The Lamb is the Lord, part 5: The War of the Worlds

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The decisive event of God’s plan of salvation is the Cross―see Revelation 12:7-12. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated Satan and all the forces of evil.

This is part 5 of a 7-part reader’s guide to the Book of Revelation. For parts 1 to 4, click HERE and follow the links given there. Parts 6 and 7 will be published in the next few weeks.

Victory over the dragon

Revelation 12:1 to 15:4 is ‘a story within the story’. It leads us through the whole Bible story from before the birth of Jesus to His coming again at the end of this age and the great Day of Judgment. This section is the heart of the whole book.

A “great sign” appears in heaven―“a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1). This woman cries out “in birth pains” (12:2). Who is this woman? She seems to symbolise the nation of Israel, from which Jesus the Messiah was born.

Another sign appears in heaven. To our shock, it’s “a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns”. It bears ”seven crowns” on its heads (12:3 NIV). This dragon is none other than “that ancient serpent, who is called . . . Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (12:9). With a great swish of its tail this dragon sweeps down “a third of the stars of heaven” and casts them ”to the earth” (12:4). Then the murderous dragon waits, ready to devour the woman’s child. Tragedy seems inevitable.

Click HERE to read more, and to download the 4-page introduction and the 16-page reader’s guide to this section of Revelation.

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