Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #5 of Revelation, chapter 12, and we are going to be reading at Revelation 12:3-4:
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 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.
In our last study we spent some time looking at the “seven heads and ten horns.” For instance, we saw in Revelation, chapter 17, that God relates the seven heads to seven “mountains,” and mountains in the Bible identify with “kingdoms.” The seven heads of dragon (Satan) typify seven kingdoms and that is why it speaks of seven crowns upon his heads: seven periods of rule in which Satan would rule over the unsaved people of the world throughout history. Revelation 17 also tells us that by the time of the cross five kingdoms had already fallen and “one is,” and that pointed to Satan’s rule during the New Testament church age, and one was to come. That would be the final or seventh rule of Satan during the “little season” of the Great Tribulation, in which Satan would rule to a far greater degree than ever before. God would give him rule over all the churches, as well as over the world in a special way as wickedness would be increased. Whenever wicked is increased and evil is “unleashed” in the way it has been over the last few decades, that gave Satan greater opportunity to rule over the hearts of unsaved men. The deeper the world goes into wickedness, the more it is that they are worshipping Satan. He is the one that plunged men into this situation of being sinners under the wrath of God. In sinning and “believing the lie” over what God had said in the Garden of Eden, mankind gave his allegiance to the devil and has been doing this ever since.
Again, we saw that the “seven heads and ten horns” represented the rule of Satan throughout time, but then we read those interesting verses in Psalm 74:13-14:
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
We now understand this in a much greater way, because now we realize God is referring to the “heads” (plural) of the dragon – the seven heads that represent the rule of Satan throughout time. Therefore, when God speaks of breaking the heads of the dragons in the waters, He is describing the fall of Satan’s kingdom, his final kingdom. Therefore, all the “heads” are broken and all the rule of Satan is under the foot of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ rules over all that was previously Satan’s during this Day of Judgment and Christ rules with a “rod of iron.”
It says in Psalm 74:14:
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
Again, this is an intriguing statement by the Lord. Satan, called leviathan here, has his “heads” broken in pieces and then Satan is given to be “meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.” Right away, this reminds us of what we read in a few places in the Book of Ezekiel. It says in Ezekiel 29:2:
Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
Pharaoh, oftentimes in the Bible, is a picture of Satan and this is confirmed as we read on, in Ezekiel 29:3:
Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
Then it goes on to say in Ezekiel 29:4-5:
But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
This is very similar language to Psalm 74:14. The “heads” of leviathan are broken in pieces and are given as meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness, just as Pharaoh, the great dragon, is brought up out of his river and thrown into open field in the wilderness and he is given for meat “to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.” There is a very definite similarity between these statements. More than that, it says in Ezekiel 32:2:
Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas…
Now the English word “whale” is a translation of the same Hebrew word translated as “dragon” back in Ezekiel 29, so this is the same Hebrew word. It could say, “Thou art as a dragon in the seas,” and that would have been proper and correct. It says the same thing of Pharaoh because he is a picture of Satan, the dragon in the sea. Then it goes on to say in Ezekiel 32:2-10:
… and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord JEHOVAH. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
This is talking about the day Satan falls, when he is put down and deposed of all official rule and power – that rule he had been given since the Garden of Eden when he conquered mankind that had been created in the image of God. Satan caused the creature that had been created in God’s own image to bow down to him, the serpent, by obeying his lie. Mankind was subservient to the devil and Satan had dominion over him throughout the history of the world. He had seven periods of rule, which God portrays as “seven kingdoms,” over the hearts of the unsaved peoples of the world.
The last period in which Satan would rule was the greatest for him. It was the period of the “little season,” which lasted for 23 years during the Great Tribulation and, yet, that concluded his rule; it ended the period of reign for the devil. He no longer would rule over mankind. It was on May 21, 2011, exactly the 23rd year and the 8,400th day of the Great Tribulation, when it came to a close. Then the Bible says: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” It is precisely what we read in Ezekiel 32 at the time of Pharaoh, a picture of Satan, is brought up out of the sea and cast upon the open ground as meat for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth. It is a picture of God’s victory over the enemy that dared rise up against the Lord; that dared to make himself as God; that dared to come upon the people of God. God is making him an open spectacle. He is a dead carcass for all the world to see and for the fowls of the heaven to feast upon. Notice the connection God makes (not me or EBible Fellowship) between the darkness that comes upon the world in verse 7, as He says, “And when I shall put thee out.” It is a time reference, as it says: “And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord JEHOVAH.”
Just as God literally brought darkness over the land of Egypt (the land of Pharaoh) when He brought judgment against Egypt long ago, He is using a similar picture to describe the time when judgment will come upon Satan. It will be “immediately after the tribulation of those days,” and it is the only time that this language relates to, which is our present time. That is why we have been saying that Satan is deposed. He is put down, just as we saw in the Book of Esther when Haman was killed on the “seventeenth day of the second month.” His dominion was removed and the house of Haman was given to Mordecai the Jew (a type of Christ), but the ten sons of Haman lived on until several months later when the day came that Haman had desired to slay all the Jews, it was “turned around” and the ten sons of Haman were killed. This is exactly what happened here. On May 21, 2011, Satan lost all official rule and his period of reigning over seven kingdoms ended and his “seven heads” were broken; there are no more heads and more periods of rule. He had lost his “high and lofty place” of his seat in the temple. He has lost his reign over mankind in the world and, yet, he still exists. He was not destroyed on May 21, 2011. He still goes about as a roaring lion. He can still enter into churches or go about in the world to cause trouble. He can still do those things, but on the last day of Judgment Day, then he, like the ten sons of Haman, will be destroyed for ever. Notice how the ten sons of Haman fits in with the ten horns, when it says the dragon had seven heads and ten horns.
Let us go to another place in Ezekiel 39. Beginning in Ezekiel 38, God speaks of Gog and Magog and we find further discussion of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 39 and in Revelation, chapter 20, and these are the only places where it refers to “Gog and Magog.” The term “Gog and Magog” has to do with Satan’s assault against the churches and congregations. We know this very definitely because it says in Revelation 20:7-9:
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Here, “Gog and Magog” relates to the loosing of Satan. When Satan comes against the churches, the camp of the saints, it is like “Gog and Magog” coming against the people of Israel, historically. So it pictures that last rule of Satan which took place during the Great Tribulation. “Gog and Magog” is a picture of the final “greatness” of Satan’s power during his last period of rule in this world. It is a massive army and, of course, Satan and his emissaries are massive when we consider that the entire corporate church was given over to him. The corporate churches numbered about two billion, plus the other masses that were given to Satan out of this world. It is just a mind-boggling number of people that were under the power and control of Satan at the time of the Great Tribulation. Yet, Satan is defeated. Gog and Magog are destroyed in the day of God’s wrath. You read about that in Ezekiel, chapter 38, and then God says in Ezekiel 39:1-6:
Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord JEHOVAH. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am JEHOVAH.
This reminds us of what we read in Isaiah 24:15:
Wherefore glorify ye JEHOVAH in the fires, even the name of JEHOVAH God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
The “fires” are synonymous to the isles of the sea and the isles are related to the continents because each continent is a huge island. God just sums up the entire world by referring to it as the “isles.” “And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am JEHOVAH.” Again, Judgment Day has come and God has lit a spiritual fire; He has put down Satan and, here, we have the very same language of Ezekiel 29 and Ezekiel 32 (concerning Pharaoh), where Gog and Magog are given unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field. They have fallen in the open field. God is putting this on public display and all of this relates to the “heads” of the dragon and the “heads” of leviathan being broken in pieces. If we go back to Psalm 74:14:
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
This reminds us of the people that came out of Egypt and inhabited the wilderness, but, actually, the word for “wilderness” in this case is not the typical word for “wilderness.” It is a Hebrew word, Strong’s #6478, and it is found only six times in the Old Testament: once, in this verse and also in some very key places. We find this same word translated as “wild beasts of the desert” in three places. It says in Isaiah 13:19:
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
The entire phrase “wild beats of the desert” is a translation of that one Hebrew word translated as “wilderness” in Psalm 74:14. It is not only translated that way here, but also in Isaiah 34. Just as Isaiah 13 is a chapter that describes Judgment Day, Isaiah 34 also describes Judgment Day. Isaiah 34, verse 8, speaks of the day of JEHOVAH’S vengeance and verse 10 says, “it shall not be quenched day or night,” which is clearly language of the final judgment of this world. Then God describes what this judgment of the wrath of God is all about, in Isaiah 34:14:
The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island…
The “wild beasts of the desert” is that same word. Then it says in Isaiah 34:14-15:
The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
Remember how Satan is put out on the open field and the fowls of the heaven feed upon him. “Gog and Magog,” which are Satan and the unsaved, are also lying in the open field as meat for the fowls of heaven. So this word translated as “wilderness” leads us to Judgment Day at the time of the end of the Great Tribulation when Satan is overcome by the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
Let us look at one last place in Jeremiah 50:35:
A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith JEHOVAH, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
Then it says in Jeremiah 50:38-40:
A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith JEHOVAH; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
When God speaks of a “desolate place” that is not inhabited, He means it is not inhabited by the Son of man, Christ. It does not mean there will not be people; there will be plenty of people, as we can see all around us, but it is not inhabited by Christ. God has forsaken that place. He has given it up, like He did to the churches. Now He has given up Babylon, the world, and this language of “vultures, owls and wild beasts of the desert,” in the context of Judgment Day in Isaiah 13, Isaiah 34 and Jeremiah 50, depicts what God had in mind when He said in Revelation 18:2:
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
You see, this is what God is referring to and He is not talking about the churches exclusively, but He is talking about the entire world. The kingdom of Babylon is the entire rule of Satan. Remember the woman sat upon the beast with the seven heads and ten horns. Babylon ruled throughout the history of the world and this is the figure God uses and it is what He means when He says, “Babylon the great is fallen.”