As we have been continuing our study into the Book of Revelation it is important to understand that this is for a 7 year duration period once the church is removed from the earth in Revelation 4:1. What we need to understand is that the final 3 1/2 years is known as the Great Tribulation period, one filled with atmospheric disturbances, wars, plagues and geological events. The believers we find scattered through these chapters are simply Tribulation Saints, ones that responded to the message in faith after the rapture of the church. Church Age Saints or Believers have been in heaven up to this point.
From Revelation 12 to Revelation 19, the Bible takes the reader into the microscopic details of the events we see coming to the earth during the final 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period. As we studied in previous posts we learned that the nation of Israel and the Jewish remnant will flee to the wildness and we have deciphered that this is located in Jordan, and we believe it will be in the city of Petra. During the Tribulation period, the Antichrist will have Jordan as their enemy and thus he will not be able to touch them.
Daniel 11:41 ~ "He (the Antichrist) will also invade the Beautiful Land (Jerusalem). Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand."
Right now the European Union has been stockpiling food supplies and resources in Jordan in an undisclosed location but reportedly not far from Petra in the event of a global war that would impact Europe or the Middle East. It is slated to contain enough food for 2 million people. If you attempt to search for this, you will not find any information on the Internet but those who are involved in the process can't comment on what is happening or where the supply location is. This would be perfect to align up with Revelation 12:6 ~"The woman (Israel) fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days (or 3 1/2 years)." This means that Jordan will supply the food to enable this to happen.
Revelation 12:7-12 ~ "And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short."
This details the eviction of Satan out of his access from heaven. Remember that this is a detailed look at what is going on during the Tribulation period in a behind the scenes kind of way. This is during those final 3 1/2 years known as the Great Tribulation.
Matthew 24:21 ~ "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again."
Fighting the battle, wins us the victory. There is a victory that can only come from war despite how we may feel. No one wants war, but if you want to stop your enemies from attacking you on your own soil, you have to attach them on their own soil. You can't wait for them to get here. We all want peace, but in order to achieve it, sometimes war is necessary. Think about what happened if the US had opted to stay out of the war when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor or when Germany invaded Europe. The world would be a drastically different place.
Behind earthly wars, there are first spiritual powers at play. The Bible tells us there are nations that are stirred up by demonic and heavenly warfare. Salvation is the absolute victory and purpose of God and Satan wants to do anything he can to prevent that from happening.
We know in reading the Bible that there are 3 levels or types of heaven. We have the (1) heaven which consists of ground zero to where our atmosphere ends and space begins. Then the (2) heaven is from all the space and beyond to include all the planets and stars, suns and galaxies as far as it exists. The (3) heaven is the very abode of God. When we read that there was a war in heaven, this is all three heavens rolled into one.
During the Tribulation Period, Satan is expelled from heaven and the Throne Room of God where he has been accusing believers since the creation. Why does God even allow him access? Satan likes to pick fights, he's been doing it all along and even through the Tribulation period because he knows his time is limited. We see in our study today that a war is breaking out in heaven between Michael and his angels and Lucifer (Satan) and his angels.
This is an incredible sight to fathom because when we consider angels, they are not the cute chubby cheek cherubs. Whenever they have appeared throughout the Bible, people are afraid when they show up, and are often sick for days. Here we see Michael versus Satan. Jesus does not have an equal opponent. This is a battle in the spiritual realm of heaven and one we will look at in greater detail tomorrow.
2 comments:
My dear friend keep on doing your great work. No doubt several are reading, but not commenting. You never know when it will make a difference in someones life. I wish you and family only the best during the new year.
Interesting, especially about Petra which I have visited. Food for 2 million for how many days, I wonder. With my blog, usually 10 or 20 people read a post for each one who comments and that might be similar for most blogs. I love comments.
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