Learn the celestial conflict and earthly implications unravelled in Revelation 12. Join us as we explore the dynamic struggle between Michael the Archangel and the dragon, a tale rooted in ancient prophecy yet echoing profound truths relevant to today’s world. Understand how this pivotal battle highlights the ultimate victory over satanic forces and reveals the hope found in the Messianic Kingdom.
Revelation 12. In verses 7 to 9, we read about the struggle in heaven. There are teachers of the Bible who have argued that this event happened between Genesis 1-1 and 1-2, that this produced a chaotic condition. That’s where we got the dinosaurs, where we got the cavemen, and so forth. I have a theological word for that view. baloney. God isn’t trying to trick us. If God wanted you to put all of that between Genesis 1, 1 and 1, 2, he would have given much more evidence of that fact.
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Thunder rolls across heaven. The sky splits open, and suddenly, war. Michael and his angels surge forward like a storm of fire. The dragon unleashes his wrath. Seven hits, ten horns, breathing fury. Swords of light collide with the darkness. The sound is like a million voices shouting in battle. And then the judgment falls. Satan is cast down, hurled like lightning to the earth. His throne, gone. His access, denied. His time, short. And his rage, unleashed on the world. This isn’t legend, and it’s not fiction. This is the war behind every war. This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. And on today’s program, David is taking us into Revelation chapter 12, verses 7 through 17 for day one of his message, Satan’s War. First though… Matt, we have a letter today from Stephanie. She listens online to the radio broadcast and she had a real wonderful note there. What did she say?
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It is. And you know, I love the way it starts, Jim. It says that she prays for us. That is just, just starts that. Thank you, Stephanie. Amen. We need it. But it says, you picked your revelation programs at just the perfect time. I’m listening on the internet now and you have always been my favorite radio preacher. One of the few that only goes by the Bible and I can trust. Your ministry is a real blessing to me. Thank you. And see you soon, Stephanie. I love that. See you soon. Amen.
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What is it your dad says?
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The Bible?
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The whole Bible? The whole Bible and nothing but the Bible.
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Amen. There you go.
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That is the source of truth that will never, ever let you down because it is the truth from top to bottom. The living word by the living God. There you go. If you have a note for us, a prayer request, a comment, get in touch with us and stay tuned. We’ll tell you just a bit later how to do that. And here’s David with day one of his message, Satan’s War, found in verses 7 through 17 of Revelation chapter 12.
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There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan who deceiveth 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 has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Messiah Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who 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 love not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. When the dragon saw that he was cast under the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the male 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 like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 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. And the dragon was angry with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. In verses 7 to 9, we read about the struggle in heaven. What we have here is a description of three things. One, a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Turn back to Daniel chapter 10. Daniel chapter 10. This is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, this struggle in heaven between Michael and his angels and the devil and his angels. It’s a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Daniel chapter 10, verse 13. It says, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one in 20 days. This prince is talking about angelic powers, principalities and powers, evil spirits, demons from hell that are affecting the military and political situations of the Middle East. It says, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. And I remained there with the kings of Persia. Verse 21 says, But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth. There is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael, your prince. Michael has a special role in relationship to the people of Israel. Turn to chapter 12 and look at verse 1 and 2. Chapter 12, verse 1 and 2. And at that time, Daniel says, this time of great tribulation, shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people. He has a special leadership role in protecting Israel. There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time, thy people shall be delivered, praise God, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. That’s a blessed promise, a hope promise for the people of Israel and protection of God. Now turn over to Jude 9. It’s also interesting to me that in the book of Jude, just a one-chapter book before Revelation in verse 9, it speaks about Michael. It says in verse 9 that Michael is the archangel, not one of the archangels. You ought to know that Jewish tradition says that there are seven archangels, but in the Bible there’s only one, the archangel. We’re told when the Messiah comes, it says he’ll come with the voice of the archangel. The archangel is described in the Bible very clearly. It is Michael. Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuked thee. That’s a good reminder to all of us that we don’t take on the enemy, okay? Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. We trust the Lord. We don’t take on the devil ourselves. Even Michael the archangel said, the Lord rebuked you. He wouldn’t even bring a railing accusation against him. The point of this verse is that here they’re discussing about the body of Moses. And the Bible speaks about God burying Moses. And we don’t know where he is buried, although people have built shrines over the spot. But we don’t know where he was buried. And the Bible says so. But here, Michael the archangel is contending with the devil over the body of Moses. And you’re talking, well, over 3,000 years ago. And in the tribulation period, they’re still having at it as this mighty war goes on in heaven. Back to Revelation chapter 12. So you see, this is a long-standing prophecy about Michael defending Israel against the devil and all of his emissaries trying to use the nations of the world to attack Israel. Remember later in Revelation, the devil will use demons who will be unclean spirits and will be like frogs in their movements, and they will gather all the nations of the world to the battle of Armageddon to destroy Israel. Satan is behind that, all these nations. Well, who’s standing up for Israel? Michael the archangel, and all the angels of God are with him. And that’s what’s being described here, this tremendous struggle that’s been going on. It’s a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Secondly, it also describes the failure of satanic forces to overcome the purposes and plans of God. Did you read this carefully in Revelation chapter 12? Notice two things. I like to say this. One, they lost. It says, verse 8, they prevailed not. And number two, they not only lost, they were cast out. Neither was their place found anymore in heaven. Verse 9, he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. So it describes the failure of satanic forces to overcome the purposes and plans of God. Well, that shouldn’t surprise us. Romans 16 says the God of peace will crush Satan shortly under your feet. John 12, 31, Jesus said, I saw Satan fall. We have in Hebrews 2.14 that the Son of Man became a partaker of flesh and blood, that he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil. We read in 1 John 3.8 the same thing, that the devil’s power to defeat and control us has been destroyed and whipped. By the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 John 4, 4 says, greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world. And here’s a clear passage showing us that all of Satan’s forces are unable to overcome the purposes and plans of God. And God’s going to dramatically demonstrate that as he kicks him out of ever having access into his presence again. He’s been up there accusing believers night and day, but he’s not going to do it anymore. The third thing that I would mention is that it describes this struggle in heaven, also describes the fall of Satan and his angels. You learn three things here about Satan that I think are rather significant. Number one, it is this passage where we learn that he was directly involved in the temptation of Adam and Eve. When you ask the question, which is a heavy-duty question, what is the origin of sin? What is the origin of depravity? And the Bible makes it clear in Ezekiel 28 that iniquity was found in Satan. And it begins there. And he was directly involved in the temptation of Adam and Eve. And something else that really hit me about this that we learn about Satan is that he is a slanderer as well as an adversary. The word devil in Greek means slanderer. Satan is a Hebrew word for adversary. Understand the devil is always that to us. Always. He’s out to persecute the woman that represents the nation of Israel, who’s clothed with the sun and the moon and the 12 stars. That was Joseph’s dream. It’s talking about the 12 tribes of Israel. And the devil is enraged, the Bible says, with a woman. And primarily because she’s the one that brings forth the Messiah. Messiah comes from Israel. Therefore, let’s kill a woman and kill her child. Who’s been persecuting Israel all these years? We need to be really wise as serpents and harmless as doves in this day, more than ever, just like our Lord taught us. The third thing that I notice about Satan in this passage that we learn is that he deceives the whole world. You know, that’s a real clear passage, isn’t it? Verse 9, the devil, the Satan, who deceiveth the whole world. Flip over to chapter 20, please, and look at verse 10. Nobody’s escaping his wily schemes. Nobody’s escaping his satanic strategies for destroying people’s lives. Nobody is. He’s deceiving the entire world. In chapter 20, verse 10. It says the devil that deceived them, that’s how God describes even in his final punishment, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. That’s where the devil’s headed for. He’s headed for hell. He’s not the king of hell ordering people to shovel coal. He’s the chief prisoner. He’s going to be tormented day and night forever and ever. Go back to chapter 12 again. The struggle in heaven is presented to us in verse 7 to 9. But in verses 10 to 12, we have the secret of victory over the devil. And it’s based on at least three things. If I’m reading that like you are, I see at least three things that comprise the secret of victory over the devil. One, it’s based on the coming of the messianic kingdom. Look at that. Now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Messiah, his Christ. It’s based on the coming of the kingdom. Does that not remind you of chapter 11, verse 15? The kingdom of this world, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. The Old Testament is filled with promises of the coming messianic kingdom. And that is the victory that we have. What’s the hope for this terrible mess in the Middle East? It’s the most serious problem. Talk about tribulation days coming. Jesus says those days will be so bad that you’re going to pray they’d be shortened. There’d be no other period of time as awful as that. Well, what’s the answer? The answer is the coming of the Messianic kingdom. And all over the Jewish world, this has been astounding to me, but all over the Jewish world there is a growing new realization that the only hope is the Messiah. You know, for years I read a lot of Jewish literature, and primarily the emphasis seemed to be the Messiah was a concept, an idea, or what’s happening in the land. Wonderful books were even written that way. A classic book on Israel by Abraham Joshua Heschel, and beautifully done. But its whole point is that Israel is nothing, the Messianic home is nothing but what’s happening in Israel. But I think more and more of the rabbinical scholars in the Jewish world as well as the Jewish people are beginning to look at what’s happening and say, wait a minute. Maybe we’ve done wrong here. We ought to take it literally like it reads in the great Jewish prophets of the Bible that there is a personal Messiah who is coming to set up a kingdom and he is the only hope of the world. My friend, that is the secret of victory right there. Not only that, but it’s based on the cleansing that only the blood of the Messiah can bring. Look at verse 11. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. And you may wonder, what’s the point there? Is it talking about martyrdom or what? But I believe very firmly, as Zechariah the prophet said, that one day Israel, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the house of David, will look on him whom they have pierced and mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. And chapter 13, verse 1 of Zechariah said, in that day a fountain for cleansing will be opened at the house of Israel. The great English poet William Cooper wrote, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stain. The answer is the blood of the Messiah. The truth of the matter is that all we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord laid on him, the Messiah, the iniquity of us all. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastest men of Our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Hey, the hope is the Messiah, the one who died and shed his blood and died in our place. The Messiah was to be the sin bearer. The Messiah was to be the ultimate sacrifice, the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world. He had no sin himself. The Bible’s clear on that. He bore our sins in his own body, and that’s the secret of victory. The devil’s power over you and me is because of sin in our life. We are born sinners, and we have an open field of attack to the enemy in the depravity of our own hearts, and the devil knows that. But my friend, when Jesus died, he destroyed the power of the devil over you and me. The prophet Isaiah said, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And what we need is to be dipped, bathed, baptized, drenched in the blood of the Messiah himself. It’s the only way to deal with sin. It’s the only way to be cleansed. We must be forgiven by God and God alone. And when our sins are dealt with, the devil has nothing to attack. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Don’t give the devil even a foothold of operation, but flee to the cross of Jesus Christ. It’s our only hope. But third, it’s also based on God’s control of Satan and his wrath. Look at verse 12. He tells heaven to rejoice and tells the inhabitants of the earth to panic. Why? Because the devil’s coming down. Now, certainly he’s had access before, but he’s primarily worked through his demons, his evil spirits, his fallen angels. But now the devil is going to head up the operation himself. And the Bible says he has great wrath. That’s a Greek word for emotional outburst. It literally means he’s out of control. This evil, arch-wicked one, arch-enemy of all of us is now so out of control, God says he’s emotionally losing it. And the Bible says he knows he has but a short time. You see, the devil’s work is totally controlled by God. Totally. Totally. And I praise the Lord for that. The secret of victory lies in God’s control, not in man’s control or any political maneuverings of world leaders.
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Now that’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in just a moment to close out our time. Ahead of that, his son Matt’s here, and together we’re going to tell you about an outstanding home Bible study resource.
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What a blessing it’s been to showcase visions of the future. My dad’s engaging study trekked through Zechariah. Jim, Zechariah is brimming with Bible prophecy now fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled.
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It’s also a sobering account of the end of God’s forbearance with the people of Israel. His judgment via Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem.
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And, of course, the forced removal of the Jews to Babylon. But also God’s merciful work of restoring his people to the land. That’s it. Calling them to repentance and rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Now, there’s warnings here, though, and hope for all who need to come to repentance. Amen? Amen.
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Well, because God has that heart for the people of Israel, we know he has that mercy when we repent.
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Amen. Amen.
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And in these difficult days, and you know this, Matt, when evil is often lauded as good, biblical truths are savagely attacked and believers are targeted. We see that, don’t we? It’s reassuring to study Zechariah and see God’s prophetic plan for the world laid out. And there is so much to see and study in Zechariah that will build your faith, expand your understanding of God’s plan for the ages, thrill your heart for the future that awaits believers, and inspire you to be a gospelite.
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And you’ll find and experience it all inside Visions of the Future by my dad, David Hawking. Visions of the Future, our featured resource this month is just $15. And your purchase will also help the Ministry of Hope for today. Yeah, and please pray for hope for today in these challenging times. Yeah, please start with that.
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And if you’d like to be a part of this work and help meet our financial need, consider sending a donation as well. We do need the help. Your summertime donation will be particularly helpful. You can order this resource when you call 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada and Bible by the numbers 24253. Or you can contact us anytime online at davidhawking.org. And friend, as we move into the fall season, we need your help recovering. That is, recovering from the summer giving lapse. You know, every year it seems people travel and schedules change and donations slow down. But the expense of keeping this broadcast on the air? Stations still need to be paid. Resources still need to be printed. And the gospel still needs to go forward without compromise. Your most generous gift right now will help close that gap. Your support puts the Word of God into the hands of new believers. It keeps these programs available on these radio stations or to stream online free. It makes it possible for Hope for Today to reach people who may have never heard the truth of Jesus Christ or the hope that’s only found in God’s Word. So please pray for us and prayerfully consider sending a special gift today. You can give securely online at davidhawking.org or call us at 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And if you prefer, you can write us in the U.S. at Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011. RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S, 8P1. Let’s get back to David for his closing thoughts.
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Well, we sure hope you’re enjoying our study of Revelation. Chapter 12, for those of you who’ve been with us, you know that there were great wonders or signs in heaven, the woman clothed with the sun, which we believe is the nation of Israel, and also the dragon, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and the dragon is the old serpent, devil, and Satan who deceives the whole world, according to verse 9. And what we have now in verses 7 to 17 is what we call Satan’s war, and it is against Israel. Satan will be cast out during the tribulation. to the earth. He fought with the good angels of God under the leadership of Michael, the prince for Israel, and the dragon didn’t prevail against him, and their place was no longer found in heaven. He’s been up there accusing believers day and night. Well, he’ll be cast out to the earth and all of his evil angels with him. And that is a very important issue, because verse 10 says, “…now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brethren is cast out or cast down, which accused them before God day and night.” And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. So this is very important, and I hope you stay with us for all of these broadcasts. God bless you.
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And remember, if you missed any part of today’s program or perhaps a recent broadcast, you can always go to our website, davidhawking.org, and catch up on what you’ve missed. We keep the programs posted there for a limited time, so take advantage of that. Well, next time on the program, it’s day two in Revelation 12. War continues to explode in heaven. Michael and his angels unleash their fury, and the dragon fights back, but he falls, cast down, stripped, raging. His time, it’s short. His wrath is great. And you know something? This is Satan’s war, and the battle is closer than you think. So be sure to join us next time for Hope for Today.
