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0:49The subtitle is the backdrop to the final conflict, and that's because it's the backdrop to the final conflict between good and evil. So nothing earth-shattering there. But let's read chapter 12, beginning in chapter 1. I'll read through verse 6. A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars, and she was with child. And she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give. Birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days.

2:23Well, we've stepped into the background for this final conflict with the blowing of the seventh trumpet. Things really amp up, and the world, earth, good, evil enter into its final conflict. But it's just another expression of the age-old conflict. It's an age-old conflict between this woman and the dragon. Sorry. I still don't know what's quite wrong with this. There we go. The woman and her dragon, just another, just a way to historically depict this epic battle between good and evil. It is a panoramic type, time sweep that takes us all the way back to the beginning and takes us right to the verge of the final conflict or even into the final conflict.

3:30You know, you think about, if you look around our world, there are wars going on. What are wars basically about? It's a battle over control, control of peoples. In fact, the human struggles, the conflicts on a global level, on a national level, and on a personal relationship level often boil down to this one principle: control. Control over somebody. Somebody trying to exert control over somebody else. Somebody expecting something from somebody else, and when it's not delivered, it is then powerfully sought to extract.

4:15That's the problem with many of our relationships. But do you ever wonder why we don't naturally desire to serve people? We have a natural desire to. Control people, don't we? Shows up in our relationships. I mean, when somebody hurts you, why is your first reaction to get mad and to retaliate? Why is that? Why is your reaction not first and foremost, you know, I feel sorry for that person. They must have had a bad day. They really hurt me bad, but I'm going to pray for them and I'm going to look for ways to serve them and go out of my way to be good to them and make sure that they are treated well. Why is that not our first response? Because we're fallen. Because we have a natural tendency to be just like the serpent who wants to control. There has been a battle from the very beginning about the control of humanity. He raises his throne against God, and that shows up in his desire to control humanity. God is very different. God is a servant.

5:41When he took upon flesh, he doesn't come as a pompous king, does he? He shows up as a humble, foot-washing servant. Now, the age-old conflict is this conflict between good and evil. Evil, control over people. Will humanity bear the image of the serpent, or will humanity bear the image of the seed, the sun. Will mankind bear the image of God, or will mankind bear the image of Satan? This is the epic conflict. And though we're looking at an event that's going to be expressed in the future, in a final conflict, and this passage prepares us to understand that final conflict, we can all relate to this conflict going on here and now. We can relate to it because it goes on in our own soul, day in, day out.

6:57And that ugly spirit of self raises up, wants to extract control over those in your life. And that conflict with the Spirit of Christ, who seeks to teach us to pick up our cross, humble ourselves, and serve. Serve others for his glory and for the well-being of others. So, this passage gives us a window into our own soul, even as it gives us a window into the final conflict. So, I want to look at the backdrop to this final conflict.

7:49These visions are given to inform us about the final conflict, who the players are, why it is happening, happening, for the purpose of encouraging us to stand firm in the truth, doing what is good, despite whatever evil may come in the future, or whatever evil may surround us in our present. We are to stand firm. We're all caught up in this war. It rages every day. You see, it's because of what happens behind the scenes in the spiritual realm. They inevitably show up in the physical realm. Yes, it's the spiritual realm that is driving what you see all around you and what is taking place in the spiritual realm. There are the principalities, there are the movements of soul.

9:01That lead to the strife and everything we see around us. So, we're going to walk through this in four steps. First, a woman about to deliver, a pastor about to advance the slide. Okay, so the first, we're going to look at a woman about to deliver. Look back at verse 1. A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. And she was with child, and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Notice the first words, a great sign. So, right away, we're alerted that this sign is pointing us to another reality. There's something in the text that is telling us symbolic language is being used. We're not talking about a literal woman that's going to come in the future, though John sees the vision.

10:20The great sign is pointing to another reality, and we are to understand and look for details in the text to tell us what is. This woman is depicting. And it's not intended to be a mystery, a great sign, a sign that points to something else. Notice it's a great sign. A great sign points to something of great importance, something of great magnitude. And the details are very important. You see, the sign is not intended to be difficult to interpret. And if you think about it, if the sign doesn't adequately point to its target, guess what? It's not a good sign.

11:15If you came onto the campus and you saw a sign that said worship center and it pointed you over to the cemetery, you'd say, that's not a good sign. Same is true here. We have a sign here that's intended to point to something else, and it's not intended to be difficult to understand. It's a God-ordained sign that is pointing to a reality, and God in His wisdom knows how to give good signs to point us. And the reason, or one reason, that sign is probably used here is because signs can say so much in a few words. Otherwise, take volumes. What is this sign? I always see a woman clothed with the sun, having been clothed in the sun, moon under her feet, her head, a crown, 12 stars. The crown is literally the word we get Stephen from, crown, a wreath, the victor's wreath, Stephanos.

12:24The woman has a crown, 12 stars, and she was with child. And she was crying out. The verb is present, great with child, in labor. She is crying out. She is laboring. And she is in great agony. Pain, labor pain. Her glory, she's clothed in the sun, picture of dominion, feet. Notice her actions, crying, laboring, agonizing. What a sign. The question becomes: who is this woman? It's not intended to be too difficult to understand, although a lot, there are a lot of ideas out there. First, is this one school of thought sees this is God. This is another way to depict God. That's not a good option. Why would Would God have to flee from the dragon into the wilderness? How would God prepare a place for God? There's things that just details just crash. Another is: this is the New Testament church. This is the woman, is the picture of the church. That's not a good option. The Christian community did not give rise to the Messiah, but the Messiah gave rise to the community.

13:58And it's clear this child is the Messiah, as you'll see in verse 5. He is to rule all nations. The male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Unquestionably, this is Messiah, son. So who is the woman? Others go down the road. Well, it's really the people of God. The people of God, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. The problem with this view comes in verse 17. Look down at verse 17 of chapter 12. So the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children. Who are the rest of her children? Who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus? So if the woman is the saints of all times, the people of God, Old Testament, New Testament, then who are the rest of her offspring?

14:51Doesn't fit. And there's still the problem of who begot who. The people of God don't beget the Messiah. God is the one who. Through his suffering servant, he brings forth the people of God. Another one that is popular in some circles, it's the Virgin Mary. But this too is a difficult option, not a good option, because it's difficult to believe that the dragon's persecution is aimed at the children of one woman. If you think about this, he goes off to make war with the woman of the Virgin Mary. Who would this be? Well, Jesus' brothers according to the flesh. And again, this is a sign. She is depicting something. And listen, John knew Mary. So if he's seeing Mary and is intended to see Mary, yeah, and then I saw Mary standing there. No.

15:51This is not likely that this is one person. Get out of your mind. There's a lot of ideas that can go on, many more. And they seem reasonable at first. Well, yeah, that could fit. That could fit until you start looking at the details and reconciling all the details together. And then you realize you have to start throwing out a bunch of details to make it work. But there is, you know, it's like taking a puzzle. We're to go through there and look at all the texts, look at the details. If you take a puzzle, And you start getting some pieces that don't fit together, but you want to make them fit, and you get some scissors out, and you start cutting around and reshaping them, you can make them fit. But at the end of the day, you'll have a picture that isn't going to look like the puzzle is intended, and you're going to have all these pieces left over that you have to throw away. Oh, yeah, you'll get a picture. But a good Bible interpretation pays attention to all the details, all the puzzle pieces, and puts them together and doesn't just throw the ones out and make them fit.

17:00No, there's one interpretation here that is evident: it's national Israel. The woman is a depiction of national Israel, the woman's seed, and certainly all the women in that whole line coming all the way down through Israel to Mary. But it's Israel who gave birth to Jesus Christ. Israel, obviously, through her descendants. And the child is clearly Jesus Christ. I've already said the sun, the moon, the stars fit loosely. Some similar imagery in Genesis chapter 37. Let me read to you Genesis chapter 37:9. This is Joseph's dream. He had another dream and related it to his brothers and said, Lo, I have. Still, another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to me. He related it to his father and his brothers, and his father rebuked him. What is this dream? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves before you to the ground? Well, in the Genesis context, Sun is the Joseph, Son is Joseph, the moon is his mother, and the stars are his brothers. So there's some similarities, but definitely some distinctions. In the Revelation context, the stars refer to the 12 tribes of Israel. Sun, moon, in some way depicting the glory and dominion of this woman and her child.

18:46She's clothed in the glory of covenant promise, just as Joseph, the covenant promise, had come through the 12 tribes. There's a glory, glory that the promise of the seed that would crush the woman's head. It goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, verse 15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. And then later in Genesis, chapter 12, and verse 3, he God says, and is it in you, Abraham? In you, in your seed, all the families of the earth will be blessed. And so it is this promise. Genesis 3, the coming of the seed of a woman would come and destroy the power and dominion of the serpent. And then from generation to generation, it's like, who? Where is this woman? Where is this child? Who is the woman? Who is this child? Becomes part of this epic saga. Battle between good and evil.

20:15It's through Israel. God would bring forth a child who would destroy the work of the devil through Jacob, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would destroy the work of the devil. He would bring about God's blessing upon the earth at large and on an individual level. But we realize that it's not going to be an easy task. It's going to be like a woman in great labor pains. Israel bringing forth the world's Messiah is going to be. Be like a woman in labor, painful, agonizing labor. Why? Because next we shall see this woman has a gruesome enemy, more specifically, her child.

21:17So we've looked at a woman about to deliver. Next, we want to look at a dragon who is about to devour. Verse 3: Then another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads, ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. So this dragon appears, and he's first described by his appearance. So another sign, sign number two here. A sign appeared pointing to another epic reality. A great dragon. Dracon, Greek. Get the word draconian. A great draconian creature. Gruesome, fearsome.

22:08This dragon depicts really the greatest evil and horrific beast that the human mind could imagine. Shows up in very different cultures. There's the seven-headed hydra of the Babylonians. You could go down the list. Homer has a three-headed. Monster, the Canaanites, Leviathan, Rahab, all these throughout. But we're not dealing with myth here. We're dealing with divine revelation. And this is how God depicts this great evil. Great dragon, red, probably depicting his evil and murderous, bloody intent. Great, he's a great one, an epic one. Seven heads, seven diadems. Diadem is like a band that it's another kind of crown, one that depicts authority, kingly authority, ruling authority. The other crown, Stephanus, is one that's like a victor's crown that they would win at the games, and you'd get a wreath, a victory depicting a victory. This diadem speaks about ruling, controlling, governing authority. There's a band that would be worn certainly in Persia and other places, but it would depict sovereignty, ruling authority. As you look at this dragon, it's the same dragon, even though it's got these different heads. Seven unique depictions and expressions of this ruling authority. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the dragon right now, depicting who it is, because we'll come there in Revelation 17, which speaks and addresses the seven heads and gives them a little more identity. Further description in 17:10 says, They are seven kings, five have fallen, one is, the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain a little while. So you get this picture of this beast, this humongous, grotesque, wicked, diabolical beast, draconian, that shows up. Same beast shows up in different epochs of time with a different head.

24:47But even before we get to Revelation 17, it's not difficult to see in the context that we're in that this dragon is this transcendent enemy of the woman, and more especially her child. The dragon is against this child. Just as Israel's history is depicted as a woman struggling to give birth to the Messiah, so the counter to that is this dragon who takes his stand against her. And you can see that in his activity in the very next verse. Look at verse 4.

25:30And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. So you can see the power of this dragon just by looking at him. His tail swept a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. This is a depiction of Satan's original rebellion. All this is speaking about past events, getting us ready for the epic event to come. But it's given us a panoramic sweep of who this enemy is, who the players are in this final conflict. And this speaks of his original rebellion, how the demonic forces came upon the earth. But you see this incredible power, a third of the stars cast to the earth. And it's best to see these certainly as angels.

26:35This happens at the very beginning. The battle, heaven, the exaltation of Satan seeking to be God instead of God, inevitably involved the angelic hosts, some of them who went along with him, and how they end up on the earth, because inevitably the spiritual conflict shows up. On planet Earth. But you see his hostility here. Look at his hostility toward the woman's child. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child.

27:19Now, how would you like it if you're about to give birth to a child, I'm speaking to the women, and you don't get a doctor to help you, but you get a dragon that wants to devour your child. It'd be an awful feeling, wouldn't it? Well, that's exactly the picture here. A woman in great agony, but there's no love, no help here, and just a foe that wants to destroy the child. And he takes his stand so that whenever, whenever it does happen, he's ready. He's ready there to devour the woman's child. That's going to depict the epic struggle that Israel has gone through. And this isn't about Israel. It's a struggle between good and evil that involves all of humanity. The Messiah had to come through a single tribe, through a single woman. The woman, the seed of the woman, had to show up through one tribe, through one family.

28:32And it's there. All of human history between good and evil can be condensed and understood as the conflict between these two forces. The dragon's hostility towards a woman's seed is seen throughout history. And a very good depiction of this history is the struggle of a woman laboring to bring forth the Messiah for the nations. Who is going to rule? Is there going to be control? Is man going to be in the image of God or in the image of Satan? You see, some of the darkest moments of Israel's history will be depicted by this scene. Remember, during the patriarchal period, fallen angels sought to attempt to corrupt the lines of humanity. Genesis 6, angels, fallen angels, giving rise to Nephilium, giving rise. But what's their purpose? Corrupt all the seed of humanity, Noah's flood happens. Then, even after the flood, you see another epic struggle, that with involving Sarah and Rebekah. It's interesting, Pharaoh decides. To choose Sarah and take him to be her wife. Abimelech does the same to Sarah.

30:10And then Abimelech does the same to Rebekah. What's going on there behind the scenes? There is an epic struggle. But then you get into these political, geopolitical entities in Egypt. There was the sanctioned murder of the children in Egypt. What's going on behind the scenes? This struggle, this conflict between the dragon and the woman's seed. You get into Israel. Just as soon as David is promised to be the king, what happens? Shortly after, Saul picks up his spear.

30:52Why? To keep it from coming, even though he may not even know what's going on. Satan does. You go on down to the queen, Athaliah. What did she do? I want to get rid of all the royal offspring. And she almost succeeded. You remember civil war, the ten northern tribes allied with Syria to go against Judah and to dethrone David and set up Tabeal as king instead. And it's in that Isaiah 7, we get the promise: No the virgin shall give birth to a child.

31:38There's a struggle. Dragon at any time ready to devour all along the way. It goes on in Persia. You remember Haman attempted an empire-wide holocaust of all the Jews. What a history. What a way to depict a nation's history. The struggle bringing forth Messiah and all the struggles and hardships and things that were going on along the way. This is Israel's history, but it's not about history, it's about humanity. I hope this gives you a little sympathy for what Israel has gone through. Her struggle. Her struggle is for all humanity.

32:33So we've looked at a woman about to deliver, looked at a dragon about to devour. Next, we're going to look at a son about to rule. A son about to rule. Look at verse 5. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Now, with this, and she gave birth. Do you see what's just happened? And she gave birth. To a son. In this epic panoramic time suite, we have now crossed over from the Old Testament into the New Testament.

33:09With this development, we know that we have crossed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. She has given birth to a son, a male child. I love this verb here. It's called, and this is used throughout. It's the verb fixin. If I was to translate it in text, a son fixin' to rule. He's on the verge of, he's about to rule. And this is what's happening in context with the blowing of the trumpet. He is about to rule. In fact, not about, it has started. His reign has started. And what it begins with is the driving out of the evil forces.

34:01A son who's about to rule. But the word for rule is shepherd. It really is. The word, a literal translation, and she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod made of iron, to shepherd. That's the depiction here. He's a ruler. He's a ruler. Yes, as a shepherd rules, and he rules with a rod of iron, but don't let that rod of iron in any way make you think that he's a tyrant. That rod of iron speaks of his firmness, not a tyranny. He is going to shepherd the peoples so that they will do what is right in the eyes of God to bring about the blessing of God upon the people, upon the nations.

35:02That's who this son is: a shepherd with a rod of iron to bring about good, to serve humanity. What a glorious picture here. But despite all the historic attempts in heaven and on earth to destroy the woman's seed, she gave birth to the one who's going to rule the nations. Israel, through that lineage, Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, and down the line to Mary, child was born. But once delivered, what does the dragon want to do? What does he want to do? Devour. Son is clearly on the scenes now during his first advent, and you get this intensity of this conflict. And what immediately comes to your mind?

36:01How Satan, this dragon, sought to devour the child. You remember a quasi-king named Herod who sought to destroy all the children of Bethlehem. There's something behind the scenes that's driving all of this. And it's not just a man's ego, it's a demonic force that's using his ego to bring down the seed, the promise, who's going to rule all the nations. But then it didn't stop there. Other attempts throughout Christ's life, his temptation sought to bring down the Son of God, tempt him away. There's a mob that sought to throw him off a cliff.

36:54But then, of course, in his crucifixion. What an attempt to destroy and devour the Son. But all these and many more inform us about the nature of this epic conflict. It's all about who governs humanity. Who governs you? That's the conflict. And it gets very personal. Who governs you? Either it's the Spirit of Christ. Or it's the spirit of the serpent. The spirit of the serpent manifests itself in: I will do what I want, when I want, how I want, I will excuse. That's the spirit of the serpent, self-will.

37:45Spirit of Christ, not my will, but your will. And I will bow in big ways and in small ways. And I hope you will welcome the reign of this child, the Christ, into your every thought. Because he is going to reign as such. You know? Well, now I want to take one more step in this. Looked at a woman about to deliver, a dragon about to devour, looked at a son about to rule. Now I want to look at the God who takes care of his own, the God who takes care of his own. Look back at verse 5.

38:40And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with the rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne. He was snatched away. He was caught up. Now, notice in this epic panoramic of time, We've gone to the ascension of Christ. This is notice how the details of this vision skip over the events of Christ's life. It's getting somewhere. But we know who this is. This is Christ's life. He was caught up. This refers to his ascension. It's certainly some would like to suggest that it's the flight to Egypt right after the Herod episode with Herod killing all the children. The problem with this is Egypt is clearly not God's throne. And so he's snapped. This is rapture language. He was snatched away, taken out, taken up, and he was taken to God and to his throne.

39:49He's off limits to the dragon. The dragon has had his run on the sun. Let me at him. Let me take him down, and he will curse you to your face. God gave the sun to the hands. Do whatever you want. Go. And the sun prevailed. The sun has been tested at every point, and God has said, No more. The sun has overcome the dragon, guaranteeing that humanity has a future outside. The control of Satan. One has overcome everything he could throw. Christ.

40:42Now, who's left to vent his fury? The woman. Now look back at verse 6. So God takes care of his own. He takes care of his son. He also takes care of this woman. Look at verse 6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days. So the woman flees. And now we have another. When does she flee? We know now that with this epic development, this panoramic time sweep of this epic battle between good and evil, which starts the beginning, goes through the coming of Christ, skips over the details of Christ's life, and now takes us into this future and final conflict between good and evil.

41:47At some point during the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the woman will flee into the wilderness. The woman flees to a special place. Notice this, prepared by God. It's been thought through. God has thought through it. And notice they. She would be, the verb is, and there they will be feeding her. They will be nourishing her. Who is the they? Somebody that God has prepared, feeding, supporting, like manna in the wilderness. And there's a time frame, 1,260 days, the very same time frame that's given for the period of the two witnesses. The two witnesses are going to be ministering in Jerusalem at the temple at this same time. Then you have this flight, the same number of days of another segment, this woman being taken out.

42:58Now, some suggest that, well, this is the flight of the Jews to Pella in 66 AD during the Roman suppression of the Jewish revolt. The problem is, they say, well, why is there a break there? Why would you put a historic break there? Well, everybody has to put a historic break there. It's either 35 years or it's 2,000 years and counting. And the reason I say it's the latter, number one, is because we're talking about the final conflict.

43:30Already been blowing with this final trumpet. It is something future. And this thought, it's very difficult to imagine why this would refer to the flight of the Jews to Pella in 66 AD when Revelation was written 25 to 30 years after the event, quite far removed from Asia Minor. So why in the world would that even be? So everybody's got to put a break there, but it's a break, 2,000 years and counting, thereabouts. But it's a future event. Others would see this is a present ongoing reality. This is just depicting the conflict that's going on right now. In fact, many of those who I esteem and enjoy reading a lot of their books on different levels make this equation.

44:341,260 days equals 1,000 years. That's not an equation I agree with. I agree with this equation. 1,260 days equals 42 months, equals times, times, and a half a time. And the scripture in these chapters goes at great lengths so that you can make that mathematical equation. 1,260 days does not equal 1,000 years. Years does not equal the millennium, does not equal the gospel era, does not equal the current era, which, by the way, it's 2,000 years and counting, so it's not even 2,000 years.

45:14And let me tell you, if and they go on to say that the casting out of Satan here accords with the binding of Satan in chapter 20, so what we're looking at in these 1,260 days is really a couple of thousand years where Satan has already been bound. Why is that? And if that is the way we, if, if, and I've got to confess to you right now, I approach Scripture, that I believe that these words have real meaning, that they can be understood in a literal grammatical way, recognizing that symbolic language is used. And if that's not the way I am to interpret this, then I haven't a clue what Revelation says.

46:02Because you could come up with all kinds of fancy ideas that seem to fit for a moment until you start trying to fit all the pieces together and you end up with all these pieces you have to cut and scrap and paste together and then you have to throw out a bunch. But I'm not the first that has said this. Listen to what Charles Spurgeon has said. He says this, I am free to confess that I have not the key to the book of Revelation and dare not say that. Up to be its expositor. Maybe I shouldn't have either.

46:35This is the prince of preachers. Listen to us, what he says. I scarcely consider myself qualified to explain any part of the book of Revelation, and none of the expositions I have ever seen entice me to attempt the task, for they are mostly occupied with the refutation of all the interpretations which have gone on before. And each one seems to be very successful indeed in proving that all the rest know nothing about all the matter. And he says, This: Revelation is a most blessed book, but its unfolding has yet to be accomplished. In fact, he goes on to say, he says, I'm really thankful that the revelation, the promise, is blessed are those who read, and not blessed are those who understand. He says, I can read it, but understanding it. But listen, that's an incredible statement, and I appreciate the honesty of Spurgeon here.

47:35Let me say this: we are at a much different vantage point in human history than he was. The thought that Israel could be back in the land again is not difficult for us to conceive. It is a pleasant, present reality. The thought that another temple could be built is not just plausible, but likely. Jerusalem is now the capital city of Jerusalem. Israel. 100 years ago, Israel wasn't even a state. Israel is again the center of the world's attention. Why in the world would anybody care about this little piece of real estate? It's so small.

48:17Why is there so much attention? Because there is an epic conflict that centers around Jerusalem and the child who is to rule the nations and who will judge the nations there from Jerusalem. That's why. It's the age-old spiritual conflict between good and evil, between self-rule and God's rule over humanity. What is unseen drives what is seen. Satan isn't bound. The conflict is still to come. We've looked at this woman about to deliver, dragon about to devour, a son about to rule, and the God who takes care of his own.

49:12Why are we given this? Why does God want us to know how history ends? He gave us a good, he gave us the prophetic word to understand how history begins, and he has given us the prophetic word. So that we know how history ends. Why does he want us to do that? Why does he give that to us? He's not just writing to a future generation, he is strengthening all the churches through it. We know how history ends.

49:52After all these years, Satan hasn't been able to destroy Israel or her Messiah. And he will not be able to do so in the future either. He is going to preserve all the nations and take out of all the nations his people. He will always take care of his own. And it's not about Israel. It's about the nations. And Israel is one of the nations through whom he is accomplishing something great for all the nations. As I close, and I need to, I want to make a comment just about the agreement from the different approaches to Revelation. I realize there's a lot of different approaches. And in this room, there are a lot of people who are still working through it. We're all still working through it. But there are a lot of different schools of thought. But it's interesting, when you get down to application, we all seem to converge. And I love that.

50:52Even though we may disagree on the details, some may, well, it happened in the past, some it's happening right now, some it's happening in the future. We all agree that Revelation is meant to encourage the churches of all ages. Good does conquer evil. A glorious future does await God's people. We all get that. The eternal state involves a new heavens and a new earth, undefiled by the sins or the effects of sin. His rule is going to come.

51:26And that should equip all of us to look to him, to trust in him, to stand firm in the faith now. There is a spiritual battle that has been raging since the beginning, continues to rage, and we're caught up in the middle of it. But it all boils down to control. And then it gets really personal. Who do you yield control to? Yourself or to God? Accept Christ today. Accept his rule and his reign. He is the good shepherd to lead you in the path of blessing and goodness of God forever. He's very different.

52:24So I'm calling you out of serving yourself this morning in every Form that you can imagine. In every thought, I'm calling you today. Abandon that self and yield to Him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. We thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for the revelation that you give us. We know how human history ends. We know how it began. We know this great conflict that has been raging. We can explain why.

53:02We can explain why there's so much interest in Israel. But even more important, we can understand the struggle going on within our own heart, in our own families, and in our own lives and society. Father, help us to receive your rule. Help us to serve, then put on the mantle of Christ that recognizes people around us are caught up in this deception and destruction. And help us to be vehicles that would champion your grace. Stand firm. The world desperately needs to see a true testimony. Help us to be that testimony for your glory in Jesus' name. Amen.