Messages

Date:12/5/21

Series: Revelation

Passage: Revelation 12:7-17

Speaker: Jeff Thompson

As we read of Satan’s enraged state in The Great Tribulation, we’ll learn about his 2 favourite tactics and the 3 powerful weapons God gives us to counter them.


Transcription (automatically-generated):

There is a rumor going around town. It's an insidious, vapid rumor. And it's the claim that the Book of Revelation is hard is a rumor going around town. It's an insidious, baseless rumor that claims the Book of Revelation is hard to understand. But hokum say, we for you see the word itself.

Revelation means something has been revealed. And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now hang with me because we've been leveling up the pastor few weeks. So see if you can remember these verses.

References. God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised those who take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. But God knew there would still be those who would say Revelation is too hard to understand.

So we also included a simple and easy to follow outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter in verses 19, where Jesus gives John these instructions. Firstly, John, I want you to write the things which you have seen that was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Then he says, John, I want you to write the things which are that's a reference to the Church age that we're currently living in. It began around 32 Ad in Acts, chapter two in Pentecost and continues up to the present day and is laid out prophetically in chronological order in chapters two and three, and then Thirdly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this events that will unfold after the Church age has come to a close and the Church age comes to a close in Revelation chapter four, verse one, where John writes, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven.

And the first voice which I heard that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to heaven to be with Jesus. And Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we don't miss the fact that the Church is safe and secure because he shows us across those two chapters, the Church with Him in heaven, and that is all before what comes down.

In chapter six, the Wrath of God. And Revelation 616 tells us that those on the Earth will understand where this wrath and calamity is coming from, identifying it as the wrath of the Lamb.

And in Scripture, the Lamb is a reference to who Jesus. So chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation Jesus Christ. Chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. Then the Church goes up. In chapter four, verse one, we see her safe and secure with Jesus for chapters four and five before wrath comes down in chapter six, and that wrath unfolds across a seven year period known as the Tribulation.

It's documented in chapter six through 19 after which Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints to rule and reign in an event known as the Second Coming. And we will get into even more amazing events in those final few chapters of the Book of Revelation in just a few weeks, actually. But here's what I can tell you right now. If you belong to Jesus, then I know how your story ends. It ends with the words and they lived happily ever after.

We are going to be in Revelation chapter Twelve this week, continuing our study through this chapter from last time, Revelation has pushed the pause button on the narrative that describes the judgments of God being poured out on the Earth. The reason is to give us some time to catch up on other events that have transpired during the tribulation so that we can have a full understanding of what's taking place before we push the play button again. In our previous study, we met some of the key figures in chapter twelve, Israel, Satan, and Jesus, who are all going to be involved in a war that's going to break out in verses seven.

But before we get into that, I need to take a minute to set up today's study by correcting a common misconception that we often have about Satan. If you read the Bible, you've hopefully realized that Satan is not walking around covered in red body paint, wearing a trench coat and carrying a Pitchfork.

But you may still hold to the belief that he is currently in charge of Hell. But the Bible doesn't say that. In fact, the Bible doesn't teach that Satan has ever been to Hell. He will be cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Millennium. And when that happens, he will not be in charge of the Lake of Fire.

He will be suffering more than anyone or anything else. So where does Satan dwell? According to Satan himself and the Apostle Peter, Satan dwells on the Earth. Additionally, as we've discussed before, as the current ruler of the Earth, Satan has access to the divine counsel in heaven, where according to verse ten of this chapter, he accuses us before God day and night. So understanding that let's dive in Revelation chapter Twelve, we will pick it up in verses seven, it says, and war broke out in heaven.

Now, while Satan currently has access to the divine counsel in heaven, he's not able to trespass wherever he wants. In heaven, heaven is secure. The term heaven used here is better understood as a reference to the heavenly realms, the supernatural dimension where the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness have been battling since the fall of Lucifer. It's what Paul is referring to in Ephesians, chapter six, verse twelve, where he writes, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The original text implies that Satan will instigate this particular battle.

It will be an allout assault against the Kingdom of God in the supernatural realm, the heavenly places. When we talk about things like Angels fighting fallen Angels and demons, we have no idea how that works. We don't know what it means when it says that they fight none whatsoever. It's so far beyond our understanding and our paradigms. We cannot even speculate as to how that works because we have nothing to go on.

It says war broke out in heaven. Michael, would you underline the word Michael. Michael and his Angels fought with the Dragon that's Satan and the Dragon and his Angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great Dragon was cast out. That serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, who and then underline this deceives the whole world, he was cast to the Earth and his Angels were cast out with him.

Now your first response to reading that maybe we know that story. We talked about it last time in verses three through four, and that's exactly what I'd like you to notice those verses. Verses three and four covered Satan's fall from God's Kingdom, the time when Lucifer became Satan. And I don't think the Bible is being needlessly redundant here in verses seven through nine, all signs point to this being a separate incident. Exactly when this war takes place is a matter of speculation, but I personally suspect that it happens around the halfway point of the tribulation.

Satan and his demonic horde and the gods of the nations attack Heaven, but they lose horribly and they are all cast down to the Earth. Satan then responds by possessing Antichrist and inspiring him to commit the abomination of desolation and persecute the Jewish people. The earthly presence of Satan and all other fallen supernatural entities is likely why we see such a dramatic shift to supernatural and demonic judgments affecting the Earth during the Great Tribulation. As Satan rages against God and humanity, knowing he has but a short time left before his destruction, we have no real idea or clues as to what sparks this war or as to how long it lasts.

But the armies of Yahweh are attacked by Satan and all those who oppose the Lord, and the result is the expulsion of all God's enemies from the heavenly places.

That's the result. So write this down as your first fill in Satan the gods of the nations and all supernatural entities opposed to Yahweh are expelled from the heavenly places. They're kicked out of the heavenly places, including the divine Counsel and cast down to the Earth. I'll say it again. Satan, the gods of the nations and all supernatural entities opposed to Yahweh are expelled from the heavenly places, including the Divine Council and cast down to the Earth.

Their access to the heavenly places is revoked. They can't go there anymore now because this text raises the issue. I want to make sure that we don't miss an important truth about this battle between God and Satan. It's this. There is no battle, there is no battle.

Even many believers tend to view Jesus and Satan as counterparts Yin and Yang rivals. But the reality is that Jesus has no rival. He has no rival. He is unmatched in every way. And we see that here as the text reveals that Satan's counterpart is the Archangel Michael, not Jesus.

Lucifer doesn't fight against Jesus in this battle. He fights against Michael. Lucifer was an Archangel like Michael. Jesus is God. Even Archangels are created beings.

Jesus is uncreated and when God wanted Satan dealt with, he didn't even get off his throne. He just gave the assignment to Michael, and Michael prevailed. God and Satan are not counterparts. They're not rivals. There is no scale of comparison which can contain both God and Satan because God is so completely other.

He is matchless in every way and we can never forget that. I pray that understanding that changes the way that you read verse is like one John Four Four, which tells us he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world not just a little bit greater. The one who is in us is matchless compared to the one who gas is the world. The one who is us cannot even be compared to the one who is in the world. Lucifer said, I will be like the most high.

But Michael's name means who is like God. The answer no in verse is also tells us that Satan deceives the whole world. And since day one one of Satan's main tactics has been deception. Would you write that down? One of Satan's main tactics has been and still is deception.

We've all been deceived by Him at various points in our lives. And we all know people who are being deceived by Satan right now. It's just what he does. Second, Corinthians Four Four describes nonbelievers as those whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should shine on them when somebody doesn't believe the gospel. The Bible teaches they are blind.

They're blind because Satan has blinded their spiritual sight and understanding. And I feel I should clarify something here and remind you that no one is powerless to be deceived. It's not a case of, oh, they're spiritually blind. So how can they be held responsible for not seeing the truth of the gospel? The Bible teaches that those who are spiritually blinded, those who are deceived by Satan are deceived willingly.

They want to be deceived. John 319 tells us light has come into the world and Amen loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Remember Paul's warning to Timothy, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. Those who desire the light shall receive it. Those who don't will continue to be willingly deceived and blinded by Satan.

So how do we avoid being deceived? Well, in John 1717, Jesus prayed this over his disciples. He says, Father sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Christian.

One of the most important lessons that walking with Jesus has taught me over the years is that my emotions are not a trustworthy means of determining what is true. I'll say it again and you can make a note of this. My emotions are not a trustworthy means of determining what is true. My emotions lie all the time. Just because I feel something doesn't mean that it is true.

Nor does me feeling something make something true. That's just one of the reasons I'm so thankful for God's words, because while my emotions often resemble a rollercoaster, God's Word is constant and unchanging. That's why it's a firm foundation for anyone's life. It always tells the truth no matter what we're feeling. Every day I work at believing the Scriptures over my emotions.

And when, by the Grace of God, I'm able to do that, I protect myself from being deceived by my emotions, which Satan loves to manipulate. I had a pastor who once insightfully observed that even most Christians can't tell the difference between their emotions and the Holy Spirit. They think that if they have an emotional experience or reaction, all must be the Holy Spirit. But such thinking is quite simply false. And the only way to learn the difference between your emotions and the voice of the Holy Spirit is to learn what the voice of the Holy Spirit sounds like.

You've got to learn what his voice sounds like. And we do that by constantly taking in the Word of God, which reveals to us who God is and what his character is like. When the voice we hear lines up with God's character as revealed in His word. Then we know that's the Holy Spirit speaking and guess what. His voice doesn't sound like yours.

The voice of the Holy Spirit doesn't sound like my thoughts. He's so much better than me. Isaiah put it well on God's behalf. Writing for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

So, if we ever think, hey, just because I thought something or felt something, it must be God. God would say, Hold up a minute. My thoughts. Nothing like your thoughts, my ways. They're nothing like your ways.

If you want to avoid being deceived by Satan, take God's Word into your heart every day so that you can learn His voice and then respond to His voice. This is the renewing of our minds that Paul said we needed every day. Why? Because we don't naturally think like Jesus. That's not our default setting.

Choose to believe His word over your feelings. Choose to obey His word, over your feelings. If you build your life on the truth of God's word, Satan will have a very difficult time deceiving you. Conversely, those who are not taking in the word regularly, not building their lives on the word, not believing the word over their emotions, not obeying the word over their emotions are easily deceived by Satan and allow him to fill their mind with beliefs that are not true.

Verse ten John writes, Then I heard a loud voice saying, In Heaven, this is the collective voice in heaven of the Royal priesthood of believers. Now Salvation and strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come for. And then underline the rest of this verse is the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down when it says have come. It's another proleptic statement, like the ones we learned about in chapter Eleven. If you weren't with us for that study, a proleptic statement refers to a future event that is so certain it can be spoken of in the past tense.

An example would be the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 53, penned centuries prior to the birth of Christ. The believers in heaven rejoice because Satan, his allies, and the gods of the nations have been cast out of heaven down to the Earth, meaning it won't be long before they are cast from the Earth into the abyss for the duration of the Millennium after which they will be cast into the Lake of fire for eternity. The believers in heaven refer to Satan as the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night.

Listen, Satan loves to deceive and then he loves to accuse. So write this down.

The second main tactic of Satan is accusation. It's accusation. Satan loves to deceive and then he loves to accuse and he generally accuses us in three arenas. Let's call it that Firstly, Satan accuses us. We just read before God.

I can't believe you love those people. God, are you seeing what I'm seeing? Do you see how fleeting their devotion to you is? Do you see how hard they work at everything except loving you? Look at them.

They're committing that sin again. Listen, praise God for what the Bible tells us about Jesus. In Hebrew 725, it says he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. And in first John two one, it says, if anyone sins, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Jesus is in heaven right now defending you and I against Satan's accusations.

He's answering, hey, those accusations might be true, Satan. But what's also true is that I've paid for all of their sins with my blood and their debt is paid in full. If our Salvation hinges upon our righteousness, then we're done for. But thanks to Jesus, our Salvation hinges upon His righteousness. And that is why our Salvation is secure.

And I'm going to go off script for 1 minute here just because I believe the Lord wants me to share this. Listen, I know that there are some people watching this or listening to this who maybe feel like you've never had anyone to stand up for you. Maybe you've been falsely accused, or maybe the accusations are just true. They're absolutely true. But you feel like when people bring up your messed up past, that there's nobody to defend you or you just feel alone like there's nobody who has your back.

Listen, I want to tell you that when you were being accused by Satan of things that you have done, they're all true. Jesus went to the cross for you, stood up for you and said, I'll take that punishment in their place. He stood up for you, walked to the cross and took the nails for you. When Satan accuses you before God right now, Jesus is standing up for you. When you are struggling right now, Jesus is praying and interceding for you.

So don't ever, ever believe the lie that you are alone, that no one is on your side, that no one is for you, that no one will stand up for you, that no one will defend you. Listen, Scripture says, if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. You have an advocate. His name is Jesus, and He's for you. He's so for you that he died for you because he loves you that much.

The second arena in which Satan accuses us is that Satan accuses us directly. He accuses us before God and then he accuses us directly. We all experience his accusations, don't we? We all sometimes hear that voice that says, Well, God doesn't love you. You messed up again.

You are worthless. God can't do anything with your life. God's blessings are not for you. He probably doesn't even like you. If we listen to that voice.

If we agree with and entertain those accusations, we'll be saved. But we'll lack the faith to live out the fulfilling life that God has for us. If we refuse to walk in agreement with what God says about us, we will handicap His power in our lives. Listen, just as the citizens of Jesus hometown of Nazareth missed out on miracles, the Bible says because of their unbelief. Because of their unbelief, the solution is to declare the whole truth.

When Satan accuses you, the solution is to speak to yourself and say, you know what? I am broken. I do still make mistakes. I do still sin, but I'm covered by the blood of Jesus. My hope is not in myself.

My hope is in the power of Christ. In me. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in my life, making me more like Him. And despite all my failures, even the ones to come, he'll never leave me. He'll never forsake me.

Do you see what happens when we do that? Instead of feeling shame and condemnation, we simply allow Satan's accusations to remind us how great the Grace of our God is. We return to the cross to the table of Communion with fresh gratitude and say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you so much, Jesus. I've just been reminded how great your Grace is.

Some of you are handicapping yourselves because you don't know the truth of God's Word. You don't know what God's Word says about you. And if you don't know it, how are you going to declare it? How are you going to stand upon it? When the accuser shows up in your life, you have to get God's Word into your soul, get it into your mind.

It is essential that we learn who God is and who we are in Him. And until we do, we will be susceptible to deception. The third arena in which Satan accuses us or functions as the accuser is, Satan leads us to accuse others. This is heavy. Listen to this until you get it.

When we accuse one another, when we accuse one another, we are joining Satan in his Ministry. We're joining the accuser in his Ministry of Accusation Yikes. I could do a whole message on this, but for now I'll settle for ending us that we are called to speak truth and Grace. We're called to speak the whole truth. But we're to be led by the Holy Spirit and all things.

That means we are to allow the Holy Spirit to determine the time and the way in which we deliver that truth. And that Grace. Because on our own, we are not going to get the timing right on our own. We do not have enough Grace. We don't.

We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. In all things, Satan and all other demonic entities are cast out of the Divine Council down to the Earth for the final act of the Great Tribulation. Satan is in an evil fervor, knowing he has only a short time left to persecute the Jewish people and those on the Earth who have turned to Jesus. But look at what verse eleven tells us about those Satan will turn into martyrs in that time it says, and they overcame him. They overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

And they did not love their lives to the death. What a tremendously powerful verse is God's. Kids will overcome Satan even as Satan is killing them. They are overcoming him. Let me explain during this time, as he has throughout the Church age, and as he does today, God will provide three weapons for believers that empower us to overcome Satan and his tactics.

The first weapon write this down is the blood of the lamb, the blood of the Lamb. If you've ever found it. Strange how much we talk about the blood of Jesus. I need to explain why the Bible and the Church can't stop mentioning it. It's because the blood of Jesus reminds us and Satan that our sins have been paid for by Jesus.

And we need to remember this because Satan is always accusing us. And so to help us, Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Communion. Remembering the blood of Jesus protects us from being deceived by the accusations of Satan. When I get an automated phone call telling me that my bank account with TD has been suspended, I'm not concerned. Do you know why?

Because I don't bank with TD. So I know that the call is obviously a scam. When Satan accuses me and says, God doesn't love you, you're such a filthy sinner. You're worthless. I'm not concerned.

Do you know why? Because all of my sin, past, present and future is covered by the blood of Jesus. So I know the accusations are obviously a scam. And when that glorious truth becomes rooted in our thinking, Satan's attempts to condemn us can only cause us to Marvel at the greatness of our Salvation. Because all those accusations do is remind us how much we've been forgiven and how much we have to be thankful for.

And instead of pulling us away from Jesus, those accusations simply drive us back to the foot of the cross to say one more time. Thank you so much for saving me, Jesus. The blood of Jesus marks us as forgiven and stands as the immovable evidence that we belong to Him. The second weapon Jesus gives us, we're told is the word of their testimony, the word of their testimony. Write this down and we'll talk about it.

Your testimony is what God has done for you. That's your testimony. Your testimony is what God has done for you, not what you have done for God, but what God has done for you. In Psalm chapter 40, verses two, David testifies about what God did for him, writing. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps.

Many of us are familiar with the troubling words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7:21 through 23. Because Jesus says this, many will say to me in that day? Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name. And then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me. You who practice lawlessness.

We read that and we get scared because we think, well, it sounds like they were doing good things. What's the problem? Why does Jesus call their good works lawlessness? The problem is that their testimony is all about what they did for Jesus, not what Jesus did for them as we've been ending through revelation. Have we come across any heavenly songs about what we've done for God?

None, not one. They're all about what God has done for us because there's nothing we can do for God that saves us. There's nothing we do for God that contributes to our Salvation in any way whatsoever. All cults reverse that by trying to put the emphasis on what we do for God. And then they try and use fear and guilt that you're not doing enough for God to control people and spread their message.

The truth is that focusing on yourself is a great way to become depressed because here's the truth and this is going to hurt some of you. You're not good enough. You're not. You can't ever be good enough for God on your own. The Gulf, the gap between you and Him is just too perfect.

I don't care how high your selfesteem is. You'll never measure up to God on your own. If you want to be unhappy, live a life focused on yourself and your own accomplishments. It's a surefire way to become depressed. This is your testimony.

Jesus loved you. Jesus saved you by purchasing you from death with his life and his blood. Jesus called you and lavished you with Grace. I like the way Paul says it in Ephesians One, six through seven, to the praise of the glory of His Grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His Grace.

That's our testimony. God loved us. The Father sent his son. The Son came died in our place so that we could be forgiven and adopted by the Father to become brothers and sisters of Jesus in the family of God. It's all him.

And some will say, Well, Grace is the starting point. But now you've got to do all these other things. Grace gets you into the family of God. But there's stuff you gotta do to stay there. And they begin to add to the list of what's needed to be saved and to stay saved.

But listen, Grace is not the starting point. Grace is the point. I love my kids because they are mine, not because they're good. And that's a good thing because my kids are like me. They're not good all the time.

Grace gets you into the family of God and Grace keeps you in the family of God. Our testimony is and will always be what Jesus has done for us. And then the third weapon that we're given against the accuser to overcome them is it says they did not love their lives to the death. Christians love Jesus above all else, more than anything, including their earthly lives. As unlikely as it sounds, martyrdom is a weapon against Satan, because when you reach the place where you value Jesus more than your earthly life, the fear of death no longer has power over you.

As His word says, death is swallowed up in victory. Satan is rendered impotent. When his Trump card, death has no power over us. The fact that Satan and other demonic entities have access to the divine counsel is likely part of the reason why we'll see a new heaven created before we reach the end of Revelation. The reasons for a new Earth are obvious.

A history of fallenness sin, brokenness, et cetera. But heaven has an imperfect history, too, in the sense it was the birthplace of sin, the location of Lucifer's rebellion. And it's where Satan accuses us. Currently before the Lord day and night, a new heaven and a new Earth will be created partly to remove every trace of sin and Satan from our existence. And to that I say, Amen, bring it on, bring it on.

Verse twelve, the Royal priesthood keeps shouting out, therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them 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 a short time. Heaven, rejoices as Satan and every other demonic entity are expelled from the divine Counsel in the heavenly places, the Earth receives Satan, who is full of great wrath because he knows his time is short. He is furious, raging like a snake with its head cut off, destined for death, but still thrashing around, trying to do as much damage as possible before it's all over.

How short of a time does Satan have left? At this point, I'll suggest he has around 1260 days or 42 months or three and a half years or time times and half the time, three.

Verse 13 now, when the Dragon saw that he had been cast to the Earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. Remember, the woman is Israel. And now we understand another reason why Satan begins to persecute the Jews so ferociously in the Great Tribulation, he knows his time is almost up. Enraging with anger, he frantically seeks to destroy anything he can find that is precious to the Lord, which includes the Jewish people. Verses 14 but the woman Israel was given two wings of a great Eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for time and time and half a time from the presence of the serpent.

You'll recall that the phrase "time and times and half a time" comes from Daniel 7:25 and is just another way of describing three and a half years. We learned in our previous study that in all likelihood Israel will be provided for she'll be nourished in the wilderness in Petra for the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. If you missed that, go back and listen to our previous message. Now some speculate that "the two wings of a great eagle" is a reference to some sort of airlift operation that will be conducted perhaps by the American military to evacuate the Israeli people to Petra.

It's the Great Eagle reference that makes some people believe this is America.

What we know with certainty is that the language connects to Exodus chapter 19, where we read this, Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain. This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on Eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will carefully listen to me and keep my Covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the Peoples.

Although the whole Earth is mine and you will be my Kingdom of priests and my Holy nation. These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.

Now, when God says there I carried you on Eagle's wings, he is referring to the way that he supernaturally delivered Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Now, did he do that by literally carrying Israel on the backs of giant Eagles? No. Did he do it by making them fly like Eagles? No, he didn't.

The Lord was speaking poetically. We know that because we know what happened in the Exodus, and that's almost certainly what he's doing here in verse 14. And that's why, personally, I don't subscribe to the airlift theory. During our studies, we've seen many similarities between the Exodus and the Tribulation, and we're going to continue to see even more, especially as it relates to Israel. The Exodus is a type not only of Salvation for everyone but of what is going to take place around Israel during the Great Tribulation.

The point we need to understand is this just as God moved supernaturally to get his people out of Pharaoh's reach, he will move supernaturally to get them out of Antichrist's reach. That's the point. That's why John is given this reference to Harken back to Exodus 19. Just as God supernaturally provided for the practical needs of Israel in the wilderness during the Exodus, he will supernaturally provide for the practical needs of Israel in the wilderness. During the Great Tribulation, it's typology verses 15.

So 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. Now there are multiple places in Scripture where floods and the threat of drowning are used as imagery for God's people being persecuted by enemies from which God delivers them. And that's the most logical way to interpret the use of the word flood. Here what it's saying is that as Israel flees, most likely to Petra, Antichrist will give chase with his military seeking to kill them all.

Verse 16.

But the Earth helped the woman and the Earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon had spewed out of his mouth. So understand this just as he did in the Exodus when God drowned the Egyptian Army in the Red Sea, God will once again supernaturally use elements of the natural world to protect and deliver Israel. The Reed sea literally swallowed up the Egyptian Army. Based on the text, something similar will happen to the soldiers and weaponry employed by Antichrist when he pursues Israel to Petra.

Perhaps the Earth will simply swallow up the enemies of Israel as it did Quora and those who participated in his insurrection against Moses.

Perhaps they will be swallowed up by water like the Egyptian Army in some way. When you read books about Revelation, many authors will talk about how great Petra is as a defensive position because it's at a high elevation. It has canyons, et cetera. But all of that is, I think, missing the point here's the point. Israel will be protected in Petra not because of its natural characteristics.

Israel will be protected in Petra because God will supernaturally protect her. That's the bottom line. Israel didn't successfully flee Egypt because of fortunate coincidence. They didn't take a certain route to strategically evade the Egyptian Army. The bottom line is God moved supernaturally to deliver them, protect them and provide for them.

And the same thing will happen with Israel in the Great Tribulation verses 17 and the Dragon was enraged with the woman. So infuriated by God's supernatural protection of Israel, Satan will shift his focus 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. Like the Egyptian supersuit Israel in the Exodus, Satan will have no choice but to give up his pursuit of Israel in Petra because God will supernaturally protect them. The fulfillment of Romans 1126 is inevitable.

All Israel will be saved.

As it is written. Enraged, Satan will try to persecute and murder any and every Jesus follower he can find. This may include ethnically Jewish believers, Gentile believers, and even the 144,000 whom he will be unable to kill. Don't miss the vital lessons from the Christian life that we've talked about in this study. If you're going to be an Overcomer, if you're going to live a victorious life, if you're going to live a faithful life, if you're going to walk in the things that Jesus desires you to experience in your life, you must.

It is non optional. You must know what God's Word says about God and about you, and you must live your life in agreement with those things. Amos, 33, says it perfectly. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? You cannot walk with God while agreeing with what Satan says about you.

You cannot walk with God. If you agree with false accusations and the world's way of doing things. God, His Word and the precious blood of Jesus declare the same truths. You are forgiven. You are redeemed.

You belong to Jesus, you are in the family of God, and nothing can separate you from His love. It's real simple. This is a massive principle in the Christian life. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? God will only be involved in your life to the degree that you invite him to be involved in your life.

How do you invite him to be involved in your life? You agree with Him. You agree with His Word. If you want to experience what God has for your marriage, then you need to do your best to have a marriage that lines up with how marriage is presented in the Word of God. If you want to have God involved in your family and in your parenting, then you need to do everything you can to agree with God's Word and His design for family.

If you want to have God involved in your finances, you have to agree with what God's Word says about your finances. You have to structure your life and handle your money in a way that lines up with the instructions in God's Word. Whatever area of life you want to see God be involved in, you need to agree with what His Word says. That's the only way he can walk with you in that area. And there are always some of us who have forgotten this.

And we're saying, Why am I not experiencing God in this area of my life? And the most obvious thing to check first is, well, are you agreeing with what God's Word says about that part of your life? Or are you running that part of your life completely differently? And you're saying, God, why am I not experiencing you in this area? And God says, I don't even know what you're talking about because you've never invited me to be involved in that area of your life.

Agree with the Word of God, and God will get involved. He will. If you're not in God's Word on a daily or near daily basis, then you are not at risk of losing your Salvation. But you are at risk of being deceived by Satan and having your mind filled with beliefs that are not true. The Bible will keep you grounded in the truth, free from condemnation and so important at all times, but especially in the age we're living in.

Being in the Bible will renew your mind daily and allow you to see reality. Rightly? Listen, you are not going to get reality from CNN or Fox News or whatever media sources you follow. You are not going to get reality from the media. You learn to see reality by being in the Word of God and being led by the Holy Spirit in the way that you live your life.

If you don't have a daily time in God's Word, schedule one plan. It. Set aside a daily time with your Bible, a notebook and a cup of coffee or whatever your thing is. Listen to Bible studies in the car on your way to and or from work. Whatever it needs to look like in your life.

Figure it out. Figure it out. Stop waiting for it to magically happen. It's not going to happen on its own. God's Word will change your life radically for the better.

Lastly, I want to encourage you to adopt the practice of testifying to the goodness of God out loud on a regular basis instead of grumbling and complaining, declare to others and yourself what God has done for you. It'll change your mindset. It will shift your focus. It will build your faith. This is one of the reasons why we sing worship songs as the Church.

We are reminding ourselves of what God has done for us. This is why we take Communion. We are reminding ourselves of what God has done for us. This is why we get in the Word of God and pray on a daily basis. We are reminding ourselves of what God has done for us.

Why? Because we don't naturally remember it. We need our minds renewed every day. And when we remember what God has done for us, we go through every day feeling blessed. Feeling grateful.

Feeling loved. Feeling secure. Man. It's good to know that you are loved by the Father, loved by the Jesus, loved by Jesus and loved by His Spirit. It's so good to be loved by the Lord.

Hey, let's pray. Would you by your head and close your eyes? Jesus, we just thank you so much for the love of God that you have poured out on us. We thank you so much for putting your Spirit in us so that you would be with us always. It's our desire to agree with everything that is in your word.

It's our desire to have you involved in every single area of our lives so that you can be pleased with every area of our lives and so that we can experience you and your favor and your blessings in every area of our lives. We want you to be God over every area of our lives. And so, Jesus. I just asked right now if there's an area that we're holding on to, we're keeping for ourselves. We're doing things our way instead of your way.

Would you just make that area Crystal clear to us right now? Put it in the front of our minds, and then Jesus help us to repent for those things and help us to repent by not only saying sorry to you, but by making whatever changes we need to make to do things your way in that area of life. Lord, I pray you'd make that clear to every person listening to this and watching this message. Lord, so that we can be in agreement with you and walk with you.

Father, I pray for anyone who's struggling to have daily time with you in your word, one way or another.

Lord, just remind them over and over and over to do that and show them how you can have a place of priority in their day so that they can get your word into their heart and mind and soul and have their mind renewed every day. And then just before we close. Jesus, we do just want to testify and thank you. You have done everything for us. You've loved us at the expense of your life, Lord, you have taken people who do not deserve to be loved by you and you've poured out your love upon us, even at the cost of your own life.

You have been so good and we would be lost forever were it not for you and Jesus, we know the truth is also that if there was any way we could lose our Salvation, we would if we could mess this thing up between the moment you died for us and the end of our lives, we would. We would mess this up. We would drop the ball. But, Jesus, thank you that your love is so great and so strong and so final and so authoritative that your love is able to hold us secure until the day we arrive in your presence.

And when we arrive in your presence, it won't be because we were good.

It'll be because you were good, perfectly faithfully. Always so. Thank you for loving us, Jesus. All the glory in the Church. A sense of the phrase all the glory belongs to you.

May you receive it from us in the way that we live our lives. We love you, Lord, in your name. We pray. Amen.

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