The Dragon's War

Satan attacks the Lamb by persecuting his faithful disciples, the men and women who have the Testimony of Jesus Christ - Revelation 13:6-10.

The Book of Revelation is designed to “reveal the things that must come to pass,” not to conceal critical information from the Church. Too often we ignore the clear testimony of Scripture, presumably preferring popular and fanciful interpretations to the truth – (Daniel 2:28, Revelation 1:1, 22:6).

The popular understanding of Revelation that dominates many pulpits of the contemporary church ignores the explicit statements of the Book.

For example, in the twelfth chapter of Revelation, Satan is portrayed as the Dragon who attacks believers because they remain faithful in their testimony. The statement of verse 17 uses language from the Book of Daniel to make the point:

• “And the Dragon became enraged with the woman and departed to make war with the rest of her seed, those men who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus”– (Revelation 12:17, 14:1-5, 14:12).

• “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them”– (Daniel 7:21).

[Dragon - Photo by LINLI XU (China) on Unsplash]

Nothing is said in Chapter 12 about Satan attacking the State of Israel, the United States of America, or any other nation, nor is anything said about where this attack takes place, except that it is on the Earth. There is no reference to Jerusalem, Palestine or the Middle East. The sole targets of the Dragon’s wrath are the men who follow the Lamb, the men and women who have the testimony of Christ and “the faith of Jesus” – (Revelation 14:1-5, 14:12).

In Chapter 13, the Dragon is standing on the seashore, summoning his own seed to carry out his war on the disciples of Jesus. Satan’s children include the Beast from the Sea, a monster with ten horns and seven heads, and a mouth “speaking great things and slander” against God and His people. Rather than Israel or the nations of the Earth, this creature attacks the saints. Once more, Revelation uses references to ‘war’ from the same passage of the Book of Daniel:

• “And it was given to the Beast to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all the Inhabitants of the Earth pay homage to him, all those whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that has been slain. If any man hath an ear, let him hear. If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goes. If any man is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints”-(Revelation 13:7-10).

Whether the term ‘overcome’ in the preceding passage means that the Beast kills the saints or causes them to apostatize makes little difference. The satanic goal is to destroy the people of God using persecution, deception, and whatever else is necessary or effective.

In the eleventh chapter of Revelation, the Beast from the Abyss attacks and kills the Two Witnesses, but only after they complete their testimony. These two witnesses are identified as “lampstands,” and in Revelation, lampstands represent churches. And once again, the words of Daniel 7:21 are heard:

• “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing before the Lord of the earth. <…> And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them” – (Revelation 11:4-7. Compare Zechariah 4:11-14).

• “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are seven churches” – (Revelation 1:20).

• “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works…” – (Revelation 2:1).

THE VICTORIOUS SAINTS

The Book of Revelation leaves no doubt about the identity of these saints. They are the men “who have the faith of Jesus” and “keep his testimony.” The followers of the Lamb are the men and women from every nation who are loyal to Jesus Christ– (Revelation 1:9, 6:9, 11:7, 12:11, 12:17, 13:7, 14:10-12):

• “And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the book and open the seals of the book, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and you made them a kingdom and priests for our God. And they are reigning on the earth” - (Revelation 5:9-10).

• “After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude that no man could number, out of every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes and palms in their hands. And they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” - (Revelation 7:9-10).

The Beast has seven heads and ten horns like the Dragon. The World Empire operates with Satan’s authority and character. When the Inhabitants of the Earth give their allegiance to the Beast and his image, they swear fealty to the Great Red Dragon – (Revelation 13:1-6).

The victims of the Dragon are the men and women who follow Jesus, regardless of the consequences. Their willingness to die as martyrs because of their testimony is how they overcome Satan and the Beast:

• “And they overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their life unto death” – (Revelation 12:11).

• “He that overcomes, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat with my Father on his throne” – (Revelation 3:21).

• “He who overcomes will inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son” – (Revelation 21:7).

The Book of Revelation never states whether the Beast also makes war on modern Israel or other nations. However, the nations of the Earth give their allegiance to the Beast. They are not enemies of the Dragon, nor are the men and women who bear the mark of the Beast. The Inhabitants of the Earth become accomplices of the Beast. Intentionally or not, they are complicit in the Dragon’s effort to destroy the Church.

Satan’s purpose is unwavering. He is determined to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ, and the Dragon exploits his control over the political, religious, and economic institutions of society to accomplish this objective.

The victims of the Dragon’s war are the men and women who follow Jesus “wherever he leads,” the saints who give faithful testimony even if doing so results in martyrdom. However, the promise of Jesus is that every believer who remains faithful and thus overcomes the Dragon will eat of the tree of life, “which is in the Paradise of God.”

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Beast is Rising! - (To identify the Antichrist, we must first understand what the relevant passages of the Bible say about him, his methods, and his objectives)

• The Final Antichrist - (The Spirit of the Antichrist is raising up deceivers in the Church, but a final Antichrist will appear at the end of the age)

• The Spirit of Antichrist - (The Spirit of Antichrist is working to destroy the church through deceptions propagated by false teachers and charlatans)

• La guerre du Dragon - (Satan attaque l'Agneau en persécutant ses fidèles disciples, les hommes et les femmes qui ont le témoignage de Jésus-Christ - Apocalypse 13: 6-10)