The Bible Instructor: The Church and the Dragon

Welcome to The Bible Instructor Study # 9. This is the ninth study in a series of presentations designed to reveal how God will purify the SDA church and empower it for the finishing of the Gospel work in all the world.

Overview of the Struggle

This study shows the struggle between God’s ever living church and Satan, primarily in the New Testament dispensation. It focuses on Satan’s failures, notwithstanding his apparent successes, to destroy the church and climaxes in his efforts to flood the church with unconverted people and the Lord’s intervention in purifying the church by removing the unconverted.

Satan’s Masterpiece of Evil

According to the SDA Bible Commentary Vol.7 p. 974, “Satan’s Masterpiece of Evil.–Those who love and keep the commandments of God are most obnoxious to the synagogue of Satan, and the powers of evil will manifest their hatred toward them to the fullest extent possible.” John foresaw the conflict between the remnant church and the power of evil, and said, “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Warring against the Woman’s Remnant

The conflict is further detailed in Revelation 12: 17: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Key aspects of this prophetic conflict include:

  • The 144,000: The Dragon is wroth with the Woman, the 144,000, who remain after the destruction of his flood, but he cannot harm them because they are sealed.
  • The Great Multitude: Thus he wars against the “remnant of her seed” the Great Multitude, those still in Babylon (Rev. 18:4).
  • The Time of Trouble: This brings the “time of trouble such as never was” Dan. 12:1, the mark of the beast decree (Rev. 13: 15-17).

A Call to Action

Now is the time for all to decide either to be swallowed up by the earth — cast into the fire — or to be delivered by Michael, our Prince. Let us therefore choose deliverance rather than defeat. “O love the Lord, all ye His saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.” Psa. 31:23.