Introduction: If you read yesterday’s devotional I copied the whole of chapter 12 of the book of Revelation but only commented on the portion printed in red. Today, I’m concentrating on the portion in brown which yesterday I said was about ‘War in heaven between Good and Evil forces. Victory won for those on the side of Good because of the ‘Messiah and the Blood of the Lamb’!‘
Yesterday – Optional read. 1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
We need to ask ourselves a number of questions as we go through today’s portion. Q1. When did this war begin? I suspect that it goes back maybe until the time that Satan (the dragon?) began to rebel against God’s Holy character!
Q2 When was the loud voice heard saying “the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come,“? When was salvation obtained?
Q3 Who are our brothers?
Q4 Who is the accuser? Of what is he accusing them of and to whom is he accusing them?
Q5 Is martyrdom a thing of the distant past?
This section ends with heaven cheering loudly, but the earth wallowing in woe because the devil has made his home on earth, having been expelled from Heaven!
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Zech 3: 1b-2 Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan!
Prayer: Jesus I thank You for being my Intercessor, well able to answer that You r righteous life covers all my failures!
Tomorrow – optional reading.- 13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.