DESTROYING FORTRESSES
Revelation 12:13-17; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For the person in Christ Jesus the enemy is defeated. Ultimately the devil cannot defeat a child of God. The Christian overcomes by the blood of the Lamb. This does not suggest that the devil and his angels are not working against the Christian…they are working overtime.
THE DEFEATED DRAGON
1. Remember that the great red dragon stood before the woman and desired to devour the child (v. 4). The woman was the people of God and the child was Messiah. The dragon tried to devour the child through Herod’s persecution and thought he did through the cross. But Jesus defeated “him who had the power of death and hades” and the dragon was thrown down.
2. Remember that the great dragon was thrown down “to the earth” (v. 9). He was defeated and cast from heaven as were his followers but this does not mean they were annihilated ceasing to exist.
3. Remember that the devil has come down to the earth “having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time” (v. 12).
4. This frustrated dragon no longer permitted in heaven is now seeking vengeance on the people of God, the woman, because of her association with the child, Jesus (v. 13).
5. The woman was given “wings of the great eagle” so she could escape to the wilderness and be nourished (v.14). As Moses was a type of Christ and salvation from Egypt was a type of our “great salvation”, so similar language is used to describe God’s protection for His people when the enemy pursues. “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4). God Himself protected and “nourished” Israel in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 32:10-11). “Time, times, and half a time” means 3 ½ years (Time = 1yr, times = 2yrs, half a time = 1/2yr) and equals 42 months or 1260 days as mentioned in verse 6. This could mean that after the victory in Jesus the “great persecution didn’t begin for 3 ½ years later i.e. the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1). For more on this, see my sermon “Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy”.
THE DRAGON’S FLOOD
1. From the serpent’s mouth came forth water like a river (v. 15). It is important to recognize that whatever this flood represents its source was the serpent and its purpose was to sweep away the woman.
2. The immediate context seems to indicate that the flood consisted of great persecutions. Keep in mind the dragon set out to devour the child by killing him. The accounts found in the book of Acts and the letters particularly from Peter address perseverance under many kinds of trials and persecutions. John, in this book, said he was “a fellow partaker in the tribulation” (1:9). History also records the great persecutions in Jerusalem ending in its eventual destruction in 70AD. Having said that it is wise to remember Satan’s goal in the persecution of Job was that Job would curse God to His face. Knowing that life nor death or any other created thing could separate a child of God from the love of the Father, Satan will try to cause the child to choose to leave the Father and curse Him. Persecution is one thing he uses to do that.
3. While this text may not directly teach it, we know that Satan’s main weapon of warfare is deception. He “deceives the whole world” and is even called “liar” and “father of lies” (John 8:44). In my opinion Satan has caused a flood of doctrines to keep men from the truth or to lead them away from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1).
4. The Dragon also uses sin to control and enslave a man. Again this is not just to occupy their time but to get them to curse God and turn from Him seeking to serve themselves and their lusts. Those in sin are said to be “held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26). Sin often produces a condemning spirit of the brothers and sisters of the one who fell into sin and eventually can cause alienation, disunity, and hatred i.e. more sin. This is what Paul wanted to guard against in Corinth (2 Corinthians 2:10-11).
5. But the earth helped the woman. How did or does this happen? Some possible explanations:
a. In Moses’ day the earth literally opened up and swallowed the sons of Korah (Numbers 16:31-33) but I do not believe that happened here. It seems that the earth “drank up the river” possibly meaning that the world or non Christians swallowed up all of these false doctrines concocted by Satan i.e. Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, and other world religions.
b. It could also mean that earthly governments would not allow persecutions to the extent that Satan wanted and in this way laws prevented him from working with freedom.
c. In the same way that the flood wasn’t literal water maybe the earth isn’t literal land. Interestingly enough, the ones that Satan uses to persecute the people of God can be the very ones that God uses to bless His people. Saul of Tarsus was a great persecutor of the church until he met Jesus and then he was a great warrior FOR the church. Jesus and Ananias didn’t fight back with sword and arrows but rather with spiritual weaponry. This is the manner of kingdom fighting and warfare – our battle is not against flesh and blood!
THE DRAGON SLAYERS
1. The dragon’s fury and war was focused on the woman’s children, the male child’s brethren, “who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus”. Let the church not be deceived in thinking that she is above persecution and the wiles of the devil. For she is the very target of his labor. He is “enraged” with the woman and “went off” with the expressed purpose to make war. Nothing from Satan is good or for our welfare. It is all an act of vengeance and destruction to in some way harm the woman and by association Jesus.
2. While the outlook may look grim at this point, hear what the Spirit affirms “3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). This is Christian warfare. As we have shown in previous lessons, spiritual warfare is over the souls of men and women not their bodies. The outcome has eternal consequences. The battle is being waged this very moment in all of our lives. Onward Christian soldier!
a. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses or strongholds. God has equipped us with everything we need to be victorious in battle. We are destroying speculations and lofty things against the knowledge of God. No man-made ideologies or creeds or disciplines are enough to ward of the great red dragon but what God has given us in Christ makes us more than conquerors. We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Satan wants to captivate us and allure us away from God by grasping our attention with the things of this world. While God tells us to set our mind on things above. But we destroy these things with our weapons and with our armor, the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10:17).
b. The gifts given to the church is to equip us for spiritual warfare (Ephesians 4:11-16).
c. The elder’s charge is in relation to spiritual warfare as the shepherd is to protect the sheep from false doctrine and feed them on the word of God (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28-30).
d. The evangelist’s charge is in relation to spiritual warfare teaching the people of God the word of God and curtailing false doctrine (Acts 6:4; 2 Timothy 4:1-5).
e. The parent’s charge is in relation to spiritual warfare and teaching their children the things of God (Deuteronomy 11:18-20; Proverbs 22:6; Isaiah 38:19; Joel 1:3).
f. Every Christian’s charge is to engage in spiritual warfare (1 Peter 5:6-11).