REVELATION 1213

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REVELATION 12-13
2
3 Sets of Judgment Scenes

• 1. 61 - 81. 7 Seals
• 2. 82 1119.... 7 Trumpets
• Vision of Three Beasts 12-14
• 3. 151 1621.. 7 Bowls

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4 Main Parts in Chapters 6-16

• 1. 61 - 81. 7 Seals
• 2. 82 1119.... 7 Trumpets
• 3. 121 1420... 3 Beasts, 666
• 4. 151 1621.. 7 Bowls

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• ON THE WHOLE, TWO MAIN THEMES
• Judgments of God ESCALATING
• In the Meantime, the Church has a ROLE to Play
• Witness to Jesus even unto death
• Because . . .
• This is Gods way of DEFEATING EVIL
• And leading the sin-hardened world to REPENTANCE

5

• ONE OF JOHNS MAJOR CONCERNS
• To Fortify the Church for Faithfulness in the
  World
• despite pressures to compromise

6
Most Were Compromising or Living in Fear

• Ephesus Youve forsaken your first love (24)
• Smyrna Do not be afraid of what you are about
  to suffer (210)
• Pergamum I have a few things against you you
  . . . hold to the teaching of Balaam (214)
• Thyatira I have this against you You tolerate
  that woman Jezebel (220)
• Sardis You have a reputation of being alive,
  but you are dead (31)
• Philadelphia I know you have little strength
  (38)
• Laodicea I know your deeds, that you are
  neither hot nor cold . . . but lukewarm (315)

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John is Burdened with a Passion

• To Fortify the Church

8
But the Question Is

• How Does He Do It?

9
Thats What this Whole Book is About

• BUT
• Revelation12-13 is Especially Designed to Answer
  this Question

10

• We Need to Know
• WHAT WERE UP AGAINST!

11
What Are We Up Against?

• From the Birds-Eye View
• 1 TICKED DRAGON
• 2 BEASTS MAKING WAR AGAINST US

12
This Raises Two Further Qs

• 1.Why is the Dragon Ticked?
• - REVELATION 12
• 2. How is He Waging War Against Us?
• - REVELATION 13

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Why is the Dragon Ticked?
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Notice the lenses John gives us for understanding
whats going on

• 121 123
• A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven
• Then another sign appeared in heaven

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Notice

• 121 123
• A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven
• Then another sign appeared in heaven
• Pointing to a Reality ON EARTH

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What Reality ON EARTH are these Signs Pointing
To?
17
FIRST SIGN 121-2

• A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven
• a woman
• clothed with the sun,
• with the moon under her feet
• and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
• 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she
  was about to give birth.

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FIRST SIGN 121-2

• Genesis 379
• Then he had another dream, and he told it to his
  brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another
  dream, and this time
• the sun
• and moon
• and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

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FIRST SIGN 121-2

• Mary
• About to Give Birth to Baby Jesus
• The Embodiment of True Israel!

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SECOND SIGN 123-4

• Then another sign appeared in heaven
• an enormous red dragon with
• seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on
  his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars
  Dan 810 out of the sky and flung them to the
  earth.
• The dragon stood in front of the woman who was
  about to give birth, so that he might devour her
  child the moment it was born.

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SECOND SIGN 123-4

• Matthew 23ff
• When King Herod heard from the Magi that the
  King of the Jews was to be born he was disturbed
  . . . And when Herod realized that he had been
  outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he
  gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and
  its vicinity who were two years old and under, in
  accordance with the time he had learned from the
  Magi.

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SECOND SIGN 123-4

• The Sign of the Dragon in Heaven is Pointing to
  Herod, on Earth
• Seeking to Kill Baby Jesus the Moment he is Born!
• (Revelation 12 is Christmas Story Told from the
  Perspective of Heaven!)

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This Interpretation is Confirmed By What We See
Next

• Revelation 126
• 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.
• Matthew 213
• When they had gone, an angel of the Lord
  appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said,
  "take the child and his mother and escape to
  Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is
  going to search for the child to kill him." 14 So
  he got up, took the child and his mother during
  the night and left for Egypt.

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And what is the Significance of the Christmas
Story from the Perspective of Heaven?

• Described From Perspective of Heaven
• Revelation 125 She gave birth to a son, a
  male child, who will rule all the nations with an
  iron scepterPs 2. And her child was snatched
  up to God and to his throne.
• Described From Perspective of Earth
• Luke 211 Today in the town of David a Savior
  has been born to you he is Christ the Lord.

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And What is the Consequence?

• As the Son is Lifted Up
• The Dragon is Tossed Down!
• Jesus Birth Means
• Satans Demise!

26
127-9

• And there was war in heaven. Michael and his
  angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon
  and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not
  strong enough, and they lost their place in
  heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down lit.
  BOUNCED!-- that ancient serpent called the
  devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world
  astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his
  angels with him.

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What is the Consequence for Heaven?

• 1210-12
• REJOICING!
• Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say Now
  have come the salvation and power and kingdom of
  our God, and the authority of his Christ. For
  the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day
  and night, has been hurled down . . . 12
  Therefore rejoice you heavens and you who dwell
  in them!

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What is the Consequence for the Earth?

• 1212-17
• WOE!
• 12 . . . But woe to the earth and the sea,
  because the Devil has gone down to you! He is
  filled with fury, because he knows his time is
  short. 13 When the dragon saw that he had been
  hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman . . .
  17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and
  went off to make war against the rest of her
  offspringthose who obey Gods commandments and
  hold to the testimony of Jesus.

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What Are We Up Against?

• We are up against a very powerful,
• and very ticked Dragon.
• Where the DRAGON is now
• WAGING WAR AGAINST US

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Our Second Question

• HOW?

31
Enter in CHAPTER 13Where we are introduced to
two beasts . . .

• Beast from the Sea
• Beast from the Earth

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We will Learn 3 Things About Them

• Theyre
• In the Service of the Dragon
• Extraordinarily Well Dressed-Up
• Extraordinarily Dangerous

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1. In the Service of the Dragon

• Notice in 131
• And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
• 1And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. . . .
• 11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the
  earth . . .
• And then he exercises his power through them
• 2b The dragon gave the sea beast his power and
  his throne and great authority...
• 12 He earth-beast exercised the authority of
  the first beast on his behalf . . .
• Dragon ? Sea-Beast ? Earth Beast

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II. Well-Dressed Up

• The Sea-Beast
• He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten
  crowns on his horns, and on each head a
  blasphemous name.
• The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had
  feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that
  of a lion.

35
Daniel 73-8

• Four great beasts who represent idolatrous
  kings and kingdoms in the world, each different
  from the others, came up out of the sea.
• 4 "The first was like a lion
• The second beast . . .like a bear
• 6 "And the third . . . like a leopard

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II. Well-Dressed Up

• The Sea-Beast is dressed-up
• In the Political STATE
• Who Does not acknowledge the Lordship of God

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II. Well-Dressed Up

• The Earth-Beast is Dressed Up
• In False RELIGION
• That Does Not Acknowledge the Centrality of Jesus

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III. Extraordinarily Dangerous

• Why is it so extraordinarily dangerous?

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III. Extraordinarily Dangerous

• Because
• Dragon-Inspired Politics
• Dragon-Inspired Religion
• Dont Look Draconic

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III. Extraordinarily Dangerous

• And Instead
• They Look Like the Lamb
• And in Fact
• They Look Like the Triune God Himself

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III. Extraordinarily Dangerous

• As our text shows us when we compare the
  descriptions of the two beasts to the
  descriptions of the Triune God in the book of
  Revelation

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III. Extraordinarily Dangerous

• 56 - Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had
  been slain standing in the center of the throne.
• 133 One of the heads of the beast seemed to
  have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had
  been healed.
• 513-14 Jesus is worshiped by every creature
  in heaven and on earth
• 113-4 - Because of the beasts mimicry, men
  worshiped the beast
• 59 the multitudes in heaven declare that Jesus
  is worthy to take the scroll and to open its
  seals, because you were slain, and with you blood
  you purchased men for God from every tribe and
  language ad people and nation.
• 137 the Dragon gives the sea-beast authority
  over every tribe, people, language and nation.
• 113-6 God will give power to his two
  witnesses to prophesy and if someone tries to
  harm them, fire comes from their mouths and
  devours their enemies. . . . These men have power
  to shut up the sky so that it will not rain . . .
  Power to turn waters into blood and to strike the
  earth with any kind of plague.
• 1313ff The Earth beast performs great and
  miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down
  from heaven to earth in full view of men.
  Because of the signs . . . He deceived the
  inhabitants of the earth.

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• THE SATANIC TRINITY

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And This Might Explain Why

• The Number of the Beast is
• 666
• Because though he wants to pawn himself as God,
  using Gods number
• 7 heads, 7 crowns, 7 heads in order to deceive
  the 7 churches
• Compared to Jesus
• 7 horns, 7 eyes, 7spirits in order to bless his 7
  churches
• So that we think his Number is
• 777
• His True , mans number, hiding behind mans
  power, is
• 666