The introduction


That introduction shows 1844 was a decisive year.

God was raising up a movement to give the three angels Message.

BUT the dragon was also busy raising up movements to counter the Three Angels Message.

The book of Revelation chapters 10 and 11 reveals quite a bit of information from an inspired source as to what was going on in the years just prior to, including and following 1844.

What the introduction of our new lessons points out, was already predicted in Revelation chapter 10 and 11.

In chapter 11 of Revelation we have the rise of the atheistic movement, throwing off the perceived restraints of God and the Bible.
See Rev.11:3, Rev.11:7-11

We understand the two witnesses are the old and new testament. The Bible was suppressed during the 1260 years (42 prophetic months) 538-1798, when the papal church held control of the religious worship of the European nations.

When this time period was coming to an end, a "beast from the bottomless pit" manifests itself, (Rev.11:7) whose aim is to rid the world of the Bible and God, of priests and kings, and promote worship of only human reason.
For an inspired commentary on this read Great Controversy pages 268-269, 273, 285-286. Or read the whole chapter. Indeed it was a reaction against established religion and its wrong picture of God, which reached its most horrific result in the country that earlier had engaged in fierce persecution against people who upheld the Bible instead of complying with the recognized church.

Remember this whole thing relates to the battle that was started by the fallen angel (the dragon) in heaven (Rev. 12:7-9) whose whole aim was to relieve angels and now human beings of the restraints of God's law. (Rev.12:17)
People are the prize being fought over.
God is also working to draw people to Himself, to give them life and light and to show them His law is the true way to liberty and equality.

In chapter 10 of Revelation we see another movement raising.
So in Revelation chapters 10 and 11 we see the rise of two movements.

Revelation ten is about God working to establish the people who will give the three angel's message.



There were serious Bible student, searching for truth.
They take the "opened book" (Rev. 10:8) and start studying the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. They find the 2300 day prophecy,(Daniel 8:14) but misunderstand what the cleansing of the sanctuary means, and believe it means Jesus would come at the end of that time period.
(Rev. 10:9-10) How sweet the message tasted, but the disappointment was very bitter.
They were given more light and told they had a mission to share the message of prophecy again. (Rev. 10:11) Thus the three angels' message was to go out to the world.

Both sides had their message.
1844 was indeed a decisive time in history.

One side has the message -- Worship and give glory to Him that Created everything. (Rev. 14:7)
The other side has the message -- There was no creation, it's evolution, God, if He exists at all, isn't that particular, His law isn't binding, human reason and wisdom is master.

The three angel's message is urgent! We are the prize and the stakes are extremely high as to which side we are on, and who we chose to serve. There is no middle ground.

Memory Text: "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17, NKJV).

"The theme of the Bible?s last book, Revelation, is this: Jesus Wins, Satan Loses. The heart of this battle is outlined in Revelation 12:1-17"

There are only two sides.
Those who make the dragon their master and work to establish his kingdom.
Those who make Jesus their master and co-operate with Him to establish His kingdom in both their lives and promote His kingdom.

Revelation 17:14 These (the dragon's enlisted forces) shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

The big question is this:
Do we want Jesus to win?
Sure, we want a life without death, or pain. We want that mansion He's gone to prepare, but do we also want Him, His righteousness, His sinlessness?
Would we be happy to live forever in a future sinless world?

Would we be happy to join the society of sinless angels, and to live in an atmosphere where there is not the least taint of sin. Do we now seek purity; knowing that no cherished impurities or sins will abide the searching test of the day of God, and be received into a pure and holy heaven.

While we can never earn salvation, yet those who cherish their seemingly little sins, would never be happy in heaven. That's why we need to surrender and repent of all our sins now!

Those who win with the Lamb are the called, chosen and faithful.
Whosoever (the invitation goes out to all), is called.
Those who respond are chosen to represent Christ.
BUT only those who are faithful will win with Christ.

Revelation 12: 7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:

12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
12:9 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.

This battle actually has two phases, verses 7 and 4 describe the beginning of the battle in heaven, before creation. One third of the heavenly angels were influenced by the dragon (a high ranking beautiful angel) insinuating that God's laws were too restrictive, and God wasn't fair with them. He wanted to be equal with God! (See Isaiah 14:13-14)

This brought doubts into heaven. Even though Satan and one third of the angels were cast out, the questions he planted into the minds of angels didn't totally go away.
We see in the book of Job, that Satan still had access to the councils of heaven where he would appear to flaunt his victory over people, and continue his accusations against God's justice.

But at the cross, that changed. All doubts lingering in unfallen minds were completely and eternally erased. The horrific evidence was that Satan would stoop to torture and kill his Creator. No longer did he have access to heaven.

Jesus declared in John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.

Revelation 12:10 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.
At the cross, Satan was defeated. Salvation was available for all who accepted Christ and the cleansing blood of justification.


Angels were fully convinced that setting aside God's law ended in terrible degradation for the ones doing so. But not yet mankind, they are not yet convinced that setting aside God's law and following after their own desires has terrible natural results. They still tended to believe Satan's lies that God's laws restricted their pursuit for happiness and success.

Not till all are fully convinced that sin is the enemy to happiness, peace, goodness and life, will God permanently blot out all sin from the universe.

The lesson states:

Yes, the dragon was very determined to destroy Christ. He knew Christ had come to reclaim for the human race the dominion he (satan) claimed as his territory, wrested from Adam when his sophistry caused Adam to sin. With fiendish energy he sought to make Christ sin, knowing if he could get Christ to sin, that would make Jesus subject to him, and earth with its inhabitants would be under his (satan's) control forever.

Yes! Christ defeated Satan's attempts every time. Not even once, did sin mar His record. He lived a perfect, human life, by the power from His Father, not by His own human strength.

"In His death on the cross, He revealed the magnitude of His love and delivered us from the penalty of sin?s condemnation. In His resurrection, as our living High Priest, He delivers us from the power of sin in our lives." (From Lesson)

His sacrifice on the cross is all sufficient to forgive every and all sin for every person on earth.
But not all are forgiven, not even everyone who professes to be a Christian. Why?

Don't they want to give up certain sins?
Part of the three angel's message is to rid ourselves of sin, for those who are living in sin have some pretty awful things declared for their future. It is urgent for us to send our sins before hand to judgment to be covered by the blood of the Lamb, and by God's grace to walk in newness of life.
How can we do this?

We must come to Christ and He will give us the spirit of repentance. For repentance is a prerequisite for forgiveness.

Matt. 4:17 Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Luke 13:3 I tell you, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.
Romans 2:4 Don't despise his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance?

When we accept by faith what Christ has done for us, it leads us to repentance, and a turning from sin.

"When we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

We don't want to hold on to any sins, for if left unrepented of, and unconfessed, they will rise to stand against us.
But if they are confessed in repentance and our lives placed into the hands of our Savior, and we are walking with Him, they will not stand against us, for they are forgiven, and Christ will present us before the Father in His perfect righteousness.

There is no such thing as once saved always saved in our earthly journey. But as long as we place our faith in Jesus, in humble repentance place our lives in His hands, we can have the assurance of salvation, for "He is able to save to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

It's His work in us. He leads to repentance. It's His forgiveness and cleansing power. But the choice is still ours. When we chose Him, we can fully trust in His promises and live for Him with courage and conviction.

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him (the dragon and his temptations) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Since in this weeks lesson we are spending a lot of time in Revelation 12, we need to explore the meaning of the symbols.


12:1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman
Compare with Genesis 3:15 to the woman was promised a Seed or offspring.
Jeremiah 6:2 Zion is compared to a delicate and comely woman
Ephesians 5:25 The wife is likened to the church.
We also find when God's people are unfaithful they are likened to a whore or unfaithful wife.
So here we find the woman represents the church or Zion.

clothed with the sun, representing the robe of righteousness (Rev. 19:7-8)
and the moon under her feet, the promises in all the reflecting symbolism of God's redemption in the old testament
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 12 apostles leading the church (Rev 1:20)
12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. The promised Messiah (Gen.3:15, Isaiah 9:6, Dan. 9:25)

12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon,that old serpent called the devil and satan (Rev. 12:9)
having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. satan works through human authorities, powers and kingdoms.
12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
Before creation he had already rebelled against God and influences a third of the heavenly angels to rebel with him.
and did cast them to the earth: Since they were no longer dwelling in heaven, they set up here on earth, where that old serpent, the devil, set up residence in the tree of knowledge of good and evil and drew Eve and Adam to rebel against God, and surrender the dominion of the earth to him (satan).

and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. Satan would not give up his kingdom without a desperate fight, to the extent he would kill his Creator the Lord of the universe. Jesus was coming to reclaim the lost dominion for mankind, and redeem humans from the grip of sin. Satan was ready with full ammunition to destroy the whole plan of salvation, and destroy God Himself if possible.

12:5 And she brought forth a man child, (Jesus) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: Jesus would win, His rule and power is strong, unbreakable like iron. He is the corner stone, the firm foundation, if we come to Him in repentance and faith He will break away our sinfulness from us and make us fit for His kingdom: but if that rock falls on unrepentant sinners, it will grind them to pieces, just like a rod of iron can shatter a clay pot to pieces. (See Luke 20:17-18, Psalms 2:9)

and child was caught up unto God, and his throne.
After successfully resisting all Satan's assaults and gaining the victory over sin, death and the grave, Jesus returned to heaven and sat down on the right hand of His Father's throne.. (Hebrews 12:2)


12:6 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.
Satan now turns his wrath on Christ's church. But God provides her with the necessities.

12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, This war started before Creation, but now, in 31 A.D. some very important things happen!!!. The final throwing out of the last traces of sympathy in heavenly minds takes place
12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
12:9 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. Satan's fiendish efforts to destroy Christ, though for a moment as Jesus hung on the cross, it looked like satan was winning, but in actuality this act meant Satan was fully defeated, the war is won, salvation is fully ratified by Christ's death. Satan no longer has access to heavenly council meetings (as he did in Job chapter one)

12:10 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.
Heaven is rejoicing over the victory! We too, can rejoice, the door to heaven and eternal life with our Savior, is thrown open for all who accept Christ and His gift of salvation, and opening the doors of their hearts to invite Him in, to take control of their lives.

But though the war is won, the battle is still raging.

Symbols of Revelation 12 Continued.

Though Satan is now defeated, he is more determined than ever to assert his reign and destroy any evidence of Christ's victory, thus robbing Christ of the people He had come to save.
He persecuted the woman (the church of Christ)

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb Satan seeks to discourage them accusing them, "you sinned, in fact you committed some pretty bad sins, there's no way you will ever go to heaven, give up and come enjoy the sensual pleasures of life, you're lost anyway, God could never love or save you."
BUT the followers of Jesus will point to the blood of the Lamb which provides full and complete pardon for all their confessed sins. They fully trust in God that they are forgiven, for God is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if we bring them to Him in repentance and confession. (1 John 1:9)
We can only overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, for we have all sinned. It's only the blood of the Lamb that can completely remove that sin from our record.

They overcome him by the word of their testimony; our testimony for Christ, when we declare our faith in Christ and His salvation, not only plants seeds of truth, it also strengthens our faith. Romans 10:9 tells us that we need to tell others what Christ has done for us "with your mouth confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him to life, and you will be saved."

and they loved not their lives unto the death. Believe Rev. 2:10-11, and be faithful unto death, Christ will give you a crown of life and you will not suffer the second death. It is this faith that allows people to chose death rather than deny their Lord.

12:12 Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. The wonderful news of the gospel is great cause for rejoicing, but it won't be an easy road, there's a very angry enemy whose going to work very hard to wean you away from Christ and then devour you.

12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man Child His forceful wrath is predicted in other passages like Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. The 1260 prophetic years are mentioned several times in prophecy, (Daniel 7 and 12, Rev. 11, 12, 13 )representing a time when people were not free to worship God according to their belief in the scripture. Many hid in mountain communities because it was not safe to live in a society which was not tolerant of gospel message. They depended upon God to take care of them. The 1260 years are generally understood to be from 538 - 1798 AD.

12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. When armies sweep away cities or kingdoms it is often referred to as being "like a flood". ( Jer. 46:7,8 ; 47:2 :Daniel 11:22) So too, during the 1260 years whole armies were sent out to exterminate those who did not believe like the established church.

12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. In revelation 13:11 we read of a beast with lamb like horns rising out of the earth. Earth representing a land with fewer people and without all the built up cities. Thus here, is generally referred to as America.
People found refuge from persecution by immigrating to America, the "land of the free".

12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, The dragon hasn't changed, he's as wrathful as ever, but where is the woman? She was still mentioned in the previous verse, but now we just have a remnant (a piece) of her offspring. The next verse tells us this remnant has two characteristics that make the dragon very angry. Could it be the woman herself no longer supports these characteristics?

which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The commandments of God seem to play a huge role in these last days.
Here Satan's wrath is primarily directed against people who keep the commandments.
Then in Revelation 14 we find the "saints" identified as "they that keep the commandments of God".

How does the "woman"-- the main body of Protestantism, regard the ten commands? There is a varied response, some still see them as God's standard, and want them in schools and court houses, etc. but mostly there is a strong movement to take them away. In Protestantism itself, the downplay of the commands had its roots in the Sabbath commandment. When that was brought to a larger attention, we soon heard that the commandments are nailed to the cross and they (especially the fourth) are nailed to the cross and no longer binding.
The backlash in this split loyalty among Protestantism is to reaffirmation that Sunday can be placed in the spot for the 7th day. But that's replacing part of God's law, not keeping it.

Is there a remnant who still, by God's grace, love and power, keep all ten?

Have the testimony of Jesus
Rev. 19:10 The testimony of Jesus, is the spirit of prophecy.
Prophecy is Jesus' testimony concerning His work and dealings throughout history and into the future to save and redeem mankind amid great opposition. Prophecy is about Jesus.

But where is the remnant of the woman with the prophetic gift that gives a correct understanding of prophecy.
Protestant America seems to be called the "false prophet" in the Bible. So it would seem the main line of prophetic interpretation may be false. Protestant America seems to have a lot of so called prophets these days. There are books of failed prophecies, and still more coming out, from numerous charismatic type of people called prophets.

Is there a remnant somewhere with a consistent line of Prophecy that agrees with the bible? Which also keeps, by God's grace and love, his ten commandments?

The Earth (the nation of America) helped the woman escape from the persecutions that sought to bend the conscience of the multitudes into one mold.
The control and ruthless persecutions created a Dark Age of evil.

The pilgrims took enormous risks to find freedom in the New World. Yet, though they wanted religious freedom, they didn't fully understand the value of religious freedom either and sought to control all their communities to worship the same. The Reformers didn't really understand it either, though they threw off the restraints of the papacy, no sooner were they the majority and they began to practice persecution. The concept that all in a society must believe the same was deeply engrained in their thinking.

The Earth helped the woman. Though it took a little while, America formed a nation that offered religious freedom. A precious freedom !!!

But sadly the prophecy doesn't end there. The nation that rises from the EARTH, and helped the woman, is letting its freedoms erode. Revelation 13:11-12 tells us this nation will allow the dragon to take over and they will enforce all the restrictions and persecutions of the dark ages.
The last verses of Revelation 12 tells us the dragon will make war with the remnant of the woman's children.

What has happened in the last two years was only a test run. Our freedoms, that we took for granted for so long, are being attacked, and will vanish.

We need to remember -- when the time comes to again flee into the wilderness , that God nourishes His people there. All who endure to the end shall be saved and given eternal life.

Read for This Week's Study: Matt. 24:14, Rev. 14:14-20, Matt. 16:27, Acts 1:9-11, Mark 4:26-29, Rev. 16:1.

Memory Text: Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. (Revelation 14:14, 15, NKJV).


There will come a day when every human being on planet Earth will have made their final, irrevocable decision, either for or against Jesus.

There are only two basic decisions a person can make, all other decisions fall into one or the other side.

Life is like two roads, one is wide and filled with many alternative options and the multitudes are walking that road but the end of it is destruction.

The other road is narrow and not popular, it's filled with obstacles placed there by an enemy to trip the travelers and cast them down. But there is One Who walks beside the travelers and if they cling to Him they will reach a glorious eternal future with Him.

Rev. 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp

Mark 14:62 Jesus said, ? you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.

Matthew 25:31 ?When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

The Son of God is the Son of Man.

When "Son of Man" is used as a title it refers to the humanity of Jesus Christ and "Son of God" refers to the full Deity of Christ.

Jesus is the sinless Son of God, "Who, being in the form of God, it was not robbery for Him to be equal with God: But He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men"(Phil 2:6,7)

He became the second Adam who came to redeem His human family from their sin.
The first Adam sinned and lost his dominion of the earth to Satan. Sin and suffering came as a result.
The second Adam, though bearing the physical and mental weakness of fallen mankind, did not sin, but lived a perfect human life!
He became our brother, took our sins and died, He won back mankind's lost dominion. He conquered sin and the grave.
He is our brother, His human linage traces back through David, Abraham, Noah, back to Adam.

And He is coming back to claim His family. All whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.