BIRTH PANG NUMBER 38
The Remnant of Israel,
Past, Present, and Future!
Part 3
March 1, 2002
Revelation 12:4
[4] And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman
which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was
born.
Continuing with the exposition of the twelfth
chapter of the book of Revelation, we find that a bit of Satan’s past history
is revealed. We are informed that when
Satan fell by sin about one-third of the angels
(stars) chose to follow his leadership.
By the pulling power of his tail, much like some officials ride into
public office on the political coattails of a stronger candidate, one-third of
the angels exercised their free will and chose to follow Satan, rather than
God. They are forever sealed in their
free will choice, just as my soul is sealed in its free will choice to trust in
Jesus until my body is redeemed at the rapture.
Ephesians 4:30
[30] And grieve not the holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
The prophet Isaiah graphically portrays the ancient
fall of the beautiful angel Lucifer.
Isaiah 14:12
[12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
Since Lucifer’s fall he has a new name – Satan. Lucifer means “shining one,” while Satan means
“the hater, accuser, or the adversary.”
One primary goal existed in Satan’s plan after his fall – to prevent the
birth of an heir who could legitimately take away his earthly spiritual and
material kingdom. Verse four presents a
picture of fallen Lucifer as a dragon, standing before the woman Israel, determined to kill the
heir as soon as he was born.
Revelation 12:5
[5] And she brought forth a man child, who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and
to his throne.
The woman Israel is symbolized as the
earthly wife of God. So here is the
picture presented in verse five – Satan’s greatest fear is realized – the
symbolized wife of God gives birth to God’s Son through a direct descendant of
Israel, the virgin Mary, who has all the correct genealogical credentials from
Seth to Heli via Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah,
David, and Zerubbabel. Beginning with Herod, Satan attempted to
destroy the Son both spiritually and physically. Finally, he thought he had destroyed him
physically on the cross, but God completely turned the tables on Satan, and
openly revealed the great mystery of all the ages to all the world – the great
mystery of Christ crucified for all the sins of all who would believe he alone
was the total price for completed salvation, and that he alone, with no
additional requirements from the recipients, was the provider by His one time
sacrifice for all sins.
I Corinthians 1:17,18 + 2:2,5
[18] For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect. [18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. [2] For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified. [5] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God.
God shocked Satan!
He took Israel’s sinless “man child” of
verse five, and “her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” God resurrected His child, Jesus Christ, and
He is in heaven today as the eternal Son of God. He was “caught up unto God,
and to his throne” more than 2000 years ago in prophetic years of 360 days, and
He is still there. Very soon, the woman
of chapter twelve is going to have to flee for her life during the Great
Tribulation Period. I believe this
fleeing will occur within the next eight years, and if God had not provided a
place of safety for her in the Negev wilderness, she would be
utterly destroyed. We will continue this
exposition in Birth Pang Update 39 next week with Revelation 12:6, Lord willing.
Revelation 12:6
[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should
feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.