Satan's Wrath on Earth | Revelation 12:13-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Last week, you and I briefly examined the future fall of Satan. More specifically, we consider the second of four falls of the devil that the book of Revelation describes. And this second fall, as we learn, will take place during the tribulation period. It will banish Satan from heaven forever, and it will bar him from having access to God to accuse the children of God. This is a marvelous outcome out of this conflict between the evil one and Michael the archangel because it will also, in a sense, clear the path for Christ's return.

But what is wonderful in one sense is also woeful in another, specifically for those who will dwell on the earth after Satan is cast down in this way and is confined to this world. And what we are going to consider is that although Satan loses this war in heaven that we studied, he's going to declare another war war on earth. He's going to declare another war on earth. And the introduction to this escalation of Satan's fury is given to us in great detail in the remaining verses of Revelation chapter 12. And I invite you to turn with me there to that chapter because we're about to see that after being cast out of heaven, the devil will rise from his humiliation and great wrath.

He's not going to take this embarrassing eviction lightly. He is going to do something about it, and we're going to read about it beginning in verse 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. 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. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with a flood.

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. And 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 the ESV adds this, and he stood on the sand of the sea. Father, we pray.

Oh, we pray for your grace. There is a lot of material to cover in our time in the word today, so we need your help to be able to seize every truth, to be able to understand your mind, to look at these prophetic things and be able to leave out, leave with a confidence and understanding what you have in store for the days to come. And, Lord, we pray that it would impact the way we live today. But only you can translate those things into our hearts, so we pray with humility and dependency that you would guide us into your heart as revealed in your word. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. If you're reading carefully, you might have noticed something about these verses that we just read. Satan is going to declare war on the earth, but he's actually gonna perform three waves of attack. There are three assaults that are highlighted in these verses, and I think organizing our thoughts around these satanic strikes will make these truths more memorable for us. And so we're gonna look at these things individually, and there are gonna be many questions asked and hopefully answered, but there is a main one that I want to bring to your attention.

The main question we wanna ask is, what can we expect Satan to do in the latter part of the tribulation just before Christ is going to return? And you might be thinking, can we actually know that? And I'm here to tell you with an emphatic absolute yes. We can know that because this passage tells us exactly what he's going to plan to do. And understanding that his time is short, he is going to launch three major and targeted assaults of historic proportions.

And so this is what we're planning to do together as a church. Let's look at these three assaults separately. Assault number one is found in verse 13 to verse 14. We read it. The first thing that the devil will do after he learns that he is expelled from heaven during this tribulation period is pursue the woman.

And we know that the woman represents the nation of Israel. Hopefully you remember that her identity is confirmed in the earlier portions of Revelation 12. And if you weren't here for that message, I highly encourage you in your own time to listen to that teaching because you will see that there is evidence proving that this woman is exactly that. She is representing and symbolizing the nation of Israel. And just in case you haven't heard that teaching yet or maybe you forgot, just what we find here in these verses actually further confirms her identity.

So look down at verse 17 again. Notice what the dragon will do after his failed attempts to harass and oppress the woman. In verse 17, we read, and the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring. Highlight that. On those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

So if you are among those who claim that this woman represents the church or the people of God as a whole, I have a question for you. How would you explain the distinction being made in this verse? There's a clear difference being drawn here between the woman and the rest of her offspring who are identified as who? Followers of Jesus Christ. It's a double title.

Those who obey or keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So let's just step back then. If this woman is supposed to be apparently the church, then why is there a difference being made between her and the object of Satan's new focus after he tries to devour the woman? Who are the offspring then? And you can revisit the first few verses of this chapter to see, again, how there's more evidence to conclude that what makes the most biblical sense is that this woman is the entity Israel.

Ethnic Israel. The Jewish people. But for most of us, that's already been established, yet there still may be questions that remain. One of the main ones being perhaps, okay, why? I get it.

It's very difficult to debate that this is speaking about Israel, but why does Satan seem to have such special interest for her? Why does he find it in himself to pursue her with such aggression and hatred? And I believe that in this text alone, there are two answers. Two answers to why Satan will make it his top priority as time is winding down, as his faith is about to be sealed to actually run after the woman. The first is because of Israel's history.

Israel's history. Notice how this verse here in verse 13 tells us who he is pursuing. He pursued the woman, at the end of the verse, who had given birth to the male child. And we know that the male child to be Jesus Christ. And so we see here that Satan goes after this woman understanding her role and what she did in God's redemptive purposes on the earth.

Her history, her resume, so to speak, is enough for Satan to hold great animosity towards her. And what I find interesting is the the very things that Satan hates Israel for are the very characteristics and truths that inspired great affection in the heart of Paul for them. I want you to turn to Romans nine with me and look at verse three down to verse five. Romans nine verse three to verse five. Satan no longer has access to the immediate presence of God.

That's what we learned in Revelation 12 so far. And so what does he do? He will go after whom God loves. He will go after Israel who played a major, major role in what God has done in the Earth. Notice how Paul says in Romans nine verse three.

For I I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Pause. These are astounding confessions. I don't have time to open this up, this one verse, but what I wanna highlight is that Paul is speaking about his love, his concern for the people according to his flesh, who share his ethnicity. He's not talking about spiritual Israel.

He's talking about actual Israel, the Jewish people. And notice what he says in verse four. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all. Blessed forever.

Amen. So here's the apostle expressing his sorrow and his woes because of what? His his brethren, according to the flesh, have denied the Messiah. And his pain is not merely because he shares their blood, but as we just read, because the Lord has used them in a very special way to accomplish his will across the ages. Paul highlights nine specific privileges that were granted to this people.

We won't get into them now, but they can be summarized in this way. Israel was a designated vehicle that was used by God to usher in progressive revelation on the earth concerning who he is. In other words, God had selected this people group to be a national platform on the earth to display the multifaceted glory of God to the rest of the world. And the climax of this is that through this race came the savior of humanity. Through this race came the Jewish Messiah, yes, but it was also the redeemer of all mankind.

Jesus Christ himself speaks about these crowning privileges that the Jews shared when he was speaking to the Samaritan woman. What did he say in John four twenty two? For salvation comes from who? The Jews. The Jews.

So one would either have to be ignorant or blinded by unjustified hatred to deny that the Lord placed a peculiar calling upon these people. And listen, one which the Christian faith has its roots in. And I believe many many churches are doing a great disservice to the people of God, especially the pastors who ignored the Old Testament in their preaching and their teaching, who did not provide a regular diet of the Hebrew scriptures, it makes many people Christians, I'm speaking about professing Christians think that Jesus just appeared out of nowhere. He just showed up on the scene, gave some beatitudes, and died on the cross for our sins. And if you wanna go to heaven, just believe on him.

Yes. The gospel message is beautifully simple, but it is rich with history. There's depth to it. There's context. And Paul reminds the Romans about the history of the Jewish people and the history of their own faith.

So there are people who don't understand. They're they they don't get it because they don't have a grasp of the scriptures, but there is one who hates these people precisely because of what God has done through them, precisely because of how they were the foundation for the gospel, precisely because they were the means through which the Messiah entered into history. His name is Satan, and he will always hold this against them. He has bitterness towards them. He despises them.

And you have to remember this. Satan always hates whatever and whomever God loves, And he has set an elective love upon the people of Israel. He did something with them in the past, and he's gonna do something with them in the future. That brings me to the second reason why the great dragon pursues the woman, because of Israel's future. Not just their history, but what's to come.

Go back to Revelation 12 verse 12. Here's where I get that from. This is where we closed last week, but let's consider it again. The last part of verse 12 says, but woe to you, oh earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short. So we have to ask this question.

What is the relationship between Satan realizing that his condemned faith is about to be sealed? He understands at this point of the tribulation, Christ is about to crash into this world with his kingdom. That means I'm going to be condemned. What relationship does Satan's understanding of that truth and him hunting down Israel, what kind of connection is there in that? How do those things relate?

Well, evidently, Satan knows something about this people group. He understands that Israel will play a crucial role in God's plan for Christ's return in the establishment of his kingdom. He knows this. And so by targeting them, he really believes that he can either hinder or even prevent what the scriptures promises about Christ's second coming. And we can spend the rest of this afternoon looking at all the connections, how Israel's future intertwines with the rest of God's redemptive program, namely in his return through Christ.

But I wanna just look at one scripture, just one scripture because we have so much to cover today. Go to Matthew 23. Look at verse 37 down to verse 39. This is a familiar passage, but I think many people miss the implications of it. In Matthew 23 verse 37 down to verse 39, We are nearing the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, and he offers his own lament.

Matthew twenty three thirty seven reads, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing? See, your house is left to you desolate. Pause. Many people build their eschatology, that's a fancy word for their doctrine for the end times, not considering the following verse.

How Jesus ends this. Verse three nine. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So this scripture is often quoted to show Christ's lament over the unbelief of his people, but I wanna see with you the end time prophecy contained in it. Notice how the Lord places a condition upon his return.

What does he say? You he's speaking about the people of Jerusalem. He's speaking about the leadership of Israel. You will not see me again until you accept and you acknowledge and you welcome me as the promised one. That's what this translates to.

Because he's quoting a passage from Psalm one eighteen one eighteen, which is a messianic psalm. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. But read it carefully. The Lord did not say, unless you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Right?

Until there's a difference. If Christ had said, unless you say, then that leaves the possibility that Israel would never do it. We're not gonna confess. But he doesn't say unless. He says until.

Implying what? That it is a certainty that it will happen. It's only a matter of time. Until. Until you say.

And this, I don't think is coincidental where it's placed in our bibles. Israel's future faith in crowning Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah is mentioned immediately before what? Matthew 24. Do you see that in your bibles? And what's Matthew 24 about?

At least the first part? Jesus' teaching about the last days. Until you say it, anticipating their acceptance which coincides with his arrival. So how does this play into Satan's schemes? Well, Satan is aware that there is a future for this people to be saved by this messiah.

But if he can destroy this people, then there's no one left to say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And not only if Satan even were to be able to accomplish such a thing, not only would he vaporize so many other promises that god has made, but he would ultimately prove Christ unfaithful. He would discredit the word of god. And so in his mind, he understands if I can if I can destroy this race, if I can delete them, if I can remove them from the face of the earth, then that will cause some trouble for many prophecies and ultimately for the reign of Christ on the earth. So this is why he's going to step up his aggression in the tribulation period as he realizes that his time is short.

But we have to see what he's going to do. We haven't even considered his first assault yet. And if we want to, we gotta go back to our main text. So what is he going to do? Now that we've established why he's going after the woman, let's consider what he will try to do against her.

Revelation 12. Look at verse thirteen and fourteen again. And when the dragon saw that he'd been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, the place where she is to be nourished for a time and times and half a time. This woman, the nation's flight into the wilderness is something Jesus Christ spoke about.

We don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 24, what did he say? After speaking about global catastrophes and all these things that are gonna shake up the earth, he zeroes in and he focuses on the Jewish people. And do you remember the beginnings of his ominous warning? He said, but when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, sitting or standing rather in the holy place, let those who are in Judea do what? Flee to the mountains.

And he gives all these other practical exhortations. Don't look back. Woe to those who are nursing. Pray that it wouldn't be in the winter. Pray that it wouldn't happen on the Sabbath.

Then he says something along the lines of for then there will be great tribulations such as not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. Here's how this all ties in together. There will be a point in the tribulation where the antichrist has gained global power, yes, but he will also enter into the temple that is in Jerusalem, declare himself to be God, and will turn on the Jewish people specifically. And the Jewish people alive at this time, many of them will recognize that this is indeed an act of betrayal. It could be that even many of them who have been hearing the preaching of the 144,000 and and others might have been introduced to the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24, and so there will be a collective effort to flee.

They will realize now that there is a rising attack against them specifically, And so they will abandon everything. This is emergency protocol. This global political power is now declaring himself to be God in our very temple. Run for your life. And that's that's exactly what they will seek to do.

But John in Revelation 12 gives us the spiritual activity behind all of this. So, yes, the abomination of desolation who ultimately symbolizes a person who will stand in the holy place, declare himself to be God according to the second Thessalonians two. But we learn in this chapter of our main text that it's the great dragon behind all of that, Satan, who's energizing the antichrist, who's using this great empire in this future time to now focus all their energy and efforts towards liquidating this people. In other words, he wants there to be a new holocaust. And so, the people flee.

And we know that this is Satan's agenda ultimately, but we also see God's intervention in it. As the people flee, as they run, and there's a lot of terrain in The Middle East for people to be able to run to. What do we read in that verse? Verse 14, but the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly. A lot of a lot of interesting interpretations about that, but I think it's very simple.

Put some of the pieces together. Eagle's wings, wilderness, Israel. Does any of that sound familiar? That's all reminiscent of the experience of the Jewish people in the original Exodus. Is that not right?

Do you remember what the Lord said to the Jewish people, to the nation of Israel after they were delivered from pharaoh, rescued from Egypt in the wilderness. Let me read this verse to you. In Exodus 19 verse four, God says to Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. What do we hear almost every single week? And I am not ashamed to repeat it.

The book of Revelation is dripping with Old Testament allusions and motifs and themes, and it's no different here. The imagery that John is granted is to show that the same God who faithfully delivered Israel thousands of years ago will preserve and deliver his people in the future. God has not forgotten these people, and God will do what only he can do to spare them and save them. It's almost like this is a kind of new exodus. They've experienced many of those exoduses.

Not just in their flight. It's not that he's going to enable them supernaturally to be able to escape against all odds. You gotta remember, the antichrist is gonna take over the world. He has the world at his disposal. He has all the resources available.

But they will escape. It it will be supernatural how they will be able to flee from him, but not just in their flight, but even in their experience in the wilderness. Because what do we read that he's going to nourish them? He's going to feed them. They're gonna be cut off from from all items, all resources.

They're gonna be in some kind of desert, and there's the debate where they're actually going to be planted, but they're gonna be in some kind of refuge and shelter, and the Lord himself is going to supply their daily needs. Like what? Like like Israel in the original Exodus. He rained down manna. He supplied water from unlikely sources.

We're seeing the repeated faithfulness of God in this future prophecy. But this successful escape is not going to discourage the dragon. He will not be able to initially grab a hold of them, but that's not gonna stop him, which is bringing us now to our second assault. Assault number two is found in verse 15 down to verse 16 of Revelation 12. We are not told where the Jews will find refuge.

I mean, there's some speculation from the book of Daniel and other places, but what we do know is that Satan will be aware of it. He will know exactly where their location is. And once Israel does find shelter, we're told in verse 15 that the serpent is going to pour out water from where? Out of his mouth, and it will come like a tsunami, and it will seek to sweep away this people and destroy them. Now we know that this can't be literal water.

Some people some people think it is, But this particular passage of scripture is rich in symbolism, and so this has to mean something else. If you focus on the fact that it's coming from Satan's mouth, you might be onto something. Because we know that things that come out of the mouth can be destructive, like dangerous lies, and slander, and propaganda. And it could be that that's what Satan will orchestrate at this time, that he is going to do many things, deceiving things to try to trick Israel, or even persuade the rest of the world to turn against them and join him in his hatred. And the fact that it comes like a flood speaks about the volume of these lies, the force of them, how intense and destructive these narratives will be.

And listen, this is not so far fetched. Many theories and slander against the Jewish people have proven historically to be the cause of many atrocities committed against them. So this is not a surprising interpretation. But there is another way of looking at this. Because again, if we look at the Old Testament themes, then we'd realize that a flood and many Hebrew passages actually speak about an invading army, speaks about a mighty force coming and destroying everything in its path towards a vulnerable foe.

And there's so many references to this, but I wanna just read two. I'm just gonna ask you to listen to these passages to solidify this interpretation. In Isaiah eight verse seven to eight, it says, therefore, behold the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the river. Is he talking about literal waters? Well, let's find out.

Mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah. It will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breath of your land, oh, Emmanuel. Listen to Jeremiah 46 verse eight. Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge.

He said, I will rise. I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and their inhabitants. And we can go on and on and on to see how rising waters, floods, the language of sweeping away, is very common to the Hebrew mind in interpreting an actual army coming in a terrifying manner. Both of these interpretations work.

Right? And whether it's deception or whether it's actual forces rising against these people, it could be a combination of both, but because of what we read back in verse 16 of Revelation 12, it's more likely that this is actually speaking about a coordinated military effort to advance and eradicate the Jewish people. What do we read in verse 16? Well, when this flood comes, it's going to yet again prove to be unsuccessful. Why?

Because the earth is going to open up and swallow the water and render them fruitless. And there will be no ability for them to go on. It will be a terrifying blow to whatever this dragon is spewing out. What do we make of that? What do we make of the earth opening up and swallowing this water?

Well, let's put some pieces back together again. Right? We have additional characters in this portrait, so to speak. Israel, wilderness, wings, eagles wings more specifically, and now what? Potentially a marching army of massive proportions to destroy this people.

I think we're back at the Exodus again. I think we're back at that very same scene. The same theme is being presented here. Now do you remember some of the words that the Jewish people used to celebrate the fact that they had been successfully brought through the Red Sea and that same water destroyed Pharaoh and his chariots? Let me give you one of the lyrics in Exodus 15.

Listen to this. In Exodus 15 verse 11 to verse 12. They said, who is like you, oh Lord, among the gods? Who is like you majestic in holiness, awesome and glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand.

The earth swallowed them. The earth swallowed them. It seems as though John, as he is writing down what he's seeing, is borrowing from this kind of description, as he is putting together a very similar motif to Israel's past as he's describing this prophecy. So how do we make sense of verse 16, this earth swallowing up this water? It seems to suggest that there's gonna be a supernatural intervention that is going to put a stop and neutralize the satanic onslaught as the antichrist himself will try to launch against them in order to destroy them.

And he fails. So Satan so far is zero for two, and this is gonna infuriate him even more. He's not gonna let up, but he is gonna change his strategy. His time now is only getting shorter, and whatever he does, he he's unable to actually do anything about this people group who are criticals a critical part to the storyline of the last days. So what is he gonna do now?

One thing is certain, he will not give up, but he's gonna have to change his target. He's gonna look elsewhere, and this is what we're gonna consider with his third and final assault at least at this point. It's summarized in verse 17 of Revelation 12. Let's read it one more time. And 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. So he realized, they're impenetrable. There's a protective grace upon this nation. I can't keep wasting my resources and the time on them. So he's bubbling up with even more rage now.

He can't access the immediate presence of God. He can't touch this people group. So what does he do? He goes after those who bear the testimony of Jesus Christ. He goes after believers in the tribulation.

He goes after the saints. Now, again, this is a double title. And because it says that they are the rest of our offspring, that has caused some people to say different things. Maybe there are more specific group. Is it just messianic Jews, like the 144,000 who are witnessing forecries?

Is it just the gentiles? I think it's a combination of both. It's all of those who believe the truth of the gospel during this time. And what is he going to do against him exactly? What is he going to perform?

It's very simple. He is going to complete the number of the saints who will die for their faith. That's what we read earlier. Right? When the souls beneath the altar were asking God to act on their behalf, Lord, where's your vengeance?

And one of the things that they were told was to rest a little longer until the number of their brethren would be slain to completion before things move on. And it could be that at this point, there will be an ample amplification of persecution against Christians unlike what we've ever seen before. It will be global, it will be fierce, it will be swift. And you might be hearing this and thinking to yourself, wait a minute. So you're saying that in this window of time, God is going to shelter and put a canopy over Israel, ethnic unbelieving Israel, and let Satan slaughter Christians?

You're saying that the Lord is going to let this perverted, powerful serpent, dragon, deceiver of the whole world touch his bride while concealing and containing this nation? This bothers people, by the way. It does. But I wanna offer just one simple answer. That is not the case at all, to say that somehow God loves the Jewish people more than his church.

Let me ask you this. Is there any difference between an unbeliever facing death and a believer dying? I hope you know enough of your Bible to say yes. Death for the unbeliever, Jew or non Jew, is the seal of their condemnation. Death for the believer, however, is a doorway to their eternal rest and reward.

So is it so hard to believe that the Lord would permit Satan to expedite the believer's hope while protecting this nation whom he had made promises to ultimately save at this time? It shouldn't be hard to grasp. Persecution has been part of the church's experience since her inception, but the oppression against the saints at this point will will reach a scale and a severity that will be hard to imagine. And that's what we're prepared to learn, actually. At the last part of verse 17, the ESV adds this here, other translations add it in the beginning of chapter 13.

We read, and he stood on the sand of the sea. Now other translations would say, and I stood, John speaking, on the sand of the sea. We'll get into that more next week. But what we're here looking at is that as Satan is going to turn his attention against the worshipers of Christ, he's gonna do it in a very sophisticated way. And that's gonna be covered as we look more and probably the most detailed passage about the Antichrist and what he will accomplish on on the earth in this new chapter.

I'm tempted to go there. I won't. I'll keep that for next week, but I wanna end this message on a different note. Today, we got another sample, hopefully, of how prophecy works. Maybe you got a little bit more illumination understanding the last days.

That's my prayer at least. I'm sure that some of us here have exercised the muscle of interpreting scripture with scripture. It's beautiful when we see that happen. But you might be sitting here, and I hope you haven't been enduring this message. I hope you've been enjoying it.

But maybe the the thought crossed your mind, this is great, but how does this practically help me? I got a lot of things going on in my life. I appreciate your honesty, so I wanna leave you with at least one takeaway. There is a ringing truth in this passage that demands immediate notice concerning your walk with Christ. And it's this, the enemy of your soul and mine is a persistent foe.

You get that impression, don't you? Three ways of attacks, three assaults. He doesn't throw in the towel so quickly. He's very calculated. So he tries one thing that doesn't work, he'll do something else.

And if he can't get to that, he'll go he'll go elsewhere. And listen. You and I have to understand that the schemes of the evil one are far more personal and persistent than we often realize. We're talking, yes, about nations. We're talking about a future time, but these are trademarks of his character that exist now.

So he'll tempt you, and he'll tempt you, and he'll tempt you, and you don't budge. So he'll tempt you in another way. And he brings sin to you, perhaps a past sin that you once enjoyed, but it's not working. So he'll wait for another season when you're more vulnerable and unsuspecting. And he constantly sits on the sidelines of your heart, and he tries to puff you with pride.

He tries to present mirages before the eyes of your heart to distract you, like the love of money, So that you chase it and you chase it and you chase it and years go by and you pause and look back and realize, I've wasted my energy. I've wasted my resources. I've wasted opportunities for what? He dangles promises before you while he holds a knife behind him. He overwhelms you with guilt.

He let he whispers in your ear so that you lose sleep, reminding you of your failures, of your past, of your inconsistencies so that you're crushed by it. And you have no joy, so you have no witness. And you have no more energy to serve the people of God because you're trying to get yourself together. And You're questioning if God even loves you or if he even saved you. And his arsenal is vast.

It's deep. The thing that's probably the most disheartening is that he is very, very, very committed to his cause. He's stubborn. He doesn't care if you're old. He doesn't care if you've been married for forty years.

He'll he'll try to destroy that marriage. He doesn't care if you only have one child. One, three, five, he wants to pollute all of them. And so he strategizes and he thinks and he walks to and fro on this earth, and at this point he's still able to go up to heaven and accuse the brethren. And you're probably hearing all this and you're like, okay, so what hope do we have?

And here's how one exhort you. At the same time, yes, we see this great force who's able to recruit politicians and armies, but he's up against a great God. So this this puny people, and they're still puny people to this day, they're able to run on foot and hide in some desert and be taken care of. Why? Because God, he gave them those wings.

He supplied their daily need. He actually made the earth itself a friend of this people. And he's the God that you and I serve. You know what verse came to mind when I was meditating on them? They who wait upon 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 be faint. So God can even give me eagles wings and you. It's not just for one people group.

It's not just for prophetic time. There are applications to this now. Now. Eagle's wings for those who do what? Wait on God.

You're dependent on God. You seek God. You realize he's the only one who could provide the power and the efficiency and the the grace to be able to endure all the things that make you tired. And frustrated, He gives me eagle's wings, meaning what? He's able to give me the speed to escape temptation when it arrives.

Is it first Corinthians promised that? That there is always a way of escape. He's able to give me the ability to soar above discouragement. He's able to elevate me to a heavenly perspective to see all my circumstances from God's point of view. Eagle's wings.

So there is a great foe who is persistent, but there is a God who supplies things that enable you and I to not just endure, but enjoy. To sing as we soar. To be able to rest as we're being hunted down and trust in him. And so I look at Revelation 12 and I see what God is gonna do, yes, for this nation Israel, I see what's gonna happen to believers, but I also see the God that I serve today. Do you see it?

Do you need him? You only experience him when you need him and you realize you need him. If you're not a needy person in this place, God can't give you the grace that he promises to the humble. And And so let's let's respond to this truth in this way. Yes, lord.

Thank you for helping me understand a little bit more of the book of Revelation. Thank you that I have some more clarity on controversial issues. I don't know why it's controversial. It's biblical. But now, Lord, I I realize how you're calling me personally, and I and I need you to give me power.

I need I need your help, and the Lord is ready to supply it. Let's seek him together. But we thank you. We thank you. We thank you.

We heard your voice today because we opened your word. And for many, perhaps, you have just confirmed what they already knew. For others, maybe this is brand new. And maybe even for some, this is a challenge to other theological perspectives. We pray that your truth would triumph over all things.

And Lord, we come now as your people realizing that you're the God who knows tomorrow. Yes, but you also know who we are and what we're doing today. So help us. For those who are weak and weary, who are faint, who are broken, who are disheartened, who are disillusioned, whatever it is, oh god, we pray that you would infuse in us now the grace that you're able to provide an entire nation. Give to us.

Give to each of us today, lord. Let us walk out of here stronger and lighter. And, Lord, we've come now to give you thanks because you not only taught us, but you have imparted into us real power. And for this, we say thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand. Let's give him thanks. He spoke to our hearts today through his marvelous word.