THE TWO BEASTS
OF REVELATION Part 1
Lesson
17
Review
From the earlier
lessons we have learned how Jesus
will awaken the earth to hear the
everlasting gospel. We have
studied the purpose of the seven
trumpets, their chronological
structure and effects. We have
considered the effectiveness of the
Two Witnesses as represented in the
work of the Bible and Holy Spirit
during this time period.
It is interesting to
know that in Old Testament times, a
person accused of murder could not be
put to death by one witness. Notice
the importance and responsibility of
being a witness: “On the
testimony of two or three witnesses a
man shall be put to death, but no one
shall be put to death on the
testimony of only one witness. The
hands of the witnesses must be the
first in putting him to death, and
then the hands of all the
people.” Deuteronomy 17:6,7
During the time-period
of the trumpets, the gospel goes as a
“testimony” to every nation
and person. Jesus said,
“And this gospel of the kingdom
will be preached in the whole world
as a testimony to all nations, and
then the end will come.” Matthew
24:14 Who gives this life or death
testimony? God’s Two
Witnesses – the Bible and the
Holy Spirit!
Isn’t it
interesting that in Revelation’s
story, no one will be condemned for
rejecting the testimony of one
witness for there will be two!
The unpardonable sin
According to the
Bible, there are two types of sin!
The first type is accidental or sin
that occurs without willful
intention. Hitting your finger
with a hammer and saying a bad word
could be described as an accidental
sin. Sometimes we say things
that are untrue (or not altogether
true) without intending to do so.
John was aware of both types of sin
when he wrote, “If anyone sees
his brother commit a sin that does
not lead to death, he should pray and
God will give him life. I refer
to those whose sin does not lead to
death. I am not saying that he
should pray about that. All
wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin
that does not lead to death.” 1
John 5:16,17
The second type of sin
is deadly and comes from persistent
wrongdoing! Paul wrote,
“If we deliberately keep on
sinning after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice
for sin is left, but only a fearful
expectation of judgment and of raging
fire that will consume the enemies of
God.” Hebrews 10:26,27
Jesus told the
Pharisees, “And so I tell you,
every sin and blasphemy will be
forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be
forgiven. Anyone who speaks a
word against the Son of Man will be
forgiven, but anyone who speaks
against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in
the age to come.” Matthew
12:31,32
The unpardonable sin
is committed when a person
persistently refuses to follow the
leading of the Holy Spirit. According
to Webster, the word blasphemy means,
“taking the prerogatives of
God.” The work of the Holy
Spirit is to lead us into all truth,
but if we refuse to be led into the
knowledge of truth, we reject the
work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Israel refused to follow the leading
of the Holy Spirit and their hearts
and minds became as hard as stone.
Such hardness led them to kill Jesus
and then to justify their deed!
Revelation says the condition of the
world will become like Sodom and
Egypt in Revelation 11:8 This implies
the world will ultimately commit the
unpardon-able sin! Those being
led of the Spirit will receive the
gospel. Those refusing the
Spirit will receive the mark of the
beast.
Satan’s plans
revealed
Thus far in our study,
Revelation’s story (chapters
4-11) tells us what Jesus is
presently doing or will soon do.
As we begin chapter 12, John stops
the progression and tells us about
Satan. God wants His people to
be aware of this wicked foe.
We need to anticipate his actions and
his plans for the last days!
The story of chapter
12
- John sees a
pregnant woman about to give
birth. {V2}
- An enormous
red dragon having seven heads
and ten horns appears. {V3}
- His tail swept
a third of the stars out of
the sky and flung them to the
earth. {V4}
- The dragon
stood in front of the woman
and attempted to devour the
baby boy when he was born.
{V4}
- The woman
gives birth to a baby boy who
will rule all nations with an
iron scepter. This son was
snatched up to God and to his
throne. {V5}
- The woman runs
to the desert for 1,260 days
for protection. {V6}
- There is war
in heaven; Michael and his
angels fight the dragon and
his angels. Satan is
ultimately cast out. {V7-9}
- When the
dragon saw that he was hurled
to the earth, he pursued the
woman for a time, times and
half a time (same time period
as the 1,260 days above).
{V13, 14}
- The dragon
spewed water like a river out
of his mouth but the earth
opened its mouth and helped
the woman. {V15, 16}
- The dragon was
then enraged at the woman and
went off (disappeared) to
make war against the rest of
her offspring (the remnant
people) who keep the
commandments of God and hold
to the testimony of Jesus.
{V17}
Chapter 12 interpreted
Some background
information about this story must be
presented at this point. However,
the conclusions presented here may be
regarded as tentative since all the
details of the story must be included
before reaching a comprehensive
result.
The language of this
story is clearly symbolic. The
great red dragon having seven heads
and ten horns is identified in verse
12:9 as the angel king, Satan.
The Bible clearly interprets the
symbol. John says that war
broke out in heaven between Michael
and his angels and Satan and his
angels. John saw two kings at
war! One king is called
“Michael”, the other
“Satan.”
The angel kings
Two interesting points
can be made here. First,
Michael is the name angel’s used
for Jesus before He came to earth as
a man. (The name Jesus was not
applied to the Son of God until he
was born of woman.) The name
Michael means, “One who is like
God.” The name Michael is
mentioned in the Bible four times.
From Jude 9, we learn that Michael is
an archangel. (In this text,
Michael and Satan have a dispute over
the resurrection of Moses.) The
term “archangel” indicates
ruler ship over angels much like
archbishop means ruler ship over the
bishops. In Daniel 10:13,
Michael is identified as “one of
the chief princes.” In
this verse, Michael comes to help
Gabriel because Satan is causing a
major problem. So, while
Gabriel is working with King Cyrus to
accomplish an important task, Michael
subdues Satan the “prince of
this world” so the task can be
accomplished.
Perhaps the clearest
text demonstrating that Michael is
Jesus is found in Daniel 12:1. This
verse indicates that, “When
Michael arises (“stands
up”KJV). There will be a time of
trouble that has never been.”
We know that Jesus is seated at the
right hand of the Father as our high
priest. The context of Daniel
12:1 favorably compares with the
seventh trumpet of Revelation
11:15-19 which describes the close of
mercy. So, when Jesus stands
up, the ministry of intercession is
ended. The time of trouble that
has never been commences at this
time. This time of trouble is
the outpouring of the full wrath of
God upon those having the mark of the
beast!
Some people don’t
accept the idea that Michael is
another name for Jesus. Usually,
support for this is given in Jude 9
where Michael says to the devil,
“The Lord rebuke you.”
The idea is that if Michael were
Jesus, he would not refer to
“the Lord” as though he was
another person. But this is
not uncommon practice! Zechariah
3:2 says “The Lord said to
Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you,
Satan!’ The Lord who has
chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!
Here Jesus clearly uses the same
language. Jesus asserts His
authority over the devil from time to
time by reminding the devil who He
really is. For example, when
Jesus was tempted by the devil in the
wilderness, He quoted from the Old
Testament saying, “Do not put
the Lord your God to the test.”
Jesus clearly knew who He was and so
did the devil. In this
conversation between Jesus and Satan,
Satan was reminded again that he was
dealing with God.
Each time the term
Michael is used in the Bible, a
controversy with Satan is under way!
The real beauty of knowing that
Michael is Jesus is that the Son of
God identified himself as one of the
angels before coming to earth in the
same way he now identifies himself as
the son of man! He is Michael,
the archangel, to the angels and to
us; he is Jesus the incomparable Son
of Man!
Personal opinion
It is my opinion that
Michael closely identified with the
angels before the fall of Lucifer;
thus, they really didn’t
understand exactly who He was. Christ’s
identity in heaven as an angel,
albeit an archangel or “one of
the chief princes”, was perhaps
one of the reasons Lucifer became
jealous of Christ. Lucifer, the
highest of the created angels, came
to think that he was equal to or
better than Michael. Such
thinking led Lucifer to controversy
and eventually expulsion from heaven.
If this opinion is
true, the phrase, “the
Revelation of Jesus” really
comes into sharp focus. The book of
Revelation is actually the conclusion
of a long process: the revelation of
who Jesus really is! This is
not only true in heaven but to human
beings on earth! Everyone will
know WHO JESUS REALLY IS when the 7th
seal is opened! Then
Michael/Jesus destroys Lucifer/devil
when the Creator destroys the world.
Back to the angel
kings
The second point found
in Revelations 12:4,7-9 is that
Michael and Satan are clearly
recognized as “angel
kings.” The Bible says
“Satan and his angels fought
against Michael and his angels.”
Knowing that Lucifer is an angel king
in Revelation 12 is very important
because the fifth trumpet marks the
appearing of an “angel
king” from the Abyss. See
Revelation 9:11. In the Hebrew
and in the Greek, the angel
king’s name from the Abyss means
destroyer! The angel king from
the Abyss that shall appear on earth
is none less than an apparition of
the devil. The irony of this is
significant. Michael came to
earth as a man to save the world
while Satan appears upon the earth to
destroy the world!
The women
The woman in chapter
12 symbolizes the body of Christ
and/or his children. In Old
Testament times, God’s people
were likened to or symbolized by
women. For example, see Ezekiel
23. In Revelation, the people
of God are compared to a bride!
“Let us rejoice and be glad and
give him glory! For the wedding
of the Lamb has come, and his bride
has made herself ready.” Revelation
19:7
The baby boy that was
born and snatched up to God and to
his throne in this chapter is Jesus.
Satan attempted to destroy baby Jesus
at birth, but was unable. John
says the baby boy will rule all
nations with a rod of iron. An
iron scepter indicates a ruler ship
that will never end – a rule
that cannot be broken! Notice
what John says of Jesus at the second
coming. “The armies of
heaven were following him, riding on
white horses and dressed in fine
linen, white and clean. Out of
his mouth comes a sharp sword with
which to strike down the nations.
He will rule them with an iron
scepter. He treats the
winepress of the fury of the wrath of
God Almighty.” Revelation
19:14,15
The woman is chased
It is clear from the
story that after Satan and his angels
were cast from heaven, he chased the
woman in order to destroy her. If
he could not overcome Jesus, he would
destroy the people of Jesus. John
says, “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 was
given the two wings of a great eagle,
so that she might fly to a place
prepared for her in the desert, where
she would be taken care of for a
time, times and half a time, out of
the serpent’s reach.”
Revelation 12: 6,14
These verses reveal
two important things. First,
the two time periods of the 1,260
days and, a time, times and half a
time are identical and thus
interchangeable. This is
important for Daniel saw the
persecution of the saints for a time,
times and half a time. Daniel
7:25 John and Daniel saw the same
time-period.
If these time periods
are the same, we can apply the
day/year principle used in Daniel 7
(See lesson 9) to Revelation 12.
Historically, this time period is
known as the “dark ages”
and it represents the 1,260 years of
Papal rule which began in 538 A.D.
when the Pope was given civil
authority over portions of Europe and
ended in 1798 when Napoleon took the
Pope captive. John’s view
of the woman’s plight and
Daniel’s view of the persecuting
little horn harmoniously combine!
However, don’t think the war
against the saints is over! Both
Daniel and John saw a second
conflict. John clearly tells us
the dragon prepares for final war
against the remnant of God.
Secondly, we learn
from these verses that the candle of
truth was not extinguished even
though the women had to flee from the
determined reach of the devil. Jesus
cared for the woman in the wilderness
during her time of torment. This
point brings out a very important
truth about the plan of salvation.
Even though Satan has tormented and
persecuted the people of God through
evil and wicked people for a long
time, JUSTICE IS COMING. PAYDAY
SOMEDAY! Every person will meet
his or her Maker – face to face
– someday. Every deed,
action and thought will be revealed
– someday. Every wrong
will be dealt with – someday.
The war in heaven
When did the war in
heaven described in Revelation 12:4,
7-9, take place? The war
between Michael and Satan began
before the world was created and
ended during the time Jesus lived
upon earth! From Isaiah
14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 we
learn that Satan was in heaven before
the world was created. According
to Revelation 12:4, his tail (perhaps
tale would be appropriate too) swept
a third of the angels out of heaven.
He was cast out with the angels loyal
to hum. Evidently, Satan’s
followers felt his arguments were
justified for they joined him in
rebellion.
Even though they were
cast out of heaven, Satan and his
angels were allowed to live. This
point distresses a large number of
people! But consider the
alternative. If God had
immediately destroyed Satan and his
followers on the grounds of
disagreement or rebellion, what would
the faithful angels in heaven have
thought? They would have
thought, “If you disagree with
God, you’re as good as
dead!” They would have had
clear evidence that God is not love
and that He does not grant the power
of choice. The argument of
Lucifer would have been justified!
Lucifer had accused God of always
wanting things His way. Lucifer
said that there were other ways,
better ways of doing things. So,
in His infinite wisdom, Jesus allowed
Satan to live so that everyone might
see what righteousness and evil are
all about.
For some time, Satan
and his angels could attend certain
functions or meetings in heaven as
representatives of a new government.
One such meeting is described in Job
1. As the consequences of sin began
to appear over time, the universe of
God’s creation began to
understand what “the knowledge
of good and evil” really is.
When Adam and Eve ate from the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, the
entire universe became spectators of
a great drama that would last 7,000
years. Earth became the theater
of the universe.
When Jesus came to
earth as a baby, the heavenly host
saw the full malignity of sin
exercised against their beloved
commander. Satan lost no time
attempting the destruction of Jesus!
The holy angels were livid with
indignation. The real nature of
sin was fully exposes for what it is.
And when the universe observed the
death of Jesus on Calvary, whatever
interest they had in Satan’s
claims against God was fully
terminated. They saw Satan for
what he really was; a self-centered
liar, a murderer and a thief.
The war against Satan
and his angels described in
Revelation 12:7-9 was concluded on
resurrection Sunday. Remember
Jesus ascended to the Father that
morning before meeting with His
disciples that evening. See
John 20:17,19. While Jesus was
in heaven that day, the war between
Michael and Satan which lasted some
4,000 years was concluded. Satan
could never again enter heaven.
War ends on
resurrection Sunday
There are three
important reasons for this
conclusion:
- First, just
before his crucifixion, Jesus
told his disciples that he
came into the world to
glorify the Father through
death. Jesus said,
“Now my heart is
troubled, and what shall I
say? ‘Father, save me
from this hour’? No,
it was for this very reason I
came to this hour…Now is
the time for judgment on this
world; now the Prince of this
world will be driven
out.’” John
12:27-31 Jesus knew that his
death would forever deprive
Satan from access to heaven.
- The second
evidence showing this war was
concluded at Calvary is found
in the actual context of
Revelation 12. “Then
I heard a loud voice in
heaven say: ‘now have
come the salvation and the
power and the kingdom of our
God, and the authority of his
Christ. For the accuser
of our brothers, who accuses
them before our God day and
night has been hurried
down.’” Revelation
12:10 This verse clearly
associates the salvation of
man and the casting out of
Satan as simultaneous events.
Even more, this verse clearly
points out that Satan,
“the accuser of our
brothers, has been hurled
down.” If the war
between Michael and Satan was
concluded before the world
was created, Satan could not
be the accuser of the human
race (angels call us brothers
– Revelation 19:10) for
no one existed before the
earth was created!
- The last
reason supporting this
conclusion is that the
chronological structure of
the story in Revelation 12
supports it! Revelation
says, “When the dragon
saw that he had been hurled
to the earth, he pursued the
woman who had given birth to
a male child.”
Revelation 12:13 From the
story we have a chronological
sequence of three events:
the birth of Jesus, the
casting down of Satan, the
pursuit of the woman into the
wilderness.
Consequently, the final
eviction of Satan from heaven
has to follow the birth of
Jesus and be prior to the
persecution that began in 538
A.D.
1260 Years of Papal
Rule
Birth
538
1500
1776 1798
1844
Today
Attempts
Chases
Spews water
America
Makes
war
To kill Jesus
woman
out of his
Established
on remnant
To desert mouth
The Sequence of
Revelation 12
What about the heads
and horns?
The seven heads and
ten horns and seven crowns are part
of the red dragon-like beast in the
beginning of this story. Even
though the heads, horns, and crowns
are not mentioned again in chapter
12, their purpose and function
becomes very important as the story
progresses. We will see their
function in the next two lessons.
Important
chronological sequence
Revelation 12 presents
a broad four-part sequence by the
dragon-like beast that needs our
attention.
- First, the
dragon intended to devour the
offspring of the woman as
soon as her child was born.
- The dragon
pursued the woman for a
specified time-period.
- The dragon
spewed water out of its mouth
to sweep the woman away.
- The dragon
becomes enraged at the woman
and prepares for war against
the last of her offspring.
We’ve already
studied the first two steps of this
sequence. But notice the third
element. John sees the
dragon-beast spew water from his
mouth to sweep the woman away. What
does this mean? Water is used
as a symbol in this prophecy. We
read in Revelation 17:15 “The
waters you saw, where the prostitute
sits, are peoples, multitudes,
nations and languages,” Knowing
this is symbolic and knowing the
meaning of the symbol, we can
interpret what John saw. Satan
spewed peoples, multitudes, nations
and languages out of his mouth to
sweep the woman away. In other
words, Satan flooded the wilderness
church with people to corrupt Truth.
How and when was this done?
Satan attempts to
drown the true church
Generally speaking,
the 16th century marked
the dawn of a new age – the
Renaissance. Scientific thought
and investigation gained attention.
Truth and light about the laws of
nature, medicine, geography, physics
and theology began to inch forward.
Knowledge is power and power controls
the masses. As truth about
various subjects began to develop,
the iron grip of the Roman Church
upon medieval life began to slip.
People throughout Europe were anxious
for more freedom (see any parallel
today?) Church control over
society had reached a deplorable
level and many longed for liberty of
conscience and freedom of speech.
To hold the power
struggle in check, Roman clerics and
their political pawns resorted to
torture and persecution to hold back
the tide of change. Under the
guise of righteousness and in the
name of God, the Church of Rome had
millions put to death! God
raised up mighty men of valor to lead
the people toward more truth. One
such man was Martin Luther. It
has been said that he “broke the
power of a hundred Roman popes”
with the simple truth that salvation
comes by faith!
The call for
reformation grew like wildfire across
Europe. But like many
well-meaning movements the pendulum
swung too far. Pursuit of truth and
freedom destabilized Europe, and the
chaos that followed brought even
greater ruin. The pursuit of
freedom became corrupted with the
pursuit of power.
As truth prospered,
the Church lost power and the Holy
Roman Empire began to collapse.
A fearful struggle commenced
throughout Europe that would last two
centuries. For the most part,
the men and women fighting for
political control were no better than
their predecessors. (In our day
we often see the same process in
small countries. One terrible
dictator is overthrown only to be
succeeded by another just as bad.)
After two centuries of anarchy,
Europe in general, and France in
particular, reached a point of
self-destruction. A reign of
terror occurred in France (1793-1796)
and by historical standards, is
considered to be the world’s
bloodiest revolution.
Notice how Satan tried
to overpower the reformation with
people. In very simple terms,
the reformation started with a noble
goal – the pursuit of freedom
and truth. This pursuit
destabilized religious and political
powers. People seeking control
took advantage of the movement and
the call for spiritual reformation
became lost in a mad rush for power.
Just as tiny leaks breaks open an
earthen dam, the quest for freedom
broke the bonds of church and
government alike. Anarchy
reigned throughout Europe. Eventually,
France, the leading nation in Europe
at the end of the 18th
century, convulsed in a horrible
revolution. At the end of the
holocaust, France, in legislative
assembly declared, “there is no
God”, and crowds celebrated by
burning all the precious Bibles (many
were hand-written) that could be
found.
Notice the
thoroughness of Satan’s work.
He infiltrated the Reformation
movement with evil people and then
led the masses of Europe too not only
reject the teachings of the Papacy
but to reject the Bible as well!
Europe today is still strangely
indifferent to spiritual matters.
In France and England, only 3% of the
population regularly attends church!
John tells us,
“But the earth helped the woman
by opening its mouth and swallowing
the river that the dragon had spewed
out of his mouth.” Revelation
12:16 Jesus opened up a vast piece of
real estate to help the wilderness
church. This verse describes
the emergence of a new world – a
continent called North America.
This new place became a haven for
those seeking truth and religious
freedom. Since it was largely
uninhabited, those seeking political
power were not attracted, for without
people, there is no political power.
Millions of Europeans
followed the pilgrims to this great
country in search of a land where
freedom of worship was an inalienable
right. It is for this very reason
that America has a constitution built
on noble and righteous principles.
Our forefathers were concerned more
with truth and righteousness than
personal power!
The Declaration of
Independence in 1776 occurred right
on time. According to
revelation 12:16, “the earth
helped the woman by opening its
mouth.” The third section
of the four-part sequence of
Revelation 12 is clearly seen. Twenty-two
years later, in February, 1798, the
1,260 year time period allotted to
the Papacy ended as Napoleon
inflicted a deadly wound upon the
Papacy by putting the Pope in prison.
The Christian Church, like the Jewish
Church 1800 years earlier, was
brought down.
But Satan isn’t
finished
The last part of the
four-step sequence in Revelation 12
ends by saying that Satan is really
angry! “Then the dragon
was enraged at the woman and went off
to make war against the rest of her
offspring – those who obey
God’s commandments and hold to
the testimony of Jesus.” Revelation
12:17 Why is Satan so enraged? Notice
his string of failures in this
chapter: He failed to snuff out
baby Jesus. He failed to
destroy the truth through 1,260 years
of persecution and he failed to
overcome the truth with a flood of
people.
But there is something
that really enrages the dragon.
It is something greater than his
failures. The Bible says,
“The dragon was enraged.”
What is it? The devil is
enraged about 1844! Satan knows
that 1844 marks the beginning of the
appointed time of the end. He
knows that Jesus is concluding the
plan of salvation in heaven. He
knows that he is going to lose.
He knows that his remaining time is
short. John said, “But woe
to the earth and the sea, because the
devil has gone down to you! He
is filled with fury, because he knows
that his time is short.”
Revelation 12:12 So the devil is
enraged knowing that the end of time
has come. His work and
existence are about over. He lost
every battle with Michael. Filled
with rage, Satan prepares for the
final war upon the children of God.
Two chronological
points
Two points need to be
made: Remember, John tells a
four-part sequence in Revelation 12
that progresses chronologically from
the birth of Jesus to the time of the
remnant. In other words, the
story begins with the birth of Jesus
and ends with the dragon preparing
for unrestrained warfare on the last
people or remnant of God! The
remnant is identified as obeying
God’s commandments and holding
to the testimony of Jesus! The
gates of hell are about to swing open
to the remnant.
Secondly, we see that
revelation 13 clearly describes the
warfare that Satan is about to
conduct on the remnant! It will
be global. It will intense and
it will affect every man, woman and
child on earth. You will be
amazed at the forth-coming
achievements of Satan!
The purpose of Chapter
12 is quite simple. It
chronologically prepares the stage
for the war described in Chapter 13.
This war affects the remnant and the
remnant need to know what Satan is
about to do!
Quiz
- What is the
unpardonable sin?
- Who is
Michael?
- What does the
idea, “the dragon chased
the woman to the wilderness
for 1,260 days” mean?
- What does the
idea, “and the dragon
spewed water out of his mouth
to sweep the woman away”
mean?
- What is the
purpose of Chapter 12?
Memory verse: “But
woe to the earth and the sea, because
the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury, because he
knows that his time is short.
Revelation 12:12
Notes:
[TOP]
