REVIEW OF ACT I l Throne Room of God-4 l Scroll on God’s lap-5 l Lamb to open scroll-5 l Six seals opened-6-9 l John gets another scroll-10 l Seventh seal--11

ACT II l John sees a woman standing on the moon, sun around her shoulders, and 12 stars around her head l She is about to bear a child l Standing by to devour the child is a great, red dragon

WOMAN AND DRAGON

SATANS 1 ST ATTACK l The Dragon is Satan l The child is Christ l Satan’s first attack is to stop Christ’s work on earth

SATAN’S 2 ND ATTACK l Satan tries to prevent Christ from taking His place as Savior l Michael and the good angels defeat Satan and the bad angels. l The accuser is thrown down

SATAN’S 3 RD ATTACK l Satan attacks the woman l God protects her for a time, times, and half a time. l This equals three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days l This is the time of persecution led by the beast

SATAN’S 4 TH ATTACK l 12:17—against the offspring or children of the women l These obey God and hold the testimony of Jesus l Christians of the early centuries l Satan will attack Christians

THE WOMAN l But who is the woman? 1. Gives birth to Jesus 2. Attacked by Satan but God protects her. 3. The mother of Christians

THE WOMAN l Mary?—birth to Jesus l But not mother of Christians l Jews?—birth to Jesus l But not mother of Christians for they rejected Jesus

THE WOMAN l God’s Eternal Plan l Began before the world began—Eph. 1:3-11 l Gave birth to Jesus l Satan wanted to stop it l Gave birth to Christians

WOMAN=GOD’S PLAN

SATAN’S FOUR ATTACKS 1. Christ on earth 2. Christ in heaven 3. Woman (plan) of God 4. Christians by persecution Revelation is to help Christians meet this fourth attack

What do you remember about the 1 st beast?

SATAN’S TWO ALLIES Revelation 13 l The First Beast— 7 heads (kings & hills) Like Daniel’s 4 th beast Rules over the earth Persecutes Christians All worship him

SATAN’S TWO ALLIES Revelation 13 l So the first beast is l The Roman Empire l whom Satan brings up to help him destroy the church l A very powerful ally l Now Satan brings up another ally—another beast

What do you remember about the 2 nd beast?

SATAN’S TWO ALLIES Revelation 13 l Satan’s second beast has two horns like a lamb l He has one purpose: l To make people worship the first beast, mainly its heads l Thus this is the Cult of Emperor Worship

SATAN’S TWO ALLIES Revelation 13 l So Satan thinks he will win— l If Christians refuse to worship the Emperor they will be killed. l If they do worship the Emperor, they will have abandoned their faith.

SATAN’S TWO ALLIES Revelation 13 l Either way, Satan wins. l Christ is urging a third way. For Christians to be faithful to Christ even if it means their deaths. Thus people will be drawn to a religion that means enough to die for

SATAN’S TWO ALLIES Revelation 13 l The Roman persecution on the church lasted from about 90 AD to about 300 AD. The symbolic 1260 days l Millions of Christians killed. l Their faithfulness defeated Satan’s fourth attack.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FALL l What does 14:1, 3-4 say of the martyrs. l They are on Mt. Zion l Heaven l Following the Lamb. l Singing a song

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FALL l 14:8 l Fallen is Babylon l A code name for Rome l So the announcement that God will soon destroy Rome l Rev. 11 and Rev overlap.

DESTRUCTION OF THE PERSECUTOR l Revelation 15 l Those victorious over the beast l Martyrs but they won the victory l These anticipate the defeat of their enemy.