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Revelation 12:15, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” At the first Exodus it was the sea, through which she went into the wilderness with its forty-two stations. It is "a flood" which drives her into the wilderness for forty-two months. The delivering from the sea was miraculous; so will be the deliverance from this "flood." Why should not one be as literal as the other? Where is the difficulty? Observe, it does not say "like a flood," as in Jeremiah 46:7-8. Nor does it say an army like water, which is many expositors guess; but "water" like a river." The first is literal, and its likeness is given. It does not expand into a lake, but rushes forward like a "flood."
Now, 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.” And why not? The sea helped the same woman when it swallowed up the armies of Pharaoh, and why should not the earth help the woman again by swallowing up the forces of Satan. It is to be again, as it was at the Exodus. And, let’s not forget, it will be a time of earthquakes and great physical disturbances. (See Isaiah 11:15-16, and also in Isaiah 59:19, we read of the enemy coming in like "a flood," just before "the Redeemer shall come to Zion," and when Gentile times shall come to the full.)
The earth once opened to swallow the host of Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16); and so it is written: "According to the days of the coming up out of the land of Egypt, I will show unto him marvellous things" Micah 7:15.
Onto Revelation 12:17, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have (or keep) the testimony of Jesus.” So, being baffled in his attempts to destroy the seed of the woman, who has been, "caught away to God and His throne"! He turns his forces against the remnant of her seed. The description of this remnant is given, and agrees with that spoken of it in other parts of this book; and while the bulk of the nation is safe and nourished, a faithful remnant on earth is having war made against it. We have these two seeds, is what I’ll call them, in Revelation 7. First, the 144,000 sealed for testimony in the earth; and, afterwards, the great multitude caught, or raptured as was the Body of Christ before this all started, away to heaven. Then in the next chapter they are called "saints"; and we have the two bodies again, the former in Revelation 13:15 and the latter in Revelation 7:9.
In the Textus Receptus, the first sentence of the first verse of Revelation 13 is the concluding sentence of the twelfth chapter, and given the correct reading, "he stood," we see it is the Dragon who has been cast into the earth, Revelation 12:13; and it is the same dragon who stands on the sand of the sea, Revelation 13:1. Foiled in his attempts to destroy the woman's seed, (as He was caught up to Heaven), as he had been foiled in his assault on the woman herself, he is now seen by John standing on the sand of the sea, and from thence, as it were, calling up the first of the two Beasts from the Abyss to carry out his final plans. So this section ends with the words: And he stood upon the sand of the sea. In other words, upon the shore. Daniel saw this same "great sea" and the four winds of heaven striving upon it. We see that in Daniel 7:2.
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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.
So There You Have it!
Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.
Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.
In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry
Pastor David Picos, D.D.
Minister and Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)
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