Is Antisemitism Part of Satan's Ultimate Plan?

 

As we have been studying in the Book of Revelation we have learned at this point in our study in chapter 12, that we are breaking down Satan's plan to destroy Israel, the Jews and belief in anything pertaining to Jesus before his time runs out. If he can do any of this, the Messiah can not return and in his mind he will have won the war against God and Jesus.

The connection between Jesus and Israel is and will remain unbroken. From Genesis 3, God has promised that the Messiah would come and destroy Satan and that Satan has been planning on ways to destroy the genetic line of the Messiah for centuries. Look back on Biblical history and we can see how Pharoah and Herod both tried to wipe out the lineage of Jewish born babies. Satan has been trying to kill the Jews, and they have been the most persecuted race throughout all of history. Why? Because Satan is trying to destroy God's plan of redemption for the world.

That is why Jesus, Jews and Israel is so hated. Antisemitism is rising and all of it is demonically inspired. Revelation 12 is the key to understand Bible Prophecy and it contains a lot of Old Testament references. This is mid point in the Tribulation period and is the advent of Satan's agenda.

Genesis 37:5-11 ~ "Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my shelf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind."

Now let's look at Revelation 12:1-6 to unveil the clues given to us from the Old Testament.

Revelation 12:1-6 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven" An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a male child, who will rule the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

The woman is Israel and the twelve stars are the tribes or sons of Israel.

Romans 9:30-33 ~ "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the 'stumbling stone.' As it is written: "See I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Israel is still God's chosen people and nation but there is a veil over their eyes. This is Israel's unbelief. The Gentile gathering has been happening since the church age began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture of the church.

If you ever have taken notice that Arab maps don't list Israel on their maps. Why is that? It goes against the Koran because it says that Allah can't not exist as long as Israel does. It lists the land of Israel as Palestine instead. It is not great wonder why the sudden push for Palestine to become a state or recognized nation. The nation of Israel has become a thorn in their flesh since it became a nation on May 14, 1948. This is the very reason Satan has been trying to eradicate the line of the Messiah from the beginning. Satan's mission is to destroy the church.

John 1:1-3,14 ~"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

This is the message of the New Testament Church! Satan is desperately fighting for total control. A desire to control human government.

Revelation 12:3 ~ "An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads."

Satan is represented as a dragon has been a symbol for quite some time. The 7 heads, 10 horns and 7 crowns or diadems, all apply to earthly global powers or politics. We know that throughout the Bible there are references that specific nations, regions or lands are controlled by specific demons for example Persia is referred to in Daniel 7, who has a demonic ruler on control of the land. We need to understand that there is a spiritual battle at play when it comes to politics. We need to ensure we are praying and voting in every election. People would argue that religion and politics should remain separate but this is not the foundations our founding fathers of this nation would agree with. There should be no separation of religion and politics and in fact should go hand in hand with one another.

If you were to ever look at the the very top of the Washington Memorial, it states if you could see it. "Laus Deo or Praise be to God in Latin. "

Satan knows that if he can corrupt the decision makers over a city, a country, or a nation = he can directly influence and effect millions or even billions of people. In the end, Satan and his powers will be condemned. We see that since Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, Satan is a victim of his own lies and he keeps on trying to find loopholes that will allow his plan to succeed. 

There Will Be No Place to Hide

 

So many people will wonder just why they don't understand the Book of Revelation and it's simply because in order to know what is being said, you have to have knowledge of the things from the Old Testament to make sense of what you are reading first. Once you do that, you will gain clarity to what you are reading. That is one definite way to tell who has read the Old Testament and who hasn't.

Don't self determine what Revelation says, this is the language of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals the mysteries of God to those who are willing to be open to what He says and have the Spirit living within them. All around the Dome of the Rock mosque, their is engravings in Arabic that say, God does not have a son. We know from the Bible this is clearly false doctrine and thus the reason that Christians don't serve the same God as Muslims do.

Proverbs 30:4 ~ "Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!"

Isaiah 66:7-11 ~ " Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring the moment of birth and not give delivery? says the LORD. Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance."

Isaiah 9:6 ~ "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Psalm 2:7-9 ~ "I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."

Psalms 2:12 ~ "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

Psalms 2 reveals that this is Jesus. Jewish people will argue that this is not Jesus, but then ask them who is it then?

Acts 13:32-33 ~ "We will tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

John 1:1-3,14 ~ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have 
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The existence of Israel and the Son of God is what Satan's battle plan is. He is trying hard to get people to buy into the fact that Israel is not God's chosen nation and that Jesus is NOT the Son of God.

John 1:18 (NIV) ~ "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."

Satan's goal is against Israel and against the ministry of Jesus during the Tribulation period as well as an ongoing battle since the creation of the world. As of May 14, 1948, Israel exists for a second time in history as a nation. This is why God's chosen nation has undergone the horrors and atrocities because they have repeatedly disobeyed God. Look back at Israel's history. Each time they obey God, He blesses them immensely, but then a king will come along and cause Israel to go against the very God they were worshiping and thus God will send them a prophet to warn them to come back to God. When they don't, He uses enemy nations to discipline them, and when they turn back, God forgives them and the blessings return.

Look back at the world today and see if there are any traces of the Ammonites or Edomite people's? No, because God has wiped them from the face of the earth. Israel's enemies are wiped off the face of the earth, yet Israel still stands. This prophecy from the prophet Isaiah warns against the people of Israel that if they do not turn back to God, he will scatter their possessions and scatter them to the four corners of the earth. This happened just prior to the Holocaust. Israel rejects their God again and again and leaves God no choice but to administer discipline.

If you want a commentary on Revelation 12, read Matthew 24:15-21.

Matthew 24:15-21 ~ "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation' spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never equaled again."

We will study this section in more detail in further studies but this has to be a journey that is taken by foot that will take a day and a half to complete. "Judea flee to the mountains."  In reference to the Sabbath, Jews would be fleeing with a conscience on their mind to not go past 12 furlongs in a day. The reference to winter, means that it does snow in Jerusalem and you can't get out of town when it does. With regard to being pregnant and nursing, just means that it is hard to get anywhere on foot in a hurry if you are pregnant or nursing without great difficulty not saying for people to not have babies.

The Bible has continually promised that the Messiah would come through Israel. The fact that the reference is made in Revelation 12 in regards to the dragon waiting to devour the child from the woman has been Satan's plan all along. He has always wanted to prevent the Messiah's coming since God's proclamation in the garden in Genesis 3, that He would send forth a child to destroy him. He wants to destroy the Messiah at any chance because to do so would mean that His plan would succeed to rule the world. From Pharoah's plan to kill all the Hebrew babies to Herod's declaration to kill all babies, Satan has been trying to destroy the line of the Messiah throughout the ages. This is the reason that Joseph and Mary went to Egypt instead while Herod has issued a decree to kill all newborn babies.

Jesus was born from Mary in the line of David in Bethlehem in Israel exactly as the Bible had predicted it to happen. Jesus warned that in the future, after Israel has rebuilt its long awaited temple, that a horrific time would come. This is the abomination of desolation spoken about in Matthew 24:15.

When Jesus came, He came to Israel first (birth in Bethlehem) and will be returning to Israel in His Second Coming. This is why Satan is trying so hard to destroy Israel so that Jesus has no place to come back to. This is the very reason Satan has been trying to destroy the Jewish people as well. Ezekiel promises that Jesus will return to come through the Eastern Gate, which is currently walled up and the bodies of people lie below the area. It goes against Jewish beliefs to walk over the land where dead bodies are laid and are buried. More proof that Satan's plan continues!

Why is Israel So Important to God?

 

Replacement theology is something as Christians we have to look out for. It is when people will take what the Bible says and turn it around to mean something it quite clearly does not. In the book of Revelation 12, we have already discovered that this portion of scripture is filled with symbols, wonders, and signs and there are those that would try and convince you that the woman referred to in this chapter is the church, the twelve stars represent the 12 apostles, she brings forth the child which is Jesus which we do whenever we preach, this is ludicrous. The woman represents Israel and the 12 stars represent the 12 tribes, Jesus came born in Bethlehem, that is in Israel, His first coming was to Israel and His Second Coming will be to Israel. He will sit on the physical throne of His physical father David in Israel. The woman is Israel and she is the one being attacked by the fiery dragon whom we know to be Satan, and thus the reason for the identity of the woman is so vital. You need to understand this. To learn more about this visit John Walvoord's website. A great dependable scholar that will help you understand who the woman is.

Satan is locked into a battle with God's chosen people.

Revelation 12:1 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in the heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

This is not an actual woman but a representation of something and in this case it is the nation of Israel. The Catholic church believes this is the representation of Mary. It can't be Mary because she is pregnant in heaven, and Jesus is already enthroned in heaven. Who is she pregnant with and by whom? 

Genesis 37:5-9 ~ "Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan,. This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph has a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brother. "Listen, he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

We know that Joseph had 11 brothers and with himself added made for 12 sons of Jacob.

Genesis 37:10-11 ~ "When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind."

Out of the life of Jacob came the 12 sons. Out of the 12 sons of Jacob was formed the nation of Israel. Over and over in the Bible, God says that He is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. What is Jacob's name when God changed it to Israel. Joseph's life by the way, one of Jacob's sons, was sold due to the envy of his brothers into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. When Jesus was betrayed he was sold by Judas for 30 pieces of silver which would have been the equivalent based on currency value at that time. There are quite the parallels between the life of Jesus and the life of Joseph. Both were falsely imprisoned and rejected by their own people. They were both led away into the world, where for Joseph, Egypt would have been that other world at that time. They were both wrongfully accused and imprisoned, but due to God's grace, He rescued Joseph from prison to rescue all of Israel including his own family. All of Joseph's parents and brothers bowed down before him not recognizing his rise in status in Egypt or knowing who he was.

There is no doubt then to who the woman is, it is Israel who would bring forth a son.

Romans 9:1-5 ~ "I speak the truth in Christ - I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit - I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs in the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen!"

Satan is not just fighting against a single enemy but against the nation of Israel and her people. Did you know that Satan has hated Israel. That is why they have gone through so much throughout history. Satan is fighting against a divine mission.

Revelation 12:2 ~ "She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth."

In the future, Satan will launch an even bigger attack against the nation of Israel, and has been against Israel for these last 2000 years, has been against Israel since its inception, through our father Abraham.

Isaiah 26:17 ~ "As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD."

Isaiah 9:6-7 ~ "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 66:7-11 ~ "Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring the moment of birth and not give deliver? says the LORD. Do I close up the womb when I bring delivery? Says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance." 

Zion is another name for Israel. We need to stand with Israel because God says so. God commands us to do so, even though we don't agree with all of their politics. God blessed Abraham that all nations would come from Israel. There will be a rise in antisemitism in the last days because the Bible has says so. This is the reason churches are exempt from taxes so they can bear the burden of those in need did you know that? This is one of the main reasons I believe that America has been so blessed in the past.

Psalm 2:7-9, 12 ~ "I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son, today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

More missionaries came from America than ever before. America is in place to bring forth the second birth of Israel since May 14, 1948 and I believe that America has served its purpose. America has rejected God since the removal from the courts, prayer in schools. We fail to trust in God anymore and instead turn to money and what we can get for ourselves. So do we simply give up? Not at all, we need to be actively working as if God isn't going to come back at anytime and stay busy doing the things He has called us to do, working for the betterment of things in our city, our government and doing all we can so one day we can stand accountable to God for what we did with our time while we were waiting for God to arrive.

An Act of War Has Been Declared Upon Us!

 

As we begin Chapter 12 into our study of Revelation, we can clearly see a new stage is being set. A war is being waged in heaven and that will manifest itself on earth. There is an epic battle between Satan and God's plan. It deals with the nation of Israel, the birth of the Messiah, His resurrection and ascension into heaven, it deals with Satan and his antics that he is going to perpetrate upon the world. Chapter 12 opens as if two book ends spanning several millennia, and where this study shifts in the scene is this is God's view of what is going on behind the scenes as it were spiritually as we have been previously studying the ministry, judgment and wrath of God during the Tribulation period up to this point. God is pulling back at this point to show us the spiritual battle that is taking place in the spiritual realm that manifests itself in the physical realm. This is God's view and His perspective on the events that have been unfolding and are unfolding.

There is a war ongoing against the Word of God, against His Son Jesus Christ, the ministry of Jesus and it is just getting more hostile to those willing to take a stand for Jesus in the world today. There are two very different wars, the one on earth and the one in heaven throughout Revelation 12. We can never know the literal interpretation of Revelation without first understanding the Old Testament. We can't begin to understand the signs, symbols, types, visions, and wonders because they are first represented in the Old Testament. What is in the Old concealed, is in the New revealed!

Revelation 12:1-6 ~ " A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days." 

We have an enemy that wages war and is always planning surprise attacks against us even at this very hour. There are satanic powers that exist and are at work according to the Bible, and he is the personification and manifestation of evil, and according to the Bible, he was the first one to sin and fall from heaven and has his own collation of demonic allies comprised of demons and fallen angels. They are plotting against our demise as Christians and as a church. Even though the offices of Homeland Security, CIA and FBI have announced that the enemy is among us, they believe that there are strong cells of terrorists operating even within our own borders and states. They have for years been making their way up from Central America and Mexico with gang member ties specifically to the drug cartels of Al Qaeda and other terrorists groups.

However when you consider the church, the enemy has been among us for quite some times when you consider things on the spiritual level. The enemy has been in our midst even on September 10, 2001 obviously but in the spiritual sense the enemy has always been with us. The enemy has always been attacking us. Revelation 12, tells us about the specific attacks of Satan against God, against God's interests, the things that surround God's mission and His will, against God's nation Israel, His chosen people, the church and all of us that stand together believing and doing the work of God and to bring about God's will upon the earth. As Christians, we need to understand that we are always under attack.

Satan's first plan of attack is to get people to not believe in him. This is exactly what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He begins to sow seeds of doubt in her mind. He begins to interpret God's Word into his own persuasions, didn't he say, "Well don't you know why God doesn't want you to touch the fruit of the tree of good and evil? It's because he knows that the day that you touch it and eat of it, you will be just like Him. You will become a God." This doctrine of heresy has never left the planet since that fateful day in the garden. There are doctrines throughout the world that you can become a god or gods. Satan's job is to infiltrate and he does it by surprise attack.

If you look at three specific cases on US soil including the 1990 bombing of the World Trade Center, were these not surprise attacks? Was not September 11th a surprise attack? Was not December 7, 1941, a surprise attack? Apparently God is trying to teach America in the physical sense. This just shows us how vulnerable we are to surprise attacks because often times America is asleep at the wheel. We will not have massive church attendance or massive prayer meetings, or turn stadiums into prayer vigils until some surprise attack happens again. The government has even been warning us that more surprise attacks are coming, which should not make them surprise attacks if you are ready. Satan is launching surprise attacks against you and I all the time and he is doing it even now. It can't be a surprise attack however if we are on guard, watching and waiting. If we know the strategy that Satan has against us, we should not be caught off guard.

As Christians, we know that things are coming to the world, to nations, that frankly the CIA and the FBI ought to be interviewing us. They should talk to us about what is coming. The minute you mention what the Bible has to say about future events, they don't want to hear anything about it. An act of war has been declared against us. If we are walking in the Spirit, they won't come as a surprise. If we understand that Satan is against us, without us praying for our families, marriages and children, they are vulnerable. Satan has engineered things in this world to pull Christian families apart. He hates you and your entire family and has set out to destroy you more than anybody else on the block. Because your a Christian, he stays awake all night and day trying to figure out your demise. We don't need to panic, because if we are in the Spirit, warring in the Spirit, praying for our families, without our prayer coverage and interceding for them daily, naming by name and encouraging them with our own words, they are under attack daily.

We will see truths in the opening verses of this chapter that are eternal. We will see historical facts in these opening verses that have actually happened. As a foot soldier during WWI, J.R.R. Tolkien believed that behind each of the nations, there were powers both heavenly and demonically at work in the war. In the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote his interpretations of the demonic powers and the powers of light behind the empires of the world. He saw these epic battles being spawned by spiritual activity. Satan is locked in an epic battle. He cannot get out of this battle. In Revelation 12, we see a war on earth with a war in heaven at the conclusion of this chapter. What we see happening in the spiritual realms in heaven, manifests itself in the physical realm on the earth. This is true in every aspect of life and what we are going through. They all have spiritual meanings behind them. The kingdoms of light and darkness are at war.

Satan is locked into an epic battle with a very specific enemy with us being some of those enemies. The battle he is in is with a chosen people. What John is seeing in verse 1 is a manifestation of truth given by symbols or signs. The Old King James says "wonders." You can make a note in your Bible that what you are reading here is conveyed in symbols and signs. John is saying, "I saw this sign..." What is it?

Revelation 12:1 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

When it speaks of a woman, it doesn't speak of a physical woman, because the Greek interpretation calls for it to be a representation of something, not an actual woman. That is important!!!

Tolkien saw that the atrocities of war, that they were demonically inspired. The movies are pretty graphic to what we are dealing with in the spiritual realm. The powers that are invisible in the world around me. Tolkien was brilliant. Revelation 12 let's us into the spiritual realm and the movies gives you insight into what is really going on in the spiritual realm. You might just want to rewatch it while studying this section and see it with spiritual eyes.

Why Doesn't Satan Give Up If He Knows He Loses in the End?

As we wrap up our study today in Revelation 12:1-6, we need to understand that in regards to verses 5 and 6, we are right in the middle of those two verses. We are living in a time after verse 5, but before verse 6.

Revelation 12:5 ~ "She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne."

We know in prior studies that "she" is in regards to the nation of Israel>Mary who would bring forth a son, Jesus Christ, who will one day rule the nations with an iron scepter during His 1000 year millennial reign. In reference to being "snatched up" this is the same word in Greek and Hebrew that is the same reference to where we get the term rapture. It is the same word used when Enoch and Elijah were "taken or snatched up." Jesus ascended back to heaven and has been there for the last 2000+ years.

During this period, we know that Jesus has ascended back into heaven, the church is on earth still, the Tribulation has not happened yet, Israel has not been deceived by the Antichrist yet and will one day flee into the wilderness. Now let's look at verse 6 to see how wonderfully these two verses fit together.

Revelation 12:6 ~ "The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1260 days."

We know that the woman is the nation of Israel, and we will figure out where Israel will flee to as we pull verses from previous scriptures and the Old Testament to map these clues perfectly. We understand the reference of 1260 days to be the biblical standard for 42 months or 3 1/2 years. This is a future event that will occur during the Tribulation period.

Matthew 24:16-25 ~ "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be a great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or, "There he is!" do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that we possible. See, I have told you ahead of time." 

We need to understand that the "elect" referred to here is the believing remnant of Israel during the Tribulation period. We know that the nation of Israel will flee to the mountains. It will be such a time of initial rush that no one will have time to go back and get anything, they will need to leave right away.

Psalm 23:4-5a ~ "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

We know that David wrote this Psalm and we, as Gentiles hold fast to the promises of this Psalm but it was the Jews who have the rights to this promise first. This will be important later in our study.

In Jordan, there is a crack in the earth in which the city of Petra resides. In some place the cliffs are 200 feet high and are so small that a man on horseback can not fit inside the paths. Yet once you are in there, there is an amphitheater that can easily hold 10,000 people. The country of Jordan is right next door to Israel and in order to get there you have to cross over the mountains. Speculation?

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."

Edom and Moab are located with the nation of Jordan as well as the city of Ammon. Jordan is the "they" that will feed Israel when it flees into the city of Petra during the Tribulation Period. It is not hard to see how wonderfully God is connecting the dots if we are only willing to look and study His Word.

We need to understand that Satan hates it whenever we pray, attend church or share the gospel with the lost world. He is losing his hard fought battles because he lost the war a long time ago. Read Isaiah 9, Micah 5, Daniel 12, Ezekiel 40-44 and Isaiah 56-66 for more information). It's all about Jesus!!!

We know that Jesus ascended and is in heaven because He promised that when He got there, He would send us a helper, His Holy Spirit. So how do we know Jesus arrived in heaven? He sent His Spirit as promised on the Day of Pentecost and it is with us even today. When the church is raptured from this world, the Holy Spirit will simply step aside so that evil can run rampant on the earth. He does not leave with the church.

Satan's reason for not giving up even though he knows he won't win in the end is simple. He knows if he can affect you, he affects the heart of God. As a Christian, his plan is to neuter you or sterilize your power. It's to make you goofy. No wonder your spiritual life is not making a difference. God's got your soul, but Satan has your vitality!

You won't impact anyone and in fact you can impact the church negatively when people judge you and your Christianity based on your words and actions alone. Why would anyone want to be a Christian when they see you? People shouldn't be deceived. They shouldn't be following Christians, they should be following Christ, and we as believers, should be letting them see what Christ is doing in our lives.

Satan is fighting but those battles that he wins are battles that are handed to him. We let Satan win when we allow him to continue to attack our lives. We need serious, desperate prayers for our country, marriages, homes, churches and government leaders.

Matthew 24:35 ~ "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

When you read the Bible, you're reading God's Word, God's message to man. The Word of God, the Bible is indestructible.

According to the Bible, in obedience to God, every Christian is commanded to support and pray for Israel. It's always been about Israel.

Genesis 22:17-18 ~ "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of the enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Joel 3:2 ~ "I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land."

2 Chronicles 7:12-17 ~ "the LORD appeared to him at night and said, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so there is no rain, or command locusts to destroy the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws,"

Isaiah 40:1 ~"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."

There is a satanic, religious jihad, a global agenda that is under way that is designed to:

1. Economically disable the USA (west).
2. Intimidate the Christian church to silence.
3. Annihilate the nation of Israel.
4. All of this, to establish a New World Order.

Ephesians 6:10-18 ~ " Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breast plate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

The Bible tells it perfectly - Satan loses big in the end. Jesus is coming back.

1 John 4:4 ~ "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

Satan is a Gradualist

Satan knows that he can corrupt one person at a time. His plan is simple and effective.

1 John 4:4 ~ "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

He works on one person at a time, gradually through the influence of power. This is why he seeks to seize the media, music, city and government offices, because he moves to corrupt those who have influence over others. This is the very reason Christians should be involved in every area of authority, military, politics, school boards, city and government offices to shine the light into the very dark places.

Revelation 12:3-4 ~ "Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads, and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born."

7 heads are kings, or in modern times prime ministers, presidents or representatives in leadership roles in their nations. The 10 horns are kingdoms, regions or domains. The world will be divided into 10 kingdoms or governments with 7 leaders of influence over them. The entire globe will be divided into 10 prominent regions with 7 global representatives. Think this is impossible to imagine. Look up the G-7 group. It is now comprised of 8 global nations because Russia was just added. It used to be just 7 groups. They meet once a year to  make decisions regarding economic and geopolitical aspects that impact the global communities. The principles are being put into place for this to happen on a larger scale.

Satan understands that if he can influence a leader in any office, he gains a foothold to influence more. Want a birds eye view of Satan's future and retirement plan?

Isaiah 14:9-12 ~ "The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you - all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us," All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!"

If you want to know who the fiery red dragon is from Revelation 12, skip ahead.

Revelation 12:9 ~ "The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels with him."

This is the definition of just who the dragon is, not a descriptions but a symbol of his nature and character. As the church vacates its position in the world, demonic and evil influence steps in to fill the vacancy. Satan is desperately fighting for total control by attempting to overthrow the angelic realm.

Revelation 12:4a ~ "His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth." 

Notice that the verbs in this verse are all past tense. The stars are angels of heaven. Satan deceived a 1/3 of God's created angels. Be careful how easily we can be fooled into thinking we are all powerful when it comes to dealing with evil. The power comes from the Lord, not from us. Whenever we pray, our power is tapping into heaven.

Satan therefore, will come to tempt us with beautiful and wonderful things.

2 Peter 2:4 ~ "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, byt sent them to heal, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;"

Jude 6 ~ "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day."

This is proof that angles have sinned in the past. Satan is conspiring to stop God's plan of victory. What is the devil up to here? Who is this child in Revelation 12:4? It is amazing because the Bible records in perfect detail the acts of war that Satan has launched against the coming of Jesus Christ into the world ever since the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:14-15 ~ "So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put an enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Satan possessed the serpent, notice how God curses the snake to crawl on his belly for his act in this and it makes you wonder, that the snake did not always crawl on its belly before this time. The word "enmity" is defined as warfare and the woman mentioned here is Eve but through further interpretation is is also a build up of the lineage of Christ. Eve>Israel>Mary>Son of God, Jesus Christ. It began against Eve, then moved on to the nation of Israel, then onto Mary and her Son, Jesus Christ. It was a plot to do anything and everything to destroy the royal seed. The virgin birth is prophesied in this verse. The announcement is being made that it will be in the DNA of the woman, not the man that will destroy evil once and for all.

The Passion of the Christ, clearly depicts Genesis 3:15 when Jesus moves to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane when we see the serpent coming to Jesus as Satan in disguise! Satan's plan for total control to conspire to stop God's plan of victory continued with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, then again through Noah and his generation. The Bible says that Noah was perfect in all his ways, it doesn't mean he was sinless, but he was genetically not polluted. The attacks of the Patriarch Abraham, the plans to destroy the children of Jacob; the attempts to slay the Hebrew (male) children in the land of Egypt; the off and on evils of Israel's kings; Esther and the plan to kill all the Jews: numerous plans to annihilate Israel; the killing of the male Hebrew children of Israel by King Herod; when Satan tempted Jesus to sin; and then we have the brutality and horrors of Jesus' final days on earth. You can imagine how please Satan must have felt when Jesus died. He probably thought he won that victory after all. But then Sunday came.

Luke 10:17 ~ "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

When you pray, Satan is upset. That is why prayer is so hard. Whenever you pray, your mind wanders and you get tired or distractions come. This is the same reason witnessing is so difficult. It's like a fire fight. Satan always counters when we attack. We are fighting from a position of victory. We lost battles but we win the war.

Preaching, teaching, evangelism and mission work are Satan's targets, these are the very areas we must advance in! The prophetic players that Satan will attack in the End Times and Last Days, (1) the church, (2) the nation of Israel, (3) political kingdoms, and (4) ethnicities. The more we know about our enemy, the greater damage we can inflict.

Remember this is NOT a recovery mission, it is a rescue mission. We need to be focused on saving the lost and praying daily for those in areas of influence, even those that we question their motives. They need all the prayer we can muster.   

Antisemitism is Satan's Evil Plan

As we have been studying in the Book of Revelation we have learned at this point in our study in chapter 12, that we are breaking down Satan's plan to destroy Israel, the Jews and belief in anything pertaining to Jesus before his time runs out. If he can do any of this, the Messiah can not return and in his mind he will have won the war against God and Jesus.

The connection between Jesus and Israel is and will remain unbroken. From Genesis 3, God has promised that the Messiah would come and destroy Satan and that Satan has been planning on ways to destroy the genetic line of the Messiah for centuries. Look back on Biblical history and we can see how Pharoah and Herod both tried to wipe out the lineage of Jewish born babies. Satan has been trying to kill the Jews, and they have been the most persecuted race throughout all of history. Why? Because Satan is trying to destroy God's plan of redemption for the world.

That is why Jesus, Jews and Israel is so hated. Antisemitism is rising and all of it is demonically inspired. Revelation 12 is the key to understand Bible Prophecy and it contains a lot of Old Testament references. This is mid point in the Tribulation period and is the advent of Satan's agenda.

Genesis 37:5-11 ~ "Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my shelf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind."

Now let's look at Revelation 12:1-6 to unveil the clues given to us from the Old Testament.

Revelation 12:1-6 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven" An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a male child, who will rule the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

The woman is Israel and the twelve stars are the tribes or sons of Israel.

Romans 9:30-33 ~ "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the 'stumbling stone.' As it is written: "See I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Israel is still God's chosen people and nation but there is a veil over their eyes. This is Israel's unbelief. The Gentile gathering has been happening since the church age began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture of the church.

If you ever have taken notice that Arab maps don't list Israel on their maps. Why is that? It goes against the Koran because it says that Allah can't not exist as long as Israel does. It lists the land of Israel as Palestine instead. It is not great wonder why the sudden push for Palestine to become a state or recognized nation. The nation of Israel has become a thorn in their flesh since it became a nation on May 14, 1948. This is the very reason Satan has been trying to eradicate the line of the Messiah from the beginning. Satan's mission is to destroy the church.

John 1:1-3,14 ~"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

This is the message of the New Testament Church! Satan is desperately fighting for total control. A desire to control human government.

Revelation 12:3 ~ "An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads."

Satan is represented as a dragon has been a symbol for quite some time. The 7 heads, 10 horns and 7 crowns or diadems, all apply to earthly global powers or politics. We know that throughout the Bible there are references that specific nations, regions or lands are controlled by specific demons for example Persia is referred to in Daniel 7, who has a demonic ruler on control of the land. We need to understand that there is a spiritual battle at play when it comes to politics. We need to ensure we are praying and voting in every election. People would argue that religion and politics should remain separate but this is not the foundations our founding fathers of this nation would agree with. There should be no separation of religion and politics and in fact should go hand in hand with one another.

If you were to ever look at the the very top of the Washington Memorial, it states if you could see it. "Laus Deo or Praise be to God in Latin. "

Satan knows that if he can corrupt the decision makers over a city, a country, or a nation = he can directly influence and effect millions or even billions of people. In the end, Satan and his powers will be condemned. We see that since Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, Satan is a victim of his own lies and he keeps on trying to find loopholes that will allow his plan to succeed. 

There is No Place to Hide

So many people will wonder just why they don't understand the Book of Revelation and it's simply because in order to know what is being said, you have to have knowledge of the things from the Old Testament to make sense of what you are reading first. Once you do that, you will gain clarity to what you are reading. That is one definite way to tell who has read the Old Testament and who hasn't.

Don't self determine what Revelation says, this is the language of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals the mysteries of God to those who are willing to be open to what He says and have the Spirit living within them. All around the Dome of the Rock mosque, their is engravings in Arabic that say, God does not have a son. We know from the Bible this is clearly false doctrine and thus the reason that Christians don't serve the same God as Muslims do.

Proverbs 30:4 ~ "Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!"

Isaiah 66:7-11 ~ " Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring the moment of birth and not give delivery? says the LORD. Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance."

Isaiah 9:6 ~ "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Psalm 2:7-9 ~ "I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."

Psalms 2:12 ~ "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

Psalms 2 reveals that this is Jesus. Jewish people will argue that this is not Jesus, but then ask them who is it then?

Acts 13:32-33 ~ "We will tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

John 1:1-3,14 ~ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have 
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The existence of Israel and the Son of God is what Satan's battle plan is. He is trying hard to get people to buy into the fact that Israel is not God's chosen nation and that Jesus is NOT the Son of God.

John 1:18 (NIV) ~ "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."

Satan's goal is against Israel and against the ministry of Jesus during the Tribulation period as well as an ongoing battle since the creation of the world. As of May 14, 1948, Israel exists for a second time in history as a nation. This is why God's chosen nation has undergone the horrors and atrocities because they have repeatedly disobeyed God. Look back at Israel's history. Each time they obey God, He blesses them immensely, but then a king will come along and cause Israel to go against the very God they were worshiping and thus God will send them a prophet to warn them to come back to God. When they don't, He uses enemy nations to discipline them, and when they turn back, God forgives them and the blessings return.

Look back at the world today and see if there are any traces of the Ammonites or Edomite people's? No, because God has wiped them from the face of the earth. Israel's enemies are wiped off the face of the earth, yet Israel still stands. This prophecy from the prophet Isaiah warns against the people of Israel that if they do not turn back to God, he will scatter their possessions and scatter them to the four corners of the earth. This happened just prior to the Holocaust. Israel rejects their God again and again and leaves God no choice but to administer discipline.

If you want a commentary on Revelation 12, read Matthew 24:15-21.

Matthew 24:15-21 ~ "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation' spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never equaled again."

We will study this section in more detail in further studies but this has to be a journey that is taken by foot that will take a day and a half to complete. "Judea flee to the mountains."  In reference to the Sabbath, Jews would be fleeing with a conscience on their mind to not go past 12 furlongs in a day. The reference to winter, means that it does snow in Jerusalem and you can't get out of town when it does. With regard to being pregnant and nursing, just means that it is hard to get anywhere on foot in a hurry if you are pregnant or nursing without great difficulty not saying for people to not have babies.

The Bible has continually promised that the Messiah would come through Israel. The fact that the reference is made in Revelation 12 in regards to the dragon waiting to devour the child from the woman has been Satan's plan all along. He has always wanted to prevent the Messiah's coming since God's proclamation in the garden in Genesis 3, that He would send forth a child to destroy him. He wants to destroy the Messiah at any chance because to do so would mean that His plan would succeed to rule the world. From Pharoah's plan to kill all the Hebrew babies to Herod's declaration to kill all babies, Satan has been trying to destroy the line of the Messiah throughout the ages. This is the reason that Joseph and Mary went to Egypt instead while Herod has issued a decree to kill all newborn babies.

Jesus was born from Mary in the line of David in Bethlehem in Israel exactly as the Bible had predicted it to happen. Jesus warned that in the future, after Israel has rebuilt its long awaited temple, that a horrific time would come. This is the abomination of desolation spoken about in Matthew 24:15.

When Jesus came, He came to Israel first (birth in Bethlehem) and will be returning to Israel in His Second Coming. This is why Satan is trying so hard to destroy Israel so that Jesus has no place to come back to. This is the very reason Satan has been trying to destroy the Jewish people as well. Ezekiel promises that Jesus will return to come through the Eastern Gate, which is currently walled up and the bodies of people lie below the area. It goes against Jewish beliefs to walk over the land where dead bodies are laid and are buried. More proof that Satan's plan continues!

Why is Israel So Important to God?

Replacement theology is something as Christians we have to look out for. It is when people will take what the Bible says and turn it around to mean something it quite clearly does not. In the book of Revelation 12, we have already discovered that this portion of scripture is filled with symbols, wonders, and signs and there are those that would try and convince you that the woman referred to in this chapter is the church, the twelve stars represent the 12 apostles, she brings forth the child which is Jesus which we do whenever we preach, this is ludicrous. The woman represents Israel and the 12 stars represent the 12 tribes, Jesus came born in Bethlehem, that is in Israel, His first coming was to Israel and His Second Coming will be to Israel. He will sit on the physical throne of His physical father David in Israel. The woman is Israel and she is the one being attacked by the fiery dragon whom we know to be Satan, and thus the reason for the identity of the woman is so vital. You need to understand this. To learn more about this visit John Walvoord's website. A great dependable scholar that will help you understand who the woman is.

Satan is locked into a battle with God's chosen people.

Revelation 12:1 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in the heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

This is not an actual woman but a representation of something and in this case it is the nation of Israel. The Catholic church believes this is the representation of Mary. It can't be Mary because she is pregnant in heaven, and Jesus is already enthroned in heaven. Who is she pregnant with and by whom? 

Genesis 37:5-9 ~ "Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan,. This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph has a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brother. "Listen, he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

We know that Joseph had 11 brothers and with himself added made for 12 sons of Jacob.

Genesis 37:10-11 ~ "When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind."

Out of the life of Jacob came the 12 sons. Out of the 12 sons of Jacob was formed the nation of Israel. Over and over in the Bible, God says that He is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. What is Jacob's name when God changed it to Israel. Joseph's life by the way, one of Jacob's sons, was sold due to the envy of his brothers into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. When Jesus was betrayed he was sold by Judas for 30 pieces of silver which would have been the equivalent based on currency value at that time. There are quite the parallels between the life of Jesus and the life of Joseph. Both were falsely imprisoned and rejected by their own people. They were both led away into the world, where for Joseph, Egypt would have been that other world at that time. They were both wrongfully accused and imprisoned, but due to God's grace, He rescued Joseph from prison to rescue all of Israel including his own family. All of Joseph's parents and brothers bowed down before him not recognizing his rise in status in Egypt or knowing who he was.

There is no doubt then to who the woman is, it is Israel who would bring forth a son.

Romans 9:1-5 ~ "I speak the truth in Christ - I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit - I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs in the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen!"

Satan is not just fighting against a single enemy but against the nation of Israel and her people. Did you know that Satan has hated Israel. That is why they have gone through so much throughout history. Satan is fighting against a divine mission.

Revelation 12:2 ~ "She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth."

In the future, Satan will launch an even bigger attack against the nation of Israel, and has been against Israel for these last 2000 years, has been against Israel since its inception, through our father Abraham.

Isaiah 26:17 ~ "As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD."

Isaiah 9:6-7 ~ "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 66:7-11 ~ "Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring the moment of birth and not give deliver? says the LORD. Do I close up the womb when I bring delivery? Says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance." 

Zion is another name for Israel. We need to stand with Israel because God says so. God commands us to do so, even though we don't agree with all of their politics. God blessed Abraham that all nations would come from Israel. There will be a rise in antisemitism in the last days because the Bible has says so. This is the reason churches are exempt from taxes so they can bear the burden of those in need did you know that? This is one of the main reasons I believe that America has been so blessed in the past.

Psalm 2:7-9, 12 ~ "I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son, today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

More missionaries came from America than ever before. America is in place to bring forth the second birth of Israel since May 14, 1948 and I believe that America has served its purpose. America has rejected God since the removal from the courts, prayer in schools. We fail to trust in God anymore and instead turn to money and what we can get for ourselves. So do we simply give up? Not at all, we need to be actively working as if God isn't going to come back at anytime and stay busy doing the things He has called us to do, working for the betterment of things in our city, our government and doing all we can so one day we can stand accountable to God for what we did with our time while we were waiting for God to arrive.

An Act of War Has Been Declared Against Us!

As we begin Chapter 12 into our study of Revelation, we can clearly see a new stage is being set. A war is being waged in heaven and that will manifest itself on earth. There is an epic battle between Satan and God's plan. It deals with the nation of Israel, the birth of the Messiah, His resurrection and ascension into heaven, it deals with Satan and his antics that he is going to perpetrate upon the world. Chapter 12 opens as if two book ends spanning several millennia, and where this study shifts in the scene is this is God's view of what is going on behind the scenes as it were spiritually as we have been previously studying the ministry, judgment and wrath of God during the Tribulation period up to this point. God is pulling back at this point to show us the spiritual battle that is taking place in the spiritual realm that manifests itself in the physical realm. This is God's view and His perspective on the events that have been unfolding and are unfolding.

There is a war ongoing against the Word of God, against His Son Jesus Christ, the ministry of Jesus and it is just getting more hostile to those willing to take a stand for Jesus in the world today. There are two very different wars, the one on earth and the one in heaven throughout Revelation 12. We can never know the literal interpretation of Revelation without first understanding the Old Testament. We can't begin to understand the signs, symbols, types, visions, and wonders because they are first represented in the Old Testament. What is in the Old concealed, is in the New revealed!

Revelation 12:1-6 ~ " A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days." 

We have an enemy that wages war and is always planning surprise attacks against us even at this very hour. There are satanic powers that exist and are at work according to the Bible, and he is the personification and manifestation of evil, and according to the Bible, he was the first one to sin and fall from heaven and has his own collation of demonic allies comprised of demons and fallen angels. They are plotting against our demise as Christians and as a church. Even though the offices of Homeland Security, CIA and FBI have announced that the enemy is among us, they believe that there are strong cells of terrorists operating even within our own borders and states. They have for years been making their way up from Central America and Mexico with gang member ties specifically to the drug cartels of Al Qaeda and other terrorists groups.

However when you consider the church, the enemy has been among us for quite some times when you consider things on the spiritual level. The enemy has been in our midst even on September 10, 2001 obviously but in the spiritual sense the enemy has always been with us. The enemy has always been attacking us. Revelation 12, tells us about the specific attacks of Satan against God, against God's interests, the things that surround God's mission and His will, against God's nation Israel, His chosen people, the church and all of us that stand together believing and doing the work of God and to bring about God's will upon the earth. As Christians, we need to understand that we are always under attack.

Satan's first plan of attack is to get people to not believe in him. This is exactly what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He begins to sow seeds of doubt in her mind. He begins to interpret God's Word into his own persuasions, didn't he say, "Well don't you know why God doesn't want you to touch the fruit of the tree of good and evil? It's because he knows that the day that you touch it and eat of it, you will be just like Him. You will become a God." This doctrine of heresy has never left the planet since that fateful day in the garden. There are doctrines throughout the world that you can become a god or gods. Satan's job is to infiltrate and he does it by surprise attack.

If you look at three specific cases on US soil including the 1990 bombing of the World Trade Center, were these not surprise attacks? Was not September 11th a surprise attack? Was not December 7, 1941, a surprise attack? Apparently God is trying to teach America in the physical sense. This just shows us how vulnerable we are to surprise attacks because often times America is asleep at the wheel. We will not have massive church attendance or massive prayer meetings, or turn stadiums into prayer vigils until some surprise attack happens again. The government has even been warning us that more surprise attacks are coming, which should not make them surprise attacks if you are ready. Satan is launching surprise attacks against you and I all the time and he is doing it even now. It can't be a surprise attack however if we are on guard, watching and waiting. If we know the strategy that Satan has against us, we should not be caught off guard.

As Christians, we know that things are coming to the world, to nations, that frankly the CIA and the FBI ought to be interviewing us. They should talk to us about what is coming. The minute you mention what the Bible has to say about future events, they don't want to hear anything about it. An act of war has been declared against us. If we are walking in the Spirit, they won't come as a surprise. If we understand that Satan is against us, without us praying for our families, marriages and children, they are vulnerable. Satan has engineered things in this world to pull Christian families apart. He hates you and your entire family and has set out to destroy you more than anybody else on the block. Because your a Christian, he stays awake all night and day trying to figure out your demise. We don't need to panic, because if we are in the Spirit, warring in the Spirit, praying for our families, without our prayer coverage and interceding for them daily, naming by name and encouraging them with our own words, they are under attack daily.

We will see truths in the opening verses of this chapter that are eternal. We will see historical facts in these opening verses that have actually happened. As a foot soldier during WWI, J.R.R. Tolkien believed that behind each of the nations, there were powers both heavenly and demonically at work in the war. In the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote his interpretations of the demonic powers and the powers of light behind the empires of the world. He saw these epic battles being spawned by spiritual activity. Satan is locked in an epic battle. He cannot get out of this battle. In Revelation 12, we see a war on earth with a war in heaven at the conclusion of this chapter. What we see happening in the spiritual realms in heaven, manifests itself in the physical realm on the earth. This is true in every aspect of life and what we are going through. They all have spiritual meanings behind them. The kingdoms of light and darkness are at war.

Satan is locked into an epic battle with a very specific enemy with us being some of those enemies. The battle he is in is with a chosen people. What John is seeing in verse 1 is a manifestation of truth given by symbols or signs. The Old King James says "wonders." You can make a note in your Bible that what you are reading here is conveyed in symbols and signs. John is saying, "I saw this sign..." What is it?

Revelation 12:1 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

When it speaks of a woman, it doesn't speak of a physical woman, because the Greek interpretation calls for it to be a representation of something, not an actual woman. That is important!!!

Tolkien saw that the atrocities of war, that they were demonically inspired. The movies are pretty graphic to what we are dealing with in the spiritual realm. The powers that are invisible in the world around me. Tolkien was brilliant. Revelation 12 let's us into the spiritual realm and the movies gives you insight into what is really going on in the spiritual realm. You might just want to rewatch it while studying this section and see it with spiritual eyes.