Revelation 12-15: Dragon Slaying 101

We read Revelation 12 through 15 and treat it as the revelation of Jesus Christ, not a fear machine for end times speculation. We slow down on the dragon, the beasts, and the warnings to show how believers endure and overcome by Jesus, testimony, and an eternal perspective.
• Revelation as exciting good news for those who belong to Christ 
• Letting God reveal what he wants revealed, even when symbols stay mysterious 
• Revelation 12’s war in heaven and Satan named as the accuser 
• Revelation 13’s beasts, deception, and the mark of the beast with 666 
• Revelation 14–15’s worship scenes, final judgment images, and seven last plagues 
• Parallels to Genesis, Exodus, the tabernacle, Job, and Zechariah that help us read Revelation 
• Overcoming the evil one by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony 
• Refusing to love comfort and safety so much that we fear death 

Get out there and slay some dragon by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony, and this eternal perspective that puts our life now in its proper place.

At outloudbible.com, you can find free resources to help you study the Bible. And while you’re there, send us a message to say hi, or start a conversation about having us at your church or event. 

If Outloud Bible has been a valuable part of your understanding of the Bible, please consider supporting the ministry by visiting outloudbible.com.

Transcript

Why Revelation Should Not Scare You

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast. This is Mike, and we're reading the book of Revelation together. Not revelations, as I've heard sometimes. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ, is the full title of it. And if you belong to Christ, if he is your Lord and Savior and you live your life to obey him and do what he says and love him and follow him, well then this is not a scary book. The revelation of Jesus Christ should be an exciting thing, not a scary thing. Of course, if you've been living in rebellion against him and trying to do your own thing and ignore the Lordship of Jesus, well, then I guess this is a scary book, and the revelation of Jesus Christ is not a thing to look forward to. But there's still time. Still time. But sure enough, this book is confusing in a number of ways. It's mysterious. There's a lot of imagery that I don't think we can take literally, but there's some things that we might as well take literally because we don't have any other context for it, and it's a little bit tough. Well, what do I do about this? And well, what we do about this is we let God reveal what he wants to reveal. If he wanted to reveal nothing of what the end times look like, then he we wouldn't have this book, and we wouldn't even think to ask. But the fact that we have this book means that God wants us to know. And yes, it's enshrouded in mystery and symbolism and it's prophecy, so it's kind of it needs an interpretation, and we don't always have what the interpretation is. And in those cases, then guess what? Lean into God, study more, figure it out, and keep your eye open and your ears open for what God is doing. It's the only book with a promise for those who read it and study it. So here we are. Let's read it, let's study it, let's get into it, and it's okay if we don't walk away with a oh, I understand exactly what that means. That's okay. That's not what we're here to do necessarily. Let's just let God be God and just bask in the enormity of his plan that he has been working on since the beginning of time. We read in Genesis about the beginning of all things, and now we get to read about the end of all things, and we see that God is the same at the beginning and at the end, and he's not playing defense here. He's not he's not reacting to the things that are happening in the world, so we can trust him, and trust that everything's gonna work out exactly how he plans, exactly when he plans it, and we can go along for the ride and play our part in the meantime. Let's read Revelation 12 through 15 in the New English translation. Then a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the

Reading Revelation 12 Through 15

SPEAKER_00 2:32

sun and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pain, struggling to give birth. And then another sign appeared in heaven, a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. Now the dragon's tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who was going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, and she fled into the wilderness, where a place had been prepared for her by God so she could be taken care of for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Then a war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. So that huge dragon, the ancient serpent, the one called the devil, and Satan who deceives the whole world, was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the ruling authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down. But they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they didn't love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore you heavens rejoice and all who reside in them, but woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you. He's filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time. Now, when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child, but the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out of the wilderness to the place God prepared for her where she was taken care of, away from the presence of the serpent, for a time, times and half a time. Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood, but the earth came to her rescue. The ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God's commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus. And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name. Now, the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth, and the dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and the great authority to rule. Now one of the beast's heads appeared to have been killed, but a lethal wound had been healed, and the whole world followed the beast in amazement. They worshipped the dragon because he had given ruling authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast too, saying, Who's like the beast, and who is able to make war against him? The beast was given a mouth, speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty two months. So the beast opened his mouth to blaspheme against God, to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, that is those who dwell in heaven. The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast. Everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the lamb who was killed. If anyone has an ear he had better listen. If anyone's meant for captivity, into captivity he'll go. If anyone's to be killed by the sword, then by the sword he must be killed. This requires steadfast endurance and faith from the saints. Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who lived on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword but still lived. The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak and could cause all those who didn't worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also caused everyone, great and small, rich and poor, slave and free, to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast, that is his name or his number. This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has insight calculate the beast's number, for it is man's number, and his number is six six six. Then I looked, and here was the lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads. I also heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud thunder. Now the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne, and before the living creatures and the elders. No one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. Now these are the ones who had not defiled themselves with women for their virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and no lie was found on their lips. They are blameless. Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He declared in a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. A second angel followed the first, declaring, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city. She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral passion. A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God's anger that's been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the lamb, and the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night along with anyone who receives the mark of his name. This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints, those who obey God's commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, Write this Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on. Yes, says the Spirit, so they can rest from their hard work because their deeds will follow them. Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man. He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap is come, since the earth's harvest is ripe. So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Another angel who was in charge of the fire came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes off the vine of the earth, because its grapes are now ripe. So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth and tossed them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Then the wine press was stomped outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses' bridles for a distance of almost two hundred miles. Then I saw another great and astounding sign in heaven: seven angels who had seven final plagues. They're final, because in them God's anger is completed. Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name, they were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God. And they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the all powerful, just and true are your ways, king over the nations. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy? All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. After these things I looked, and the temple, the tent of the testimony, was opened in heaven. And the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean, bright linen, wearing wide golden belts around their chests. And then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, and the temple was filled with smoke from God's glory and from his power. Thus no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues from the seven angels were completed. Sound familiar? That sounds like when God's glory filled the tabernacle for the first time, and we know from the book of Hebrews that the tabernacle is just a shadow of what the temple

Bible Parallels That Unlock Revelation

SPEAKER_00 13:24

in heaven looks like, what God's throne room looks like. The tent of the testimony was opened in heaven, and these angels as priests come out, and God's glory fills it like smoke. We see so many parallels here in Revelation from things that we saw in Genesis and Exodus, as God is revealing more about Himself through what we can see here on earth. We really only have a shot of understanding Revelation if we've read the whole Bible. That's why it's at the end. I think, you know, obviously it's also referring to the end of time, and there's no more revelation after this one. This is it. But hopefully, if you've been with me for any length of time here, some of the things we read here is like, wait a minute, that's kind of like what it was like back in Exodus or the Tabernacle, or that oh, that's like what it was like in the Garden of Eden. Yeah, and we're gonna see more of that as we continue the book of Revelation. But for now we'll stop, and I want to go visit one of the things we read earlier in this episode in chapter twelve. Did you catch what was being said by a loud voice in heaven after this

Beating The Accuser With Testimony

SPEAKER_00 14:20

war in heaven happened where Michael and his angels fought the dragon, Satan, and uh kicked him out of heaven? It said, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the ruling authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, and that should remind us of a couple things we've read before, where in the book of Job, where Satan goes and accuses Job before God, and in the book of Zechariah, where Satan brings an accusation against Joshua the high priest before God, this is what Satan does day and night accusing you before God. This is r this is not symbolic, this is ex this is a description of what happens. But here we see Satan has been thrown down, and this is what this voice in heaven is saying about us, the brothers and sisters who have been accused by Satan before God, but they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they didn't love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. That is how we overcome the accuser. It's not on our own strength. That's why, number one, it's by the blood of the Lamb, that's Jesus. Only by Christ's death are we able to do anything against Satan, that's the death blow. But we overcome Satan by the sacrifice that Jesus has already made, and we overcome Satan by the word of our testimony, telling others about the victory that Jesus has won, and how he has given us new life and new purpose and hope and a future through the blood of Jesus. Our sharing our testimony is how we fight back against Satan and overcome the accuser and the evil one. Your testimony doesn't have to be flashy, it doesn't have to be like, oh yeah, I Jesus saved me from the depths and and now here I am. Like, yeah, if that's your story, hey, praise God, it's amazing. There are there's some deep, dark lives that Jesus has reached down into the mud and brought back and and redeemed and restored in a brilliant, miraculous way. But that if that's you, that's great. If that's not you, that doesn't make your testimony any less powerful in slaying dragons. Well, my story's not like their story. Well, your story's not about you. Your story's about Jesus. You could you have saved yourself? No. The fact that you even have any future in heaven and you have any life with Jesus now is only because of what he did. You could not have saved yourself. Imagine what your life would be without him. That's a testimony. And that's how we overcome the evil one by the word of our testimony. And he says here, they didn't love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. That's a perspective that we need to work on and continue to to carry now. To love our own lives less. It's not that we think badly of ourselves, it's not that we, you know, have negative thoughts, oh, I'm worthless, oh I don't even deserve to live here. No, this this is that that's not what this is talking about. Love love who you are and who Christ has made you to be, yes. But don't love your lives and your safety and your comfort and the things you have around you and and even just the your the situation you find yourself in so much that death feels like a loss. Satan's only play really is to get you to be so focused on your life now, loving your life, loving the things you have, loving the status and position and the comfort and the safety that you have so much that you don't think about what death would do, and you just try to ignore it and push that off. His only play is to do the opposite, to help you love your life so much that you're afraid to die. But if we recognize our lives as just the blip in the grand scheme of eternity that this book of Revelation helps us to see, then you know what? Do I hey, do I love my family and do I love the life that God has given me and the work he's given me to do? Yes, I do. But I can't value my life so much that I'm afraid to die. By those three things the blood of the Lamb, that's Jesus, by the word of our testimony, and by this loose grip that we have on our lives, not loving our own lives so much that we're afraid to die. With these things, then we can overcome the evil one. He has nothing on us. Will that make him mad? Yes. Like it says in verse 12, he knows he only has a little time.

Holding Life Loosely Until The End

SPEAKER_00 18:52

That means we only have a little time before the end of all things, and if Satan is working overtime to cause as much collateral damage as he can, then how much more should we work to win as many souls in the meantime? We only have a little time. Get out there and slay some dragon by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony, and this eternal perspective that puts our life now in its proper place. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day. We'll see you next time.