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The Dragon In Revelation
Finding a chapter in The Book Of Signs that makes sense is surprising and refreshing. The chapter on the Dragon is well done, as Dr. David Jeremiah explores the workings of Satan in the world. Much of the content of this chapter would be accepted by people with different end-times views. The chapter is broken down into the five ‘greats’, so let’s begin looking at them.
The Great Sign
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth… She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Rev. 12:1-2, 5-6, NKJV
The Book Of Signs correctly identifies the woman as the nation of Israel. She was the womb through which the Messiah was to be born. God watched over her through the Old Testament, even during times of judgment, so that He could bring our Saviour and Lord into the world. It was not an easy process and involved a lot of pain.
The Child is, of course, Jesus. He came from Israel to be the Saviour and Lord of the world.
The Great Dragon
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born…So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Rev. 12:3-4, 9, NKJV
The Book Of Signs understands that Satan is a beautiful creature, but when you look deeper, he is vile and evil to the core. He is a red dragon because his hands are stained with the blood of billions. According to his name, he is an adversary and a slanderer, and he certainly lives up to it.
Having failed to keep Christ from the world, he is now determined to keep the world from Christ. Utterly devoid of scruples or conscience, he lies, misrepresents, and hides truth to plant the seeds of doubt about the reality and goodness of God. Jeremiah, David . The Book of Signs (p. 315). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Very well said! Even as Christians, we sometimes have trouble believing in the goodness of God because we have been so influenced by the dragon’s lies.
The seven heads [leadership/intelligence] and ten horns [power] show satan’s now corrupted intelligence and great power. He was probably the greatest of God’s created creatures. Certainly, he was in the top three with Michael and Gabriel. Some people believe that Lucifer was the worship leader in heaven before he fell.
Dr. David Jeremiah believes that this Scripture teaches that one-third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion, and most Bible scholars would agree. To my knowledge, this is the only Scripture that hints at the number of fallen angels, so although it is not conclusive, it is probably a correct conclusion.
From the beginning, Satan’s obsession has been the eradication of God’s people. Jeremiah, David . The Book of Signs (p. 317). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
I would say that Satan’s obsession is replacing God by destroying what God loves [God loves His people the most] and making himself an object of worship, but it is basically the same idea. We see this all throughout the Old Testament as satan worked to corrupt and destroy the seedline, which would bring Jesus into the world. In “devour her Child as soon as it was born,” we see the attempt of Herod to murder the Child Jesus. Later we even see him tempting Jesus to worship him.
The Great War
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. Rev. 12:7-8, NKJV
These battles are ongoing, building toward a final, cataclysmic conflict that will forever destroy Satan and his diabolic influence. Jeremiah, David . The Book of Signs (p. 318). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
It is correctly stated that satan cannot create. I first came across the concept in the writings of C.S. Lewis. There is no such thing as original evil. All evil is taking something good that God created and warping or twisting it into something God did not intend.
The Book Of Signs sees this as an ongoing conflict. It seems to picture a “This Present Darkness” kind of scenario. I believe this is a description of the conflict that raged in heaven during the ministry of Christ as all the forces of hell tried to prevent His victory. This was it. Everything hung on one Life. The destiny of humanity was at stake. All the stops were pulled out in this last-ditch effort to prevent the plan of God from being completed. When Christ rose from the dead, satan and his angels were cast out of heaven. With the new Adam ascending, he had lost all legal standing in the courts of heaven. Now the war is over. Satan is defeated. Our job is to enforce the victory of Christ and root out all resistance to His Lordship - starting in our own lives.
I believe the next verse confirms my view.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “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. Rev. 12:10, NKJV
As I have written in more detail elsewhere, the Kingdom of God arrived when Jesus rose from the dead. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus said He currently [and forever] has all power and authority. In Mark 9:1, Jesus told His disciples that some of them would be alive to see the kingdom coming in power. [Only Judas wasn’t.] This war is over. Jesus is Victor.
The Great Wrath
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child…And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:12-13, 17, NKJV
Before the end, Satan will mount an all-out assault on God’s people, the Jews, launching a tsunami of anti-Semitism over the world like nothing yet seen in human history. Jeremiah, David . The Book of Signs (p. 321). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
This is where we get into areas of disagreement. Dr. David Jeremiah sees this as in the future, whereas I believe it is in the past. We must realize that no one was ever saved, even in the Old Testament, because they were Jewish. Only the true believers - the remnant - who had faith in what God would do through Christ were saved. So when the devil is thrown to earth at the resurrection of Jesus, he tries to take his revenge on the Jewish believers. The Book of Acts is full of satan’s attempts to wipe out the infant Church usually by using unbelieving Jews.
He is bent on destroying the Jews to prevent fulfillment of Israel’s role in prophecy when Christ returns to establish His kingdom. Jeremiah, David . The Book of Signs (p. 321). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
The kingdom has already arrived and is in the growth stage. The purpose of physical Israel was fulfilled when they were the instruments of bringing the Messiah into the world. Bible prophecy after Christ does not deal with physical nations but with spiritual nations - The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of satan.
The Book Of Signs feels that the “rest of her offspring” is the Jewish Christians. This essentially makes God a bigamist with two Brides - the Jews and the Church. If, as I believe, the woman is the Jewish believers, who are these others? The gentile believers. Satan tried to stamp out the Church using the unbelieving Jews. This was an effective strategy when the Church was composed primarily of Jews. When the Gospel when worldwide, he needed a worldwide Empire. Nero became the first emperor to persecute Christians of all nationalities. He was extremely brutal and vicious.
The Great Wings
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Rev. 12:14-16, NKJV
Jews would immediately recognize the “two wings of a great eagle” as symbolic of the grace of God, who spoke of delivering them from bondage in Egypt, saying, “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” (Ex. 19:4). This reference assures Israel that during Satan’s aggressive assault, God will again deliver them as he did from Egypt. He will move them to a secure, protected place. Some think this place will be the ancient, rock-carved city-fortress Petra, hidden deep within the cliffs south of the Dead Sea. Jeremiah, David . The Book of Signs (p. 322). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
This would be an accurate assessment if Dr. Jeremiah would look at the history of the times instead of trying to project it into the future. The Jewish Christians were terribly persecuted by the unbelieving Jews. However, at the beginning of the Jewish War in AD 66, they were protected by following the instructions of Jesus and the apostles and fleeing the land of Israel. Most seemed to have gone to Perea, which they called Pella. There they were safe from both their Jewish persecutors and the horrible war which devastated the land of Israel and destroyed both the Temple and the nation.
Additional Reading
Is The Kingdom Of Heaven Destined For Victory Or Defeat?
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