Back to finish off Revelation this week. See if you can pick some of the parallels with the book of Daniel. Have a wonderful week.
Revelation 12: The Woman and the Dragon
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.
5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Satan Thrown Down to Earth
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back,
8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world---he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.
16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
Revelation 13: The First Beast
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marvelled as they followed the beast.
4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
The Second Beast
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.
12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Things to think about…
1. In Rev 12 - The woman is Israel. The twelve stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Remember the vision of Joseph that the sun, moon and 11 stars would bow down to him, Gen 37:. Here we see the sun and moon under the woman. It’s as if she one and joined by the sun (Jacob) and moon (Rachael) with the result being the crown of the 12 stars – the twelve tribes of Israel on her head. The son she gives birth to is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Remember Herod wanted to destroy Jesus, Matt 2:13-18. But here the dragon makes war on the Jews, Rev 12:13 and the church, vs 17. Jesus said He saw Satan fall like lightening. But we know Satan is still the accuser of the brethren and still has access into God’s presence in heaven. But there is coming a time where he is permanently thrown onto the earth for good, until the end. He pursues the woman’s offspring. The beast – Satan, is against and pursues woman who are the Jewish people. I believe the church will begin to go through the tribulation period, and then will be a raptured during that period. Rev 12 and 13 seems to affirm this as well. Why does this dragon, Satan, stand on the sand of the sea? Paul says he is the prince of this present age, Eph 2:2 and he rules the earth in a sense – under the Lord’s limits of course.
2. Israel will be at peace in the first part of the 7 year tribulation and will be protected, Rev 12:6, 14-16, for 1,260 days or about 3 and a half years. This is before all the intense activity associated with the later part of the Tribulation that we see especially in Rev 16 as described by Jesus in Mt 24 when the covenant the anti-Christ made with Israel will be broken off.
3. The first beast in Rev 13:1-10 comes out of the sea. Satan, the dragon in Rev 12 is ready to give this beast its power – hence Satan standing on the sand of the sea. Consider the description of the beast rising out of the sea. It is described as being like a leopard, a bear and a lion. Remember how the kingdoms were represented in one of Daniel’s visions, Dan 7:2-8 – these same animals are mentioned. This final beast means that an authority will rise that has the same influence and power as these previous kingdoms but will be part of the final multi headed kingdom that is made up of Daniel’s final ten toed iron and clay kingdom, Dan 2:41-43, here represented as having ten heads. How do you think this will eventuate? Can you see any way this would come about with the present ruling powers in the world?
4. Consider Rev 13:3 and the mortal wound that was healed. I believe this final kingdom will try to be established and three leaders/countries will be destroyed, and the final global system will look to have received a death blow, but will be revived to be ruled by the antichrist, Dan 7:7, 8, 23-25. In the interim this may well give a season of freedom and blessing for the church and hopefully a time of revival. But we also know there will be a great falling away, 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2Tim 3:1-5; 2 Tim 4:3-4. This will be true as many will compromise their faith, these will be people who are not truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
5. Consider Rev 12:6, 14 and Rev 13:5. These all speak of 1260 days, described as a times, times and half a times and forty-two months. Daniel also mentions these figures, Dan 7:25, 9:27. It is not a coincidence – they are related. Scripture interprets scripture. Even though Titus surrounded Jerusalem in AD67, he is a type with respect to the final judgement period. While there is some fulfilment with the Roman armies of Titus who surrounded Jerusalem in AD 67 until AD70 when Jerusalem was finally overthrown. This prophesy was not fulfilled by Titus with the Jews prior to or leading up to 70AD as Revelation was written after those events in AD95. This refers to a period yet to come. Note that the beast makes war on the saints, Rev 13:7 and conquer them. This is at the start of the tribulation, just before the rapture and before the beginning of the Lord’s judgement upon the end times religious/political system that during this period will require an identifier on the right hand or the forehead, Rev 13:16.
6. There is more confirmation of the believers going through the tribulation period as found in Rev 13:7. This will be a time of refining through persecution. Hence John’s expression “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints”, Rev 13:10.
7. Another beast rises out of the earth with two horns, Rev 13:11. It looks like a lamb. I.E It looks like Jesus, the Saviour who is the true Lamb. But people will be deceived to follow this false lamb. This beast that looks like a lamb with two horns representing the antichrist and his prophet make people worship the world super power and its system that is empowered by satanic influence, but religious and political power are tied up in this beast. This is even as Daniel suggests iron and clay together, while they don’t mix they they are part of this final kingdom, Dan 2:43, a political and spiritual kingdom united against Christ. Jesus is the stone that will eventually smash this final kingdom, Dan 2:34, 35, 44, 45. This 2 horned lamb will be a kingdom that deceives through signs and wonders, Rev 13:14. Those who do not have a solid theology and a right understanding of the purposes and plans of the true Lamb of God will be deceived.
8. The stick that these two beasts will have against the dwellers on earth is that people won’t be allowed to have the basic necessities of life – the right to buy and sell, Rev 13:17, unless they worship within this earthly system. 666 just means this is of the flesh, fallen, man-centred, of the world, devil inspired and empowered. John’s advice – “This calls for wisdom”, Rev 13:18.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
The reading for Sunday came from Revelation 1.
1. John says those who read aloud Revelation and hear it will be blessed, Rev 1:3. Revelation is a difficult book to understand, and reading aloud helps focus our mind to heart. That’s why the public reading, hearing and studying of God’s word is important. Do you agree? Isn’t it enough just to read it by yourself? Discuss.
2. The message was given to the messengers (ministers) to the seven churches. Look at the One who is giving the message, Rev 1:8, 12-15. What do these verses say about Jesus?
3. The message is given to 7 churches, Rev 1:11. You may recall some of the things Jay said about those churches. They all had varying messages. But to all 7 churches He mentions 4 things that are common to all. 1. “The words of…” 2. “I know your works…” 3. “To the one who conquers…”4. “He who has ears, let him hear…”. Discuss the importance of each of these statements.
4. Pray for the Pastor that he faithfully declares the message of the Messenger to CBC.
Prayer Points
1. Those in their final week of study and families going away on holidays.
2. Pray for testimonies that people will be doing every second week. Please consider when you would like to do yours when the pastor asks you to share yours.
3. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
4. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points.
1. Worship and communion time on Sunday – Thanks Rod and team.
2. New volunteers stepping forward to help out.
3. The unity and grace on display at CBC.
Announcements
1. PlayPatch for toddlers on break for 2 weeks.
2. Kids@church on break for 2 weeks.
3. Recharge Youth – on break for 2 weeks.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
