Revelation 12

The Four Beasts of Revelation

#1.   The Great Red Dragon

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Remember this:

 

Revelation 12:1-6 is a Lucifer versus God prophecy and the next prophecy, Revelation 12:7-14:5, is a Lucifer versus the church prophecy.

 

The story in Revelation 12:1-6 tells us of Lucifer’s failure to kill Jesus at birth…. What is more bitter to the carnal heart than failure and humiliation? All of the demons must have been surprised to see Lucifer fail at killing baby Jesus. Then, after torturing a sinless Jesus and killing Him on the cross, the devil failed again.

 

A watching universe rejoiced as the Father raised Jesus from the dead. That empty tomb became the devil’s destiny. Lucifer and his demons experienced another bitter defeat at the tomb. The resurrection of Jesus sealed their fate. They are destined to suffer in the flames of hell. They will writhe in pain as Jesus and the saint’s watch. The demons know there is no chance of escaping hell. ZERO! 

 

I have mentioned these things because I want you to understand something of Lucifer’s anger and bitterness. This is why I believe predatory violence is a “telltale” sign of demonic possession. Lucifer and his demons are so full of rage toward God that violent destruction is their most powerful expression.

 

I have spent a lot of time talking about demonic possession because every Christian needs to understand the enormous violent energy that will be released against the saints during the Great Tribulation. The devil and his demons are “hell-bound” and they are on a tear to destroy everything that belongs to God.

 

Revelation 12:5   says the male child was snatched up to God’s throne.

 

After Jesus ascended to Heaven, Lucifer attempted to destroy the woman and fled to the desert.

 

The desert is a harsh place to live. The devil tried to starve the women to death, but he failed again. God had prepared a place of survival for her. Ultimately, this short story contains a glorious promise that we need to understand. A time is coming when Jesus will rule all nations with a rod of iron – the phrase, a rod of iron, indicates a sovereign rule that cannot be broken. The unending victory of Jesus is paralleled from Plan A in the words of Isaiah:

 

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

 

Isaiah 9:7   Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

 

Interpretation:

 

The woman in Revelation 12 represents the virgin bride of Christ. (Revelation 21:9)

 

The love relationship between Jesus and His people is compared to that of a bride and bridegroom in the book of Revelation. (For purposes of contrast, the great whore in Revelation 17, the woman riding on the beast, represents the people who will embrace Lucifer as Lord and Master.)

 

Listen carefully, the bride of Jesus is not a denomination, it is not ‘a remnant church,” in fact, the bride is not predominately made up of Christians for there were no Christians at the time of Christ’s birth! The virgin bride of Christ consists of all people who love God, those who follow and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

 

When Revelation 12 begins, the woman is in pain to be delivered. Notice the chronology: The woman precedes the birth of Jesus and the formation of Christianity. The pregnancy pain indicates the appointed time for “deliverance” had come.

 

Galatians 4:4   But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, under the law,

 

Galatians 4:5   to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

 

The devil is ready for the birth of Jesus. He is poised to kill the male child as soon as He is born. Now that we know about Lucifer’s efforts to kill Jesus at birth, let’s see how this was accomplished through demonic possession:

 

Matthew 2:16   When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learnedfrom the Magi.

 

Matthew 2:17   Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

 

Matthew 2:18   “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  

 

Why did Herod kill all baby boys, two years old and under?

 

I believe that Herod set these parameters because the wise men had been traveling for about a yearand if Jesus had been born when they first saw the star, His age would have been between one and two years.

 

The Bible indicates that Jesus was born in a stable (Luke 2:7) and I assume that after a day or two of staying there, Joseph found a house where his family could stay. After Joseph, Mary and Jesus moved into this house, the Magi arrived.

 

Matthew 2:11   “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and incense and of myrrh.”

 

The Magi didn’t show up at the stable, so let’s get all of these nativity scenes corrected. Incidentally, for reasons beyond today’s discussion, I believe that Jesus birthday occurs on the Day of Atonement. I like to think of the 10^th day of the seventh month as the birthday of our Atonement.

 

Ironically, the Day of Atonement in 4 B.C. fell on what we call October 31, Halloween. I also believe that demons have transformed the birthday of Jesus into a day devoted to themselves.

 

But, the primary point in Matthew 2 is that Lucifer influenced Herod to kill every baby boy in an effort to kill one baby boy. This is predatory violence!

 

Here’s a good question:

 

How should the guilt of this genocide be assigned? Should Herod’s guilt be the same as Lucifer’s? I think so. Both should be assigned 100% of the guilt.

 

Lucifer wanted Jesus dead at birth and He would have killed Jesus Himself if that had been possible. So I give him 100% responsibility for this horrible crime. I believe that Herod was demon possessed. He was a totally evil man. He was so self-centered and insecure that any threat to His authority had to be promptly destroyed. He wanted Jesus destroyed so badly that he was willing to kill all of the baby boys in Bethlehem to eliminate one child.

 

So, Herod is due 100% of the guilt that goes with this crime. So, the murder of a hundred (?) innocent baby boys now rests upon Herod and Lucifer and restitution for the grief and suffering they caused surely awaits fulfillment.

 

We can be sure that God will fully extract the appropriate suffering from Herod and Lucifer when hell begins…. “Payday Someday.” 

 

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