Revelation 12: 10-17- Tempation of the Church

Read Revelation 12:10-17-

We live in times filled with high temptation.  God has said He will be with us through those temptation just as He was with Jesus in the wilderness when Satan tempted Him.  We do not have to leave our homes without temptation being there in our faces. No one is immune from temptation as we have learned but the church as a whole is being tempted. Church leaders are being tempted to spend time trying to decide what they think the scriptures say rather than asking themselves what was Jesus saying in the scriptures.  What was God saying in the scriptures? It is not so much what we think but what was God or Jesus thinking.

The church is being attacked today somewhat as it is described in these verses in Revelation. We have the sins of church leaders on display. The motivation is not to discredit a leader as much as it is a way to discredit the church as a whole in the eyes of non-believers. That is Satan’s greatest move.

In this passage however, we see Satan’s plans spoiled. In verses 16 and 17, “But the earth helped the woman (the church) by opening its mouth and swallowing the river (from Satan) that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.  Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring (Christians, those who believe in Jesus Christ), those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”

We have to accept we are in a battle and sometimes that battle is seen in great temptation to us. Again, we lean on God for strength and understanding to see us through as the church must do and not lean on some “new revelation” that is contrary to the whole of God’s message to us. 

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