God Speaks
Then a great pageant appeared in heaven, portraying things to come. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and screamed in the pain of her labor, awaiting her delivery.
3 Suddenly a red Dragon appeared, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail drew along behind him a third of the stars, which he plunged to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to eat the baby as soon as it was born.
5 She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with a heavy hand, and he was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her, to take care of her for 1,260 days.
7 Then there was war in heaven; Michael and the angels under his command fought the Dragon and his hosts of fallen angels. 8 And the Dragon lost the battle and was forced from heaven. 9 This great Dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down onto the earth with all his army.
10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has happened at last! God’s salvation and the power and the rule, and the authority of his Christ are finally here; for the Accuser of our brothers has been thrown down from heaven onto earth—he accused them day and night before our God. 11 They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony; for they did not love their lives but laid them down for him. 12 Rejoice, O heavens! You citizens of heaven, rejoice! Be glad! But woe to you people of the world, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.”
13 And when the Dragon found himself cast down to earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the child. 14 But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to the place prepared for her, where she was cared for and protected from the Serpent, the Dragon, for three and a half years.
15 And from the Serpent’s mouth a vast flood of water gushed out and swept toward the woman in an effort to get rid of her; 16 but the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the flood! 17 Then the furious Dragon set out to attack the rest of her children—all who were keeping God’s commandments and confessing that they belong to Jesus. He stood waiting on an ocean beach.
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: The author of this blog has come to see this chapter as the script or directions for a pageant. First, the main characters are identified: the woman, Israel (vv 1-2); the red dragon, Satan (vv 3-4); the male child, Christ (vv 5-6); the angel, Michael (vv 7-9). The story, which begins in verse 10, is a panoramic view of how the Dragon (Satan) hates and will try to destroy “the woman” (the Jewish people and Israel) and the “child” (the Messiah Jesus and those related to Him by faith). Throughout history there have been attempts by the enemies of God to destroy people in general and Jews and Christians in particular. The reason is that Satan hates God and everything He is connected with, especially those He created and loves. Anyone who fears, loves, and seeks to obey God is a target for Satan’s schemes, but, as verse 11 tells us, he can be overcome by the blood of the Lamb (Christ’s blood shed at the crucifixion) and by their faithful testimony of what God has done in their lives. This is even more true when they give up their lives for the sake of others and the Good News of Christ. When Satan failed to conquer the woman (in the Holocaust as an example), he went on to harass the rest of her children (the massacre of Christians in Syria and Nigeria or the horrific mistreatment of Uighurs and Falun Gong in China as examples).
Prayer: Dear all-knowing God, You know the end from the beginning because You are the beginning of everything. Thank You for this “trailer” or “behind the scenes” look at what takes place in heaven and on earth throughout time and eternity. Thank You for this glimpse of the war that has gone on since Satan and a third of the angelic beings pridefully rebelled against You. This war takes place both in heaven and on the earth, both in individual lives and in groups or nations. Thank You that Jesus Christ conquered sin, death, and evil by His sacrificial life, suffering and death. Your raising Him from the dead was verification of His victory. Now everyone who turns to You in faith and obedience will spend eternity enjoying Your presence instead of in misery apart from You. Please help me to live out this truth and share it with others. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will use biblical resource materials to study scriptures where Israel is referred to as a woman. [Some passages to get started: Isaiah 54:5, 66:7; Jeremiah 3:6-10; Micah 4:10, 5:2-3. The book of Hosea tells how that prophet was instructed by God to take an unfaithful wife as an illustration of God’s relationship with unfaithful Israel.]
- I will use biblical resource materials to study scriptures which relate how (from the beginning down to the present day) Satan has hated God’s highest creation (human beings), His chosen people (the Jews), His one and only Son (Jesus), and all those who fear, trust, and obey God. [Some passages to get started: Genesis 3:1-19 (The first sin); Exodus 1:8-22 (Pharaoh); Esther 1:1-10:3 (Haman); Matthew 2:1-23 (Herod); Acts 9:1-2 (Saul of Tarsus).]
- I will use biblical resource materials to study scriptures which show how Jesus, the Son of God, has and will defeat Satan. [Some passages to get started: 1 Chronicles 29:11 (David attributes victory to God–including the Messiah.); 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 (victory over death); 1 John 5:4-6 (How we get victory over sin.]
- I will use the results of these studies to stand strong whenever Satan tries to accuse or attack me.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.