REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 12.10

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

(The Apocalypse)

                                                                           

Chapter Twelve

The Great Tribulation

(Parenthesis)

The Seven Trumpets

Trumpet Number 7: Woe Number 3

Tribulation Characters

 

 

Preface

John 12:31 - Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world (Satan) be cast out.

As a result of the war in Heaven between Michael and Satan, Michael and his angels are triumphant. Satan and his followers are permanently expelled from the third Heaven to Earth. This defeat triggers a spontaneous outburst of praise from the tribulation saints and the redeemed people of God.

 

 

The Celebration

 

5. The Saved Remnant

(Verse 10)

 

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

 

The Apostle John hears an exceedingly mighty and great voice. The loud voices of the redeemed tribulation saints are proclaiming that the kingdoms of the earth have become the Kingdom of the Messiah. It is a sound of rejoicing when Satan is hurled down from Heaven once and for all. It truly is a song of victory.

 

Concurrently, the loud voice will technically announce woe on the inhabitants of the earth, simply because Satan and His fallen angels will wage total warfare upon them.

 

The Celebration Song

Now is come salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ.

Opening the choral chant is the phrase, now is come. It is an answer to the specific prayer about Christ's Second Coming as clearly stated in the prayer Jesus taught His disciples:

Matthew 6:10 – Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 

The Kingdom not only alludes to the Millennial Kingdom but synchronously looks ahead toward eternity. Independently, three additional long-awaited assurances soon shall come to pass as well:

1.   Salvation

Even though it is not fully consummated, the deliverance of all faithful creatures from the power of Satan is imminent.

1 John 3:2 - Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.

 

2.  Strength

Strength also means power. When Christ regains jurisdiction over the earth, all authority belongs to Him. Likewise, it was His strength that successively crushed Satan’s might.

 

3. The Power of Christ

Authority and jurisdiction: The preliminary blow to Satan came when Jesus Christ died on the Cross for the propitiation (atonement) for the sins of mankind – Power over death.

1 Corinthians 1:18 - For the preaching of the Cross is to them perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

 

For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night

The Accuser of the Brethren

Presently, embedded in the third Heaven, Satan has access to where God’s Throne exists. Acting as a prosecuting attorney, twenty-four hours daily, he accuses God’s people (the brethren). Found only one time in Scripture is the Greek word for accuser (katēgoros) means filing a complaint against one in the assembly, or one who brings a charge against another.

 

Rabbinical teaching and Talmudic tradition state that Satan accuses every day except for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – the holiest day of all Jewish feasts in Judaism. On this once-a-year day of offering, fasting, and prayer, atonement is made for all Israel's sins by the high priest.

 

Diabolos, the false accuser, slanderer, or devil, like a prosecuting attorney, is currently accusing us before God of the sins we commit. However, as believers, we are not to be fearful because Jesus Christ appears to God in the presence of God as an advocate on behalf of the faithful brethren.

1 John 2:1-2 - My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

Job

Many scholars agree that the earliest recorded book in the Bible before the Pentateuch of Moses was penned, is the Book of Job.  Job’s name means the prosecuted one. It is a non-fiction story of a God-fearing blameless worshipper of God that experiences many unnecessary tragedies in his life despite his family and financial success. Hence, the book addresses countless human sufferings.

 

The narration opens with a scene in Heaven where Satan accuses Job before God. Satan insisted that Job only serves God not because of his pure motives, but because of his material blessings. To refute Satan’s accusations, God gave divine permission for Satan to strike His servant with a series of assaults shy of death. To this, Satan predicts that if Job’s blessings of health and wealth are seized from him, he will curse God and pay homage to him.

 

As a result, God allows Satan to subject Job to several distress:

1.  His oxen and donkeys are stolen

2.  His farmhands are killed

3.   His sheep and herdsmen are burned by fire

4.    His camels are stolen

5. His servants are killed

6. His sons and daughters die in a mighty wind

7. His body is stricken with boils

 

The question Job faced through his wife and friends is a profound one applicable to today: Why do the righteous suffer? So, Job sought a reason for his afflictions since he was just a man.

 

Question:

Why does God allow the righteous to suffer?

Answer:

The Lord God allows our faith to go through trials. The testing is likened to being refined by fire. For example, Fire removes the dross in silver and gold. Similarly, our faith is tested so its true character becomes pure.

Psalm 66:10 - For Thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried (refined).

 

Proverbs 17:3 – The [re]fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

 

1 Peter 1:7-8 - That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

 

Other reasons for anguish include:

1.  Suffering keeps us dependent upon God

2.  Suffering exercises us unto righteousness

3.   Suffering produces godly attitudes and attributes

4. Suffering allows us to edify others

5.   Suffering promotes holiness

6. Suffering strengthens our faith

7.  Suffering recollects our Blessed Hope

 

Rewards of Job’s Faithfulness

Through all of Job's trials, travail, and being pressured by his wife and three friends, Job received several rewards for not waning from his faith. Several privileges are recorded in Job 42:7-17:

1.  Job was allowed to see the glory of God

2.  Job’s former health was restored

3.   Job was given double his former wealth

4. Job was given seven more sons and three more daughters

5.  Job was vindicated before his three friends

6.   Job discovered the joy of praying for his three friends

7. Job was given an additional 140 years of life

 

So, while Satan is the accuser, slanderer, and adversary, Jesus is our defender and advocate of the brethren.

 

 

(Verse 11)

 

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

 

Satan is a defeated enemy. His power has been broken and he no longer has the upper hand. The wise saints are seen resisting Satan.

 

The Overcomers

The official final blow befell Satan when God gave His only begotten Son to be the once-and-for-all sacrificial Lamb Who died on Calvary’s Cross for the forgiveness of mankind’s sins, that whosoever should believe in His death, burial, and resurrection shall inherit eternal life. Being washed in His blood triggers all accusations against the brethren to fall on deaf ears. Victory for the accused saints comes through three avenues:

1. By the blood of the Lamb

Initially, a victory for the overcomers is won by the wonder-working power of the precious blood of the Lamb who became a ransom for many. And by heeding the words of Christ:

Revelation 2:10 - Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

 

Subsequently, it is Christ Who provides a victorious life because He triumphed over death and Satan at the Cross.

 

2.   By the word of their testimony

Testimonies reveal martyrdom. Those who did not deny Christ during persecution augment strength in their testimony. By never wavering, they remain a truthful witness for Jesus Christ. Jesus previously taught:

Matthew 10:32 - Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.

 

3.  By not loving their lives (Greek: psuchē, souls)

Loyalty to Christ not only means living for Jesus but also being faithful unto death. Jesus is quoted saying:

John 12:25 - He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

 

This principle also lies in the following passage when Jesus spake these words.

Matthew 24:13 - But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 

 

(Verse 12)

 

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

 

The celebration continues in Heaven for the multitude that is there at this present time. But an exclamation of great grief (woe) is a warning to all inhabitants who linger on earth. Furious from his expulsion, Satan no longer has power in the heavens. Therefore, Satan knows his time is short [three and one-half years (42 months = 1260 days remaining)], at which time, he and his angelic hosts are cast into the eternal Lake of Fire to be tormented day and night.  

 

Like raging wild beasts, Satan and his band of merry demons will do everything they can to destroy the remaining souls by unleashing all their spiritual ammunition on earth.

 

 

In the following study, Satan’s tactics will be revealed in targeting Israel.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.   What is the cause of Heaven’s celebration?

2.   What was the first and main defeat of the devil?

3.   How does Satan accuse the brethren?

4.   Who advocates on our behalf?

5.   How did God permit Satan to test Job?

6.   Why was Job victorious?

7.   What are Satan’s tactics after being cast out of Heaven?

 

 

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