This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

We're continuing our look together through Revelation chapter 12, this is day 4.
We're going to be looking at two additional battles as we look at verses 13 to
17 today. Yesterday we talked about the battle with the child and the battle
that happened, the war that happened in heaven and how God was the victor in
both of those battles.

Two additional battles today, the battle against the woman and the battle
against believers. This battle against the woman unfolds in verses 13 to 16, but
verse 6 also talks about it. So let me read that verse for you first, verse 6
and then read verses 13 to 16.

The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she
might be taken care of for 1,260 days. When the dragon saw that he had been
hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly to the
place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a
time, times, and half a time out of the serpent's reach.

Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman
and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening
its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon has spewed out of its mouth.
Here is this revelation picture of what happened in this battle with Satan
against the people of God.

And this is a picture that again goes all the way back to the Old Testament.
Exodus chapter 19 verse 4 says, "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt
and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. " And here
again is the picture of two wings of a great eagle that she might fly to the
place prepared for her in the desert.

Satan battles God's people. He's always battled God's people. He's battled the
Jewish people as a nation and he still does.

He hates the nation and the people out of which the Messiah came. There are some
in the Jewish nation who are trying to follow the old Jewish traditions. There
are others who are secular, they don't think about God much at all.

There are others who are following the Messiah Jesus, but they're still the
people of God. And there is something in Satan that hates that. The power behind
anti-Semitism is Satan.

It's where it comes from. There is this picture here of the scheming of Satan.
And Satan is still scheming against the people of God.

He did it in the early church. Immediately in the early church, the people of
God, the early church was persecuted. To the extent that they were thrown to the
lions, that they were burned at the stake.

And Satan is still scheming. There's persecution going around the world today.
There's persecution in your life.

In some ways, Satan is a little more crafty today. There's a part of me that
realizes that rather than Satan immediately sending a temptation or trial into
my life, sometimes he does it in a way that's sneaky so I won't notice it. So
instead of being burned at the stake, now he tempts you and I to throw our life
away on sin and selfishness.

Instead of being thrown to the lions, he tempts you and I to take this life,
this opportunity that God has given you to make a difference, to change things,
and to throw it away yourself. It's still happening today. Satan still hates
God's people.

This is the battle that's still going on. As you walk through this battle, there
are pictures here of how this battle happens. In verse 13, when the dragon saw
that he'd been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman, the people of God.

This woman is given the two wings of the great eagle, this picture from the Old
Testament. Now many people believe as they see this picture taken to a desert
for time, times, and half a time. Remember, that's time, that's one, times,
that's two more, another half a time, that's make three and a half.

There's that three and a half number again. So many believe that this is a
picture of the time of tribulation and how God is going those who come to
Christ, those from the Jewish nation and those who are Gentiles, He's going to
protect them even through this time because God has always protected His people.
He's always protected us spiritually.

We do go through some of the physical sufferings that this world goes through,
but He protects our hearts. He protects our souls. God will always be there to
protect us.

And this picture of God protecting through this great time of tribulation, I
believe that very well could be so. But I also realize this is a picture of God
protecting His saints through all times, whatever we're going through, because
we all are always are on this earth for only a short time. And in that short
time, we can trust Him to protect us.

Satan keeps trying to attack. He comes, he tries to pour out his wrath on this
woman. He spewed water like a river to overtake the woman.

But God halted that. He opened up the earth and it ate up the water. God is not
going to give up in this battle.

He's not going to leave you alone. He's not going to leave me alone. He's not
going to leave the people of God alone.

He's there all the way through the battle to the end of the battle. We are in a
battle, no doubt, but God's never going to give up on you in that battle. So I
never give up on Him.

Now there's something interesting in these verses to me. The earth actually
opens up and takes in this water. While we've been reading in Revelation that
the earth is betraying those who are not followers of Christ, and they're seeing
everything fall apart, here's an example of where God causes the earth to
protect those who are following Christ.

God's in control. God's in control through this whole process. And in this
battle against the woman, God wins the victory.

There's a fourth battle that's pictured in these verses, and that is the battle
against believers. Revelation chapter 12 verse 17 talks about this battle. This
one verse says, "Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make
war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God's commandments and
hold to the testimony of Jesus.

" So you see here it gets very specific. John does not want us to miss this
picture. There is the people of God down through the ages, but very specifically
here, here's the rest of her offspring.

We are an offshoot of the Jewish nation, of the people of God. We are those who
obey God's commands. We are those who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

That's us. That's you. You're in a battle.

And Ephesians chapter 6 reminds us that we're in a battle, a spiritual battle
against the spiritual forces of darkness. And if you haven't realized that yet
today, if you haven't been honest with yourself about that truth yet today, it's
good to be honest. Because while we're in this world, we are in a battle.

And we can enjoy God's beauty in this world. We can enjoy God's creation in this
world. We can enjoy God's blessings in this world.

We should enjoy all of that. But I can't relax in this world as if it's not a
battle, because all of a sudden the joy will be gone. Because there is one who
is battling the joy that God wants to give into your daily life.

You are in a battle. You see it every day. You'd have to lie to yourself not to
see it.

This world's in a battle with sin, with evil. All you have to do is look at the
morning newspaper. All you have to do is look at your own heart, your own life.

We're in a battle against sin. If you're in a battlefield and you're a soldier
and you pretend that there's no battle going You think you might be in a little
bit of trouble? Of course you would.

Strolling through the battlefield, no weapons, no plan. You don't even duck as
you hear the bullets zinging by. You're going to be in incredible trouble.

And we do that to ourselves sometimes. We forget that we're in a battle. I do
that sometimes.

I forget that I'm in a battle. I don't like being in a battle. But I know that
someday I'm going to be in heaven.

I know that someday the battle is going to be over. And so that's the day that
we hope in. Now, most of you hearing this, you happen to live in a country, in a
place where there's a lot of comfort, there's a lot of ease.

And it's easy to pretend that you're not in that battle. It's true that we get
to enjoy the presence of God. To be in His presence and to enjoy Him because
He's already there.

But to pretend that there is not a battle, that sets you up for incredible loss
and disappointment. That's what this world is like. It's a battle.

It's a battle that's going to be won by God. And you and I get to be involved in
that victory. If I'm in the battle, one of the things I want to know is where
the shots are coming from.

That's always good to know. Where's the enemy? Where's it going to come from?

Robert Coleman's book on Revelation lists some of the places that these shots
come from in the battle. How Satan wages war. What are the shots being fired at
us?

Listen to this list. And maybe this is a place that you're in danger of. Maybe
this is a place you need to be careful of, especially today.

Where are the shots being fired at us? One, he's the instigator of sin and
betrayal. Maybe that's a shot that's being fired at you.

Somebody's betrayed you. Second way that he fires these shots is he tempts the
righteous. He tempts you to do what goes against God's goodness in your life.

Third way he fires shots at us is he inflicts suffering on the innocent. Job 2-7
talks about that. Through no fault of your own, you suffer.

Or through no fault of their own, somebody you love is going through physical
suffering. That is a shot in this battle that Satan has fired. A fourth shot
that Satan fires that I've seen so often hit home is he sows discord amongst
believers.

He causes us to fight one another. Maybe he's firing that one at you. A fifth is
that he removes the good seed of the gospel.

Matthew 13-19 talks about that. You share the good news with someone. It looks
like they're going to trust in Christ and then all of a sudden they're back to
their own life.

They just say no. And you want to give up? Realize you're in a battle.

2 Corinthians 4-4 says he also blinds the eyes of unbelievers. When you talk to
a friend who's not yet a believer and they just can't see it, all the love that
God has for them, that is a way that Satan is battling. And 1 Peter 5-8 says
here's how Satan battles.

He prowls and he devours like a roaring lion. You're in a battle but you don't
have to be afraid because God's won the victory. Because greater is he who is in
you than he was in the world.

Let's thank God once again for the victory, trusting him for the victory today.
Our Father, we realize Satan is throwing shots at us and we realize that yours
is the victory. We also realize that in that battle, sometimes in the dailiness
of it, we allow Satan to win the victory.

Lord, I pray particularly for those of us who are looking at our lives right now
saying, wow, I've been following my own way. I've been trusting my own self,
either to be good or more likely to follow that selfish temptation to just get
what I want. Lord, I'm sorry.

Just say to that to him, Lord, I'm sorry. And I want to trust you. Satan wants
to devour me.

He wants to ruin my life. So I want to trust you. So in a new and fresh way
today, I recognize that you have victory to give me.

And I want to trust you for that victory that only you can give in my life
today. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to talk together about God's path to personal victory.