David’s Mighty Men
2 Samuel 23: 1-39
Key verse 23:17 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 10-31-10
17 "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.”
I just came back from the Leadership development workshop at Wonderland Camp in Camp Lake Wisconsin. There we studied about how God established King David as a shepherd King for all of Israel. He became an example of a king who ruled his people with the shepherd heart of God. At the end of 2 Samuel there is a chapter concerning David’s mighty men. I was so inspired by these men. I admire movies like Brave heart and Gladiator. These men are like Jewish Wallace’s or brave hearts. I like them. I always wanted to take a closer look at them with a prayer that God may help me grow as a might man and also that God may raise up mighty men and woman who can fight valiantly, the spiritual battle for the glory of God. May God plant in your heart vision to be a might man or woman of God for our nation in this generation. We would all like to have co-workers like these mighty men around us? Don’t we? Who doesn’t? We have prayed the prayer, “Lord of the harvest, send out workers into our harvest field?” We expect mighty warriors of faith to come marching through the doors of our church and take their places among the pews. Well they do not come so easy and we will see why in our story of David and his mighty men.
Part l: David Becomes The Leader of Outcasts (21:1-22:2)
Who were these mighty men? And how did David find such good co-workers? Our story about David’s mighty men, begins two decades previous, when he begins to flee from Saul. Saul was jealous of David because he was so successful. He wanted to kill David. But time and again God protected David. Once, through Saul’s son Jonathan, David was able to escape Saul’s murderous plots. David began his life as a fugitive. First of all David went to Nob where Ahimelech, the priest provided David and his men some bread and also the sword of Goliath. (1 Sam 21:1-9) When he fled Gath, the king of Gath was suspicious of him. But David pretended to be insane and he and his men escaped to the cave of Adullum. God was with David and had a plan. God was leading him into a life of hard training and discipline that would eventually mold David into a shepherd king for all of Israel, a man after God’s own heart.
David was now a fugitive who had to live in the caves of Adullum. His human situation could only be described as totally helpless. David was rejected by men but now he was alone with God. All of these events were under God’s sovereign hand. God used the wilderness life to humble David, and to teach him to depend on God alone. But running from Saul’s army was not enough training for what God had in store for David. More training was under way. Look at verses 22:1b-2, ““…When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. 2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.” While in Adullum there was a motley crowd of people beginning to gather around him. The cave was a place of refuge for those in trouble. They were those who were in distress, in debt or discontented. These were outcasts of society, many were in trouble with the law. There were also his family members. They were people who had no where else to go in Israel. They gathered around David and he became their leader. They were not just five or ten people. This number of people might have been manageable. But there were about four hundred men! When David was in Saul’s palace, he might have had the resources and the means to help them. But since David was branded as a political criminal and thrown into exile as a wanted man, his resources were limited. He seemed unable to help anyone other than himself. But God had other plans for David and these men…great plans. It was a time of God’s testing for David, to see if he could be a shepherd for these people, for if David shepherded this small, difficult flock, later God would entrusted him with the people of Israel.
David could have sent them away. But did he? No. He decided to help them no matter what. He cared for his parents first. They were likely too old to keep up with the outlaw/cave lifestyle. David went to the king of Moab, at Mizpah, to ask his favor to accept and protect his parents. (1 Sam 22:4) And so David set them up in a nice Moabite assisted living center. It was not easy for David to do this. Maybe he should have sent everyone away and taken care of himself. He might have had a better chance of surviving. But he did not. He accepted this call from God, spending his time helping these people.
Most of theses men did not start out so mighty. But David valued them. More than a military general, David was their shepherd who guided them on the path to being the mighty people of God. Over the course of time, they would come to David and share with him all of their problems and he would listen to them over and over again for years; “Yes Yes…I understand. Yes..I went through a very similar experience...Yes…I felt like that sometimes. Yes…I understand your suffering. Let’s pray about it.” In this way he would listen for hours and hours to their problems and complaints. Step by step he helped them to solve their problems. Sometime he was their teacher, sometimes a brother, mother or father, sometimes a sparing partner, or fighting partner, whatever they needed. David won their hearts, one by one. He also trained with regular exercise and military training. They must have also had some kind of spiritual life together. David inspired them to achieve beyond their personal goals and meet their true potential in God. Overtime these distressed, poor and discontented men gradually changed to become David’s mighty men. When David was a shepherd for these men something wonderful happened. They were happy, full of faith and they became a loyal nucleus of David’s strong army. David’s men called him the lamp of Israel, a man who lighted the spiritual way of their lives and nation. God worked through David when he stood as a mighty Shepherd Leader. His life reminds us Jesus’ words in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
We can see the effect of the leadership David had over these people in 2 Sam 23:3b-4, “'When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'” David ruled his people with righteousness, mercy, love, kindness and justice. He reflected the very heart of Jesus when he was dealing with his people right from the start of his call to leadership. King David’s shepherding was like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning. Life began to be full of hope and freshness and clear direction. There is the beginning of new life under his shepherding. There is nurturing like fresh grass sprouting where a dry field once was. They mighty men of David felt this. This is how Jesus rules over us when we accept him as our Lord. We can experience the new life and nurturing that each of these mighty men experienced. When we decided to be shepherds like King David we can understand it even deeper as people prosper and grow under our leadership.
Part ll: A Closer Look At What These Mighty Men Became (8-39)
Who were these mighty men? And in what ways were they so mighty? Let see why in verses 8-39. They were mighty because they trusted the Lord; they fought with their whole hearts and they had unity among them. First, they trusted in the Lord. This helped them overcome their fear. Some defeated the Philistine giants in 1:1 combat, one of which had 12 digits on his hands and 12 on his feet. 1:1 combat is the most terrifying thing that you could face. I once took care of a patient with bayonet wounds on his stomach. He survived. These men had confidence in God and could stand their ground. Some stood before 800 men and defeated them. Wow! I can’t even count to 800. Some stood before lions. They could be so courageous because they had faith in God. They also drew their strength from David’s example, who also defeated Goliath and who fought off lions and bears. They knew that the battle is the Lord’s and he will bring about the victory. Their faith reminds me of Jonathan’s faith when he attacked and defeated a Philistine outpost. He said in 1 Sam 14:5-7, “ 6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." How many defeated the Philistine outpost? Two. Even a small force of able, loyal and faithful people can accomplish great feats for God when their faith is in God.
These mighty men also fought with their whole hearts. One man raised his spear against 800 men. It required lunging again and again against the enemy. His shoulders must have been like footballs. One man stood his ground against great odds and kept swinging his sword until his hand froze to the sword. When they fought with their whole hearts, the Lord brought about great victories again and again. This principle of victory is revealed in Deuteronomy 6:5 which reads, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
But the mighty men were not lone wolves, fighting for their own glory. In this passage we can see their unity. In verse 9, “next to him was…”, and “He was with David…”, and in verse 11, “Next to him was Shammah…” They had each others’ backs. Look at 21:15-17a, “15 Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword , said he would kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him….” David was a little weaker because he was getting older. But there were two mighty men to cover him. Mighty does not mean those who fight well on the battle field alone, but those who fight well with others. With their unity and fighting together, their skills and their abilities rubbed off on each other. Before, they might have been skilled in the use of the plow and pitchfork. But through fighting together and training together, they became skilled in battle. They could wield swords and spears and they could de-arm their enemies and use their enemies own weapons against them. They sharpened, encouraged and challenged one another. Their camaraderie and unity made them spiritually powerful and victorious. This reminds me of one the proverbs. Proverbs 26:17 reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
They were mighty because they could see beyond each other’s differences to band together as one. If you read the names of the mighty men, they all have a name and a place where they are from. Most of these mighty men were Israelites but many were Gentiles, originating from Gentile city states or regions. They had their own customs and backgrounds. They may have had their own prejudices and rivalries, but they looked past all this and put it aside and banded together. They were influenced by King David who knew God’s heart. God has a universal view of the brotherhood of mankind.
And so they were fearless through their faith in God, their fighting with all their mind, soul and strength. They were unified and accepted and co-worked with each other as a team. In this way they became famous in God’s history. God had made them true heroes.
Part lll: David Respected And Honored These People. (13-17)
David loved and respected these men and they loved and respected him in return. This is revealed in the incident about the water from the well of Bethlehem in verses 13-17. “During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David longed for water and said, ‘Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!’ 16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. 17 "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.” These verses show the kind of love and loyalty and honor David shared with his mighty men. David expressed his longing for some water from a nearby well. It might have been the well he drew water from as a young shepherd boy. David was reminiscing about this well and spoke out loud. Three of his mighty men overheard what he said and took him seriously. They wanted to comply with his wishes. They risked their lives, broke though the Philistine enemy lines and brought some of the water that he requested and handed it to David to drink. Some of the best water in the world comes from my home town in Thompson Manitoba. It is cool, clean, clear and fresh. If someone would break through Canadian line and travel 3,000 miles to bring me this water I would have said, “Gee thanks guys. I love this water. Thanks so much.” And then I would drink it back without even a second thought. But David did not act as an ordinary person. He refused to drink it. Instead he poured it out before the Lord. He said in verses 17, “’Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!’ he said. ‘Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?...’” David would not drink it. He did not take advantage of his position. David was so moved by their love and courageous act. At the same time he knew that only God deserved such devotion and sacrifice. He poured out the water before the Lord. In doing so he showed that he honored his men. He pointed their devotion to the Lord. David did not take his men’s loyalty for granted. Even though he was a king, he humbled himself and stood as just one of the other men before God.
This reminds us of Jesus who is our Lord and eternal king. But Jesus humbled himself to be one of us. More than just ruling over us, being our Lord and Savior, Jesus also calls us his friend. Jesus is a good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. David’s life reminds us of Jesus in another way also. Jesus took 12 spiritually useless men from the backwoods of the Galilean countryside and raised them as mighty shepherd leaders for world mission. In doing this we learn that Jesus changes dirty sinners into mighty spiritual warriors of his kingdom. David is not the best example of being a shepherd leader. Our Chief Shepherd Jesus is our highest and greatest example of what it means to be a mighty shepherd leader.
Being a mighty shepherd like King David does not happen overnight. It starts with leading one person to know Jesus. When people start to study the Bible, they are not mighty. They are people who suffer a lot from things like divorce, depression and the many diseases in this fallen world. They need someone to love them and be their shepherd. They need someone who believes that they can become mighty in some way. Shepherds need to be like small lamps that light the way for others to grow so that they may know and serve Mighty Jesus. This is not something that happens from a distance. How did David do it? Did he not live with and lead these men for almost 20 years in the desert? Mighty shepherd leaders are intimately involved in others lives. They listen to others. They have many hats, ready to wear, teacher hat, daddy hat, mommy hat, brother hat, friend hat, and sometimes rebuking hat. They create and promote an environment of love, loyalty and honor before God.
Personally I was not a mighty man before I came to Jesus. I was 22 years old when I came Jesus. Prior to this I was a hedonistic B student who studied chemistry and worked out on the weekdays and partied hard on the weekends, twice a week. I tried my best to be a cool guy. But the reality was I was far from cool. I was ruining my mind and body. I was engaging in risky behavior. My mind was obsessed with gratifying my sinful desires. I was a binge drinker. I used others. All I knew how to do was have fun and involve others in having fun. I knew that I had nothing important to say. Most of what I said were dirty jokes. I knew that I was man with not quality achievements. I despaired seeing others leaving me behind in the dust of life. And so I tried on my own to fix my life with taekwondo, jogging, weight lifting, studying harder, cutting down on my partying. I read from an encyclopedia of famous quotes in the university library. I tried to sit with strangers at bars. I tried sky diving. But no matter how much I tried I could not change the inner reality of my heart. I lacked self confidence and I stammered a lot. I was a spiritually thirsty man, whose life was meaningless, empty and without hope in this world. I thought I was a mighty man, but my reality was that I was far from mighty. I was a fruitless, useless man who was dying in his sins and headed towards God’s judgment. One day I cried out in my pillow, “Oh God!”
God heard that short, desperate, “crying out”, pillow prayer and he sent his servant, Msn Ruth Hwang, a Korean missionary to invite me to one to one Bible study. Though I was one who was to be pitied, Jesus had hope in me, and God’s servants had hope in me, that I could grow to be one of Jesus’ mighty men. To overcome my stammering I was raised up as a presider and a conference speaker. God sent Bible students. God trained me through five years of family persecution. He helped me to come to another country and be a nurse. He helped my family to pioneer NIU. His discipline in my life seems constant and never ending. But so is his love. I know the point of it all. It is to help me to grow to be a shepherd leader like King David and through my house church he can raise up might men and women of God who bring glory to Jesus in this generation. We need to know the point of all our trials and trainings in life. It is God’s hope for us to grow as shepherd leaders. Those who accept this can grow strong and spiritually healthy. Those who do not share God’s vision for themselves will be crushed by life’s hardships.
We can be mighty warriors of faith, fighting spiritual battles through prayer and Bible study and Bible teaching and serving and loving others. Can you think of some mighty men among our ranks? What about Chris Sagel? He conquered the Korean language, the fear of moving to a new land and he conquered a Korean woman’s heart, Maria. He is raising disciples of Jesus among Korean students. What about Moses Margi and Iris Margi. They conquered the fear of Muslims and moved to Sudan and even moved into a Muslim apartment block in order to serve Muslims. What about Charisma Magno raising up the Triton Bible club through her serving and prayers and devotion. What about Jason who spent a week on the Amazon River ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of poor Brazilians. I think my kids are like might people of God for building up and being faithful to their Bible reading and prayer clubs on their school campus’. God is working in all of our hearts to nurture and grow the qualities of the might people of God in us.
God has called each and every one of us. He has placed his hope in us to each grow to the mighty men and woman of God who can fight the spiritual battle on the campus’ of America. We are in varying degrees of mightiness. Some are younger. Some are older. Some have more experience with Jesus and some have less. Some are already mighty in some areas. But one thing is for certain, all of us can develop even greater mightiness as shepherds and Bible teachers. And this is what God is trying to do. Why are we experiencing such hard divine training and discipline in our lives? Is there a reason for it or is just some meaningless, useless exercise? God has a clear point. He wants to raise each and every one of us up to be might men and women of God. May God bless us to be mighty shepherd leaders who can raise other mighty men and women of God for our campus’, for Christ and for our nation.
Monday, November 1, 2010
2 Samuel 11:1-12:31
David’s Sin And Repentance
2 Samuel 11:1–12:31
Key Verse: 12:13 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 10-24-10
“’Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’”
David had won many battles and his kingdom was firmly established. He thought he deserved a vacation, so he stayed at home when his army went out to fight. Eventually, David sinned against the Lord greatly. He despised God's word and did what is evil in God's eyes. But God had mercy on David. He sent the prophet Nathan to David and called him to repentance. David repented and God accepted it. In the secular world people are considered great by how much money they make or their outer appearance or how cool they are or by the toys they own. But in the spiritual world those who repent of their sins before God are highly honored. Spiritual people are highly honored by God and are pleasing to God. Through this passage may we repent of spiritual laziness that paves the way to certain disaster. May we learn the importance of honest and clear confession before God so that God may restore us, by his grace. And finally, may we also learn what it means to be a wise servant of God, like Nathan the prophet.
Part l: David’s Sin. (11:1-5)
David took a spiritual vacation. Look at verse 1, “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” In ancient times. Kings went off to war in the springtime and during the winter time they came back to their base camp and stationed there. They would train and reequip themselves. In the spring there would be favorable weather and new crops for the armies to eat while they are on their campaigns. One spring, David sent Joab, his army commander, out with the whole Israelite army fight, but he remained in Jerusalem. Humanly speaking, it sounded reasonable for him to do this. David had worked hard and fought hard for many decades and God raised him up to the king of Israel. He had tasted great success. But now that he was successful he thought that he could take a break and stay at home. It sounds reasonable right? Wrong. From God’s point of view David was guilty of negligence, since it was his job to unite the kingdom of Israel and expand its territory all the more. Ignoring this mission and calling from God, David decided to take a vacation. And it was a pretty cushy vacation. Look at verse 2a. “ One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace…” This implied that he was laying in bed all day long until evening. He felt it was his well deserved right to sleep in and be lazy. But think about it. His men were engaging in a bloody battle to destroy the Ammonites. Sometimes we think that we have worked hard enough and served God enough and we deserve a prolonged break. But when we think of all the servants of God who are slugging it out on the front lines of the spiritual battle we should realize that our propensity to seek ease, comfort and entertainment is not right.
It is not right for another reason. Let’s see. Let’s read verses 2-5, “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’” One evening, David got up from his bed and walked around. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. She may have been performing a ritualistic bath designed to enable he to enter the tabernacle. She never imagined that anyone could see her. But David went for a walk on the roof. When he saw her he should have turned his head and quickly walked away regretting that he had stumbled upon this woman’s private moment. The woman was very beautiful. He gazed at her. He enjoyed lustful thoughts about her. He never turned away. He let his desires for her grow in his heart. He should have fled like Joseph in Potiphar’s house. He should have made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman as Job did. David found out who she was. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s most loyal generals. David should never even think of fooling around with the wife of such a loyal general. But he brought her to his palace and slept with her. Then she went back home. 2 Tim 2:22 reads, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
David thought it was their little secret. But God has ways of making our sin known. Bathsheba conceived and sent word to David, “I am pregnant.” (5) To a servant of God, it was tragic news. His sin was about to go public. His people would know that he sinned. The religious leaders would know. What could he do? David concocted a plan. Look at verses 6-8, “So David sent this word to Joab: ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and wash your feet.’ So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.” David sent word to word to Joab to bring Uriah the Hittite to him. He thought that if he could make Uriah sleep with his wife, then the pregnancy would appear to be from their union. But David was even more hard pressed. Look at verse 9-13. Uriah refused to sleep with his wife. Instead he slept at the entrance to the palace with his masters servants. When David was told, “Uriah did not go home,” he asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?” David appeared to care about Uriah. But in reality he was eager to cover up his sin. Uriah appeared to neglect his wife, but he was not. He was a man of integrity. He was very faithful to God. He was very loyal to his king and to commander Joab. He was a good leader for his men. I am sure that his wife understood his commitments, especially during a time of war. What he said to David was heart moving. Let’s read verse 11, “Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!’" Uriah’s loyalty was remarkable. How hard it must have been for David to even conceive of the plan he was about to carry through with.
David tried again to make Uriah to go home and wash his feet. But it did not work as David had planned. When David knew that he had failed to cover up his sin, he decided to destroy Uriah. Let’s read verses 14 and 15, “In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." It was no less than a plot to murder Uriah.
When David heard of Uriah’s death, he brought Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, to his palace and made her one of his wives and she bore him a son. In this way, the anointed servant of God, the great King David, became a thief, a liar and ultimately a murderer. The author comments on the ultimate tragedy in verse 27b, “…But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.” David was a man who had God’s spirit and had been a good shepherd for his people. But when he became lazy he became vulnerable to the attack of the devil, who pounced on him. All of this started out small, with a desire to take it easy and to enjoy the image of a beautiful woman in his heart. But it grew to a full blown disaster. This confirms the words of James 1:15, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Spiritual laziness is not a small matter for any person. God created us in his image to rule over and subdue the world and bear much fruit for the glory of God. (Gen 1:28) Enjoying laziness is against God’s truth. It goes against our own humanity and makes us vulnerable spiritually. It is the seed that can grow into destruction.
Part ll: David’s Repentance (12:1-12)
Because of his sin, David became very defensive and self righteous. No one could dare tell him anything. He was the king. People knew what happened, but kept this matter to themselves. Who would dare stand up against him? David could have spent the rest of his life in his self defensive pride suffering inwardly. But thank God that God did not leave him alone. God sent Nathan the prophet to David to help him to repent. When Nathan went to David he told him a parable in verses 1-4, “ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." This is a story about a rich man. The man had a large flock of his own sheep. But he did not take a sheep from among his own sheep to cook for his guest. Instead he took the ewe lamb of a poor man who had only one ewe lamb, which he loved like his only daughter. God gave Nathan wisdom how to minister the word of God. Sometimes we think we can not share the word of God with other people. We think that we are not qualified. But here we learn that if we keep our identity and stand as a servant of God, God will give us wisdom and the words to help even kings to come to repentance and saving faith in Jesus.
The word of God, given through Nathan the prophet, began to work powerfully in David’s heart. Look at verses 5-6, “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." David’s heart burned with anger against the man. His sense of justice was still alive. But he did not make the connection, that he was the man. This is true. Sometimes we know what is right and wrong. We have a sense of justice, but we don’t make the connection that what the word of God says is actually pertaining to us. That is why we need Bible study with personal reflection. That is why we need the Holy Spirit. Concerning the conviction work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says John 16:7&-8, “7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:” Let’s pray for the convicting work of the Holy Spirit so that we may more closely follow Jesus.
Nathan served this purpose in verses 7-10. Let’s read them. “Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'” This gets down to the very core of why sin is wrong before God. The act of sin is actually an act ignoring the grace of God and also an act of despising the word of the Lord. God had blessed King David so much. God’s word revealed God’s hope for David to be a shepherd King for Israel. But David trampled on God’s vision for him. The Ten Commandments were on obvious, but David broke all five of the last commandments in attempting to cover up his sin. God has given us so much. Mostly he has given us eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. He called us into his family and given us a great and glorious mission. He has provided for our every need. We are so blessed that if some people lived the life we live, they would consider it like winning the lottery. How can we sin against the Lord, when he has given us so much grace and mercy? How can we ignore God’s great vision for our lives?
David’s response to God’s rebuke through Nathan is what made David great. In ancient times no one had the right to rebuke a king. If anyone offended a king’s pride, he could not expect to survive. Now David was the king over his people. So he could have done away with Nathan by his power and Authority. But David did not act like an ordinary man. Let’s read verse 13a, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ …” What beautiful words these are! He did not deny the facts to protect his pride. When God convicted him, he humbled himself and repented of his sin before the prophet of God.
As we know it is not easy for anyone to repent of their sin. Especially, for a king, repentance is not necessary, for the king himself is the law of the land. But David never thought that he was a law unto himself. He submitted to God’s standard and repented. He could repent of his sin, because of the mercy of God. God sent his word and his Spirit to David. God sent his servant Nathan. (We can not bypass this fact). God could have abandoned David, for David had despised his word and exploited his flock. But God, in his grace, really tried hard to restore David and he did by his power. He gave him the spirit of repentance by giving him a clear message through Nathan and David recognized God’s love through this message. God loved David so much. He took him from being a lowly shepherd boy and raised him up to the shepherd and ruler of his people Israel. God’s grace is deeper than the ocean. Even BP’s deep sea oil rigs could not tap in to the vast reserves of God’s love and grace.
David’s repentance was “thorough” and “sincere”. Look at verse 13, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’ Psalm 51 tells us how David repented. Let’s listen to an excerpt from this psalm. I will read verses 1-3, “ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. “ Beautiful words are they not? David knew that he should have been abandoned by God because of his sins. But he depended on God’s love and compassion when he asked God to blot out his transgressions and to wash away all of his iniquities. He asked God’s forgiveness. (Psalm 51:1-3) Even though he was a king he honored God as God. So he said, “Against you and against you only have I sinned.” (Ps 51:4a) David showed what it meant to be a true king, ordained by God, through his repentance.
When he repented God release David from his torment. When David took the liberty to enjoy his sinful nature, he was not happy because sin was living in him. At that time God’s hedge of protection was lifted and evil spirits came into him and tormented him. He suffered a lot, That is why he cried out in Psalm 51:10-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David knew that there was no method to receive the grace of forgiveness other than the repentance of sins. If his sins could be forgiven, by offering up a huge sacrifice, David would have offered up hundreds of bulls and thousands of sheep. But David knew what God really wanted. He says in Psalm 51:16-17, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” David knew that God takes not pleasure in burnt offering with no heart. He knew that God would accept his repentance only when he repented with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. And this is what David did.
Part lll: David was restored (12:15-23)
Look at verses 15-23. David accepted the consequence of his sin. Look at verses 22-23. “He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." He overcome through resurrection faith and trusting in God’s love and sovereignty.
God restored his relationship with Bathsheba. Look at verses 24-25, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; 25 and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. Solomon as born.” They could make a new beginning in their family life together. Their son would even become the future king of Israel.
David actually repented of his laziness and got involved in matter of state, Look at verses 26-31. He fought with his armies and once again engaged in his mission to fight the battles of the Lord. His repentance was very practical. There was a clear change.
In this passage we learned why David fell into a great sin against God and how he repented of his sin. David sinned against God when he decided to have a little vacation. When he rested physically, his spirit followed suit and he became vulnerable to Satan and his sinful nature. After committing sin, David underwent unutterable troubles and distress and his soul was tormented by evil spirits. David learned that repentance before God must involve a broken spirit. Most of all David learned that the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin is truly life giving. David confessed in Psalm 32:1-2a, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him…” David became our ancestor of faith and one of the greatest men to ever live, through his sincere repentance and in his faith in the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin. Rulers for the last 3,000 have learned from his example. Their subjects have been blessed by David’s example. But we must know that he became one of the greatest people through his repentance. May God bless each one of us to experience the blessing of sincere repentance before God and the restoration and blessing it brings.
Part l: David’s Sin (11:1–27)
1. While his men went to war, where did David remain, and why? (10:13–19; 11:1) How did he come to commit the sin of adultery? (2–4; cf. Ge4:7; Ro6:12–13; 1Jn2:16) To what result? (5; Nu32:23) What can we learn here about how not to fall into sin? (Ge39:9–10; Mt6:13; 2Ti2:22)
2. How did David attempt to cover up his sin? (11:6–27a) How did Uriah’s behavior contrast with David’s? (9,13) What happened to some of David’s men? (17,24) How had David’s heart been poisoned by the power of sin? (Jas1:15) How did God view what he had done? (27b) What does the phrase “displeased the LORD” imply? (5:2)
Part ll: David’s Repentance (12:1–31)
3. How did the Lord intervene? (1a) What was Nathan’s story and what did it arouse in David? (1b–6) How did Nathan confront him, and of what did he remind him? (7–8) In what ways had David despised the word of the Lord, as well as the Lord himself? (9–10; cf. Ex20:13–17) What judgment did God pronounce on him? (10–12)
4. What remarkable confession did David make? (13a; cf. Jer36:22–26) According to Psalm 51, how did David express this repentance more fully? What assurance did Nathan give him? (13b) Nevertheless, what were the dire consequences of David’s sin? (14–15) What can we learn here about how costly sin is?
5. How did David’s actions in verses 16–25 show that his heart had been restored after repentance and God’s forgiveness? How did David resume his mission as king of Israel? (26–31)
6. What warnings does the story of David’s sin have for spiritual leaders? What can we learn about how fallen spiritual leaders can be restored? What can we learn in these chapters from God in his dealings with David?
2 Samuel 11:1–12:31
Key Verse: 12:13 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 10-24-10
“’Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’”
David had won many battles and his kingdom was firmly established. He thought he deserved a vacation, so he stayed at home when his army went out to fight. Eventually, David sinned against the Lord greatly. He despised God's word and did what is evil in God's eyes. But God had mercy on David. He sent the prophet Nathan to David and called him to repentance. David repented and God accepted it. In the secular world people are considered great by how much money they make or their outer appearance or how cool they are or by the toys they own. But in the spiritual world those who repent of their sins before God are highly honored. Spiritual people are highly honored by God and are pleasing to God. Through this passage may we repent of spiritual laziness that paves the way to certain disaster. May we learn the importance of honest and clear confession before God so that God may restore us, by his grace. And finally, may we also learn what it means to be a wise servant of God, like Nathan the prophet.
Part l: David’s Sin. (11:1-5)
David took a spiritual vacation. Look at verse 1, “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” In ancient times. Kings went off to war in the springtime and during the winter time they came back to their base camp and stationed there. They would train and reequip themselves. In the spring there would be favorable weather and new crops for the armies to eat while they are on their campaigns. One spring, David sent Joab, his army commander, out with the whole Israelite army fight, but he remained in Jerusalem. Humanly speaking, it sounded reasonable for him to do this. David had worked hard and fought hard for many decades and God raised him up to the king of Israel. He had tasted great success. But now that he was successful he thought that he could take a break and stay at home. It sounds reasonable right? Wrong. From God’s point of view David was guilty of negligence, since it was his job to unite the kingdom of Israel and expand its territory all the more. Ignoring this mission and calling from God, David decided to take a vacation. And it was a pretty cushy vacation. Look at verse 2a. “ One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace…” This implied that he was laying in bed all day long until evening. He felt it was his well deserved right to sleep in and be lazy. But think about it. His men were engaging in a bloody battle to destroy the Ammonites. Sometimes we think that we have worked hard enough and served God enough and we deserve a prolonged break. But when we think of all the servants of God who are slugging it out on the front lines of the spiritual battle we should realize that our propensity to seek ease, comfort and entertainment is not right.
It is not right for another reason. Let’s see. Let’s read verses 2-5, “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’” One evening, David got up from his bed and walked around. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. She may have been performing a ritualistic bath designed to enable he to enter the tabernacle. She never imagined that anyone could see her. But David went for a walk on the roof. When he saw her he should have turned his head and quickly walked away regretting that he had stumbled upon this woman’s private moment. The woman was very beautiful. He gazed at her. He enjoyed lustful thoughts about her. He never turned away. He let his desires for her grow in his heart. He should have fled like Joseph in Potiphar’s house. He should have made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman as Job did. David found out who she was. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s most loyal generals. David should never even think of fooling around with the wife of such a loyal general. But he brought her to his palace and slept with her. Then she went back home. 2 Tim 2:22 reads, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
David thought it was their little secret. But God has ways of making our sin known. Bathsheba conceived and sent word to David, “I am pregnant.” (5) To a servant of God, it was tragic news. His sin was about to go public. His people would know that he sinned. The religious leaders would know. What could he do? David concocted a plan. Look at verses 6-8, “So David sent this word to Joab: ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and wash your feet.’ So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.” David sent word to word to Joab to bring Uriah the Hittite to him. He thought that if he could make Uriah sleep with his wife, then the pregnancy would appear to be from their union. But David was even more hard pressed. Look at verse 9-13. Uriah refused to sleep with his wife. Instead he slept at the entrance to the palace with his masters servants. When David was told, “Uriah did not go home,” he asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?” David appeared to care about Uriah. But in reality he was eager to cover up his sin. Uriah appeared to neglect his wife, but he was not. He was a man of integrity. He was very faithful to God. He was very loyal to his king and to commander Joab. He was a good leader for his men. I am sure that his wife understood his commitments, especially during a time of war. What he said to David was heart moving. Let’s read verse 11, “Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!’" Uriah’s loyalty was remarkable. How hard it must have been for David to even conceive of the plan he was about to carry through with.
David tried again to make Uriah to go home and wash his feet. But it did not work as David had planned. When David knew that he had failed to cover up his sin, he decided to destroy Uriah. Let’s read verses 14 and 15, “In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." It was no less than a plot to murder Uriah.
When David heard of Uriah’s death, he brought Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, to his palace and made her one of his wives and she bore him a son. In this way, the anointed servant of God, the great King David, became a thief, a liar and ultimately a murderer. The author comments on the ultimate tragedy in verse 27b, “…But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.” David was a man who had God’s spirit and had been a good shepherd for his people. But when he became lazy he became vulnerable to the attack of the devil, who pounced on him. All of this started out small, with a desire to take it easy and to enjoy the image of a beautiful woman in his heart. But it grew to a full blown disaster. This confirms the words of James 1:15, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Spiritual laziness is not a small matter for any person. God created us in his image to rule over and subdue the world and bear much fruit for the glory of God. (Gen 1:28) Enjoying laziness is against God’s truth. It goes against our own humanity and makes us vulnerable spiritually. It is the seed that can grow into destruction.
Part ll: David’s Repentance (12:1-12)
Because of his sin, David became very defensive and self righteous. No one could dare tell him anything. He was the king. People knew what happened, but kept this matter to themselves. Who would dare stand up against him? David could have spent the rest of his life in his self defensive pride suffering inwardly. But thank God that God did not leave him alone. God sent Nathan the prophet to David to help him to repent. When Nathan went to David he told him a parable in verses 1-4, “ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." This is a story about a rich man. The man had a large flock of his own sheep. But he did not take a sheep from among his own sheep to cook for his guest. Instead he took the ewe lamb of a poor man who had only one ewe lamb, which he loved like his only daughter. God gave Nathan wisdom how to minister the word of God. Sometimes we think we can not share the word of God with other people. We think that we are not qualified. But here we learn that if we keep our identity and stand as a servant of God, God will give us wisdom and the words to help even kings to come to repentance and saving faith in Jesus.
The word of God, given through Nathan the prophet, began to work powerfully in David’s heart. Look at verses 5-6, “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." David’s heart burned with anger against the man. His sense of justice was still alive. But he did not make the connection, that he was the man. This is true. Sometimes we know what is right and wrong. We have a sense of justice, but we don’t make the connection that what the word of God says is actually pertaining to us. That is why we need Bible study with personal reflection. That is why we need the Holy Spirit. Concerning the conviction work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says John 16:7&-8, “7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:” Let’s pray for the convicting work of the Holy Spirit so that we may more closely follow Jesus.
Nathan served this purpose in verses 7-10. Let’s read them. “Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'” This gets down to the very core of why sin is wrong before God. The act of sin is actually an act ignoring the grace of God and also an act of despising the word of the Lord. God had blessed King David so much. God’s word revealed God’s hope for David to be a shepherd King for Israel. But David trampled on God’s vision for him. The Ten Commandments were on obvious, but David broke all five of the last commandments in attempting to cover up his sin. God has given us so much. Mostly he has given us eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. He called us into his family and given us a great and glorious mission. He has provided for our every need. We are so blessed that if some people lived the life we live, they would consider it like winning the lottery. How can we sin against the Lord, when he has given us so much grace and mercy? How can we ignore God’s great vision for our lives?
David’s response to God’s rebuke through Nathan is what made David great. In ancient times no one had the right to rebuke a king. If anyone offended a king’s pride, he could not expect to survive. Now David was the king over his people. So he could have done away with Nathan by his power and Authority. But David did not act like an ordinary man. Let’s read verse 13a, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ …” What beautiful words these are! He did not deny the facts to protect his pride. When God convicted him, he humbled himself and repented of his sin before the prophet of God.
As we know it is not easy for anyone to repent of their sin. Especially, for a king, repentance is not necessary, for the king himself is the law of the land. But David never thought that he was a law unto himself. He submitted to God’s standard and repented. He could repent of his sin, because of the mercy of God. God sent his word and his Spirit to David. God sent his servant Nathan. (We can not bypass this fact). God could have abandoned David, for David had despised his word and exploited his flock. But God, in his grace, really tried hard to restore David and he did by his power. He gave him the spirit of repentance by giving him a clear message through Nathan and David recognized God’s love through this message. God loved David so much. He took him from being a lowly shepherd boy and raised him up to the shepherd and ruler of his people Israel. God’s grace is deeper than the ocean. Even BP’s deep sea oil rigs could not tap in to the vast reserves of God’s love and grace.
David’s repentance was “thorough” and “sincere”. Look at verse 13, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’ Psalm 51 tells us how David repented. Let’s listen to an excerpt from this psalm. I will read verses 1-3, “ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. “ Beautiful words are they not? David knew that he should have been abandoned by God because of his sins. But he depended on God’s love and compassion when he asked God to blot out his transgressions and to wash away all of his iniquities. He asked God’s forgiveness. (Psalm 51:1-3) Even though he was a king he honored God as God. So he said, “Against you and against you only have I sinned.” (Ps 51:4a) David showed what it meant to be a true king, ordained by God, through his repentance.
When he repented God release David from his torment. When David took the liberty to enjoy his sinful nature, he was not happy because sin was living in him. At that time God’s hedge of protection was lifted and evil spirits came into him and tormented him. He suffered a lot, That is why he cried out in Psalm 51:10-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David knew that there was no method to receive the grace of forgiveness other than the repentance of sins. If his sins could be forgiven, by offering up a huge sacrifice, David would have offered up hundreds of bulls and thousands of sheep. But David knew what God really wanted. He says in Psalm 51:16-17, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” David knew that God takes not pleasure in burnt offering with no heart. He knew that God would accept his repentance only when he repented with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. And this is what David did.
Part lll: David was restored (12:15-23)
Look at verses 15-23. David accepted the consequence of his sin. Look at verses 22-23. “He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." He overcome through resurrection faith and trusting in God’s love and sovereignty.
God restored his relationship with Bathsheba. Look at verses 24-25, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; 25 and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. Solomon as born.” They could make a new beginning in their family life together. Their son would even become the future king of Israel.
David actually repented of his laziness and got involved in matter of state, Look at verses 26-31. He fought with his armies and once again engaged in his mission to fight the battles of the Lord. His repentance was very practical. There was a clear change.
In this passage we learned why David fell into a great sin against God and how he repented of his sin. David sinned against God when he decided to have a little vacation. When he rested physically, his spirit followed suit and he became vulnerable to Satan and his sinful nature. After committing sin, David underwent unutterable troubles and distress and his soul was tormented by evil spirits. David learned that repentance before God must involve a broken spirit. Most of all David learned that the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin is truly life giving. David confessed in Psalm 32:1-2a, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him…” David became our ancestor of faith and one of the greatest men to ever live, through his sincere repentance and in his faith in the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin. Rulers for the last 3,000 have learned from his example. Their subjects have been blessed by David’s example. But we must know that he became one of the greatest people through his repentance. May God bless each one of us to experience the blessing of sincere repentance before God and the restoration and blessing it brings.
Part l: David’s Sin (11:1–27)
1. While his men went to war, where did David remain, and why? (10:13–19; 11:1) How did he come to commit the sin of adultery? (2–4; cf. Ge4:7; Ro6:12–13; 1Jn2:16) To what result? (5; Nu32:23) What can we learn here about how not to fall into sin? (Ge39:9–10; Mt6:13; 2Ti2:22)
2. How did David attempt to cover up his sin? (11:6–27a) How did Uriah’s behavior contrast with David’s? (9,13) What happened to some of David’s men? (17,24) How had David’s heart been poisoned by the power of sin? (Jas1:15) How did God view what he had done? (27b) What does the phrase “displeased the LORD” imply? (5:2)
Part ll: David’s Repentance (12:1–31)
3. How did the Lord intervene? (1a) What was Nathan’s story and what did it arouse in David? (1b–6) How did Nathan confront him, and of what did he remind him? (7–8) In what ways had David despised the word of the Lord, as well as the Lord himself? (9–10; cf. Ex20:13–17) What judgment did God pronounce on him? (10–12)
4. What remarkable confession did David make? (13a; cf. Jer36:22–26) According to Psalm 51, how did David express this repentance more fully? What assurance did Nathan give him? (13b) Nevertheless, what were the dire consequences of David’s sin? (14–15) What can we learn here about how costly sin is?
5. How did David’s actions in verses 16–25 show that his heart had been restored after repentance and God’s forgiveness? How did David resume his mission as king of Israel? (26–31)
6. What warnings does the story of David’s sin have for spiritual leaders? What can we learn about how fallen spiritual leaders can be restored? What can we learn in these chapters from God in his dealings with David?
Friday, October 8, 2010
Revelations 14:1-20
Be Ready For The Harvest
Revelation 14:1-20 Lesson 14
Key Verse: 14:6,7; Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 10-3-10
“ 6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water’."
In this passage we will take a closer look at the famous group of people, the 144,000. We will also meet three angels and two harvesters, one of which is Jesus himself. Through a study of this passage may we decide, by faith to follow the Lamb of God, Jesus wherever he may go and worship him exclusively. May we have a strong desire to be one of the “144,000”. May our hearts be made ready for the great harvest of souls that is coming.
Part 1: The 144,000 (1-5)
If we think about chapter 13, these believers had gone through a very difficult time. In John’s vision we saw the beast of the sea and the beast of the land. The faithful had to endure hearing their sincere Christian faith being insulted and their Savior, Jesus, being blasphemed. They saw their properties confiscated. They saw many of their friends and family members tortured and killed. They were forced to take the number of the beast. Many struggled with this, but they had to give in. It was very tough and difficult times for all believers. How easy it would be to despair, thinking that there was no end to their sufferings. But God did not forget his people. God gave John a great and wondrous vision. Let’s read verse 1. “1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.” This is the beginning of a very fantastic vision that includes God’s victorious people, the resurrection and the coming of God’s righteous judgment where God’s people will see God’s judgment come.
We all need encouragement and God’s vision planted in our hearts from time to time. God understands this and this is what he does this for his servants. Do you remember Abraham when he separated from Lot? This was when Abraham’s name was still Abram. Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen were quarrelling because there was not enough space for them. Abram, being the big hearted man that he was, gave Lot the choice. Lot could choose what he wanted. He chose the well watered land of the plain, towards the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot did not want anything to do with the life of faith that Abram was called to live. He was just interested in his own benefits, even if that meant moving into one of the most sinful cities of the region. Abram was despaired. He felt alone, in the rocky desert God called him to live in. But God told him, in Genesis 13:14b-17, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you." Lot was gone. Abram was still in the land of his suffering. But God came to him with a glorious promise and godly vision. He encouraged his servant and with renewed spirit and vigor, Abram and his whole tribe could continue to live by faith.
. Sometimes we cannot see beyond our present circumstances. But God will help us to lift up our eyes and look around to see what he sees. In the last days, God had promised great things for us. Acts 2:17-18 read, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” God has not forgotten about you. He wants to fill you heart with his visions and his dreams and he will empower and equip you to prophecy his word to the people of your generation. Accept the encouragement of his word and spirit. Open your ears and hear God’s word of promise. Open your eyes and see God’s vision for your life. Care about it! Embrace is it. Get excited about it and you will be saved from all the despair that may be vexing you today,
In this passage we will take a closer look at the famous group of people, the 144,000. Verse 1, “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.” So what about these 144,000? In short, in God’s history there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles. 12 times 12 equals 144. In this case the 144,000 could represent the whole redeemed people of God. The members of the 144,000 were very much different than those who wore the number of the beast. They do not have the mark of the beast on their foreheads, though they were forced to conform. Those who wore the number of the beast worshipped and served a godless leader and system. They tolerated blasphemes against Jesus. They were forced, not willing people. They were living by fear and they made war against the saints of God. (Rev 13:3b-6; Rev 13:14b-17)
Lets look a little close at what these 144,000 are like from this Bible passage. They were talking together and singing and praising God, together, so much so that their voices sounded like rushing water. There were offering up their musical talents in their worship of the Lamb. They were singing the song of the redeemed. That means that their robes were washed white in the blood of the Lamb. They knew that they were purchased from slavery to sin and the devil and set free by the redeeming blood of Jesus They knew the grace of God personally and were compelled to sing about it. They struggle to live a pure life before God and they were devoted to following Jesus wherever Jesus led them. There lives were a living offering to God. They were very happy worshipping Jesus and they were not afraid to be around God’s people and stand, transparently before Jesus for they had nothing to hide. They were pure in heart and sincere and honest. These are the characteristics of the 144,000. Some may say, “Well. of course they are like that in heaven. If I was in heaven I would be just like that too.” Maybe? But I’m sure that these saints were putting into practice what they were doing in heaven, while they lived on earth. Let’s examine our hearts and find out how we can exude the characteristics of the 144,000 while we are walking on this earth and have a burning hope and desire to be included in those who will be praising Jesus around his throne.
Part ll: The Three Angels (6-20)
God did something that would signal the beginning of the end. Let’s read verse 6, “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people” What is this eternal Gospel? To put it very clearly the eternal gospel is summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” Anyone who repents of their sins and accepts God’s forgiveness is forgiven and becomes a child of God. They have eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven. They fear God and worship him and give him glory with their lives. (7) Such people can be one of those who worship around the throne of the Lamb. This gospel is eternal because it does not need to be changed…ever. It is all sufficient to save you and I from our sins and bring us to Jesus in his Kingdom.
This proclamation of the angel could be God’s worldwide appeal to all people of the world to recognize the one true God. If it is then no one will have the excuse of never hearing God’s truth. Others see this as an announcement of judgment rather than an appeal. In that case the people of this world will be given a chance to proclaim their allegiance to Jesus before God’s judgment was about to begin. This would be comforting, in a sense to suffering Christians. It means that God’s justice has come and all those who have perpetrated evil against them would have to pay for all the evil they have done. Not at the hands of people, but at the hand of God. We need to now that know that God’s final judgment will not be put off forever. Have you joyfully received the eternal gospel? Have you confessed your sins and entrusted Christ to save you? If so, you have nothing to fear from God’s judgment for the Judge of all the earth, Jesus Christ, is your Savior!
We can see the angel’s final appeal for the peoples’ hearts to turn to God in repentance in verses 7. Let’s read these verses together. “He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." Here we learn some good advice about worshipping God. First, we must fear God. Fearing God is not trembling in fear that the hammer of his judgment will come down on your heads the moment you sin. No. To fear God means to have a deep respect for God and have a sincere desire in our hearts to do what is right before his eyes. We fear him because we love him and he loves us. It is good to fear God. Proverbs 9:10 reads, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If you want true wisdom and understanding you need to fear God and stop ignoring him. Why should we fear him? There are many reasons, but the angel tells us that we must fear God because he is the Creator God. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them" In 2011 let us make it our goal to fear God.
The second angel had with it additional words of warning. Let’s read verse 8, “A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.’" Babylon was the name of both an evil city and an immoral empire that was a center for idol worship. Babylon ransacked Jerusalem and carried the people of Judah into captivity. (2 Kings 24; 2 Chronicles 36). Babylon was the Jews’ worst enemy. The Roman Empire was the worst enemy of the early Christians. John, who probably did not speak against Rome openly, applied the name Babylon to Rome. In that sense Babylon could represent the enemies of God’s people. This Babylon also tempted the people with wine and sinful desires on top of persecuting the people of God. Our western culture is making all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. Whatever we export people around the world drink up eagerly. Western culture is not persecuting Christians much, but the scene is being set for future persecutions. In the USA Christians are refused funding and receive bad press in the media. Christians are not allowed to advertise their clubs on middle school and high school campus’. In Canada and England, if you are too Christian you may not get elected as Prime Minister. In Canada it is already illegal to read and preach on certain aspects of the Bible publically. Our prevailing post modern philosophy is becoming more hostile Christians and the Gospel message. We need to be ready and prepared spiritually for the future. In this passage Babylon the great is destined to fall.
The third angel give another warning to the people of the world. Let’s read verses 9-11, “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.’" Those who worship the beast, accepting his mark on their foreheads, will ultimately face God’s judgment. How hard it will be to resist getting the number of the beast. Without it you cannot buy or sell anything. We can not go to Wal-Mart to buy groceries. When we swipe our cards it will say, “not approved” or worse, “Arrest this person” We would have to compete with geese for corn left on the fields. We would be eating road kill, or squirrels and growing gardens in our yards. We can not buy gas to go drive to work. We would loose our jobs. Our gas would be cut off. Christians would be forced to make an illegal economy in order to survive. How easy it would be to simply make a small act of worship or devotion to the beast and receive the mark and be able to feed your hungry children. It may sound OK to do that. We may rationalize that God understands. But if you do you too will face the judgment of God.
In this passage we also learn some characteristics of God’s final judgment on those who are not found in Jesus. Let’s read verses 10-11, “he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." This is an image of hell. Even though the Bible speaks very little about hell, there are times that it does and here is one of those times. Hell is real. Hell is not a place that you simply cease to exist. People who cease to exist do not feel torment and experience no rest. In hell there is conscious suffering that goes on forever and ever. It is the only alternative reality that exists outside of the kingdom of God.
In this life sin always brings misery and heartache. Sin separates us from God and us from one another until we are left all alone to struggle with our sin problems and be tempted and goaded on by the devil. In eternity there will no longer be any opportunity for repentance. If in this life we choose to be independent of God, we will be separated from him forever. Nobody of forced to choose eternal separation from God, and nobody suffers this fate by accident. But praise God that in this life we can choose to repent and restore our relationship with God through his eternal gospel. Jesus invites all of us to open the door of our hearts to him. Listen to what Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Let’s take Jesus up on this most gracious invitation! If we do we will be saved from our sins and enjoy eternal life with him in his beautiful kingdom. God really wants this to happen.
Verse 12 reveals what should be the practical results of accepting this very gracious invitation from Jesus. Let’s read verse 12 all together. “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” The news about God’s ultimate triumph should encourage God’s people to be faithful through every trial and persecution. They need to endure, patiently continuing to trust and obey Jesus daily.
There is more great news for those who choose to faithfully trust and obey Jesus. Let’s read verse 13. “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’" We will rest from all our labor. We will not be constantly running here and there to get things done at a fevered pitch with no point. We will find true rest. As the famous Johnny Cash gospel song says, “But when I take my vacation in heaven...What a wonderful time that will be. Hearing concerts by the heavenly chorus, and the face of my Savior I'll see. Sitting down on the banks of the river. 'neath the shade of the evergreen tree. There I'll rest from my burdens forever. Won't you take your vacation with me?” God will remember all of our deeds born out of faith and a desire to please him. He will remember our love, kindness, and faithfulness. We will be rewarded by God for helping others to accept Christ through our witness. Let’s decide today to produce fruit that pleases God and lasts forever.
In this passage we see two harvests. The first mention of a harvest is in verse 14, “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one ‘like a son of man’ with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.” This is an image of Judgment: Christ is about to separate the faithful from the unfaithful. The angel urges Jesus to take his sickle and gather the grapes. Look at Verse 15, “Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe’." And Jesus obliged him in verse 16, “So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” This first harvest is the harvest of souls to eternal life. It is revealed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” How can we be part of this first harvest? Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (Jn 5:24)
Then came the second harvest that all people should fear being part of. Let’s read verses 17-20, “Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe’. 19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.” A winepress was a large vat or trough where grapes were collected and then smashed. The juice flowed out of the spout that emptied into a large holding container. The winepress is used in the Bible as a symbol of God’s wrath and judgment against sin. The blood of billions of people poured out of that wine press for it created a stream of blood 5 feet tall and it spread out for 180 miles. This shows us the urgency of proclaiming the eternal gospel. Billions of people are going to perish in their sins. We should care about this and respond accordingly. Again true Christians need not fear this harvest, but anyone who is not in Christ musts take head and repent and come to Jesus today.
In today’s lesson we learned that we need to open our eyes and see God’s words of encouragement and vision so that we will never become weary and loose heart. We must desire to be one of those who sing the song of the redeemed around the throne of God and begin to exude some of the characteristics of the 144,000 even today. We need to be ready for the first harvest of souls. But our salvation can never be selfish. Like the angel, we need proclaim the eternal gospel, by effective means which includes praying for others and preaching the word to those who are lost in the darkness. Reveal Jesus to them. We must also put all of our hope in the kingdom of God where we will find true rest and a great reward for everything we do in this life that is for the glory of Jesus
Part 1: The 144,000 (1-5)
1. What did John see standing on Mount Zion? (1) Why does God show this beautiful heavenly scene to the believers? Why do we need encouragement and hope?
2. What was written on the foreheads of the 144,000? (1) Who are they and what are they doing? (2,4,5) How are they different from those who worship the beast? (13:3b-6; 14b-17) What is special about the 144,000? What qualities did they have? What qualities do I need to grow in now to be like them?
Part ll: The Three Angels (6-20)
3. What is the flying angel carrying to all people of the earth? (6) What is the everlasting good news to preach to those on the earth? (6) Do you believe it? How do the three angels urge the people to get ready for the final hour of God’s judgment? (7-11) How could they share their repentance?
4. Why must we fear God? (7; Prov 9:10) What is worship in light the fear of the Lord? (7; Ecc 12:1) What kind of city was Babylon? (8) What is Babylon? (1 Peter 5:13) How did she seduce the nations of the world?
5. What will happen to those who accept the mask of the beast on their forehead and hand? (9-11) Why will it be difficult to resist getting the mark? (13:17) What is the ultimate result of sin? (11) How does this verse reveal the characteristics of hell? What should be our response? (12) What is Jesus invitation? (3:20)
6. What is the great news? (13) How are those blessed who obey God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus?
7. What did the “Son of Man” hold in his hand? (14) How does Jesus come to harvest the earth? (14) What does it mean that the harvest of the earth is ripe (or the grapes are ripe)? (15,18,Mt13:39) How is the harvest related to the rapture? (11:12, 1Th4:16-17)
8. How does an angel announce the coming of God’s wrath? (19,20) How will God bring his final judgment on sin and on believers? (19; Isaiah 63:3-6; Lam 1:15; Joel 3:12-13)
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Revelation 14:1-20 Lesson 14
Key Verse: 14:6,7; Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 10-3-10
“ 6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water’."
In this passage we will take a closer look at the famous group of people, the 144,000. We will also meet three angels and two harvesters, one of which is Jesus himself. Through a study of this passage may we decide, by faith to follow the Lamb of God, Jesus wherever he may go and worship him exclusively. May we have a strong desire to be one of the “144,000”. May our hearts be made ready for the great harvest of souls that is coming.
Part 1: The 144,000 (1-5)
If we think about chapter 13, these believers had gone through a very difficult time. In John’s vision we saw the beast of the sea and the beast of the land. The faithful had to endure hearing their sincere Christian faith being insulted and their Savior, Jesus, being blasphemed. They saw their properties confiscated. They saw many of their friends and family members tortured and killed. They were forced to take the number of the beast. Many struggled with this, but they had to give in. It was very tough and difficult times for all believers. How easy it would be to despair, thinking that there was no end to their sufferings. But God did not forget his people. God gave John a great and wondrous vision. Let’s read verse 1. “1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.” This is the beginning of a very fantastic vision that includes God’s victorious people, the resurrection and the coming of God’s righteous judgment where God’s people will see God’s judgment come.
We all need encouragement and God’s vision planted in our hearts from time to time. God understands this and this is what he does this for his servants. Do you remember Abraham when he separated from Lot? This was when Abraham’s name was still Abram. Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen were quarrelling because there was not enough space for them. Abram, being the big hearted man that he was, gave Lot the choice. Lot could choose what he wanted. He chose the well watered land of the plain, towards the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot did not want anything to do with the life of faith that Abram was called to live. He was just interested in his own benefits, even if that meant moving into one of the most sinful cities of the region. Abram was despaired. He felt alone, in the rocky desert God called him to live in. But God told him, in Genesis 13:14b-17, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you." Lot was gone. Abram was still in the land of his suffering. But God came to him with a glorious promise and godly vision. He encouraged his servant and with renewed spirit and vigor, Abram and his whole tribe could continue to live by faith.
. Sometimes we cannot see beyond our present circumstances. But God will help us to lift up our eyes and look around to see what he sees. In the last days, God had promised great things for us. Acts 2:17-18 read, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” God has not forgotten about you. He wants to fill you heart with his visions and his dreams and he will empower and equip you to prophecy his word to the people of your generation. Accept the encouragement of his word and spirit. Open your ears and hear God’s word of promise. Open your eyes and see God’s vision for your life. Care about it! Embrace is it. Get excited about it and you will be saved from all the despair that may be vexing you today,
In this passage we will take a closer look at the famous group of people, the 144,000. Verse 1, “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.” So what about these 144,000? In short, in God’s history there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles. 12 times 12 equals 144. In this case the 144,000 could represent the whole redeemed people of God. The members of the 144,000 were very much different than those who wore the number of the beast. They do not have the mark of the beast on their foreheads, though they were forced to conform. Those who wore the number of the beast worshipped and served a godless leader and system. They tolerated blasphemes against Jesus. They were forced, not willing people. They were living by fear and they made war against the saints of God. (Rev 13:3b-6; Rev 13:14b-17)
Lets look a little close at what these 144,000 are like from this Bible passage. They were talking together and singing and praising God, together, so much so that their voices sounded like rushing water. There were offering up their musical talents in their worship of the Lamb. They were singing the song of the redeemed. That means that their robes were washed white in the blood of the Lamb. They knew that they were purchased from slavery to sin and the devil and set free by the redeeming blood of Jesus They knew the grace of God personally and were compelled to sing about it. They struggle to live a pure life before God and they were devoted to following Jesus wherever Jesus led them. There lives were a living offering to God. They were very happy worshipping Jesus and they were not afraid to be around God’s people and stand, transparently before Jesus for they had nothing to hide. They were pure in heart and sincere and honest. These are the characteristics of the 144,000. Some may say, “Well. of course they are like that in heaven. If I was in heaven I would be just like that too.” Maybe? But I’m sure that these saints were putting into practice what they were doing in heaven, while they lived on earth. Let’s examine our hearts and find out how we can exude the characteristics of the 144,000 while we are walking on this earth and have a burning hope and desire to be included in those who will be praising Jesus around his throne.
Part ll: The Three Angels (6-20)
God did something that would signal the beginning of the end. Let’s read verse 6, “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people” What is this eternal Gospel? To put it very clearly the eternal gospel is summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” Anyone who repents of their sins and accepts God’s forgiveness is forgiven and becomes a child of God. They have eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven. They fear God and worship him and give him glory with their lives. (7) Such people can be one of those who worship around the throne of the Lamb. This gospel is eternal because it does not need to be changed…ever. It is all sufficient to save you and I from our sins and bring us to Jesus in his Kingdom.
This proclamation of the angel could be God’s worldwide appeal to all people of the world to recognize the one true God. If it is then no one will have the excuse of never hearing God’s truth. Others see this as an announcement of judgment rather than an appeal. In that case the people of this world will be given a chance to proclaim their allegiance to Jesus before God’s judgment was about to begin. This would be comforting, in a sense to suffering Christians. It means that God’s justice has come and all those who have perpetrated evil against them would have to pay for all the evil they have done. Not at the hands of people, but at the hand of God. We need to now that know that God’s final judgment will not be put off forever. Have you joyfully received the eternal gospel? Have you confessed your sins and entrusted Christ to save you? If so, you have nothing to fear from God’s judgment for the Judge of all the earth, Jesus Christ, is your Savior!
We can see the angel’s final appeal for the peoples’ hearts to turn to God in repentance in verses 7. Let’s read these verses together. “He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." Here we learn some good advice about worshipping God. First, we must fear God. Fearing God is not trembling in fear that the hammer of his judgment will come down on your heads the moment you sin. No. To fear God means to have a deep respect for God and have a sincere desire in our hearts to do what is right before his eyes. We fear him because we love him and he loves us. It is good to fear God. Proverbs 9:10 reads, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If you want true wisdom and understanding you need to fear God and stop ignoring him. Why should we fear him? There are many reasons, but the angel tells us that we must fear God because he is the Creator God. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them" In 2011 let us make it our goal to fear God.
The second angel had with it additional words of warning. Let’s read verse 8, “A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.’" Babylon was the name of both an evil city and an immoral empire that was a center for idol worship. Babylon ransacked Jerusalem and carried the people of Judah into captivity. (2 Kings 24; 2 Chronicles 36). Babylon was the Jews’ worst enemy. The Roman Empire was the worst enemy of the early Christians. John, who probably did not speak against Rome openly, applied the name Babylon to Rome. In that sense Babylon could represent the enemies of God’s people. This Babylon also tempted the people with wine and sinful desires on top of persecuting the people of God. Our western culture is making all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. Whatever we export people around the world drink up eagerly. Western culture is not persecuting Christians much, but the scene is being set for future persecutions. In the USA Christians are refused funding and receive bad press in the media. Christians are not allowed to advertise their clubs on middle school and high school campus’. In Canada and England, if you are too Christian you may not get elected as Prime Minister. In Canada it is already illegal to read and preach on certain aspects of the Bible publically. Our prevailing post modern philosophy is becoming more hostile Christians and the Gospel message. We need to be ready and prepared spiritually for the future. In this passage Babylon the great is destined to fall.
The third angel give another warning to the people of the world. Let’s read verses 9-11, “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.’" Those who worship the beast, accepting his mark on their foreheads, will ultimately face God’s judgment. How hard it will be to resist getting the number of the beast. Without it you cannot buy or sell anything. We can not go to Wal-Mart to buy groceries. When we swipe our cards it will say, “not approved” or worse, “Arrest this person” We would have to compete with geese for corn left on the fields. We would be eating road kill, or squirrels and growing gardens in our yards. We can not buy gas to go drive to work. We would loose our jobs. Our gas would be cut off. Christians would be forced to make an illegal economy in order to survive. How easy it would be to simply make a small act of worship or devotion to the beast and receive the mark and be able to feed your hungry children. It may sound OK to do that. We may rationalize that God understands. But if you do you too will face the judgment of God.
In this passage we also learn some characteristics of God’s final judgment on those who are not found in Jesus. Let’s read verses 10-11, “he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." This is an image of hell. Even though the Bible speaks very little about hell, there are times that it does and here is one of those times. Hell is real. Hell is not a place that you simply cease to exist. People who cease to exist do not feel torment and experience no rest. In hell there is conscious suffering that goes on forever and ever. It is the only alternative reality that exists outside of the kingdom of God.
In this life sin always brings misery and heartache. Sin separates us from God and us from one another until we are left all alone to struggle with our sin problems and be tempted and goaded on by the devil. In eternity there will no longer be any opportunity for repentance. If in this life we choose to be independent of God, we will be separated from him forever. Nobody of forced to choose eternal separation from God, and nobody suffers this fate by accident. But praise God that in this life we can choose to repent and restore our relationship with God through his eternal gospel. Jesus invites all of us to open the door of our hearts to him. Listen to what Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Let’s take Jesus up on this most gracious invitation! If we do we will be saved from our sins and enjoy eternal life with him in his beautiful kingdom. God really wants this to happen.
Verse 12 reveals what should be the practical results of accepting this very gracious invitation from Jesus. Let’s read verse 12 all together. “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” The news about God’s ultimate triumph should encourage God’s people to be faithful through every trial and persecution. They need to endure, patiently continuing to trust and obey Jesus daily.
There is more great news for those who choose to faithfully trust and obey Jesus. Let’s read verse 13. “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’" We will rest from all our labor. We will not be constantly running here and there to get things done at a fevered pitch with no point. We will find true rest. As the famous Johnny Cash gospel song says, “But when I take my vacation in heaven...What a wonderful time that will be. Hearing concerts by the heavenly chorus, and the face of my Savior I'll see. Sitting down on the banks of the river. 'neath the shade of the evergreen tree. There I'll rest from my burdens forever. Won't you take your vacation with me?” God will remember all of our deeds born out of faith and a desire to please him. He will remember our love, kindness, and faithfulness. We will be rewarded by God for helping others to accept Christ through our witness. Let’s decide today to produce fruit that pleases God and lasts forever.
In this passage we see two harvests. The first mention of a harvest is in verse 14, “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one ‘like a son of man’ with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.” This is an image of Judgment: Christ is about to separate the faithful from the unfaithful. The angel urges Jesus to take his sickle and gather the grapes. Look at Verse 15, “Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe’." And Jesus obliged him in verse 16, “So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” This first harvest is the harvest of souls to eternal life. It is revealed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” How can we be part of this first harvest? Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (Jn 5:24)
Then came the second harvest that all people should fear being part of. Let’s read verses 17-20, “Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe’. 19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.” A winepress was a large vat or trough where grapes were collected and then smashed. The juice flowed out of the spout that emptied into a large holding container. The winepress is used in the Bible as a symbol of God’s wrath and judgment against sin. The blood of billions of people poured out of that wine press for it created a stream of blood 5 feet tall and it spread out for 180 miles. This shows us the urgency of proclaiming the eternal gospel. Billions of people are going to perish in their sins. We should care about this and respond accordingly. Again true Christians need not fear this harvest, but anyone who is not in Christ musts take head and repent and come to Jesus today.
In today’s lesson we learned that we need to open our eyes and see God’s words of encouragement and vision so that we will never become weary and loose heart. We must desire to be one of those who sing the song of the redeemed around the throne of God and begin to exude some of the characteristics of the 144,000 even today. We need to be ready for the first harvest of souls. But our salvation can never be selfish. Like the angel, we need proclaim the eternal gospel, by effective means which includes praying for others and preaching the word to those who are lost in the darkness. Reveal Jesus to them. We must also put all of our hope in the kingdom of God where we will find true rest and a great reward for everything we do in this life that is for the glory of Jesus
Part 1: The 144,000 (1-5)
1. What did John see standing on Mount Zion? (1) Why does God show this beautiful heavenly scene to the believers? Why do we need encouragement and hope?
2. What was written on the foreheads of the 144,000? (1) Who are they and what are they doing? (2,4,5) How are they different from those who worship the beast? (13:3b-6; 14b-17) What is special about the 144,000? What qualities did they have? What qualities do I need to grow in now to be like them?
Part ll: The Three Angels (6-20)
3. What is the flying angel carrying to all people of the earth? (6) What is the everlasting good news to preach to those on the earth? (6) Do you believe it? How do the three angels urge the people to get ready for the final hour of God’s judgment? (7-11) How could they share their repentance?
4. Why must we fear God? (7; Prov 9:10) What is worship in light the fear of the Lord? (7; Ecc 12:1) What kind of city was Babylon? (8) What is Babylon? (1 Peter 5:13) How did she seduce the nations of the world?
5. What will happen to those who accept the mask of the beast on their forehead and hand? (9-11) Why will it be difficult to resist getting the mark? (13:17) What is the ultimate result of sin? (11) How does this verse reveal the characteristics of hell? What should be our response? (12) What is Jesus invitation? (3:20)
6. What is the great news? (13) How are those blessed who obey God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus?
7. What did the “Son of Man” hold in his hand? (14) How does Jesus come to harvest the earth? (14) What does it mean that the harvest of the earth is ripe (or the grapes are ripe)? (15,18,Mt13:39) How is the harvest related to the rapture? (11:12, 1Th4:16-17)
8. How does an angel announce the coming of God’s wrath? (19,20) How will God bring his final judgment on sin and on believers? (19; Isaiah 63:3-6; Lam 1:15; Joel 3:12-13)
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Revelations 13:1-18
Faithfully Endure
(The Dragon And The Two Beasts)
Revelation 13:1-18 Lesson 13
Key Verse: 13:10b Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 9-26-10
“…This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.”
In this passage introduces Satan’s (the dragon’s) two evil accomplices: (1) the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth. The beast of the sea represents worldly power. The second beast looks like the Lamb and represents false religion. He deceives people and puts his mark on everyone. Through a study of this passage may we recognize the identity and the evil activities of the two beasts. Why? So that we can take a firm stand on Jesus’ side and overcome. May we also resolve our hearts to have endurance and patience and wisdom to be faithful to Jesus and to follow and worship Jesus alone.
Part 1: The Beast Out Of The Sea (1-10)
We all know that there are not literally beasts like this alive in the world. We will not find fossils of such creatures. They are obviously symbols with symbolic meaning. Let explore their meaning together. The first beast makes his grand appearance in verse 1. Let’s read this verse all together. “And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.” Who is this beast? This verse gives us a few clues. First, the beast came out of the sea. The people in Asia Minor thought that whatever came 'from the sea' was foreign and whatever came from the land as native. They associated things that were evil with the sea and used the sea as a figure for the abyss. The early Christians thought that the first beast was Rome, whose governors and soldiers came by sea to early Christian centers, like Ephesus. Roman ships literally seemed to be “rise up” out of the sea as they appeared on the horizon. (Constable’s notes) Nowadays, “the sea” may mean something different. We have all heard the expression, “the sea of humanity.” In that case the sea may be symbolic of humanity with undulating waves of political and social life from which comes various kinds of social movements, some of which are very much threatening to Christians.
What does this beast look like? Let’s look at verse 1b again. “…He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.” In the Bible horns are a symbol of strength. The ten crowns are symbols of governmental authority. The fact that the crowns are resting on the horns and not on the head of the beast, could mean that the authority of this beast rests on the use of force. This beast symbolizes worldly government that maintains its power through force and is opposed to Christianity. The blasphemous names reflect the beast's opposition to God. Maybe the names were “secular humanism”, “atheism”, “communism” and various others philosophies or religions that set themselves up against Jesus and his people.
John goes on to further describe the beast from the sea. Let’s read verse 2, “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.” We see that the image of the beast was comprised of three animals, a leopard, a bear and a lion. In Daniel, these animals are used to describe kingdoms. Listen to Daniel 7:4-6, “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. 5 ‘And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!' 6 ‘After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.’” These are kingdoms that previously ruled the world, Greece (Dan. 7:6), Medo- Persia (Dan. 7:5), and Babylon (Dan.7:4). The fourth kingdom that Daniel described (Dan.7:23) includes the Antichrist's kingdom.
The beast was initially identified with Rome, because the Roman Empire, in its early days, encouraged a godless life-style, persecuted Christians, and opposed God. Many other individual powers throughout history have also been anti-Christ. The beast and the kingdom he represents may also possessed qualities of three animals, perhaps swiftness, agility, vigilance, craftiness, and fierceness; brutality; strength and majesty. If that is the case then this upcoming kingdom that John is envisioning will be more powerful than any kingdom that this world has every seen.
There is a close affinity between the dragon and this beast. Look at verse 2b, “…The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.” The beast is actually under Satan’s power and control. The beast will share the dragon's hatred towards God and the angels for having cast the dragon out of heaven and will work together against him.
This beast will show a lot of resilience that will deceive the world. Look at verse 3, “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.” This seems to imply that one of the governmental bodies under Satan's authority perished, but then miraculously revived. Another possibility is that the beast himself died and then experienced resurrection The Antichrist's ability to revive this entity will make him appear invincible and the nations will stand in awe. Look at the result in verse 4, “Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?’" There will be worldwide admiration for the beast. Many people will follow and worship him. He will unite the world under his leadership (13:7,8), and he will even control the world economy (13:16, 17). True believers however will know that he should not be followed. They will know because Jesus, our good shepherd, has warned us in this Holy Word, the Bible. Listen to what Jesus says tells his disciples in Matthew 24:23-26, “23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time. 26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.” But those who do not know Jesus will give their allegiance and their worship to the Antichrist. In so doing they will also unknowingly submit to Satan who is behind him.
We must never be misled by claims of great miracles or reports about a resurrection or reincarnation of someone claiming to be Christ. We must not be amazed by the resurrection of political entities either. When Jesus returns, he will reveal himself to everyone. It will be very obvious. Listen to Matthew 24:27-28, “just as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” Never be deceived by false sounding Christs but remain true to Jesus alone.
The beast used its power and authority to oppose God. Let’s read verse 5, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.” Paul reveals more about his activities in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 which read, “Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” He will blaspheme God. It is not easy to endure this. Whenever we hear someone use the name of our Savior as a swear word our hearts cringe. Whenever we hear someone putting down the Bible, Jesus and Christians, we get angry. Can you imagine the inner sufferings that Christians had to endure?
This beast will not stop until he achieves world wide domination. Let’s read verse 7, “He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.” The beast will conquer the world’s people and rule over them. He will become a worldwide dictator (Dan. 7:21, 23). He will demand that everyone worship him. And many will. Look at verse 8, ““All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” Everyone will be deceived except true believers. Refusal to worship the beast will result in temporary suffering for God’s people, but they will be protected spiritually and be rewarded with eternal life in the end. We must always remember that as long as we are in Jesus we are indeed secure. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of Jesus.
Verses 9-10 reveals what some of the persecutions believers will experience. Let’s read these verses together. “He who has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.” At this time, being faithful to Christ could bring imprisonment and even execution. Some believers will be hurt or killed. These verses are an encouragement for believers to submit to the sovereignty of God realizing that God has permitted the Antichrist's activity but that they are secure in Christ. It also assures them of the coming of divine justice and urges them to persevere faithfully. All believers will enter God’s presence perfected and purified by the blood of the Lamb (1:9-17).
During these times of great persecution all believers must practice patient endurance and faithfulness. This even goes for today’s believers like you and me, suffering in today’s world. The tough times we face right now are all opportunities to practice patience and faithfulness. Don’t fall into Satan’s trap and turn away from God when hard times come but rather be patient and endure and grow through them. Grow through the demands of school. Grow through financial demands. Grow through relational problems. Grow through the constant barrage of temptations. Grow when you are overcoming your sinful nature. Grow when God stretches you to reflect the image of Christ. In times of hardship and trials we need to always look to Jesus. (Heb 12:1-3)
Part ll: The Beast Out Of The Earth (11-18)
And now, what about the second beast? Let’s read verses 11-14a, “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth….” In the minds of the ancient peoples’, none of the animals of the earth could compare in power with creatures from the deep. The beast coming out of the earth was inferior in power to the first. (Constable’s notes) This beast had two horns. It may have some political power but it was different. This beast looks like the Lamb. Later on he is identified as the false prophet (16:13; 19:20). He represents false religion.
We can see the role of this beast in verse 12, “He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.” Clearly this second beast is a servant of the dragon, but his connections with the dragon are not as obvious as those of the first beast. He forms a coalition the first beast. He deceives people. Let’s read verses 13; “And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.” He deceives by performing many counterfeit signs that appear to be from God but are not. He will fool people by revealing the pseudo resurrection of the first beast. These will be genuine signs and wonders, not just tricks. Like Elijah and the two witnesses in chapter 11, he will even be able to call down fire from heaven. Throughout the Bible we see miracles performed as proofs of God’s power, love and authority. But here we see counterfeit miracles performed to deceive. Believers must be very vigilant in order to not be deceived.
The second beast will use false religion to capture peoples’ heart and make them devoted to the first beast and the dragon. Let’s read verse 14, “Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.” He will lead the worship of the first beast as the leader of a worldwide religious movement. We see this kid of worship in North Korea. They have statues of the original leader and he is venerated. He is founder of a type of human philosophy called Juche. And so we see how it can happen even today. Verse 15, “He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” The image will be able to speak. Maybe it will be a type of robot? The folks at Disney Studios can probably come up with such a statue. It will put to death those who do not worship the beast (cf. Dan. 3:11), possibly by issuing commands for executions. Evidently these events will all take place in Jerusalem. Paul warns the early Christians of this type of activity in his second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica. He writes in 2Thessalonians 2:9- 10, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
Extreme pressure will be placed on the people of God to deny Jesus. Let’s read verses 16-18, “.He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.” The mark of the beast is evidently a brand-like mark, similar to a tattoo, or an implant, that will identify beast-worshippers and will enable them to buy and sell. There is some connection with ancient customs. Slave owners sometimes branded their slaves with their mark. Those bearing the mark of the beast show that they are the beast’s followers. Roman soldiers branded themselves with the mark of their general if they were loyal to him. Those devoted to the beast will take his mark. The same Greek word translated "mark" (charagma) also described the seal attached to legal documents that bore the name of the emperor and the date. When a person burned a pinch of incense to worship Caesar, he received a certificate. This kept him from death and enabled him to buy and sell. The mark of the beast appears to be such a certificate of worship that a person may obtain by showing their public veneration of the Antichrist.
It is hard to believe that people could be so deceived by such a diabolical and evil creature, but they are. They are mainly because they are offered something or they are deceived by fantastic things or false miracles. Why was the nation of Germany overcome by the Nazis and led the world into WWll? One of the reasons is that Germany was going through a depression and they were humiliated by the terms of surrender after WWl. The population wanted a change and a scapegoat and the Nazis offered all of it. Today we are suffering a lot. There is 15% unemployment. People are loosing their homes to foreclosure. 50 million Americans are living in poverty. (2010) We want a change. We want answers. We want a scapegoat. It is easy for someone to stand up and offer solutions and to hand out a few morsels of money and win hearts. In the future, the antichrist will capture hearts around the world in much the same way as the Nazis took over Germany in the 1930’s but in a more supernatural way.
Accepting this mark is identifying with the purpose of this mark. Those who accept it show their allegiance to Satan, their willingness to operate within the economic system that he promotes, and their rebellion against God. The choice of right hand or forehead is to make the mark conspicuous or so that it can be easily scanned, like a bar code. To refuse the mark means to commit oneself entirely to God, preferring death to compromising one’s faith in Christ. Many believers will not take the mark of the beast. Perhaps they will be able to survive by pooling their resources and by obtaining the necessities of life in underground markets. God may also provide for them by supernatural means, like he did when he fed Elijah in the desert with ravens.
What about the number 666? Let’s read verse 18, “This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.” Here is an interesting bit of trivia. The Greek letters of Nero’s name represent numbers that total 666. The first readers of this book probably applied the number to the Emperor Nero, who symbolized all the evils of the Roman Empire. A simple interpretation may be as follows. The number seven frequently occurs in Scripture. The Israelites understood seven to represent a completed work of God. The number 777 would indicate something divine. However "666" would appear almost like “777”. Each digit is one short of seven, the perfect number. It is a very subtle deception. Deception is the devil’s evil tool to capture hearts. Whatever specific application the number is given, the number symbolizes the worldwide dominion and complete evil designed to undo Christ’s work and overthrow him.
Matthew 24:24-25 reads, “24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.” Jesus says that the times will come when even Christians will be deceived. Sure it is true that Christians must always support what is good and healthy about our society. Sometime we want to compromise with things to get ahead.. But there will be a time when we can no longer co-operate. Some will be deceived. Some will give in out of fear. Some will take their stand even when it means suffering, even giving up their lives. Jesus tells his disciples ahead of time so that that they can prepare their hearts for what is coming. How can we prepare our hearts right now? Look at verse 9-10 again, “He who has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.” We need an ear to listen to the word of God. That means take time out and make an effort to hear the word of God and let the word of God settle in your hearts. We need to live under the sovereignty of God. And we must live out our lives of faith with patient endurance, never giving up, like a long distance runner. Then our hearts can be protected from the devil’s deception.
Surely there will be a time of great persecution and martyrdom for believers. Rather than getting better and better, the world will get worse before Jesus Christ's Second Coming. As we see world events shaping up for this scenario, not despair or be fearful. This unholy trinity – the dragon, the beast out of the sea and the beast of the land –may unite in a desperate attempt to overthrow God, but their efforts are doomed to failure. See what becomes of them in 19:19-21 and 20:10. We should cling to Jesus. We need patient endurance and wisdom to be faithful to Jesus in a world dominated by the two beasts. We must have ears to hear the precious words of God daily.
Part 1: The Beast Out Of The Sea (1-10)
1. What did John see coming out of the sea? (1) Describe this creature in detail. What was written on its seven heads? (1) What did the dragon give this creature? (2) What does he represent? (Da7:4-6) What is the relationship between the dragon and this 1st beast?
2. What did John notice on one of his heads? (3) Why was the whole world in awe? (3) How is this creature a counterfeit of Christ? (3-4) Why will people follow and worship this strange creature? (4) How will we know the real Jesus? (Matt 24:23-28)
3. What did the dragon encourage the creature to do? (5) How will he establish world wide dominance? (6-7) Who will worship him? (8; 2 Thess 2:3-4)
4. What will time of persecution bring God’s people? (9-10) Why must we endure and be faithful? (10) Why are tough times opportunities for us to grow spiritually? (10)
Part 11: The Beast Out Of The Earth (11-18)
5. Where does the second strange creature come from? (11) What is the role of this beast? (12)
6. How is he the counterfeit of the Holy Spirit? (13-15; 2Th2:9,10) What is the purpose of his miracles? (14) Why does a statue want to be worshipped? How is a statue a counterfeit of God the Father? (15) How does he deify the first beast and indoctrinate the people? (16,17)
(The Dragon And The Two Beasts)
Revelation 13:1-18 Lesson 13
Key Verse: 13:10b Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 9-26-10
“…This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.”
In this passage introduces Satan’s (the dragon’s) two evil accomplices: (1) the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth. The beast of the sea represents worldly power. The second beast looks like the Lamb and represents false religion. He deceives people and puts his mark on everyone. Through a study of this passage may we recognize the identity and the evil activities of the two beasts. Why? So that we can take a firm stand on Jesus’ side and overcome. May we also resolve our hearts to have endurance and patience and wisdom to be faithful to Jesus and to follow and worship Jesus alone.
Part 1: The Beast Out Of The Sea (1-10)
We all know that there are not literally beasts like this alive in the world. We will not find fossils of such creatures. They are obviously symbols with symbolic meaning. Let explore their meaning together. The first beast makes his grand appearance in verse 1. Let’s read this verse all together. “And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.” Who is this beast? This verse gives us a few clues. First, the beast came out of the sea. The people in Asia Minor thought that whatever came 'from the sea' was foreign and whatever came from the land as native. They associated things that were evil with the sea and used the sea as a figure for the abyss. The early Christians thought that the first beast was Rome, whose governors and soldiers came by sea to early Christian centers, like Ephesus. Roman ships literally seemed to be “rise up” out of the sea as they appeared on the horizon. (Constable’s notes) Nowadays, “the sea” may mean something different. We have all heard the expression, “the sea of humanity.” In that case the sea may be symbolic of humanity with undulating waves of political and social life from which comes various kinds of social movements, some of which are very much threatening to Christians.
What does this beast look like? Let’s look at verse 1b again. “…He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.” In the Bible horns are a symbol of strength. The ten crowns are symbols of governmental authority. The fact that the crowns are resting on the horns and not on the head of the beast, could mean that the authority of this beast rests on the use of force. This beast symbolizes worldly government that maintains its power through force and is opposed to Christianity. The blasphemous names reflect the beast's opposition to God. Maybe the names were “secular humanism”, “atheism”, “communism” and various others philosophies or religions that set themselves up against Jesus and his people.
John goes on to further describe the beast from the sea. Let’s read verse 2, “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.” We see that the image of the beast was comprised of three animals, a leopard, a bear and a lion. In Daniel, these animals are used to describe kingdoms. Listen to Daniel 7:4-6, “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. 5 ‘And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!' 6 ‘After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.’” These are kingdoms that previously ruled the world, Greece (Dan. 7:6), Medo- Persia (Dan. 7:5), and Babylon (Dan.7:4). The fourth kingdom that Daniel described (Dan.7:23) includes the Antichrist's kingdom.
The beast was initially identified with Rome, because the Roman Empire, in its early days, encouraged a godless life-style, persecuted Christians, and opposed God. Many other individual powers throughout history have also been anti-Christ. The beast and the kingdom he represents may also possessed qualities of three animals, perhaps swiftness, agility, vigilance, craftiness, and fierceness; brutality; strength and majesty. If that is the case then this upcoming kingdom that John is envisioning will be more powerful than any kingdom that this world has every seen.
There is a close affinity between the dragon and this beast. Look at verse 2b, “…The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.” The beast is actually under Satan’s power and control. The beast will share the dragon's hatred towards God and the angels for having cast the dragon out of heaven and will work together against him.
This beast will show a lot of resilience that will deceive the world. Look at verse 3, “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.” This seems to imply that one of the governmental bodies under Satan's authority perished, but then miraculously revived. Another possibility is that the beast himself died and then experienced resurrection The Antichrist's ability to revive this entity will make him appear invincible and the nations will stand in awe. Look at the result in verse 4, “Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?’" There will be worldwide admiration for the beast. Many people will follow and worship him. He will unite the world under his leadership (13:7,8), and he will even control the world economy (13:16, 17). True believers however will know that he should not be followed. They will know because Jesus, our good shepherd, has warned us in this Holy Word, the Bible. Listen to what Jesus says tells his disciples in Matthew 24:23-26, “23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time. 26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.” But those who do not know Jesus will give their allegiance and their worship to the Antichrist. In so doing they will also unknowingly submit to Satan who is behind him.
We must never be misled by claims of great miracles or reports about a resurrection or reincarnation of someone claiming to be Christ. We must not be amazed by the resurrection of political entities either. When Jesus returns, he will reveal himself to everyone. It will be very obvious. Listen to Matthew 24:27-28, “just as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” Never be deceived by false sounding Christs but remain true to Jesus alone.
The beast used its power and authority to oppose God. Let’s read verse 5, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.” Paul reveals more about his activities in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 which read, “Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” He will blaspheme God. It is not easy to endure this. Whenever we hear someone use the name of our Savior as a swear word our hearts cringe. Whenever we hear someone putting down the Bible, Jesus and Christians, we get angry. Can you imagine the inner sufferings that Christians had to endure?
This beast will not stop until he achieves world wide domination. Let’s read verse 7, “He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.” The beast will conquer the world’s people and rule over them. He will become a worldwide dictator (Dan. 7:21, 23). He will demand that everyone worship him. And many will. Look at verse 8, ““All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” Everyone will be deceived except true believers. Refusal to worship the beast will result in temporary suffering for God’s people, but they will be protected spiritually and be rewarded with eternal life in the end. We must always remember that as long as we are in Jesus we are indeed secure. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of Jesus.
Verses 9-10 reveals what some of the persecutions believers will experience. Let’s read these verses together. “He who has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.” At this time, being faithful to Christ could bring imprisonment and even execution. Some believers will be hurt or killed. These verses are an encouragement for believers to submit to the sovereignty of God realizing that God has permitted the Antichrist's activity but that they are secure in Christ. It also assures them of the coming of divine justice and urges them to persevere faithfully. All believers will enter God’s presence perfected and purified by the blood of the Lamb (1:9-17).
During these times of great persecution all believers must practice patient endurance and faithfulness. This even goes for today’s believers like you and me, suffering in today’s world. The tough times we face right now are all opportunities to practice patience and faithfulness. Don’t fall into Satan’s trap and turn away from God when hard times come but rather be patient and endure and grow through them. Grow through the demands of school. Grow through financial demands. Grow through relational problems. Grow through the constant barrage of temptations. Grow when you are overcoming your sinful nature. Grow when God stretches you to reflect the image of Christ. In times of hardship and trials we need to always look to Jesus. (Heb 12:1-3)
Part ll: The Beast Out Of The Earth (11-18)
And now, what about the second beast? Let’s read verses 11-14a, “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth….” In the minds of the ancient peoples’, none of the animals of the earth could compare in power with creatures from the deep. The beast coming out of the earth was inferior in power to the first. (Constable’s notes) This beast had two horns. It may have some political power but it was different. This beast looks like the Lamb. Later on he is identified as the false prophet (16:13; 19:20). He represents false religion.
We can see the role of this beast in verse 12, “He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.” Clearly this second beast is a servant of the dragon, but his connections with the dragon are not as obvious as those of the first beast. He forms a coalition the first beast. He deceives people. Let’s read verses 13; “And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.” He deceives by performing many counterfeit signs that appear to be from God but are not. He will fool people by revealing the pseudo resurrection of the first beast. These will be genuine signs and wonders, not just tricks. Like Elijah and the two witnesses in chapter 11, he will even be able to call down fire from heaven. Throughout the Bible we see miracles performed as proofs of God’s power, love and authority. But here we see counterfeit miracles performed to deceive. Believers must be very vigilant in order to not be deceived.
The second beast will use false religion to capture peoples’ heart and make them devoted to the first beast and the dragon. Let’s read verse 14, “Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.” He will lead the worship of the first beast as the leader of a worldwide religious movement. We see this kid of worship in North Korea. They have statues of the original leader and he is venerated. He is founder of a type of human philosophy called Juche. And so we see how it can happen even today. Verse 15, “He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” The image will be able to speak. Maybe it will be a type of robot? The folks at Disney Studios can probably come up with such a statue. It will put to death those who do not worship the beast (cf. Dan. 3:11), possibly by issuing commands for executions. Evidently these events will all take place in Jerusalem. Paul warns the early Christians of this type of activity in his second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica. He writes in 2Thessalonians 2:9- 10, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
Extreme pressure will be placed on the people of God to deny Jesus. Let’s read verses 16-18, “.He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.” The mark of the beast is evidently a brand-like mark, similar to a tattoo, or an implant, that will identify beast-worshippers and will enable them to buy and sell. There is some connection with ancient customs. Slave owners sometimes branded their slaves with their mark. Those bearing the mark of the beast show that they are the beast’s followers. Roman soldiers branded themselves with the mark of their general if they were loyal to him. Those devoted to the beast will take his mark. The same Greek word translated "mark" (charagma) also described the seal attached to legal documents that bore the name of the emperor and the date. When a person burned a pinch of incense to worship Caesar, he received a certificate. This kept him from death and enabled him to buy and sell. The mark of the beast appears to be such a certificate of worship that a person may obtain by showing their public veneration of the Antichrist.
It is hard to believe that people could be so deceived by such a diabolical and evil creature, but they are. They are mainly because they are offered something or they are deceived by fantastic things or false miracles. Why was the nation of Germany overcome by the Nazis and led the world into WWll? One of the reasons is that Germany was going through a depression and they were humiliated by the terms of surrender after WWl. The population wanted a change and a scapegoat and the Nazis offered all of it. Today we are suffering a lot. There is 15% unemployment. People are loosing their homes to foreclosure. 50 million Americans are living in poverty. (2010) We want a change. We want answers. We want a scapegoat. It is easy for someone to stand up and offer solutions and to hand out a few morsels of money and win hearts. In the future, the antichrist will capture hearts around the world in much the same way as the Nazis took over Germany in the 1930’s but in a more supernatural way.
Accepting this mark is identifying with the purpose of this mark. Those who accept it show their allegiance to Satan, their willingness to operate within the economic system that he promotes, and their rebellion against God. The choice of right hand or forehead is to make the mark conspicuous or so that it can be easily scanned, like a bar code. To refuse the mark means to commit oneself entirely to God, preferring death to compromising one’s faith in Christ. Many believers will not take the mark of the beast. Perhaps they will be able to survive by pooling their resources and by obtaining the necessities of life in underground markets. God may also provide for them by supernatural means, like he did when he fed Elijah in the desert with ravens.
What about the number 666? Let’s read verse 18, “This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.” Here is an interesting bit of trivia. The Greek letters of Nero’s name represent numbers that total 666. The first readers of this book probably applied the number to the Emperor Nero, who symbolized all the evils of the Roman Empire. A simple interpretation may be as follows. The number seven frequently occurs in Scripture. The Israelites understood seven to represent a completed work of God. The number 777 would indicate something divine. However "666" would appear almost like “777”. Each digit is one short of seven, the perfect number. It is a very subtle deception. Deception is the devil’s evil tool to capture hearts. Whatever specific application the number is given, the number symbolizes the worldwide dominion and complete evil designed to undo Christ’s work and overthrow him.
Matthew 24:24-25 reads, “24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.” Jesus says that the times will come when even Christians will be deceived. Sure it is true that Christians must always support what is good and healthy about our society. Sometime we want to compromise with things to get ahead.. But there will be a time when we can no longer co-operate. Some will be deceived. Some will give in out of fear. Some will take their stand even when it means suffering, even giving up their lives. Jesus tells his disciples ahead of time so that that they can prepare their hearts for what is coming. How can we prepare our hearts right now? Look at verse 9-10 again, “He who has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.” We need an ear to listen to the word of God. That means take time out and make an effort to hear the word of God and let the word of God settle in your hearts. We need to live under the sovereignty of God. And we must live out our lives of faith with patient endurance, never giving up, like a long distance runner. Then our hearts can be protected from the devil’s deception.
Surely there will be a time of great persecution and martyrdom for believers. Rather than getting better and better, the world will get worse before Jesus Christ's Second Coming. As we see world events shaping up for this scenario, not despair or be fearful. This unholy trinity – the dragon, the beast out of the sea and the beast of the land –may unite in a desperate attempt to overthrow God, but their efforts are doomed to failure. See what becomes of them in 19:19-21 and 20:10. We should cling to Jesus. We need patient endurance and wisdom to be faithful to Jesus in a world dominated by the two beasts. We must have ears to hear the precious words of God daily.
Part 1: The Beast Out Of The Sea (1-10)
1. What did John see coming out of the sea? (1) Describe this creature in detail. What was written on its seven heads? (1) What did the dragon give this creature? (2) What does he represent? (Da7:4-6) What is the relationship between the dragon and this 1st beast?
2. What did John notice on one of his heads? (3) Why was the whole world in awe? (3) How is this creature a counterfeit of Christ? (3-4) Why will people follow and worship this strange creature? (4) How will we know the real Jesus? (Matt 24:23-28)
3. What did the dragon encourage the creature to do? (5) How will he establish world wide dominance? (6-7) Who will worship him? (8; 2 Thess 2:3-4)
4. What will time of persecution bring God’s people? (9-10) Why must we endure and be faithful? (10) Why are tough times opportunities for us to grow spiritually? (10)
Part 11: The Beast Out Of The Earth (11-18)
5. Where does the second strange creature come from? (11) What is the role of this beast? (12)
6. How is he the counterfeit of the Holy Spirit? (13-15; 2Th2:9,10) What is the purpose of his miracles? (14) Why does a statue want to be worshipped? How is a statue a counterfeit of God the Father? (15) How does he deify the first beast and indoctrinate the people? (16,17)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Revelations 12:1-17
The Dragon And The Male Child
Revelation 12:1-17 Lesson 13
Key verse 12:5 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 9-19-10
“She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.”
This passage is quite involved and volumes of books have been written about these 17 verses. In my own Bible note preparation, I came up with 16 pages of notes and I just had to draw the line somewhere. Last week, I decided to split this message into two parts. We focused mostly on the victorious song of the believers in verses 10-12. The message was called, “Victory Through The Blood Of The Lamb.” The key verse was verse 11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” We learned that the believers were victorious for three reasons, the blood of Jesus, the testimony of their witness and their decision to offer up their lives without reservation. From the text we derived ways that we could live as victorious Christians in today’s world.
This time around we are going to take a closer look at the three main actors in this passage. They are the dragon, the woman and the child. This chapter describes the eternal conflict between God and the devil and the church and the devil. It is good to know who the devil is so that we can recognize our enemy and be able to make the necessary defensive and offense actions to thwart his dastardly plans. We will also see how God protects his people and keeps them safe spiritually even unto eternal life. God is with you all and he is keeping you safe in so many ways. We need to know that and dwell in the shelter of his wings. May God bless you abundantly.
Part l: The Woman Gives Birth To A Son (1-6)
First, the woman. Let’s read verses 1-3, “A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.” And also verse 5, “5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” There are many different ideas about this woman. Some say it is Eve, based on Genesis 3:15, which reads, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Some say it is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some say the woman is the body of believers, the church and also the nation of Israel. I believe the identity of the woman is found in verse 2. Let’s look at that verse again. “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” The first reference to the sun, moon and stars are first found in Genesis with Joseph. He had a dream in which the sun, moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to him. (Gen 39:7) The sun corresponds to Jacob, the moon to Rachel, and the twelve stars to Israel's twelve sons. Thus the sun, moon, and stars, became an ancient symbol of the nation of Israel.
In this passage the nation of Israel gave birth to a male child. It is quiet obvious that the male child is Jesus, our Messiah and the Savior of the world. Jesus came from the house and line of Judah. He came from the Jews. He was prophesied about, in over 300 places in the Old Testament, the Jewish Scripture.
The woman was crying out in pain as she was giving birth to this child. As we know child birth is very painful. Some know about this more than others. Julie went through it five times. She is a great woman. The nation of Israel did suffer greatly to bring forth the Messiah. To remain as a people of God they endured invasions and civil war, exiles and the constant pressure to give up their faith and be engulfed by other cultures and other religions. The Jewish prophets suffered immeasurably to bring us the prophecies concerning Jesus and maintain the Scriptures. Isaiah the prophet was sawed in two. But God used him to bring us one of the most vivid prophecies about Jesus, Isaiah 53. You should all read that chapter slowly and prayerfully on your own. At the time of Jesus’ birth, the nation of Israel was crying out in pain. They had been under Roman occupation for 40 years. They were poor and oppressed. They were torn politically with constant squabbles between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They had not heard the word of God through the prophets for 400 years. The people were groping in the darkness. But God was creating the perfect scenario for the Savior to be born. And the time came for Jesus to be born as a tiny baby in the manger. Jesus’ earthly ministry also caused much turmoil among the Jews. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion the people were on the verge of rioting and the Romans were poised to snuff out the unrest. There was a lot of pain in bringing Jesus into the world as our Savior.
The woman can also be the church itself. Paul says in the book of Romans that not all of Israel is Israel. Listen to what he says in Romans 9:6b-7a, “…For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children…” He goes on to tell us that those who walk in the faith of Abraham are the true Israel. If we think this way then we can think of the woman representing the body of believers who ever walked by faith. They did suffer a lot also to see the Messiah Jesus born in the world.
Mary brings this all together in a spiritual amalgam. She was a devout Jew. She was also a sincere believer. She suffered a lot to bring Jesus into this world. She was 16 years old. She conceived out of wedlock. She was willing to endure the scorn and the derision of her family, community and even her fiancée, Joseph. But what did she say about her mission to be the mother of the Messiah? “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.” (Lk 1:38) The birth itself was painful. She had to ride to Bethlehem on a donkey, in full bloom. She never had a nice hospital birthing suite. There was no room for her in the Inn and she had to give birth in a stable. Her cries pierced the still night air. But through all that suffering and pain she became the mother of Jesus. And so, in this way Mary served as a living symbol of the woman in this chapter of Revelation.
The whole purpose of the church is to bring Jesus into the world and it suffers so much to do so. In fact for the first 300 years of Church history the church underwent great persecutions. Thousands of believers were martyred laying down their lives in humble service, so that Jesus may be born in the hearts of those who did not know their Savior. Even today the church, the true Israel, is under much pain and travail. In some parts of the word people are getting martyred but not so much in America. In America Christians are being ignored to death. There is a lot of psychological suffering and the pressure of everyday life that causes much pain in our attempt to see Jesus born in the hearts of our young people.
But despite of the hardships, what do we know about birth pains? For those who don’t know, the pains of child birth go away when the mother sees and holds her newborn child. Her heart is full of love and joy. The pains are forgotten. Who can testify to this? Though it takes a lot of pain and sacrifice to see Jesus born in one person’s heart, it is all worth it when you see that person coming to Jesus and even accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. All the sacrifices in the past don’t even come to mind. And so what do you think? Who is the woman? Israel? The church? Mary? You are all right!
Part ll: The Dragon (3, 4, 7-10)
The dragon is clearly the devil. The devil is not a symbol or a legend. He is very real. The Bible contains a lot of material on the devil. We will not get into all the material, but we will stay focused on this passage. Let’s start in verse 3, “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” This dragon is red. What could red represent? It could be blood. This serpent is indeed responsible for the shedding of much blood and taking of many lives. I also have seen people’s faces turn red because they are so furious. The serpent is furious, furious at God and furious at God’s children. The devil has ten heads, meaning that he is full of wisdom, worldly wisdom. He also has ten horns. In the Bible horn means strength. The ten horns could simply be symbolic of the dragon's mighty strength.
The dragon has great influence. Look at verse 4, “His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.” His tail swept a third of the stars from sky. In the past Satan used to freely approach the throne of God and accuse people before God, like he did to Job. The Bible says that he was a beautiful angel. But he became proud and wanted to take the place of God. (Ez 28:11-19) His rebellious heart made him get others to follow. There was a civil war in heaven. Look at verses 7-9, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” A look at Ezekiel 28:15-17 will explained further, “15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” This is a prophecy about the king of Tyre, but many Biblical scholars also feel that it is reference to the devil himself. Satan was flung to the earth and he took 1/3 of the angels with him and now his is steaming mad, so mad that his face turned red. (lol) He really wants to get back at God, but he knows that he can’t and that his time is short and so he gets at the ones whom God loves…God’s children…you and I. He leads the whole world astray so as to keep us from our God and from eternal life. How does he lead the whole world astray? He does it through deceptive philosophies, lies, through human wisdom, half truths, false religion and other deceptions and various temptations. If we are following our own emotions and feelings and reasonable sounding philosophies of life, or what other people are telling us, then guess what? We are being led astray. We need to come to Jesus, the shepherd of our souls and be led by him. John 14:6 is a verse we can hold onto: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” You can trust Jesus to show you the way.
What else does this passage say about the devil? Verse 6 reads, “The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.” The devil pursed this woman in hopes to kill her child. Satan is relentless. The Bible says, “…enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) He actively looks for people to attack (1 Pe 5:8-9). Satan likes to pursue believers who are vulnerable in their faith, who are spiritually weak, or who are isolated from other believers. He hounds and pursues and does not let up. In life, we have wave after wave of temptations pounding against our life boat. If we are not in Christ, each wave causes us to get weaker, we become fearful. We despair. We get sorrowful and bitter and we just want to give up life and even our spiritual life. We need to recognize what is happening. Our enemy the devil is pursing us as he is pursing the woman in this passage. He will not give up until we are eternally separated from God. But this passage tells us how to overcome through lasts week’s message. Do you remember? Let’s read verse 11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” There is also a clue nestled within 1 Peter 5: 9, says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Though the devil may nip at our heels and hound us, Jesus is with us. God provides a place of shelter and protection for us. He has won the victory and we are more than conquers through him who loved us. (Rom 8:37)
Have you heard enough of the devil? Yes of course…but there is some more in this passage. Let’s read verse 10,“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.’” Satan is the great accuser. The name “Satan” means “accuser” He engages in psychological warfare accusing the believers night and day. “You are not a Christian? How could God love you? You sin too much.? You have failed God. You will never bear fruit with your life.” That is how he tears you down and renders you powerless. But praise be to God, that though the devil tries his best to accuse us, Jesus tries his best to plant faith and God’s love into our hearts. Think about the famous verse, John 1:12, “12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” God loves you unconditionally. When you repented of your sins and came to Jesus by faith you are a child of God, with a rich inheritance in the kingdom of God. This is absolutely true. Though we may stumble and fall we are still God’s child. No one can take these facts away from us. Never let the Accuser get the better of you.
We need to really know who are enemy is. Eph 6:11-12 reads, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It is a spiritual battle that we can not win on our own. We need Jesus’ help. We must remember that Christ is victorious. Even though God permits the devil to do his work in this world, God is still in control. Jesus defeated the power of the devil when he died and rose again for the sins of mankind. One day Satan will be bound forever, never again to do his evil work again.
Part lll: The Child (4b-5,
Now here comes the most important part of the passage, the child. Look at verses 4b-5, “…The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” This child is Jesus. We all have seen nice nativity scenes and saw a young couple holding a newborn baby in their arms with angels and shepherds and cute animals smiling around the baby. But was this the entire picture? I don’t think so. Also in this picture is the devil waiting to devour the child. You are not going to put that reality in any nativity scene but if you are going to be Biblically correct maybe you should. Satan desperately did not want the Savior of the world to be born. He tried his best to confuse the Jews as to true identity of the Messiah and how he would come into the world. When Jesus did come he worked in Herod’s heart to try to kill the newborn Jesus. Do you remember? Herod ordered all the boys born in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger to be killed. (Matt 2:16) God protected Jesus. He sent them to the desert of Egypt until Herod died. Satan tried to destroy Jesus all the way to the cross. But he could not. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the devil tried to pursue the church, through endless persecution but God always protected his people by sending them into “the desert.” Look it up and you will find that it is true. The desert represents a place of spiritual fortification from Satan. Just as God aided the woman’s escape into the desert, we can be sure that God offers security to all true believers. Satan always attacks God’s people, but God keeps them spiritually secure. Some will experience physical harm, but all will be protected from spiritual harm. Trust God.
Why did the devil hate this child so much? Look at Verse 5, “She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” Though the devil tried his best to stop Jesus but he could not. God protected Jesus and through his suffering, death and resurrection he was exalted by God to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. (Phi 2:9) Jesus became King of kings and Lord of Lords who is the ruler of all nations. Is your ruler?
Though Jesus was crowned king though his death and resurrection, the devil does not stop his relentless pursuit. Let’s read verse 13-17, “When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” Paul tells us that we are in a spiritual battle. (Eph 6:10-12) John says that the war is still being waged. But the outcome is has already been determined. Satan and his followers have been defeated and will be destroyed. Nevertheless Satan is battling everyday to bring more into his ranks and keep his own from defecting to God’s side. It is a loosing battle. God has guaranteed us victory as we stand on Jesus’ side, by faith. God will not lose the war. He will even use the forces of nature to aid us in our battle. Continue to obey Jesus’ commands from the Bible and continue to hold onto the testimony about Jesus as you share it with the world. When you do Satan’s kingdom will crumble and you can get others to defect to Jesus’ side. Never, ever waver in your commitment to Christ.
In this passage we learned that we must never think that our present trials and sufferings are unusual. They are simply birth pains as Jesus is being born newly in your hearts and lives. Sure it may be painful, but you will forget the pain as you enter into a new relationship with your Savior. All the sufferings that you are enduring to help someone else meet Jesus will be worth it all when Jesus is born in their hearts too. We also learned that we are in a spiritual battle and we have a spiritual enemy, the devil. We can overcome him with the blood of the Lamb, the testimony of our witness and not shrinking from death. Resist the devil and he will surely flee. Finally we learned that Jesus is the ruler of all nations. May he be the ruler of your hearts today. God bless.
Part l: The Woman Gives Birth To A Son (1-6)
1. The two great signs appeared in heaven that expose the main actors in this cosmic struggle. Who are they? Who do the woman and the child represent? (1,5, 17,Gen 37:9; Lk 1:26-33; Gen 3:15) What is God’s relationship with the nation of Israel? (Rom 9:4)
2. Who is the devil? (12:10; Jn 8:44; Gen 3:1; 1 Peter 5:8-9) How did the dragon attempt to devour the child? (4, Mt 2:13-20) What was the motivation behind Herod’s evil actions? (Eph 6:10-12) Is Satan real to you?
3. How did God save the woman and her child? (5,6) What was God’s plan for this child? But how has the son come to rule the nations? (5, Phil 2:9; Ps 2)
Part 11: War In Heaven (7-9)
4. How has the dragon lost the battle and been thrown out of heaven to the earth? (7-9,20:2, Job 1:9-11) Why was he denied access to heaven? (Ez 28:11-19)What can we learn from this?
Part lll: Overcome By The Blood Of The Lamb (10-17)
5. What has come to reality due to this victory? (10) How can we overcome the devil? (11)
6. How does the dragon attack the woman and her offspring? (15) Why? How does God protect them? (14,16, Ex 19:4) What does it symbolize by “a time, times and half a time” or 1,260 days? (6, 14, 11:3; Da 9:27,12:7)
Revelation 12:1-17 Lesson 13
Key verse 12:5 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 9-19-10
“She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.”
This passage is quite involved and volumes of books have been written about these 17 verses. In my own Bible note preparation, I came up with 16 pages of notes and I just had to draw the line somewhere. Last week, I decided to split this message into two parts. We focused mostly on the victorious song of the believers in verses 10-12. The message was called, “Victory Through The Blood Of The Lamb.” The key verse was verse 11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” We learned that the believers were victorious for three reasons, the blood of Jesus, the testimony of their witness and their decision to offer up their lives without reservation. From the text we derived ways that we could live as victorious Christians in today’s world.
This time around we are going to take a closer look at the three main actors in this passage. They are the dragon, the woman and the child. This chapter describes the eternal conflict between God and the devil and the church and the devil. It is good to know who the devil is so that we can recognize our enemy and be able to make the necessary defensive and offense actions to thwart his dastardly plans. We will also see how God protects his people and keeps them safe spiritually even unto eternal life. God is with you all and he is keeping you safe in so many ways. We need to know that and dwell in the shelter of his wings. May God bless you abundantly.
Part l: The Woman Gives Birth To A Son (1-6)
First, the woman. Let’s read verses 1-3, “A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.” And also verse 5, “5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” There are many different ideas about this woman. Some say it is Eve, based on Genesis 3:15, which reads, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Some say it is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some say the woman is the body of believers, the church and also the nation of Israel. I believe the identity of the woman is found in verse 2. Let’s look at that verse again. “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” The first reference to the sun, moon and stars are first found in Genesis with Joseph. He had a dream in which the sun, moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to him. (Gen 39:7) The sun corresponds to Jacob, the moon to Rachel, and the twelve stars to Israel's twelve sons. Thus the sun, moon, and stars, became an ancient symbol of the nation of Israel.
In this passage the nation of Israel gave birth to a male child. It is quiet obvious that the male child is Jesus, our Messiah and the Savior of the world. Jesus came from the house and line of Judah. He came from the Jews. He was prophesied about, in over 300 places in the Old Testament, the Jewish Scripture.
The woman was crying out in pain as she was giving birth to this child. As we know child birth is very painful. Some know about this more than others. Julie went through it five times. She is a great woman. The nation of Israel did suffer greatly to bring forth the Messiah. To remain as a people of God they endured invasions and civil war, exiles and the constant pressure to give up their faith and be engulfed by other cultures and other religions. The Jewish prophets suffered immeasurably to bring us the prophecies concerning Jesus and maintain the Scriptures. Isaiah the prophet was sawed in two. But God used him to bring us one of the most vivid prophecies about Jesus, Isaiah 53. You should all read that chapter slowly and prayerfully on your own. At the time of Jesus’ birth, the nation of Israel was crying out in pain. They had been under Roman occupation for 40 years. They were poor and oppressed. They were torn politically with constant squabbles between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They had not heard the word of God through the prophets for 400 years. The people were groping in the darkness. But God was creating the perfect scenario for the Savior to be born. And the time came for Jesus to be born as a tiny baby in the manger. Jesus’ earthly ministry also caused much turmoil among the Jews. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion the people were on the verge of rioting and the Romans were poised to snuff out the unrest. There was a lot of pain in bringing Jesus into the world as our Savior.
The woman can also be the church itself. Paul says in the book of Romans that not all of Israel is Israel. Listen to what he says in Romans 9:6b-7a, “…For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children…” He goes on to tell us that those who walk in the faith of Abraham are the true Israel. If we think this way then we can think of the woman representing the body of believers who ever walked by faith. They did suffer a lot also to see the Messiah Jesus born in the world.
Mary brings this all together in a spiritual amalgam. She was a devout Jew. She was also a sincere believer. She suffered a lot to bring Jesus into this world. She was 16 years old. She conceived out of wedlock. She was willing to endure the scorn and the derision of her family, community and even her fiancée, Joseph. But what did she say about her mission to be the mother of the Messiah? “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.” (Lk 1:38) The birth itself was painful. She had to ride to Bethlehem on a donkey, in full bloom. She never had a nice hospital birthing suite. There was no room for her in the Inn and she had to give birth in a stable. Her cries pierced the still night air. But through all that suffering and pain she became the mother of Jesus. And so, in this way Mary served as a living symbol of the woman in this chapter of Revelation.
The whole purpose of the church is to bring Jesus into the world and it suffers so much to do so. In fact for the first 300 years of Church history the church underwent great persecutions. Thousands of believers were martyred laying down their lives in humble service, so that Jesus may be born in the hearts of those who did not know their Savior. Even today the church, the true Israel, is under much pain and travail. In some parts of the word people are getting martyred but not so much in America. In America Christians are being ignored to death. There is a lot of psychological suffering and the pressure of everyday life that causes much pain in our attempt to see Jesus born in the hearts of our young people.
But despite of the hardships, what do we know about birth pains? For those who don’t know, the pains of child birth go away when the mother sees and holds her newborn child. Her heart is full of love and joy. The pains are forgotten. Who can testify to this? Though it takes a lot of pain and sacrifice to see Jesus born in one person’s heart, it is all worth it when you see that person coming to Jesus and even accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. All the sacrifices in the past don’t even come to mind. And so what do you think? Who is the woman? Israel? The church? Mary? You are all right!
Part ll: The Dragon (3, 4, 7-10)
The dragon is clearly the devil. The devil is not a symbol or a legend. He is very real. The Bible contains a lot of material on the devil. We will not get into all the material, but we will stay focused on this passage. Let’s start in verse 3, “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” This dragon is red. What could red represent? It could be blood. This serpent is indeed responsible for the shedding of much blood and taking of many lives. I also have seen people’s faces turn red because they are so furious. The serpent is furious, furious at God and furious at God’s children. The devil has ten heads, meaning that he is full of wisdom, worldly wisdom. He also has ten horns. In the Bible horn means strength. The ten horns could simply be symbolic of the dragon's mighty strength.
The dragon has great influence. Look at verse 4, “His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.” His tail swept a third of the stars from sky. In the past Satan used to freely approach the throne of God and accuse people before God, like he did to Job. The Bible says that he was a beautiful angel. But he became proud and wanted to take the place of God. (Ez 28:11-19) His rebellious heart made him get others to follow. There was a civil war in heaven. Look at verses 7-9, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” A look at Ezekiel 28:15-17 will explained further, “15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” This is a prophecy about the king of Tyre, but many Biblical scholars also feel that it is reference to the devil himself. Satan was flung to the earth and he took 1/3 of the angels with him and now his is steaming mad, so mad that his face turned red. (lol) He really wants to get back at God, but he knows that he can’t and that his time is short and so he gets at the ones whom God loves…God’s children…you and I. He leads the whole world astray so as to keep us from our God and from eternal life. How does he lead the whole world astray? He does it through deceptive philosophies, lies, through human wisdom, half truths, false religion and other deceptions and various temptations. If we are following our own emotions and feelings and reasonable sounding philosophies of life, or what other people are telling us, then guess what? We are being led astray. We need to come to Jesus, the shepherd of our souls and be led by him. John 14:6 is a verse we can hold onto: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” You can trust Jesus to show you the way.
What else does this passage say about the devil? Verse 6 reads, “The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.” The devil pursed this woman in hopes to kill her child. Satan is relentless. The Bible says, “…enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) He actively looks for people to attack (1 Pe 5:8-9). Satan likes to pursue believers who are vulnerable in their faith, who are spiritually weak, or who are isolated from other believers. He hounds and pursues and does not let up. In life, we have wave after wave of temptations pounding against our life boat. If we are not in Christ, each wave causes us to get weaker, we become fearful. We despair. We get sorrowful and bitter and we just want to give up life and even our spiritual life. We need to recognize what is happening. Our enemy the devil is pursing us as he is pursing the woman in this passage. He will not give up until we are eternally separated from God. But this passage tells us how to overcome through lasts week’s message. Do you remember? Let’s read verse 11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” There is also a clue nestled within 1 Peter 5: 9, says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Though the devil may nip at our heels and hound us, Jesus is with us. God provides a place of shelter and protection for us. He has won the victory and we are more than conquers through him who loved us. (Rom 8:37)
Have you heard enough of the devil? Yes of course…but there is some more in this passage. Let’s read verse 10,“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.’” Satan is the great accuser. The name “Satan” means “accuser” He engages in psychological warfare accusing the believers night and day. “You are not a Christian? How could God love you? You sin too much.? You have failed God. You will never bear fruit with your life.” That is how he tears you down and renders you powerless. But praise be to God, that though the devil tries his best to accuse us, Jesus tries his best to plant faith and God’s love into our hearts. Think about the famous verse, John 1:12, “12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” God loves you unconditionally. When you repented of your sins and came to Jesus by faith you are a child of God, with a rich inheritance in the kingdom of God. This is absolutely true. Though we may stumble and fall we are still God’s child. No one can take these facts away from us. Never let the Accuser get the better of you.
We need to really know who are enemy is. Eph 6:11-12 reads, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It is a spiritual battle that we can not win on our own. We need Jesus’ help. We must remember that Christ is victorious. Even though God permits the devil to do his work in this world, God is still in control. Jesus defeated the power of the devil when he died and rose again for the sins of mankind. One day Satan will be bound forever, never again to do his evil work again.
Part lll: The Child (4b-5,
Now here comes the most important part of the passage, the child. Look at verses 4b-5, “…The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” This child is Jesus. We all have seen nice nativity scenes and saw a young couple holding a newborn baby in their arms with angels and shepherds and cute animals smiling around the baby. But was this the entire picture? I don’t think so. Also in this picture is the devil waiting to devour the child. You are not going to put that reality in any nativity scene but if you are going to be Biblically correct maybe you should. Satan desperately did not want the Savior of the world to be born. He tried his best to confuse the Jews as to true identity of the Messiah and how he would come into the world. When Jesus did come he worked in Herod’s heart to try to kill the newborn Jesus. Do you remember? Herod ordered all the boys born in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger to be killed. (Matt 2:16) God protected Jesus. He sent them to the desert of Egypt until Herod died. Satan tried to destroy Jesus all the way to the cross. But he could not. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the devil tried to pursue the church, through endless persecution but God always protected his people by sending them into “the desert.” Look it up and you will find that it is true. The desert represents a place of spiritual fortification from Satan. Just as God aided the woman’s escape into the desert, we can be sure that God offers security to all true believers. Satan always attacks God’s people, but God keeps them spiritually secure. Some will experience physical harm, but all will be protected from spiritual harm. Trust God.
Why did the devil hate this child so much? Look at Verse 5, “She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” Though the devil tried his best to stop Jesus but he could not. God protected Jesus and through his suffering, death and resurrection he was exalted by God to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. (Phi 2:9) Jesus became King of kings and Lord of Lords who is the ruler of all nations. Is your ruler?
Though Jesus was crowned king though his death and resurrection, the devil does not stop his relentless pursuit. Let’s read verse 13-17, “When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” Paul tells us that we are in a spiritual battle. (Eph 6:10-12) John says that the war is still being waged. But the outcome is has already been determined. Satan and his followers have been defeated and will be destroyed. Nevertheless Satan is battling everyday to bring more into his ranks and keep his own from defecting to God’s side. It is a loosing battle. God has guaranteed us victory as we stand on Jesus’ side, by faith. God will not lose the war. He will even use the forces of nature to aid us in our battle. Continue to obey Jesus’ commands from the Bible and continue to hold onto the testimony about Jesus as you share it with the world. When you do Satan’s kingdom will crumble and you can get others to defect to Jesus’ side. Never, ever waver in your commitment to Christ.
In this passage we learned that we must never think that our present trials and sufferings are unusual. They are simply birth pains as Jesus is being born newly in your hearts and lives. Sure it may be painful, but you will forget the pain as you enter into a new relationship with your Savior. All the sufferings that you are enduring to help someone else meet Jesus will be worth it all when Jesus is born in their hearts too. We also learned that we are in a spiritual battle and we have a spiritual enemy, the devil. We can overcome him with the blood of the Lamb, the testimony of our witness and not shrinking from death. Resist the devil and he will surely flee. Finally we learned that Jesus is the ruler of all nations. May he be the ruler of your hearts today. God bless.
Part l: The Woman Gives Birth To A Son (1-6)
1. The two great signs appeared in heaven that expose the main actors in this cosmic struggle. Who are they? Who do the woman and the child represent? (1,5, 17,Gen 37:9; Lk 1:26-33; Gen 3:15) What is God’s relationship with the nation of Israel? (Rom 9:4)
2. Who is the devil? (12:10; Jn 8:44; Gen 3:1; 1 Peter 5:8-9) How did the dragon attempt to devour the child? (4, Mt 2:13-20) What was the motivation behind Herod’s evil actions? (Eph 6:10-12) Is Satan real to you?
3. How did God save the woman and her child? (5,6) What was God’s plan for this child? But how has the son come to rule the nations? (5, Phil 2:9; Ps 2)
Part 11: War In Heaven (7-9)
4. How has the dragon lost the battle and been thrown out of heaven to the earth? (7-9,20:2, Job 1:9-11) Why was he denied access to heaven? (Ez 28:11-19)What can we learn from this?
Part lll: Overcome By The Blood Of The Lamb (10-17)
5. What has come to reality due to this victory? (10) How can we overcome the devil? (11)
6. How does the dragon attack the woman and her offspring? (15) Why? How does God protect them? (14,16, Ex 19:4) What does it symbolize by “a time, times and half a time” or 1,260 days? (6, 14, 11:3; Da 9:27,12:7)
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