Genesis 1:1 comments: Who is God?

Genesis 1:1 ¶  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

We are first going to discuss the answers to two questions that are very important for every Christian to resolve in their heads. There will by necessity be some repetition in my statements to reinforce what I am saying. First, we must ask, “Who is the God of the Bible?”

The testimony of the Bible is abundantly clear that the universe did not come into being by itself and there is no evidence that there are alternate universes. The universe is also not eternally preexistent as a time is given here, in the beginning, and an action by God as in God created.

It is impossible to believe the Bible and, at the same time, believe in the Big Bang theory where all matter and energy comes from the primordial explosion of the singularity, the size of a period in a sentence. Nor is it possible to believe in its antecedent belief, the Kabala’s mustard seed that explodes into the universe, or the Hindu’s cosmic egg that explodes into the universe and believe in the God of the Bible. The physical universe is a production of God as all matter, energy, and time can be attributed directly to Him. He has no beginning and no end and is beyond our ability to finitely reason.

Modern man, since Isaac Newton, has come to believe in reductionism where, for instance, in biology the whole is defined by its parts. It is a bottom-up belief. However, the Bible teaches a top-down structure of the universe. The parts are determined by the context. As an example, the words rite/right are defined by their context in a sentence in phrases such as, “a religious rite or ritual,” or, “turn right,” or, “your legal right.” So, genes and their expression are determined by the organism they are in. I share the same genes with a fruit fly but we are vastly different creatures because there is a design, a mold, an idea that makes me different from them. Many different buildings are made partly with bricks; the University of Pennsylvania’s Golkin Hall, my house, and the local high school. However, they are all different buildings because of their design plans.

So, biology and all reality, to be understood properly, should be understood by the fact that it is all based on a design formed in the mind of the Creator. Then, the smaller parts and their place in the scheme of thing come more into focus.

God is not the subject of science because He cannot be experimented on or called into an equation. Science can only study what they can see or measure and all unseen theoretical entities are simply modern myths even if a scientist defines seeing in a different way than a non-scientist does. Saying that they have faith that one day they will prove something they cannot prove merely moves that scientist’s faith into the realm of religion. Faith is not science and science is not faith. Science has limits. Faith is only limited by God’s will for that person having the faith. One can study the mechanism by which a thing is done but no one can study God unless He chooses to reveal Himself as He has done in the Bible.

God’s creation of the universe is not only confirmed by Moses, writing Genesis under the inspiration of God, but also Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:5  Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

King David;

Psalm 33:6  By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Mark 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Science requires that if you put forth a proposition, a statement of presumed fact, that you should be able to make certain predictions from it. This verse says that God created. So, one could logically assume that since an intelligent entity created everything that a certain degree of design and order must be present in it as in our experience order does not come from disorder without intelligent guidance. This is, indeed, the case. Physicists are looking for a unifying “theory of everything.” Well, it is right here in front of us. He is the God of the Bible. His existence explains everything from how the universe is held together to the moral sense of human beings as you will see in the following study.

Who is God? He is the uncreated person and entity who created all that is. He simply is, as He said Himself, I AM THAT I AM.

Exodus 3:13  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

It is a nonsensical question to ask who created God. Such a question is a philosophical absurdity. It is like asking; could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it? Such questions are the pure gibberish of the skeptic whose mind is blinded by the god of this world, Satan.

God is the source of all reality; seen and unseen. In Job God states that everything from dust forming into a clod of dirt in a farmer’s field to lions catching their prey, with the movements of distant galaxies to rain happening in places on earth where there is no man are all direct results of His direct actions. Read Job, chapter 38. God is not a watchmaker winding up the clock and walking away or standing to admire His work. He makes the hands move and the tick-tock sound is part of His second-by-second control of all events. So, scientific thought, even with Christians since Isaac Newton, by reducing God to the ultimate first cause without an active role in every moment of our existence, is just simply one of the things that is in error about modern thinking. Nothing happens by itself without direction, meaningless and pointless, a result of blind chance. Absolutely nothing.

The question always arises. Why does calamity and disaster happen if God is good? We will be forced to discuss that later.

Commentary on the Entire Bible - Introduction

What follows is the revelation of God’s ministry of reconciling man to Himself. It contains information about heaven but is not about heaven. It contains information about the kingdom of God on earth and the spiritual kingdom of God but it is not primarily about those subjects as much information is left out. It contains science, history, and other topics but it is not specifically about those subjects. It is the revelation of what God has done, is doing, and will do, not about what man has done, is doing, and will do. This is one reason why the so-called great men of history get little or no mention. Alexander the Great gets one reference as, “the king of Grecia,” in Daniel 8:21. The subject matter is about God’s plan for mankind and how He responded to mankind’s response to His reaching out to them.

As we study the text of the Bible there are two things we must be aware of. As educator and author, E.D. Hirsch wrote, the meaning of any text is what it literally says. Anything you add to it or take from it beyond that may be its significance to you or mean something different to you but it says what it says. Another way of looking at this is the old saw, “a text without a context is a pretext.”[1] Don’t use the Bible, the foundation of your convictions, in a way that attacks that foundation to suit an agenda you have; political, economic, social, or just personal.

Additionally, as we study the text of the Bible there are two questions which pose themselves that we, at some point, must consider. As a scholar of Ancient Greece, Stephen Todd, said about what a historian must consider when approaching an ancient text, we must ask ourselves why it was written and then, why it was preserved.[2]

These two sets of considerations will be very important in our study of the Bible, which the story of God’s efforts at reconciling man, who has fallen away, to Himself.

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[1] E.D. Hirsch, Validity in Interpretation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1967).

[2] Stephen Todd, “The Use and Abuse of Attic Orators,” Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Oct., 1990), 164. (From a paper delivered at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1988.)

Commentary on the Entire Bible - Preface

Firmly believing that every Christian who has the capacity in this day and age of web blogs and free self-publishing should study the Bible and write about what they’ve seen for the edification of others I have taken on the task of commenting on the entire Bible. If the Lord permits me I will complete it. I do not insist that I am right in every particular of interpretation but am hopeful that, even if you disagree with me, you will grow to love your Bible as much as I have. Pick it up, read, study, comment. I am an ordinary Christian with no seminary training. I have multiple degrees but that is because I worked for a university and received my classes free. I felt it best to be able to relate to what the students assigned to me experienced. As a result, I have a BA in Anthropology, an MA in American History, and Graduate Certificates representing an additional year of study each in Ancient and Classical History, European History, Civil War Studies, and the American Revolution. This does not make me an expert in the Bible. I simply read the Bible, cross-reference verses, study, and read some more, praying for wisdom and understanding from the God who is active in every moment of our existences and is the source of our reasoning ability and even consciousness. At this writing I am finishing up on my 63^rd reading of the Bible; the first two times being the Good News Bible and the remaining times the King James Version. I believe that God has prepared me with the experiences of my life and the personal talents He has given me to do this. But, I am not alone. There are millions of Christians who should do the same. I could not have embarked on this project without the indwelling of the Spirit of God and Christ and without the inspiration my wife, Beth, gives me every day as we learn what God has for us together.

Revelation, chapter 14, comments: a massive bloodbath

14:1 ¶  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. 2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

After the Translation or Rapture of the Saints;

These are the servants of Christ mentioned in chapter 7. Mount Sion here is a reference to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Hebrews 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

These 144,000 Jews were redeemed from the earth and we don’t know if that means they were translated [raptured] or martyred, although we cannot rule that out. They have a unique position in God’s plan and can sing a new song that no one but they can sing. They are male virgins, not hindered by any attachments to life. As men who have wives or women who have husbands and families have a sort of divided loyalty while, ordained by God, is not suitable for the purpose of these specific men.

There are many disturbing statements made in the Bible like this one about not being defiled by women but we must always remember that the Bible is written by men under the understanding and wisdom given to them by God, which the Bible calls given by inspiration. See 2Timothy 3:16; Job 32:8; and 2Peter 3:15 to learn that the Bible is not given by dictation but by inspiration. Therefore, you are going to read a lot of cultural phenomenon and biases, plus personal opinion in the writings. It would be inconsistent for us to take a statement and declare that something that God had ordained like the union between a man and a woman in marriage was somehow to be despised. For instance we know that religious groups that forbid lawful marriage are pushing doctrines of devils.

1Timothy 4:1 ¶  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3  Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Paul also wrote;

1Corinthians 7:2  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

You would be well warranted to conclude that the defilement mentioned here is to point out that it is not given to these men to have families and to experience the joy of marriage. They have a certain path, a goal they must pursue and having a wife would get in the way. You and I can go back to Exodus to see a time when the union between husband and wife was to be halted for a time for a specific purpose. Read Exodus 19:15 and context.

We don’t exactly know what function these exemplary individuals performed but they are Christ’s servants who follow Him faithfully in that time.

    14:6 ¶  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The everlasting gospel is; Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Everyone is going to hear this. A second angel declares the fall of Babylon, the identify of we will explore more fully when we come to chapter 17. A third angel warns that anyone who takes the mark of the Beast is doomed. From reading verses 9 through 11 notice this cross reference.

Isaiah 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Verse 12 shows that during this time the faithful will follow God’s commandments and have faith in Jesus. This is important as one aspect of dispensationalism, the belief that it is not all the same and that God has a different plan of action for different generations of men and women.

If you believe that the entire Bible contains the same instruction for all peoples at all times then you will believe, based on this, that Christians in the time we are in must follow the commandments given to Moses. If that is the case for today then the Christian church does not belong to God as we do not follow those commandments. But in fact, Paul said;

Galatians 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

So, there is a distinct difference in what is expected of the believer during the Great Tribulation and what is expected now if you believe in dispensations.

Another take on this is that Paul defined which commandments were to be diligently kept by the Christian.

Romans 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

So, this Great Tribulation and persecution even unto death requires an even more diligent adherence to the principles laid down by Christ in the popularly called Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 5. Look at these previous explanations of what is called for in the believers’ lives in this Great Tribulation.

Revelation 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Revelation 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

This is a hard pill to swallow if you have a family and loved ones.

14:13 ¶  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 14  And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18  And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

There is a special blessing for those who die after this pronouncement about those who worship the Beast and take his mark is made. One like unto Christ, is told by another angel to reap the harvest on the earth as judgment is upon them, the full force of God’s wrath. Outside of the city of Jerusalem it is said that the blood will rise to the level of horses’ bridles, about 4-5 feet in a space of 1600 furlongs which is roughly 200 miles. This can simply mean that the bloodbath cannot be imagined. This is usually associated by commentators with Armageddon coming up in 16:16  and linked to the 200 million number of the spiritual creatures in 9:16-19 and the kings of the east in 16:12. If this is true then the clearly supernatural creatures of  chapter 9 mean that for every event on earth there are similar events happening in the invisible world that precede the events on earth. Or it means that the description in chapter 9 is a metaphorical description of the massive army that comes from the east to meet at Armageddon for a climactic battle that results in a huge bloodbath of unimaginable proportions. Whatever the case, the blood shows us that these events will happen in the physical world and not just the spiritual. What happens on earth is echoed in the world of the spirit.

Revelation, chapter 13, comments: and the dragon gave him his power

13:1 ¶  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Apollyon or Abaddon, the Destroyer, came out of Hell.

Revelation 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

He is called the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, the bottomless pit shown previously to be Hell.

Revelation 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

A second beast rises out of the sea but Revelation 17:8 tells us that it is the same beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit.

Revelation 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Some commentators say that the sea represents the mass of humanity and it does appear that way as another beast comes out of the earth.

Revelation 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Like the Philistine God, Dagon, half man and half fish, this beast arises out of the sea. The question is, you have to ask, is this a metaphorical statement and does this beast arise out of the mass of humanity or does he come literally from the sea when it is already said that he ascended out of the bottomless pit?

Think of the possibility of the sea representing the mass of people, the sea of humanity, and the earth representing religion. He is a man of the people. There are People’s Republics, usually just another name for government by oligarchy. Some early American political leaders referred to vox populi vox dei, the voice of the people is the voice of God.

Genesis 19:30 ¶  And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31  And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32  Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

The nature religions like Wicca and others are called earth religions. Modern paganism is one of those traditions. Could John be writing about a political character and a religious character, the first under Satan’s authority and the second as a religious figure who will demand worship of the first?

The metaphorical aspect of this creature is represented by him having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns as does Satan in the previous chapter as does the woman in chapter 17 where it is explained that the seven heads represent seven mountains and the ten horns, kings. This beast is characterized by blasphemy against God. He derives his power from Satan. Note the similarity with the world’s kingdoms in Daniel.

Daniel 7:1 ¶  In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3  And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. 5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also 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, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8  I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

If we could determine who these kingdoms are we might understand the nature of this beast’s earthly power, its foundational political strength. Typically, the first beast of Daniel is thought to be Babylon, the next Persia, then Alexander’s Greece, and finally, the Roman Empire.  This beast, though, has similarities to these kingdoms, inasmuch as his parts are likened to them, perhaps the absolute authority of the Babylonian emperor, the administrative power to unite diverse peoples like Persia with its 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia stated in the book of Esther, and the military power and ability of Alexander the Great. Rome isn’t mentioned because, I think, Rome still exists.

Rome went from city-state around 750BC to republic to empire, split in two with the Eastern half lasting until 1453AD. We must remember that the Easter Roman Empire simply called itself the Roman Empire and up through to the end referred to themselves as Romans. The myth that Rome fell in 476 is just another lie from your high school history textbook of which there are many. The Roman Catholic Church inherited the administrative functions and ability of western Rome lasting from the 300’s AD until the present.

So, Rome has been a political and spiritual empire playing a great part in the world’s affairs for the better part of nearly 3,000 years. That’s half of human history. Does this beast come in the form of a Pope with political power available to him again because of great suffering in the world and people looking to him for answers?

Whatever the case, Satan gives him his power and authority and his seat. As a side note, when a Pope speaks ex cathedra that means literally from the throne or seat, as in the Bible a teacher and authority seated was the standard for a genuine authority. See Jesus in Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount.

13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

This beast receives a head wound. Is this a reference to an assassination attempt? And does the following verse in Zechariah apply to this?

Zechariah 11:17  Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

The world marvels that this beast is still alive after such a blow.

13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

The world outright worships Satan as the power behind the beast. There is no mistake here. No deception. They are worshipping the enemy because the beast must claim that his healing is from Satan. Well, the Irish say the devil takes care of his own.

13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Again, here as in chapters 11 and 12 we are receiving an overview. First, the two witnesses preach for 3 and ½ years, the Jews are driven into the wilderness for 3 and ½ years, and the beast speaks blasphemies and great things for 3 and ½ years. This is the time of the Great Tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Either the huge multitude of people in Revelation 7 are killed during the Great Tribulation or they represent those raptured out of it.

  Revelation 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11  And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12  Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

    13 ¶  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15  Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

These are the events of the 3 ½ years of great tribulation, which many modern conservative, Christians call The Great Tribulation. This beast has power for 3 and ½ years.

13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9  If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

The beast blasphemes God, His name, Heaven, and those that dwell there. Think of such things today as Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion. Will the beast curse God directly or will he deny God’s existence like Dawkins? It appears that he will curse God as previous statements have shown that people know who is causing their problems.

Revelation 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Revelation 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Daniel, in referring prophetically and literally to the great evil type of Antichrist, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, one of Judea’s Greek rulers who did so much horrific violence to them in between the years of the writing of the Old and the New Testament, referred to this character, not uncommon in history, as a type of this beast. The following is another example of a double description.

Daniel 11:36  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

We can imagine the crimes that will be committed by the Beast of Revelation in the activities of the type of the Beast in history; Antiochus IV Epiphanes. According to apocryphal books inserted in between the Testaments in some Bible traditions he outlawed the religious rites and observances of the Jews and insisted that Zeus be worshipped as God. He is known in Jewish tradition as a great persecutor of the Jews and given the epithet of “the wicked.”

An important point of Bible prophecy, as touched on before in discussing Satan in Ezekiel and Isaiah, is that when the Holy Spirit gave a writer specific wisdom about a person contemporary to or in the near future of the writer, a description is given that also gives us information about another person. We must be careful, though, in our declarations and assumptions because we shouldn’t take away the relevance of the immediate context to the writer.  When you read Daniel 11 in context from the beginning it is clearly talking about Alexander the Great and his four generals who inherit his conquests. Still, figures in history presage figures in prophecy and teach us about their character and designs.

Verse 7 makes it clear that there will be believers in the Great Tribulation who suffer under the Beast’s murders. Those people whose names are not in the Book of Life will worship this beast. Those who do not will be murdered, typically, perhaps some imprisoned.  If you can understand it, then listen up, those who are placed in bondage are placed in bondage and those who are to be killed will be killed. We may not be happy with the way God disposes of things but it is His right to do so or to permit it as He wishes. Do you have patience and faith, trusting God unto death itself?

Job 13:15a  Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…

Daniel 3:17  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

The Beast makes war on the saints so there must be believers here on earth when he arrives on the scene. His is triumphant for a time in his slaughter of Christ’s people. He receives a head wound that should be fatal, it seems, but is not. However, it is his image, his likeness, perhaps a statue that is required to be worshipped, or a hologram like Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has used when he gave a speech via a hologram, his giant avatar wowing his audience as reported by The Atlantic in January 2014. (https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/giant-hologram-of-turkish-prime-minister-delivers-speech/283374/)

    13:11 ¶  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Another beast comes out of the earth. If this earth represents religion as the other sea represents the people, then we have a political beast followed by a beast of religion. He looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. He appears to be a spiritual leader of peace and the humility of Christ but his words are that of the Devil.

This beast has equal authority with the first beast and he performs great wonders. Jesus gave a warning.

Matthew 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

It’s at this point that the second beast has an image of the first beast that recovered miraculously from the head wound and causes all to worship it. He then requires a mark to be placed in the right hand or forehead of every person so that no one can do any business without this mark. Those who don’t worship the image of the first beast are killed. The number of the beast that is the mark that is placed in the right hand or forehead of the people is 666. The early church father, Irenaeus, commented on an error by some copyists that led it to be written as 616, so that nonsense can be safely dismissed when you hear an unbeliever or skeptic declare it, just like the fictitious Gospel of Judas, which Irenaeus also dealt with satisfactorily 1800 years ago.

This could mean that in chapter 11 when the Beast overcomes the two witnesses and they are taken to heaven that his reign tightens in his paranoia or in the other Beast’s desire to keep at least the image of the fallen first Beast at the head of government.

Revelation, chapter 12, comments: the great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan

12:1 ¶  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

There are a couple of different ways to take chapter 12. One, is as a future event. The other is as historical background, a sort flashback in the events unfolding.

One take is that verse one could refer to Israel who will give birth to Christ.

Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Here is an interesting cross reference having to do with Joseph.

Genesis 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Read the prophet Hosea for Israel as an unfaithful wife.

Some historical commentators viewed the woman as the church itself while some American writers regarded the man-child as the United States, but this has been mentioned previously and is so wrong it need not be mentioned again.

Israel suffered greatly for her apostasy and Christ came into Israel as a Jew when the Roman Empire ruled them and they had lost all their former glory under David and Solomon. Not long after His resurrection, about forty years, Herod’s version of the Temple was destroyed by the Romans as the result of an insurrection against them by the Jews. Israel struggled and labored spiritually, politically, and physically before giving birth, in a manner of speaking, to Christ.

Is this coming up the Time of Jacob’s Trouble referenced in prophecy in Jeremiah, chapter 30?

12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

This is clearly Satan, who is also known as Lucifer. He is, possibly, described in part physically in Job 41 as the description there is of a dragon, what we since the 1800’s have called a dinosaur. The last verse in the chapter is revealing.

[Note that leviathan references simply a large creature, just as the word whale does, and is not referring to a specific species or other taxonomic classification, which were invented after this Bible was translated and cannot be read back into it honestly.

Genesis 1:21  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Psalm 104:26  There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.]

Job 41:1 ¶  Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? 2  Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 3  Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? 4  Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? 5  Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 6  Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? 7  Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? 8  Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. 9  Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10  None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

    11 ¶  Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12  I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. 13  Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle? 14  Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. 15  His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. 16  One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. 17  They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. 18  By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. 19  Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. 20  Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. 21  His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. 22  In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him. 23  The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. 24  His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. 25  When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. 26  The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. 27  He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 28  The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. 29  Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. 30  Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. 31  He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. 32  He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. 33  Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. 34  He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

Notice another cross-reference in Isaiah.

Isaiah 27:1 ¶  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

We have his color, red, and this symbology, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

This, most likely, is a reference to his nature and ten specific kingdoms over which he exerts control. As for Red, remember the red horse of the second seal?

Revelation 6:4  And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

The crimson stain of our sin?

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Red is a very significant color. It was the color of baby Esau.

Genesis 25:25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

And, among other things, it was in the name of the sea through which God safely led the Hebrews, like the passage He makes for Christians through death and destruction.

What about the seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads?

Revelation 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

This woman, whom we will discuss later, possesses these seven heads and ten horns. Let’s not jump ahead as there are many things to review before we get to those explanations, which like chapters 11 and 12, maybe take us out of the linear exposition of events and give us background and an overview.

12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Satan led the third part of the stars of heaven, which we have established as angels, and they were cast to earth. This is perhaps history and whether or not it is worthy of discussion. Evidence shows us that Satan’s rebellion began a long time ago.

As the Holy Ghost gave inspiration to the writers of the Old Testament they wove a description of Satan into their descriptions of human kings and even beasts. Here, Ezekiel starts out and ends up talking about the king of Tyre, who was the very powerful ruler of that city and Phoenicia, whose merchant navy traveled the world, including rounding Africa, working tin mines in Cornwall in England, and perhaps even reaching what are today called the Americas. But, in the description a key is given that could only apply to Satan.

Ezekiel 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

In addition, Satan, the adversary, also known as Lucifer, had his motivations exposed early on. In speaking to the king of Babylon, Isaiah gives us this;

Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

 One would think that the reference in Isaiah can be linked to these verses in Revelation 12 and that at least some of these verses by virtue of Christ’s statement in Luke 10:18 are historical events of Christ’s time and the ascension of the Roman Empire around Christ’s birth.

The evidence we have in the Bible shows the sons of God, whose visible representatives are called angels, like any visible representative of God, man on earth, or even a church, is called an angel, which we have already discussed as having in part succumbed to Satan’s pride and temptation.

The question is, do these verses following have to do with this mention in Revelation, chapter 12? Or is 12 referring to a future event?

Genesis 6:1 ¶  And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 ¶  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 ¶  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Jude 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

In any event, Satan knew Christ was coming, and wanted to kill Him, but did not know when.

Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jeremiah 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

This gives us a spiritual reason why Israel was so deceived and spiritually buffeted about as Satan did everything in his power to destroy them both physically and spiritually. We must remember, though, that Satan could go no further than God allowed. We have that certainty from reading the book of Job. It also explains why he tested and tempted Christ to try to have Him seek a crown before a cross, thus trying to overthrow God’s plan.

Luke 4:1 ¶  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10  For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11  And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Ruling the nations with a rod of iron will occur in the millennial reign of Christ. See this in a great chapter on the rising up of the kings of the earth as spelled out later in Revelation at the end of the millennium, Psalm 2.

Psalm 2:1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

    7 ¶  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

    10 ¶  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

This promise is given in chapter 2 of Revelation, as well, to those who reign with Christ.

Revelation 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 28  And I will give him the morning star.

Of course, Christ is the morning star (not Satan, as the NIV states in Isaiah 14:12 parroting noted 19^th century Satanist Madame Blavatsky in her book The Secret Doctrine).

Revelation 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

After His ascension to Heaven  Jesus is said to be seated next to God the Father, as a symbol of His authority and place, with God, as God.

Psalm 110:1  « A Psalm of David. » The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Matthew 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mark 16:19  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Luke 22:69  Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

If Israel is the woman then during the 3 ½ years of 360 days each as per the ancient calculation, which is 1260 days, the Jews will have to flee the most intense persecution of their entire existence. If those surviving Jews have to hide in the remote vastness of, for instance, Edom, during the Great Tribulation then who are those people living in Jerusalem? Muslims?

Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Michael was introduced in Daniel as the specific angel representing Israel.

Daniel 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. …21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Daniel 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. [Keep in mind that Daniel doesn’t see or, perhaps, understand the church age.]

Jude 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

So, when was the devil cast out? Again, is this future or past?  Remember, Satan in Eden and had a respected position there, perhaps as God’s priest, based on what he wore.

Ezekiel 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

He plotted the overthrow of God’s heavenly order in his mind.

Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

You can see that he wished to be a god like God and this is the idea he tried to plant in Adam and Eve’s heads.

Genesis 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Is the following Godly sarcasm?

Psalm 82:1 ¶  « A Psalm of Asaph. » God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. 2  How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. 3  Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4  Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. 5  They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

    6 ¶  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 7  But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 8  Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

And Jesus’ reference to it in a manner of saying, perhaps, you think you are gods in the flesh and yet you say I am blaspheming when I say I am the Son of God?

John 10:30  I and my Father are one. 31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

And when the seventy Christ sent out to Israel returned

Luke 10:17 ¶  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Again, is it future or past? Did the war in heaven happen during Christ’s time?  Or, is it a future event? Events in the spiritual world may not be linked to our timeframe, by the way. Consider that we have a very fuzzy notion of the orderly sequence of events outside of the physical world.

Here verse 9, by the way, is a link showing that Satan’s true nature is reptilian in form. See this cross-reference and then remember Job, chapter 41.

Isaiah 27:1 ¶  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Here is a hint of when this is taking place. Satan accused the brethren night and day before God, so, as in Job, he still had access to God’s throne even after he lost his place of authority as the anointed cherub that covereth.

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

And this was not just a one-time thing.

Job 2:1  Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

An important point here is that Christ’s people overcome not by war with guns and bullets but by Christ’s blood, their witness, and by being willing to die for Christ. One example of the great conflict between worldly Christianity and the faith of the Bible is the fictional work from the 1800’s entitled Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In it, in spite of the racism of the author as proved in her later relationships with black Americans, the main character dies rather than violate his submission to Christ in hurting others as it is demanded that he become a wicked overseer, prompting the salvation of his murderers at his death. The world vilifies Tom and calling someone an, “Uncle Tom,” is an insult in the black community as cooperating with whites in their presumed oppression. However, Tom is the most Christ-like character in fiction. Conservative Christians will glorify a man who goes to war and kills many people before they will glorify someone willing to die for Christ so white or black, the worldly Christian would not be able to face being killed for Christ as many martyrs have done and are doing now in other parts of the world.

So, when someone says that they would never take the Mark of the Beast it is almost laughable. A willingness to die for Christ is not a character trait of most modern day American Christians. Calling in the Marines, maybe, but not dying for Christ in a triumphant entry into eternity.

    12:12 ¶  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

At this time, it is better to be in heaven, the abode of God and the blessed dead, than to live on the earth. This passage seems to make it clear that Satan’s final casting down will be to earth during this Great Tribulation.

The woman, in my estimation a reference to Israel, is given supernatural power to escape as God did for the Hebrews in the Exodus.

Exodus 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

For three and a half years, a time, times, and half a time, the remnant of Israel is protected from the wrath of Satan while the two witnesses torment Satan’s people, some of whom, as we saw, wind up giving glory to God.

Satan uses water as a flood to try to destroy Israel. This disaster is prevented by the earth absorbing the water. Is this figurative language representing something other than that which is literally stated? It doesn’t appear so considering the literal natural disasters that are listed in Revelation.

Satan goes to make war with the Israel’s remnant. Is that the 144,000 Jews of the 12 tribes, 12,000 each, that God set apart for Himself? They follow the Law given to Moses and trust in Christ. It is important to note that later the testimony of Christ is said to be the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.