Sound The Trumpet : Revelation 12:4

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“Revelation 12:4”
by Art Sadlier
September 18th, 2020

In verse 1, we saw Israel as represented by the woman. In verse 2, we saw the Nation of Israel travailing over the centuries to bring forth the Messiah, the Son of David, the Savior of the world. Last week we saw the dragon, Satan. We saw that he was and is the power behind the thrones of this world. We see that he will be the power behind the last days' kingdom of Antichrist - the ten-toed Revived Roman Empire that Daniel foretold.

Now in verse 4, we see some of the history of Satan's war with God!

"And his tail drew a third part of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:" The war between God and Satan began when Satan usurped God's authority and rebelled against God. We read about the nature of that rebellion in Isaiah 14: 12-17. Satan said, "I will", five times. "I will ascend into heaven." "I will exalt my throne above the stars (angels) of God." "I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation." "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." "I will be like the most High." Now at this point, we learn a very important lesson! Without understanding this fact we will not fully comprehend the background for the whole biblical message. The contest between God and Satan is a war of the will. The conflict between man and God is a conflict of the will. God's kingdom is a kingdom of voluntary wills, It is made up of men and women who have joyfully surrendered their wills to the Lord. God's kingdom is a kingdom of love. A kingdom in which God has chosen to love and bless men and a kingdom in which men have voluntarily chosen to love and worship God.

That is precisely the reason that God has chosen to allow the contest between Himself and men to go on without force. That is why God has tolerated Satan's rebellion so long without the use of force. That is why God tolerates man's rebellion to go on down over the long ages. God is not interested in robots, not even the angels are robots, He could have created robots if He had wanted them. This is the key in understanding God's dealings with man. Yes, God does foreknow the hearts on men, and He works according to His foreknowledge, drawing men to Himself, but that in no way changes the fact that God limits Himself to the free expression of man's will. God gives grace to those who will respond to Him, but that grace is a response to a seeking heart. God tolerates Satan to continue, even though his heart is fixed against God, Satan is God's tool to test the hearts of men and allow them to be drawn out.

"And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the ground", Satan after his rebellion set about to entice the angels to follow him in his rebellion. Evidently one third of the angels did that. From Rev. 5:11, we learn that there are perhaps billions of angels. The number of angels that follwed Satan is evidently hundreds of millions or even billions.

"And did cast them to the earth," These were cast out of heaven and to the earth when they rebelled along with Satan. Is it any wonder that Satan has been able to create such havoc in the world. We also know that some of these fallen angels have been bound in hell and are awaiting future judgment, Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4.

"The dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." The tense of the verb here indicates that this attempt of Satan to destroy Israel is an ongoing thing. Satan has known that Christ will come from Israel and terminate his kingdom on earth, Gen.3:16. Satan as a result hates Christ and knows that he must destroy Christ or be destroyed by Him.

This warfare has gone on since Satan's rebellion, but now in This chapter we have an outline of how this war will proceed and terminate.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13