Bible Story Rev: Great Battle

Introduction

You open in your Bibles to Revelation chapters 12 through 20 as we continue in our study in this fifth lesson of the great book of Revelation, the unveiling, the apocalypse, the panoramic view of God’s dealings with man, which John had revealed to him on the Isle of Patmos toward the end of the first century. These things were written in signs and symbols in Oriental imagery, depicting great principles and truths of God’s dealings with men. In the first three chapters, we have the introductory part of the book, letters addressed specifically to the congregations in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea in Asia Minor in the first century, concerning things that would shortly come to pass. John was told what you see, write in a book and send to those congregations.

The book of Revelation is the letter that He sent to them. We have in writing what John saw. Great eternal principles are set forth. And perhaps the main point is that in the midst of duress, persecution, tribulation, and opposition, the child of God is always ultimately triumphant. There will be dark days of despair and adversity, but we can say with Paul in Romans 8:18, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that should be revealed. And perhaps Job 13:15 has a fitting application. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. The child of God walks through the valley of despair into the glorious sunlight of the pasture of God’s redemptive love.

In chapters 4 through 11 of Revelation, we have the seven sealed book. And as we review briefly, it dealt with dealt with the chaos in the Roman Empire of the first century. Internal decay, external invasion, natural calamity that overwhelmed the Roman Empire and ultimately called it caused it to crumble into the dust. And then also we dealt with the saints of God underneath the thrones, dejected, seemingly defeated, the cause for which they died in obscurity. But God would raise this cause. Truth crushed to earth will rise again. And thus the spiritual resurrection of the cause of God, of the truth of God, truth never dies. And then we find that John was told to take the little book and eat it up. The word of God was sweet to his taste and bitter in his stomach, as he digested the contents and portents of the revelation of God’s will against the wicked.

1. The Devil Wars Against the Lord and the Church

And then a final appeal is made in chapter 11 to come out of her, O ye my people, come out of Babylon, indicative of the sinful, rebellious harlotry of the world. And then last time we discussed chapter 12, which introduces the third section of Revelation, chapters 12 through 20, the great battle between heaven and hell, God and Satan, right and wrong. And sometimes it seems evil will dominate the scene. But always, ultimately, truth gains the ascendancy. But in chapter 12, the devil wars against the Lord, and then against the church. You know, Satan, that old deceiver of the whole world, Revelation 12.9, desires to have us, Luke 22, 31. And our faith must not fail. Hebrews 12 15. As workers together with God, we shall not receive the grace of God in vain.

2 Corinthians 6 1. But the devil works as a crafty chameleon, a lizard-like animal that can adapt his spots and colors to its environment. And the devil knows how he can get us. He knows our weaknesses, and thus we’re to be sober, be vigilant, for our adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. First Peter 5 8. We need to stand against the wiles of the devil, Ephesians 6 11, and resist the devil, so he will flee from us, James 4 7 and 8. The devil also is an active adversary. The Bible word in the original language for our word Satan is spelled almost exactly like the word adversary. And he is the one who would gain our souls if we’d let him.

And he also is a diabolical demon. The Greek word for devil is diabolos, from which we get diabolical. And Satan is truly our diabolical enemy. And he would do all that he could to sap our spiritual strength and take us under in the world of iniquity and cause us to spend eternity in the quagmire called hell. The devil then is very active, and we must ardently war against him. The devil is active in the open animosity and immorality of the world. Read the front page, the amusement pages of your newspaper every day, and you’ll see the devil at work in the pornography, the licentiousness, the salacious literature of the world. That’s one realm the devil definitely works in, and we need to be on guard against him.

He also works in mock Christianity in denominationalism, and with great lying wonders, he deceives even the very elect. Those who receive not a love of the truth that they might be saved, receive instead a strong delusion that they might believe a lie and be condemned. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 through 12. And Paul said in the first century, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. And then also we find in the devil’s work that he works within the body of Christ, causing soldiers in the army of the Lord to turn their backs upon the captain of their salvation, even Christ, Hebrews 2 10. And when he can get one of us to be guilty of treason, to go back to the world, to leave the Lord, to enter error, then he has gained a victory too.

2. The Beast of the Sea and the Land

And that’s what Revelation chapters 12 through 20 is all about. The active, ardent, zealous work of evil the devil and his emissaries perpetrate upon society. And thus we need to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, Ephesians 6 10 to 12, for we wrestle against spiritual wickedness in high places. In chapter 13, we’re introduced to perhaps the most challenging chapter in the book, and one that has caused the greatest controversy. When the devil was not able to defeat the Son of God nor the church of the Lord, then he engaged two of his powerful friends. John was able to see in this drama before his eyes, dragons, grotesque beasts coming up out of the sea or out of the land. The beast of the sea evidently represents restless materialism.

And if the devil can’t get us in false systems of religion, he can overwhelm us in our love of money, first Timothy 6, verse 10, in the things of the world that cause us not to love God, 1 John 2, 15 to 17. And the beast of the land who tried to look like a lamb fills the prescription the Lord gave for the false prophets of Matthew 7, 15 and 16. So, through false systems of religion, emperor worship being the major concern in the first century to these brethren, and the three hundred denominations of today being the great enemy of the soul of many people in our day, and then materialism that will overwhelm men in love of money, in the love of things, of stuff, of junk that perish with the using.

Seeing then that the earth and the works therein should be burned up, all these things should be dissolved. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness? 2 Peter 3, verse 11. And so the beast of the sea and the beast of the land try to overwhelm mankind. In chapter 18, we’ll find that that which was temporary gain for evil men will become permanent loss. For Babylon, indicative of ancient Rome, evil Rome, would be consumed, and the merchant men, the seamen who made their material gain from that city, would weep because in one hour so great riches is come to naught. When we’re lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, 2 Timothy 3 4, we’re really dead while we live.

Revelation 3 1, 1 Timothy 5 6. Many times I’ve been asked what is meant by the mark of the beast in Revelation 13. There are those who teach that when the Lord comes, that if we continue to worship on Sunday instead of Saturday, we will then have the mark of the beast. There could never be anything more far-fetched than that in all the history of religion. In the chapter 13 of Revelation, when he speaks of the mark of the beast being 6, 6, 6, he is simply using the imagery of the first century. Nearly every city had a number as a name, nearly every person did, certainly every world leader did. And this mark of the beast was emperor worship, which caused them to be the slaves of the emperor and to bow down to him in the trade guild temples erected to the deification of the emperor.

Octavian Caesar in the year 27 changed his name to Augustus, meaning the August one, the one to be reverenced, revered, worshipped. And he erected temples around this part of the Roman Empire to his own deification, much like Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had done in the days of Daniel. And if they would not bow down to the emperor, they could not buy or sell or get gain, as chapter 13 of Revelation says, because they wouldn’t be a member of the trade guild, which was in connection with emperor worship in the temples. And so the child of God, the one who did not have the mark of the beast, the one who was not stamped as the slave of the Roman Emperor, could not for a while buy and sell and get gain.

In Disman’s brilliant book, Light from the Ancient East, a Baker republication, it’s so famous. Mr. Diceman chronicles and documents the fact that in the first century the ancients also had a number for Jesus. You know what his number was? Eight eight eight. The number seven was a term of completeness or perfection. It’s used all the way through the book of Revelation. Seven stars, seven angels, seven spirits, seven churches, seven golden candlesticks, and so forth. Well, that was perfection, completeness, absoluteness. Anything short of that was devious and hellish. And so the mark of the beast, the imprint, the stamp of the emperor in this uh slave market spiritual degradation arrangement was 666. But those who belonged to Christ were even beyond the perfection of seven. Christ’s number was eight eight eight.

3. Those Who Followed the Lamb Whithersoever He Goeth

And that’s in harmony with history of the first century and the things which John saw. But the whole point is these beasts of the sea and the land came up out of the abyss straight from hell, empowered by the devil. When he couldn’t get the job done by himself, he reached down into the abyss of torment into Gehenna and caused some of his friends to afflict the people of God. In chapter 14, we have the beautiful statement in verse 4 of those who had followed the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, those who were on Mount Zion, redeemed, ransomed from sin in the devil’s hell, because they had followed the Lord whithersoever he goeth. And that’s the only way that we can walk the golden strand of glory someday.

There are those who jump into chapter 14 and grab the 144,000 and try to make that literal and say that’s exactly how many will be in heaven, and everybody else who’s saved will dwell on God’s glorified earth. But if you’d read chapter 7 and chapter 14 carefully, you would find in this picture of imagery of symbolism that every one of them were virgins and every one of them were from the tribes of Israel. Now you going to make that literal. How can you multiply twelve figurative numbers and come up with one literal number? And also he said there was a great host which no man could number in addition to the 144,000. A man would be a little far-fetched to go to a book of symbolism and allow one or two statements there to contradict every plain thing the Bible says elsewhere.

Jesus said, Whosoever will, let him come, Revelation 22, 17. He is our forerunner to heaven, not his glorified earth, Hebrews 6, 19 and 20. He is now in heaven for us, Hebrews 9 24. And he went to prepare a place for us, and he’ll come again and receive us unto himself, that where he is, there we may be also. John 14 3. The people who teach the theory of God’s glorified earth and say they don’t want to go to heaven but dwell on God’s glorified earth. Forget that the Bible says heaven is God’s throne and the earth is his footstool. Why would any rational being want to dwell on God’s footstool when he could dwell in his throne? The Bible teaches no such thing as the watchtower people are affirming.

And then in chapter 15 we read that these redeemed ones sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. In Exodus chapters 14 and 15, God delivered in a miraculous way his people from Egypt, from Pharaoh, from bondage, from captivity, from oppression of evil. And after they went through the Red Sea is on dry ground, then they sang a song of victory and said, This day has the Lord saved us out of their hand. They sang the song of Moses and the Lamb, those redeemed under Moses through the blood of Christ, Hebrews 9 15 to 17, and those delivered by the Lamb of God Himself under New Testament Christianity. In chapter 16, we read the word Armageddon, but you will not read the phrase the battle of Armageddon.

That phrase isn’t in the Bible. Armageddon conjured in the minds of the people, a famous battleground of old testament days. Confrontation in the physical realm, and now applied to the spiritual battle we face against spiritual wickedness in high places. And at Armageddon, sometimes the good men did not win the temporary skirmishes. But ultimately, the people of God will triumph. We’re more than conquerors than him that loved us. For I am persuaded neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The beautiful closing refrain of Romans 8 tells us we’re more than conquerors than Him that loved us.

4. Come Out of Her, O Ye My People

If God before us, who can be against us? He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And thus, time is filled with swift transition. Whole to God’s unchanging hand. In chapter 17, the great harlot city of Rome is depicted, ancient Rome that persecuted the Church of God. And in vivid language, deep imagery, the sensuality, the ungodliness, the immorality of that ancient civilization, is depicted. How corrupt they had become. Actually, Rome that could not be defeated or destroyed from without, crumble from within because of its lack of family life, its lack of purity, its lack of dependence upon God Almighty. In the old testament, Babylon was the great enemy of God’s people.

For seventy years they captivated the people of God, the kingdom of Judah, the followers of Jehovah. And thereafter, Babylon is often used in symbolism depicted any nation, any people that would war against God’s will. And the cries made again, come out of her, O ye my people. As in chapter 11, as in 2 Corinthians 6, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. And I will receive you, and you shall be unto me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves of all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the sight of God. And in this great struggle between heaven and hell, God and Satan, truth and error, that we have been studying since chapter 12 of Revelation, we find that the great enemy of the people is the wicked ancient civilization of Rome.

The persecution they meted out to God’s people was truly intense. For a time they treated the Christians very congenially. In fact, in Acts chapter 2 and other places, they were just as cordial as any nation could ever be toward God’s people. But later, under Nero and Domitian, they became despotic, dictatorial, and they even feared the surging power of Christianity. And thus in the book of Revelation, we have reveal the same principle of 1 Peter 4. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice in that year partakers of Christ’s sufferings, and when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye.

For the spirit of glory of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf or in this name. And the book of Revelation sets forth the intense hatred and opposition of the Roman government toward New Testament Christianity at the end of the first century. Revelation chapter 17 tells us of the need for absolute purity and integrity among God’s people, lest they be identified with the world and lost with the world. And that’s ever a challenge to us today.

We must withdraw from ungodliness, 1 Corinthians 5. We must keep the church and ourselves pure. 2 Timothy 2.19. Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 1 Thessalonians 5.22, abstain from all appearance of evil. Keep thyself pure, 1 Timothy 5.22. And thus we must ever remember that evil companionships corrupt good morals, 1 Corinthians 15 33, and thus awake to righteousness and sin not. We need to cease from the habitual practice of sin, 1 Peter 4.1, lest we be identified with the world that will be destroyed by the breath of his power at the coming of Christ. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And thus there is an ardent reminder to us in this chapter that we must quit being worldly. We’re not of this world, Jesus said, John 15 19.

And one of these days when the judgment peals forth, if we have been with the world, we’ll be destroyed with the world. And he’ll say, Depart from me, I never knew you. But there’s another very brilliant thought in chapter 17, and that’s verse 14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with him are called and were called with the gospel, 2 Thessalonians 2.14, and chosen, chosen in Christ Jesus to be conformed the image of his Son, God’s Son, Romans 8:29, and faithful. Be thou faithful unto death, and I’ll give you a crown of life, Revelation 2.10. He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved, Matthew 10:22.

I’ve fought a good fight, I’ve finished my course, I’ve kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give to me in that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that have loved his appearing. 2 Timothy 4, 6 through 8. And thus we have a vivid contrast, a line of demarcation, a vast chasm between the people of God and the people of the world, Babylon, the mother of harlots, the abomination of the earth. And verse 18 of Romans 17 says, And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. We need to pray for the rulers of all the world, first Timothy 2, that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life in all tranquility.

We need to honor those who are in rule, 1 Peter 2:17, obey the rulers, Romans 13 1, but always say with Peter, we ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5 29. And when any corrupt nation begins to demand of its people, of its citizenry, ungodliness, immorality, we must take a bold and courageous stand for God. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them, Ephesians 5 11. And if there is one area where members of the church have let the Lord down most of all, it’s in becoming more and more like the world, talking like the world, dressing like the world, acting like the world, engaging in the pursuits of pleasure that the world does, and then wondering why we don’t have a firmer commitment to God and a greater influence upon ungodliness.

5. In One Hour Is Thy Judgment Come

Revelation 17 will be a constant reminder as long as we live of the absolute call back to purity, to Christ’s likeness, following his steps, who did no sin, neither was God found his mouth. First Peter 2:22. In Revelation 18, we read that the sins of these evil people had reached unto heaven. 18 verse 5 of Revelation. My sins are not hid from thee. Psalm 69 5, my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only of I sinned, cried David in Psalm 51 3. And King Saul said it for every sinner. I have sinned, I’ve erred exceedingly, I played the fool. 1 Samuel 26 21. We need to stand in awe and sin not, Psalm 4 4, lest we one day have it said of us, the stench of your sins have reached into heaven.

And when we sin against our own soul, Abacuc 2 10, we’re in serious trouble. Jeremiah said it in conjunction with Revelation 18, a parallel thought. Jeremiah 3 25, we lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us. For we have sinned against God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. Sin separates a man from God, Isaiah 59, and the wicked are like the trouble see when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God to the wicked. And that statement of Isaiah 57, 20 and 21 reminds me of Jeremiah 51 5 and Jeremiah 17 1. The whole land is filled with sin, and write the sin of Judah with an indelible pen.

For strong is the Lord God who judgeth us. Revelation 18 8. In one hour so great riches is come to naught. In one hour is thy judgment come, verse 10 and verse 17. And so this wicked city goes up in smoke. In the imagery, John beheld, depicting the overthrow of materialism. Jesus said, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rusteth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

And he spoke of these rich men, these mundane interests, coming to naught, even as the cattle on a thousand hill, grazing contentedly, and yet the next day their neck will be chopped off in the slaughter. And he says, That’s the way it is with those who put their trust in uncertain riches and not in the living God. 1 Timothy 6 17. So in Revelation 18, those who once were able to buy and sell and get gain because they had the imprint of the emperor worship upon them, because they were bond slaves of idolatry, now are not able to buy and sell and get gain, and the Christians who took a stand for God and were shuffled off in the back of the line for those who would get food in a time of famine and draught.

Now they are blessed of God. Thus we need to hold on. The last story has not yet been told. I still think one of the best illustrations I’ve ever read is of the two farmers who live side by side. One was a Christian, the other wasn’t. The Christian never missed services on Sunday or Wednesday night or any other time in gospel meetings to tend to his crop. The non Christian thought he was crazy and laughed at him. He said, I’ll have a better crop in October than you do. I’ll have a better yield. And the Christian said, But God doesn’t settle everything in October. We need to see, channel through to the end, to realize that in the end we’ll receive eternal life. First Peter 1 13.

In hope of eternal life, Titus 1 2. In the world to come, eternal life, Mark 10, verse 30. And thus we need to live for God now and overcome evil. Then in the last verse of chapter 18, we read, In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Much like Matthew 23, 37, Jesus wept, O Jerusalem, saying, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sinned to thee. How often would I have gathered thy children unto me as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings? But ye would not. One day the iniquity of evil men will be visited upon them. The soul that sinneth it shall surely die. The wages of sin is death.

6. The Word of God Will Judge Them

There is no way to escape the righteous judgment of God. In chapter 19, we have the awesome scene of the wine press of God’s wrath. There’s a feast being prepared for the Lamb of God and those who would come to the marriage feast of his bride, the church. And yet there are others, evil men who are feasted upon by birds of prey. Vultures who hover over these sinners, who are about to die in sin. Jesus said in John 8, You shall die in your sins, and where I go you cannot come. You see, the Lord has some friends too. The devil empowered two friends, the beast of the sea and the beasts of the land, and they’re overwhelmed, and those who followed them are overcome. But now the two friends of the Lord to fight against the devil and the beasts of the sea and the beasts of the land, the sickle of judgment, the harvest of souls.

The judgment day is coming, and the word of God will judge them properly. Jesus is referred to as the Word of God, the Logos, John 1 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He is referred to as the Word in Hebrews 4 13. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight. All things are open and naked before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. But we also have the written word, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, Ephesians 6 17, which word is quick and powerful and sharper than two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit of the jointed marrow, and is a discerner of the thought and intent of the heart, Hebrews 4 12.

Jesus said, The word that I have spoken unto you, the same will judge him in the last day, John 12 48. Now you’re clean through the word which I have spoken unto you, John 15 3. These many passages tell us that we’ll be judged by the word of God someday, Revelation 20, verses 12 through 15. And so the piercing, powerful, penetrating word of God, projected from, proceeding from the mouth of the word himself, personified, coming to slay in judgment, with a sickle of harvest, those who have bowed down to the devil, materialism, false systems of religion, those who have not committed their souls unto him, unto their creator and well being. We need to understand that Revelation depicts the awesome scene that will one day unfold.

Conclusion

And if we have lacked the courage to stand up for God, if we’ve compromised with the world, when the circle of judgment falls, when the wine press of God’s wrath is finally known, we’ll be weighed in the balance and found warning. Daniel 5, and it will be said of us, The God who made you, Him you have not glorified, will die without honor. 2 Chronicles 21:20, and we’ll have nothing precious to remember there. Nehemiah 2:20. The book of Revelation is a very penetrating, piercing, powerful book.