The Animal of Deception

Greetings Beloved,

Welcome to Jesus to the Core Missions LLC. I am Dr. Darryl D. Thomas, and I am excited and elated that you have joined with me in this great occasion to share in the word of God. The title of this homily is called, "The Animal of Deception." Today, we live in an age of technology where information is readily available at any time. There is so much information available to us that pertain to religion, politics, music, romance, and health etc. The only problem with having access so much information is that it takes discernment to determine the truth from a lie. It is needful for us determine truth from deception. In this chapter, we will focus our attention on Revelation 12:1-10.

And it reads:

1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;

2 And she, being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

7 And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

May God add a blessing to the readers, hearers, and doers of His holy word. In this chapter, we will learn from the prominent personages found in Revelation 12:1-10. In our text the Apostle John writes of two prominent personalities. The woman in the text is a symbol for the nation of Israel. Notice how the woman wore a crown with twelve stars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The male child that the woman gave birth to symbolizes Jesus Christ the LORD. This text is a part of the apocalyptic vision that was given to the Apostle John from Jesus Christ himself when the Apostle John was exiled on the Island called Patmos. Here John shows us a picture of real persons, and the events that took place in the vision symbolize actual events that happened throughout time and in eternity.

Outside of the Woman (Israel) and the Male Child (Jesus) who was mentioned earlier, there was another personality revealed in this text. The other person revealed in this text is the great red dragon. In Revelation 12:9 of our text, we are told that the “...great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: and his angels were cast out with him.” So, here we see another personality known as the great red dragon, and John tells us that the great red dragon and his angels were cast out of heaven (see Revelation 12:9 KJV). The great red dragon’s name is Satan, who is called the Devil. It is important for us to understand the actions of Satan the great red dragon in John’s vision.

Revelation 12:3-4 tells us that the great red dragon took his tail and drew a third part of the stars from heaven, and cast them to the earth. The stars in verse 4 represent the angels of heaven similarly to how Jesus Christ explains to John in Revelation 1:20 that the stars in the vision of the first chapter or Revelation were the angels of the seven churches. The stars in the Revelation 12 vision also represent the angels that were in heaven, but Revelation 12:3-4 shows us that Satan the great red dragon drew a part of the stars of heaven with his tail casting them down to earth. Satan was able to draw a third of the angels of heaven with his tail. The tail represents deception, and this is how the devil was able to draw a third part of the angels casting them to earth.

I have a serious question for you to consider. If you ever lived in heaven, would you ever want to leave heaven to come here to earth? Most people would certainly not want to give up heaven to come to this sin-filled world. Heaven is a place that has twelve gates made of pearl. The streets are made of gold in the purest form. The kingdom of heaven has no sun, because the city is filled with the light of the Lamb of God who is the Son of God Jesus Christ. Ezekiel 28: 13-18 teaches us that the great red dragon, the devil, was a cherub who was tasked with covering the throne of God with his wings. As a cherub, the devil was very beautiful and full of wisdom, but iniquity was found in him. The devil corrupted the wisdom that was inside of him, and that is why Ezekiel 28:16 says he was cast out of the mountain of God. He was cast out, because he no longer wanted to serve God. He wanted to sit on the throne of God rather than cover the throne with his wings. This is also how the great red dragon was able to draw with his tail. He was full of corrupted wisdom, and he was able to deceive a third of heaven’s angels into believing and following him.

Since the third of the angels followed Satan, they were cast out of heaven as well. In Revelation 12:7:8, the bible says there was a war in heaven, and there was no more place for the devil and his angels in heaven. Satan deceived a third of the angels so greatly that they were willing to fight against the armies of God. Now that we know who the great red dragon is and what he has done, why do we as humans believe that we cannot also be deceived by the devil? There is a way to ensure that we are not led astray like those angels were. The only way we are going to be able to stand against the deception of the devil is if we are filled with the word of God and the Spirit of God. In the sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians, the bible tells us that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit. So, God gives us His word to fight with. God also gives us his Spirit who teaches us how to live as a saint and a warrior for God (see John 14: 26). However, we must never allow pride to puff us up thinking that we cannot be tempted with the deception of the devil. For, if he tempted angels to give up perfect peace in heaven, we are mortal beings who should be humble enough to seek the refuge we have in Jesus Christ, his words, and his Spirit.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, men all over the world have been asking all kinds of questions. They wonder, “Where did the pandemic and the plague come from?” My response is to search the scripture for the truth. King Solomon was a great sage in his day. In Proverbs 3:5-6, Solomon says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” The bible tells us who calls for famines in the earth (see 2 Kings 8:1). There have also been questions about whether or not men should receive the Covid 19 vaccination. My response is to consider the scripture. Revelation 13 and Revelation 14 speak of the Beast that should come in to the world. Revelation 13:16-17 speaks of the beast when it says, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

There are correlations between what we see today and what is written. Here in America, prisoners have been vaccinated. Free people are being vaccinated. Young people and old people are being vaccinated. Soon, the babies will be vaccinated. This is occurring all over the world just as it is written. Also, there are certain countries that will not allow people to go to the hospital, the store, and different places unless they are vaccinated. As believers in Jesus Christ, we must always consider scripture first before anything or anyone else. Politicians, doctors, and professors cannot tell humans what is best for us nor do they understand the spiritual repercussions that follow man’s rejection of God. Only the One who created humans knows what is best for us, and He is what is best for us.

The last lesson we should learn from the text is that the great red dragon’s agenda was to devour and kill the baby Jesus as soon as he was born. King Herod heard that the Messiah should be born in Bethlehem. So, the devil caused him to kill all of the male children that were two years old and younger in his attempt to kill Jesus the Messiah. However, God hid the baby and his parents hidden in Egypt. That baby was Jesus Christ, and he did eventually die on the cross to save mankind from their sins, and he rose with all power in His hands (see John 3:16 KJV). He rose from the dead to give us power to become the sons of God (see John 1:12 KJV). The great red dragon’s sole desire is to cut mankind off from the salvation given to us from Jesus Christ. Jesus’s name in the Hebrew tongue means “God is salvation.” In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet Isaiah said that Jesus would also be called Immanuel. Immanuel means “God with us.” Jesus was God with us, and he is still with us. His Spirit lives with us, and if we ask He will dwell in us, giving us the power to become the sons of God. Let us pray,

Heavenly Father,

Forgive us for our sins. We will not lean on our own understanding, but we will acknowledge you in all our ways. We accept Jesus Christ as our LORD, Savior, and Master of our lives. We will consider You and your word before we make any decisions in life, because we love you and praise you forever. In Jesus Christ mighty name, Amen