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 in chapter twelve and verse sixteen of Revelation John shared how
the “the
earth helped the woman” where
we read:
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.
The
verse reads, “And
the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, ...”
John
began with the words, “and
the earth”
which means “the arable land, territory, country and region”
“helped”
or “gave aid to and succored” “the
woman”
which means “the female seen by John which represents Israel”,
“and
the earth”
or “and the arable land, territory, country and region” “opened”
which means “to open up” “her
mouth”
or “the earth's orifice in the front of the face used for speech,
eating and breathing”. John watched as the “earth”
created a large hole within it's surface.
The
verse continues, “...
and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”
John
added the words, “and
swallowed up”
which means “drank down, devoured and destroyed” “the
flood”
or “the torrential stream and river” “which
the dragon”
which means “that the serpent-like creature which represents Satan
and the devil” “cast”
or “threw, poured and scattered ” “out
of his mouth”
which means “from the snake-like creature or Satan's orifice in his
face used for speech, drinking and eating”. John observed the hole
in the earth “swallowing
up” all the torrential “flood”
which the “devil”
attempted to use to “destroy” Israel.
When
we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we see God's protecting
hand in this attempt of the “devil”
to destroy Israel. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “When
the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall
lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19), and
this is exactly what will literally happen when the “dragon”
attempts to destroy Israel. God desires “salvation” for mankind
through a relationship with His Son Jesus, and everyone who yields
their life to Him shall be “saved”, however, those who reject
God's offer shall not only suffer defeat from “Satan's flood”,
but also shall live eternally separated from God and His Son Jesus.
Next
time John shares how, “the
dragon was angry with the woman”,
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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