Title- Revelation Part 2
Text- Revelation 12-22
Review
I. More Tribulation- 12-18
a. The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
b. The Beast from the sea
c. The beast from the earth
d. The Bowl Judgments
i. Painful Sores
ii. The Sea turns to Blood
iii. Waters turn to Blood
iv. Scorching Sun
v. Darkness
vi. Armageddon is Prepared
vii. Hail
e. Religion and Economics during the Tribulation
i. The Harlot and the Beast
ii. The Great City
II. Christ is King- 19
III. The Millennium Reign- 20
IV. The New Heavens and New Earth- 21-22
All right, time for a pop quiz- The main theme of Revelation is… Christ is KING!
For those of you who were gone last week, you really missed out. On Saturday evening we had a guy who came and recited the entire book of Revelation to us from memory. It was amazing. It has so awesome to hear the whole thing all at once like that.
Then on Sunday morning I did my best to unpack the first 11 chapters of Revelation for us. Today I am going to finish up the last 11 chapters of Revelation. But before I do, allow me to offer a quick review for those who where not here last week.
The book of Revelation is a book of prophecy. It is a vision, given to the Apostle John, of the things that will take place at the end of the age.
The first three chapters are a message from Jesus to the seven churches in Asia minor. Jesus offers words of warning and rebuke to the majority of these churches. Some of the churches were tolerating sin, some had become worldly, some were legalistic, and some were cold and dead. The one true church, the church in Philadelphia, is given praise by Jesus for holding fast to the Word of God. Jesus even tells them that because they have kept His word, He will keep them from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world.
The true, faithful church of Jesus will be saved from the wrath of God that is described in the remainder of the book of Revelation here.
Last week we read about Jesus opening this scroll with seven seals. Each seal brought on a new level of destruction on the earth. There was war and famine and death. The seventh seal began a whole new phase of God’s wrath with the seven trumpets. Each trumpet that sounded brought even more destruction to the earth. The trees are burned up, the oceans are struck, the fresh water is poisoned, and there is more death.
With the sounding of the final trumpet we find that Jesus Christ is crowned the ruler and king of all the earth. The kingdoms of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord.
That is the central theme of the book of Revelation- Christ is King. Jesus Christ is worthy to receive honor and glory and thanksgiving and praise, for ever and ever. This book is a great book of worship and adoration to Jesus. Those who read it looking for the secret to the end of the world, or those who read it and want to focus all their attention on the beast or the anti-Christ, are really missing the big picture. This isn’t a book that was written to give us a time table, or a book to help us properly identify the anti-Christ, it is a book to help us see that God is completely sovereign, and that Jesus Christ is king. If you take nothing else away from our study of this book, I hope you at least get that truth.
So today we are going to pick up our study of Revelation at the beginning of chapter 12. At the end of chapter 11 we find Jesus Christ set up as the king of kings. All the kingdoms of the earth are given to Him. Chapters 12-18 really deal in more detail with events that are taking place on the earth during the time of the tribulation. John has already told us about how God had appointed 144,000 missionaries from the nation of Israel to go out and preach salvation. And a huge multitude of people come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ during this time of tribulation.
John told us about these two prophets who are sent out to preach salvation and are eventually killed by the beast.
Even during this time of God’s wrath being poured out on the whole world, His love and grace and mercy still abound. God is still providing opportunities for people to turn to Him. God gives us more grace than we deserve.
Here in chapter 12 we see these amazing signs. These symbolic images. Before we dive in to what these images mean, I have to add another disclaimer this week. So much of the imagery that we are about to read through is confusing and difficult to interpret with 100% accuracy. What I have done is consulted the best commentaries and read what some of the smartest theologians out there have to say about these images. What I have compiled is pretty much the best guess.
I just want you all to be aware that there are a lot of different interpretations of this stuff, but I believe that what I will share is reasonable, logical, and in keeping with the rest of the counsel of scripture.
Look at 12:1-2 with me…
The first sign that John sees here is a woman. There are a total of four symbolic women that are talked about in Revelation. There is Jezebel, who represents paganism and the rejection of God. There is the scarlet women mentioned over in chapter 17 who represents the apostate, false church. There is the wife of the lamb, which symbolizes the true church. And then there is this woman, who I believe represents the nation of Israel.
Then John sees a red dragon, which represents Satan, who is trying to destroy the woman and her child. The child is Jesus. This ongoing struggle between Satan and Jesus is rooted all the way back in the very first book of the Bible. Genesis 3 says…
Genesis 3:14-15 14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 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."
The very first messianic promise in the Bible is that there will be enmity between Satan and Jesus. Satan has been trying in vain to thwart the plans of God since the creation of the world.
In verse 7 of ch 12 we read about this great war in heaven. Satan and his demons fight against Michael, the archangel. And Satan loses. He and his demons are cast out of heaven and confined to the earth. Which is interesting because it begs the question, where exactly is Satan hanging out right now?
It would seem that Satan has some degree of access to roam around the earth and certain areas of the heavens even. When we read the first part of Job, Satan comes before God to accuse Job. Satan must have had some kind of access to address God. This is no longer the case during the end times. Look at 12:10-12…
The remainder of ch.12 is a description of Satan trying to destroy Israel, but God faithfully protects His people. Satan is bound to the earth at this point, and very angry, because he knows that his time is almost up.
Chapter 13 describes the emergence of the anti-Christ. Look at 13:1-3…
This anti-Christ figure is someone who we have already been warned about back in 1 John. He is given power and authority from Satan himself. He is given control over the whole world, he has miraculous powers that amaze the whole world. He blasphemes God and persecutes the saints. And all those who are not Children of God will worship this anti-Christ.
Verse 11 talks about another beast that comes up out of the earth. This second beast is a great false prophet that is also empowered by Satan. This false prophet encourages people to worship the Anti-Christ. The false prophet performs miracles in order to trick people into worshiping the anti-Christ.
The false prophet forces people to worship the anti-Christ, and those who refuse are killed.
Verse 16-18 says…
During this time of tribulation people will be forced to receive a mark on their forehead or hand that identifies them with the beast. As we mentioned last week, the number of perfection is 7. It is God’s number. It represents the day he rested after creation. It is a symbol of God’s perfection.
Man’s number is 6. We were created on the 6th day. The anti-Christ will be this great and powerful world leader, but he will still fall short of God’s perfection. The number is repeated three times. Why, I don’t know.
Now there has been a lot of speculation recently about what this mark of the beast might be. Right now there is the technology available to implant this tiny computer chip into your wrist that has all of your vital information on it. It is already in widespread use to track pets. Your credit card info, your medical info, and everything could be on it. You could have this thing implanted and then never have to worry about bringing your wallet with you when you leave the house. You just have your wrist under a scanner and you are all paid up and ready to go.
I got into a discussion with one of my friends a while back about whether they would get that kind of implant if it were made available. He said, no way. He didn’t want to take any chances.
But it is clear form the context here that the mark of the beast isn’t something that we accidentally get, or are tricked into. It is a mark of worship and allegiance to the anti-Christ. It is a mark that clearly and definitely aligns you with Satan. And it is something that will not happen until the anti-Christ is established.
Is this kind of computer chip going to be the mark of the beast? I have no idea. But what I do know is that the technology to accomplish what this passage is describing clearly exists today.
Chapter 13 shows us what is going on with the anti-Christ and the false prophet and those who worship this false God. But chapter 14 shows us what God has to say about all this. Chapter 14 starts with a picture of Jesus with the saints, poised and ready to judge the world.
Before Jesus harvests, three angels are sent out into the world. The first angel is preaching the everlasting gospel. He encourages people to worship God.
The second angel declares the destruction of Babylon, the great city; which is likely a reference to the sinful, evil, corrupt world system that the anti-Christ has established. It is fallen, and will soon be gone.
The third angel warns that all those who worship the anti-Christ, or receive the mark of the beast will feel the full wrath of God.
Chapter 14 closes with an angel proclaiming that the time has come to reap. Jesus takes His sickle and reaps. And then these angels take their sickles and reap. The time of God’s ultimate judgment on all the ungodly has come.
The final phase of God’s wrath is described in chapters 15-16. Chapter 15 introduces seven more angels who are given seven bowls of God’s wrath. Last week we saw the seven seals that were opened revealing different levels of tribulation on the earth. The seven seals led to the seven trumpets that proclaimed even more destruction on the earth. But the wrath of God is not complete until the unleashing of these seven bowls.
Look at chapter 16 with me…
Thus the wrath of God is completely poured out on the whole world.
Now in chapter 17, John again describes some of the events on the earth during the time that these things are occurring. John describes in a little more detail for us the false church and the fall of the economic system.
Look at 17:1-2 with me…
The true church is the bride of Christ, the false church is a harlot. This false church deceives kings and kingdoms. It is full of blasphemy and sinfulness and abominations. This is describing a religious system that is not only contrary to scripture, it is blasphemously opposed to the true God.
The bulk of chapter 17 is describing the different kings and empires that will be in place during this time. Ultimately these kings and kingdoms will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them.
The harlot, the false church is eventually destroyed by the anti-Christ and he sets himself up as the only focus of worship.
Religion in the tribulation will move from those who are true believers being persecuted, to the establishment of a giant false church, and then ultimately to the idolatrous worship of the anti-Christ. All within the course of a fairly short period of time.
Chapter 18 details for us the fall of the worldwide system of economics. The great city of Babylon is fallen. The world’s system has been destroyed. Everything that the sinful world had been placing their faith in has come to ruins.
Look at 18:1-3 and 8…
There is no more buying or selling. All the luxury and wealth that was there is gone. The kings of the world and the merchants, and all the people of the earth watch in horror as the city is destroyed. They weep and wail and mourn.
What is going on in heaven while all this takes place? Look at verse 20…
Finally, at the end of chapter 18, an angel takes a giant stone and throws it down on that city. And then there is no more music, no more working, no more light, no more marriages, nothing is left. It is utterly destroyed.
Chapter 18 vividly describes the end of the world as we know it. God’s wrath is finally poured out and all those who rejected Him, all those who worshiped the anti-Christ, all those who persecuted the saints have finally been destroyed. Scary stuff.
Ok, so what happens after the end of the world? Well, in chapter 19 we find out, all of heaven rejoices. All the angels rejoice, all the saints rejoice, all the martyred saints rejoice, everyone who has been waiting for the final destruction of the fallen, evil world system rejoices, because the time has finally come. The end is finally here.
In verse 11 the clouds part and Jesus comes down out of heaven clothed in white. And we are all following along behind him, also clothed in white and riding white horses. Jesus is coming to put the finishing touches on things and clean house.
In verses 17-21 it describes the final battle at Armageddon. It really isn’t much of a battle though. Jesus captures the anti-Christ, and the false prophet and throws them into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the place of eternal punishment. It is the final stop for the anti-Christ and the false prophet, and all those who worshiped them. It is everlasting hell.
So the anti-Christ has been dealt with, the false prophet has been dealt with, all the enemies of God have been dealt with, except one… Satan. What happens to Satan? Did he get away? Did God forget about him? Chapter 20 explains what happened to him.
Look at 20:1-3…
Satan is bound and confined for a thousand years. Verses 4-6 describe Christ’s earthly reign during this 1000 years. Also known as the millennium reign. There are many different interpretations of the millennium reign. Some think that it is only a symbolic reign, describing the church age. Some think that it is talking about a period of peace leading up to Christ’s return. I tend to prefer the simple understanding that it is referring to a literal 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ here on the earth in fulfillment of OT prophecy. There just doesn’t seem to be any reason to read it as anything other than that.
After the 1000 years are up the devil is let loose. He gathers together an army for one final battle with God. God simply blasts them and Satan is finally sent to the lake of fire where the anti-Christ and the false prophet are.
The final judgment comes next. This is known as the great white throne judgment. There is a massive resurrection from the dead and all those whose name is not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire for ever and ever.
What about those whose name is found in the book of life? Where will we spend eternity? Chapters 21-22 describe the place where we get to spend our eternity. Take a look at 21:1-6…
Verses 22-26 describes the glory of the new Jerusalem, the eternal holy city of God….
What an awesome promise. No more curse, no more Satan, no more sin, no more suffering, no more pain. Everything made new again. An eternity living in perfect community with God.
Revelation closes with these words, 20-21…
