Revelation 13:11-18

Image above is in the Public Domain “The Devil whispers to the Antichrist; detail from Sermons and Deeds of the Antichrist, Luca Signorelli,” 1501, Orvieto Cathedral

I. Satan uses his allies to lead people away from God.

vs. 11: Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth (or land). It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. [ESV]

I have used the above image several times. It pictures a Roman triumph, but illustrates the relationship between The Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the Land. The Roman governor would pay his annual visit to the area he governed. The seven churches of Asia would have seen the governor land from a ship. Soldiers would have lined the route to the Praetorium — the place of his residence. All along the way, people would have small altars where as he passed they would burn incense. It was a part of the Emperor Cult, but incense also masked the vile odors of the city.

My wife and I have walked the route in Ephesus from the upper city down toward the artificial harbor (long since silted up) along the ancient colonnaded street descending from the theater. It is a steady decline to the harbor which today is silted up and swampy. To the first century citizens, it looked like the Roman Governor came up from the Sea. There were headless statues of Emperors all along that inclined wide street. (The bodies were all Augustus-like in pose and clothing; the heads were replaced depending who was the Emperor at the time.)

Image above Ephesus and the Aegean Sea in the past. Image from http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.com/2017/09/ephesus.html

The Theater of Ephesus with harbor street today. Due to ancient and subsequent deforestation, overgrazing (mostly by goat herds), erosion and soil degradation the Turkey coastline is now 2 miles away from the ancient Greek site with sediments filling the plain and the Mediterranean Sea. In the background: muddy remains of the former harbor, bare hill ridges without rich soils and woods. Image above from By Jordan Klein from San Francisco, Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.0.

The Emperor cult was not forced on Asia Minor. Dead Emperors were declared divine by the Roman Senate and worshiped. This was a given in John’s Day. Asia Minor built temples and worshiped living Emperors. The sane Emperors declined to endorse this practice unless it was also primarily dedicated to Augustus. On the land we see false religion allied with a wicked state.

II. Godless government wedded to perverted religion is a tool to deceive people in and out of the Church.

“Another beast” — John uses the word Greek word for “another” (allos) meaning “another of the same kind.” This beast is similar to the first, wild beast. In Rev. 19:20 this beast is personified as the “False Prophet.” This beast arose from the land or the ground (gēs). The former Beast was “the evil, world system.” This other beast seems to represent false religion allied to evil government. (It is not all false religions, but it is just those which are allied to evil governments.) We see this in N. Korea, where a religion built around the Kim family works to brainwash people into worshiping the supreme leader instead of God. 

A modern example of false religion wedded to the State

“North Korea’s indoctrination of its children—ensuring the worship of the ruling Kim family—is one of the first steps the state takes to control 25.7 million people living in the country that has been No. 1 on Open Doors’ World Watch list for the last 19 years. Now, recent changes are tightening even further the country’s grip on its youngest citizens.

“Timothy Cho (substituted picture for safety), a refugee living in Europe, remembers growing up in North Korea and the “brainwashing” he and all young children went through. “Even in nursery school, we had to bow to the pictures of the first leaders of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Il,” he says. As a child, he heard stories of Kim II-Sung having magic powers. “I learned that Kim Il-Sung was able to catch a double rainbow with one hand because of his “majestic powers.”

“Everything in North Korea revolves around the Kim family, Timothy shares. North Korean children are brainwashed so that they will honor the leader of their day. In preschool, the teachers prayed to the leaders at lunchtime. We had to give thanks to the dictators for our “daily bread,” Now, I realize they stole this from the Lord’s Prayer. There’s even a (Santa Claus-inspired) story of Kim Il-Sung bringing gifts if you follow him.” (See Open Doors USA below.)

Stealing the Lord’s Prayer from Christianity and twisting it to fit the Kim family is the the Satanic Trifecta at work in the Twentieth-first Century. 

III. Satan’s Beasts (his “tools”) imitate Christ and lead people into active rebellion against God.

“Two horns like those of a lamb” — This beast, like the first, is marked by its imitation of Christianity. The two horns are “lamb-like.” Yet, the mouth betrays the character — it is “dragon-like.” Like in Daniel’s day, that which is out of conformity to God’s Word is idolarty.

“John’s vision is not so much protesting against some isolated aberration in the first century A.D. as [he is] staking out the limits of good citizenship [for believers of all ages].”

“As long as the state is simply the state, an institution created by God (as it was for Paul in Rom 13:1-7) or at least tolerated by God (as it was for Peter in 1 Pet 2:13-17), it is possible for a Christian to be a good and loyal citizen.” 

“But when the state oversteps its bounds so as to become God, good citizenship is no longer an option. The battle lines are drawn, even though the Christian’s role in the battle is a passive one governed by the counsel of verse 10: ‘if anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go,’ and ‘if anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.'” (see Michaels, emphasis and bracketed words are mine, below.)

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (Christian heroes
and martyrs, 1895) WikiMedia commons.

The role of the Christian in an evil state is to follow Christ and His Word, and if necessary, suffer the consequences. This is not an inspiring picture in Revelation 13, but this is the reality most Christians experience daily in the Far East and Africa today. Now we are seeing it brought home to us in the West. It’s just a matter of time. It always costs to be a Christian, and John is making this clear to the First century and the Twentieth-first century Church!

Next time Beast from the Sea, Part 2.

Notes
(Commentaries on which I rely without direct quotation) 

Beale, G. K. (2015). Revelation: a Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Kindle Edition.

ESV. (2001). Accessed 24 June 2020 from https://www.biblegateway.com

Hendriksen, William. More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (p. 125).

Johnson, A. F. (1982). Revelation in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Johnson, D. E. (2001). Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Kenner, C. (2000). The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.

Michaels, J. R. (1997). The IVP New Testament Commentary Series – Revelation. Accessed 29 October 2020 from https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ivp-nt/Beast-Earth

Morris, Leon. (1987). Revelation in Tyndale New Testament Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

NIV. (2001). Accessed 24 June 2020 from https://www.biblegateway.com

Open Doors USA. (2020). Accessed 10 October 2020 from https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/preschool-with-a-side-of-atheism-north-korea-intensifies-early-brainwashing-efforts/

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Revelation 13:5-10

Image above: The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883) Wikimedia Commons

I. Satan is permitted to do his evil, but he is restrained by God.

vs. 5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 

“Authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.” NASB — “Was given” is passive voice. This indicates an implied divine agency. Satan gives the beast his authority. However, it is God himself who permits this. Satan would do much more than he is able to do but for God’s sovereign control over all things. The problem of evil is insurmountable from human understanding. We can try to circumvent it by shaving off God’s sovereignty and making it look like he is not in control of all things. I would rather be without understanding and have God sovereign than to view Satan’s actions as uncontrollable. This is where humility and prayer come in.

The Beast is allowed to speak his blasphemies for 42 months — the time of the Church’s testimony and the time between Christ’s Ascension and Second Coming. Note that John uses the accusative of time to indicate duration. False governments oppose God’s Church, but they do not wipe it out. And they cannot do it except God permit it.

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II. Satan is our implacable foe who spews out slander and lies.

vs. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling (tabernacle), that is, those who dwell in heaven. 

The Beast’s blasphemies — blasphēmia = slander. The word for “dwelling place” is skēnē — “tabernacle.” It is a reference to heaven and not to the heavenly tabernacle which was the prototype of the earthly one. The verb form of the noun is used in the next phrase — skenō. Godless governments hate God, heaven, and all who dwell there. No wonder we are so persecuted. We are citizens of that realm they hate so much.

III. God Fulfills His purposes through the war Satan wages on the saints.

vs. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation…

“War on the saints” — Here again, as in the 5th verse, we encounter the past tense passive voice of didomi — to give. It refers to God’s permission to do something. God permits civil governments to oppose his people. God has given authority to civil government to rule over all people. When such government is good, God’s people prosper. When it is evil, God’s people suffer. By and large, an evil civil government will oppose God’s people. Maybe the evil government is used by God to keep the Church pure. God’s people will ultimately prosper in spite of the activities of an evil civil government. Romans 8:28 functions in this sphere as well as in an individual’s life.

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IV. Satan lures the earth-dwellers to worship the image of the beast from the sea (godless government).

vs. 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Those who worship the Beast and those who refuse — The “earth-dwellers” are those who are opposed to God and his people. They find no other ambition and desire except to live here on earth.

The concept for “dwelling” is the same as that expressed in verse 7 in regard to the saints, but the words are different — vs. 7 = skēnē ; vs. 8 = katoikeō = [kata “down” + oikeō “dwell in a house”] has the idea of “settling down” in it. These folk who settle down in this world system are unsaved. They are not of the elect. They one desire is a home on this earth.

Psalm 135 makes a telling observation about idolators —

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.

“Before the foundation of the world” — This phrase should be attached to the words “the Lamb who was slain. . .” and not attached to the word “written… .” The emphasis is upon redemption before the world was even made. It demonstrates that the plan of salvation was not an afterthought with God. It was in his plan all along. ‘Written’ is in the perfect tense. They were written in the past and continue in the book in the present. See NIV Rev. 13:8

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V. God sustains us in our warfare with godless humans and Satan as we live true to Him.

vs. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

This phrase can either refer to what precedes or to what follows. It is a solemn call to the hearer in the public worship service to whom the epistle is being read to listen if he has spiritual senses with which to perceive it. It is a characteristic phrase used in the synoptic gospels (see Mark 4:9 and Rev. 2:7). The call here in Revelation is in the singular, whereas our Lord’s call is in the plural. It is also in the present tense stressing the fact that the message is timeless. I feel the solemn call goes with what follows because it fits in with the formula since it starts with the same words ‘if anyone…

vs. 10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Captivity and Killing — This is a confirmation of the sure purpose of God which is at work during this entire period of the testimony and persecution of the Church. The Christian destined for captivity will go there and the Christian destined to be killed will be killed. Why does the Lord say the obvious? Is this, Whatever will be, will be’ kind of fatalism? No, but the Lord is assuring the suffering church that evil is also within the confines of his will.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.

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North Korean refugee John Choi* shares how he grew up believing Christians were evil and dangerous. “We watched the government’s propaganda alongside public executions. It told us that Christians wanted to kidnap children and that the cross was a symbol of the devil.

“Even in nursery school, we had to bow to the pictures of the first leaders of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Il. The first man I saw executed was a Christian. They said he had smuggled Christian things into the country and had enticed people into the church. The whole village was told to come and watch. The children were allowed to sit at the front to get a good view. It enforced this belief that Christians were dangerous.”

Despite these lies and toxic culture, God broke through to this new believer … this new member of our family. Praise God that he found faith in the one, true God. * Not his real name. (see Open Doors USA, below.)

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The saints’ perseverance — Christians move forward and trust the God who works in such a plan as has been outlined above. It is not blind fatalism. It is trust in a God who works for our good in the midst of seeming chaos. Who covers us with His protection until His plan is accomplished for our lives. Then, he takes us home to heaven to live with Him forever.

Next time the Beast from the Land!

Notes
(Commentaries on which I rely without direct quotation) 

Beale, G. K. (2015). Revelation: a Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Kindle Edition.

ESV. (2001). Accessed 24 June 2020 from https://www.biblegateway.com

Hendriksen, William. More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (p. 125).

Johnson, A. F. (1982). Revelation in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Johnson, D. E. (2001). Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Kenner, C. (2000). The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.

Morris, Leon. (1987). Revelation in Tyndale New Testament Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Open Doors USA. (2020). Accessed 21 October 2020 from https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/urgent-north-korean-christian-arrested-and-in-grave-danger-pray-for-release/

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© 2020 C. Richard Barbare All Rights Reserved

Revelation 13:1-8

Image above: The Revelation of St John: 12. The Sea Monster and the Beast with the Lamb’s Horn. A woodcut by Albrecht Dürer. Wikipedia; public domain. 

Chapter 13 spells out in no uncertain terms that Christians are marked people as we worship and serve Jesus as Lord and not the Caesars of our day.

The Link Between Chapters 11-13 — The visions of all three chapters are linked by reference to the persecution of the church. In chapter 11, the church is faithfully witnessing during tribulation between the First and Second Advents while the godless masses carry out persecution against her members. In chapter 12, the dragon who persecutes the woman and her seed, is seen to be the cause behind all of the persecution of the church. At the end of chapter 12, the dragon takes his stand on the sea shore to watch as his cohorts begin to do his bidding, as seen in chapter 13.

“This chapter forms part of the theme of the persecution of God’s people that John began to develop in ch. 12. Turning from the inner dynamics of the struggle, ch. 13 shifts to the actual earthly instruments of this assault—the two dragon-energized beasts.” (see Johnson, A. F. p. 701, below.) 

From the Chart above one can see Chapter 13 uses a marked hand to indicate forces attempting to influence work. I do not believe these are to be taken as literal marks (e.g. microchips under the skin or a bar code on the arm, etc. as popular prophecy books claim).

In the courts of England in the past they used to brand mark a person’s thumb on the underside with a letter to indicate his crime. This way no one would do business with a criminal after he was released. He would turn his palm up to shake hands and all would know instantly what he had done. I will speak more about the “666 image” later. Perhaps it is better to see the mark as invisible but detectable by one’s outward loyalties. Such is the mark of baptism upon a believer!

The Identification of the Two Beasts of Charter 13 — The two wild beasts are the Dragon’s minions. They perform his bidding, receive his authority, and provide him with followers from humanity. They also persecute those who will not follow the dragon his program.

These three — 1. the Dragon; 2. the Beast from the Sea; 3. the Beast from the Land — form the satanic trifecta of evil. They cannot form a genuine Trinity because they do not share the same substance like the Godhead does. But, they are attempting to pass themselves off as an ersatz “Trinity.” Together, they are bent on the destruction of God’s plans and opposition to God.

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vs. 1 [And the Dragon stood on the shore of the sea.] And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

I. When governments do not recognize King Jesus as Lord of Lords, they become like wild beasts in their treatment of non-conforming people.

Daniel’s vision of the four beasts from the sea and the Ancient of Days – Silos Apocalypse (1109) Wikimedia Commons public domain image

“Beast,” in Greek, is thērion — meaning “wild beast.” This is a designation for evil, demonic forces behind human governments. It is taken from the book of Daniel (7:4-6) . In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he envisioned his  government as a golden statue.

In God’s estimation, human governments under the influence of demonic forces are wild beasts. Government is
supposed to support right and punish wrong, but often it does the opposite. Satan’s two earthly instruments are viewed by God as wild beasts ready to devour mankind.

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Romans 13 states clearly —

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. (ESV)

Think of the annual visit of a Roman governor to his province (pictured above). He would be given a procession from the harbor in Ephesus to the Praetorium—the Roman governor’s residence—high above the theater that seated 25,000 persons. (The high vantage point said to Ephesians, “Beware! Rome’s eye is on you!”)

The imperial cult was not merely a matter of stone temples, lifeless statues, and voiceless inscriptions passively waiting to be noticed. Priests and celebrants regularly brought these sites and their ideology to life, following a calendar of imperial celebrations, including the monthly commemoration of the reigning emperor’s birthday. As the procession passed by, householders would sacrifice on small altars outside their homes [note the altar in the picture above]. The whole city thus had opportunity to join in the celebration. (see DeSilva, pg. 42, below).

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II. When Christians refuse to render homage to State as god, we are treated badly by our neighbors for non-conformity.

The problem is not giving respect to our government officials. We owe them that according to Romans 13 and Jesus’ words to His disciples. We as believers are caught in a quandary sometimes. Jesus has an answer—Mark 12:15-17 —

12 Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

Our quandary comes when “our Caesar” usurps what belongs to God and requires us to obey it. We cannot render unto Caesar the things that belong to God!

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III. Our obedience to and honoring of God has priority over our yielding to man’s wishes.

The Imagery of the Sea — In Rev. 11:7, the beast is said to arise “out of the abyss” (also in 17:8) . This indicates that the sea, here in 13:1, is a symbol for the abyss, in 11:7. “The ancient [Israelites] de-mythologized the sea-monster myths to depict the victory of the Lord of Israel over the demonic forces of evil that in various manifestations had sought to destroy the people of God.” (see Alan F. Johnson, 1987 ed. p. 524, below.)

The seven churches would have recognized the beast from the sea as the Roman Governor. We will speak later about the beast from the land (religion of Asia Minor).

Note Isaiah 57 about Israel and the wicked nations around her —

18 I have seen [Israel’s] ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (ESV; emphasis mine) 

I leave you with two quotations —

“He who marries the spirit of the times will soon find himself a widower.” — G. K. Chesterton

“What, then, is it for a man to serve his own generation? I note, first, that it is not to be a slave to it. It is not to drop into the habits, customs, and ideas of the generation in which we live. What is it, [then]? It is to maintain true religion. — ( see Spurgeon, below)

We move on to more in the 13th Chapter next time.

Notes
(Commentaries on which I rely without direct quotation) 

Beale, G. K. (2015). Revelation: a Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Kindle Edition.

DeSilva, David. (2009). Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

ESV. (2001). Accessed 24 June 2020 from https://www.biblegateway.com

Hendriksen, William. More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (p. 125).

Johnson, A. F. (2006). Revelation, Rev. Ed. in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Johnson, D. E. (2001). Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Kenner, C. (2000). The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.

Morris, Leon. (1987). Revelation in Tyndale New Testament Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Spurgeon, C. H. (1892). “His Own Funeral Sermon.” A Sermon (No. 2243)
Delivered October 19th, 1890. Accessed 10 October 2020 from https://archive.spurgeon.org/sermons/2243.php

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© 2020 C. Richard Barbare All Rights Reserved

Revelation 12:13-17

Image above: Guido Reni – Massacre of the Innocents public domain Wikipedia.

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We have seen in the past two posts that main point of this chapter is —

We as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ are in a cosmic Spiritual Battle in which Satan and his allies are seeking to destroy us. 

Let’s see in this post how fierce the conflict can become.

I. The church is the new Israel of God which is the target of Satanic attack.

vs. 13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.

Satan cannot get back at God directly. He does attempt to do so indirectly, however, through man. He takes his anger out upon the children of God. The specialized use of the Greek past tense stresses entering into an activity — “began to… .” The Greek word diōkō means “to put to flight,” “to pursue,” or “to persecute.” Since the devil cannot sling dirt in God’s presence any longer, he does so by pursuing His people and persecuting them.

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II. God always provides for His people’s needs in times of persecution.

vs. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

Isaiah 40 gives us this promise —

28
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint. (ESV; emphasis mine.)

Beale points out that this verse takes us back to 12:6 and explains it further — 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

This section brings to mind the promises given by the Lord to Israel in Exodus 19:4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself; and Deut. 32:10-12.

This is direct Divine intervention for the purpose of deliverance. For the time designation see the note on vs. 6. Both of the verbs are passive in voice — indicating an implied Divine agent.

The church is once again portrayed as latter-day Israel taking over the role of the old Israel, and with the spiritual wilderness (erémos) representing God’s protective presence substituted for the physical wilderness of Sinai. (See Beale, p. 260, below.)  

Wolf in sheep’s clothing, /u/Departedart, Digital, 2019

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III. One of Satan’s chief means of defaming God is to corrupt His church by error.

vs. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.

The water brings to mind the Exodus. The water was a barrier to their escape. The word for “swept away by the stream” is potamophorétos. It was used in an A.D. 110 papyrus (a letter written on paper) meaning “to become river borne.” The thought may be that the godly are wrestling with a flood of deception.

Psalm 144 relates this possibility

7
Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
8
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

Psalm 32:6-7 sounds this same promise of protection.

6
Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
7
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. (ESV; emphasis mine)

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IV. Our Lord God of Armies (Yahweh Sabaoth) has all resources at His disposal to aid His people.

vs. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

A conventicle in progress, from H. E. Marshall’s
Scotland’s Story (1906) public domain image from wikipedia.

The river runs under ground and does not destroy the woman. This speaks of the many ways the Lord will deliver his people during tribulation.

In the “killing times” in Scotland, an old Covenanter preacher had been delivering a sermon out in the rural countryside. All fled at the sound of horses and soldiers. The preacher ran into a cottage. The family hid him in a cupboard. Unknown to anyone a spider dropped down and began to weave a web over the cupboard door. Then the soldiers broke in and turned almost everything upside down. When they came to the cupboard, the captain said, “Don’t bother with that. The door hasn’t been opened in ages. There’s a spider web across the door.”

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V. Obedience to Christ and Faithfulness to His Word brings the most suffering and the greatest success. 

vs. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

The church itself will not be destroyed. This is symbolized by the invulnerability of the woman. However, Satan will attack individual members of the church and seek to destroy them. This is symbolized by the “making war against the rest of her offspring.” The phrase “make war against” is identical to that used in two other places — 11:7 where the beast attacks the two witnesses and in 13:7 where the beast attacks the saints. “Could this possibly correlate the three groups and indicate their common identity under three different figures’?” (see Johnson, A. F., below.) Satan hates those who obey God’s word and who possess the testimony of Jesus.

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In China, reporting Christian activities to police pays money

In parts of China, Christianity continues to be suppressed and stifled — especially with the next generation. We have recent reports that in China’s Gushi County—home to almost 2 million people—citizens have been encouraged to report “illegal” religious activities in exchange for monetary rewards. Reportedly, a reward of 500 yuan (around $73) was promised for photos, video or recordings of religious events. The information about the reward came to light when a summer camp hosted by a church in the county was interrupted and raided by government officials who accused the church of holding “illegal” activities. During the raid, plainclothes police confiscated personal and church property and took the pastor and his wife to the police station. A church member told China Aid that the officials suggested they acted on information from a third party, saying they had received “report from folks.” [Open Doors, USA website]

Still the house churches grow!

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[vs. 12:18 or 13:1?] And he [or I] stood on the sand of the sea.

“And he stood on the sand of the sea.” This refers to the Dragon. The Textus Receptus or TR (the Greek manuscript from which the KJV was translated) reads “and I stood on the sand of the sea,” referring to John. The oldest manuscripts have the 3rd person singular and not the 1st person singular.

This verse is included in the KJV as a part of 13:1. It is obvious that it should be 12:18. It forms a link between the two chapters. The Dragon watches as his proteges, the Beast from the sea and the Beast from the earth rise to do
his bidding. These three figures are the “Satanic Trifecta.”

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We do not know when persecution might come our way. Death is the last enemy we face in our earthly life. As we testify of God’s to wondrous grace in Christ, we never know who might be listening in the corner while we speak to someone who appears unresponsive.

Rev. William Edwin Sangster (1900-1959), very famous preacher, had been on a speaking engagement one evening and decided to give his wife a call. He usually did before leaving for home on a long journey. He connected to the long distance operator and gave her the number. (This was way before cell phones.) As he was waiting to be connected to his wife, he sang the words to a favorite hymn —

My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;
But ’tis enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with Him.
(Richard Baxter, “Lord, it Belongs not to My Care,” 1681)

The operator had been listening in to make sure the connection was made. When he finished singing that last verse, she asked him to repeat the words. She said, “You’ll never know how much those words meant to me tonight!”

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Application for Chapter 12

Next time Chapter 13!

Notes
(Commentaries on which I rely without direct quotation) 

Beale, G. K. (2015). Revelation: a Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Kindle Edition.

ESV. (2001). Accessed 24 June 2020 from https://www.biblegateway.com

Hendriksen, William. More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (p. 125).

Johnson, A. F. (1982). Revelation in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Johnson, D. E. (2001). Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Kenner, C. (2000). The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.

Morris, Leon. (1987). Revelation in Tyndale New Testament Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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