Bible Passage Scripture Block

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!

I [John] heard a loud voice from heaven saying that four things (salvation, power, kingdom of God, and authority of His Christ) had all come as a result of the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before God, being thrown down. These brethren conquered the accuser by the blood of Christ and the word of their testimony, loving Him more than their physical lives even to the point of death. So those dwelling in the heavens have cause to rejoice. But those dwelling in the earth and sea should beware Satan and his wrath since he knows his time is measured.

The book of Revelation is what John saw and was told to write down (1:1-2). Using “in the Spirit” as a structural marker, the book can be sectioned into four visions in particular:

• Vision One (1:9-3:22) – Jesus speaking to the seven churches
• Vision Two (4:1-16:21) – Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls of wrath; “one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls” introduces the last two (and therefore possibly connected):
  • Vision Three (17:1-21:8) – Babylon the Harlot
  • Vision Four (21:9-22:5) – Jerusalem the Bride

The scene in chapter twelve shifts to that of a woman, a child, a dragon, and eventually a beast (chapter 13). John sees in heaven:

• a woman giving birth (vs 2) to a son,
• a red dragon (vs 3) wanting to devour the child,
• the child taken to heaven to his throne (vs 5),
• the woman fleeing into the wilderness to a place that is prepared by God and where she will be nourished (vs 6).

Unsuccessful at destroying the son, the dragon (identified as Satan in vs 9) is thrown to earth where he seeks to destroy the woman (vs 13). Still unsuccessful, he seeks to destroy (“make war”) with her offspring, or “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (vs 17).