Bob's Notes 7/28/19: The Role of the Unholy Trinity During the Tribulation Satan (Part 2)

Post date: Jul 28, 2019 11:36:13 PM

5. The Role of the Unholy Trinity During the Tribulation - Satan (Part 2)

Review

For several weeks have been putting a prophetic puzzle together. Last week we began to discuss a piece of the puzzle that concerns the members of the unholy trinity. Just like there is a Holy Trinity that exists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is also an unholy trinity. It also can be called the pseudo trinity or counterfeit trinity. It consists of Satan as its father or leader figure, the antichrist who is of course the counterfeit to the true Messiah, and the false prophet who is the counterfeit to the Holy Spirit. Last week in part 1 of Satan we discussed the Woman who pregnant who is Israel and the Great Red Dragon who is Satan. Today we will discuss the woman giving birth to the birth of the child and the woman fleeing to the wilderness for protection from Satan. We are also going to discuss a prophecy similar to Revelation 12:1-6 that God gave 6000 years ago.

The Child and the Woman (5-6)

12:5 John makes it clear that the child who was born was a male child and what His destiny would be. As with the Red Dragon failing to devour the child, Satan failed to destroy Jesus at his birth and during His life on the earth. He thought he had destroyed Him at the cross but resurrection three days later proved him to be a failure at that. His ascension to heaven as described in Acts 1 is seen here as well. Jesus was victorious in His resurrection from the dead and in His ascension to heaven to His heavenly throne. This is not the Davidic Throne on which He is sitting. It is His’ heavenly throne on which he has always sat. He will sit on the Davidic Throne when returns at the second coming to set up His’ Messianic Kingdom.

The future destiny of this child is also seen here. Jesus is now awaiting His return to the earth to set up His throne in the Messianic Kingdom in which He will rule and reign on the Throne of His descendant King David forever. He is the Messiah who will rule not only the nation of Israel but also all the nations on the earth with a rod of iron. Ruling with a rod or iron shows that He will have complete authority and power as King during the Messiah Kingdom. (Revelation 19:15 Psalm 2:9) This also shows that it will be the Messiah, not Satan, who will rule the earth as King.

12: 6 – Israel has been persecuted as a nation and a people from the beginning of its existence. Many times, nations and people have attempted to destroy or annihilate the nation as a people. Many Jews have been killed during these attempts. Satan is of course behind each of these. However, God made Israel a very important promise concerning their existence as a people and a nation. (Jeremiah 31:35-37) We see the Lord as a promise keeping God in Revelation 12:6. The woman, Israel, will flee into the wilderness or desert for 1260 days or 3 1/2 years which is the second half of the Tribulation period called the Great Tribulation. How will God provide for them? The Greek form of the verb “be nourished” suggests that they will not nourish themselves but that someone will. Maybe it’s a combination of God, the angels, and maybe some Gentiles. (Matthew 25:31-46) God’s wrath and judgment will ramp up in the second half of the Tribulation, but God will lead Israel to a safe location to protect the remnant and provide for her as they await the second coming of the Messiah.

To reiterate, the woman who flees to the desert in not Mary. Some say that the woman is a double reference to Mary. There are several reasons why that does not work. First, the Bible never says she was in any way persecuted by Satan, therefore, she does not need to flee to the desert. Two, Egypt is never called the wilderness. The wilderness is basically land that is in a remote location. That does not fit the description of Egypt. Third, Mary went to Egypt with Joseph for the purpose of protecting Jesus not Mary. Also, Revelation 12:5 says Jesus went to heaven to sit on His’ throne. Both Mary and Joseph are in heaven and probably do not want to return to go through the Great Tribulation.

Where might the wilderness be that is referred t in Revelation 12:6 There are several verses that may help determine where it is. The first is Zechariah 15:5. Azel mentioned in this verse is thought to be connected to Petra that is in Jordan today. The second is Isaiah 63:1. This verse deals with the second coming of the Messiah. He comes to Edom which is the capital of Petra and Bozrah which is a city in Edom to gather His’ Jewish remnant. The last one is Daniel 11:41. Apparently God will not allow the land of Edom to fall into the hands of the anti-christ probably so that the remnant will be protected.

As I said, Petra is in Jordan today. Once the city had 267,000 inhabitants. It was a large market center at the junction of a great caravan route. The city was inaccessible except through a gorge or a canyon in the mountains. It is only wide enough in places for two horses abreast. The walls of the gorge are 400 to 700 feet high. It’s perfect place for God to protect Israel, but still He will have to do it supernaturally by keeping the enemy out.

Satan, the Woman, the Woman’s Offspring, and Satan’s Offspring (Genesis 3:14-15)

We are going to look at a prophecy of God that was given after the Fall of Adam and Eve 6000 years ago that is very similar to the sign in Revelation 12. This prophecy involves Satan, the Woman, the Woman’s offspring, and Satan’s offspring. The only difference between Revelation 12 and Genesis 3 is an additional element of Satan’s offspring.

This prophecy given by God in Genesis 3:14-15 was made after Satan temped Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve ate and Adam ate and she persuaded Adam to eat. When he ate sin was brought into the world and everything, and I mean, everything changed for Adam and Eve, as well as Satan. There were different judgements and consequences to the Serpent, to Eve, and then to Adam. What we are going to read now is what God said to the serpent who is Satan.

Genesis 3:14-15 – The promises God made to the serpent concerning the curses he would endure were given to him because he enticed Eve to sin. In verse 14 we see that the snake, crawling and eating dust, would be a perpetual reminder to mankind of temptation and the Fall and would be cursed above all other animals. Those who take this literally believe that sneaks had legs before the fall and would lose them as part of the curse. It would eat dust (v. 14). However, since snakes do not literally eat dust, this statement should probably be statement figuratively. Presently snakes eat plants and animals. Eating dust is an expression used in other ancient Near Eastern writings to describe the lowest of all forms of life. In the Bible it also describes humiliation and total defeat. God revealed later through Isaiah that serpents will eat dust during the Millennium (Isa. 65:25). This also suggests that the sneak continued to be cursed as the lowest form of animal on the earth even during the Messianic Kingdom.

In verse 15 we see the curses to the serpent that would include four avenues of conflict: 1. The personal hostility between the woman and the serpent, 2. The personal hostility between the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring, 3. The offspring of the woman to crush the serpent’s head, 4. The serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s offspring.

First, there would be personal hostility between the serpent and the woman. The Hebrew word for enmity means personal hostility between two or more parties. Certainly, the serpent who represents Satan. We must keep in mind that when God said to Eve in Genesis 3:16 that “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children.” We know that the pain in child birth was not just limited to her but to all women. In the same manner God’s placing personal hostility between Satan and Eve goes far beyond Eve and the immediate period of time. The woman is not Eve alone. It interesting that like with Mary, there is not record of any personal hostility between Satan and Eve. The curse put upon the serpent was more far reaching than simply a personal hostility between the serpent and Eve. We would do well to look for the ultimate identity of the woman in the same passage where we have the identity of the serpent, namely Revelation 12. We have identified the woman in Revelation 12 as who? Yes, the woman is the nation of Israel. Revelation 12 and Genesis 3 are very similar. Therefore, the woman being identified as the nation of Israel fits perfectly in this prophecy because from Israel’s birth as a nation, Satan has had personal hostility toward her. This is seen in one occurrence after another to include Egypt, Assyria, Babylonian, Medio-Persia, Greece, Rome and then during the Tribulation period the Revived Roman Empire that is led by none other than Satan’s anti-messiah. After all, in Revelation 12:10 he is called the accuser of the brethren.

Second. there would be personal hostility between serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. The identification of Israel being the woman who gives birth to the offspring who will have enmity with the serpent is interesting. In Jewish culture during Bible times until the dispersion in AD 70 the linage of offspring came through the man not the woman. The offspring coming through a woman may point to the prophecy of the virgin birth because He is called the offspring of the woman rather than the offspring of the man.

We have identified the serpent in Genesis 3:15 and Revelation 12 as Satan, the woman as Israel and the child who is born of the woman as the Messiah. But who is the offspring of the serpent? In our last lesson we learned that there would be a man of lawlessness who would be revealed to the world. This is the anti-christ. He is the offspring of Satan, and He will get his power and authority from Satan who is called the dragon. (Revelation 13:2; 2 Thess. 2:8-9). This personal hostility will manifest itself during the second half the Tribulation tubulation period.

Third, the offspring of the woman to crush the serpent’s head. We have identified the offspring of the woman as the Messiah. The Hebrew word translated bruise in verse 15 may also be translated crush. The Messiah is the only One who is capable of crushing the head of the serpent which is seen symbolically. The crushing defeat of the serpent, Satan, was accomplished on the cross when Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) but the guarantee of the reality of the total defeat of the serpent is not seen until the resurrection three days later. This prophecy of the victory of the ultimate "offspring” of the woman (the Messiah) over Satan is seen by many as the first biblical promise of the provision of salvation. It is usually called the protoevangelium or "first gospel" Both the Old Testament and the New Testament point ahead to the ultimate "offspring,” the Messiah.

Fourth, the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s offspring. As the crushing of the serpent’s head was symbolic, so is the bruising of the heal of the woman’s offspring is as well. Satan from the time Jesus was born until He was resurrected made many attempts to kill or defeat Him. The final stab at the heel was at the cross which was actually just a setback. Satan thought he had defeated the Messiah when He died on the cross, but it would take three days from His’ death to Resurrection Day for Him to be fully vindicated. At that time Satan realized that his head had been crushed and that he had seen total defeat.

There is one more interesting point I would like to make concerning the serpent bruising the heel of the woman’s offspring. Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon gives three definitions for the word translated bruise in the English Text – bruise, crush, and to lie in wait for. As we saw in Revelation 12:6 the serpent was waiting by the woman so when the child is born, he can devour him. The symbolism of the serpent waiting for the child to be born is quite extradentary. The serpent, then, would "to lie in wait” for the heel of the child to appear. In the normal birth of a child the head comes first and the heel last. So, the serpent was lying in wait for" for his heel to appear. Before the serpent could devour the entire child, he had to wait until the entire child was born from head to heel. Even then, he did not get to devour the child.

Application for today

Today we have been looking at symbolic language in Revelation 12 and Genesis 3 in which most of both prophecies has been fulfilled literally and the parts of them is yet to be fulfilled literally. We can be confident they will be fulfilled. Also, we can be confident because the part of Genesis 3:15 that deals with the personal hostility between Satan and Israel is being fulfilled in front of our eyes today.