The Christmas Dragon
True Story: God's Vision for His Church • Sermon • Submitted
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ME:
ME:
It is the week of Christmas,
Have you all watched your favorite Christmas movies yet?
Or do you wait till the last minute?
We try to be patient and wait till Christmas gets closer,
But by late-November we’re watching Home Alone and the Santa Clause.
But my personal favorite Christmas movie has to be the Grinch!
No, not the new one.
And no, not the original.
The middle one is juuust right.
Where the Grinch tries to steal Christmas by stealing the presents and the decorations and the feasts.
It turned out by the end, the Grinch could not steal Christmas.
But the Grinch was not actually the first one to try and steal Christmas.
It turns out, there is an even older story than Dr. Seuss’ tale of the Grinch.
About another villain who not only hoped to steal Christmas,
But wanted to kill Christmas.
This story comes from the Bible, but it is not the nativity story we are all familiar with.
There is no manger,
No shepherds,
And no wise men.
This story does have angels,
But instead of singing, they are engaged in battle!
There is a pregnant lady, and there is a baby boy,
But there is also a fiery red dragon!
No, this is not our typical nativity story.
This is the Story of the Christmas Dragon in Rev. 12.
It begins with the Dragon of Christmas Past (vs. 1-6)
Followed with the War of Christmas Present (vs. 7-12)
Concludes with the Promise of Christmas Future (vs. 13-17)
This story teaches us to Rejoice that Jesus has come, is writing our names in heaven, and will come again!
This story does not just tell us of the baby in the manger,
It highlights the baby in the manger as it summarizes the grand redemptive narrative of the entire Bible.
It uses marvelous imagery to tell us the true story of the entire world.
Looking to the past, present, and future.
This Christmas story is not like any Christmas story you have probably ever heard.
So, let us back up to see how we arrive at the Christmas dragon in Revelation.
Chs. 4-5 revealed God on His throne,
And Christ as the Lamb who is worthy to open the scroll.
As the scroll is opened, the seal judgments came from the throne of God.
Likewise, after the seal judgment the trumpet judgments also came from the throne of God.
Now, after history comes to a conclusion with the seventh trumpet,
John takes a step back, beginning ch. 12 with a prelude to the bowl judgments that begin in ch. 15.
You know how when you are watching a sporting event,
And there is a timeout, so they take the time during the timeout to introduce some of the key players,
Especially ones that may be significant in the second half.
Well, chs. 12-14 are like a timeout from the narrative of Revelation.
So, John uses this time during the timeout to introduce some of the players of the Apocalypse,
Especially ones that are significant to the second half of Revelation.
These players include the devil, the antichrist, and the false prophet.
Ch. 12 focuses on this first player,
Whose conflict with God can be traced back to the opening chapters of the Bible.
You see, the Christmas story did not begin in the city of Bethlehem.
It began in a garden called Eden.
Where a man and a woman gave into temptation from the serpent, the devil.
After that temptation, God made a promise that we will look at later in this ch.
It was the first of a series of promises given by God to people.
The fulfillment of those promises are explained in the Story of the Christmas Dragon.
John opens up this chapter with two miraculous signs in heaven.
The first is a pregnant woman giving birth to a son in agony.
This woman represents God’s people.
The second is the appearance of the Christmas dragon.
A great fiery red dragon who opposes the woman and is intent on devouring the woman’s child.
The Story of the Christmas Dragon reveals the in-depth nature of spiritual warfare.
The dragon and his allies face off against the allies of the male child,
Forming the two forces in this cosmic battle.
The Christmas dragon seeks to lead the world astray,
But God and His army win the battle.
WE: The Dragon of Christmas Past (vs. 1-6)
WE: The Dragon of Christmas Past (vs. 1-6)
So, let us begin the Story of the Christmas Dragon,
Looking at the Dragon of Christmas Past in Rev. 12:1-6;
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. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 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. 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, 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.
The first character we are introduced to in this Christmas story is a woman.
This woman is pursued with her newborn son by a dragon into the wilderness.
She is described as being clothed with the sun,
With the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
This description is nearly identical to Joseph’s dream in Gen. 37:9;
Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
The similarities between this woman’s description and Joseph’s dream makes sense,
Because the twelve stars on the crown likely represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
And the crown is a symbol of the woman ruling, as it was for Joseph.
But Joseph’s dream was also a sign for the people of Israel.
The Apostle John used this term in his gospel speaking about Jesus.
John 20:30 says;
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
People have always been fascinated with signs from heaven.
John presses into this fascination with his introduction of the woman.
This woman connects with Mary, the mother of Jesus in a literary sense.
But she is also representative of something.
That something, is the people of God,
Perhaps only Jewish believers, or she may represent all believers.
Remember, God’s people are referred to as His bride in both OT prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea,
And throughout the NT.
And as a ruler, God’s people are described as rulers who mediate his priestly blessings to the world.
So, either way, she represents the people of God to some extent.
We also see this woman was pregnant and she was crying out in birth pains.
The agony of labor goes back to God’s judgment for Eve’s sin in Gen. 3:16;
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
John was likely trying to bring our minds back to God’s Words in Gen. 3,
Because of the other promise in Gen. 3, I alluded to earlier, which we will look at in just a moment.
The woman’s birth here also seems to be a fulfilment of the prophecy from Micah 5:3;
Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
So, this woman causes us to look back toward Christmas past in a variety of ways.
Specifically looking back at the first Christmas,
Where Mary, the mother of Jesus was pregnant with Jesus.
And fled into the wilderness of Egypt.
Which also fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the nation Israel.
The second character introduced in vs. 3 shows that heaven is not free from conflict.
This second character is the Christmas dragon.
This taps into ancient mythology where gods and goddesses would battle creatures like serpents and dragons.
John is not using ancient mythology to affirm the myths as truth.
He is using what was in his culture and adapting it to the narrative of biblical revelation.
Dragons are also easy to understand as a terrifying beast.
So, this Christmas dragon is meant to strike fear in our hearts.
It is a murderous creature.
It is described as a great fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns,
And seven diadems on his heads.
The ten horns connects it to the fourth beast prophesied about in Dan. 7:7;
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
This beast was powerful and destructive,
Qualities the Christmas dragon shares.
The description is also similar to the beast from Rev. 13:1;
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
So, although the description of the beasts are similarly satanic,
The fact that the descriptions are not the same, means they are two separate characters.
Later in this chapter, in vs. 9, this dragon is identified as Satan, the devil, the adversary of God.
He is also compared to a serpent, described as the evil one, the prince of this world, a tempter, and is said to prowl like a lion.
He is the leader of the demonic realm.
The name Satan literally means to oppose, obstruct, accuse, or adversary.
The OT usage of the word would be in a legal sense,
As in a ‘satan’ was like a prosecuting attorney.
Not necessarily malicious, but striving to prove someone guilty.
It is not until the NT does Satan start to develop as an archenemy of God.
There are many nonbiblical ancient texts that predate the NT that also attest to this.
So, it is not as if the NT was introducing Satan as a new enemy.
The NT begins with the Christmas story.
Satan saw the birth of Jesus as an opportunity to appeal to the humanity of Jesus.
As our passage says, hoping to devour the male child.
The Father’s declaration in Matt. 3:17 says in regard to Jesus;
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
So, Satan responds by testing Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4.
But Jesus, using God’s Word, remained obedient to the Father’s will.
Then having experienced the activity of Satan as an enemy first hand,
Jesus taught about Satan’s active opposition in Matthew and Mark.
He describes Satan as the evil one who snatches people away,
Deceiving people to neglect the message of the kingdom of God.
So, Jesus says following Satan’s message makes a person a child of the devil.
1 Tim. 3:16 teaches that Satan’s fall is directly related to his pride.
He constantly opposes the plans of God,
Yet, he is repeatedly defeated by God’s saving power.
The first example of this goes all the way back to God’s promise I mentioned earlier in Genesis 3:15.
God said this to Satan;
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This promise is referred to as the proto-evangelium, which means, first gospel.
It points forward to the baby in the manger,
And the Lamb on the cross,
And the empty tomb,
And the risen Savior,
And the Second Coming of Christ!
So, although Gen 3:15 is only the first example of Satan being defeated by God’s saving power.
His defeat continues time and time again:
Psalm 74:13-14; Isaiah 27:1; 51:9; Ezek. 29:3; Luke 10:18; John 12:31; Col 2:15;
The result of all these examples leads to God’s Word describing Satan as a defeated enemy;
Matt. 13:36-43; Rom. 16:20; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8; Rev. 20:2;
Despite the reality that Satan is a defeated enemy,
He is still an aggressive force,
And we must be on guard against him.
As 2 Thess. 3:3; and James 4:7 teaches;
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Satan seeks to oppose God’s plan.
He does so through human rulers and authorities that are loyal to him.
He is not limited to a single kingdom or ruler or time period.
His influence continues generation after generation.
And his power and ability to destroy is evident.
In vs. 4, with only his tail, he sweeps a third of the stars in heaven to earth.
The stars could possibly be a reference to the fallen angels who followed Satan’s rebellion.
Or it may also be a reference to the persecution of God’s people,
Just as other part of this verse teaches.
We see he waits in the presence of the woman giving birth,
Planning to devour the child when he is born.
Since God’s first-gospel promise we looked at in Gen. 3,
Satan has sought to prevent the seed of the woman who would crush his head.
He inspired Cain to kill his brother Abel,
He inspired Pharoah to slaughter infant sons of the Hebrews in Egypt,
He inspired Saul to try and kill David,
In 2 Chron. 22, he inspired Athaliah to destroy all the heirs of Judah.
In Esther, he inspired Haman to plan a genocide of the Jews.
All of this built up the drama of the first Christmas.
When the Christmas dragon inspired King Herod the Great..
Look at Herod’s inspired effort that first Christmas,
Starting in Matthew 2:7-8;
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
These verses say that Herod wanted to worship the child,
Not devour the child.
Ahh, but that dragon of Christmas past is a deceiver.
So, Herod, inspired by the Christmas dragon,
Was not genuine in his expression.
He was being a deceiver like his father, the devil.
So, Matt. 2:12 shows what happened with the wise men;
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Why did the wise men need to be warned about Herod?
Matt. 2:13-14 shows an angel of the Lord revealing Herod’s true intentions.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt
Herod wanted to destroy the child,
Not worship the child.
Just like the Christmas dragon wanted to devour the child.
Herod was so desperate to destroy the child,
Matt. 2:16 reveals the lengths he was willing to go to;
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
Herod’s mass murder of children was inspired by Satan.
It is the desire of the Christmas dragon to devour the Son born of this woman.
Why exactly is Satan, the Christmas dragon, the ancient serpent so desperate to devour this child?
David Platt answers this question well;
“The birth of Christ on that day in Bethlehem inaugurated the death of this ancient serpent, just as it had been promised back in Genesis 3. The birth of Christ declared the death of the ancient serpent; the death of Christ defanged the adversary.”
Vs. 5, officially introduces us to the male child.
This Son is going to rule all the nations as a king.
The rod of iron connects this revelation to the messianic Psalm, Psalm 2.
Throughout the OT, God commanded kings to shepherd the people they lead.
For example, in 2 Samuel 5:2, when David is being anointed king,
The Lord tells David, “You shall be shepherd of my people Israel.”
Similar the Psalmist in Psalm 78:70-72 said God chose David from the sheepfolds to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance.
The Psalm goes on to say that David shepherded them with upright heart and with his skillful hand.
So, the Son here in Rev. 12 will rule over the nations as a shepherd of sheep.
This metaphor intentionally brings our minds to another birth that included shepherds.
The birth of Christ, where the baby is actually the Chief Shepherd,
The King of kings.
The fulfillment of the Messianic Psalm, Psalm 2.
Because this child, is the same child, He is the Messiah.
This section focused on Christmas past,
Runs parallel with the first Christmas,
When Christ was born.
Satan does not celebrate the birth of Christ,
He despises it because the Son is his undoing.
Suddenly, the second half of vs. jumps straight from the birth of Christ to the ascension of Christ.
It jumps over Christ’s life and ministry.
It goes from Matthew 2 straight to Acts 1 in a single verse.
Why?
It is a stone-skip summary John is giving here of the grand narrative of God’s Word.
He began all the way back in Gen. 3 with the first-gospel.
Then the stone skipped all the way to Matt. 2 with the birth and attempted devouring of the baby.
Then the stone lands again with the triumph of the baby over the dragon in Acts 1,
Where Jesus ascends to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
The reason John likely left out the death and resurrection of Christ here is because he already taught on it back in ch. 5,
Where we saw the Lamb that was slain now standing.
But another reason is that the ascension of Christ is the evidence that Satan is defeated.
The dragon could not devour Christ, even with the grave,
Therefore, Christ ascends back to His rightful place,
Ruling at the right hand of the Father.
From the ascension of Christ in Acts 1,
The next place the stone lands in the grand narrative is somewhat unexpected,
Eph. 6, where we are told to put on the armor needed for spiritual warfare.
Vs. 6 prepares God’s people for the War of Christmas Present.
After the Son ascends to heaven, God supernaturally cares for His people.
The woman flees to the wilderness and is cared for 1,260 days,
The same period of time the witnesses were protected for in Rev. 11:3.
It repeats God’s protection for His people from Pharoah in the wilderness in Exodus 16.
And it says this place is specifically prepared for her by God.
Yes, the woman is running from the persecution of the Christmas dragon,
But God provides for her a spiritual refuge.
In our present age,
We see the evils of a fallen world.
We may suffer,
But God is promising to care for us.
Everything we need to honor God, He will give us.
He has done it in the past,
He continues to do it today,
And He will not fail to do so in the future.
So, even though the Christmas dragon wages war against us,
God is protecting us from the deception of Satan,
And his temptation to have us curse God and die.
God gives us spiritual strength to endure Satan’s assault.
GOD: The War of Christmas Present (vs. 7-12)
GOD: The War of Christmas Present (vs. 7-12)
God declared war on Satan with the birth of Christ.
It is easy to forget that the War of Christmas Present is going on.
That there is an enemy, passionately striving to destroy God’s people,
Demonstrated by his endeavor to devour Christ, even as an infant.
But Satan was not successful when he tried to destroy Jesus.
Since we serve the Savior who has risen from the grave and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
We do not have to fear the Christmas dragon.
Despite our suffering, God protects us, because He loves us.
Satan has already lost the War of Christmas Present.
Him and his followers are expelled from heaven and thrown down to earth,
Because Jesus shed His blood for us.
So, we share in this triumph when we hold fast to the testimony of Christ.
Allowing us to rejoice in response to the War of Christmas Present,
Despite Satan’s ongoing efforts.
Rev. 12:7-12, shows what is going on behind the scenes in this war.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 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. 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. 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. 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!”
Vs. 5 presented the victory of Christ.
These verses give a window into the consequences of His victory over the devil.
Vs. 7 describes a war breaking out in heaven,
With Satan, the dragon, being defeated,
Resulting in Michael expelling Satan and his angels from heaven.
This was predicted back in Dan 12:1;
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
Satan and his angels endure God’s judgment for their opposition.
Every event that has taken place in world history is less significant than what is going on here.
I make this statement not to belittle any part of world history,
But instead to highlight how impactful this is!
This is the victory in heaven that correlates to Christ’s triumph over death on earth.
It is interesting too,
John does not dilly dally with details of the duel.
He focuses on Satan and his allies being thrown out of heaven.
And landing on earth.
Praise God that the Christmas dragon does not have access to heaven!
In the past, Satan would be able to access God to accuse people of their sin.
That is what he did in the opening chapter of Job.
But now, our sins are cleansed and forgiven through the cross of Jesus Christ!
So, Satan cannot accuse us if we believe in Christ!
Anything Satan accuses us of,
We do not have to deny or try to hide from God,
We acknowledge that Satan is right,
We have sinned.
But we rejoice because Jesus has written our name in the Book of Life with His blood!
So, even though we are guilty, the punishment for the crime has already been taken on our behalf.
As Romans 8:1 says;
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So, God takes it a step further,
Because there is no place for this accuser in His presence, Satan is banished from heaven.
He is permanently denied access to the presence of God forever.
Following his expulsion, John gives what Danny Akin calls a “mini seminar in Satanology by means of four instructive titles of our archenemy.”
The great dragon we have already talked about.
The ancient serpent is a reference to the garden of Eden.
The devil is literally translated as the accuser or slanderer.
And Satan is a proper name that means adversary, or enemy.
John summarizes these titles by calling him deceiver of the whole world.
John similarly described him in John 8:44 as a murderer from the beginning,
And the father of liars.
As intimidating as this description may be,
John reminds us that he is a loser.
Satan has been defeated.
So, the war of Christmas present is already won.
But as a deceiver, he continues his deception by accusing you of your sin.
Constantly reminding you how guilty you are.
Doing everything in his power to keep you from entering God’s presence.
Because he can;t enter God’s presence.
He condemns you,
Telling you how horrible of a person you are,
Speaking lies like, “God could never love a person like you.”
He deceives people into not believing in Christ.
Most of his charges are not even true.
But they do not need to be true.
He does not care which of his lies you believe,
As long as you do not believe in the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
So, he will falsely charge you to weaken your influence and hinder the cause of Christ.
But there is another voice you can listen to.
The voice from heaven in vs. 10, that declares God has accomplished salvation,
His kingdom will come by the authority of Christ,
Who was born as the baby in the manger,
Died on the cross,
Then rose from the dead!
It is Christ Who accomplished salvation!
We must remember, Michael and his angels,
Functioning on behalf of Christ, threw this accuser down.
So, Satan is a defeated enemy.
And he can no longer enter heaven to accuse you.
So, do not miss the point that Satan’s expulsion is more than him merely being banned from heaven.
The point is really that he has no basis to accuse you if you believe in Christ.
Because of the baby in the manger, God gives no attention to Satan and his accusations.
Jesus paid for the penalty of sin with His blood.
Vs. 11 makes this clear.
It is a declaration of the basis of our salvation.
Those who follow the Lamb are victorious over the Christmas dragon.
How?
It says Satan has been conquered by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.
The word of our testimony is our faithfulness to the gospel.
The blood of the Lamb is sufficient for our sin.
And the blood of the Lamb is equally sufficient for a martyr’s death.
But this means we must be willing to give our lives to God.
We must love God more than our own lives,
Even to the point of death.
This verse is not saying that salvation is based upon who we are or what we do.
We are saved because Who Christ is and What He has done.
His blood washes our sins.
Our response, as Danny Akin says;
“For such a great salvation, we gladly and willingly put our lives on the line. He is worth it.”
We should naturally rejoice at this salvation.
But it is almost like God knows how thick we can be.
So, in vs. 12, He commands heaven and all who dwell there, to rejoice!
Remember, earth-dwellers has been used to talk about unbelievers in Revelation.
So, this makes heaven-dwellers in Revelation,
A term referring to believers.
So, believers are commanded to rejoice over the outcome of the War of Christmas Present!
In fact, this is the only command in this entire chapter.
A command for you who believe in Christ, to rejoice!
in contrast to the rejoicing of believers,
The devil, filled with rage, takes out his defeat on the earth while he can.
Because he knows his time is limited.
So, despite the fact that the devil has no place in heaven and is a defeated enemy,
He plays a destructive role here on earth while he can.
He desires to injure and harm God’s people all the way until his time is up.
In fact, as his time draws nearer to the end,
It seems as if his fury increases.
Those who do not believe in Christ should anticipate receiving the unrelenting destruction of the Christmas dragon.
If you want to be saved from this destruction,
Salvation is available,
God offers His protection to all who trust in the death of the Lamb.
If you believe in Christ, you are set free from all your mistakes, forever.
You are free from guilt,
So, rejoice!
YOU: The Promise of Christmas Future (vs. 13-17)
YOU: The Promise of Christmas Future (vs. 13-17)
Rejoice that your name is written in the Book of Life!
Rejoice in the Promise of Christmas Future.
Rejoice that God declared war against the dragon when He sent His Son to be born in the manger.
Rejoice that the baby won the battle when He gave His life on the cross.
The victory of the cross guarantees the Promise of Christmas Future.
The Christmas dragon continues fighting a losing battle,
Knowing his time is short.
The intensity of his hostility continues as the end gets closer.
And God’s people are the target of his rage.
Rev. 12:13-17 shows that he will continue to take out his wrath on you until the Promise of Christmas future is fulfilled,
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. 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. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 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. 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.
As listed earlier,
Despite all his efforts to defeat God,
Satan fails again and again.
Even with Herod’s efforts in Matthew 2,
Satan was not able to kill Christ as a baby.
Even when Jesus was at His most vulnerable state as a human in Matt. 4,
Satan was not able to tempt Christ away from the will of the Father.
Even after killing Christ on the cross in Matt. 27,
Satan could not keep Christ from rising from the dead.
As vs. 4 of this chapter says, Satan always fails to destroy Christ.
Out of frustration from his continual failures,
The realization of Satan has been thrown down to earth sets in.
His accusations no longer have any warrant.
So, in his misery, he pursues the woman to accompany him in misery.
His plan?
Destroy the woman.
But once again, his pursuit is in vain.
The woman mounts up on wings of eagles that have been given to her.
Exodus 19:4 uses the same imagery to describe how God enabled Israel to escape the Egyptian army in the wilderness.
In Exodus, Pharoah was inspired by the Christmas dragon.
In Matthew, Herod was inspired by the Christmas dragon.
Today, the Christmas dragon continues to inspire people to pursue after God’s people with the intent to destroy.
Just as God led Israel into the wilderness to preserve them,
God will continue to lead his people into the wilderness to preserve them.
We do not know exactly where this wilderness is,
But we do not need to.
God will mount you up on wings of eagles to protect you.
He will do it for as long as the enemy pursues you.
While the devil tries to persecute you,
God guards you from his assault.
Using his mouth, as vs. 15 shows, the Christmas dragon tries to overwhelm you with his deception like a flood.
Here he is described as a serpent, the same creature used to first deceive mankind in the garden.
Paul compares your thoughts to the deception of the serpent in 2 Cor. 11:3;
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
So, it is not you or your thoughts or your will power that will prevail against Satan’s overwhelming flood of deception.
As vs. 16 illustrates, God protects you by having the earth swallow up Satan’s assaults.
This is what 1 Cor. 10:13 teaches;
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
God provides the means of escape for you.
It is what He did for Israel when they were trapped by the Red Sea with Egypt bearing down on their back.
God will not allow His church to be destroyed by the serpent.
There may be shaky moments of deception or moral compromise,
But the Church is ultimately built upon the rock,
God’s people remain steadfast because God moves heaven and earth to do so.
God has already won,
That is the Promise of Christmas Future.
Satan is just unwilling to accept it.
His denial festers his anger.
Then, as vs. 17 says, in his fury, he continues to turn his rage toward you.
He is relentless.
He will wage war, and likely kill, followers of Christ,
Solely because you follow Christ.
This chapter ends with Satan standing on the sand of the sea.
It sets the stage for the next chapter,
Where Satan calls on reinforcements.
The beast and the false prophet.
Following the commands of God,
And holding to the testimony of Jesus,
Comes with persecution from the bitter loser, Satan.
Until the Promise of Christmas Future comes,
We will face the fury of the devil.
This is how the story of the Christmas dragon ends.
But it is not the end of Christ’s story.
WE:
WE:
Martin Luther rightly noted, “the right man [is] on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.”
We can endure the rage of the Christmas dragon because we are protected and guarded by God.
We can be confident that we will triumph over the Christmas dragon.
That is the Promise of Christmas Future.
This ch. introduces us to a new frightening creature in Revelation,
The serpent.
We can easily fall victim to this creatures deception.
We can also fall victim to the torment that is compared to scorpion stings,
Similar to what the trumpet judgments talked about back in ch. 9.
The story of the Christmas dragon ends with this threat of the persecuting power of Satan.
This is scary stuff!
But Jesus has reassured us that we do not have to be afraid of these creatures,
Nor do we have to fear all the power Satan has in his arsenal.
Because back in Luke 10, Jesus sent out 72 of His disciples in pairs.
Then Luke 10:17-20 explains what happened when they returned to Jesus;
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus has given us the authority to tread on these creatures,
He has given us authority over all the power of Satan,
Nothing shall hurt us.
As wonderful as this promise is, we do not rejoice in this, Jesus says.
No, we rejoice in the Promise of Christmas Future.
We rejoice that Jesus has come, is writing our names in heaven, and will come again!
Pray.