John
the apostle wrote, “And
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 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. 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. Therefore rejoice, you
heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having
great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time, and when
the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the
woman which brought forth the man child.
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. 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. 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”,
and in chapter twelve and verse seventeen of Revelation John shared
how the dragon “went
to make war with the remnant of” the
woman's “seed”
where
we read:
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.
The
verse reads, “And
the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the
remnant of her seed,
...”
John
began with the words, “and
the dragon”
which refers to “the serpent and snake-like creature which
represents the devil” “was
wroth”
or “was provoked to anger and enraged” “with
the woman”
which refers to “with the female that John saw which represents
Israel”, “and
went to make war”
or “and proceeded forth and departed to make ready and produce a
fight, battle, dispute, strife and quarrel” “with
the remnant”
which means “with the rest of and remainder” “of
her seed”
or “pertaining to the woman's offspring, progeny and children”.
John saw the “wrath” of the “dragon
or
the devil” and his purpose to “fight and go to battle against”
Israel and her descendants.
The
verse goes on to say, “...
which
keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.”
John
added the words, “which
keep”
which means “who attend to carefully, guard, observe and reserve”
“the
commandments”
or “the orders, charges, precepts and injunctions” “of
God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”, “and
have the testimony”
or “and own, hold and possess the record, report and witness” “of
Jesus”
which means “pertaining to the Son of God, the Savior of mankind
and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation” “Christ”
which means “the anointed One” and is “the Messiah and Son of
God”. John shared how the “dragon” made “war” with the
people of Israel who not only “observed and carefully attended”
to “God's commandments”, but also were possessors of the “witness
of Jesus” in their lives.
When
we think through John's words in this verse, we discover how much
“Satan – the devil” hates Israel, and his desire is to
eliminate them completely. Though they kept and preserved “God's
commandments”, and though they had the “testimony of Jesus”,
Israel was and is an enemy to the “dragon or the devil”. God will
preserve Israel, and His desire is to “save” every person who
will believe and trust in His Son Jesus Christ. Though “Satan”
may oppose, God is stronger, and when a person yields their life to
Jesus, they have aligned themselves with the all powerful and mighty
God of the Universe who is able to defeat any onslaught of “the
devil”.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see John share how he, “stood
upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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