Article 2

UNDERSTANDING REVELATION - 2

Revelation’s Intended Audience

This blog’s first article concluded with some questions regarding Revelation’s intended audience(s).  To begin our quest to address that subject we will jump into the middle of the pool and turn to Revelation 12.

The first five verses of this remarkable chapter reveal events that occurred roughly 2000 years ago.  Let’s look (please read 12:1-5)!  Even a casual reading of this short passage would reveal that it is a highly symbolic one.  A woman, clothed with the sun and moon under feet, appears in heaven.  She is pregnant and her vocal, painful labor shows that she is at the end of that pregnancy.  Astonishingly, a seven-headed-ten-horned-with-crowns dragon also appeared in heaven standing in front of the woman ready to devour her Child as soon as it is born.  Turns out the Child is a baby Boy and is miraculously caught up to God and His throne!

Let’s cut-to-the-chase!  This amazing prophecy right smack in the middle of this book of Revelation has been celebrated for centuries by much of the Christian community annually, in late December, and continues today.  We sing, “We three kings of orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar… following yonder star.”  After leaving their gifts to the Infant and His parents, the oriental royals travel back home via an alternate route, being warned by God of the intentions of an impatient, fearful King Herod.  Upon this discovery the king retaliates by slaying an unknown count of Bethlehem’s two and under baby boys.  Sure enough, Scripture (Acts 1:9-11) records that approximately 33 ½ years later “this same Jesus” was “taken up into heaven” and on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:33) was “exalted to the right hand of God”.  Remarkable!

What (it would seem to be) is the obvious point?  These scenes are not relegated to some unrevealed time in the future – they have been proclaimed and celebrated by the Christian church since that very day recorded in Acts 2.  The results, 3,000 were added to the church!  Conclusion – The book of Revelation is a book for the Christian church.  Let’s keep reading in this remarkable chapter 12.

  It is significant that Rev. 12:5 speaks only of Christ’s birth and ascension.  It describes nothing of His ministry or atoning death.  But notice verses 7-9.  “War broke out I heaven.”  Michael and his angels fight with the dragon and his angels.  Satan and his angels lose and are cast out of heaven.  Verse 10 is riveting.  A loud voice from heaven declares, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God, day and night, has been cast down.”  What is the focus of this verse?  When does the “now” of this verse take place?  We are not left to wonder or speculate.  Observe (John 12:27-33) the words of Jesus Himself, specifically verses 31-33.  “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”  Verses 32-33 clearly show that Christ is speaking of His coming crucifixion.  The now of Rev. 12:10 is the “now” of the cross.  When Jesus expired thereon, now salvation, strength, the kingdom, and the power of Christ came!  Christ’s crucifixion and death cemented the success of the plan of salvation.  When Jesus exclaimed, “it is finished”, He was addressing His Father.  By faith Christ was victor!

There is another solemn, yet glorious truth embedded in verse 10.  The loud heavenly voice proclaims that “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God, day and night, has been cast down (out).  Evidently until the cross-event Satan still had access to the heavenly courts.  We need to remember that Satan used the serpent as his medium to deceive Eve-here on the earth.  Twice the book of Job (1:6-12; 2:1-7) clearly describes Satan’s appearance before God as the “representative” from planet earth.  And “the word of the Lord” came to Ezekiel (28:11-16) describing the casting out (v. 16) of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15) the former covering cherub.  Indeed, Jesus Himself (Luke 10:18) saw “Satan like lightning fall from heaven.”  These passages address the “initial” casting out of Satan from heaven, but the ones we are focusing on above (Rev. 12:10, John 12:31) occurred when Jesus died on the cross.  Now the devil has no more access to the heavenly courts.  That’s why there is such rejoicing in heaven (12:12).  Any questions that might have lingered in the minds of some of the heavenly intelligences have disappeared like the mist in view of Christ’s passion.

Conversely, the heavenly voice cries, “woe to the inhabitants of the earth” (v. 12).  The devil is a defeated foe, and he knows it.  His ire, therefore, is turned toward Christ’s followers on earth.  As Jesus overcame by blood, so His believers overcame (overcome) by “the blood of the Lamb” and they are telling everyone about it!

For the last 2,000 years or so this has been precisely the mission of the Christian church.  We, therefore, conclude again that the book of Revelation is a book for the Christian church!  The Christian church is God’s medium of evangelism to the rest of the world during the Christian era.  Peter in 1 Peter 2:1-9 portrays this wonderful truth.  And Jesus Himself speaks up with the clincher in the last chapter of John’s book (22:16) saying, “I Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things (the things of the book of Revelation, where?) in the churches.”

We will address other matters that arise in Revelation 12 in future articles.

~Rex Frost