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Day 179 Revelation 12:1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 Another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 7 War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” 13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. People want to destroy what they don’t understand. They will do whatever is necessary to fulfill their goals. From the moment of creation, Satan did everything he could to destroy God’s chosen people. He tried to destroy them the moment God created them, first by causing them to sin. When God declared in the Garden of Eden that He would be cast out by the seed of the woman, he turned all his attention to destroying the seed of the woman, God’s chosen people. Yet they prevailed because God’s cause is and always will be the salvation of His people. When the woman gave birth to the Seed, God fulfilled His promise of a Savior, and destroyed Satan on the cross. Yet, Satan would not admit defeat and rose up against the church, born that day and tried to defeat it. Yet God protected the church by dispersing it to the nations. Satan caused many wars to destroy God’s people, those who accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. He tried to destroy God’s chosen people during World War II. In these last days, he countered Christianity with false religions whose sole intention is to destroy Christianity by any means possible. He did so by taking prayer out of school, God out of the workplace, and God out of government. Yet God’s people will not be put down or destroyed because God takes care of them. John painted a picture of the church from its beginning to the final destruction of Satan. You see the birth of the church and the rise of Antichrist represented by the red dragon who waited to devour the Child, the church. John painted a picture of the Antichrist, a dragon with seven heads and ten horns. These seven heads are where the Antichrist will reign, Rome as it sits on seven hills. Ten horns represent the ten countries who will align themselves with the Antichrist. Seven diadems represent the seven empires of the world. You see a description of those empires in the book of Daniel when King Nebuchadnezzar dreamt about the statue which Daniel interpreted for him. Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly, and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. The stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 39 But after you will arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 The fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom will be divided; yet the strength of the iron will be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed; and the kingdom will not be left to other people; it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” Seven kingdoms: 1. Chaldean or Babylon 2,3. Medes and Persians 4. Grecian 5. Roman at the time of Jesus’ birth 6. The church—The gospel of Jesus Christ. 7. God’s kingdom Jesus declared to the people that the kingdom of God was among them. When He returned to heaven after His death and resurrection, the church gained prominence and is still alive today. In the last days, God will set up His kingdom on earth and destroy the Antichrist. Then the accuser of the brethren will have no more power to destroy God’s people because they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Then all heaven and earth will rejoice because Satan’s reign will end. God will always protect His church, His people. As He has done since the Garden of Eden, He will continue to do until He casts Satan into the Lake of Fire and all those who reject Jesus as Savior and Lord. Satan’s intention is to destroy the church. God will grow His church by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, salvation. God doesn’t want anyone to perish but all to come to repentance. He created Hell for one purpose, as the final sentence for Lucifer and the angels who rebelled with him. It was never meant for people, yet with Satan’s destruction in the Lake of Fire, everyone who rejected Jesus, would also be cast into the Lake of Fire. There are only two sides in this war, God’s, and Satan’s. Which side are you on? Do you overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony? Or do you stand with Satan to destroy Christianity? Let’s pray: Father, I rejoice because I know You as my Savior, my King, and my God. Help me give my testimony of what You do in my life and overcome everything Satan does against me. Let my life be an example of Your love and desire that You don’t want anyone to perish but all to come to salvation so they can be with You for eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 12 January 2024 by Valerie Routhieaux The image belongs to me.