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Friday, May 25, 2018

Satan Will Be Cast Down - Part 2

We're considering the casting out of Satan from heaven in Revelation 12. We looked at the pre-trib position that this is John (author of the book) seeing a PAST event. We showed that the context reveals it is yet future and deals, not directly with Christ, but with Israel.

I wanted to address the Lord's reference in the Book of Luke to seeing Satan cast down. I wanted to look at it in context of Revelation 12 (comparing scripture with scripture).

"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
-Luke 10:18

It seems like an odd statement in context.

"But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
-Luke 10:12-15

The Lord had sent out the "seventy" to preach the kingdom of God (10:1,9). Luke reflects the Acts age (he is the author of the Acts of the Apostle). We do not see the seventy in Matthew. We see the twelve sent to Israel alone. The seventy go to ("as well as the twelve") Jews living outside the land, among the nations (as Paul did in the Acts age; cp Rev 7:9).

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
-Luke 10:19-20

This looks forward to the Revelation.

This chapter then gives us the Parable of Good Samaritan. The parable is in response to the question, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" We see a Jew assaulted. "Religious" Jews" avoid helping him, placing the law above its intent and its greatest commandments. However, a hated Samaritan tends to the Jew, sees that he is cared for, fed, housed and protected.

As we will see when we get to the Parable of Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25, the nations (the seventy) shall be judged as to how they treated the Jews (the Lord's "brethren") during the Tribulation.

We'll leave that there and get back to 10:18.

The context surrounding the Lord's statement that he sees Satan cast out fits the Revelation 12 narrative. It is a future prophesy as are the judgments to which he refers in Luke 10.

So, the oddity of the statement goes away when we look to Israel's future in the Revelation. Luke is reflecting Paul's Acts-age ministry "to the Jew first" and the "Hope of Israel" (the coming kingdom).

The hope of the Body is in "heavenly places" (Eph). We are at war with the principalities and powers there and look forward to Satan and his minions cast out.

Another thought from Rev 12. We do see the Lord Jesus there (past), but we are the taken to the future tribulation and Israel's future protection in Petra:

"She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days [3.5 years, "time, times and half a time"].
-Rev 12:5-6

Ezekiel 20:33-38 should be read here. The Lord meets Israel in the wilderness (where he provides for them as he did their fathers) and it is there the sorting takes place before the kingdom is established in the land.

"I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord"
-Ezek 20:38

We then look back at the warning in Matthew 24:

"Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), then those who are in
Judea must flee to the mountains..."
-Matthew 24:15-16

Edom/Petra (in Jordan) is emptied, but spared. Israel will flee there (Daniel 11:41). There God will provide and protect and judge (as we have seen). Petra is connected to Mount Seir. When armies surround Israel, they will flee to the mountains (Luke 21:20-21).

[This is all in pencil. This is speculative Michael Scotto interpretation... I'm not absolutely certain about Petra... you were warned!]