Israel Persecuted by the Antichrist - Revelation 12

All right, let's open to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12 is titled, this section is titled,

The Woman, The Child, and The Dragon. And you can see that on the screen here. This is a picture

I found online. Typed in Revelation 12, this is what came up. You see the woman, she's pregnant with child, and of course there's the dragon.

We know who the dragon is by now, right? That's the devil, right? He's the serpent or the dragon.

So as I explained last week, here in Revelation last week was chapter 11, this week chapter 12, we're right in the middle of the tribulation.

So if it's seven years, we're about 42 months into it, or a little beyond that.

Last week we talked about what happens at the midpoint. How do you know, or how will people know when they've reached the midpoint of the tribulation, what takes place?

The abomination of desolation. So that's when the antichrist walks into, enters into the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, which chapter 11 starts out describing the temple, and he's gonna declare himself to be

God. In the next chapter, chapter 13, it'll talk about the activity of the antichrist.

He's called the beast, and his evil cohort is the false prophet.

So they're gonna institute the mark of the beast that'll be in the second half of the tribulation.

So what does that tell you? There's no mark of the beast right now, okay? We're not in the tribulation.

Nobody even knows what the mark of the beast is. So it's not in existence right now.

Nobody's, it wasn't the vaccine, believe it or not. You know, it's not, it's not a barcode.

It's not any of that. It's not your social security number, as some people have speculated.

But you know, once it happens, Christians will be able to identify it once it actually starts.

So we're in the midpoint of the tribulation. Now that the antichrist has sort of revealed himself for who he is, and we'll talk about this more.

We believe that there's gonna be something like a treaty, a covenant that he's going to sign with the nation of Israel.

They're gonna be assured peace. They obviously were able to rebuild their temple.

And when the antichrist goes in and declares himself God, the

Jews are not going to appreciate that very much. So all bets are off. And now the beast, he's setting out to persecute the

Jews. So at this point in the tribulation, this is where the persecution of the children of Israel really starts, or at least intensifies.

So with that in mind, let's read Revelation 12, one through six, because that's what this picture represents the devil persecuting

Israel. So the woman is Israel. It says, now 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, in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven.

Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his heads.

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

Now, who does this child sound like? Yeah, I mean, it sounds like the woman is giving birth to Jesus, which would make some people assume that the woman is

Mary, right? And that's another viewpoint, we'll talk about that. So she's about ready to give birth.

When she gives birth, the dragon is going to try to devour her child as soon as it, it says it, but he was born, verse five.

She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

So we see it is Jesus they're talking about. And her child was caught up to God and his throne.

Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place or has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1 ,260 days.

Now, let me just ask you right off the bat, did Mary flee into the wilderness for 1 ,260 days after she gave birth to Jesus?

She went to Egypt, which isn't exactly the wilderness, and there's no evidence it was 1 ,260 days.

But, you know, this is really the main question we're starting out with, the identity of the woman.

So I already told you what I think, and that's the doctrine. I searched it, take this for what it's worth.

I went on Google and I said, who is the woman in Revelation 12? And the first time

I did that, it said Israel. Then I did it on Bing and it said the

Virgin Mary. Then I did it on another search, I think I did it on Google again and said the church.

So I was typing it in just to see what would come up and I got like at least three different answers.

So let's try to figure out from the text. I mean, you might say that's my assumption or presumption that it's the nation of Israel, but let's see if the text bears that out.

So it starts out here, a great sign appeared in heaven.

So a sign is something that points to something else. So John says he saw a woman, but this is a sign.

I don't think this is a literal woman. I mean, he may have seen a literal woman, but it's a sign for something else.

So it's not necessarily a woman, that's the identity. So to point out, I think it's helpful to point out in the book of Revelation, there are several women that depict certain things.

So can you think of another woman in the book of Revelation that depicts something else?

The lady in the basket. The lady in the... The woman that gets shoved into the basket and they push the clock down on top of her?

Well, I'm gonna need a reference for that. I think that's in another book, but I could be wrong.

Marcus? Isn't there the great whore of Babylon? That's the one I'm talking about. Okay. Yes.

So there's the harlot, to put it in more kind terms. Incidentally, I used, because that is what the

King James version says, the whore of Babylon. I said that in a podcast on Spotify and someone noticed there's an

E next to it. And they said, the pastor has an explicit podcast on Spotify.

What's he saying? Well, I just quoted the Bible. Okay. So. Can you just say whore?

Yeah. Well, it's not a word that I would normally use. Okay. But it's in the

Bible. So yeah, there's the harlot of Babylon. Okay. So that's Revelation 17, chapter 18.

It talks about the woman riding the scarlet beast. So that's the harlot of Babylon. So that's the unfaithful church.

That's like the corrupt church, the apostate church. In Revelation 19, when

Jesus comes back, it talks about the true church is depicted as a bride. So you have the bride of Christ in chapter 19.

That's the true church. You have the harlot of Babylon. That's the false church.

And then you have this woman here in Revelation 12. None of them are an actual woman who existed in history.

They all picture the true church, the false church or the nation of Israel.

Okay. But I'm going to try to prove that it's the nation of Israel. So with that said, let's go to Genesis chapter 37.

Genesis 37. I'll give you the main reason why I believe the woman of Revelation 12 is the nation of Israel.

Like I said, there are other views. And this is always true when studying

Revelation. Like I said, I've said it many times, whatever I say, there's going to be somebody who says, "'No, it's actually this," or, "'It actually means that.'"

But just to mention the other viewpoints, because I do want to be fair. Many people believe that the woman is the

Virgin Mary. This is the viewpoint of, no surprise, the

Roman Catholic Church. Rome, and I'm sure you're aware of this, the

Catholic Church, really, the way they talk about Mary and the way they venerate

Mary, they treat her as if she's like a goddess. And they would use this passage to justify it.

Look, she's an exalted woman, standing on the moon, clothed in the sun.

And they say she is the queen of heaven, and they point to this verse among a few others.

So that's one viewpoint that this is Mary. Okay, and you can understand because this woman is giving birth to Jesus.

So I totally get why someone might think that. But when you continue reading, it just doesn't hold up.

The other viewpoint is that this is Eve. Okay, this is a minority viewpoint, but it comes from Genesis chapter three.

Remember when Satan attacked, who did he attack first? He went to Eve first.

And that, along with the first promise of the gospel in Genesis 3, 15, the

Lord said to the serpent, and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.

He, that is the seed of Eve, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

So at least in this verse, Eve is depicted as giving birth to Jesus.

It's not that she gives birth, but he is her seed. Okay, so you understand why somebody might think it's

Eve. Another theory that this is Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science.

Well, that's what apparently her followers claimed. I don't know if she claimed that, but there's some evidence that she either said that, yes, this woman is speaking of me, it's prophesying of me or Christian Science because Christian Science talks about the motherhood of God.

So I think we can rule that one out, what do you say? I mean, Eve, I sort of get

Mary, I definitely understand. The other main theory is that the woman represents, this is probably the most common theory, that the woman represents who?

Well, that's what we're saying, but the other viewpoint is that the woman represents the church.

But no, that's a different woman, okay? That's the bride of Christ that we see in chapter 19.

So basically, those who hold to what is called covenant theology, or we typically refer to it as replacement theology, they say the woman is the church, but here's the thing about that, they say, because it's called replacement theology because they say the church has replaced

Israel. So they say the church is the new spiritual Israel. So what's interesting about this theory is that they admit that the woman is

Israel, but they think the church and Israel are the same. That's not the position we hold.

But anyways, those are the four viewpoints. Now let's look at Genesis 37, and I think this is what makes it clear to me that this woman actually stands for the nation of Israel.

It says, now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan.

Now, who is Jacob? What's another name for Jacob? Israel. Israel, right. Yeah, Jacob the man had his name changed by God to Israel.

It says, this is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers, and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives.

And Joseph brought back a bad report of them to his father. Now, Israel loved

Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age. Also, he made him a tunic of many colors.

You've heard of the coat of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Now, Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more.

So he said to them, please hear this dream which I have dreamed. There we were binding sheaves in the field.

Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.

And his brothers said to him, shall you indeed reign over us?

Or shall you indeed have dominion over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

And of course, if you know the story, did Joseph end up ruling over his brothers? Yes. Yeah.

Because he became the prime minister of Egypt, and we know the story. But it's this other dream that ties into Revelation 12.

So look at verse nine. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers and said, look,

I have dreamed another dream. This time, the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowed down to me.

So he told it to his father and his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, what is this dream that you have dreamed?

Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?

And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Okay, so when you interpret the

Bible, you have to compare scripture with scripture. And according to Genesis 37, who is the son according to this chapter?

Jacob. Jacob or Israel. The man, Israel. Who's the moon?

Well, you could say the moon is Rachel, I guess. But who are the 11 stars? His brothers.

Okay, so let's go back to Revelation chapter 12. And we see this woman clothed with the sun, the moon, and she has a crown or a garland of what?

12 stars. So why 12? Well, this is symbolic of the children of Israel.

I mean, this is the whole story of where Israel started. Jacob the man is Israel and he had 12 children and his 12 sons became the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.

So if you compare Revelation 12 to Genesis 37, this is one of the main reasons why we believe the woman is

Israel. Also, in the Old Testament, Israel is depicted as a woman.

Israel is considered the bride of Jehovah God. And you could even say that Israel is clothed in the righteousness of God.

But look at verse two, there's more. It says the woman was with child.

Okay, now this is where you might think it sounds like Mary, which I grant it does sound like Mary.

However, if you look at the whole Old Testament story, the whole purpose of the nation of Israel was to bring the

Messiah into the world. So you could say the nation itself brought the

Christ into the world. Okay, the other symbol, verse three, is who, the dragon, that's

Satan. Now has Satan persecuted the children of Israel? Does Satan want to persecute?

I mean, this is something the devil has been doing from the beginning, persecuting the nation of Israel.

Now about the seven heads and 10 horns, John MacArthur writes this, this depicts

Satan's dominion of seven past worldly kingdoms. So this would be

Egypt, Babylon, Medo -Persia, Greece, Rome, et cetera, and the 10 future kingdoms that Daniel 7 speaks about.

He says, Satan has and will rule the world until the seventh trumpet blows.

Remember the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11. So is Satan the God of this world right now?

Yeah, ever since Genesis 3, with the fall, up until now and up until the seventh trumpet blows during the tribulation,

Satan is the prince of the power of the air. But when the seventh trumpet blew, the declaration was made that the world now belongs to who?

You know, the Lord and his Christ. So speaking of Satan, anyway, one more sentence from MacArthur.

He said that the devil has inflicted relentless pain on Israel, desiring to kill the woman before she could bring forth the child that would destroy him.

So you see that through the Old Testament. The devil is trying to persecute

Israel, destroy Israel. Remember Haman, he tried, he wanted to annihilate all the

Jews. Why did he want to do that? Well, that's why he wanted to do it.

But behind that is the devil wanting to just eliminate the Jewish race because they were the race that was to bring

Jesus into the world. Okay, so the dragon, we know who the dragon is.

There's no doubt about that. He is the devil, okay. Verse four says, "'His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven "'and threw them to the earth.'"

So this is where you get the idea that a third of all the heavenly angels followed

Lucifer in his rebellion. If you've ever heard a pastor just like state that as a fact, you say, well, where does that come from?

Well, it comes from this passage right here. The dragon, his tail drew a third of the stars.

Remember stars often refer to angels, not always, but often. So they follow

Lucifer in his rebellion. It says, he, the devil, tries to devour the child as soon as he was born.

Did that happen? Yes, remember? Herod, with the massacre of the innocents, he did try to kill

Jesus right away. So that could be a reference to Herod.

Verse five speaks of how Christ will eventually take power and rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

Then it says that the child was caught up to God. Was Jesus caught up or did he ascend to heaven?

Yes, he did, Acts chapter one. So fast forward to how during the tribulation,

Satan will seek to persecute the Jews. God, what's happening here, what's being described is that when that persecution starts,

God is going to prepare a place for the Jews to go where they will be protected for the final three and a half years.

Because this really is the final three and a half years. It really is like hell on earth and God protects his people.

So he's prepared a place for these final 42 months. All right, let's turn to Matthew chapter 24.

We're gonna see that Jesus also speaks about this. And this is the thing I love about Bible prophecy.

I admit it takes a while to study it all out and to figure it all out.

But once you do, it's like passages from Matthew and Revelation and 2nd

Peter and 2nd Thessalonians and 1st Thessalonians. It all starts to fit like a puzzle once you start to understand it.

Any questions so far? All right, so the tribulation is how long?

Seven years broken up into 42 months and then another 42 months, three and a half years.

So the second half of the tribulation, I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but the second half has a specific name to it.

What is it called? The Great Tribulation. The Great, okay, so the whole thing is the tribulation, but the final three and a half years is called the

Great Tribulation. And there's a passage in the Old Testament that talks about the time of Jacob's trouble.

So sometimes you'll hear that talked about because yeah, it is when Israel is persecuted.

Look at Matthew 24, 15 through 21. So here's the teaching of Jesus.

And again, it really fits like a puzzle piece. It fits in perfectly. Jesus says, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, when you see him standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Now, this isn't a trick question, but who's living in Judea? Born, a bunch of born again

Christians? Yeah, Jews, obviously he's talking about Jews.

So let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down, take anything out of his house and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.

What's Jesus saying is, as soon as you see this, as soon as you hear about it, run as fast as you can flee.

Now, where are they fleeing? I mean, he doesn't really describe it except that revelation tells us there's some place people predict it's gonna be the city of Petra.

And there's theories about where it is. That doesn't really matter. We don't know, but there's gonna be some place for them to go and they will be kept safe.

So Jesus says, once you hear, flee. Verse 19, but woe to those who are pregnant, to those who are nursing babies in those days and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the

Sabbath. And clearly the Sabbath context speaks once again that he's talking to Jews.

Verse 21, why? Because then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be.

So according to Jesus, this period is called the great tribulation. It's not something we made up.

This is what Jesus calls it. Marcus. Mount Hermon is way up in the north, way up in the border where Hezbollah is attacking.

And we did drive up there and it is very high. And you can look all the way down the valley and see much of Israel.

So my guess would be that they head north. Yep, okay. So here in Matthew 24,

Jesus clearly speaking about Jews living in Israel in the end times, right before He comes back.

Once the Antichrist goes into the temple demanding to be worshiped as God, that's the signal that all of the believing

Israelites, because we know they're believing because they're what? They're believing the words of Jesus all of a sudden, right?

Now today in Israel, most of the Jews don't believe the words of Jesus, but here, are they gonna listen to the words of Christ?

Yeah, because those who flee are following Jesus's command. So that tells you they're

Jews who believe in Jesus. Okay. So they listen to Christ and they flee to this place.

So they're gonna be protected. The 144 ,000 who are also

Israelites, they're already protected because they have the seal of God on their forehead. And now let's turn to Daniel 9, because here's the thing, there's gonna be the kingdom, right?

At the end of the seven years, when Jesus comes back, He's gonna set up His millennial kingdom. There has to be somebody to enter into and populate the kingdom.

If the entire earth's population dies, there's no one to enter in.

So obviously God has to, or He's going to spare millions of Jewish people,

I'm sure. Okay, Daniel 9, 27. So what

I wanna do here is I wanna fill in some of the gaps, the whole purpose of the

Antichrist going into the temple and then the Jews fleeing. Who's heard of the seven -year peace treaty with Israel?

The Antichrist signs a seven -year peace treaty. Okay, this is another one of those things that you hear pastors say, and sometimes they just mention it in passing, like, oh yeah, it's a fact, everyone knows that.

But sometimes they don't always give Bible references. So if you've ever wondered where that idea comes from, it comes from this passage right here.

So I wanna try to fill in the gaps to show you where it comes from. Daniel 9, 27, then

He, okay, is the He capitalized or is it lowercase? Lowercase. Lowercase, so we know it's not talking about the

Lord, it's not talking about Jesus. Then He, we believe this is the

Antichrist or the Prince to come mentioned in verse 26. In the end times,

He's going to, we believe, pretend to be a friend to the nation of Israel.

Again, sign some sort of covenant, peace treaty, they're gonna rebuild their temple. It says, then

He shall confirm a covenant with many for how long? One week.

One week, and we know that these are weeks of years, right? So one week, you have seven days in a week.

A week of years is seven years. So another way you could say this, that the

Antichrist shall confirm or make a covenant. What's a treaty?

I mean, it's a binding agreement. It's like a covenant. He shall confirm a covenant with many for seven years, one week.

But in the middle of the week, at the midpoint, what does He do? He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

So the Jews have their temple, they're doing their thing. And then He says, okay, now you have to stop.

And it says, on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, which is poured out on the desolate.

So I mean, this is where you get the term abomination of desolation. A few weeks ago, Marcus mentioned an event that's like a precursor to the abomination of desolation.

I don't know if it was in the year 195, maybe 95

BC. I forget the exact date, but this sort of surrounds the holiday of Hanukkah.

It's tied in with that. The Jews had their temple and there was an

Assyrian, I think his name was Antiochus Epiphanes. He went into the Jewish temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar, which totally desecrates the whole place.

Now it's unusable. Well, like I said, that's a precursor to what happens in the end times.

Now the Antichrist isn't gonna sacrifice a pig, but he, I don't wanna call him a pig because you're not supposed to bring reviling accusations against the devil, but he's gonna go into the temple and he's going to declare himself to be

God. And he's gonna tell everyone, you need to worship me. And the Jews are not going to do it.

And that's why he's persecuting them. So you have this passage here and it lines up with 2

Thessalonians 2, which describes him doing exactly that. Let's go back to Revelation 12.

Any other questions? So we're at the midpoint of the tribulation or slightly after, there's not only, there's been warfare on earth, right?

But there's also warfare in heaven, which you wonder if there's warfare in, why is there warfare on earth?

How much the fallen angels, how much what takes place in the heavenly realms, how much that affects what happens on earth,

I don't know. But it could be that the reason why there's warfare on earth is because there's warfare in heaven.

I mean, I think there is a link to the things that are happening down here. It's tied in with what's going on, but in the spiritual realm, although we're not aware of it.

So it's really hard to say, but we do see in Revelation 12, seven through 12, that there is warfare in heaven.

Yeah. Well, if you're interested in that, or piercing the darkness, who wrote that,

Larry? Piercing the darkness? Frank Peretti. Peretti. Okay. It's a fictional thing, but it is interesting.

Yeah. And when we gather like this in this building, and when we pray somehow according to Peretti, this gives strength to the heavenly forces.

Yeah. I'm glad that there's only one third that fell, and there's more angels.

Unfortunately, down here on earth, few are chosen. Many are called, but few are chosen, or broad is the road that breaks the dissection, but the numbers have never been happy with the numbers.

Well, the numbers in heaven, the holy angels, they have the numbers.

Yeah, they have the numbers. But the devil has the numbers down here, right? Oh.

Doesn't he? What? The majority of the earth's population are not following the Lord. True.

What percentage of the residents in Leveret go to church and worship the Lord, and spirit, and truth on the

Lord's day? 1 .2%. So, I mean,

I don't know that that's the percentage. The point is, we don't have the numbers down here.

No. But I do believe what you're saying is right. When God's people all over the world, and the more people it is that are worshiping

God, praying, obeying God, that gives some sort of strength to the army up there.

I don't know how it all works, but I do think there is a connection. Are there angels around? Yes? Not just on top of the

Christmas tree. Erin. I just was reminded of a conversation

I had a few years back, where we talked about the Lord's prayer, and honor as it is in heaven.

And it's talking about God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. And before the conversation,

I'd always thought of it as, you know, we want God's will to be done. And that was the end of it, because I'm pretty shallow in my thinking.

And they pointed out that as God's will is done in heaven, what we bind on earth is bound in heaven.

What is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven. And so, yeah, the whole connection, what's happening in heaven is nearer here now on earth.

Right. So just look at it that way. When you pray, when you come to church on Sunday, when you sing praises, what you do may make a small difference, but it does make a difference.

And all of us together, it makes a big difference. Okay, let's try to finish it up. Revelation 12, seven through 12.

In war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was the 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 deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength and 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. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.

And they did not love their lives to the death. 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 he has a short time.

So we see in verse seven that the archangel Michael and his angels fight with the devil and his angels.

What does this tell you? Satan and Michael are kind of equals in that sense.

And I only say that because people have the idea, some people, that Jesus and the devil are like, remember that meme that came out with the devil arm wrestling

Jesus years ago? That's not the way it is, okay? Jesus is so far above the devil, like they're not on the same level.

Michael and the devil are. Why? Because Jesus is God, he's the

Lord. He's the one who created Lucifer originally. So they're not equals at all.

So Michael and his angels, they fight, and no surprise, Satan loses, all right?

Verses eight and nine talk about how him and his angels are cast out of heaven once and for all.

We don't know all the details when they originally fell, but in Lucifer's fall, we believe he had his access maybe limited to heaven, but we know in the book of Job, Satan still is able to have some access to the throne of God.

But in the end times, right around the midpoint, his access is going to be 100 % revoked.

They're cast to the earth, and the devil knows that he only has three years or so before he's gonna be chained in the bottomless pit.

I know there's a whole debate whether Satan knows that, does he believe that, does he really think he can win?

I mean, that's all kind of speculation. I think he knows, seems to indicate he knows his time is short.

So the devil now, because he's pouring out his wrath, it's not just,

I mean, he's frustrated trying to persecute the Jews because God is protecting them. Who's he gonna end up taking out his wrath on?

I mean, really his own followers. So it's the people of this earth that sort of bear the brunt of this.

And all of that helps to accomplish God's purpose. We see in verse nine, the names of Satan.

He's called the dragon, the serpent of old. Why? Because we saw him first in the garden of Eden.

He's the snake. His names mean slanderer.

That's what devil means. And Satan means adversary. Verse 10, he's called the accuser of the brethren.

So he has many names. He's right now, it appears that Satan still has access to God.

It's kind of a weird thought. The idea that Satan might be in heaven right now, standing before God, accusing believers.

Now he's called a slanderer. So he's making up lies. He's saying things about believers that are not true.

Now, do Christians do things that are wrong? Say, well, he doesn't have to lie because people are doing things that are...

Yeah, but here's the thing. Believers have been declared what? Justified.

Like we're not actually guilty before God. Why? Verse 11, they overcame him by the blood of the land and by the word of their testimony.

Now, I realize this is talking about believers in the tribulation. I think this applies to any Christian. We are innocent, more than innocent.

We are declared righteous. And Satan's attacks, his words against us, they really have no power because Jesus is greater and Jesus has declared us to be saints.

So we just need to understand that and live in light of that.

Okay, almost done. This last section, verses 13 through 17 is titled,

The Woman Persecuted, or if I can change it, Israel Persecuted. Now, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she may fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time.

We already know what that means, right? From a couple of weeks ago. What does it mean? Three and a half years. One plus two plus a half equals three and a half.

So are these literal wings? No, God allows that he takes them.

Somehow he allows them to get from one place to the other. So they're outside of the presence of the serpent.

They are nourished. What's happening, God? God is protecting his people. Why? Because he made a covenant with them.

If it was up to the devil, here's the thing. If it was up to the devil, and it talks about the serpent, verse 15, he spewed water out of his mouth.

This may be, could be a literal flood, probably symbolic of an army coming against them.

We're not sure. And then the earth opens up and helps the woman. Here's the thing. If the devil had his way, he would kill, he would finish what

Haman started. He would finish what Hitler started. And all the people throughout history that have tried to eliminate the children of Israel, if Satan was able to do that, he'd do it.

And then there'd be nobody left on earth to enter into the kingdom. But what happens?

God protects his people. Why does God protect them? Do they deserve it?

After 2000 years of rejecting Jesus, does the nation of Israel deserve to be protected?

They don't deserve it. But God made a covenant, and God always keeps his promises, even when the people don't really deserve.

And that's the whole point of grace, isn't it? And that's true for us. We, yeah, the devil could come before the throne of God and say, you know,

Marcus has, Marcus said this, and Marcus did that, and Mike did this, and, you know, he could do that.

And some of it might even be true. But God has made a promise that if we believe in Christ, we are declared justified, and we have eternal life.

So that's the takeaway for me. God keeps his promises, even though Israel for 2000 years has been rebelling against him,

God never will change his mind about that. There's a future for them. And because God keeps his promises to them, we know that he'll keep his promise to us, amen?

All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for that truth. Even when we don't feel saved, even when we don't feel like you care, even when we don't feel or think that, well, maybe we even have some doubts, and Lord, none of that matters in light of your promises.

Help us, Lord, to have faith, to believe your word, to always believe it, even when we go through trials and tribulation.

Here, we learn that the Jewish people are gonna go through adversity and persecution, perhaps like they've never seen before.

And that says something. And yet, out of your great love for them, out of your great love for us,

Lord, you keep your people safe. We thank you for that security that we all have in Christ, and to know that we can always overcome the devil by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony.