Fern-Seed & Elephants: How to Beat the Dragon, Revelation Lesson 4

Okay, okay... I borrowed the above title from an excellent expository preaching session from Dr. Don Carson, whom in my estimation, is incisive, thorough and straight to the point. Right, let's look at the world and the church from God's perspective.

Chapter 12
Observation

Science fiction! Fantasy! You could be forgiven for wondering if the writer of Revelation had dunked himself in one anime episode too many. I mean, Woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and crown of 12 stars? Either this guy is high in imagination or on LSD. However, since all Scripture is God-inspired (2 Tim 3:16), LSD is out. Which leaves the option of God-inspired Scripture via means of imagination, in a manner that is readily understood by the original reader.

Hmmmm...

The identity of the woman is revealed in v 17. She is the true church, a group of believers in the Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT) who have the characteristic of those in v 11 (those who overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, word of testimony and not clinging to their lives unto death).

Lets get back to the text. The woman is in birth pangs. She is about to give birth to a male child who will rule the world. Messiah will come from the community of faith, in OT it was Israel, in NT it is the church. A great red (murderous) dragon waits for the child to be born in order to devour the baby. The dragon is also the Devil, Satan, the accuser of the brethen (v9). The child was born and taken to God (in one sentence describes Jesus' birth, ministry and ascension). The woman then is pursued by the dragon and fled to the wilderness (symbolic for testing and trial time, according to Jewish customs). There the woman is nourished for 1,260 days.

Now.

1,260 days = 42 months = 3 and a half years = a time, and times, and half a time. They are all different expressions of the same thing.

In order to understand what this means to the original reader, let's go back in Jewish history. In 323 BC, Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world, from his hometown Macedonia till India. He died without an heir, and his vast empire was divided between his 4 generals. You can find an allusion to this in Dan 8:21-22. The divided kingdoms were Egypt, Syria, Greece and Thrace. Now, Israel was right in between Egypt (Ptolemic) and Syria (Seleuccid). Israel became a hotly-contested region between these two kingdoms. Finally the Seleuccids from the north managed to wrest control of Israel, and under its emperor, vanquished all forms of Jewish worship. It was a capital offence to observe the Sabbath, to worship at the temple and Jewish priests were killed, pigs' blood poured on the altars to desecrate it. It was a dark period in Jewish history.

In about 164 BC, an emissary of the Seleuccidian emperor was sent to kill the Jewish priest Mattahias, but Mattahias killed him instead. Thus, a revolution began against the Seleuccid oppressors under Mattahias' eldest son Judas. The revolution was called the War of the Maccabees. Judas "hammered" the Seleuccids for 3-and-a-half years, and finally he won. The temple in Jerusalem was again dedicated. The Jews, for the first time in 400 - 500 years, began to worship God in their own land again.

Conclusion #1

Now.

If you tell a Jewish audience "three-and-a-half years" during the time Revelation was written (1st century), they instinctively refer to the time when their there was a great struggle, the war of Macabees, before victory was gained. Does it mean the persecution period was literally 3-and-a-half years? No. That period of suffering lasted almost half a millenia! Thus, the phrase 3-and-a-half years is symbolic for a period of immense suffering and catastrophic struggle, before finally, there is victory in sight.

Conclusion #2

The dragon with great fury tirelessly pursued the woman. On 3 occasions it was mentioned that he attempted to destroy her, but each time God rescued her and took her to the wilderness (desert - time of testing) where she was nurtured for ahem... a time, times and half a time.

Question:
From God's word, the church seemed to be always in a position where she is persecuted by the dragon. How does this compare with the state of our churches today, in our homes or anywhere in the world? Does this characterise our lives in any way?

Conclusion #3

This passage gives us a clear way to overcome the dragon.

a) Blood of the Lamb. It is not by our might nor power nor ability... but ONLY by the blood of the Lamb. We have done / could do nothing to save ourselves.

b) Word of the saints' testimony. This is bearing witness to Christ and the truth through word, deed and thought.