JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Q2. The Woman and the Dragon - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q2. (12:1-17) The vision of the woman and the dragon are heavily symbolic, but comprehensible when you take care to understand. In your own words, what does this vision tell us about the cosmic battle in Jesus' day and in our own? What comfort should we disciples draw from this passage?

Pastor Ralph, on Oct 11 2003, 09:13 AM, said:

The battle remains the same: We Born Again types having been purchased by The Precious Blood of Our Savior Jesus Christ; are now in a daily battle, between the Spirit of God (within us) , ourselves , and satan! Satan would like to quench our spirit; and he can; and he does; if we let him. But if we are not afraid, and pay attention to our daily walk with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we will be victorious. The battle has already been won and the victory belongs to Jesus Christ! The victory is ours!

It is still the same battle that has taken place since the Garden of Eden, since the story of Job being accused by Satan, a terrible scary battle that is waging as we speak. "The adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour." 1 Peter 5:14. Would that this would just be a science fiction movie that would be scary enough but to know it is real and the outcome for those not covered by the blood who inconcievable.

The comfort from this passage is that the accuser whose time is short has been overcome, defeated and we will be with our Lord for all eternity through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross (and before with His flogging and crown of thorns). Blessed be our Savior and Lord the victorious one Jesus the Christ.

The battle has been waging since Satan was kicked out of Heaven because he wanted to be above God - or equal to God as detailed in Ezekial 28.

Satan knows his end, but he wants to take as many as he can with him. We are the targets of his war because we walk with God and will have eternity in His new kingdom.

It has always been spritual war in the heavens and since Satan tempted Eve and Adam and they sucumbed to their will, we have caught in a spiritual fighting. You see I believe Satan wages war against us because if we are removed or become weary in the battle, we will not witness and tell others of God's love and sacrifice for all people. If we are quieted then, Satan thinks he is winning.

But the comfort is that God will shorten the days and in the end we win. Jesus has already won the war by the shedding of His atoning blood. Physical death to us is meaningless to the point that we have the hope of eternal life and a new heaven.
Glory to our Lord!

The woman represents the faithful people of God. We have been faithfully waiting for the Messiah. God aided the women as He does all believers. Satan has always attacked God's people and God has always protected them. God may allow Satan to work in the world but God is still in control. Satan continues to battle daily but this victory is already determined. God will win the victory but we decide where our indifidual soules will end up. God had prepared the victory for the woman and the earth comes to her assistance. When the devil is proved unable to defeat the woman he turns after the other parts of God's kingdom.

The eternal battle between God and evil
By nature we are like God creatures so
we are engaged in this battle want it or not

We can live in denial of the truth and that
will be in satan's favor; or we can declare
all out battle to satan and suffer the consequences
and then live eternaly in peace pracing our
God in the name of Jesus Christ.

We are face with this decision daily as we walk
towards God's will for us. I pray that we as a group
remaind strong in our Lord and be brave till the end.

Be with God always. Jesus Aguilar.

The devil attempted to destroy Jesus and His mission to save those who believe in Him--first by temptation in the desert, to pervert the mission God sent Him on, then by preventing the leaders of the Jews from believing in Him. Jesus defeated him by His consecration to God the Father and His purpose for sending Jesus to earth--His death as our means of forgiveness and salvation.
The devil is defeated! What a wonderful gift the Lord has given us! And we only have to accept it! His grace is freely offered. It is a "done deal"! Thank you Lord!

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[COLOR=blue] Oh, my there is so much here! It is the eternal struggle between good and evil that will continue till God says stop and sends Jesus back for us! The Dragon, of course, is Satan. The Woman is the Church, beginning with Israel. Satan and his minions were cast out of heaven, and search the earth like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, yet today. Just look at what is happing on the nightly news on whatever channel you watch or whatever newspaper you read. And I suggest you get more than one source to get more than one side of the story.

We are currently in a great struggle with people who want to kill us, just because we are Christians. We who live in the United States have a great deal of trouble undersanding this because we have never faced this kind of threat before. But here it is. I mean no disrespect for any people, please do not think that. That is not the intent of the statement that I just made, but the terrorists came here because they hate us and our way of life. People, other Christians, in other countries have faced this for years. We have been insulated from this till now.

Jesus warned us that there would be wars and rumors of wars and it has been so since he left the earth. I am not inferring that I think we are in the end times because I have no way of knowing this. Even Jesus said only the Father knows the time and hour.

So we are in a battle that has been raging since Satan got too big for his britches and got kicked out of heaven. I am sure that much of this battle is going on that we do not even know about. But one thing, Jesus told us to pray without ceasing. He also told us that prayer made a difference so that is one thing we can do today, have faith and pray!

The comfort we should get from all of this is the fact that the battle has already been won! Jesus won the day when he conquered death and gave us grace. One day He will establish His reign and those who have been faithful will be invited to the marriage banquet of the lamb! What a day that will be!

Pastor Ralph, on Oct 11 2003, 09:13 AM, said:

In your own words, what does this vision tell us about the cosmic battle in Jesus' day and in our own?

Jesus' day- Satan had access to God as the accuser of the brethren, but pride took over and there was a heavenly war proclaimed by him. He was waiting to devour the church, but the church, she bore a child who was Christ, He went with God to His throne and provided the church with protection. They fled to a place of safety for 3-1/2 years.

When the war broke out in heaven Satan did not win; he and a 1/3 of the angels were thrown out. He then prowled the earth to see who he could yet devour. But God provided for His people who are not yet protected and comes to their rescue.

Our own Satan is the accuser of the brethren; who is and who is waiting to devour Christ’s church, 1 Peter 5:8. He still has power to pour out his wrath, causing unearthly wisdom and all kinds of sins. For the devil knows his time is short.

What comfort should we disciples draw from this passage?In the end God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, 1 Peter 5:5-6, we will be exalted in His time if we continue on in Him. In the end the victory is in the blood of Jesus, all those who have believed will be protected and be taken away to a place He has prepared.

The woman represents God's faithdul people. The dragon is Satan. Much more happen at Christ's birth, death and ressurection than most realize. A battle between the forces of good and evil was underway. With Christ's ressurection, Satan ultimate defeat was assured. We are in a spiritual warfare. We can be victorious because Christ was victorious. Christ defeated Satan on the crosss. We can draw comfort that the battle has been fought and the Victory won. God has given us all we need to be victorious through the knowledge of Him. STAY IN THE WORD AND LIVE A GODLY LIFE.

The woman is the church (spiritual Israel), and God is committed to preserving His people. The dragon is Satan and he hopes to devour the child the woman is about to give birth to, (battle of good and evil), but the child is snatched up to the Father in heaven. The devil is often defeated and Jesus did come. He did die to atone for our sins: he did rise victorious. He is coming again. God's plans never fail. The dragon is doomed.

As in Jesus day, satan seeks to destroy any thing or any person that stands for Christ, satan uses whatever he can to win people over, he lures people away by decieving them, satan and all that oppose God wage war every day with the people who follow God, we need to be cautious every day so that we are not deceived. We will be protected from satan, for we have victory already, if we follow the message of God and not the opinion of man.

The vision of the woman and the dragon are heavily symbolic, but comprehensible when you take care to understand. In your own words, what does this vision tell us about the cosmic battle in Jesus' day and in our own? What comfort should we disciples draw from this passage?
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The battle is on-going, and will continue to be so, until our Lord's return;
Satan IS a defeated foe, but he will continue to war against God, and the people of God, until the very end...his pride keeps him from accepting the fact that the war, for all intents and purposes ended on Calvary.

God, through His Spirit, will always take care of His own...if we continue to abide in Him;
Our strength, in time of battle, is always in Jesus, the Cross, and the Blood'
Its only when we attempt to fight against our enemy in our own 'flesh' can we be over-come and defeated.

God has a place, prepared for us in times of battle, it is called the "secret place"....
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the almighty............."
"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall NOT come nigh thee" Selah!


{after thought> I don't believe the 'third' that were cast down with satan are demons, but were the angels that rebeled with satan} just my opinion.

love you all....

Jesus was tempted by Satan while in the wildreness for 40 days, Satan offered him the world if he would but bow down and worship him. He was a liar and Jesus knew it so he used the word of God to defeat him. Adam and Eve on the other hand gave in and sined causing all to be born in sin. We today know satan is a liar and will offer us all that the world has to give and he does not have the power to give it to you if you choose him. He is wanting to take as many to hell with him as he can so he will say and do whatever he must to get you to fall into this trap. Satan is roaming to and fro seeking whom he may devour still today as he has always done since he was cast down from heaven. We need to be very careful what we read and hear lines up with the word of God totally.
The confort we receive from this is the battle is already won by the blood of Jesus. We win in the end and shall reign with all the saints and Jesus if we just stay faithful. Nothing or no one can take us away from our Lord it is our free will to hold on and spend eternity in heaven. Thank you Jesus for paying the price for us all.

What this vision tells us about the cosmic battle in Jesus' day and in our own is that satan will always go after the people of God. He will still go his way to deceive God's people. Satan is already defeated so he has no power over us for greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We should know our position in Christ Jesus, that holds the key to our victory in Him, through Him and with Him.

As disciples, we should understand that though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. (2 Cor. 10:3-4) Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12) We will overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony and not loving our lives so much unto death. Praise the Lord! (Rev. 12:11)

Jesus was tempted by Satan while in the wildreness for 40 days. He offered him the world and all that is he could see if he would worship him. He did not let Jesus have any rest he was at him day and night durning this time. It is the same for us today. Satan is a liar and will offer us all that the world has to give if we will but bow down and worship him. The same was with Adam and Eve in the garden and they fell for it. We today must be careful not to fall for the tricks and lies of satan.

The comfort we receive from this is the battle is already won by the blood of Jesus. We win in the end and shall reign with all the saints and Jesus if we just stay faithful. Nothing or no one can take us away from our Lord it is our free will to hold on and spend eternity in heaven. Thank you Jesus for paying the price for us all.

It is the same struggle between good and evil, God's power and grace versus the wickedness of Satan. Satan though he knows that he will ultimately can not match the excellence, majesty and power of the almighty God, tries time and again to capture as many people as possible by trickery and deception, even, force towards the end.
But it is reassuring to note that God himself will step in to protect and empower the "remnant of her seed", His choosen and the promised Israel.

Struggle of good versus evil. Subjected to persecution and accusations.

God's power and grace versus Satan's evil ways.

Knowing God will come and protect his children until the end of time.

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This battle is of such proprotion that we can not comprhend the
sturggle, but no matter what satan tries God will succed.
We are ultimately safe in Gods arms, we have everlasting life.

The battle never stops. The more we live for our Lord the more we are attacked. But this life is temporary and all we have to do is follow our Lord Jesus. The next life is permanent victory.