Revelation Chapter 12
Verse 12 (continued) “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and sea! For the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
“The “heavens” which are here called upon to rejoice, were the Roman Catholic heavens, consisting of the popes, the bishops, and prelates; and the “Ye that dwell in them” undoubtedly has reference to the under priest-hood, brothers, nuns, and the so-called general membership of that church (the church laity).
While in one sense of the word, the Papacy is another “beast” (government—likened unto a leopard in Rev 13:2); yet, in another sense, it is the same “beast” only that another “head” was now in the place of control; yet, thinking itself to be the Vicar of Christ Jesus, it would look upon the pagan system as the Devil himself. It accordingly, would warn those concerned, “the earth” (the civil powers) and “the sea” (the ever-restless masses of the people), of the Devil’s probable vindictiveness over having been cast out of his erstwhile heaven by the “man-child”—the “woman’s” offspring.” (“Notes on the Revelation of Jesus Christ”, Page 201)
“The false church quickly took on the power of the persecutor, and it used the dragon (civil power) to enforce its persecuting power. Throughout the 1,260 years of Papal dominance, the earthly princes readily obeyed Papal dictates knowing that the rule of the church seemed endless, but that of the civil princes, only a “short time” -- unless, of course, they obeyed.”
“This part of Verse 12 is parenthetical.
The Lord is speaking to His own people, designated as the “YOU” class, giving them notice of dire things to follow, namely, that the dragon or civil power would henceforth search “over land and sea” in hot pursuit to persecute TRUE Christians.
“Woe” to any who upon land (earth) or sea would dare to shelter, hide, or harbor any of the Lord’s little ones, for the dragon would vent his vengeance upon such, inflicting loss of limb, life, and/or property on those who dared to show any sympathy or compassion for the woman on her flight into the wilderness (Verse 14).
Why was the Devil more animated in his persecuting zeal as a result of his experience in the former warfare, evoking the “woe” warning by Jesus?
Satan prefers open opposition to God as the accuser of the Lord’s people. He does not like the role of a counterfeit, of having to do things in God’s or Christ’s name. However, when his former strategy failed, the very fact that Satan had to change himself into an angel of light—or in this case to have “water” (truth) come out of his mouth (Verse 15) to counteract what was undermining his empire—showed he realized he was losing the battle altogether if something was not done.
The true Church thrived better as a result of Satan’s first strategy, because it was a purifying factor for those rightly exercised thereby; when troubles assailed, pretenders (nominal Christians) were more prone to drop out. Being cast out of heaven, Satan was angry that he had to compromise and change his prior dominant role through the dragon power, and now fight truth with simulated truth (deception). Ever since this setback, he has realized the life-and-death nature of the struggle, that his days were numbered unless he could come up with a plan to outwit God.
The period of papal rule over the dragon continued to afford Satan the opportunity to satiate his anger against those who now were seen to be an even graver foe than the pseudo-Michael class. During the Holy (?) Inquisition period the priests or the clergy interrogated “heretics” who purportedly espoused false worship. The priests instructed the “guilty” ones to recant, to acknowledge their errors, and to return to the Mother Church so that their sins would be forgiven. Those who did not follow this advice were remanded over to the state to be put on the racks and tortured to death. Generally, the priests themselves would not perform the actual torture, for they were “pious” witnesses. The same principle operated in Christ’s day when the Jewish clergy turned Jesus over to Pilate for crucifixion and, adopting a form of godliness, feigned loyalty to Caesar.
The dragon and the pseudo-Michael are two separate systems through which Satan operated at the time of this vision. Satan first used the pagan power as his religious mouthpiece, but when that plan felled, he then had to change his strategy and divide his authority between the two systems. Regardless of the instrument used, he still is best characterized as the “serpent” or “dragon” because these terms reveal his true identity. Satan would rather have people worship him directly. That he is not deceived in the sense he does not know what he is doing is indicated by his titles which mean “opposer,” “adversary,” and “deceiver.”
In our next post we will take a look at Verse 13.
Verse 12 (continued) “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and sea! For the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
“The “heavens” which are here called upon to rejoice, were the Roman Catholic heavens, consisting of the popes, the bishops, and prelates; and the “Ye that dwell in them” undoubtedly has reference to the under priest-hood, brothers, nuns, and the so-called general membership of that church (the church laity).
While in one sense of the word, the Papacy is another “beast” (government—likened unto a leopard in Rev 13:2); yet, in another sense, it is the same “beast” only that another “head” was now in the place of control; yet, thinking itself to be the Vicar of Christ Jesus, it would look upon the pagan system as the Devil himself. It accordingly, would warn those concerned, “the earth” (the civil powers) and “the sea” (the ever-restless masses of the people), of the Devil’s probable vindictiveness over having been cast out of his erstwhile heaven by the “man-child”—the “woman’s” offspring.” (“Notes on the Revelation of Jesus Christ”, Page 201)
“The false church quickly took on the power of the persecutor, and it used the dragon (civil power) to enforce its persecuting power. Throughout the 1,260 years of Papal dominance, the earthly princes readily obeyed Papal dictates knowing that the rule of the church seemed endless, but that of the civil princes, only a “short time” -- unless, of course, they obeyed.”
“This part of Verse 12 is parenthetical.
The Lord is speaking to His own people, designated as the “YOU” class, giving them notice of dire things to follow, namely, that the dragon or civil power would henceforth search “over land and sea” in hot pursuit to persecute TRUE Christians.
“Woe” to any who upon land (earth) or sea would dare to shelter, hide, or harbor any of the Lord’s little ones, for the dragon would vent his vengeance upon such, inflicting loss of limb, life, and/or property on those who dared to show any sympathy or compassion for the woman on her flight into the wilderness (Verse 14).
Why was the Devil more animated in his persecuting zeal as a result of his experience in the former warfare, evoking the “woe” warning by Jesus?
Satan prefers open opposition to God as the accuser of the Lord’s people. He does not like the role of a counterfeit, of having to do things in God’s or Christ’s name. However, when his former strategy failed, the very fact that Satan had to change himself into an angel of light—or in this case to have “water” (truth) come out of his mouth (Verse 15) to counteract what was undermining his empire—showed he realized he was losing the battle altogether if something was not done.
The true Church thrived better as a result of Satan’s first strategy, because it was a purifying factor for those rightly exercised thereby; when troubles assailed, pretenders (nominal Christians) were more prone to drop out. Being cast out of heaven, Satan was angry that he had to compromise and change his prior dominant role through the dragon power, and now fight truth with simulated truth (deception). Ever since this setback, he has realized the life-and-death nature of the struggle, that his days were numbered unless he could come up with a plan to outwit God.
The period of papal rule over the dragon continued to afford Satan the opportunity to satiate his anger against those who now were seen to be an even graver foe than the pseudo-Michael class. During the Holy (?) Inquisition period the priests or the clergy interrogated “heretics” who purportedly espoused false worship. The priests instructed the “guilty” ones to recant, to acknowledge their errors, and to return to the Mother Church so that their sins would be forgiven. Those who did not follow this advice were remanded over to the state to be put on the racks and tortured to death. Generally, the priests themselves would not perform the actual torture, for they were “pious” witnesses. The same principle operated in Christ’s day when the Jewish clergy turned Jesus over to Pilate for crucifixion and, adopting a form of godliness, feigned loyalty to Caesar.
The dragon and the pseudo-Michael are two separate systems through which Satan operated at the time of this vision. Satan first used the pagan power as his religious mouthpiece, but when that plan felled, he then had to change his strategy and divide his authority between the two systems. Regardless of the instrument used, he still is best characterized as the “serpent” or “dragon” because these terms reveal his true identity. Satan would rather have people worship him directly. That he is not deceived in the sense he does not know what he is doing is indicated by his titles which mean “opposer,” “adversary,” and “deceiver.”
In our next post we will take a look at Verse 13.
