Apoc. 12: 

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INTRODUCTION:

This study shows the struggle between God’s ever living church and Satan, especially in the New Testament era. It shows how the church will be delivered from Satan’s attempts to destroy it.

PRAYER THOUGHT:

TM 119 - We do not go deep enough in our search for truth. Every soul who believes present truth will be brought where he will be required to give a reason of the hope that is in him. The people of God will be called upon to stand before kings, princes, rulers, and great men of the earth, and they must know that they do know what is truth. They must be converted men and women. God can teach you more in one moment by His Holy Spirit than you could learn from the great men of the earth. The universe is looking upon the controversy that is going on upon the earth. At an infinite cost, God has provided for every man an opportunity to know that which will make him wise unto salvation. How eagerly do angels look to see who will avail himself of this opportunity! When a message is presented to God's people, they should not rise up in opposition to it; they should go to the Bible, comparing it with the law and the testimony, and if it does not bear this test, it is not true. God wants our minds to expand. He desires to put His grace upon us. We may have a feast of good things every day, for God can open the whole treasure of heaven to us.--Review and Herald, February 18, 1890.{TM 119.1}

Read: Rev. 12

What church is John represent in scripture?

Read: Jer. 6:2; 31:4     

GC 381 - In Revelation 14 the first angel is followed by a second proclaiming: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8. The term "Babylon" is derived from "Babel," and signifies confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion. In Revelation 17 Babylon is represented as a woman --a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.  {GC 381.1}

What church is John describing at first?

Ø The Jewish since it brought forth “the man child”.

Ø Compare v.5 with Rev. 19:15 and Isa. 11:4.

Ø Christ founded the Christian church so the woman cannot represent the Christian phase of the church alone since Jesus was not yet born. He was in the womb when John first saw her.

 The meaning of…

Ø Sun – Ps. 119:105 represents the written word of God.

Ø Moon – the oral tradition, the period without the Bible.

During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history, there was no written revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated their knowledge to others, and it was handed down from father to son, through successive generations. The preparation of the written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodied in an inspired book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred years--from Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the most sublime truths of the gospel.  {GC v.2}

Ø Crown – authority, power.

Ø 12 stars – 12 is the symbol of God’s government (Matt. 19:28). Stars denote leaders (Rev. 1:20). It represents the leaders of God’s government from the beginning to the end. 12 patriarchs, 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 144,000 high priest (12x12,000).

What does the Dragon represent?

Read: Rev. 12:9

What is the meaning of…?

Ø Red – in this context, sin (Isa. 1:18)

Ø 7 heads – seven denotes completeness (AA 585). Heads represent religious bodies, i.e. the Leopard like beast of Rev. 13:1-3. The head that received the deadly wound was the Catholic Church. Satan has control over all the religious bodies of that day.

In the Revelation all the books of the Bible meet and end. Here is the complement of the book of Daniel. One is a prophecy; the other a revelation. The book that was sealed is not the Revelation, but that portion of the prophecy of Daniel relating to the last days. The angel commanded, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end." Daniel 12:4.  {AA 585.1}

Ø 10 horns – ten symbolizes universality (10 toes, 10 virgins) Horns represent civil powers (Dan. 8:20-21).

Ø Crowns on heads – shows that the authority was placed on the religious bodies, not on the civil.

Ø Stars – in this context – fallen angels.

Ø His tail drew… the stars – the angels were not forcibly draw but willingly followed. This occurred before creation (Story of redemption pp. 16-19).

Lucifer refused to listen. And then he turned from the loyal and true angels, denouncing them as slaves. These angels, true to God, stood in amazement as they saw that Lucifer was successful in his effort to incite rebellion. He promised them a new and better government than they then had, in which all would be freedom. Great numbers signified their purpose to accept him as their leader and chief commander. As he saw his advances were met with success, he flattered himself that he should yet have all the angels on his side, and that he would be equal with God Himself, and his voice of authority would be heard in commanding the entire host of heaven. Again the loyal angels warned him, and assured him what must be the consequences if he persisted; that He who could create the angels could by His power overturn all their authority and in some signal manner punish their audacity and terrible rebellion. To think that an angel should resist the law of God which was as sacred as Himself! They warned the rebellious to close their ears to Lucifer's deceptive reasoning, and advised him and all who had been affected by him to go to God and confess their wrong for even admitting a thought of questioning His authority. {SR 16.1} 

     Many of Lucifer's sympathizers were inclined to heed the counsel of the loyal angels and repent of their dissatisfaction and be again received to the confidence of the Father and His dear Son. The mighty revolter then declared that he was acquainted with God's law, and if he should submit to servile obedience, his honor would be taken from him. 

     …The loyal angels hastened speedily to the Son of God and acquainted Him with what was taking place among the angels. They found the Father in conference with His beloved Son, to determine the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels, the assumed authority of Satan could be forever put down. The great God could at once have hurled this archdeceiver from heaven; but this was not His purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal chance to measure strength and might with His own Son and His loyal angels. In this battle every angel would choose his own side and be manifested to all. It would not have been safe to suffer any who united with Satan in his rebellion to continue to occupy heaven. They had learned the lesson of genuine rebellion against the unchangeable law of God, and this is incurable. If God had exercised His power to punish this chief rebel, disaffected angels would not have been manifested; hence, God took another course, for He would manifest distinctly to all the heavenly host His justice and His judgment. {SR 17.1}

It was the highest crime to rebel against the government of God. All heaven seemed in commotion. The angels were marshaled in companies, each division with a higher commanding angel at its head. Satan was warring against the law of God, because ambitious to exalt himself and unwilling to submit to the authority of God's Son, heaven's great commander. {SR 17.2}

All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the Father, to have each case determined. Satan unblushingly made known his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before Him. He stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal with God and should be taken into conference with the Father and understand His purposes. God informed Satan, that to His Son alone He would reveal His secret purposes, and He required all the family in heaven, even Satan, to yield Him implicit, unquestioned obedience; but that he (Satan) had proved himself unworthy of a place in heaven. Then Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers, comprising nearly one half of all the angels, and exclaimed, "These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in heaven?" He then declared that he was prepared to resist the authority of Christ and to defend his place in heaven by force of might, strength against strength. {SR 18.1}

Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan and his exulting boasts. God declared that the rebellious should remain in heaven no longer. Their high and happy state had been held upon condition of obedience to the law which God had given to govern the high order of intelligences. But no provision had been made to save those who should venture to transgress His law. Satan grew bold in his rebellion, and expressed his contempt of the Creator's law. This Satan could not bear. He claimed that angels needed no law but should be left free to follow their own will, which would ever guide them right; that law was a restriction of their liberty; and that to abolish law was one great object of his standing as he did. The condition of the angels, he thought, needed improvement. Not so the mind of God, who had made laws and exalted them equal to Himself. The happiness of the angelic host consisted in their perfect obedience to law. Each had his special work assigned him, and until Satan rebelled, there had been perfect order and harmonious action in heaven. {SR 18.2}

Then there was war in heaven. The Son of God, the Prince of heaven, and His loyal angels engaged in conflict with the archrebel and those who united with him. The Son of God and true, loyal angels prevailed; and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from heaven. All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God of justice. Not a taint of rebellion was left in heaven. All was again peaceful and harmonious as before. Angels in heaven mourned the fate of those who had been their companions in happiness and bliss. Their loss was felt in heaven. {SR 19.1}

Ø Stood ready to devour her child – Satan tries to destroy Christ using Herod. His first defeat.

Ø Caught to God and His throne – Jesus overcame Satan by living a perfect sinless life. He died and then was resurrected, Satan fails again.

The Church flees (vs. 6, 14)

After Satan was defeated he persecutes the early church, which flees her homeland (Jerusalem) and went among the Gentiles (wilderness).

The church given two wings of a great eagle

Ø V. 14 the two wings helps her take flight

Ø Represents two period of church history

Ø Adam to the cross

Ø From the cross to the end of the world

Ø Proves that God has only one true church in all ages

Satan is cast out of heaven for good – his second defeat (vs. 7-13)

Ø This does not occur before the cross. Job 1:6, 7; 2:1, 2

Could one sin have been found in Christ, had He in one particular yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God and man would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith and His submission to God. "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Rev. 12:10.  {DA 761.1}

Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ's brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.  {DA 761.2}

Ø Satan persecuted the woman after Christ’s birth, not before.

What is the flood? (v. 15)

Ø Flood of water (people, Rev. 17:15) into the church

Ø Must be the tares

The church of Christ on earth will be imperfect, but God does not destroy His church because of its imperfection. There have been and will be those who are filled with zeal not according to knowledge, who would purify the church, and uproot the tares from the midst of the wheat. But Christ has given special light as to how to deal with those who are erring, and with those who are unconverted in the church. There is to be no spasmodic, zealous, hasty action taken by church members in cutting off those they may think defective in character. Tares will appear among the wheat; but it would do more harm to weed out the tares, unless in God's appointed way, than to leave them alone. While the Lord brings into the church those who are truly converted, Satan at the same time brings persons who are not converted into its fellowship. While Christ is sowing the good seed, Satan is sowing the tares. There are two opposing influences continually exerted on the members of the church. One influence is working for the purification of the church, and the other for the corrupting of the people of God.  {TM 46.1}

When does this happen? Where?

Ø 46 years between vs. 14-15. The end of the 1260 years brings us to 1798. V. 15 must be fulfilled after 1844.

Ø Compare with Dan. 7:8-9 which shows the same time gap.

Ø Therefore must occur in the SDA church.

What does it mean that the earth swallowed up the flood?

Ø Satan’s third defeat. The church is purified at Ezekiel 9.

Satan’s wars against the remnant of her seed, not the woman.

Ø V. 17 this is his effort to prevent the Great Multitude from joining God’s purified church during the Loud Cry with the Sunday Law death decree.

Summary:

This study gives an overview of God’s true living church through the ages. It portrays the birth of Christ and tells of the experience of the church during the Dark Ages up through the last days. It shows three attempts and subsequent defeats of Satan in his effort to destroy the church. Most importantly, for the last section of church history, is its final purification from the overwhelming flood of tares that have been brought in and the ingathering of saints from the fallen churches.