Revelation-Part 27

Contents

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET: THE SEVEN BOWLS PENDING—PERSECUTION OF ISRAEL BY SATAN’S CHIEF AGENT

The seventh trumpet has sounded in Revelation 11:15, but we need more background information before we look at the earthly ramifications of that trumpet in Revelation 16. As we began our background investigation in June, we heard the heavenly celebration in 11:15b-19. Then in July we learned of Satan’s campaign against Israel and her Messiah in 12:1-12. This month we continue with an account of Satan’s persecution of Israel and an introduction to his chief human agent in that persecution (12:13–13:4).

The Woman and the Rest of Her Seed (12:13-17)

Revelation 12:13 continues the account of the dragon’s (that is, Satan’s) pursuit of the woman (that is, Israel), and introduces further details about the woman’s flight and protec­tion in the remainder of chapter 12. The reason for the Israel’s flight is the pursuit of the dragon, a reason not given explicitly but implied earlier in 12:6. Various efforts to identify this pursuit with something occurring earlier in Israel’s history, such as her escape from Egypt, do not satisfy the imagery of a dragon-monster chasing a woman. To specify that this flight will occur in the future is a better understanding, the same future flight that Jesus predicted in His Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:15-28; Mark 13:14-23). Remember the reason for the dragon’s pursuit: the woman “had given birth to the male” (12:13b) who had been caught up into heaven (12:5).

The woman’s deliverance comes as God sovereignly provides for her escape in fulfilling His own purposes for her (12:14a). The dragon (that is, the serpent or Satan) is no match for God-given powers granted to the woman. Her “two wings of a great eagle” recall termi­nology speaking of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (Exod. 19:4; Deut. 32:11; see Isa. 40:31). That is language that speaks of expansive strength in God’s protection of Israel (see Ps. 91:1-4). The two wings are figurative to portray an as yet undisclosed supernatural means for delivering Israel in the future.

Her flight to the wilderness or desert (Rev. 12:14b) is a literal flight from Jerusalem just as Moses’ generation experienced a literal flight from Egypt. The specific destination of the flight is unknown to us. Petra has been a suggestion, since Jesus told His audience to flee to the mountains (Matt. 24:16), but that is pure speculation. We can only describe it as a place of refuge for converted Israel during the last half of Daniel’s seventieth week. We know the time period because “a time and times and a half a time” (Rev. 12:14b) corre­sponds to the period named in 11:2, 3; 12:6; and 13:5. At the conclusion of that period Jesus Christ will return as a triumphant warrior to grant Israel and all His followers perma­nent deliverance from the devil (19:11-21).

It is impossible to determine whether the “water as a river” (12:15) is literal water or a figurative reference to an army in hot pursuit of the woman, but whatever it is, efforts to destroy the woman end in frustration for the dragon. Another supernatural provision pro­tects the woman from the new threat, a provision that recalls earth’s opening its mouth to swallow the Egyptians (Exod. 15:12) and Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num. 16:28-33). In those cases the opening of the earth destroyed the Lord’s enemies and helped the Lord’s people as it will do for Israel of the future (Rev. 12:16).

This miraculous deliverance forces the dragon to redirect his animosity. As he had to redirect his anger from the Son to the woman in 12:5 when the Son escaped his clutches, with the escape of the woman to a place where he cannot reach her, he must turn to inflict his wrath on “the rest of her seed” (12:17). These too are Israelites who, for whatever reason, did not go with the woman to her place of refuge. The mention of this remnant prepares the way for the encounter between the beast of 13:1-10 and the faithful followers of the Lamb (see 13:7).

Specific efforts to identify the remnant have followed several lines: (a) Gentile Christians as distinct from the Jewish mother-church in Jerusalem; (b) selected members of the be­lieving community who suffer persecution after the pattern of Christ; and (c) a believing remnant of Israel as compared with Israel as a whole. The best identification, however, is to see them as the 144,000 Israelites who were sealed in Revelation 7. While the bulk of believing Israel enjoys protection from the dragon, they will be active witnesses throughout the world during the last three and one-half years before Christ returns. That opportunity for witness will not be available to Israel as a whole because of their being protected in seclu­sion. The 144,000 come into the picture specifically in 14:1-5 at the end of the larger sec­tion composed of 12:1–14:5. There they appear in their victorious stance with the Lamb on Mount Zion after having fallen to the persecutions of the devil’s two emissaries in Revela­tion 13. “The testimony of Jesus” (12:17b) that they bear will doubtless provoke the harsh treatment they will receive from the dragon and his beasts.

Characteristics of the Beast from the Sea (13:1-4)

Against this group the dragon will “make war” (12:17a) and in preparation for doing so, he stands on “the sands of the sea” (13:1a) awaiting the emergence of his chief agent for waging that war. Some English versions read, “I stood on the sand of the sea,” but the third person “he” has superior support in the strongest ancient manuscripts of the New Testa­ment. The one standing there anticipating the beast’s emergence is the dragon, not John the writer of the book.

The reason for the dragon’s expectant posture is his special interest in the beast “com­ing up out of the sea” (13:1b). This beast out of the sea will be Satan’s chief agent in the warfare against the seed of the woman (that is, the 144,000). The devil will give this beast his power, his throne, and great authority (13:2b). We have already met this beast in Rev­elation 11:7 where he is said to arise from the abyss. He comes from the same source in 17:8. We learned in our earlier study of the fifth trumpet that the abyss is the prison of fallen angels such as appeared in the form of locusts to create widespread havoc under the fifth-trumpet judgment. That abyss will also be the origin of this beast from the sea.

How far can we go in identifying this beast of the future? Concluding that he is a human being is safe because his number is the number of a man (13:18). The beast is identified with one of its heads who is a travesty of the slain Lamb of God. In 13:3a one of its heads has a death-wound, and in 13:14b the beast himself has that wound. In 13:3a the head is seen “as slain” exactly as Christ is depicted in 13:8. Both Christ and the beast wield swords (1:16; 13:10), both have followers on whose foreheads will be inscribed their names (see 13:16-17; 14:1), both have horns (5:6; 13:1), both are slain (13:3, 8), both rise to new life and authority (1:18; 13:14), and both have power over the whole world (see 1:5; 7:9; 13:7; 17:12). This will be the devil’s counterfeit christ who will emerge during the last half of the future seventieth week. He will lead the empire that will control the whole world, as denoted by the beast’s ten horns and seven heads (13:1). We will learn more about the beast in the remainder of chapter 13 and in chapter 17.

The “names of blasphemy” (13:1) show the beast’s direct opposition to God, and his willingness to accept worship of the whole earth (13:3b-4) shows that he will insert himself as the exclusive object of human worship. The beast is a composite of the first three beasts of Daniel 7:3-7 and their characteristics. He will have the combined strength and brutality of historical Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The empire of ancient Rome had and in its restored form will have the same agility, catlike vigilance and craft, and fierce cruelty. The man portrayed as this beast will head up that empire. Through such an individual as this, the devil will wage a relentless warfare against the remnant of the woman’s seed, who continue spreading the gospel as long as they live.

We will discuss the activities of the beast and his helper, the beast from the earth, next month as we continue our studies. But as we meditate on the characteristics of the false christ and his impressive external credentials through which he captivate the whole earth (see 13:3b), let’s remember the wise words of the LORD to Samuel: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). As followers of Jesus Christ, our chief interest is not how we impress other people outwardly, but what God sees within our hearts and inner beings. Ultimately, that will be what counts when the future day of reckoning comes.

Note: For more details about Satan’s agent for waging war against the 144,000, see my discussion in Revelation 8–22 (Moody Press, 1995), pages 137-160. To order this volume, you may contact Grace Books International at (800) GRACE15 or www.gbibooks.com.

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