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Psalms 107:17-28 Fools,
because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were
afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the
gates of death. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He
saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And
delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give
thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works
to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And
declare His works with rejoicing. Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do
business on great waters, They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in
the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves
of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
man, And are at their wits' end. Then they cry out to the LORD in their
trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses.
Father God we pray for those in Syria that have lost
loved ones from the release of chemicals. We also pray for those that have
caused this tragedy that they will repent of their wicked ways and accept Jesus
into their hearts. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Revelation 12:1-3 NKJV
This
chapter contains a great deal of information and is very controversial.
Basically it is all about God’s plan of redemption for people and how Satan
attempts to stop it. It talks about Jesus His birth, life, death, and
resurrection. It talks about Satan’s fall, his attempt to destroy God’s plan of
redemption, and being cast to the earth and barred from Heaven. It jumps from
beginning to end and then back. It speaks of the spiritual and physical worlds.
A
brief synopsis looks like this; Verses 1-5 Satan’s conflict with Christ and His
work of salvation; verses 6, 13-16 Satan’s conflict with the faithful of Israel;
verses 7-9 Satan’s conflict with Heaven; verses 10,11, & 17 Satan’s
conflict with believers. So bear with me and I pray that I can explain it so
that it will make sense.
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland
of twelve stars.
A similar description
appears in the Old Testament, Genesis
37:9 Then he dreamed still another
dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another
dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to
me." This is
Joseph speaking of his dreams to his father and brothers, and he being the 12th
star. Joseph represents a saviour to the Israel just like Jesus. Joseph was
mocked, ridiculed, and shunned, called many names, etc. just like Jesus. He was
sold out by his own people just as Jesus. He disappeared with many thinking he was
dead, but only to reappear to save his people from starvation. Jesus will do
the same at the Battle of Armageddon to save His chosen people. Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.
Now
a great sign appeared in heaven;
Sign can mean a couple things; one a future event, the other, show me something
I can see and believe right now. God’s Word gives us an example of both many
times throughout the Bible; Matthew
16:1-3 Then the Pharisees and
Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from
heaven. 2
He answered and said to them, "When it is evening
you say, 'It will be fair
weather, for the sky is red'; 3 and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for
the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face
of the sky, but you cannot discern
the signs of the times. Verse
one is speaking of a sign so they could believe, even though they witnessed
many miracles. Verse 2 and 3 speaks of signs that reveal a cause and effect,
like seeing lightning in the distance and you know in a few seconds you will
hear the thunder. We are given signs from Jesus of the coming of end times if
we observe what He said. Luke
21:11 And
there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences;
and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.
Many times we are just
like the Pharisees and Scribes. We can quote and believe in old wives tales,
but can’t quote and believe in what the Bible states, even the red letter
statements by Jesus our Saviour.
With the word “great”
placed before the word sign, it depicts events of great magnitudes like we have
never seen.
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Woman
and the Dragon
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Art used; by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
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A
woman clothed with the sun;
This woman referred to, is not the church as some believe, because the true
church has been taken (Raptured) up to Heaven already. The woman represents the
apostate church of the Israeli nation. She is glorified by the sun because she
represents God’s chosen people. Keep in mind who will be in the midst of all events
during the last half of the Tribulation, the Jewish people, Israel. They are
still God’s chosen people not meaning they are saved and will be going to
Heaven, but chosen because of the covenant God made with Abraham. Scripture
pertaining to God’s covenant with Abraham see; Genesis
Chapter 15; Genesis 17:1-22. Abraham lived by faith in God, and Jews,
just like Gentiles, have to repent of their ways, ask for forgiveness, and ask
Jesus into their hearts to be saved. In other words live by faith and not
law/works.
With
the moon under her feet;
The moon is under her feet. Jesus is the sun, the light of the world and
without Jesus one cannot shine brightly, but only glow like the moon. The moon
only reflects light and so it is with Israel. They have the Old Testament and
still cling to laws and rituals; they are still looking for the Messiah, and as
a result cannot see clearly due to the dim light they live in.
And
on her head a garland of twelve stars;
This garland of twelve stars represents the twelve tribes of Israel.
2 Then
being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
With this woman
representing lost Israel and the 144,000 there will be great persecution of
God’s people on earth. Why, because this will take place during the last half
of the Tribulation when the Antichrist will turn on God’s people. What causes
the Antichrist to turn so violently on God’s people is Satan’s defeat of a spiritual
war with Michael and his angels in Heaven, and the results will be Satan and
his angels being thrown out of Heaven forever. When Satan is thrown to earth he
knows that he only has a little time left to destroy God’s chosen people the
Jews, therefore his wrath will be poured out upon Israel through the Antichrist.
We know by reading
scripture that birth pangs are often used to describe tribulation events. So
this verse represents Israel’s cry to God for help during this time of great
tribulation. It is very possible that many Israeli’s will be searching
scripture about the events happening and come to the truth that Jesus is the
Messiah and a great birth is about to take place with many giving their heart
to Jesus.
3 And
another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven
heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
And
another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon; This doesn’t require any explanation,
we all know this is Satan. What about his fiery red color? His fiery red color
denoted death, murderous death. In chapter four when the second seal was opened
a fiery red horse came out and the horseman’s mission was to take peace from
earth and cause man to kill each other. Revelation 6:4 Another
horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take
peace from the earth, and that people
should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. Please keep in mind that Satan’s
desire it to destroy God’s creation especially Israel because they are God’s
chosen people. What is presented in the rest of this verse depicts Satan’s
attempts to wipe out the Jewish people in the past, present, and future. Who do
you suppose was behind the scenes with all the deaths of the Holocaust era?
Having
seven heads; This
part of the verse refers to seven Empires which persecuted Israel, even in the
Apostle John’s day. Those seven Empires that persecuted Israel, and represented
as “heads,” were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, and the
seventh head is a “ten horned” kingdom which is yet to appear that will consist
of the Old Roman Empire. Daniel
7:1-7 In the first year of
Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down
the dream, telling the main facts. 2 Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by
night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great
Sea. 3
And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's
wings. (Babylonian Empire) I watched till its wings were plucked off; and
it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a
man's heart was given to it. 5 "And suddenly another beast, a second, like a
bear. (Medo-Persian
Empire) It was raised up on one side,
and had three ribs in its mouth
between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!' 6 "After
this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, (Grecian Empire) which had on its back four wings of a bird. The
beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 "After
this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, exceedingly strong. (Roman Empire) It had huge
iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue
with its feet. It was different
from all the beasts that were
before it, and it had ten horns. That
is only four empires mentioned in Daniel dream, and the reason being only four
is because the other two Egypt and Assyria, were before Daniel’s time.
Ten
horns; The head with
ten horns has yet to appear. It will be a nation of ten nations that will begin
to form before and during the first part of the Tribulation. This unified
nation will consist of the old Roman Empire which will include the Middle East
and parts of Europe. Satan will be behind the scenes orchestrating this
unification. Have you heard of one world order? Our last several presidents
have talked about a one world order!
Seven
diadems on his heads; The
seven diadems or crowns represent rulers or kings of the empires mentioned. Not
that they were actually in control, but it was Satan that controlled them. That
is why the fiery red dragon is picture with seven heads and a crown on each.
It
looks like I had better stop here and continue next week. As mentioned
previously this is a difficult chapter to digest, and to explain it fully, I
won’t be cruising through it fast because I want you to understand what it
represents pertaining to past, present, and future. With the turmoil going on
in the Middle East now it is important that we watch closely to these events,
especially if it is the beginning of the end, which I believe it is. Some
theologians claim the Antichrist will come from Syria. How long will these
events tarry, your guess is as good as mine.
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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