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Psalms
107:29-43 He calms the
storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for
His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the
assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders. He turns
rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land
into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a
wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings. There He makes
the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place, And sow
fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also
blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle
decrease. When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression,
affliction and sorrow, He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander
in the wilderness where there is
no way; Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. The
righteous see it and rejoice,
And all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.
Father God I pray that you guide those in Washington DC
in matters pertaining to the Syria situation. Open our ears, mind, and hearts
with this lesson and cause each of us to stop and think very seriously where
our hearts are pertaining to our relationship with you Jesus. In Jesus name we
pray, Amen!
Revelation 12:4-9 NKJV
This
week’s lesson is about the birth and survival of Israel during the last half of
the Tribulation. It will be a time of great hardship for Jew and Gentile
Saints. The Antichrist will be searching for those that bear the mark of God to
persecute them.
4 His tail
drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon
stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon
as it was born.
His
tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth; The first part of this verse is about
Lucifer’s fall from God’s grace. As mentioned in previous lessons Lucifer was a
mighty and beautiful angel. One of the greatest, but his power and beauty went
to his head and his pride convinced himself that he was greater than God and
attempted to overthrow God. This resulted in him and his followers being cast
to earth. Presently he roams the earth and causes all kinds of havoc of evil
nature to get back at God. Satan is the cause of God’s chosen people not to
believe, he has deceived them for centuries. Isaiah 14:12 "How
you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
The word “drew” indicates
that other angels were drawn to Lucifer, no doubt through Lucifer’s smooth
tongue. Do you know people that have a smooth tongue and can charm people into
buying things they don’t need like maybe a timeshare, boat, new car, etc.? How
does this happen? The person plays with our emotions, good feeling nature, and
the desire to please our flesh. Satan does the same thing through temptations
to satisfy our carnal desires.
And
the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her
Child as soon as it was born;
The dragon is Satan and the woman is Israel. Keep this in mind as we go through
this chapter because Satan’s goal is to destroy God’s people the Israelites, the
144,000, and anyone that gives their heart to Jesus. The verse above tells us
that Satan opposes God’s children, “You
who weakened the nations!” Am I saying that God is going to save all
Jewish people, no, what I’m saying is that there will be a great multitude of
them saved during the Tribulation. That is why they are under God’s protection
until Jesus returns to rule.
In this verse devour means
to consume; eat up; destroy spiritually; to take ownership of one’s soul to
serve Satan. 1
Peter 5:8 Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
This verse uses Jesus
birth as a similarity as to what Satan will be doing during the last half of
the Tribulation. Just as Satan was standing by to destroy Jesus after his
birth, he will be standing by to destroy God’s people in the last 3 ½ years of
the Tribulation, but he will fail just like he failed to destroy Jesus as a
child.
Just as Satan attempted to
destroy Jesus as a child by using Herod, he will use the Antichrist to try and
destroy Israel. Satan was behind the scenes whispering in Herod’s ear the same
way he deceived Eve. He was appealing to Herod’s carnality by means of pumping
up the desires of power and pride, resulting in Herod ordering all children of
two years of age and younger to be killed. Herod didn’t want anyone to threaten
his kingship. Matthew Chapter 2 tells
us about this event.
In the last couple years
of the Tribulation Satan will be working overtime to deceive God’s children
through the Antichrist because he will know that his time is coming to a close
here on earth and will be locked away in the pit. He will be hunting down Jews
and Born Again Saints by means of the Antichrist and his followers and killing
them. They will be looking for those that have not taken on the mark of the
beast. Anyone not taking on the mark of 666 will oppose the Antichrist and all
that he will stand for. Six represents man and man was made on the sixth day.
We will be getting into the mark of the beast in Chapter 13 in more detail. Food
for Thought; When the last half of the Tribulation comes about, will people be
walking around with the numbers 666 stamped on their forehead or hand, or will a
micro chip be implanted under the skin, like dogs now get a chip implanted to
identify who they belong to? What a repulsive thought that is, to belong to the
Antichrist.
5 She bore
a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was
caught up to God and His throne.
She
bore a male Child; Here
again this verse is a simile of Jesus birth and the birth of the Israeli people
during the Tribulation period, meaning the Jewish people will recognize who
Jesus is and give their heart to Jesus. Who are these people? They will be
12,000 Jews from each of the 12 tribes, in other words the 144,000.
Who
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; We do know this that Jesus and all of His Saints, Jew
and Gentile that have glorified bodies, will rule with Jesus and He will rule
with an iron rod during the Millennial Reign. The 24 Elders and the twelve
tribes of 12,000 each have a common denominator and that being 12 which is Gods
prescribed number for government. There were 12 Tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles,
12 Gates to the City, 12 foundations, etc.
And
her Child was caught up to God and His throne; This phrase again compares Jesus
resurrection into Heaven with the 144,000 being resurrected or protected by
God. Those that believe in a mid-tribulation rapture believe the 144,000 will
go to Heaven along with all other believers at that time. We don’t really know
how these 144,000 are taken to Heaven before Jesus returns. It could be they
are caught up in God’s protection when they have their Spiritual Birth. I
believe the next verse holds the answer.
6 Then the
woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that
they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Once again we have a
comparison of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flight from Bethlehem to Egypt and the
flight of those that become believers during the Tribulation to a place of
safety that God will provide. God takes care of His children and will provide a
place of safety for them. God protected His Son twice so that His plan of
salvation through the finished works of the Cross could be carried out. Matthew
2:13-15 Now when they had departed,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying,
"Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there
until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy
Him." 14
When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for
Egypt, 15
and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY
SON." Matthew 2:19-22 Now when Herod was
dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying,
"Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." 21 Then he
arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of
Israel. 22
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father
Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned
aside into the region of Galilee.
The place of safety for
Israel during the last half of the Tribulation is a place called Petra. This
place is ancient Petra located in the Jordan wilderness. Wilderness is defined
as a place of remoteness, no people, desolate, a place to hide, a place to be
hidden, etc. No doubt God will lead His Chosen people and Born Again Saints to
this place of safety and provide for them during the final part of the
Tribulation.
7 And war
broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the
dragon and his angels fought,
This war is a spiritual
war fought in Heaven. This isn’t the fall of Satan, it is a war to evict Satan
and his band of evil forces from the Heavenly realm. Why has Satan been allowed
to access Heaven since his fall? We don’t know. It is one of God’s mysteries.
Could it be so that Satan could be used in many different ways to bring about
God’s will? Is Satan used in such a way in people’s lives to bring about
repentance and salvation when life gets so bad it is unbearable?
8 but they
did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the
great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him.
Satan and his followers
are defeated and thrown out of Heaven for ever. They are cast to the earth to
live the last few years before they are locked in the pit for a thousand years.
Satan knows this and he will be very angry and this is one reason the last 3 ½
years of the Tribulation will be so bad. Satan will be out to destroy as many
of God’s children as he can because of his defeat. He won’t hold anything back and
it will be through the Antichrist and his followers that Satan will avenge his
defeat. He will take his anger out on believers.
Food
for thought; Jesus ministry on earth was 3 ½ years long. The Great Tribulation
is 3 ½ years long. The Israelites rejected Jesus during His ministry which
caused Jesus heart to ache, but in the end He was delivered by God. The
Israelites that accept Jesus as their Messiah will have to suffer through 3 ½ years
of terrible times, but in the end will be delivered.
If you
are on the fence and can’t decide if you believe all this, I understand your
feelings. I was also once that way 5 years ago. The more I read the Bible the
more I believed in what it said. I made a commitment to God because I didn’t
want to take a chance that what I was believing in would cost me everlasting
life in Heaven. I knew the Bible was proclaimed by many to be true so I finally
decide to place my trust in Jesus 100%. I’m so glad I did because I found out I
was relying on mans doctrine and self beliefs for salvation. When I bowed down
to Jesus in repentance the Bible verses came alive and the Holy Spirit unlocked
scripture so that I could fully understand what was being said. This also has
given me the Assurance of Salvation. So I encourage all to read the prayer
below, understand what it says, repent and ask Jesus into your life. You have
nothing to lose but everything to gain, Eternal Life!
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War
in Heaven
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Art used; by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
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Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him
and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God."
Sinners
Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am sorry for my
sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful lifestyle.) of all my
sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all of my sins. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from my
sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and right
now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are the Son
of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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