The Woman and the Dragon

Well, good afternoon again. I was very encouraged last week. One of our young ladies, I think, is 16, maybe 15. Maybe she's only 14, she's 15. Came up to the after church and said she liked my sermon. I asked her if she understood it, and she said yes. I thought, well, that's pretty good. Maybe I wasn't so...shouldn't have been so concerned, but maybe a bigger challenge today. So we'll just find out. We did end off in Revelation 11, a certainly an inset chapter that causes the Bible critics, the commentators, to, I think, tie themselves up in knots trying to figure out how they're going to explain it and how it might work out.

Sad truth about Revelation 11 is that, for whatever reason, it has been the place where untold thousands of people have found themselves and written their own name into the Bible, only to find out that really that was a big mistake. Some of them today even do that, and it's sad that some who have Church of God background in history have done that.

But I want to begin with the two olive trees that are mentioned in verse 4.

Pick up a couple things that we didn't get a chance to talk about last time.

Over in Jeremiah 11, it's pretty clear that an olive tree is a symbol of the people of Israel.

It's a symbol, God says, of the people of Israel that he called. We all are familiar with Israel being a vineyard, and that is called his pleasant plant, and there are some indications that the fig tree could be a type of Judah. There's one idiom there that could apply to that.

And, of course, when Christ cursed the fig tree, he said he had tried to find fruit on it for three years. He was obviously referring to the people of Judah during his time. But still in Jeremiah 11, if we look in verse 14, before 14 to 17, it says, Do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them.

For I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to me because of their trouble.

So God is just showing that at the beginning of the times of tribulation, people sometimes cry out to God, but it's very shallow. If you recall the rise in interest in things, oddly, in church attendance after the September 11, 2001 attacks, that's a good example.

God knows that most repentance and most seeking of him, especially in times of trouble, is simply superficial. It's temporary. He says, What has my beloved to do in my house, having done lewd deeds with many? And the holy flesh passed from you.

When did you do evil and then rejoice? The Lord called your name, green olive tree, lovely and of good fruit, with the good noise of it a great tumult. It has kindled a fire on it, and its branches are broken. For the Lord of hosts who has planted you. So God calls Israel by a name of the green olive tree. We could also, don't have to, but stop in Romans 11, where it mentions that the Gentiles are a wild olive tree grafted into the natural olive tree, another place that shows the olive tree can represent Israel or stand for the people of Israel. Let's do go over to Zechariah 4, because Zechariah 4 does mention not only the valley of tree, but of this lampstand and says that these are those who stand before God. This is the important, in fact, it is the most important reference in the Old Testament with regards to understanding these two witnesses and who they symbolize in God's plan. Zechariah 4, beginning in verse 11, says that I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees at the right of the lampstand and and its left? Zechariah is asking the angel, Why are, what are these olive trees at the right of the lampstand and also at its left? And I further answered and said to him, Who are these two olive branches that dripped into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains? So these olive trees represented a source of continual oil for the lampstands pictured here in Zechariah chapter 4. He answered to me and said, Do you not know who these are? And I said, No, my Lord. So he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. So these two symbolized by these olive trees and these lampstands simply says, Stand before or stand doing the work of the Lord of all the earth. Now, let's go back to where we were in Revelation. It's mentioned here that these two are called God's witnesses.

They are giving God's warnings. They are announcing the plagues. They are telling people they had better repent of what they had been doing and their idolatries and their thefts and their sorceries. Otherwise, God is going to bring great harm on them or even more and more harm.

Verse 5, If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours them.

Just like when Elijah was having this group of 50 men come after him. And, of course, the lightning came down and destroyed them. That's in 2 Kings chapter 1. Elijah said, If I am a man of God, let fire come down and destroy you. And, of course, after the first and second time, the third man decided he did not want that to happen. So his attitude was a little bit more humble. That may or may not be the way things work out for these two witnesses that are coming, but certainly they will have this power that God granted Elijah, granted to them.

During their ministry, verse 6, there will be no rain. No rain falls in the days of their prophecy, the same as happened with Elijah. The first announcement that we have from him is simply there will be no rain these years except at my word. And it says, They will have power to strike the earth with all plagues. So they will apparently announce the plagues that God is sending on the earth. And he's going to point out why. They're going to point out why these plagues are coming. Now, in verse 7, they finish their testimony. And the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit, this is the first time this beast is mentioned in the Bible or in Revelation, he ascends out of the abyss or the place of essentially you can't see the bottom of it.

He'll make war against them and overcome them and kill them. So this beast then is the first time it's mentioned. It comes out of the abyss, which simplifies as perhaps a restraint from God.

But it is something we need to look at because this beast, when it comes out of this bottomless pit and comes on the scene, there is with this beast the individual riding the beast that is the great power or the great civil authority. And there is also very quickly the other beast, which is the religious head. But let's turn, hold your place there and turn over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, another chapter that has been written about many, many times and certainly does have some wonderful truth for us.

But we want to not take away from or add to what God has here. It's very easy to do that. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, says, Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with him, so it is the subject in this chapter of the return of Jesus Christ and the saints rising to meet Him in the air, our gathering together with Him. We ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us.

So they were being troubled by rumors. They were being troubled by letters, things people were writing as if it had come from the Apostle Paul. As though the day of Christ had already come, let no one deceive you by any means that they will not come unless the great falling away comes. There are some translations that call it the great rebellion or the great defiance, whether that simply means the falling away into established religions of this world, changing the day of worship from God's Sabbath to a different day, and other issues.

That's obviously a very logical conclusion. It may also, in this case, be referring to a more final rebellion right before Jesus Christ returned in the time right before Jesus Christ returns. So this falling away will come, but notice the man of sin is revealed the son of perdition. In other words, he comes out of the abyss, the image where the beast comes out of the abyss. He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Now, if this temple of God is referring to Mount Moriah, or the place where the temple of God stood in Jerusalem, this would be the strongest case for their being, the beast power, or the one who's kind of called himself the king of the world, establishing his headquarters there and perhaps setting up a false worship system.

We don't know exactly what. It does say he will sit as if he is God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. There are some who, some commentaries who believe that there will be another temple built perhaps of some kind in Rome or some other place, but it does seem to indicate, especially with Daniel chapter 11, that it would take place in Jerusalem. So Paul is warning that there would be something going on that had to be revealed, and this man of sin would have to come to the fro.

Now, when Paul wrote this, this is one of his earlier epistles written in the 50s, it was a good 15 to 20 years before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, by Titus in 70 AD. So perhaps what he's referring to here is there was a temple of God certainly in place there, and perhaps he's referring to Christ's earlier reference in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 about the abomination, the desolation being set up in the holy place. Perhaps that's what Paul was thinking about.

We really don't know, but it does say that this individual has to be coming on the scene, and there's a falling away first, and the man of sin is finally then revealed. He says, do you not remember that when I was with you I told you these things?

And it's important that we understand it because there are always people who proclaim that Jesus Christ is coming, you know, next week, next month, the next full moon, the next whatever it might be. And unless this great falling away has taken place and the man of sin has been revealed, Jesus Christ is not yet going to come. So all of those false warnings can be understood for what they are.

And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. So there is a restraining against the revelation of this beast, but it will be revealed in its own time. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, the mystery of teaching against law, the mystery of teaching against keeping God's commandments. It is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

And the he who restrains, I think, is probably the biggest question of this verse, certainly of this section. How is the beast, how is that great power restrained? Is it God who restrains him? It certainly could be, until he or God is taken out of the way or takes himself out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed. Notice this lawless one is whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth.

Now, in my experience, God's church for about 40 years, there have been a few people who have been labeled the lawless one by various ministers and other people around the world, especially during the 1990s when we had some heresy and people were labeled as very likely being the lawless one.

The problem is they kept dying of natural causes. They were not destroyed by Jesus Christ when he returned.

So be very, very careful about putting labels, Bible labels, on people who are, you know, flesh and blood and breathing air and drinking water. We don't really have the Bible authority to do that. And in all cases, when we've done so, it has come back to harm us, and certainly many people down to the end of time will continue doing that. So just a word of caution, I think, that we ought to be very, very careful to watch and see how God works it out, but not try to force our will or our desires into it. I think you're all very familiar with that. But the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. Satan the devil is going to cause it.

God is restraining him from coming, but Satan wants him to come on the earth to do all kinds of damage to physical and to spiritual Israel. And the callous one will come according to the working of Satan. Remember, the dragon gives him his power. Don't forget Revelation 13. We'll get to that as time goes on. With all power, signs, and lying wonders. So he will come, not just with walking down the street saying hi, but with all power, with miraculous signs, and with telling lots of lies. With all unrighteousness, deception upon those who perish or are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. So really loving God's truth, not just acquiescing to it, is the key that Paul is pointing out here.

So let's go back now to Revelation 11. We do know that this revealing, this coming on the scene fast out of the abyss is going to be a shock to the whole world. The world is going to wonder after the beast. They're going to wonder where did this come from and how did this sudden world take over appear and be so successful. So if we look down in verse, let's look at verse 8.

After they are overcome, the two witnesses are overcome, these two ministers of God who are basically probably sort of in a public argument. Let's just say a contest of sorts with the two false witnesses, the beast and the false prophet, who are inspired by Satan the devil. Satan always counterfeits what God is going to do. Satan knows what God is going to do, so he counterfeits it ahead of time usually. If we recall in the book of Acts, they said there were a number of others who came and proclaimed themselves as messiahs in the years prior to Jesus Christ actually coming out there and being born and then having his ministry in the first century.

So there will be some imposters, there will be some counterfeit great people or beast false prophet witnesses out there. It says their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Now that's an enigma for some people because it is obviously Jerusalem. That is the city where our Lord was crucified. But spiritually, to be called Sodom and Egypt could be hard for them to understand.

People that believe that Phariseeism is the true religion of the Bible, or people that believe perhaps that the following of or the commandments of God are strongly adhered to there.

Well, the truth of the matter is that modern-day Jerusalem and Israel are very secular in nature.

And, of course, there are dozens of various groups of fair-sake-al type Israelis.

And as you go over there, you'll see them in their black outfits in their hats, and some have two curls, some have one curl, and some have longer hair, some have shorter hair. But they all basically have different schools of thought, different — different — many societies. But what you may not know is that Tel Aviv is celebrated as the most gay-friendly city in the world, but outranked Portland. In fact, the largest gay parade every year takes place in Tel Aviv. And last year, according to this article from Jerusalem, 200,000 people attended the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, which included 30,000 for abroad, which means there were 170,000 in the parade that were native Israelis. This is the Times of Israel, June 2017. Over 200,000 people from Israel and abroad attended Tel Aviv's Gay Pride Parade on Friday, packing the streets for the annual event under this year's theme, bisexuality visibility. I don't understand what that means, thankfully.

Please expect over 100,000 people. The organizer said over 200,000. The Negroes on it began at noon and tells you all the streets that it goes down and, you know, various things that happened. But so if you wonder why, here in Revelation 11, it says that Jerusalem could be called Sodom, that might be an indication that they have gotten so secular and they have become, I think, sadly very, very immortal, immoral in celebrating immorality and perversion so that they could be easily in a condition of being taken over completely and those who would be, say, wanting to be righteous in their own understanding might be pretty much pushed out by that time. So Revelation simply tells us the city is called Sodom in Egypt and that's where the dead bodies of these two shall be laying. And of course they will have satellite television of some kind, so those from the peoples of tribes and tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and they'll have, you know, they'll all have their ability to see that with their cell phones or their watches or their iPads or however they do that and says they will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves.

It's kind of the ultimate insult to have their dead bodies not put into a grave. That's kind of insulting someone in that part of the world. That's sort of the ultimate type thing.

But we know that they're going to have that that's going to happen and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them because these two men who have been announcing the plagues, who've been bringing down all of these Egypt Exodus-type plagues on the earth and causing so much suffering and damage that they think, well, now that they're dead, we're going to all be good and there'll be no more plagues in life that get back to normal. And of course, that's not at all about what's going to happen. So people on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, send gifts to one another because these two prophets who tormented them who dwell on the earth are now gone.

But it would be very, very short lived, very short lived, because after three days and a half, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. So after three and a half days, obviously, their bodies are starting to be very corrupt physically, all the cells breaking down, but God completely brings them back to life.

And notice what's interesting about verse 12 is, I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here. Now this is the second time this is mentioned in Revelation, because in Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1, John is told, come up here. And what picture do we get in chapters 4 and 5 and part of 6? We get a beautiful picture of the entire realm of heaven, the throne of God, all the elders, and the various things that are said back and forth. So here we have this sound. It doesn't say the sound of a trumpet. It does say the sound of a loud voice. So some have tried to understand that this is the first resurrection, and that while it doesn't say so, people from around the earth and their graves are also coming up to heaven. I would not interpret that that way, given the fact that the third woe hasn't started yet, and there still is some time to pass before the seventh trumpet.

And there is no trumpet mentioned here, just a loud voice that other people could hear that says they are to then come up to heaven. Jesus Christ can have anyone resurrected whenever he wants to.

He doesn't have to have it, number one, two, and three, quite as we do. Number Lazarus was resurrected back to physical life, as were hundreds of people after Jesus Christ was crucified.

So my guess is this takes place then at the end of their ministry, close to the time of the first resurrection, but not quite there yet. They heard a loud voice from heaven, saying to them, Come up here, and they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. So there they are. They're going up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. And here we have these two men that obviously have been God's witnesses, and they have an announcement or a warning to make that has been made. They've done their jobs. Now, verse 13 says, In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake, seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Now, if you read through this with a number of commentaries, many try to connect this with the earthquake in Revelation 16, which kind of heralds right before Christ returns a great battle or a great earthquake. Here's the difference. This is not the same earthquake because this earthquake centers around Jerusalem, and it does say that seven thousand people in Jerusalem are killed by this earthquake, but it does not say this earthquake affects the whole earth. In fact, there are events between this one and the one in Chapter 16 that have yet to occur. So I think the best conclusion is, despite what most of the commentators say, that this is a different event. This precedes the event coming up when the entire earth is suffering with a great earthquake. Also, it's interesting that it says seven thousand people were killed. It's kind of a connection to Elijah. Remember, Elijah was in the cave, and he said, I alone have remained here to worship you, and God said, no, I have seven thousand others that have not knelt the knee to Baal. So whether or not this was meant as a connection to Elijah, we'll have to wait and see, but certainly just the number would have a connection to Elijah. I want to go back now, though, to Matthew 17.

Matthew 17. In thinking about who the two witnesses could be, and I'm not talking about names, I'm talking about where they could come from or how they could pop out, so to speak. In the times in which we live, sadly, there are a number of, I don't want to say, competition groups, but there are just a number of groups, a lot of them using name, Church of God, others using other names, who all seem to have the hope that one of the two witnesses or both would come out of their group, thereby proving to the whole world that they were right and everybody else was wrong. Now, it's actually foolishness and vanity. The truth of the matter is that the example of Elijah was John the Baptist, and was John the Baptist a Pharisee? Was he an Essene? Was he an Agassiz? No, he came from the desert, from the wilderness. His father was a priest who served two weeks a year in the temple, but John the Baptist could not be identified with any of the various groups in the New Testament.

So obviously, if that is an example that we ought to at least look at, we could say that John the Baptist's example would teach us that two witnesses will come from the wilderness, from where God has them as a source, not from something or group that we recognize.

That's just my guess, so please don't. These are things I'm just telling you as kind of observations. Matthew 17 in verse 9 does say, As they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.

So they had seen the transfiguration. Peter, James, and John had gone up the hill with Jesus Christ where he had prayed, and all of a sudden they get a picture of the resurrected Christ shining in brightness with Moses and Elijah talking to him. And then Peter says, You know, Lord, if it's your will, let me make a tabernacle, one for you and one for Moses and Elijah. I have no idea how Peter recognized Moses and Elijah. They didn't have any paintings, they didn't have any pictures, they didn't have any Snapchat, whatever's. And nobody said, Hi, here's Moses, Peter. If she can't, let me introduce. He just somehow knows. So he just somehow knew they would be. Somehow felt that because of this transfiguration in Matthew 17, that there may be a chance that Moses and Elijah would be resurrected and would fulfill the job of the two witnesses. That's possible, I suppose. Nothing is impossible with God. But in Matthew 17 and verse 10, let's continue here. The disciples asked him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? You know, why is it written in the Bible that Elijah must come first?

And, you know, we just saw a picture of the three of you. Jesus answered, Indeed, Elijah is coming first. Now notice John the Baptist was already dead by this time. But Jesus Christ said, Another Elijah, as what he's implying, is coming, is present, is going to be coming first, future, and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise, the son of man must also suffer at their hands, or is about to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood. He spoke to them about John the Baptist. So here we have John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah.

But another Elijah is also going to come, and therefore it could easily be a man, a person, that God would choose who would do that type of job. So John was a type of the two witnesses, maybe a type of Elijah by the fire that destroys who would harm them. So all we can say is we are waiting to see how this will work out. But we know almost for a certainty that anyone who proclaims either in paper or in some sort of a broadcast or sermon that he or his wife or his golden retriever, whatever it might be, are the two witnesses, that it's obviously delusion.

And when people are delusion, you really shouldn't follow them, and you really, really shouldn't send them tithe dollars. I never figured that out why delusional people perceive tithe dollars in the mail, but they do. I think it's just sad commentary on the spiritual perception of some people in the times in which we live. Now, let's go back to the first one more place we'll do that. Let's go over to Zachariah 12.

Zachariah 12. We are talking about a time when nations will be coming against Jerusalem, and there will be this great earthquake. Keep in mind this is an inset chapter. It goes back in time and brings us up to a place actually forward in time because we're going to go back in time as we go back to chapter 12. In fact, we're going to go back an awful long way. So we are in this section of Revelation where there are inset chapters and parenthetical details and highlights to tell us what has been going on in addition to the seven seals and the seven trumpets and then later the seven vials that are poured out upon the earth. In Zachariah 12, in verse 7, it mentions, "...the Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God. And the angel of the Lord before them." So as we read about these destructive times that are coming upon Jerusalem, it's important that we understand God says He will deliver and defend some of them, and that while there will only be a few, a few who would be righteous in that city or who would be qualified to be protected, it does say the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and that they would be fightered somewhat like the King David was. Verse 9, "...shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." So we're talking about a time when the beast is going to organize nations to come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one who mourns for his only son, and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. So when Christ arrives in Jerusalem, in a physical sense, some of the physical people there who have been defended during these awful battles that are coming will come with very quick repentance, and they will understand that this is the one who was murdered in that city, and they are looking upon the one whom they essentially pierced.

Let's go back to Revelation 11. Now we'll try to finish this up and get into chapter 12 here.

So we have in verse 15, I'm sorry, verse 14 then, well, let's talk about the earthquake, verse 13. We didn't finish 13. In the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. So in the earthquake in Jerusalem, people die, 7,000 people die, and they begin the process of repentance. It says they gave glory to the God of heaven, but keep in mind this is the very first stage. They're just understanding the suffering. They don't want any more suffering, but their repentance is still pretty shallow, and there is much more to be done to make sure their repentance is complete. Then there is a statement of timing.

Here this inset ends, the second woe is passed. So what does the second woe is passed mean in verse 14? Well, it means he's hearkening back to chapter 9, where it says the second woe is passed, and that they then they have within it, he's just got this stop there. So in chapter 9, begin in verse 12, it says, one woe is passed, behold two more woes are coming. And the second woe is verses 13 through verse 21 of Revelation chapter 9. So we have the end of chapter 9, verse 21, being referred to by this verse here, verse 14 of chapter 11, saying the second woe is passed, behold the third woe is coming quickly. And the third woe, as you know, is when Satan the devil is cast down, and it says woe to them, having us of the earth, because Satan is cast down, knowing he has but a short time. So then we have before this, at the end of the second woe, we have this announcement. It's a very important announcement because it essentially takes us through the rest of the book. Verse 15 says, then the seventh angel sounded. So the seventh angel sounds here. The seventh angel is also part of the third woe. But the seventh angel blows, and of course the seventh angel then begins the seven vials, which are part of the seventh angel's trumpet blast. But at any rate, this is important because he says, there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Now this is getting a little bit ahead of the story, because we really are not to the end of chapter 12 yet. We're already in chapter 11. There are events in chapter 12 that haven't taken place yet. Chapter 13 hasn't taken place yet. But here we have an announcement because it is at the beginning of the third woe that this is announced.

There were loud voices in heaven, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. I guess I could ask for a show of hands as to how many have sang that in the Hallelujah chorus over the years. The answer would be most everybody. But what is often passed over in this verse is that the kingdoms of this world have been Satan the devil's for many, many years. And now he's saying, I am taking the kingdoms of this world back from Satan the devil. Remember, Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan, and Christ told him, or Satan told him, I will give you the kingdoms of this world if you will worship me.

Christ did not say, you are not the king. You don't have that right.

Christ has simply said, no, we have to live by every word of God. So in a sense, Christ acknowledged, and we all understand, that Satan is the god of this world, the god of this society.

So he essentially is saying, I am now taking rain of all the kingdoms of the world. And then we begin in chapter 12, the process by which Satan the devil is replaced. So this is an introduction to chapter 12. This is not just some nice words that we sometimes have in a song, although the words are nice and the song is great. So the announcement is Jesus Christ is now becoming the king of all the earth, and he shall reign forever and ever. Just like the 10 toes of Daniel chapter 2, that great statue, as those toes are destroyed by that stone from heaven that was not cut with hands, that it becomes then a kingdom that absorbs all other kingdoms and lasts forever and ever. So at this announcement then, the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God. So there's a big announcement. Everybody says, wow, this is wonderful. They're thankful. These elders are very well aware of the suffering that has been caused by Satan's rulership of all the evils that have gone on for so long. He says, the nations were angry, and your wrath has come in the time of the dead that they should be judged.

Some translate that word, dead, as nations, not referring to the time of the resurrection. Some imply that it's also the time of the resurrection. I would think both would be accurate, because when Jesus Christ returns to the earth, it is the time for those who are dead in Christ to be judged, and it is the time then for the nations also to be judged. But that you should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. And so Satan has been trying to destroy the earth, and his minions have been trying to destroy the earth for many years, and it's time to stop the destruction of what God created. So these 24 elders sat before God, are worshiping God, and they're very, very thankful for this announcement that Jesus Christ is coming, because he's going to judge people, nations, and destroy those who have been destroying the earth.

And of course, up to this point, we've had wars and probably nuclear bombs going off, and they do an incredible amount of destruction, just as the other implements of war do. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the Ark of his covenant was seen in this temple. There were lightnings and noises and thunderings, and an earthquake in great hail. Now what this opening does, essentially, is it is an open door for Jesus Christ to leave. It is an open door for the one who is now going to become the king over all the earth to leave the right hand of God the Father and come to the earth, and then begin the process of taking the reign from Satan the devil. You know, in the opening of God's temple, in heaven takes place. This is where God sits, where he reigns. It symbolizes where Christ is leaving from to gather the saints. It's interesting that we have in there the Ark of the Covenant. Now there have been some who thought this may have been the Ark built by Aaron and Moses. Somehow it's taken to heaven. We have no record of that. The Ark built by Aaron and Moses was a replica or an outline of the true Ark in heaven, which is the one pictured here.

This is not the Ark carved by Aaron or Moses. That Ark had in it the 10 commandments, had the two leaves of stone, it had some manna, it had Aaron's rod that budded. Essentially, it had all the symbols of God's physical blessings, but the one in heaven, in the true heaven, the one pictured here in verse 19, would contain the new covenant, the eternal covenant, a covenant of a changed heart and a forgiven sin and of a true Lamb of God that was given for us. But there are lightnings, doys, thunderings, a great earthquake, and great hail. And so then we have here this opening of God's throne and this Ark then that is able to be seen along with the other things that are there in heaven. At the time frame of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, a severe earthquake causes one-tenth of Jerusalem to collapse or at least wise. Actually, the seventh trumpet would be the one in Proverbs 16 or chapter 16, which would be the entire earth. Let's just go on to chapter 12 now. You know, this is another inset chapter. The only real chronological part of the last four chapters, or last chapter, was simply the last five verses, 14 through 19. That apparently is a chronological event. But now we go back in chapter 12 to get sort of a history of Satan the devil and a history now of the fact that he is going to have his place removed. Chapter 12 says, now there was a great sign that appeared in heaven. Now this is a sign. This is not a being in heaven. This is just something, a vision or a picture that John sees. So we have this inset chapter, but we also begins with this sign. The Greek word actually means symbol. It's semion, S-E-M-E-I-O-N. So there's a great symbol appears in heaven. It's a woman clothed with the sun. So there's a picture of a woman, kind of the sun, behind her. And there's the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars. So it's a woman with the sun behind her and the moon under, and then these 12 stars over her head. This is not rocket science to figure this one out.

Let's go back to Genesis chapter 37 in verse 9. Genesis chapter 37 in verse 9. This is one of those ones where God made it very plain. This is what this subject is, lest you might think it's something else. So in Genesis 37, beginning in verse 9, we talk about here Joseph's dream.

And the dream was almost identical to this vision or this symbol that appears in heaven.

He dreamed—this is verse 9—still another dream and told his brothers, look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me. So he told it to his father and his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said, what is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come and bow down to the earth before you? And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. So his father didn't discount it. He just kind of wondered what it meant.

So we have this woman that John sees—let's go on back now to Revelation. It's not literal.

The woman is not connected to the physical moon or sun, but she is connected to the physical nation of Israel by the symbolism from Joseph's dream. And certainly it says here then in verse and this let's just say verse one is a picture of Israel, a picture of the people of physical Israel, because there are 12 stars. There were 12 suns of Israel. The sun and the moon were under her feet. So God intends for Israel to eventually rule over all the sun and the moon all the physical things that he has. And of course, there's this woman appearing in heaven, meaning it was God sent or God's origin, God's creation. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. Now that is an enigma for many who write commentaries about this book because they want this to apply only to Mary giving birth to Joseph. I would challenge them to find me any verse in the Gospels where it says that Mary was in great pain or cried out when she was giving birth. It could possibly have happened. Sometimes childbirth is that way. But we have no record of that.

What we do have record of, though, is Israel as a nation going through a time of great pain, going through a time of what is called the Great Tribulation or Jacob's trouble.

Might be good to review that. Let's go back over to Jeremiah chapter 30 in verse 1, because what we're going to find as we go through chapter 12 is that chapter 12 cannot be understood as only about Jesus Christ. It cannot be understood as only about the physical nation of Israel.

And it cannot be understood as about only spiritual Israel, the Church of God. But it can be understood as all three. And the verses do bounce back and forth. Time-wise, some of them apply to one, some of them apply to two. So this chapter is very, you might say, interwoven.

It is one of those mysteries that you must understand the chronology of the rest of the Bible and the real truth about spiritual Israel, before you can comprehend it and put it together.

So let's begin with Jeremiah chapter 30 in verse 1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity my people Israel and Judah. So Israel and Judah are in captivity. They're scattered around the world. God says I'm going to bring them back. I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. Now the people who came back or formed the modern nation called Israel in 1947 and 48. They do not have all the land that was promised by God to Abraham. They have a small portion of it. Their land does not extend from the Euphrates down to the Nile. Verse 5, Thus says the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace.

And now, and ask thou and see whether a man is ever in labor with child.

Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces turn pale?

So here the entire nation is pictured as going through the pain somewhat like childbirth, and that men are on the floor rocking in a fetal position. And it says, Last for the day is great, none is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

So it is a time of Jacob's trouble, and he'll be saved out of it.

But let's also go to Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah chapter 66. Because this is an enigma. If you do not understand the resurrection, this chapter again is one that we review quite a bit at the Feast of Tabernacles, because it does have to do so much with what we picture attending there, keeping those days. But Isaiah 66 is about the church being born in a similar situation.

So we have here Israel sort of going through a terrible time of their trouble and suffering, like in childbirth, but then having a deliverance from God and, in a sense, having a new birth as a nation. We have here the church. Clearly Isaiah 66 is about that.

Verse 5 says, Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word, your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy, but they shall be ashamed.

The sound of noise from the city, perhaps referring to Jerusalem.

A voice from the temple, if that's the temple, it has to be Jerusalem.

The voice of the Lord who fully repays his enemies.

Before she was in labor, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a male child.

Is that referring to the city of Jerusalem or the temple of Jerusalem? I don't know. Obviously, Christ was born in Bethlehem, but he was born of Israel.

Before she was in labor, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a male child.

Who has heard such a thing, who has seen such things, shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? And this birth is not of a single baby, but of an entire nation.

Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.

Zion, often in prophecy, refers to the church, the church at the end time before Christ returned, as the daughter of Zion or simply Mount Zion. She gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? So God says the time of birth, obviously, would be the day of the resurrection, the day of Christ's return. Can I bring them to that far, to that point, and then not cause delivery? So we've seen three different deliveries, you might say, or births that could apply here in chapter 12. So let's go back to chapter 12 now and look at this, because we have then, being with child, she. She being this woman, or what was pictured by this woman in vision in the heavens or in a vision in the sky, surrounded by the sun, the moon below her, and then having a garland above her head of the twelve stars, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. So then, being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. It was a troubleless thing. It was obviously a little bit of challenge. But, verse 3, another sign appeared in heaven, Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head. So we have, as the new child is about to be born, or as in God's plan, Israel will be having either the Messiah coming down through the descendants of David, and back before that through Abraham, or perhaps talking about the deliverance of the physical people of Israel that would be saved in the end time, because God did not want to make a complete end, but would save a remnant of them to begin the millennium with, or perhaps even applying to the time when the church would be born, and the time when the family of God would begin in great earnest.

Whatever we want to apply this to, the principle is the same, that a great fiery red dragon, the one that has seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads, this in the case obviously is referring to the beast at the end. Satan the devil is the one who is behind the seven heads in the Roman Empire that were controlled by the church, and the seven diadems, and of course the ten horns could refer to the ten toes that will be the last beast power. But verse 3 gives us pretty much an indication that the time purity is talking about here shifts to the very end, to the time when Christ returns. But then let's go back to verse 4.

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth, and the dragon said before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born.

So here we have this dragon that drew with its tail a third of the stars of heaven, or got a third of the demons to follow him, and threw them to the earth. They came to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman. So they're preparing then to destroy the child of God before it was born.

Now before we go on, I want to just go back to probably the best Bible description of a dragon of Satan the devil. That's over in Job chapter 41. Job chapter 41. Just I think you'll find this interesting that Job describes in detail much more detailed than anywhere else in the Bible, kind of what this dragon creature of Satan the devil looks like. Perhaps this is why what happened after God made him walk or go on his belly all over the earth because he did what he did with causing Adam and Eve to sin. In Job chapter 41, verse 14, it says, "...who can open the doors of his face with his terrible teeth all around?" So he's describing this dragon. His rows of scales are his pride, shut up tightly as with a seal. One is so near another that no error can come between them. So it sounds kind of like an alligator hide or perhaps some of the modern-day lizards. They are joined to one another. They stick together and cannot be parted. His sneezing flash forth light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

Out of his mouth go burning lights, sparks of fire shoot out. So Satan's considered a fire-breathing dragon, so to speak. Smoke goes out of his nostrils as from a boiling point or pot of burning rushes. His breath kindles coals as a flame goes out of his mouth. Strength dwells on his neck and sorrow dances before him. The folds of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him and cannot be moved. My heart is hard as stone, or his heart is hard as stone even as hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid because of his crashings. They are beside themselves. Notice he really isn't physical, though. Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail. So physical swords do not harm him. Nor does spear dart or javelin.

Nor he regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee.

Sling stones become like stubble to him. It simply says, the darts are regarded as straw, and he laughs at the threats of javelin. Down on verse 33 it says, On earth there is nothing like him, which is made without fear. He beholds every high thing. He is king over all the children of pride. In other words, he is king over all the rulers of the earth. So that gives us a little more detail about this fiery dragon. One more example that the dragon symbolized Satan the devil, and that the book of Job contains some very powerful truths that are continued throughout the rest of the scriptures. So we go back now to Revelation, understanding a little bit more about this fiery red dragon that is the second symbol that John sees then in the sky, the second symbol that he sees in Revelation 12. So remember, verse 3, another sign appears in heaven, and that is the great fiery red dragon. Now, the red probably symbolizes the blood of people who have been killed down through the centuries, and their deaths have been caused by Satan the devil, probably pretty much the deaths of all of those who wanted to follow the true God, and perhaps many, many others. And we have this time of rebellion that we find here. His tail drew a third sars of heaven and threw them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. So she has a child or is getting ready to have a child, but this going to heaven and this casting down of Satan or Satan getting ready to go up to heaven for another battle, this is not the same one as is recorded in Isaiah 14.

In that case, he said, I will exalt or ascend to heaven, exalt my throne above the stars of God, and sit in the throne of the congregation. Meaning he would sit in God's throne, and he was cast down and cast down to the earth. But he was able to go back and forth.

One of the anomalies of Scripture is that, you know, in Job chapter 1 and Job chapter 2, Satan comes before God. And in one case, I think it's in 1 Kings, where God says, who will be a lying spirit and go down and tell the king of Israel to go to battle with the king of Judah, and a lying spirit comes to him and says, I will do it. And it's very clear it's a demon spirit, not an angelic spirit. So even though they were cast down in 2 Peter 2 and verse 4, says, God did not spare the angels at sin, but cast them down to a place of Tartarus, or restraint, they are kept in a place that is supposed to be their place to live down here, a place here and here on the earth. But they are going to once again try to ascend to heaven one last time and overthrow God the Father in a feeble effort, obviously a very futile effort, to try to stop their being replaced, because Satan now has heard the announcement that he is going to be replaced, that the kingdoms of this earth are going to belong to Jesus Christ. And so he knows he has but a short time, and he goes forth with great fury. But we'll get to that in just a second.

So in verse 5, she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with the rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and to his throne. This obviously refers to Jesus Christ.

So this verse isn't dual in nature, and he said it is very singular, but it doesn't occur at the time of verse 3, where we have a beast with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads.

This is going back to a little bit earlier, but as this chapter does, each verse can go back and forth in one of three different applications. And this application is showing that Satan the devil tried to destroy the male child before it was born, and then even after. We know about Herod, trying to have all the young male babies in Bethlehem under two years old killed. And, of course, Satan the devil tried that through Herod. But God appeared Joseph in a dream, and he went to Egypt by night with his wife and young baby, so he was spared, and the prophecy about calling Christ out of Egypt was fulfilled. But down through the history of Israel, there were other times when the numbers of descendants, of righteous descendants on the throne, got down to only one because they were all killed off. At one point, the one last true bloodline king from King David had to be hidden as a little boy for six years by the priests because of Queen Atholiah, wanting to kill them all, kill all the rest of them off. And she then thankfully was killed, and the line was able to continue. But if you go down through the history of Israel, there are quite a number of attempts, obviously inspired by Satan the devil, to kill all of the royal seed, all the descendants directly from Abraham and then later from King David, because Satan knows the prophecies into which Jesus Christ would have to be born. So God's prophecies reigned. They worked, obviously. And the Baal trial was born, and he's going to rule all the nations with a rod of iron someday, but right now he's been caught up to heaven and his throne. Now then to the woman, so the woman is still here. The woman fled into the wilderness, whereas she has a place prepared by God. They should feed her there 1,260 days. Now this obviously does not refer to the mother of Jesus, a lady known as Mary. It just simply doesn't. This refers, obviously, to the church, because even the people of physical Israel, if you want to use that other analogy or other application, never do we have them recorded as fleeing and going into some place of protection for 1,260 days. But we have in the record that we have that this time between this wilderness time, the time basically of the Thyatira and Pergamos eras, began about the time of 325 A.D. with the Council of Nicaea, and then ended about 1585 when, because of death of Queen Mary, Queen of Scots, who was trying to kill all the Protestants, and then finally Queen Elizabeth was able to make pretty much religion at least open in England, that the church of God was able to come out of hiding, but it certainly was in hiding and protected for a long, long time.

The wilderness, though, is going to happen again, but the 1,260 days between 325 and 1585 was a parallel to the last 1,260 days. During the first 1,260 days when the church riding the state government and exercising civil and religious authority persecuted to the death, those who would not follow their established religion, that's going to happen again.

It's going to be called the Mark of the Beasts and the enforcement of the Mark of the Beasts.

And during that time, the people of God primarily were protected in the mountains and the very steep valleys of the Alps and the mountains of Central, in some cases Eastern Europe. And so God protected them in a wilderness during those two very long but very small church eras, and they were then able to survive and come back out when it was over. So chapter 7, or verse 7, then says, war broke out in heaven. So we have this war breaking out in heaven in this context of this child being born, and of course then the time of protection here of the 1,260 days in the desert.

This war breaks out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. Now the implication is that the dragon and his angels left the earth, left their place of restraint, and once again tried to fight God in heaven. But they did not prevail.

Notice it says, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So after this time, Satan is not allowed to go to the throne of God and make accusations against you and me and other people who are trying to follow God. No longer will angels be there, demons be there for God to send down as a lying spirit. They simply no longer have access to the throne of God after this happens. So there's no place in heaven. The devil and some of his demons have been allowed to visit God's throne. That's obvious in Job chapter 1 and 2 and other places where the great dragon is allowed to come into God's presence. But it says here, there is no longer a place allowed for them in heaven. They're not allowed. They're simply not ever going to go back up there again.

So verse 9, the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He doesn't deceive part of the world, doesn't deceive a fraction, doesn't deceive just the bad guys, but it really says he deceives the whole world. Oftentimes, people have a hard time understanding that the whole world is deceived. There are very, very few who are not. Jesus Christ said the mystery was given to them to understand, but only a few. We covered that in detail last time. So Satan deceives the whole world. All the world's established religions are satanic in origin. They're false. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. So he's no longer allowed ever again to come back into God's presence. He's cast out for time immemorial. I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down.

So this event likely hasn't happened yet. Some people think that it happened in 1914 or 1944, whenever it might have been, 1987. Truth of the matter is, it's obvious, looking around, that this has not quite yet happened. Satan is so accusing us before God, but it says they overcome him not by their own works or by their own good deeds, but by the blood of the Lamb. It is the forgiveness that is possible because of the Passover Lamb that makes it possible for us to overcome all those accusations, because God the Father simply says those sins have been wiped away and paid for by the blood of my Son. So we overcome the accusations of Satan the Devil at the right hand of God or in front of God's throne because of Christ paying the penalty for our sins. And by the word of their testimony, they lived, they spoke, the words that showed they wanted to obey, they wanted to do what was right, they wanted to continue in the truth taught to them by the words of Jesus Christ. So they lived by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their own lives until the point of death. So here we have people who would die before they would sin, die before they would break the Sabbath of God or break any one of the other commandments.

So they did not love their lives unto death. These are the ones who are overcoming Satan the Devil every day by the way that they live and by the forgiveness that is offered to them.

Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. This is still these beings that are at the throne of God with this loud voice. This is what they are saying. Rejoice, O heavens, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time. Now this apparently is the third woe. Verse 12, it says, woe to the inhabitants of the sea. This begins the third woe. This is the end of the three terrible woes that do great destruction on people, on the earth, and cause a lot of suffering and death. So the devil has come down knowing he has great wrath, knows that he has but a very short time. Now that we see what the dragon does, when the dragon saw he had been cast down, the second attempt at Satan the devil to overcome and replace God the father, he loses. He's cast down to the earth. The people or the beings in heaven are excited. They announce how wonderful this is and how people have overcome Satan the devil. The accuser is now cast down forever. But then he gets very upset. The woman saw that he had been cast to the earth. He persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male. The word child is kind of in there in italics, but it's implied. But he's cast down. Gobble along or listen to the endless charges against the church and against God's people. But we find then this happening, that the Satan, the satanic devil and his beings know they have but a short time, and they go in pursuit of.

The Greek word really means following after or pursuing, chasing to do harm is not a wrong translation. So he's chasing to do harm to the woman who gave birth to the male. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle. Now this is an interesting, obviously, verse. To understand it, we have to go to a couple other places. This is not referring to physical Israel. So the woman here, who gave birth to the male, the male child, doesn't refer necessarily to physical Israel.

Could perhaps mean that he's persecuting Israelites also, especially the descendants of Ephraim and Asa. But really, it's not what is said here. What is really meant here is the woman who gave birth to the child. He's talking about those who are following the true religion, the real church, because the woman, the church of God, often referred to as a woman, is the one who here is being persecuted. I want to go to a couple places here. Actually, it says in the eagle's wings, but first let's go over to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. I know we've read this before and you're familiar with it, but it's worthwhile to look at again. We have these two groups, the Philadelphian and the Land of Sihan group. They've been used to label people that others didn't approve of for centuries. But the truth of the matter is that the Philadelphian era is promised to it, verse 10, because you have kept my command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. So here we have a promise of people who will be protected from harm during this time coming on the earth.

And notice it is those who are persevering. It isn't those who have just knowledge of God's truth.

It's those who are persevering, you know, obeying it and keeping it. So we have in verse verse 13, the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth. He persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child, but to the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So no question is about the three and a half years and how long it would be a time of protection. But just to get a reference, I'm going to go back to Exodus 19, where God simply says here that he brought the people of Israel out of Egypt on eagles' wings.

It doesn't mean we're going to be flying on a particular kind of airplane. It doesn't mean any kind of bird. It just means God's supernatural protection and leading them in the right direction. Exodus 19 in verse 4, God said, you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people that are on the earth. So God says he brought them with eagles' wings out of Egypt. Well, he did that with plagues. He did it with having the people line up and come out of Egypt and eventually go through the Red Sea, which was parted. And then that Red Sea collapsed on the army of the Egyptian pharaoh that was coming after them. So this woman is given two wings of a great eagle. Don't know exactly how that's going to work out. That's just basically anybody's guess. God simply doesn't say.

But the principle is, is that God would gather people and protect them. Zephaniah, chapter 2, mentions that we could gather people would be gathered together before the day of the Lord's anger. And certainly that may be exactly what's being looked at here, being talked about here also. People are gathered together and then protected before the time of the Lord's anger.

Now, there are many places that talk about her place where we could spend a lot of time, I suppose, talking about the wilderness and the scriptures about Silah and about the rock and other places that we used to spend a great deal of time on. It's not my purpose to try to predict an individual location or anything like that. The important thing is to be able to be protected.

Jesus Christ said we have to essentially be persevering and that our concern shouldn't be, you know, what place is it going to be? Is it going to be in this rock or that rock or that wilderness or some other location? Perhaps our real focus has to be on our own spiritual condition and our own perseverance in obeying God. So verse 15, the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.

Obviously parallel to Pharaoh's armies chasing the people of Israel, but we have, obviously here, another attempt. But as there is this going to the wilderness, that the serpent spews water, maybe an army, maybe something else, out of his mouth like the flood after the woman. And she then is apparently in danger, but she is protected. To the earth help the woman, verse 16, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood, which the dragon has spewed out of his mouth.

Notice the dragon then is enraged. So we have this fleeing that takes place. I want to look back over in a couple other places. Look at Matthew 24. Jesus Christ mentioned this fleeing Jerusalem. Perhaps he's talking about those who would be there during the 70 AD attack, which we know, of course, took place and destroyed the city, and the city was surrounded by armies.

But really what he's talking about is the end time, and he's talking about a flight right before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. He mentions here in chapter 24. Let's go back up to verse 14. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Could be an allusion to the two witnesses, and their warning to all the world could be perhaps to something else that would be a method of getting that message out.

All right. I think we have time to come and get through the rest of what we want to talk about here.

Verse 17, the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

So in this case, there are obviously two groups. There are those who are protected. They're part of the woman that's given the wings of a great eagle and taken to the wilderness and therefore nourished. How that nourish would take place, maybe something like manna falling from heaven every day. Maybe it's talking about something else who knows. But certainly she's nourished and taken care of. But then there's the group that is, for whatever reason, not chosen to go there, not allowed to go into the place of protection. And there are a number of places in the book of Revelation that give us those two groups. I think the most obvious is back in Revelation chapter 3 with the Laodicean era, because it does mention that they would then have a choice either to overcome or to lose what they have, to lose their crown. He says in Revelation chapter 3 in verse 18, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire. And tribulation is fire.

The fire represents human suffering and persecution and pain. So I counsel to buy gold refined in the fire that you may be rich in white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, anoint your eyes with eyesave, as you may see. Because these people were not warm, they were not cold, they were lukewarm, they were just sort of tepid. They had the knowledge of God's commandments, they had the knowledge of the testimony of Jesus Christ, but they were not committed. They did not show God the fruits, apparently, that would qualify them to be in the place that would keep them protected. Let's go over down to Luke chapter 21 verse 36. I think we'll stop here for today. Luke chapter 21 verse 36. Oftentimes, people read this, not understanding what he's talking about. I think what we have covered today helps us to understand what he's talking about and know that the time is coming when we have really a very, very short period of time for the rest of the offspring of the earth to be helped. Because the rest of women, the offspring of the woman are protected, but then the rest are subjected to a persecution where, according to Revelation 13, they either have to become part of the beast power or they have to resist and then lose their lives. And they become part of that last group of martyrs to lose their lives instead of lose their spiritual eternal life. Verse 35 of Luke 21 says, it will come, meaning the day of trial on the earth, will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. The times of which we've talked about and these prophecies refer to are coming as a surprise. People will think, piece, piece, things are great.

Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, because they will come to pass. And to stand before the son of man.

So the warning is very clear. During these times in which we live where these events have not yet begun, the admonition is to watch therefore and pray always that we'll be counted to worthy to escape these things that will come to pass.