Not Strong Enough

Read This Week: Revelation 12

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. – Revelation 12:7-9 NIV

Revelation 12 begins a narrative stretch of introducing three central figures in the tribulation – Satan (seen as the dragon), the one who is the false Christ, and the deceitful and false prophet. They will oppose the Lord and Christians in every way. They will try to destroy the people of God and the gospel and unleash havoc, chaos, and torment in a manner never seen on earth. They will confuse the people and even sow unimaginable discord among believers and those wanting to hear the message of salvation through Christ. They will attempt to overthrow the God of the universe once and for all. But they will not succeed.

The first part of the chapter reveals the nation of Israel giving birth to Jesus from the remarkable perspective of the heavens. It details how the enemy tried to prevent Christ from being born and mankind from having a savior and experiencing the love, grace, mercy, and hope of God. Verses 1-5 tell us of this amazing scene:

A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 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. She gave birth to a son, a male child. And her child was snatched up to God and his throne.

John continues on by describing the great war in heaven between Michael, the archangel, and his band of angels against Satan and his followers. It was an intense, supernatural battle that ended with the Devil being thrown out of heaven and losing his place there. Verses 7-9 tell us that Satan and his army fought back furiously, but he was not strong enough. Consequently, he is cast out of his position and made to dwell in this sort of no man’s land, between heaven and earth, where he leads the world astray (v.9) and wages war against humanity, especially those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus (v.17). But he is ultimately not strong enough.

The enemy has power, no doubt, but he is not strong enough to overcome the supremacy, authority, and capacity of Almighty God. He was not strong enough to stop the birth of Jesus. He was not strong enough to kill the Messiah as a baby when his parents had to flee the country. He was not strong enough to stop Jesus’ ministry or tempt him in the wilderness or cause him to give up in the garden. Satan was not strong enough to put him to death permanently, keep him in the grave or stop him from overcoming death. He wasn’t strong enough to keep the church from forming and advancing the gospel through the ages.

As the biblical commentator Warren Wiersbe said, “Satan even has access to heaven, where he accuses God’s people, but he cannot dethrone the exalted Savior.” Even in the moments when it looks like Satan is winning, victory is out of reach. Even when he tries to make life unbearable for followers of Jesus, he can’t win. He can’t supersede or overcome the eternal and conquering power of God. He was and is not strong enough.

6 Comments

  1. Javaid Ahmed on May 3, 2023 at 5:52 pm

    What an amazing chapter! God really honed me in on the front verses 1-6

    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.”[a] 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.

    He said on this:

    “You are the product of your time. Not your beliefs or true convictions but the way things are understood. What may be as clear as day to some is cryptic to others. Let Me be your key and help you decipher what it is I want you to hear. You are loved. You are loved. You are loved.”

    What a profound word from God. What made sense to someone in ancient times seems crazy to us and I’m sure if you went to a roman and described a drone delivering parcels they would think we were crazy as well. God speaks to us in ways we understand, with imagery that makes sense to us, in metaphors so we can easily digest the information.

    This hit me emotionally because underneath all of the craziness, world issues, challenges, trials, pains and everything else, the most important thing to know is WE ARE LOVED BY HIM. Deeply, unconditionally and infinitely. All roads lead there.

  2. Trina on May 3, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    Revelation chapter 12 Verse 10

    Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in Heaven, saying, Now it has come– The salvation and the power and the kingdom (the Dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah)): for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our god charges against them day and night, has been cast out!

    Revelation chapter 12 Verse 11

    And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death {holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing}.

    ~The Solution To Sin~

    God Is Saying To Me:
    I have shown you time and time again how crafty the enemy can be. However, just know my daughter that I loved him too but he did not obey me and love me. equally. The world and followers of the world can never be triumphant over me but you and all my children can live triumphantly! I had to let Satan go but I have given you the same opportunity that he had. You are covered by the blood of my son, Jesus. Nothing can separate you from me!

    What This Means To Me:
    God gives us a solution to sin! It’s through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus that we are set free! Our battle has been won and all He wants from us is to profess that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, believe it, live it prophesy it and share it with others. That is all we have to do. He wants us to know that He has our backs! He had their backs in the book of Revelation.! He has our backs now and has us covered and protected eternally in the future with Him. God had overwhelming grace and mercy for his people in the past and for us today! I love you Father, God, Jesus and the Holy spirit. ❤️

  3. Alma on May 8, 2023 at 8:12 pm

    This week in revelation 12 I got a song
    Praise
    We praise you praise you. We are praising you our Lord, coming together to worship you singing hallelujah hallelujah we believe in you the things in the world can be hard people, accusing, or trying to change the way we are we know the truth, the way we believe in our Lord every day is he is the light the light of the of the world. He’s our strength our comfort our protector, let’s be victorious coming together to worship our Lord sharing his love with each other. We are praising you praising you praising you our Lord
    amen.

    Let’s stay focus on God. He will give us strength through all things. Always remember when we do it with God it’s always victorious.

  4. Heidi on May 9, 2023 at 10:14 am

    Revelation 12:10“ 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom (dominion, reign) of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come; for the [e]accuser of our [believing] brothers and sisters has been thrown down [at last], he who accuses them and keeps bringing charges [of sinful behavior] against them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.

    What God was saying to me Jesus came here to help you and those who want a better life. He overcame and you overcame when you gave your life to Him.
    you became a child of of mine. That is your testimony. Because you live your life with me daily there will be difficulties and challenges you will have to overcome, there will be people who accuse you before me because they don’t understand who you are and that you’re really trying to help them. I have given you my Holy Spirt to help you through whatever you’re facing!
    Sometimes when your not in your new nature you will have to overcome that attitude or whatever your facing, when you do you will have another testimony. Even to the end of your life you can be faced with something that could hurt your testimony but when you make a stand with your faith in Jesus you win! So always remember I am with you always, I am here to help you to have lots of testimonies because I love you forever and ever!

    What that means to me is Father God knows me and He loves me! Father God is right here to help me through anything I go through it’s up to me to listen and respond in the way He wants me to, when I don’t it’s up to me to work it out as He prompts me too!
    When I’m trying to help someone and they take it wrong way and they accuse me of something else I know my Father will help me through it!
    When difficulties come my way how I overcome them is knowing my Father God will help me through it so I will have a testimony! But I do have to go through them with Him, asking, listening and responding to what He tells me to do!

    Thank you Father God that I am saved, thank you Jesus for all you did, you overcame and you died for me you died for anyone who responds to You, then they become part of the family❤️
    Thank you that no matter what happens in life you are here with me to help me to overcome, and You love me and want me to succeed (overcome )and to be a light for you! Thank you that I get too!
    Love you Father Jesus and Your Holy Spirit

  5. kathy on May 9, 2023 at 4:58 pm

    This is what I got from Revelation 12. I will use signs to communicate with you. The Child being born in this chapter represents My son Jesus Christ. The dragon represents Satan. The Child will rule all nations refers to the triumphant return of Jesus. I prepared a place for the woman to go, where she would be safe. Midway through the great tribulation, a battle will take place where I deny Satan access to heaven. In this battle Satan and his angels were cast out to the earth. His angels are demonic spirits. The blood of the Lamb overcomes Satan’s accusations. Jesus already paid the penalty your sins deserved. By the blood refers to the death of Jesus. He died as a substitute for others. Jesus’s victory is your victory. Thank Me for giving you victory through your Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the cross for you is the ultimate demonstration of My love. His death makes you My property, and that should make you want to live unto Me. You are to use the blood of the Lamb in spiritual warfare. This blood is to be used for overcoming. I f you know and remember the work I have done in your life, it protects you against Satan’s deceptions. As a faithful witness, you have a testimony to share. You are to believe “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Will your physical life be the most precious thing to you, or will you find your life by losing it to Jesus? It’s time to choose.

    What this to me is I need to thank God for giving me victory through Jesus. I need to thank Jesus always for sacrificing Himself for Me. The blood of the Lamb is very powerful! I am to continue to share my testimony with others. I need to focus on finding my life by losing it to Jesus

  6. reachchurch on May 14, 2023 at 12:36 pm

    This Week in the Life: Revelation 12

    For the best experience, we suggest you listen to the first song, the message, and the second song.

    1. Sunday Worship – First Song: https://reachchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-0507-Worship1.wav
    2. Sunday Message: https://reachchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-0507-Message.wav
    3. Sunday Worship – Second Song: https://reachchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-0507-Worship2.wav

    Join the Party Line Live – Schedule: https://reachchurch.org/connect

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