As Paul wrote, “For 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.” (Ephesians 6:12, NIV).
Hendricksen rightly point out that this has been the struggle of the ages -- the struggle since Adam and Eve sinned. Notice the demonic attempts to defeat the "seed of the woman":
a. Adam's son, Abel, Noah's son Seth, through to Abraham's son Isaac all bore the promise of the seed, yet they all came close to being destroyed;
b. Egypt sought to obliterate the offspring of Jacob, but God redeemed them;
c. The struggles of Israel in the dessert both internally with idolatry and externally with the Canaanites brought Israel into near extinction;
d. The son of Jesse who would bring into being the true Son of David who would rule was nearly killed by Saul;
e. The wicked kings of Israel brought the nation into captivity nearly destroying any chance for a promised offspring to arise; and
f. Now wicked King Herod, the "tail of the Serpent" seeks to destroy Christ.
It is the story of God's people that this conflict brings the Church to near obscurity, yet not quite. Revelation 12:1–6 (NIV),
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
It is worth noting that the Church, the children of the Christ are taken care of for 1260 days. This is the 42 month period of suffering that Christ will protect His Church in the middle of suffering (“But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.” (Revelation 11:2, NIV)). This is the same period of time that God has empowered His Church to prophecy with the spirit of Elijah. This is the Gospel age. (“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”” (Revelation 11:3, NIV)). So we are talking about the same period of time, but from a different perspective. The following chart has been helpfully produced to show this progressive parallelism. [2]
The point to be made is that God will preserve His Church. He has always kept a remnant of people who love Him and serve Him.
Father thank you that for the last thousands of years not only has this struggle been known to You, but the outcome is certain. All the assaults and the attacks on the people of God are really assaults on Your dear Son, Jesus Christ. It is our Saviour that this arch Enemy wishes to destroy.
We are collateral damage. I think you that in the midst of our afflictions, there is hope and comfort for the final chapter has been revealed. Grant strength to Your persecuted Church. Grant strength to us all to proclaim the Gospel without fear. Amen.
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1. Hendriksen, William (1998-06-01). More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (p. 135). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
2. http://waytoshiloh.com/documents/Revelationchart.pdf
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