Last 5 Days
Know Christ Know Victory
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 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.
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
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. 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. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 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. 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. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
Having spoken about a series of sevens – seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, John now takes a pause and begins to describe signs in Chapters 12 to 14 – the woman and her seed, the beasts, and visions about coming judgments. John is explicit that he is dealing in symbolism, calling the woman and the dragon signs (verses 1&3), using them to communicate a point.
The mother, clothed with the sun, moon and twelve stars, is likely to represent Israel, or the faithful remnant of Israel, and the birth pains, a period of tribulation. The dragon who first appeared in verse 3, was described as Satan in verse 9, described as being at war with God’s people. It was envisioned as a heavenly combat between God’s and Satan’s forces, and Satan was hurled down on earth, showing a heavenly victory. Then, Christ triumphed over the dragon on earth, where the dragon was described as being overcome by the blood of the Lamb. God not only rules the world through events in heavens, He also fits these events to His acts on earth, and He has victory on earth as well.
Lest we sit back and relax, and think that the war is over, we know that the devil is still at war with God’s people on earth. There is still opposition, persecution and sometimes even death because of our alliance to Christ. We struggle to walk the path that God has laid before us because it often seems to be at odds with the world that we are in, and in our doubts and defiance, we are often tempted to choose worldly solutions and to follow the enticing trends of the world. In our frustration of our perceived lack of closeness in our relationship with God, we choose to believe that God has abandoned and forgotten us, to believe that God has turned His face away from our struggles.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we who know Christ know victory. We can rejoice in knowing that Christ, having conquered the devil, will help us conquer the spiritual battle that we face daily. The good news is that we will win this great spiritual battle, because our salvation is secure in Christ. We will win this battle through His grace, His strength, and the power of the Holy Spirit. When Christ comes again, we will have the final victory, and we must hold out in hope. Dear brothers and sisters, may the knowledge that we are eternally accepted, saved through grace, never forsaken, forever loved, wash away the doubts, defiance, fears and frustration of our struggles on earth. Press on!