Read with Me
Revelation 12:13-18 (NET)
Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle, so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of–away from the presence of the serpent–for a time, times, and half a time. Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood, but the earth came to her rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commands and hold to the testimony about Jesus. And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.
Listen with Me
The dragon, satan, is not one to give up easily or at all. Even though he has some power, he is a mere created being and has no power at all compared to God’s. But he also lacks two other key things that God has: he is not omniscient, all-knowing, and he is not omnipresent, able to be everywhere at once.
What that means practically is that he does not realize that he has already lost and that his doom is sealed. So, he keeps fighting with increasing fury, believing that victory is still possible. And, since he can only fight at one place at a time, he presses forward in a single person or group of people that he can control. And when that tactic fails, or that person our group is used up, he moves to the next.
Even though God had protected His people from satan’s initial wrath at being cast out of God’s presence forever, he was now redoubling his efforts, causing not just a localized persecution like the one in Jerusalem after the execution of Stephen, and Nero’s persecution that was mostly restricted to Rome and its environs. This one was much more widespread and much more deadly.
But the picture God painted for John was one of ultimate defeat of satan’s plan. The flood of persecution he had unleashed was going to be completely thwarted, swallowed up by God’s power.
Sadly, that would not be the end. The dragon would try one more time in a desperate attempt to gain the upper hand over God and take His people out of the way so that he could dominate the world.
Pray with Me
Father, this picture gives me two very different but equally compelling understandings. The first is that the enemy will not give up until he is finally cast into the lake of fire when this world is done. Many want to try to tame satan, to just leave them alone. But he truly is a marauding lion with an insatiable appetite who won’t be tamed in any way, but will continually look for any weakness, any chink in our armor that he can exploit to take us out. Since he can’t be tamed or controlled, he must ultimately be defeated and put away forever by You. The second understanding is that You truly are the Almighty God. Therefore, we can never be defeated as long as we remain in You and under Your protection. And that understanding puts the first one into its proper perspective. Thank You, Lord, for all that You are, and for all that You’re doing. Amen.