Good Versus Evil: Act 2
Revelation 12:7-12 is an interlude in the story; it focuses on the fall of Satan in heaven and his being cast down to the earth. Hence, we are given a glimpse into the origins of the great controversy as it began in another part of the universe. The back-and-forth between heaven and earth should tell us how closely tied events in one impact events in the other. Truly, we are in the midst of a cosmic battle!
Revelation 12:13–17 picks up the story from verse 6 and describes in symbolic terms the persecution of the Christian Church, first by the Roman Empire and later by the apostate Roman Church. What do the symbols here represent?
In these verses, a flood of water is sent against God’s people, a symbol of persecuting armies (Jer. 46:7, 8; 47:2; Dan. 9:26). In contrast, in Revelation 12:16 the earth is described as helping the persecuted church. In 1620, the first pilgrims, fleeing the religious persecution in Europe, arrived on the American continent. On this newly discovered continent they found a safe haven where the persecuting armies of the European powers could not reach them. Thus, symbolically, the new continent America swallowed up the persecuting armies.
In Revelation 12:17, we are now in the time after the 1,260-day period (which ended at the close of the eighteenth century). Satan, seeing that he was unable to wipe out God's faithful people, is angry with a particular group called “the rest of her offspring” (NKJV) or “the remnant of her seed” (KJV).
Read carefully Revelation 12:17. What is the first identifying mark of this special remnant? How do these following texts help us understand what “the commandments of God” mean? Matt. 24:20, Rom. 3:31, Eph. 6:1, James 2:9–11, 1 John 3:4.
How much simpler could God have made it? This end-time remnant will be distinguished, first of all, by the fact that it keeps the commandments of God, all of them, which of course includes the seventh-day Sabbath.
| How firm are you in your own mind regarding God’s call that we keep His commandments? How can you be sure that the Lord commands us to keep them? How do you respond to arguments against keeping the commandments, especially the Sabbath? |
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