks, the devil was not able to interrupt the plans 06:51 of God. In the fullness of time 06:54 Jesus came to this world exactly the way God had prophesied 07:00 in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. 07:04 Now there's one more thing that I want to notice 07:07 by means of introduction before we get into 07:10 a specific study of Revelation 12, 07:12 and that is that this chapter has three distinct stages. 07:19 The first stage is found in Revelation 12 07:22 and verses 1 through 5. 07:25 And that is the stage where the dragon tries to kill 07:30 the Seed of the woman. 07:32 By the way, that's clearly a reference to Genesis 3:15... 07:37 the dragon trying to kill the Seed that is born of the woman. 07:41 That's the first stage. 07:43 The second stage is found in Revelation 12 and verse 6 07:47 and also verses 13 through 15. 07:51 In this stage the Child has already escaped the grasp 07:55 of the serpent or the grasp of the dragon 07:58 and so the dragon now goes after the woman. 08:01 And the woman flees to the wilderness where she has her 08:05 place prepared for 1,260 days or years. 08:11 The third stage in this chapter 08:13 is the final warfare of the dragon against the seed 08:18 of the Seed... "the remnant of her seed" 08:21 as it says in Revelation 12 and verse 17. 08:25 And so we find three distinct stages 08:28 of warfare in Revelation chapter 12. 08:31 First: the devil against the Seed. 08:36 Secondly: the devil or the serpent against the woman. 08:40 Third: the warfare of Satan against the remnant of the 08:44 woman's seed. And of course, the woman's seed is Jesus. 08:48 So the remnant of the woman's seed would be the remnant 08:51 of Jesus. Three distinct stages. 08:54 I want you to remember these stages because we're going to 08:57 come back to them later on. 08:59 What I want you to notice is that in all of these 3 stages 09:04 it is the serpent or the dragon who is the perpetrator 09:10 of the events that are taking place. 09:12 Now he uses human instruments 09:14 but really, he is the force behind. 09:17 He's the one who tries to kill the Child. 09:19 He's the one who persecutes the woman. 09:22 And he is the one who launches the final onslaught 09:26 of warfare against the remnant of the woman's seed. 09:30 Now we want to examine another Old Testament story 09:34 which forms the backdrop specifically to the prophecy 09:38 of Revelation chapter 12. 09:41 I am referring to the story of the exodus of Israel 09:45 from Egypt. Now you say: "What possible relationship 09:49 could there be between Revelation chapter 12 09:53 and the exodus of Israel from Egypt? " 09:55 Well, I believe that as we move along in studying the 09:59 exodus of Israel we're going to begin to see 10:03 some interesting parallels to Revelation chapter 12. 10:06 Now time does not allow us 10:09 to read all of the verses which describe the exodus 10:13 of Israel from Egypt. 10:15 In the handout that you will receive after the lecture today 10:19 you have all of the scripture references with explanations 10:24 about all that I'm going to share. 10:25 For now, what I want is for you to catch the picture 10:29 or the idea of what happened at the exodus so that 10:34 when we go to Revelation chapter 12 you're able to see 10:37 this backdrop. Now, Exodus chapter 1, I'm going to mention 10:42 the verses. Exodus chapter 1 verses 13 and 14 10:45 explains that Israel was in cruel 10:50 and despotic bondage. 10:53 They had no way of escaping themselves. 10:56 They were slaves. They had to serve Pharaoh 11:00 day after day after day. 11:02 In fact, there in Exodus 1:13 and 14 11:05 it uses the word "bitter" to describe their bondage. 11:09 And so Exodus chapter 2 and verses 23 and 25 11:13 we find that the people are moaning and groaning 11:18 and crying out 11:19 because they want a deliverer 11:22 to be born to lead them 11:24 out from bondage. 11:26 Because they know that they cannot deliver themselves 11:28 because they are slaves. 11:30 And it's interesting to notice in that passage in 11:32 Exodus 2:23-25 that they're crying out. 11:37 I want you to remember that word: "they're crying out. " 11:39 They're groaning because they want someone to deliver them 11:43 from bondage. Well, it just so happens 11:47 that a deliverer was born in Egypt. 11:50 He was born of a woman. I want you to remember that. 11:54 The name of the woman was Jochebed, his mother. 11:59 And so we find here a child, a man child, 12:03 who is going to be born of a woman 12:07 and he is going to be the deliverer of Israel 12:11 from bondage when they are crying out to God 12:15 for deliverance. But there was one who did not want this child 12:20 to survive. He felt threatened by his existence 12:24 or by his potential existence. 12:27 And of course the name of that individual was Pharaoh. 12:31 Now do you know that in the book of Ezekiel 12:35 chapter 29 and verse 3 Pharaoh - and by the way, 12:40 this is in the King James version - 12:42 Pharaoh is called "the great dragon. " 12:46 I want you to remember that: Pharaoh is called "the great 12:49 dragon. " The New King James says: "the great monster. " 12:53 You know, if you read the Greek translation of the 12:55 Old Testament you'll find that the word there is the word 12:58 drákôn. And so we're dealing not with a monster 13:03 as such, we are dealing with a dragon. 13:06 So Pharaoh is called "the great dragon. " 13:11 And the Bible says that Pharaoh stands next to the woman 13:15 so to speak to devour this child, 13:19 this deliverer, as soon as he is born. 13:24 Have you read this story? 13:26 Are you starting to catch an interesting picture here? 13:29 This is really the backdrop of Revelation chapter 12. 13:34 Now, it's interesting to notice how Pharaoh tried to get rid 13:40 of the deliverer. 13:41 In Exodus chapter 1 and verse 22 13:44 it says that Pharaoh had all of the male children 13:51 thrown into the Nile River. 13:53 In other words, he had all of the male children killed 13:57 in the hopes of also killing the deliverer. 14:02 Now I must make a parentheses here 14:05 and explain to you that the devil had a greater agenda 14:08 here than just slaying Moses. 14:13 Did you know that approximately 400 years before this 14:18 God had given a prophecy to Abraham? 14:21 It's found in Genesis chapter 15 and verses 13 through 15. 14:25 And in that prophecy God had told Abraham 14:29 that the children of Israel were going to be sojourners 14:33 in the land of Egypt for 400 years 14:38 but that after the 400 years God was going to deliver them 14:43 from Egypt and He was going to take them to Canaan. 14:48 Do you think the devil carefully calculated 14:52 when the 400 years began and when the 400 years ended? 14:57 Of course he did! 14:58 The devil did not want Israel to be delivered from bondage 15:03 because he knew that if Israel went to Canaan 15:06 in Canaan the Messiah would be born. 15:09 And so he says: "I'm going to nip this in the bud. 15:12 I am going to kill the deliverer so that Israel cannot leave 15:15 Egypt and cannot enter Canaan, and that way the deliverer 15:19 will not be born. " And folks, it is no coincidence 15:22 that the Canaanites fought tooth and nail for the Promised Land. 15:27 This was not only their attitude, it was Satan 15:31 inspiring them to resist Israel entering the Promised Land. 15:36 Because the devil knew that in that place 15:39 the Messiah was going to be born. 15:41 And he knew it because God had taken Abraham out of Ur of the 15:45 Chaldees. And He took him to Haran and then He took him 15:48 to the Promised Land. And so the devil says 15:51 "I cannot allow a deliverer to exist. I must kill him. 15:56 I must nip this in the bud and that way Israel 15:59 will remain in bondage. " 16:02 But it's interesting that Moses was preserved in Egypt. 16:08 His life was spared. He was protected 16:11 in the land of Egypt. 16:13 And of course we are told in Exodus that he became 16:16 the great deliverer of the children of Israel. 16:20 In fact, the night that Israel was delivered I want you to 16:24 notice. This is very interesting. 16:26 The night that Israel was deliverer God told them 16:30 as a sign of their deliverance 16:32 to sacrifice a lamb without blemish. 16:36 In other words, the sign of their deliverance 16:39 was the death of a perfect lamb. 16:42 And when they sacrificed that lamb 16:44 they were delivered from bondage to the literal Egyptians. 16:49 Now, there's much more that we need to say. 16:53 Before Israel entered the Promised Land 16:57 Moses, the deliverer, died on the borders of Canaan. 17:04 The story of his death is found in Deuteronomy chapter 34. 17:08 And I'm not going to go there; I just want to mention 17:10 the verses: Deuteronomy 34:5-6. 17:13 There are two strange things about the death of Moses. 17:17 Number one: we are told in Deuteronomy 34 17:21 that God buried Moses. 17:24 He's the only person in the Bible that God ever buried! 17:26 We don't know of anyone else who God buried... 17:29 not even Jesus. 17:31 Jesus wasn't buried by His Father. 17:33 But Moses was buried by God. 17:36 And another interesting detail which is very strange 17:38 is the fact that it says there in Deuteronomy 34 17:42 that no one knew where his tomb was till that day. 17:47 Very unusual because the Jews marked the tombs 17:51 of their heroes. They knew exactly where Abraham was 17:54 buried in the Cave of Machpelah. 17:56 They knew where David was buried in Jerusalem 18:00 and also probably where Daniel the prophet was buried 18:02 because an inscription has been found that says: "Here lies 18:05 Daniel the prophet" recently. His body wasn't found 18:09 but the inscription says that Daniel was buried there. 18:11 The Jew marked the tombs of their heroes. 18:14 But with Moses? God buried him 18:17 and nobody knew where his tomb was. 18:20 Do you know what happened when Moses died 18:22 according to scripture? 18:24 He died, he was buried, 18:29 and when he was buried we are told in the book of Jude 18:33 verse 9... I only mention the verse 18:36 because Jude only has one chapter... 18:38 Jude verse 9, that there was a battle at the gravesite 18:43 of Moses. It says there that Michael the Archangel 18:48 fought with Satan over the body of Moses. 18:55 Now do you think they were fighting for dead corpse? 18:59 Do you think that every time a person dies 19:02 Michael the Archangel and the devil fight over a dead body? 19:06 Obviously not. 19:08 By the way, that individual - Michael, 19:11 the Archangel - was none less than Jesus Christ Himself. 19:16 Now let me explain that the Bible does not teach 19:19 that Michael the Archangel was the first creature of God 19:23 like some churches teach. 19:24 We believe that Michael the Archangel is Christ, 19:28 but Christ is everlasting God. 19:31 He never had a beginning. 19:33 He is the great angel of the resurrection... 19:36 the great messenger of the resurrection. 19:38 That's the reason why in I Thessalonians chapter 4 19:41 we are told that the Lord will descend with a shout. 19:44 "The Lord Himself will descend with a shout, 19:47 with the voice of the Archangel 19:49 and with the trumpet of God. " 19:51 Notice that the Lord Himself 19:52 utters the voice of the Archangel. 19:54 And so there was this battle 19:56 over the body of Moses. 19:58 And actually, Michael had come to resurrect Moses. 20:02 You say: "Now how do you know that? " 20:04 Well, it's very very simple. 20:06 In Matthew chapter 17 and verse 3 20:09 we find the episode where Jesus was transfigured 20:14 on the Mount of Transfiguration. 20:16 And we are told there that as Jesus was being transfigured - 20:21 in other words, He was glorified there - 20:24 it says that "His garments shone like the sun" - 20:26 we are told that two individuals were sent to speak with Him. 20:31 One of them, of course, was Elijah 20:33 who was translated to heaven from among the living. 20:36 The other was Moses. 20:39 Now what was Moses doing there 1,400 years after his death? 20:44 It must be that he resurrected. 20:47 Because if he didn't resurrect he could not have come 20:50 to speak to Jesus. In other words, Moses 20:54 died once he had delivered Israel from Egypt. 20:58 He died; he was buried; he resurrected 21:02 and he ascended to heaven. 21:05 Now let's summarize what we've studied about Moses. 21:09 Moses delivered literal Israel from literal bondage 21:14 in literal Egypt. Took them across a literal desert 21:19 to a literal land of Canaan. 21:21 They sacrificed a literal lamb. 21:24 Moses brought literal water from a literal rock 21:27 and literal bread from heaven. 21:29 A literal serpent was raised up in the literal desert 21:33 to prevent literal death from literal poison. 21:36 In other words, what happened in the Old Testament was 21:39 literal and local 21:42 but it symbolized future events 21:44 which would be spiritual and global. 21:48 In other words, we have in this episode of Moses 21:51 a prophecy of a far-greater event which was going to 21:55 take place in the future 21:57 and which was foreshadowed by this experience of Israel 22:03 leaving the land of Egypt. 22:06 Are you clear in what we've spoken about so far? 22:09 You have the backdrop of Daniel 2. 22:13 Don't forget that: the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2. 22:16 That's the key right now. 22:18 Rome. The Empire of Rome. The iron monarchy of Rome. 22:22 That's the backdrop of which kingdom from the Old Testament: 22:26 the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2. 22:28 We have the backdrop of Genesis 3:15. 22:31 Let me ask you: do you have the same elements in the story 22:33 of Moses that you have in Genesis 3:15? 22:36 Do you have enmity? Yes you do. 22:38 Do you have a women? Yes... Jochebed. 22:41 Do you have a seed? Yes... Moses. 22:44 Do you have the dragon wanting to kill the seed? 22:48 Absolutely! And so really this story of the exodus from 22:53 Egypt is really a re-enactment of the story 22:58 that is told in Genesis 3 and verse 15. 23:01 Now let's go in our Bibles to Revelation chapter 12 23:04 and verses 1 through 5. 23:06 Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 through 5. 23:09 And I'm going to read this passage... 23:13 I'm actually going to read all five verses... and then 23:15 we're going to study them more carefully. 23:19 It says here: 23:47 So do you have a Seed in her womb? Yes. OK. verse 3: 24:34 Question: do you have a woman in this passage? 24:39 Yes you do. 24:40 Do you have a dragon or a serpent in this passage? 24:45 Yes we do. 24:46 Do you have enmity in this passage? 24:49 Absolutely! 24:51 And do you have in this passage 24:54 a Seed which the woman is going to bring into the world? 24:58 Yes! This is really a development and an unfolding 25:04 of the prophecy of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. 25:08 And by the way, it is also a greater amplification 25:13 on a world-wide scale of the experience 25:17 that took place with Moses when he delivered Israel 25:20 from the land of Egypt. 25:22 By the way, do you know that the New Testament presents Jesus 25:25 as a new Moses or as one greater than Moses? 25:29 Notice the book of Hebrews chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2. 25:34 Hebrews chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2. 25:38 Here there's a comparison between Moses and Jesus. 25:42 It says there in verse 1: 26:04 In other words, Moses was great 26:07 but Jesus is greater than Moses. 26:11 In fact, do you know that Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 26:16 predicted that a prophet greater than himself would arise 26:21 and that Israel was to listen to that prophet 26:24 greater than himself. 26:26 If you read Acts chapter 3 and verses 22 to 26 26:31 you'll discover that clearly in Acts 3:22-26 26:36 Peter identifies Jesus as that prophet 26:41 greater than Moses. In other words, Jesus is 26:45 going to do what Moses did but on a much larger and greater 26:49 scale. Whereas Moses delivered literal Israel from literal 26:54 bondage Jesus was going to deliver the human race 26:57 from spiritual bondage to sin. 27:01 Now let's draw the parallel. 27:03 Go with me once again to Revelation chapter 12 27:07 and verses 1 and 2. Revelation 12:1-2. 27:12 We just read those verses but let's read them again. 27:31 You have a women here in Revelation chapter 12 27:34 verses 1 and 2. Now in the Old Testament 27:37 you have a literal woman who brings Moses into the world. 27:41 But in Revelation chapter 12 the woman is symbolic. 27:45 What does the woman represent? 27:47 The woman represents the church. 27:51 The question is: which church? 27:53 The Old Testament church or the New Testament church? 27:56 It has to be the Old Testament church. 28:00 And you say: "How do we know that? " 28:01 Very simple. When John sees the woman 28:04 she is with child but the Child has not been born. 28:08 She's crying out in pain 28:10 because she wants this Child to be delivered. 28:13 She wants this Child to deliver God's people 28:16 just like Israel in the Old Testament was crying out 28:19 for deliverance. Now do you know that in the Old Testament 28:23 Israel is presented as the wife of God? 28:28 Notice what we find in Jeremiah 31 and verse 32. 28:33 Jeremiah 31 and verse 32. 28:37 This is speaking about the episode that took place 28:40 at Mt. Sinai and it says there... 28:43 Actually, let's read verse 31 for the context: 28:45 "Behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make 28:48 a new covenant with the house of Israel 28:51 and with the house of Judah. 28:53 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers 28:57 in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of 29:00 the land of Egypt. " Now notice this: 29:03 "My covenant which they broke 29:07 though I was a... " What? 29:09 "Though I was a husband to them. " 29:12 So who is the husband of this woman? 29:15 The husband of this woman is God! 29:18 Who implanted Jesus in the womb of Mary? 29:22 God the Father did. 29:25 Are you with me or are you not with me? 29:27 In other words, the woman here represents 29:30 the Old Testament church culminating with Mary 29:34 who was a member of that church so to speak. 29:38 By the way, in Jeremiah 6 and verse 2 29:40 Israel is compared to a beautiful and delicate woman. 29:46 In other words, when you find in prophecy a woman 29:49 it represents the church. 29:52 And in the case of Revelation chapter 12 this woman 29:55 must represent God's church in the Old Testament 29:59 because when John sees the woman the Child has not yet 30:03 been born. 30:05 In other words, what John is seeing is the Old Testament 30:09 church moaning and groaning and crying out in labor pains 30:15 because they want the Messiah to be born into the world 30:19 to deliver the human race from sin. 30:23 Now you say: "How do you know that it's the Old Testament 30:25 church? " Well besides the fact 30:27 that this woman has not had the Child yet 30:31 we have another clue that indicates that this represents 30:35 the Old Testament church. Go with me to Genesis chapter 37 30:40 and verses 9 and 10. 30:42 Genesis 37 and verses 9 and 10. 30:46 It's speaking here about the sons of Jacob. 30:49 And it's very interesting to notice a dream that Joseph had. 30:54 Notice verse 9: "Then he dreamed still another dream 30:58 and told it to his brothers and said: 'Look, I have dreamed 31:03 another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and the 11 stars 31:09 bowed down to me. ' " 31:14 What are the brothers of Joseph compared to? 31:17 They are compared to stars. 31:20 Who would the 12th star be? 31:22 It would be Joseph. 31:24 The sun would be Jacob 31:27 and the moon would be his wife. 31:31 The eleven stars would be the brothers of Joseph 31:34 and the 12th star would be Joseph. 31:36 So what do the twelve stars represent? 31:38 They represent the sons of Jacob 31:42 which later became what? They became the tribes of Israel 31:46 which is God's Old Testament church. 31:50 Are you following what I'm saying? 31:51 In fact, in Genesis 49 verse 28 it says that 31:54 the 12 sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of Israel. 32:00 Now let me ask you: were God's people in bondage 32:05 when Jesus was about to come to this world? 32:08 Yes they were. In bondage to what? 32:11 Are we talking literal bondage? I mean, were they literally 32:15 slaves of a slave master? 32:16 Absolutely not. They were slaves to what? 32:19 Slaves to sin. Notice John chapter 8. 32:23 John chapter 8 and we'll read verses 34 to 36. 32:28 John 8:34-36. 32:31 Jesus is speaking to the Jews who were expecting the Messiah 32:34 and notice what He says in verse 34: 33:02 So were God's people in slavery or in bondage 33:08 when Jesus came? Absolutely. 33:10 Were they crying out for a deliverer? 33:12 Yes. They were waiting for "the consolation of Israel" 33:16 it says in Luke chapter 1. And then of course 33:20 Jesus is born. And what was He born for? 33:25 Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21 has the answer. 33:28 "You will call His name Jesus 33:33 for He shall save His people from their... " What? 33:38 "He shall save His people from their sins. " 33:42 Was Jesus the Savior born into this world 33:45 to deliver His people from spiritual bondage to sin? 33:49 Were His people groaning and moaning, waiting for the 33:52 consolation of Israel? Absolutely. And by the way, 33:56 Jesus is born during the time of the legs of iron. 34:00 Don't forget that. 34:01 He's born during the period of the fourth kingdom 34:05 of Daniel chapter 2. Now let me ask you: when Jesus 34:08 was born was somebody waiting for Him? 34:12 Did somebody know that He was going to be born? 34:15 Absolutely. Notice Revelation chapter 12 34:19 and verses 3 and 4. Are you seeing the repetition 34:22 of the Moses story? Revelation 12:3-4. 34:27 It says here speaking about this dragon: 34:56 What is the name of this individual who wanted to 34:58 devour the child? The what? 35:01 The great dragon. Do you remember an Old Testament 35:05 individual who was called the great dragon? 35:07 Pharaoh. Now who really wanted the death of Jesus? 35:12 It was Satan, the great dragon. 35:16 Now who was that great dragon? 35:18 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 9 has the answer. 35:21 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 9 35:24 tells us who this dragon was. 35:25 It says: "So the great dragon was cast out, 35:29 that serpent of old" or 'that ancient serpent' as it says 35:32 in the King James, "called the devil and Satan 35:35 who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth 35:38 and his angels were cast out with him. " 35:41 So who is the dragon that stood next to the woman 35:44 to devour the Child as soon as the Child was born? 35:47 It was the great dragon Satan 35:50 the ancient serpent, which is a reference to Genesis 3:15. 35:57 Now how did the devil try and destroy Jesus? 36:00 The devil wanted to destroy Moses, didn't he? 36:03 Who did the devil use to try and destroy Moses? 36:07 Pharaoh. See, Pharaoh was the great dragon because he was 36:11 the instrument of "THE great dragon. " 36:14 Let me ask you: when Jesus was born 36:17 was there also THE great dragon who uses a great dragon 36:23 to try and destroy Christ? 36:24 Yes. What was the name of that individual? 36:27 He was called Herod. 36:30 Do you see that the devil has his seed? 36:33 Are you following me with Genesis 3 verse 15? 36:37 The devil works through his what? Through his seed 36:40 to destroy the woman's seed. 36:42 Now notice Matthew chapter 2 and verses 13 through 15. 36:46 Matthew chapter 2 and verses 13 through 15. 36:51 Here we find the story of how the devil tried 36:54 to destroy Jesus. He did not do it directly himself. 36:58 He did it through an instrument just like in the days of Moses. 37:00 It says in verse 13: 37:02 "Now when they had departed behold an angel of the Lord 37:05 appeared to Joseph in a dream saying: 'Arise! 37:08 Take the young child and His mother. Flee to Egypt. ' " 37:14 Where was the life of Jesus preserved? 37:16 In... Of course, that's all a coincidence. 37:19 In Egypt! Where was the life of Moses preserved? 37:23 In Egypt. And so it says: " 'Arise. Take the young child 37:27 and his mother. Flee to Egypt 37:28 and stay there until I bring you word 37:32 for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. ' 37:36 When he arose he took the young Child and His mother 37:39 by night and departed for Egypt 37:41 and was there until the death 37:44 of Herod that it might be 37:45 fulfilled which was spoken by 37:47 the Lord through the prophet 37:48 saying: 'Out of Egypt 37:50 I called My Son. ' " 37:52 Now notice verse 16: 38:16 Is he doing the same thing that Pharaoh did in the 38:19 Old Testament? Yes. 38:21 In the Old Testament it was a figure but in this case 38:24 it is the fulfillment of what we find in the story 38:28 of Moses. Incidentally, 38:32 do you know the devil tried to kill Jesus on other occasions 38:35 during His life? He didn't only try to kill Jesus 38:38 when Jesus was born. 38:41 Do you remember for example one time Jesus was preaching 38:44 a sermon in Nazareth and He said some very 38:46 politically incorrect things? 38:48 The people shoved Him out of the synagogue 38:51 and they took Him to a precipice and they wanted to throw Him 38:53 over the precipice. He disappeared from their midst. 38:56 He was actually covered by the angels so that the people 39:00 could not see Him. Who do you suppose was behind that? 39:05 The devil. You say: "Well, but if Jesus died 39:08 He would save us from our sins. " Listen, 39:10 the only death that would count was if Jesus offered His life 39:14 not if the devil took His life. 39:16 And the devil knew it. So he says: "If I am able to 39:18 kill Him before He gives His life 39:22 I will be successful. " 39:24 Once the devil tried to drown Jesus in a storm. 39:27 He was sleeping in a boat. 39:29 See we don't usually read these stories from this perspective. 39:31 We usually say: "Oh, there was this bad storm 39:34 you know, and Jesus calmed the storm. " 39:36 Listen, the devil knew that Jesus was sleeping in that boat 39:38 and the devil wanted to drown Jesus because it was not a time 39:41 of storms. Because all of the fishing boats were on the lake. 39:45 In Galilee, fisherman do not go out onto the lake 39:48 when it's stormy season. They simply don't. 39:50 And so this was a storm out of season. 39:53 On another occasion the devil tried to have Jesus stoned. 39:58 On several occasions people picked up stones to 40:00 stone Jesus. The devil was behind this. 40:03 But all through the life of Jesus God the Father 40:07 spared the life of Jesus. 40:09 The devil also tried to defeat Jesus by infiltrating 40:14 Him with sin. Are you seeing the same two methods 40:17 that the devil used in the Old Testament? 40:19 Try and kill the seed and try to corrupt the seed. 40:24 He did the same thing with Jesus. 40:26 He tried to kill Him repeatedly 40:28 and he tried to infect Jesus with the virus of sin. 40:32 But every time that the devil tried to infect Jesus 40:35 with the virus of sin Jesus said: "It is written" 40:40 and He resisted the temptation of Satan. 40:44 The devil also tried to get Jesus to retaliate. 40:48 You see, when Jesus is suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, 40:52 when He's sweating drops of blood, 40:54 when Jesus is being beaten in Pilate's court 40:58 and in Herod's court, the devil is doing this because 41:03 he wants Jesus to do one of two things. 41:05 He wants Jesus to retaliate 41:07 and thus to sin - to deliver Himself - 41:10 or secondly he wants Jesus to give up and to leave 41:15 and go back to heaven without redeeming the human race. 41:18 He does not want Jesus to go to the cross and die. 41:22 He's causing these sufferings because he wants to bother Jesus 41:28 so much that Jesus will retaliate or Jesus will leave 41:32 when He sees that His disciples have forsaken Him, 41:34 that there's nobody with Him. The devil's saying: 41:36 "What's the use of You going through this? 41:38 Nobody's going to be saved. Everybody's forsaken You. 41:41 Go back to heaven where You're loved. " 41:44 But Jesus stuck with it. 41:47 And the Bible tells us that Jesus died as the Passover Lamb. 41:54 Is that what would happen for the deliverance of Israel 41:56 in the Old Testament? 41:58 Notice I Corinthians chapter 5. 42:00 I Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. 42:02 See Jesus is repeating the history of Israel. 42:05 I Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. 42:08 The apostle Paul says this: 42:10 "Therefore purge out the old leaven 42:14 that you may be a new lump 42:16 since you truly are unleavened. 42:18 For indeed, Christ our Passover 42:23 was sacrificed for us. " 42:26 And do you know what Jesus did when He died on the cross? 42:29 Notice John chapter 12. 42:31 John chapter 12, and let's read verses 31 to 33. 42:37 John 12 verses 31 to 33. 42:40 And I want you to notice the tense of the verbs. 42:42 Jesus says: 42:52 What tense is that verb? 42:55 "Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. " 43:01 Jesus has not died yet. 43:03 What was going to cast him out? 43:04 Notice... It continues saying there in verse 32: 43:22 What was it that cast out Satan as the king of this world? 43:26 What returned the kingdom and the world back to Jesus? 43:30 It was the death of Jesus on the cross. 43:33 Now we can remember Genesis 3:15. 43:36 God said that He's going to send a Seed to the world 43:38 and the Seed is going to crush the serpent's head. 43:41 And just a few verses further down in verse 21 43:45 God explains how that Seed 43:48 is going to crush the serpent's head. 43:50 It says in Genesis 3 verse 21 43:53 that lambs were sacrificed on that day. 43:57 And from the skins of the 43:59 sacrifice the nakedness of Adam 44:01 and Eve was covered. 44:03 In other words, they returned 44:04 to their original condition. 44:06 And so Genesis 3:15 said "The Seed will crush your head. " 44:10 Verse 21 of chapter 3 explains that it's the death 44:14 of the Lamb that will crush the serpent's head. 44:17 In John chapter 12 Jesus says: "The ruler of this world 44:20 will be cast out" and then He explains how. 44:23 It's because He is going to what? 44:26 Because He is going to die. 44:28 And when Jesus on the cross said: "It is finished! " 44:32 He had won back the kingdom of this world 44:35 and He had won back the earth to return to man 44:41 who lost it originally. 44:43 Now I want you to notice Revelation chapter 12:5. 44:46 By the way, we all know that Jesus died, right? 44:50 Was He buried? 44:52 Was He buried? Yes, He was buried. 44:55 What happened the 3rd day? He what? 44:58 He rose from the dead. 45:00 Did that happen to Moses? 45:03 Yeah. What happened to Moses after he rose from the dead? 45:07 He ascended to where? To heaven. 45:10 Now how about this male Child? 45:11 After He'd won the victory on the cross 45:14 He's buried. He dies... He's buried 45:18 and on the third day He what? 45:21 He resurrects! And where does He go? 45:25 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 5. 45:28 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 5. 45:31 It says here: 45:46 Now do you know how heaven felt when Jesus got back to heaven? 45:51 Let's notice Revelation chapter 12. 45:54 Revelation chapter 12 and I would like to begin reading 45:58 at verse 10. Revelation 12:10. 46:02 And I want you to notice the tense of the verbs here. 46:05 You see, in John 12 Jesus has not died yet. 46:08 He's pronouncing these words about Wednesday 46:10 before His crucifixion. 46:12 And so He says: "Now is the judgment of this world. 46:15 Now the prince of this world will be cast out. " 46:18 And then He says he will be cast out by His death. 46:22 But notice the tense of the verbs in Revelation chapter 12. 46:26 Jesus is now in heaven. 46:28 He's been "caught up to God and to His throne. " 46:30 Notice what it says in Revelation chapter 12 46:33 and verse 10: 47:00 What tense is the verb? 47:02 Past! Because He's already died on the cross. 47:06 He's already died as the Passover Lamb. 47:08 He's already delivered His people from bondage 47:12 to the great dragon and His people are on the way 47:15 to Canaan... eventually someday to enter there. 47:19 Notice verse 11: 47:20 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb 47:23 and by the word of their testimony. And they did not 47:27 love their lives to the death. " 47:29 And now notice verse 12: 47:37 Let's stop there. 47:38 What are the heavens supposed to do because Jesus has cast 47:41 down the ruler of this world and now Jesus legally rules? 47:44 The heavens are supposed to what? Rejoice! 47:47 Why should they rejoice? 47:49 Because that pest can't go up there any more. 47:51 The accuser of the brethren has been cast down. 47:55 Jesus is now the representative of this world. 47:59 Jesus as the second Adam has legally recovered the world. 48:03 He hasn't empirically taken it yet, 48:06 but legally in court He has gained the world back. 48:10 And so it says here: "Rejoice O heavens 48:13 and you who dwell in them. " 48:15 But now notice: 48:17 "Woe... " You get that? "Rejoice! " "Woe. " 48:22 "Rejoice! " "Woe. " 48:24 Up there: "Rejoice! " Down here? "Woe. " 48:27 Why woe on earth? 48:54 Now we need to quickly look at the final stages 48:58 of Revelation chapter 12. 49:00 We've only discussed the first stage up till now, 49:03 and that's the one that I primarily wanted us 49:04 to understand. But there's 2 additional stages. 49:08 Let's go to Revelation chapter 12 and verse 6. 49:13 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 6. 49:16 What happens after this Child ascends to heaven? 49:19 The dragon is furious... he's enraged. 49:21 He can't vent his rage upon the Child any more 49:25 because the Child beat him and He's back in heaven. 49:27 So what does the devil have to do? 49:29 He has to take second best. 49:32 And what is second best? 49:35 To go after the woman. 49:38 Notice verse 6: 49:58 Where does the woman go? She flees into the what? 50:03 "Into the wilderness where God has prepared a place 50:06 for her and feeds here 1,260 days. " 50:11 Which are really what? Years. 50:13 Now the question is: why is she fleeing? 50:15 Who's persecuting her? 50:17 Well, later on in the chapter we have an explanation 50:20 of this verse. Notice verse 13: 50:27 Does the persecution of the woman have anything to do 50:29 with the fact that the devil has been cast out 50:31 as the ruler of this world? 50:33 He's filled with rage 'cause he doesn't have access to Jesus 50:35 any more. So it says: 50:42 See, now the enmity is between the serpent and the woman. 50:45 Genesis 3:15 has that also. 50:50 The serpent and the woman are at war 50:52 and the Seed of the woman and the serpent are at war. 50:55 He already warred against the Seed of the woman and lost 50:58 so now he goes after the woman. 51:01 And notice verse 14: 51:37 And so after the Child escapes 51:40 is there a period where the dragon goes after the woman? 51:44 Yes. How long does he go after the woman? 51:47 1,260 years. 51:50 Would you think that this would be the period of the feet 51:53 of the mixture of church and state? 51:55 All you have to do is look at history in the Middle Ages. 51:58 You see that it was the nominal church of the Middle Ages 52:01 that persecuted God's people who were in the wilderness 52:05 so to speak. The Waldenses and the Albigenses 52:09 and others had to flee from the established church 52:12 that wanted to destroy them because the church said 52:15 that they were heretics. 52:17 And so here you have the feet 52:19 of iron and clay, the mixture 52:21 of church and state. Now in Daniel 2 you don't have 52:23 any specific time period 52:25 given to the feet, but in our lecture on Daniel 7 52:29 we are going to study how after this dragon 52:33 rules for a period he's going to sprout ten horns. 52:37 And then among the 10 horns will rise a little horn 52:41 and the little horn will rule time, times, and the dividing 52:45 of time. Revelation 12 is covering the same period 52:49 as Daniel 2 and the same period as we will study 52:52 from Daniel chapter 7. 52:55 Now I want you to notice... We're not going to get into this 52:58 in detail, but when the woman is being persecuted 53:01 she flees into the wilderness. God maintains her there. 53:04 God feeds her there. 53:06 But then suddenly something comes to the rescue. 53:10 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 16 says: 53:14 "But the earth helped the woman. " 53:26 Does persecution come to an end? 53:30 Yes or no? 53:32 Absolutely. When would it come to an end? 53:33 It would have to be when the 1,260 years end 53:37 because the church - the woman - is persecuted 53:39 for 1,260 years. 53:43 So the earth helping the woman must come after this period. 53:48 The earth swallows up the waters of persecution. 53:51 Persecution ceases for a period. 53:55 Does it cease forever? 53:57 No. Notice the third stage of Revelation 12 in verse 17. 54:02 This will be our final closing verse. 54:09 Why? Because the earth helped the woman, right? 54:13 We'll talk about the earth later on in this seminar. 54:35 Do you have the same 4 elements in Revelation 12:17 54:39 as you have in Genesis 3:15? 54:42 Let's look at it. Do we have in Revelation 12:17 54:47 enmity? Yes or no? 54:50 Absolutely. Do we have in Revelation 12 verse 17 54:54 a woman? Yes we do. 54:57 Do we have in Revelation 12:17 a dragon or a serpent? 55:03 Yes. Do we have in Revelation 12:17 55:07 a seed? Yes we do. 55:10 And by the way, Revelation 12:17 is not speaking about the seed 55:13 of the woman, it's talking about the Seed's seed. 55:19 I'll let you digest that for a couple of seconds. 55:22 The warfare is not against the seed. 55:25 It's not even against the woman. 55:27 It's against the Seed's seed. 55:31 The final remnant of the woman's seed. 55:33 Now who is the woman's seed? 55:36 We already studied it. Verses 1 through 5 said that 55:38 the Seed of the woman that she bears is what? 55:41 Jesus. So who must the remnant of her Seed be? 55:46 If her Seed is Jesus, it must be the remnant of? 55:50 Jesus. You're not following me, are you? 55:54 It's the remnant of Jesus. 55:57 So are there going to be Christians in this world 55:59 in the final persecution of Satan against the church? 56:02 Absolutely. 56:04 By the way, in John chapter 12 and verse 24 56:09 Jesus says that unless a seed falls into the ground 56:11 and dies it cannot bear fruit. 56:14 But if it falls into the ground 56:17 and dies, it will grow into a plant and produce much fruit. 56:22 That Seed was Jesus. 56:24 When Jesus died on the cross He was planted in the earth. 56:27 He resurrected... He sprouted to new life. 56:30 The Seed died... and it sprouted. 56:33 And now, because Jesus died and resurrected, 56:36 what is He going to bear? He is going to bear 56:39 many children. The Seed's seed if you please. 56:44 That's why in Galatians chapter 3 it says that Jesus 56:48 is the Seed of Abraham. 56:50 He's the only Seed. 56:52 The promise was not made to seeds 56:54 but to the Seed, who was Christ. 56:56 But then later on in the chapter it says: 57:02 Because when we join Jesus we are the Seed's seed 57:06 and the devil hates us as much as he hated Jesus. 57:11 And so this verse is speaking about the final persecution 57:15 against the church at the very end of time 57:18 and we will study more about this as we move along 57:21 in this seminar. |
Revised 2014-12-17