Introduction

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What would you say is the biggest issue facing the world today?  What is our biggest problem today?

• Given the past 2 years … you might say COVID … or now Monkey Pox

• Perhaps you think it’s climate change.

• How about the growing influence of China … or the overreach of Russia?

• If you listen to social commentators on the left of politics … they will point to things like racism, transphobia, income inequality and … Donald Trump.

• Those on the right will point to dangers such as Woke politics, gender fluidity, climate change hysteria and cancel culture.

There’s plenty of contenders.  Like if John Adams was right … that ‘every problem is an opportunity in disguise’ … then our world is RIPE with opportunities right now … is it not?  Yet the problem with that list is they’re all human problems.  You see religion, biology, commerce, sociology, politics … are all human issues.  And if we analyse our world in purely human terms … we risk coming up with very superficial solutions.  What our passage today tells us … is that our biggest problem in life is not human … it’s spiritual.

Revelation 12 and 13 form a third ‘interlude’ in the book of Revelation.  So if you recall … Revelation 7 was an interlude between the 6th and 7th seals … outlining how God’s people are protected.  Then Revelation 10 was an interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpets … outlining how God’s people are to handle God’s word.  Well Revelation 12 and 13 … that we’re looking at over 2 Sundays … form another interlude … between the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls.  And THIS interlude pulls back the curtain of history … to show us our greatest issue in life is not physical … it’s spiritual.

The message of Revelation chapter 12 is that we have a great adversary called Satan … who is very powerful and very rageful.  And this dragon … as he’s described here … uses his power and his anger to attack God’s people.  And if we are not aware of his attacks … and are not equipped to face them … then we’re sitting ducks to this most dangerous of foes.  The point of Revelation 12 is to open our eyes to the very real spiritual battle you and I are in … AND give us the weapons needed to defend ourselves.  But on top of that … it's just an amazing passage.  My family read the Bible together every night at the dinner table.  And whenever we finish a book of the Bible … I ask my kids what they’d like us to read next … and pretty much every time they say ‘the woman and the dragon’.

And I’ve got 4 points today to help us unpack this amazing passage.  So we’re going to begin by looking at who the dragon in this passage is … and what he’s up to … which I’ve titled (i) The Dragon’s plans.  We’ll then see how comprehensively these plans fail … which I’ve titled (ii) The Dragon’s defeats.  Point 3 will then outline how the dragon responds to his continual defeat … which is titled (iii) The Dragon’s rage.  And we’ll conclude by looking at how it is you and I can defend ourselves against this rage … which I’ve titled (iv) The Dragon’s kryptonite.  And this is where the real gold of this passage is found.  Satan HATES it when Christians are taught how to use these weapons against him.  So … let’s dive in and see how we can resist this very dangerous foe … by looking at (i) The Dragon’s plans, (ii) The Dragon’s defeats, (iii) The Dragon’s rage, and (iv) The Dragon’s kryptonite.

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The Dragon’s plans

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And our passage begins with a GREAT sign appearing in heaven … of a radiant woman … v. 1-2 … followed by an enormous red dragon in v. 3.  Yet as we’ve been learning across this series … we’re not to take this imagery literally.  Revelation is what is called apocalyptic literature … literature revealing the future.  And apocalyptic literature is to be read symbolically … unless otherwise stated.  Now you may say ‘well hang on a minute Brendan.  I thought as evangelicals we’re supposed to read the Bible LITERALLY … unless otherwise stated’.  And that is true … except when it comes to apocalyptic literature.  And the reason we KNOW this … is because the Bible tells us so.

We’re introduced to apocalyptic literature in the OT.  So for example … in the book of Daniel … King Nebuchadnezzar is given a dream about the future … where he sees a giant statue with a gold head, a silver chest, bronze legs and iron feet.  Yet when Daniel interprets this dream … he says each of those sections REPRESENTS … SYMBOLISES different kingdoms in the future.  The Bible ITSELF tells us to read apocalyptic literature symbolically … unless otherwise stated.

And we see this once again RIGHT HERE in our passage.  We’re told the dragon represents Satan … v. 9.  It’s right there.  And Satan has 7 heads … symbolising that he is setting himself up as some kind of ‘perfect’ ruler.  The number 7 denotes perfection in the Bible.  And his 10 horns symbolise military strength.  In the words of George W. Bush … he is not to be misunderestimated.

Then there’s the child … which v. 5 tells us is Jesus.  The phrase ‘he will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre’ is a quote from Ps 2 … which is about the Messiah.

The WOMAN however, is a little more difficult to identify.  Upon first reading … you would be forgiven for thinking this woman is Mary … the mother of Jesus.  Yet down in v. 17 we’re told the dragon goes off to quote … ‘wage war against the rest of her offspring’.  And who are her offspring?

Revelation 12:17 (NIV) … those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

So while Mary had other physical offspring after Jesus … this description is referring to Christians.  And so most commentators believe ‘the woman’ is the people of God.  The crown of 12 stars in v. 1 likely represents either the 12 tribes of Israel … or the 12 apostles … or BOTH.  In the letter of 2 John … the same author of this passage writes to ‘the chosen lady and her children’; a reference to a church.  So this woman is the people of God … who technically gave birth to Jesus … did they not?

And we’re told that AS this woman is in the stirrups … about to bring forth the Messiah … the dragon is there ready to quote … ‘devour her child the moment it was born’ … v. 4.  It is a grotesque image.  But what it shows … is that what lies behind King Herod’s plot to kill the baby Jesus in Matthew 2 … is Satan.  Behind the Jewish leaders who plotted to kill Jesus … is Satan.  Behind Judas and Pilate … is Satan.  What this passage tells us that behind all the HUMAN problems we may see around us … is a terrible adversary … bent on devouring the Messiah and his people.  The biggest issue the world faces today … is Satan.

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The Dragon’s defeats

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Yet thankfully … behind Satan … is God.  As dangerous as Satan is … do not mis-underestimate him … he is the world’s biggest loser.  And the reason he’s the world’s biggest loser is because he keeps picking a fight with the world’s biggest winner.  And this passage outlines several defeats the dragon suffers.  The first one is described in v. 7:

Revelation 12:7-8 (NIV) Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.

This is describing Satan’s fall from heaven.  From this passage and a few others … we believe that in his enormous pride … Satan thought he could usurp God’s throne.  And like the Liberal and Labour parties in recent years … Satan rings around to see if he has the numbers to support this coup.  And he builds an army of angels to try and kick God out of office.  This army is presumably the stars he flung to earth in v. 4.  But notice … GOD doesn’t fight against Satan here.  The archangel Michael does.  Why?  Because Satan is not God’s equal.  In fact Satan wasn’t even up to the task of fighting the archangel Michael.  Michael and his angels defeat Satan and his angels … who are thus exiled from heaven … from paradise … forever.  Only a fool would mess with their creator!

Yet Satan doesn’t learn.  He tries again when God the Son is sent to earth.  Yet he is defeated once more:

Revelation 12:5 (NIV) … And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

So John skips over Good Friday and Easter Sunday here … going straight from Christmas to ascension day.  But his point is … the dragon is defeated HERE too.  Satan THOUGHT he was getting one back on God … by killing God’s Son.  Yet what Satan fails to realise … even to this day … is that God only ever gives Satan enough rope to hang himself.  The reason Satan asked God if he could kill all of Job’s family … steal all of job’s possessions … and take all of Job’s health … was in the hope that Job would renounce God … and thus dishonour God.  Yet the exact opposite occurred.

And it’s the same with the cross.  Satan KNEW Jesus was on earth to save his people.  Satan KNEW that as a perfectly righteous judge … God could NOT simply let sinners off.  Satan KNEW Jesus was here to rescue people from our sins.  And so he tried to KILL Jesus.  The only reason God allowed him to do so … was because unbeknownst to Satan … that was HOW Jesus rescued his people; by taking the punishment WE deserve upon himself.  God gives Satan just enough rope … to hang himself.

The Dragon’s THIRD defeat … only hinted at in this chapter … is yet to happen in real time.  It’s prophesied about later on in Revelation.  But at the end of days … the dragon will be sent to the Abyss for all of eternity … with all the other created beings who were foolish enough to mess with their creator.

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The Dragon’s rage

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Until that time though … the Dragon is still on the loose … and he is enraged … v. 17.  And his soul goal now … is to wage war on the woman … i.e you and me.

Revelation 12:13-14 (NIV) When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.

So 3 things with this:

Firstly … the woman … the church … flies to the wilderness.  The wilderness is a symbol BOTH of testing and provision.  God tested the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness … but also provided for them.  In the same way … the church is suffering for a time … but is cared for by God.

Second … the church is going to be in the wilderness for ‘a time, times and half a time’.  It’s another way of saying 3 ½ years … or 1,260 days … v. 6.  Now we’ve seen this number before.  So what does this 3 ½ years refer to?  Well to ancient Israelites … it was a famous number.    So if we were to say to an American … ‘four score and 7 years ago’ … they would know that refers to the time between the Gettysburg Address and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  It’s a famous number for them.  In the same way … 3 ½ years was famous in Israel … because that’s how long the Maccabean revolt went for.  The Jewish festival of Hanukah … recalls the 3 ½ years … from 167-164BC … when the Maccabean family ran a guerrilla campaign against the tyrannical and brutal Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  So when Revelation refers to 3 ½ years … or 42 months … or ‘a time’ … 1 year … plus ‘times’ … 2 years … plus ‘half a time’ … it symbolises a prolonged time period … that WILL come to an end.  It’s LONG … but not eternal.  And in Revelation … it refers to the time between Jesus first and second comings.  So the church … you and me … will be in the ‘wilderness’ … being oppressed … until Jesus returns.

And thirdly … the eagle is an OT symbol for salvation … to be carried on eagle’s wings.  So the woman … is given the power to protect HERSELF against the Dragon.  Now God HELPS as well.  Although the dragon wants to wipe the woman out completely … v. 15 … God causes the earth to swallow Satan’s torrent.  Yet while Satan is not permitted to destroy the church completely … his rage is no less real … and not to be ignored.

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The Dragon’s kryptonite (v. 11)

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But these eagle’s wings bring us to our 4th and final point.  How is it we can protect OURSELVES from Satan’s attacks.  God isn’t said to CARRY us on eagle’s wings here … he gives US our ONW eagle’s wings … to protect OURSELVES.  Well v. 11 tells us there are 3 weapons the church has at its disposal to triumph over Satan.  And like I said at the beginning … Satan HATES it when Christians are taught how to use these weapons.  They are his kryptonite.  So let me read v. 11 to us again:

Revelation 12:11 (NIV) They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

So we have 3 weapons listed here … that Satan will do everything in his power to stop us from using.  The question is … are we going to let him?  There’s a famous speech … that I’ve mentioned before … given at the very first American Superbowl … by the coach of the Green Bay Packers … Vincent Lombardi.  Lombardi is considered by some as the greatest sporting coach of all time … and the Superbowl trophy is named after him. Well at half time in the 1967 Superbowl … the Green Bay Packers were up against the Kansas City Chiefs 14-10.  But the chiefs had actually outplayed the Packers … making more yards … winning more first downs … AND they’d just scored right before the whistle.

During the traditional half-time address by the coach, Lombardi stood up … folded his jacket over a chair … and walked slowly to the front of the room … saying ‘I want to talk to you men.  I want to tell you something’.  He said ‘you’ve just played 30 minutes of football … adjusting to Kansas City.  You’ve probably experienced everything they had to throw at you.  And you’ve survived.  But now … I want you to play 30 minutes of Green Bay Packers football.  Let’s see if they can adjust to you’.  Friends … in our spiritual war with Satan … we can either adjust to his game plan … or make him adjust to ours.

So our first weapon is the blood of the lamb.  Satan HATES this weapon.  Do you know why?  Because it takes away his right to accuse us:

Revelation 12:10 (NIV) … For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

Satan LOVES accusing people of sin … because it hamstrings Christians.  When Christians are weighed down with guilt and shame … we think things like (i) God doesn’t WANT to hear my prayers right now, (ii) God doesn’t want the likes of ME telling people about him, (iii) I’m not WORTHY to serve him … I’m too sinful.  Do you ever find yourself thinking things like this … that you’re not worthy of God?  That’s Satan getting in your head.

What Satan HATES Christians realising … is that the blood of the lamb has paid for every sin we’ve ever committed … and ever sin we ever will.  So every time Satan tries to accuse Christians before God … Jesus stands up and says ‘objection your honour … that sin has already been paid for … in my death’.  And God says ‘sustained’.  Friends … when Satan places nasty thoughts in our head about not being worthy of Jesus … don’t entertain those thoughts.  That’s adjusting to Satan’s game plan.  Instead … make him adjust to ours … and remind yourself you are forgiven … and that God WANTS you on his team … fighting for him.

Our second weapon is the word of our testimony … it’s telling people about Jesus … and about how amazing he is.  And let me tell you … Satan HATES Christians sharing their faith.  Why?  Because the way 99% of people turn to Jesus is by being told about Jesus.  MAYBE … the odd person will pick up a Gideon’s Bible when there’s nothing else to do in their Hotel Room.  But the WAY God usually saves people … is by Christians telling them about Jesus.  And so Satan will put all manner of thoughts into our heads to discourage us from doing so.

• ‘They’re not going to listen to you’

• ‘You don’t know enough to tell them about Jesus’

• ‘It’s not the right time … maybe next week’

• ‘They’ll look down on you … or reject you’

• ‘They’ll never come to church … no matter how many times I ask’.

Have you ever had thoughts like that?  ‘Oh … only every day Brendan!’  Friends … when Satan places thoughts like that in our head … don’t listen to him.  That’s adjusting to Satan’s game plan.  Instead … make him adjust to ours … make HIM have to play defence when we tell people about our amazing saviour.

Our third and final weapon against Satan is ‘not loving our lives so much as to shrink from death’.  Christians around the world face this every day.  So the example we used in Bible study this week was ‘if a terrorist puts a gun to your head and demands you renounce Jesus or die … what do you do?’  Now here’s the thing.  Self-preservation is a gift from God.  He has designed us to want to protect our life.  That’s why we get cold shivers down our spine when we walk too close to a huge cliff drop.  We’re SUPPOSED to love our lives.  What Satan LOVES … is when we love our lives more than Jesus.

Friends … courage is not having the guts to do dangerous things.  It’s having the guts to do important things.  Calling out someone for sexual harassment MIGHT be dangerous.  It MIGHT blow back on us.  But it’s important.  Satan LOVES it when Christians think their lives are more important than declaring allegiance to Jesus.  And he gives us all manner of excuses to do so:

• I can just recant later on

• Think of the good I can still do for Jesus if I’m still alive

• Who will look after my kids if I’m dead?

Yet those excuses are us adjusting to Satan’s game plan.  Instead … make him adjust to ours.  Make him have to deal with the HONOUR that Jesus gets every time a Christian puts Jesus before their own life.

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Conclusion

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And THAT’S how we triumph over Satan.  We stop adjusting to his gameplan … and make him adjust to ours … through (i) the blood of the lamb … that takes away his ability to accuse us and hamstring us, (ii) the word of our testimony … that makes HIM have to deal with people hearing about Jesus, and (iii) not loving our lives more than honouring Jesus in our death?

Before the Breen Bay Packers went on to win the first Superbowl 35-10 … Lombardi finished his half-time speech by saying ‘are you the world-champion Green Bay Packers?  Don’t answer me in here.  Get out on that field and answer me’.  So let me close by asking us … are we the courageous army of Jesus?  Are we going to adjust to Satan’s game plan … or make HIM have to adjust to ours?  Don’t answer me in here.  Get out there and answer me.