Expository Sermon on Revelation 12
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 7/18/2020
©2020 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch the YouTube broadcast of the entire worship service, click the link just below. The sermon starts at the 52:00 minute mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqBUTI6qZNs
Please open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 12.
From when I was in first grade to when I was in eighth grade, I attended a little one-room Adventist elementary school about a mile southeast of Redfield, South Dakota. Since it was the only elementary school I had ever attended, I didn’t think it strange that we had a new teacher every year. I figured that this is what always happened–they switched out the teachers every year to give the students variety.
I don’t think that we were an especially tough little school. I remember our classroom being tranquil most of the time. But I do remember that when I was in the fourth grade our teacher was very young–I believe this was her first year of teaching–and I remember that once in a while after she sent us out to recess, she would sit at her teacher’s desk and sob. And sure enough, at the end of the year she was gone.
The next teacher was a bit older, but very high-strung. She definitely had emotional problems, and sometimes took out her stress on us students. She actually lasted a year and a half, but then she had some sort of nervous breakdown and had to leave.
The lady who replaced her came out of retirement to do so, and she was tiny but tough and experienced, and took no guff from anybody. She finished off the year, and stayed another year, but then she too was gone.
And my seventh-grade teacher was a man. Since he was the first man teacher I ever had, I was prepared to hero-worship him. But he didn’t seem to have a sense of humor, and always had a hunted look in his eyes. And he only stayed a year.
So why this annual turnover? As I say, I don’t think we were an especially bad group of students. When I look back on it now, I believe we were taught by a series of exiles.
You see, back in those days–before the climate-extremes started leveling out–South Dakota was blistering hot in the summer, and twenty below zero in the winter. You could go outside and look in every direction and see nothing but flat horizon.
True, ten miles out to the west was a set of humble hills which somebody had named the Bald Mountains—that’s the way they’re labeled on maps–but they weren’t mountains. They soared 1,480 feet above sea level. That sounds impressive, except that Redfield itself soared 1,300 feet above sea level. (All of that flat prairie was about 1200 feet in altitude above the level of the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.
So with Redfield at 1300 and the Bald Mountains at 1480, that meant that the Bald Mountains towered less than 200 feet above the prairie.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for a teacher who had been raised among the lakes and forests of Minnesota, or the Colorado Rockies, to think of staying and living in that flat land? To them, that must have been the definition of exile.
I remember a fellow-student named Judy, whose parents were missionaries and who had been born in Switzerland and had also spent most of her childhood in South America. Her parents were teaching at the Adventist academy down the street, but they ended up staying only one year.
And during that time, Judy never lost her lonely, puzzled, frustrated expression. Where were her beloved Swiss Alps? Where were the mountain ranges of Peru, and her beloved friends there, who spoke Spanish, which she had probably used more than English?
Most people came to teach at my school because they couldn’t find a job anywhere else, and once they did, those exiles vanished like breath-frost off a winter window.
This week, as I was mulling over what to do for a new sermon series, it suddenly struck me that the COVID pandemic has made us all something like exiles.
I mean, I’m a pastor. I meet with people to study the Bible, and I visit people in hospitals. But now I can’t do that. You and I are used to seeing people weekly in this building, in this room, on this day, but we can’t do that.
I haven’t been in a Mongolian Grill or any other kind of restaurant since probably late April—maybe even longer ago than that–and what’s so sad is the buffet line in such places will probably never be laid out again, since now there’s a horrifying potential for infection.
So what I thought I would do over the next few weeks is look at some of the Bible’s “exile” stories. And there are many of them. When you think of it, pretty much every famous Bible person was an exile of some kind, either literally or spiritually.
And what I’d like to do during this sermon series is look at the stories of these exiles and discover what God might be able to teach us through those stories.
The latest edition of the American Heritage Dictionary defines exile this way: “The condition or period of being forced to live away from one’s native country or home, especially as a punishment. (Also,) The condition or period of self-imposed absence from one’s country or home.”
So in other words, an exile can be involuntary or voluntary. In the 1880s, my German-Swiss ancestors were voluntary exiles to the prairies of South Dakota. I don’t think they realized how unlike the Alps those prairies were, but once they got here, they stayed, because the potential was better here.
Revelation 12 tells a story of exile – both of Lucifer and a symbolic woman. But even though there are a lot of drama and action and vivid images in this chapter, there’s a huge amount of good news too. That news is both breathtaking and encouraging. Let’s find out what it is, and how we can take it out into this coming week.
Revelation 12:1 – 2 [NKJV]: Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
In the past when I’ve read these verses, I didn’t slow down enough to catch something really important here. Since every Adventist who has been to an evangelistic series knows about Revelation 12, he or she knows about this woman as well. She represents God’s faithful people down through the centuries.
This woman is about to give birth. She’s in perhaps the most vulnerable situation a woman can be in. And yet a great red dragon is trying to devour her child.
But this week I slowed down a little bit as I read, and I discovered what I think is the first piece of good news in this “exile” story. If you’re taking down sermon points, here’s what you could call Sermon Point One.
The first “good news” item is that God treasures His people. God treasures me.
So let’s slow down and read these verses again. They are amazing.
Verse 1: Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
I mean, that dragon’s presence means that this woman is in trouble – very serious trouble – but just look at her. First, her appearance is called a “great sign.” In Greek it’s a mega-sign. In God’s eyes, and in the devil’s eyes as we’ll see in a moment, this woman isn’t an insignificant figure hiding in some obscure place. Instead, she is a “great sign.” She is someone to be seen, someone to be noticed.
And notice how she is clothed. She is wearing a garment made of pure, blazing sunlight. Back in Revelation 1, verse 16, when John catches his first sight of Jesus in the book, Jesus’ face is shining like the sun. And here in Revelation 12, this woman is wearing garments that shine just as brightly as Jesus’ face!
And notice what is on her head. Not a tiara made of some earthly metal, but a crown of 12 stars. The woman’s clothes are dazzling, and her starry crown is dazzling. There she stands, a great sign and wonder for everybody to look at. She is someone who is highly favored by God, and He has dressed her appropriately. She is the center of everybody’s attention.
So no matter what else this woman must go through as this terrifying chapter unfolds it story, it is totally clear that God treasures this woman. God treasures His people. God treasures me and you, no matter what we’ll go through as this current pestilence lurks among us.
Okay, what do I do with this? Later in the chapter it’s made clearer that this woman represents God’s faithful people all the way to the end of time. The child she is symbolically pregnant with is Jesus Christ, but ‘way down at the end of the chapter we see that she will have other offspring, the “remnant.” And we are part of that remnant.
How do I know that we are part of that remnant? How can I make sure, and how can you make sure, that we stay part of that remnant?
Let’s glance down at the end of the chapter and see how Jesus chooses to define His remnant followers. Remember, the very first words of the book of Revelation say that this whole book is a “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” So how does Jesus define who this remnant is?
Verse 17: And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So how do I know whether I am related to this royal, queenly, wonderfully clothed woman? First, I keep the commandments of God. And according to the Greek, this “keeping” is not simply passively doing something, like you might “keep” an appointment. The Greek words is tereo, and it’s a powerful word. It means “watch over, guard, keep, preserve.”
Do you see how powerful that word is? “Watching over guarding, keeping, preserving” is what you do with your kids, if you have kids. You don’t ignore them most of the time. You don’t merely feed them breakfast and then forget about them.
No, you watch over, you guard, you preserve your children as best you can. That takes energy, and you put out that energy because you really care for your children.
And that’s the word Jesus uses here in this verse. When you “keep” God’s commandments, you do this because man or woman shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And God’s commandments came from His mouth. And therefore, as Job said in Job 23:12, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
And if you “have the testimony of Jesus,” that means you possess anything you can get which truly tells you what Jesus wants for you. That’s Bible. And that’s anything else that points you back to—and not away from—the Bible. Revelation 19:10 says that one source of the “testimony of Jesus” is what it calls “the spirit of prophecy.”
So the bottom line is that if you are one of the last remaining offspring of this glorious, brilliant, divinely-cared-for woman, you are – in the words of a sports metaphor – “all in.” You’re totally committed.
Now let’s look at another “good news” item from Revelation 12. And at first, this one is going to sound really non-good-news-y.
Verses 2 – 4: Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 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 what does all this have to do with exile? Well, later in the chapter the woman herself has to go into exile. Verse 9 clearly identifies the great red dragon as Satan, and he was probably the very first exile in the history of the universe.
But his exile – his ejection from heaven which the chapter later talks about – this exile hasn’t humbled him or made him less vicious. Can you imagine Lucifer looking at the woman, seeing her dazzling garments, envying her starry crown? Lucifer was probably dressed like this and honored like this when he was in God’s presence. He wants this glory back, but under his own terms.
Never forget that the devil wants your worship. Any time an Old Testament or New Testament pagan bowed before an idol, they were worshipping the devil. Satan desperately lusted after Jesus’ worship, and he tried to convince Jesus to give it to him during the final temptation in the wilderness.
But let’s mention the second “good news” item in this chapter.
The first “good news” item is that God treasures me. The second “good news” item is that the devil is determined to destroy me.
So, how can that be good news? Despite her bright royal garments, the woman in this chapter is going to have to escape to whatever is symbolized by the wilderness. She’ll have to go through a lot of trauma.
Yet the devil’s persecution is good news. And the reason is that Jesus thinks it’s good new. As He came to the end of His list of beatitudes in Matthew five, the Savior says (Matthew 5:10 – 12):
Matthew 5:10 – 12: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake . . . .
That word “blessed” isn’t some lofty spiritual term. It means “happy.”
Verses 10 – 12: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Yesterday I clicked on one of those YouTube videos, one which promised to show me funny and amazing moments in sports. One clip showed a tennis match between a couple of major champions. A teenage girl was standing at one end of the net, and her job was to run after balls that left the court in her direction.
Suddenly, one of the players smashed a ball which smashed into this young lady’s head. Now I would imagine that if this girl had been on the school playground, and somebody had done this, she might have been very annoyed.
But here, she just adjusted the baseball cap she was wearing, and smiled. The player who had hit her paused the game and hurried over with a concerned look, and talked with her to see how she was doing. She smiled even more brightly, and you could read her lips as she said, “I’m okay.” She wasn’t crying, she wasn’t pouting, she was genuinely smiling.
Do you see what was happening? This girl was probably delighted to be a ball girl there on that court during that important match. She was probably a tennis player herself, and maybe she was hoping that one day she could play professional tennis as well.
But here, she wasn’t the star—she was a servant. She was helping the game go smoothly. As she chased down those tennis balls, she was doing her best to help the champions stay in rhythm and be able to concentrate on this important game.
So therefore, even though the blow must’ve been quite a shock, she didn’t let this misguided tennis ball rattle her, or discourage her. Her joy in being at that match just overwhelmed any inconvenience she was feeling.
Later on that night, as she went back home and got sleep, she was probably feeling more pain. But I’ll bet she was back there on the court the next time it was her turn.
Jesus’ disciples eventually got the point about this rejoicing. In Acts 5, the priests and other religious leaders command Peter and the other disciples to stop preaching about Jesus. They ignore this order, and keep on preaching. The authorities have them severely beaten. But watch what happens:
Acts 5:41 – 42: So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Paul, the devastatingly efficient persecutor who was converted into a follower of Jesus and then was persecuted himself many times, Paul had this to say in Romans 8:18.
Romans 8:18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Yesterday, a United States Representative from the state of Georgia, John Lewis, died at the age of 80. Years ago he joined the Civil Rights movement. He was a follower and colleague of Martin Luther King Jr. He took part in lunch counter sit-ins. He challenged segregated buses. At the age of 23 he was a keynote speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington.
He was arrested more than 40 times for these activities, and his skull was fractured at age 25 as he was marching for voting rights in Selma, Alabama.
He later said that he thought he would die that day. But he kept working, kept speaking, kept protesting, and eventually ascended to serve in the House of Representatives. And one day a former Ku Klux Klansmen who long ago had helped beat him bloody visited his congressional office and asked for his forgiveness.
You see, through all those trials and dangers, John Lewis knew that he was on the right side of history. You and I, if we are serving as a part of God’s remnant, are on the right side of history.
And the devil—even though he’s dedicated to destroying those who worship God by treasuring and preserving and keeping God’s commandments—the devil knows better than any of us that he is on the losing side.
God exiled Satan from heaven, and one day He will exile Satan from life itself. And one day, the Savior whom the devil hates so viciously, will call out to the persecuted who have been faithful to Him, and say: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Matthew 25:34) And He will clothe you and me in those bright garments which represent His righteousness, and give us those brilliant crowns as well.
So over the next several weeks, as we move through this “exiles” sermon series, and look at the stories of the Bible exiles, I know we’ll find a lot of encouragement.
What should you and I do, from this point on? Well, 1 Peter 5:8 and 9 are verses that are familiar to a lot of us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”