Revelation 12:11

Revelation 12:11

In Revelation 12:11 the Bible says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." The individual who is overcome is the devil. In the verses of Revelation Chapter 12 just before this verse we were told how that the devil will be taken out of the way when Jesus returns to the earth. Of course, the devil is not taken away yet. We still have to deal with him. There is still the possibility that he will cause us much sorrow and loss. Because of the promises of God, we are assured of victory over the devil in the future, and here in Revelation 12:11 we are told how we can also have victory over the devil in this life.

The first thing that God has provided in this life so that we can have victory over the wiles of the devil is the blood of the Lamb. Jesus gave His blood on the cross so that we could have the forgiveness of sins. It is the work of the devil to tempt us to fall into sin so that we will fail God and become alienated from Him. In that regard the devil has been successful in each of our cases to cause us to fail and to cause us to fall because we have all sinned. But the grace of God is greater than our failures. We are accepted by God not because of our own accomplishments but because of the blood of Christ. We can always draw close to God not because we deserve it, but because of the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. If you remember the blood of Christ and its power to forgive sins, and if you remember that the basis for your relationship with God has always been only the fact of Jesus dying for your sins, then you will possess in your mind and in your thoughts the most important thing to gaining the victory over the devil in this life.

The second essential thing needed to overcome the devil in this life is stated in Revelation 12:11 as "the word of their testimony." Why is the word of someone’s testimony so important in gaining the victory over the devil in this life? For one thing once we are saved, one of the primary reasons that God has each of His children on the earth is to be a testimony of what Christ has done for them. The devil wants to stop you from being a testimony. He wants to keep you quiet, and he wants to keep you from having a testimony. If you are a Christian, one of the reasons that the devil wants you to sin is to make you a bad testimony. He wants to give the unbelievers a reason to turn away from God because of your failures.

It was important to Christ that His believers be testimonies on the earth. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." One of the last things that Jesus said to the disciples in the gospels was, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." There was also a very special promise made by Christ to those who bear witness of His name. In Luke 12:8 Jesus said, "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven." There is a special blessing and a special enabling given to those who witness for Christ. Not only do they help poor, lost souls come to the knowledge of God, but they also help themselves to gain the victory over the evil one. You will have the power of God upon you and the demons will flee in fear from you, if you open your mouth and bear witness to your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is one other thing mentioned in Revelation 12:11 that explains how believers gain the victory over the devil in this life. It says, "and they loved not their lives unto the death." One of the primary reasons for failure in any endeavor especially in the Christian life is selfishness. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy. You are in big trouble spiritually when you want something too badly to the point where you have lost the ability to truthfully say, "Not my will, but thine be done." Remember when Jesus taught us to pray, one of the things to pray was, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

When we give up our will, it appears as though we will lose; but the opposite really happens. The key to victory is to be able to truthfully say, "Not my will, but thine." It is not only what you are doing, but it is also the inner motivation. You can be involved in things that appear to be good, but the reason that you are doing them could be some kind of selfish motivation. That is the main reason that Christians often cannot work well together. It is not really the doctrinal differences most of the time. Selfish people doing things for selfish reasons will not perceive or perform the will of God.

Notice that it says that "they loved not their lives unto the death." If you go God’s way instead of your own way, things will happen differently than they would have otherwise. The difference will be good because it will be God’s will instead of your will, and God knows what is best because He knows the end from the beginning. But when you go God’s way, there may also be things to suffer that you would not have suffered if you had gone your own way. Jesus said, "Take up your cross and follow me." He also said, "The servant is not greater than his Lord." And Jesus said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake." You must be willing to give it all, even your life, if it is God’s will. Over the centuries many believers have paid with their lives for following Christ. Death for believers will be most severe during the time of the Great Tribulation. But if you are not willing to give your very life for Christ, if you are holding back and not willing to go that far with Him, then somewhere something will make you to fall away. Revelation 12:11 is a very important verse in the Bible that explains how believers gain victory over the devil in this life. It says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

In Revelation 12;12 we are told another piece of information about the devil and why such horrible things happen during the time of the Great Tribulation. The Bible says, "Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time." Evidently, in the age in which we live the devil has access to both heaven and earth. When the devil goes to heaven, he goes there to accuse the brethren. Evidently there is some kind of contest taking place where the devil enjoys digging up dirt on the believers. On the other hand, God looks for someone on the earth who is faithful to Him. It pleases God immensely when He finds someone He can count on. God does not look on the outward appearance: He looks at the heart.

But during the Great Tribulation, the devil will no longer be permitted to enter heaven and continue his accusations against the believers. Because he is banished to the earth, he will know that his time is short and therefore his murderous and destructive activities will increase in scope and frequency. There are two responses recommended in Revelation 12:12 once the devil is cast out of heaven and banished to the earth. The first response is given in the first part of Revelation 12:12. It says, "Rejoice." We can rejoice over such an event because the end is near. There is a good side to everything, and Christians have already been told elsewhere in the Bible to "Rejoice always." One of the good things about all of the sorrows and trials of the Great Tribulations is that the sorrows will soon be past and the many promises of the Kingdom of God will be at the threshold of being fulfilled.

But for those who are still on the earth during the Great Tribulation, instead of rejoicing, they will have "woe", and sorrow, and distress such as the world has never seen. The primary reason for the woe and the sorrow and the destruction will be the power of the devil to cause these things. He will do them because he knows that his time is short: kind of like a retreating army that destroys the resources of the land so that others will not be able to enjoy them. Of course, the destruction that will be caused by the devil will be in vain, because when the Lord returns, He will make over a new earth.

Revelation 12:13-16 says, "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and a half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 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." Once the devil is cast out of heaven and isolated to the earth, he will increase his persecution of "the woman which brought forth the man child." As we have already mentioned, this is the nation of Israel. Because God chose the nation of Israel as the nation from which the Messiah did come, the devil hates and despises Israel. What God loves the devil hates. God loves the human race, and God made man in His own image. Therefore, the devil hates the human race also.

The devil wants to see all humans destroyed. All of the horrible things that happen to humans and all of the destroyed lives can be traced to the activity and work of the devil. The work of the devil is to destroy people any way that he can. That is one of the reasons that he wants people to sin. He knows that the effects of sin will destroy people’s lives. This part of Revelation Chapter 12 is reminding us that in the midst of the devil’s great hatred for all the human race, his highest priority is always to persecute the nation of Israel. This persecution of the nation of Israel will increase in the period of the Great Tribulation. That is why some of the most dramatic events of the Great Tribulation will happen in and around Jerusalem and other parts of the nation of Israel.

No matter what trouble the devil is able to stir up, and no matter what sorrows he is able to bring, God always has an answer to make up for it. The devil caused man to sin and ruined man’s relationship with God, but God sent Jesus to die in our place and restore that relationship. The devil will empower the antichrist to take control of the earth and cause great sorrow and woe, but Jesus will return to the earth and destroy the antichrist, and Jesus will set up the Kingdom of God on earth. Even when the devil stirs up trouble in this life, God has ways of protecting and providing for His children. We constantly depend upon the provision and protection that God alone can give. After all Jesus promised, "I am with you always, even to the end of the world." During the time of the Great Tribulation, God will provide a place of escape for the believers in Jerusalem. That is the significance of the verse that says that "she might fly into the wilderness." Safety will be found by fleeing the populated areas and finding refuge in certain deserted locations. This is one of the messages that will be important for believers to pay attention to who are alive during the time of the Great Tribulation. There is a time to stay where you are at, but there is also a time to pick up and move quickly if need be.

In Revelation 12:17 the Bible says, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The devil hates and persecutes the nation of Israel, and he also hates and persecutes those who "have the testimony of Jesus Christ." One of the great purposes of God is that the telling of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ be increased and abundant from the lips of His believers. Therefore, one of the purposes of the devil is that the gospel be silenced. The devil will not mind so much if you believe, as long as you do not tell anyone. Notice that Revelation 12:17 does not say that the devil is angry with those who believe, but with those who "have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Your testimony is more than what you say. It is also what you do. That is why this verse also says that the devil is angry with those who "keep the commandments of God."

Revelation Chapter 13 goes into some detail about the antichrist, the source of his power, and what he does with his power. Revelation 13:1 says, "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." The beast who will rise up out of the sea is the antichrist. The sea is the sea of humanity. The ten horns and the ten crowns refer to ten nations who will initially give power and authority to the antichrist. We do not know which ten nations these are. At one time the European Common Market was made up of ten countries, and some people made a big deal out of it and said that the ten nations were the ones that would give authority to the antichrist, but now the European Common Market has more than ten nations in it, and it is called the European Union. The truth is that we do not know for sure which are the ten nations. It may be from some alliance that will be made in some future generation.

But when the antichrist comes into power, the nature and characteristics that he will have are made very clear. Revelation 13:2 says, "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." The antichrist is compared to certain ferocious animals in order to make it very clear what he will be like. These comparisons in Revelation 13:2 are very similar to those made in the book of Daniel referring to the Kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. These ancient kingdoms grew because of attacking and dominating other countries. The same thing will happen with the antichrist. Remember in Revelation Chapter 6 we were told that he went forth conquering and to conquer. The main reason that the exploits of the antichrist will succeed initially is because the dragon, who is the devil, will give the antichrist his power and authority. The devil offered power and authority to Jesus over the kingdoms of the world at the first coming of Christ, but Jesus refused, preferring the Kingdom of God rather than the kingdoms of this world. The devil has made lesser offers that have been accepted by some humans who have sold their souls to gain a piece of the world that is passing away. Perhaps one of the reasons that the devil eventually raises up the antichrist and gives such great power and authority to him is because the devil wants a substitute for Jesus. Jesus is God’s choice to be the King of Kings, and therefore the devil will do as he has always done: try to create a substitute.

What about you? Do you have the real thing: Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Savior of the world; or have you been tricked into going after a substitute? The kingdoms of this world will pass away and will come to nothing, but the Kingdom of Christ will last forever. Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus while there is still time.

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