Follow the Lamb
“The Dream of Joseph – The Revelation of Jesus”
Genesis 37 – Revelation 12
The main purpose of the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ as the God-sent Savior of lost mankind. (John 3:16)
- This should be the “life-purpose” for every God-called Preacher – 2 Corinthians 4:5
- This should be the “life-theme” of every sermon – 1 Corinthians 2:2
- This should be the “life-message” of every true, born-again believer in Jesus Christ – to know Him, and to make Him known.
To preach Christ with our lives and our lips, we must learn Christ with our minds and know Christ with all our hearts!
- To preach Christ fully we must know Him fully.
- To know Christ “slightly” is to be sanctified “slightly”, and that is not what Christ expects from those He has saved by the shedding of His blood.
To know Christ in His fullness, we must consider the knowledge of everything else as “dung”; mental waste, compared to the excellence of knowing Christ. We must know Christ:
- Personally – as our own Savior. (Romans 10:9-10)
- Historically – as the God-sent Savior. (Luke 24)
- Prophetically – as the long-expected Savior (Acts 18:28)
- Eschatologically – as the Savior to soon come again. (John 14:3)
The goal of this sermon series is to expose the truth of the Word of God to you – to proclaim it in the power of the Holy Spirit! You must ask the Holy Spirit to remove the veil from your understanding, so you can accept these truths, not as religious information to be considered, but as God’s divine revelation to be received, believed and obeyed!
- In his book, Gleanings from Genesis, Arthur Pink said there are more than 100 parallels between Joseph and Jesus.
- In Genesis 37:9 Joseph said, “Behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me”
- Joseph’s brothers became angry with him because of his dreams of grander!
- Joseph’s father, Jacob, “observed the saying” – not that he understood it, but he trusted Joseph and considered that it might be true!
- What Joseph saw in his dream was the same as John saw in his revelation of Jesus Christ!
- What Joseph dreamed was not about himself, or others bowing down to him, but about a “child” who would one day rule the nations of the world with a rod of iron, referring to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who will soon come as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
1. The Woman – Revelation 12:1-6 – “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven!”
- The woman – represents Israel as a people
- The man-child – represents Jesus Christ – Messiah
- The dragon – represents Satan – God’s archenemy
- Seven horns and seven crowns – symbols of human beings who are in high positions of authority – he is the “prince of the power of the air – the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience.” (Eph. 2:2)
- Isaiah 14:12-14 describes how Satan, who was called Lucifer – the star of the morning – was cast out of the third heaven for his rebellion, and he took 1/3 of the angels with him.
- Since that day, Satan’s main priority has been:
- The elimination of Jesus Christ – that “seed” that would crush his head.
- The eradication of the Jews – who remind him of God’s eternal purpose in creating the heavens and the earth.
- The unification of the world – under a single government – ruler or head.
- The adoration of the world – that he would be worshipped as being equal with God.
- His last effort will begin midway of the Great Tribulation when the Antichrist breaks his covenant with the Jews and begins the worst anti-Semitic persecution the world has ever known.
- But the Jews will flee to Petra, where God has prepared for their safety for 1,260 days.
- The time between the events of Revelation 12:5 and the events of Revelation 12:6 is known as the “gap” – where 2000+ years of the church age and the events of Daniel 9:24-27 occur.
2. The War – Revelation 12:7-12 – “And there was war in heaven.”
John lists two reasons why there is war in heaven:
- To cast Satan out of heaven – Verse 7 –
- He had already been cast out of the third heaven into the “air” – the spirit-world. In this war he is cast out of the “air.
- To cast Satan down to earth – Verse 9 –
- After the Tribulation he will cast into the bottomless pit – the abyss – Rev. 20:3
- After the millennium he will be cast into the lack of fire and brimstone – Rev. 20:10
- After the brief war, John heard two proclamations:
- One in heaven – rejoicing over the devil’s defeat!
- One on earth – sighing over the devil’s final fury
3. The Woe – Revelation 12:13-17 – “And the dragon…went to make war with the remnant of her seed.”
Even though the “woman” will be victorious in war, it will not be without sorrow and suffering and death.
- Two-thirds of the Jews alive at mid-way of the Tribulation will be killed – even many believers!
- Three factors regarding the fierceness of this final war.
- The time factor – during the last 42 months, Satan himself will supervise the bloodbath against the Jews.
- The tribulation factor – Israel will be hated by her enemies, hidden by God and helped by other people on the earth who know her plight.
- The Triumph factor – Satan cannot win – even his persecution will drive many of the Jews to embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
