She bore a male child who would. Shepherd all nations with the rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his throne.
Well, in the New King James, the translators have opted for rule the nations. But the Greek word is where we get the word shepherd in the Greek. In the Latin, it's pastor. And so now you have more, it's descriptive, it's telling us, yeah, he's ruling with authority. But with care.
Now he's not just this, you know, a tyrant. Yeah. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick on today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio teaching in Revelation chapter 12. Today You see someone siding against Israel. Satan's meddling. It's his work.
Because there's no excuse for this. And if you see them aggressively against Israel, it's totally Satan. The Jewish race has been targeted satanically, energized by men to exterminate it. And so, yeah, the struggle to bring forth Messiah, even before Adolf Hitler and Antiochus Epiphanes, and all the others, Thomas Takamata and the Roman Catholic Spanish Inquisition, the torturing of the Jews, the killing of them. We see this as New Testament Christian.
We say, hey, John. Your generation did not understand so much of what you wrote. It's not until the technological age that we've really got a lot of information, but Even before that, it began to come in place. I love to read old commentators who were sure that God created. The universe, and there's no such thing as evolution.
Long before Darwin came along, and even after he came out, my Bible says he created them each after its kind. And then there are those commentators that were saying Israel will be back in that land, and they were writing in the 1800s. By faith. They could see where this was going in the Scripture, what God said, and they went with it, and we should be able to do the same thing.
Well next to the survival of the Jews the most and that is baffling. It's baffling. That Israel, this tiny country, has survived all of her attackers. She has. Another phenomenon is attached to that.
It's not only her survival, but why is she hated? Maybe there's someone listening to me now. And you said, Yeah, that's me. I've hated the Jewish people, and I don't even know why. You know, to say, well, they kill neighborhoods.
How do they do that? Do they send in bombs? I mean, what do you mean they kill? I know of other races that kill neighborhoods.
Well Yes, because Satan has that much power. They have survived these encounters. From the nations of the earth. Verse 3. And another sign appeared in heaven.
Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven diadems on his head. What a little show-off this guy is. Satan is still granted access to heaven to this very moment. Look down at Revelation 12, verse 9.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan.
So we know who that one is. It's an easy one, it tells us. Who deceives the whole world? He had he was cast to the earth. And his angels were cast out with him.
But not yet. That hasn't happened yet.
Well, we know, we see he still has access in the book of Job for example. But he will. have his clearance revoked. And won't we be glad?
So he is he has grown from a serpent. Into a dragon. He's had a lot of time. to get stronger. because people are listening to him.
And not the Christ, and the redness of this dragon speaks of his violent intentions. The inspiration behind the persecution of Israel and Christianity over the centuries is His inspiration. Having Seven heads, and pause there. Last week I talked about the passion of truth. Because there's this idea in many that truth doesn't create passion.
There's no genuine passion for the Christian without truth. What is the alternative?
Well, just whatever mood hits me, whether it's true or not, I get excited and in the spirit. No, you don't. The spirit is the spirit of truth. And it is that truth that excites us, that allows you to go to a Bible study and hear something and say, Thank you, Lord. It's one of the best parts of the Bible study.
is to hear the truths come from The pastor. Anyway, having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head, a complete defect. Nothing should have more than one head. And it's a monster. This one is.
It truly is. But humanity doesn't see it that way. Many have made themselves vessels for Satan's fillings. There were the Pharaohs. There's Hamas, an easy one today.
I've mentioned the Seleucids, Antiochus Epiphanes, the Inquisitions, the Arab world, the UN, and ultimately the beast and those under his sway. Revelation 17, verse 3. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy. having seven heads and ten horns. The woman didn't have the seven heads and ten horns.
That's the beast she's riding. That's the one that has the horns. And there's the apostate church allowed to exist because it's in cahoots with the Antichrist Uh regime. His seven crowned Heads and ten horns identify him as the final Gentile global power. And it is expounded on in chapters 13 and 17.
But Daniel is the one that began to give this to us. And we're going to have a few verses from Daniel, but I want to do one from Revelation that matches one from Daniel. Verse 13, chapter 1. If you have your Bibles, you can look down at that with me. Then I stood on the sand of the sea, that's John, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads A blasphemous name.
So we know who this character is, how he does business.
Well, we go back to Daniel chapter 7. And in chapter 7, verse 7, Daniel's talking about the Roman Empire. In his day, that still has not come. Daniel's talking about the Medo Persian Empire before they get to be who they are, the Grecian Empire before they come along, before they're even on the map. And the Roman Empire, when Rome is just, you know, Pretty much a dirt road.
And he's telling how great these kingdoms are going to be.
So much so that the naysayers say Daniel had to have, somebody had to add that later. They can't say that God told, showed Daniel these things.
Well, let's go to Daniel 7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, The first three beasts were the Medo-Babylonians, Medo-Persian, Gratian, and now this is Rome, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it.
and it had ten horns.
Well, you've got to read all of Daniel 7 to get What's going on? If you cherry-pick the verses, you're going to be fragmented. But there's an 11th horn. Daniel chapter 7, the next verse, verse 8. I was considering the horns.
And there was another horn, a little one. coming up from among them. before whom Three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there In this horn. Were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words?
That ties them back to Revelation 13.1. And this is elevating, this is going beyond. The Roman Empire. Revelation 13:5. I hope if I'm getting if I'm overwhelming you, That's what replay on the internet's for.
Yeah. Revelation 13.5. And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And he was given authority to continue 42 months. That's the three and a half years.
It's all tying in. This is crazy. Let's all run. Daniel 7:20. This is the truth that's so passionate that God is detailing these things, and nobody comes close.
Every religion on earth is hearsay.
Well, I think.
Well, can you back it up? No, I just insist.
Well, when we say, I don't think, thus says the Lord, can you back it up? Sure, I can. I can show you what a cashless society looks like because we're living in one.
Well, Daniel 7, 20. and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up.
So that's Antichrist. He's vying for power. He's going to, the horn speaks of power. throughout the Old Testament and the New. And he's going to take power.
He says, Before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth, which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellow.
So this guy is distinct. And then Daniel closes up this section in verse 24. He says the ten horns are the ten kings who shall Arise from this kingdom. What kingdom? The kingdom from verse 7, the Roman Empire.
There's going to be a resurgence of the Roman Empire. That does not mean that Antichrist is coming out of Italy. The Italian people Are not genetically the same people as the Romans of the ancient world. And why is that? They've got some of that DNA, but the Goths, the Vandals, the Normans, they're hordes of people came into Italy at the fall of the Roman Empire and they began to mingle with the people and have children.
And so it's not an identical match. There has to be something else than.
Well, there's going to be a kingdom that is going to be as fierce As that fourth beast of Daniel 7. that will dominate the world. And those who see it happen. We'll have no mistake. We can't pinpoint it.
We won't be here for Antichrist. But they will be. and there will be converts.
So Daniel says, Who shall arise from this kingdom and another shall Rise after them. He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. Of course, that just creates more questions perhaps than answers at this point. Not if we were doing Daniel. But you get That what is said in verse 3 of Revelation.
is not random It's not fragmented. It has been called by Daniel, long before John saw it, John sees more details to it. and it's all going to come together and people will go to heaven because they will see these things happening. in the great tribulation such as the world has never seen.
So bad, Jesus said, that if he didn't stop it, nobody would survive. That's how fierce it is going to be. I think the wars are going to take out more people than the natural. Disasters, the earthquakes, the tsunamis, the volcanoes, they're going to happen. The earth will be again in upheaval.
but there will be intense warfare.
Well, with these modern weapons.
So the beast is in the image of the devil And immersed by Him, the Antichrist will just be, as we say, we're filled with the Spirit. he will be filled with Satan. And uh there's not been anybody like him.
So these are the rulers' crowns, incidentally, diadem. not Stefano's the victorious crown because they're not going to win. But they are going to rule for a while.
Now, when we come to verse 4, his tail, that's Satan, not the Antichrist. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born.
So he circles back to verse 1. And the imagery of a dragon's tail sweeping to himself followers. We've seen people like that.
Some have gone to churches and kind of just, you know, stolen people to themselves. Absalom. Absalom stood by the gate and it's like the Capitol building, and he stole the hearts of the people behind his dad's back. And uh so he's sweeping them to him. Uh this is warning mankind Also, of Satan's troop strength.
What a third of what?
Well, we're not told. I mean, if you figure out how many people are on earth, well, when God created the angels, who is the God of hosts, of multitudes, how many did He create? Did he create 90 million? That would mean 30 million went with the devil. Did he do 90 billion?
angels when he created the angel core world. If it was 90 billion, it would be 30 billion of them. We don't know, we're not told, but we understand. He's got some numbers. And history bears that out.
This event in verse 4, when he draws these angels who become fallen angels. took place I believe shortly after Adam was created. Jealousy welled up in Satan. And the reason, there, I'm giving you some reasons why. It says here that they were thrown to the earth.
Well, the earth was then created. Jesus said, I saw Satan fall like lightning. From heaven.
Well, heaven is a created entity It's in the spiritual realm. That's how Jesus is using it. But, well, it's a little bit more picturesque than that. He's saying, I saw him fall. And to the earth.
is where he landed. That's my take on it, and I've got some scripture verses to support that, and I've just given you two. This one here where they threw them to the earth in Jesus' name. Mention mentioning he saw them fall.
So This Third became fallen angels. When Paul says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, principalities, power, as well, he's talking about these guys. And this information belongs To Satan's original rebellion, as mentioned in Jude 6. And also Matthew 25, 41. I'm giving you them because we're running low on time and uh h we have to keep moving if I'm going to get to verse 6.
And if I don't get to verse 6, it messes everything up for me. And it's all about me. And if it's not. It should be. Yeah So, anyway, he's still granted access.
It's going to end in this chapter, of course. Where it is forever revoked in verses seven through nine.
Now, he says, and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth. to devour her child. as soon as it was born.
Well, this is the Christ. Israel's producing the Messiah. Satan is trying to kill the child. That's the story of Herod the wicked. And moved by Satan, he hunted for the baby Jesus.
And the babes of the little two-year-old and below tots male the males. of Bethlehem were slaughtered. But he didn't get the Messiah. Satan is always ready to kill and to destroy. whenever uh whatever God is for.
This also Speaks about the plots of the Jewish leaders, and there were many of them to kill the Christ. The woman Uh the definite article, The Woman. makes her distinct, and that is Israel. And Mary is a part of that. Verse 5: She bore a male child.
Now, again, that's Israel. uh which Mary belongs to. she bore a male child who would Shepherd all nations with the rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his throne.
Well, in the New King James, the translators have opted for rule the nations. But the Greek word is where we get the word shepherd in the Greek. In the Latin, it's pastor. And so now you have more, it's descriptive. It's telling us, yeah, he's ruling with authority.
But with care.
Now he's not just this, you know, a tyrant. The child is Christ. and the church will be his bride. And the implication is leadership with authority. power to enforce but with a caring heart.
And that's why that word shepherd is so important. The iron rod means he won't deviate from righteous standards. He will not tolerate wickedness and sedition. Her child was caught up to God and His throne. That's the ascension, Acts chapter 1.
For example, verse twelve. Isn't this fun? Isn't it are we having fun? I'm loving this. 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. Yeah, I messed that up in the reading. I wasn't going to mess it up twice in a row.
So, slowing down really helps you not mess up so much, unless you're driving. And incidentally, while we're on that. It's okay to wait one more car. It's okay. You don't have to pull out in front of that one last car, that's usually me.
Just wait, let them pass, then you go. with your bonehead self. All right, well. Yeah. So It's one of the perks of being a pastor.
You get the microphone, don't mess it up. All right, verse 6. The woman fled into the wilderness as I read. There is a gap so far between verse five and six of two thousand years. Between the virgin birth.
and the third Jewish Temple. which has not yet been built. But that temple has to be built for verse 6. to have to begin. Jesus said, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet oh, Jesus is connecting dots and he's making a picture we can understand.
Standing in the holy place. Whoever reads, let him understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Well, that's what verse 6 is saying. The woman fled into the wilderness. Who's the woman? Israel. Jesus says the temple is going to be rebuilt.
The temple that was around the second temple when he walked the earth has been destroyed. This means there's going to be a third one. And it's going to be defiled, it will kick off the three and a half years of total hatred towards the Jews globally.
So the wilderness, the place. Probably I mean, Jordan, the kingdom of Jordan is where this is going. Could be the Judean desert also, not just one spy. And a lot of them, oh, it's going to be Petra.
Well, it might be Petra. That's in the wilderness of modern-day Jordan, also. That's going to be a candidate. Isaiah said, Let my outcast dwell with you, O Moab. That's in the Kingdom of Jordan.
Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler, for the extortioner is at an end. Oh, that's an end time time stamp. Devastation ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
Well, that's not going to happen until Christ comes back.
So that's Isaiah 16:4. Is telling us that the kingdom of Jordan will shelter God's people. We don't know why. There are many speculations. why they will be able to hide from Antichrist.
In Jordan, and you can see Jordan from Israel. At least you can see Mount Nebo, which is in Jordan. Anyway, God is notorious for caring for those in the wilderness. The Jews for 40 years. Elijah, twice, you know, Elijah with the ravens caring for him.
And then when he ran from Jezebel, and the angels showed him, God knows how to do these things. Daniel 11:41. He shall also enter the glorious land. That's Antichrist in the glorious land is Israel. The glorious truck is my truck.
Just, you know, in case you're asking. And many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand. Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Amon. Ammon. We're covering those in numbers.
on Wednesday evenings. We know this is in the kingdom of Jordan. It's all connected. Daniel, Isaiah, Jesus, and Matthew 24, here in Revelation 12:6, it's all connected. And each one gives you a little bit more of something else.
The end times These things are covered in Psalms, Isaiah. Often, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Matthew and others. They will have refuge in Jordan. But our message today is there's no refuge. From Christ.
only in Christ. That's the Christian message.
Well, he says here. Uh well believing Jews will be teaching these things, and so Even if they didn't repent, when they see this happening, they're going to quickly understand. Don't even go in the house for your sweater, just flee, and they're going to all head to Jordan. And there's a bridge going, at least one, there are others, but one prominent one from Israel to Jordan. That they should Feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Mid-tribulation point. Three and a half years. During World War II. in the caves in the Ukraine The Jews hid out for five hundred and eleven days. The Gypson Caves.
One of the caves is 87 miles long. One of the longest on earth. There's a movie about this, No Place on Earth. And it it's sort of it's uh And James Bond plays the guy that's the Jewish hero in this. Daniel.
Somebody. Anyway. I don't want to act like I know too much about these people. Anyhow. It's already documented that the Jews have this precedence for them surviving.
in the wilderness as close as World War II. I close with this verse, Luke 21 verse 2.
Now when these things begin to happen, Look up. Lift up your heads. Because your redemption draws near. That's for the Jews going through this. There will be those that see it.
and many will repent. Yeah. Uh This has been Cross-Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand.
Just visit us online at crossreferenceradio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Yeah.
