Hello, and welcome to this
teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque. Skip's teachings
are shared globally, and we're encouraged
when we hear how lives are being transformed. If this message impacts
you, we'd like to know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And if you'd like to support
this ministry financially, you can give online securely
at calvaryabq.org/giving. We live in a culture
that is constantly looking for the next big
thing, asking, what's next? But sometimes we can forget
the most important thing. In this series, Skip reminds
us that as believers, we're called to wait with anticipation
for the return of Jesus Christ. Now we invite you to open
your bibles as Skip continues our series, What's Next? I want to speak to you
about an invisible war. A cosmic conflict. So turn in your Bibles please
to Revelation Chapter 12. Revelation Chapter 12. Two years ago, you may
or may not know this, there was an asteroid
the size of an airliner that almost hit the earth. It came dangerously
close, the experts said. It went by the wonderful fond
name of 2014xx110, something like that. Some crazy little number. But experts said
that it would have caused significant damage had
it hit the surface of the earth. Most people were
unaware of that. Most of us would
not have known it unless we read it or it
was told to us by those who were able to pick it up
with specialized equipment. Then if you go back
a few years to 1985, there was a vessel
in the Pacific Ocean that had a little
one-man submarine that it let overboard. And a scientist was in
this, called Deep Rover, down to a depth of 1,500 feet
where the sea is inky black. And suddenly, this
scientist said, from out of nowhere came a
creature he never even knew existed. It was 120 feet long,
semi-transparent, with thousands of tentacles
and dozens of stomachs. The weirdest thing ever. Not only did he see one, but
eventually his entire submarine was surrounded by
these odd creatures. And then, they gobbled him up. No, I'm just kidding. That's Hollywood. My point in those two stories is
that there are things happening around us that are unknown
to us and unseen by us, but they're real. They're there. They're invisible. We wouldn't know
they exist unless we had specialized equipment
and direct revelation that they had occurred. Consider Revelation Chapter
12 special equipment. Specialized information. They get us in touch
with a very real world. One we don't see,
one that many of us pay no attention to as
we live our daily lives. It's a very real
but invisible world. The world where God and demons
and angels all live and move. A very real world. Since the fall of Satan,
there has been a constant war going on in the universe. Think of it as the
real Star Wars. Even much more profound than
all of those wonderful movies that you've seen over the years. And this battle made its way
to the theater of operations known as the Earth. Satan tried to pervert
the paradise of heaven. He was kicked out of heaven. He and a third of
the angels fell. He then was consigned
to the earth, and he tried to pervert
the paradise of the earth. He effectively drug Adam
and Eve and all of humanity into the crosshairs,
into the crossfire of this great cosmic battle. So that mutiny in heaven
became the misery of the earth. Chapter 12 of Revelation is
a panorama of that warfare. Seen in symbolic fashion,
because after all, Revelation is a book of signs. We believe it literally,
but there are symbols that point to a reality. In Revelation 12,
we go all the way back to the fall of
Satan from heaven, and all the way forward to the
end of the great tribulation period on the earth. But I've always believed
that Revelation 12 is one of those crucial passages
that unless you understand this chapter, or the principles
that are written in it, you will have no real clue
as to past history, as well as future prophecy. We ask the question,
what's next? None of it will make
sense to us until we understand the principles
of Revelation 12. I was reminded this week
of an interesting period of our own history
in World War II. We had a very famous general
named George C. Patton. And his nemesis in
Germany was Erwin Rommel, a German general that faced
Patton in a series of battles in North Africa. What Rommel did not know
is that George Patton had studied Rommel's book on war
strategy that he had written. He read it. He studied it. So he was aware of what the
general was going to do next. And that knowledge
helped him outmaneuver Rommel in North Africa. And it is reported that at
one point in the battle, they got so close to each other
that George Patton yelled out of this tank as he
saw Rommel eye to eye, and he said, I read
your book, Rommel. I read your book. So as we read God's
book, who shows us the strategies
of the devil, I pray that we will both
be aware and encouraged. You know, Paul in
Corinthians said, concerning the devil we are
not ignorant of his devices. Says, for we are not
ignorant of Satan's devices. The trouble is, I know far
too many Christians that are ignorant of his devices. And because of that, they
live in constant defeat over and over and over again. There's certain
things we need to be aware of in this
cosmic conflict. So we're going to look
just today at six verses in Revelation Chapter 12. And there are four
notable characteristics about this invisible war,
this cosmic conflict. First, it involves a people. That is, it involves a
nation, a group of people. Now, we begin by
looking at Verse 1. Now he says a great
sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a
garland of 12 stars. Then being with child, she
cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. Note that he sees a great sign. Now, the word great
here is the word mega. It's a mega-sign. And it's a word that is use
repeatedly in this chapter. Not only does he used the
word in Verse 1, a great sign, but down in Verse 3, he sees
a great, fiery, red dragon, a mega-dragon. Verse 12, that dragon
brings great wrath. Verse 14, a great eagle
transports this woman to be protected
in the wilderness. So everything John sees
in Chapter 12 is massive. Mega-woman,
mega-dragon, mega-wrath. Question is, who is this woman? Who is she? Well, there have
been a lot of guesses as to what this symbol
points to in reality. And I'm not going to go
through them all because we don't have enough time. But let me ask you a question. Where else in the
Bible do you ever read about the sun, the
moon, and the 12 stars? There's only one
other place that has this same motif, this
same imagery, and that is back in the book of Genesis. Young Joseph has a dream. And he tells his dad the dream. He say, you know, last
night I was dreaming, and the sun and the
moon and the 12 stars were bowing down to me. Immediately, Jacob,
Joseph's dad, reacted, and listen
to what he said. "Shall your mother and all
I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to
the earth before you?" Now, why is that important? Because Jacob interprets the
symbolic meaning of the dream. It's the key to
unlocking what we're reading here in Revelation 12. In that dream that Joseph
had, the sun was Jacob, the moon was
Rachel, the 12 stars were the 12 sons
of Jacob, who would become the 12 tribes of Israel. So all of that was a symbol
of the Jewish nation. The idea of a woman
is very, very common in the Old Testament to refer to
Israel as a woman, as a mother, as a pregnant woman in
travail giving birth. All of that symbolism is
of the nation of Israel repeatedly in the Old Testament. So a woman clothed with the sun
and the moon and the 12 stars, we can safely say, based
upon the only other time it's mentioned in the
scripture, as this is a symbol of the
nation of Israel. And that doesn't surprise us. Any of us who have read
apocalyptic literature, whether it's Daniel or
Revelation or Matthew 24, what Jesus said on
all of that discourse, we know that Israel as a
nation plays a significant role in end time events. The tribulation period
is called by Jeremiah as a time of Jacob's
trouble, Israel's trouble. The angel Gabriel said
to the prophet Daniel, 70 periods of seven are
determined for your people. That's the Jewish people. For your holy city. That's the city of Jerusalem. Jesus, in Matthew 24,
spoke about the end times with the local
flavor of the Jews. He spoke about the
abomination of desolation that takes place in the
Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He said pray that your
flight not be on the Sabbath. If you live in Judea and you're
running to the mountains, get out quick. All of that has a flavor of
local Israel and Judaism. Now, here's what's interesting. Have you ever wondered--
I hope you have-- why is it that of all the
nations that have ever existed on the earth, there's
one nation that has been more
hassled, oppressed, opposed, attacked than any other
nation, and yet has survived. That's Israel. I mean, it's uncanny. If you go all the
way back to 586 BC when the Babylonians came in
and effectively destroyed them, brought them to their
place in captivity, even though Israel
returned 70 years later and was gaining independence,
the Romans later on came in. There are several
battles that ensued between them that
wiped them out, but I won't even go into that. When the Romans came
in in 70 AD, not only destroying the
city of Jerusalem, but massacring 1.6 million Jews. And then that happened
again in 135 AD under Hadrian,
the Roman emperor. And then hundreds and
thousands of years of diaspora, dispersion,
oppression, persecution, Spanish Inquisition,
extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II. Over and over and
over and over again. And yet, we just got
back from Israel. That nation still exists
today in the Middle East. And it was birthed almost
instantly as the prophet Isaiah predicted in
Isaiah 66, shall a nation be born in a single day? And it was, May 14 of 1948. So it's interesting that
this one group of people have been hassled and
opposed and oppressed, and yet they still exist today. Why? Because there's something going
on in this cosmic conflict that involves this nation. This cosmic conflict
is geocentric. It's a geocentric
conflict, because God has made unique promises
to the Jewish nation. It's reported that in the
late 19th century, when Queen Victoria of England
sat upon her throne, and she had a very
interesting prime minister named Benjamin Disraeli. They were having a conversation
one day and the queen said to her prime minister, what
evidence, Mr. prime Minister, can you give to me of
the existence of God? The prime minister
was thoughtful, and after a few moments
he said to the queen, the Jew, your majesty. The Jew. The Jews still exist,
and as a part and central to God's purpose and God's plan. So we have this mega-sign. A woman appearing clothed with
the sun, the moon, and the 12 stars. But notice in Verse 2, then
being with child-- that is, she is a pregnant woman-- she
cried out in labor and pain to give birth. Now, it's not too hard to
figure out who this child is. I think most of us right off
the bat can determine this is, no doubt, Jesus Christ. What is it that
the Jewish nation has longed for for generations? What is it every Jewish
mother longed for? The Messiah, the
deliverer that would come. In the language of
Genesis Chapter 3, the seed of the woman will come
and crush the head of Satan. But let's look at further proof. Verse 5. She bore a male child. Now notice what this child does. Who was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron. That can only refer
to one person. And her child was caught
up to God and his throne. So after the incarnation
was the ascension of Jesus into heaven before his
coronation and his second coming. So this conflict
involves the people. And the people are the people
of Israel, the Jewish nation. The second notable
characteristic. This conflict includes
a perpetrator. There's somebody else in the
story we haven't yet met. We're about to meet. Also given to us in
symbolic language, Verse 3, and another sign
appeared in heaven. Behold a great,
fiery, red dragon. The kraken. The dragon. Having seven heads and 10 horns,
and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third
of the stars of heaven, and through 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. Now, here we don't have to
guess as to who the dragon is. We don't have to find
some Old Testament passage to unlock the meaning. All we have to do is
look at Verse 9 here. Verse 9 of Revelation 12
says, and so the great dragon was cast out. That serpent of old called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. And he was cast to the
earth and his angels were cast out with him. 13 times the Book of Revelation
refers to Satan as a dragon. Now, here's what's
important to understand. This is a symbol of a reality. It is not a physical
description of the devil. It's a moral description. It speaks of his vile character. I'll tell you why
this is important, because the whole
idea of the devil wearing a tight red suit
with little red horns and a pitchfork come
from this passage. And people, in
assuming that this is the physical
description of the devil, they have pooh-poohed the
whole idea of a literal devil. Oh, come on. You expect me to
believe in that? Little devil running around
with pitchfork and horns. That's comic book stuff. Gallup organization
did a poll, and they said most Americans
believe in God, but most Americans do not
believe in a literal devil. And it's because of
the images like this that people have
taken and assumed that it is a
physical description. All of this is a symbol to point
to how vile a creature he is. How cruel and fierce. CS Lewis said,
"humanity falls into two equal and opposite errors
concerning the devil." One, some people take
him too seriously. Number two, others don't
take him seriously enough. So on one hand, you have denial. On the other hand,
you have obsession. Many people deny that there's
a devil, as I just mentioned. But you know what. You can't have a
more powerful enemy than the one you
don't believe exists. If you have an enemy that you
don't know about, he's got you. You are under his control. He's out-flanked and
out-maneuvered you simply because you don't
know he's there. But the other
extreme is obsession. And I have met far
too many Christians who seem to be obsessed
with the devil. They want to cast them out
of their scrambled eggs and every person they ever meet. There's a devil behind it all. We fail to realize greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world. I love what John
White-- he wrote one of the greatest books I've
ever read on Christian living called The Fight. And he gives good
balance to this issue saying, "have no
delusions about demons' reality or their hostility. They will oppose you
as you obey Christ." If you play it
cool, and you decide not to be a fanatic
about Christianity, you will have no
trouble from them. But if you are
serious about Christ being your Lord and your God,
you can expect opposition. Now, look at this
dragon's description. He has seven heads and 10 horns. He's a seven-headed monster. That's one ugly dragon. That's one fierce dragon. What does all this mean? Well by now, you should
know that the number seven is a significant number
in the Book of Revelation and throughout the Bible. And seven is a number
that speaks of what? Don't say perfection. It speaks of
totality, completion. Just as seven days make a total
or a complete week, seven notes make a total or complete
scale, the idea of seven heads speaks of a comprehensive
intelligence. I put it this way. Satan has an IQ that
is off the charts. He was an intelligent being
that crafted a mutiny in heaven. It got him kicked out of
heaven, but it also, he managed to take a third
of the angels with him. You've got to be pretty
intelligent to pull that off. He has studied human
nature and human character for thousands of years. He knows all of
your weak points. And he can craft temptation
specifically suited for you. Seven-headed dragon. But also, he as 10 horns. An animal's horn was
the animal's strength. It's what he used to fight with. It was its weapon. Satan has dominated the world. He has authority over
all realms of the world. He is called the
god of this world. And you'll notice that the
authority was given to him. There are crowns on his head. He's been coronated. The citizens of this world
have yielded that authority and power over to him. And in the end times--
don't have time to get into it
today-- we will see that the counterpart
to the devil called the Antichrist manages to
put together a coalition of 10 world empires or
kingdoms together to forge his own powerful
kingdom on the earth in the end times. So we have to mega-woman
and we have a mega-dragon. Woman symbolizes Israel. The dragon is none other
than the devil himself. But something about this dragon. He doesn't come off as a dragon. He's revealed by God for
his true colors here, but the Bible says that
Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. He wants people to think he's
benign, or he doesn't exist, or he's not that bad, or
that people under his sway aren't that bad, et
cetera, et cetera. He's an angel, although
he's very, very crafty. Reminds me of a story
I read, a true story, about polar bears in the Arctic. When they hunt for seals, a
polar bear, they're tricky. They'll take in a deep
breath, dive under the ice, go to where the holes of
the seals, the feeding holes of the seals
are, and they'll scratch with their little-- with
their big-- claws on the ice to imitate the movement
of fish under the ice. So that the seal, not knowing
it's a polar bear scratching, thinks it's fish swimming. So the seal is lured
into diving into the hole to get its supper,
only to discover it's the main course for the bear. This massive, ugly
dragon disguises himself as an angel of light. There's a third
thing, characteristic, about this conflict. It entails a pursuit. This conflict entails a pursuit. Now, this is where the
understanding comes to us. If we fail to see
this, all of history will not make any sense. Most of the scripture
will not make any sense. And prophecy won't
make any sense. Unless we realize this
conflict between the woman, Israel, and the
dragon, Satan, has to do with a third
character introduced here, and that is the male child. Look at Verse 4 once again. His tail drew a third part
of the stars of heaven. Drew them to the earth. The dragon stood
before the woman who is ready to give birth to
devour her child as soon as it was born. She bore a male child who
was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and
her child was caught up to God and to his throne. This dragon, Satan,
hates this woman, Israel. Why? Because of the child. It's all about the child. It's all about
getting to this child and destroying this child. Why? Because this child would
one day rule the world and take away Satan's own
authority that he usurped. Remember the
prophecy in Isaiah 9. We talk about it
every Christmas. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will
be upon his shoulder. In other words, the child born
will be the King who reigns. Satan not only
knew that prophecy, but he was there in the Garden
of Eden after Adam fell, and he heard the curse uttered. And he heard the prophecy
uttered that a seed of a woman would crush his own kingdom. And ever since that
promise was given, he thought of a
counter-strategy to destroy that child, that seed, who
would destroy his own kingdom. So the cosmic conflict
has been a pursuit to destroy the seed that
would crush his own authority and kingdom. There are several
examples of that. I'll give you just a few. In Genesis Chapter 4, we
read about Cain killing Abel. Abel was the righteous
son of Adam and Eve. I believe Satan inspired
Cain to kill Abel. The Bible even says Satan was
a murderer from the beginning. And John, in his writing,
said it was Satan who inspired him to do that. Why would he do that? It's an attempt to
destroy the seed. Maybe this is the
seed, this is the who will destroy my kingdom. Well, it wasn't. And even though Abel was
dead, God raised up Seth to continue that godly line. Then we get to
Genesis Chapter 6, and we discover that
Satan caused such evil to pervade the entire earth,
God had only one choice, and that is to destroy
everything on the earth and everyone on the earth. And they all perish
except for eight people. And that line that would bring
us the seed of the Messiah continued. We get to Genesis
27 and we discover that Esau tries to kill Jacob. Ah, Jacob. Why Jacob? Because Jacob was
Isaac's son of promise. There would be
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the 12 tribes of Israel,
and the tribe of Judah who would eventually bear the Messiah. We get into the Book
of Exodus and we discover a guy by
the name of Pharaoh, one of the kings of Egypt,
gives this strange edict that if a male Hebrew child
is born, it is to be killed. Effectively trying to wipe
out an entire race of people. I believe that was
Satan's attempt. He was an agent of Satan
trying to destroy the Jews. We get to the book
of 1 Samuel, we discover that over and over
again, King Saul attempts to kill, almost like a madmen,
almost like a crazy person, sometimes for no reason
at all, to destroy David. David would be the royal
line through which Jesus, the son of David, would come. We get to the Book
of Esther, a guy named Haman wants genocide
on every Jew in the kingdom. And there are so many more
examples in the Old Testament, I don't have time
to go through them. But let's go to
the New Testament. As soon as Jesus is
born, the male child is born of the woman, a
guy by the name of Herod decides that every child
two years and below ought to be exterminated
from Bethlehem. Again, Satan's
desire and attempt to get at that seed
who would become the ruler who would crush
his kingdom and destroy it. I think we see further proof
when Satan himself tempts Jesus and suggests that Jesus
throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. No doubt hoping that he
would die in the process. I think we get a hint of that
in the synagogue in Nazareth, when Christ proclaims
that he's the Messiah. And the people of Nazareth take
him to the brow of the hill and want to throw him over. And I think this
warfare, this pursuit continues all the way until one
Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM. There must have
been a party in hell when Jesus' limp body
was taken off of a cross in placed in a tomb. And Satan thought,
we've done it, boys. We've done it. We've destroyed the male child. We've destroyed the seed. But he, Satan, didn't
read the fine print. You see, in the fine print,
Jesus made a promise. He said no man takes
my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down. Here's the fine print. And I have the power
to take it up again. And three days later,
he did exactly that. I tell you, on Easter morning,
there was not an Easter party in hell. Satan now turns all
of his wrath and fury on the new followers
of this Messiah, this resurrected Messiah. And the church gets
persecuted throughout history. But not only the
church, but Israel. You say, why Israel? I mean, the promises,
he couldn't overturn. The Messiah was born,
the male child was born. Why wouldn't he stop
persecuting Israel? Why is there a continual
anti-Semitic push that continues up to this
day like never seen before? Well, that's very good
question, I'm glad you asked. Think of it strategically. Think of it as playing
chess, not checkers. If God's promise of
redemption requires the existence of a nation and
the continuance of that nation, if you can destroy
that nation, you will have thwarted
God's purpose. If God requires a nation to
establish a literal kingdom-- God made several promises
in the Old Testament that Israel would be reigned
from by a messiah in Jerusalem, that has never happened yet. If you can destroy
that nation, God can't keep all of his promises. So the conflict
entails a pursuit. Let me take you to
the fourth and final notable characteristic
before we close. Now this brings a positive note. And I'm going to
take you to Verse 5 and have you close with
these great thoughts. This conflict ends in primacy. Primacy is a word that means
dominance or superiority. Christ will rule. Christ will reign. Whatever the conflict is, Satan
will lose and Jesus will win. Make sure you're
on the right side. Verse 5, she bore
a male child who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron. And her child was caught
up to God and his throne. And the woman fled
into the wilderness where she has a place prepared
by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days. That's the last 3 and 1/2 years
of the tribulation period. So we go from the fall
of Satan all the way to the end of the tribulation
period in six verses. More on that next week. But think of this
thought as you leave. Christ will rule
with a rod of iron. What does that mean? A rod of iron is, in antiquity,
the strongest metal was iron. It was unbreakable. And iron rule meant
absolute authority. Listen, when Jesus comes back
as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he won't
be voted into office. He won't have to caucus
anywhere, or schmooze people, or make promises. He's just taking over. He created it and he will
rule and he will reign. He will rule the nations
with a rod of iron. Something about that word. The word rule is the word
poimeno, which doesn't just mean to rule or to reign,
but the word poimeno is the New Testament word for
shepherding or to shepherd. A pastor is called a poimen
in the Greek language. Paul said to the
elders of Ephesus in the book of Acts, Chapter 20,
shepherd the flock of God which is among you. The word is poimeno, tend them. So now we see the tender side of
Jesus' eternal rule and reign. He is the tender enforcer. He is the gentle warrior. He is the firm shepherd. And just as Satan the
dragon couldn't stop him from being born, and Satan
the dragon couldn't stop him from enacting his redemption,
and Satan the dragon couldn't stop him from
ascending to the right hand of the father, he won't be
able to stop his eternal rule and reign forever. Let me say this. Don't let Satan stop Christ
from ruling over you. He's going to rule
over the world. But individually,
he places the power within us, the power of
choice, to say yes to him or to say no to him. To reject him or
to receive them. Don't let Satan stop Jesus
from ruling over you. So the word that started
in heaven made its way to the theater of this earth . And you and I are involved. But you don't have to be scared. I meet too many
frightened believers who forget the
promise, greater is he who is in you than
he who is in the world. Yeah, but Skip, a third of
the angels fell with Satan. That's a pretty big number. Yeah, that's right. A third fell. Don't forget, they're
outnumbered two to one. Two thirds didn't fall,
and those are the good guys that help you out. So you're on the right side. You're on the winning side. Satan is outnumbered two to one. I want to close
by giving you what I think is the proper balance. It was given by Martin Luther. He wrote many things,
including hymns. Some of you may know
that Martin Luther was, himself, the target of the
devil on a number of occasions, or so he writes. But in one of my
favorite writings, one of my favorite hymns
written by Martin Luther, there's a stanza in it. It goes like this. "And though this world
with devils filled should threaten to
undo us, we will not fear for Christ has willed his
truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure." One little word will fail him. Just one word from
Christ, and he's down. He's down. The question is-- the
most important question to leave with now is, are you
under the primacy of Christ? Are you under the dominion,
the rule of Jesus? I know one day
every knee will bow. I know that every
tongue will confess. But then it will be enforced. How about doing
it willingly now? Father, thank you for
the special briefing provided by your spirit to the
Apostle John while on Patmos. Thank you, Lord, that you peeled
back the curtain, so to speak, and enabled us to see
into the spiritual realm. To see beyond the disguise
of an angel of light to a fiery red dragon
that persecuted a nation throughout its history,
all because of its relationship to the Messiah. As we understand that
pursuit and we understand the devices of
Satan, we understand that Satan's device
and desire in our life is that we don't get close
to Jesus Christ, the one who will rule and reign. That we don't take
Jesus seriously, and that we don't
allow our lives to be under the total primacy
control and dominance of Jesus. And because that
is Satan's desire, I pray that we
will wholeheartedly abhor that desire and turn and
give you our lives completely. And serve you wholeheartedly. In Jesus' name, Amen. We hope this message
encouraged you to get busy for God's kingdom
as we wait for Jesus' return. How will you put the principles
you learned into action? Let us know. Email mystory@calvaryabq.org. And just a reminder, you can
give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/giving. Thank you for joining us
for this teaching from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque.
