Last week we looked at the war in heaven.

• We see Satan’s hatred for Jesus.
• We saw how he was cast out of heaven and then he was cast down at the cross when Christ was crucified.
• And when he saw his total banishment from heaven, what did he go and do?
• Revelation 12:13
  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
• Satan could not touch Christ. He had lost.
• But his efforts have not stopped. In fact, he knows that his days have been numbered and he only has a short time left to work.
• So he does what he can to hurt Christ’s followers on earth.

Remember also that we looked at the different names or faces of Satan last week as well.

• He is also known as the dragon and also the serpent.
• The dragon represented persecuting power.
• The serpent was about deception.

So notice back in Revelation 12:13

• The dragon is cast to the earth. So what does he do? He goes and persecutes the woman.
• There we see the picture again of the dragon associated with persecution.

But let’s keep reading in the next verse.

• Revelation 12:14
  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.
• The woman runs into the wilderness and she is nourished for 3 ½ times from the face of the serpent.
• She is given two wings of a great eagle.

What about the eagle’s wings?

• Exodus 19:4
  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
  • God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians and brought them into the wilderness.
• Isaiah 40:31
  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
  • They would run and not be weary, they would walk and not faint.
• What does the Bible say about running?
  • Hebrews 12:1
    Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
  • We must run with patience this race.
• But who is going to finish this race?
  • The last generation.
  • Hebrews 11:40
    God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
  • They started the race. But we must be the ones that must finish it.
• Hebrews 11 is all about faith! The faith of all the saints that came before us and even that would go through the dark ages.
• We must have faith and patience.
• Revelation 14:12
  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
• It is safe to say that a situation similar to that of the dark ages is going to arise again in our time.
• History will repeat itself.
• The devil, the face of the dragon is not done yet making an appearance. We will see this later on.

But coming back to Revelation 12:14, we see that it is the serpent that makes an appearance. Something to do with deception.

When we go back to Revelation 12:6, what do we read about the dark ages?

• Revelation 12:6
  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
• We don’t know if this is the serpent or the dragon. But if we go a few verses back, we see who it is.
• Revelation 12:4
  …and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
• It is the dragon.

So during the dark ages from 538-1798, the devil used a two-pronged approach.

• He persecuted the Christian’s during that time. There were a lot of Christian martyrs. Millions were put to death.
• They were burnt at the stake. They were tortured. They were beheaded. They were imprisoned. The wrath of the dragon was upon them.
• However, where 1 died, 10 would spring up, seeing the faith of those that held on to Jesus.
• The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church.
• The fires of persecution only seemed to make the gold of the faith stronger.

So what did the Catholic church have to do then? They put on the face of the serpent.

• Heresy and false doctrine abounded.
• The doctrines of men replaced the commandments of God.
• Sunday sacred.
• The state of the dead.
• Praying to saints.
• The power of the priests to forgive sins.
• The focus of the people were taken from heaven and put on the papal church.
• And deception crept in that destroyed the peculiarities of the faith of those that were fighting against the catholic church.
• Friendships were formed at the detriment of their faith and zeal for God.

The dragon and the serpent worked together to try and overthrow the reformation. But Revelation says that there would be a group of people that would be nourished during the dark ages.

• Truth would be preserved. The word of God would feed them and sustain them during this time.
• They were fed with the hidden manna.

You know what’s interesting? Today, it is not the face of the dragon. The face of the serpent is what we see.

• Truth has fallen in the streets.
• The devil has gotten people to believe lies through the social media, through movies, through every avenue we are constantly bombarded with information that can lead us astray.

But let’s continue.

Revelation 12:15
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

Now the serpent is the main character still.

• He cast water out of is mouth like a flood after the woman.

What does water represent?

• Revelation 17:15
  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
  • It can represent a multitude of people.
  • This can represent armies.
• However, this is coming out of the mouth of the serpent. It can represent persecution from armies. However, what else can the water represent?
• Deuteronomy 32:2
  My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
  • It represents doctrine.
  • And obviously this is false doctrine.
• The way that God filled the earth with water during the great flood was through rain.
• And we have seen this false doctrine permeate throughout all of society today and especially in Christendom too.

I want you to notice something very interesting that Isaiah says about a flood from the enemy though.

Isaiah 59:19-21
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

The enemy is going to come in as a flood.

• However, God’s Spirit is going to lift up a standard against him. How will God do that?
• The Redeemer will come.
• But what will He do?
• God will put His Spirit upon us. And He will also put His words in our mouths.
• Why is God doing that?
• You see, the way to combat the flood that the enemy is bringing in, God is putting His word in the mouths of His people.
• He wants us to testify.
• Remember we looked at this text last week in Revelation 12.
• Revelation 12:11
  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
• God needs us to make a testimony. He needs us to share His word.
• When Christ healed a man that was possessed with a demon, that man, now free and sane, he wanted to follow Jesus and learn from Him. But what was Christ’s response?
• Mark 5:18-19
  18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
• Jesus said no. He wanted him to be a witness. To tell others what Christ had done for him.
• And look at the result:
  • Luke 8:40
    And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.
  • Many people were waiting for Christ to come back after that because of the testimony of that man.
• God needs us to testify today! This is the way that God will combat against the false doctrine of the serpent.

Revelation 12:16
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.

Now we see the dragon mentioned again.

• Some people say – well the dragon is just another type of a serpent right? And though that is true, the Greek words that are used for dragon and serpent are different. There is definitely a difference from verse 15 to verse 16.
• So the flood really is a representation of the flood of the armies, and also a flood of false doctrine. It is both – when verse 15 and 16 are combined.

But notice who helps the woman.

• It is the earth. The earth opens her mouth and swallows up the flood from the dragon.
• The earth helped the woman against the persecution of the dragon.
• Who does the earth represent?
• Revelation 13:11
  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
• This represents the location of the United States of America which we will give details of when we study Revelation 13.

The pilgrim fathers, fleeing persecution there in Europe, would sail across the sea and discover North America.

• Christopher Columbus, 12 October 1492 would land on the shores of America.
• America would later declare its independence in 1776 AD, close to the conclusion of the 1260 year prophecy.

This is important, because this gives us timing to the next verse that we are about to read.

Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The dragon was angry with the woman.

• However, the earth helped her.
• So what did the dragon do? He goes to make war with her offspring, her children, the remnant of her seed.
• That’s persecution! The characteristic of the dragon again.

So the remnant must come into the picture sometime after 1798. Why? Because before that, the dragon is making war with the woman who fled into the wilderness. That was the time from 538-1798.

• So in our effort to identify who this remnant is, it is important to take note first – the remnant will arise after 1798.

The word remnant just means the remaining, the residue.

• It is no different from the first, or the main part. It just means that it is the last piece.
• It is representative of God’s people at the very end of time.

What else do we understand about the remnant?

• Zephaniah 3:13
  The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
• The remnant does not have a deceitful tongue, they don’t speak lies.
• Where do we see such a characteristic in Revelation? Speaking of the 144,000 at the very end:
  • Revelation 14:5
    And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
• They really are the very last group that will be alive upon the earth just before Jesus comes for a second time.
• In Revelation 7, the 144,000 is 12,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. That’s how we get that number 144,000.
• Remember the woman at the beginning in Revelation 12:
  • Clothed with sun.
  • Standing on the moon.
  • And on her head is a crown of 12 stars.
• The 12 stars:
  • OT – ancient Israel.
  • NT – the 12 apostles.
  • But at the very end? The 144,000.

We know that this remnant is exactly the same as the woman because of the characteristics that are mentioned.

• They aren’t the same thing, but their characteristics are the same.
• What is that?
• They keep the commandments of God.
• And they have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

So the woman was clothed with the sun and she was standing on the moon.

• What did the sun represent? It was the righteousness of Christ.
  • But what was righteous? It was the commandments of God.
• And then what did the moon represent?
  • It gave testimony to the fact that the sun was shining on the other side of the world.
  • It was the word of God, the writings of the prophets.
  • It is the testimony of Jesus.

The characteristics all align with what we see of the woman at the beginning.

The remnant must be a church. Why?

• Because it is the last remaining part of the woman. And we know that a woman represents a church.
• The 12 stars:
  • OT – the 12 tribes of the sons of Jacob. They had their respective leaders.
  • NT – the 12 apostles. But they were the leaders of the early church.

Acts 2:47
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

• It was God that set up the first church. It was not man’s doing.
• I want to talk about this because many people are disenchanted with the church.
• They’ve been hurt by the church.
• They don’t think that the church is important.
• Statements are made such as – we can worship from home. We can worship anywhere.
• And whilst that is true, it is not a positive statement about worship, but rather taking a shot at the church.
• Now does the church have problems? Absolutely.
• Just one look at the children of Israel in the wilderness will tell us that we need to expect that.
• And when you look at the New Testament church, you will see that picture as well.
• Paul says this:
  • Romans 2:28-29
    28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
  • He recognized that it is not enough to just say you are a Jew. You have to be circumcised in heart.
• This means, just because you are part of the church, it does not mean you will be saved. You would hope that, but everyone has different reasons for joining the church.
• When the children of Israel left Egypt, many Egyptians followed as well. They left because they saw the devastation of Egypt and realized it was a better option following the Israelites rather than staying behind to rebuild.
• So the early church had problems.

However, in spite of all its problems, God still chose a group, an institution, a church, to represent Him.

• He chose Israel.
• He established the early church.
• And the remnant would be representative of some sort of group at the end of time.
• And it just had simply 2 characteristics.
  • To would keep the commandments of God.
  • And it would have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Somehow God saw that these 2 characteristics would be enough to distinguish and identify the remnant from everyone else out there.

• Keep the commandments of God.
  • This one already sidelines majority of the churches out there already. Probably 99.5% of them in fact!
• And it would have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

What is the testimony of Jesus?

• Revelation 19:10
  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
  • The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
• Who has the testimony of Jesus?
  • It is the brethren.
• Who are the brethren?
  • Revelation 22:9
    Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
  • The brethren are the prophets.
• So God’s last day church would have all the writings of the prophets.
• They would believe all of the OT and all of the NT. The whole Bible – from Genesis to Revelation.

What is the testimony of Jesus described as?

• 1 Corinthians 1:5-7
  5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
• It was a gift.

And what were these gifts?

• Ephesians 4:8, 11
  8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
• These gifts were apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
• We see all these gifts today still in the church, but not the prophet.
• Yet the Bible tells us this something important about these gifts:
  • Ephesians 4:12-13
    12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
  • They would be present in the church until the end of time.

Why is it that the prophet has seemingly disappeared though? The early church had prophets. But why today have they become such a rare breed?

• Jeremiah 26:4-5
  4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, 5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
• The law and the prophets always go together.
• Lamentations 2:9
  Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
• Ezekiel 7:26
  Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
• Proverbs 29:18
  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

So what happened? Why did the prophet disappear?

• Daniel 7:25
  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
• There would arise a power that would attempt to change God’s law.
• And as a result, it would disappear for 1260 years. No law? No prophet!

But the remnant would eventually come out of hiding, and it would have these 2 characteristics.

• Revelation 12:17
  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
• They would have the law. And they would have the prophet.
• Not just the writings of the Old and New Testament.
• They would have a prophet in their midst.
• Joel even speaks about this in the last days.
• Joel 2:28-29
  28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
• When would this take place?
• Joel 2:30-31
  30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
• Does that sound familiar?
• The gift of prophecy would be re-established around the time of the sixth seal in Revelation 6 where the sun turned to blackness and the moon became blood. That was around 1833.
• So the prophet of God would make a reappearance again. It would be one of the identifying marks of the remnant at the last days.

And this is why I believe that God has blessed the Seventh-Day Adventist Church with the gift of prophecy through Ellen White.

• I believe with all my heart that God has brought this church out of the pages of prophecy itself.
• That it is the Remnant described in Revelation 12:17.
• It is the church that has been called to preach again after the bitter disappointment in Revelation 10.
• And it has the everlasting gospel that we will study about in Revelation 14.
• It’s not that every SDA will be saved.
• But God had to choose a vehicle, a group, an institution to be established to carry the gospel to the whole world.
• And that comes with great responsibility.
• Will the 144,000 only be those that are Seventh-Day Adventist? I don’t believe so.
• Many will come in at the end when the institution has been dissolved already. But truly God has His people today.
• Revelation 12:11
  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
• This is the conclusion of the Great Controversy. But God has needed a people, a remnant, that will bring this testimony to the whole world.