This is one of my favorite chapters in all of the scriptures.
It begins with the great wonder in heaven. The Doctrine and Covenants in several places, and in Isaiah and other places throughout the scriptures, refers to the "marvelous work and wonder" that will take place shortly before the coming of the Lord. This marvelous work and wonder is the restoration of the Gospel and the establishment for the last time on the earth of the Lord's Kingdom. Thus, the woman who is the great wonder in heaven, is the Church and Kingdom of God on the earth. It says that she is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, having a crown of twelve stars... Twelve, the number, is a symbol of power and authority, meaning the priesthood.
It is interesting that she is a woman.
She has a child, whom the great red dragon wishes to destroy. That child is Christ. This child rules the nations with a rod of iron - see 1 Nephi 11 for the meaning of the rod of iron (the word of God).
This red dragon is a powerful creature. He (gender specific pronoun is used here in the text) has seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. His tail draws out a third part of the stars of heaven. This is the third part of the people who chose to follow Satan.
Then it mentions a war. The war begins in heaven, but is continued here on the earth.
The past 100 years in the world's history has seen many, many wars. Not only the large, international struggles, but there have also been many internal struggles in which many have been killed. Russia, China, etc., have seen mass murders and extinctions of millions upon millions of people. There is a blood lust that has permeated our world and fills everything with violence. We even have video games that glorify the wanton destruction and moral depravity the likes of which the world has never seen before. It is shocking and repulsive, soul-numbing and reprehensible. Yet we have this in our living rooms for our children to enjoy.
The enemy is not in a far off country. The enemy is in our very homes.
So how do we overcome?
Starting in verse seven, we read of how Michael (Hebrew name meaning "like unto God") and his angels fought against the dragon. This dragon is called by several names - the old serpent, the Devil, Satan, the deceiver, and the accuser. This last one is particularly interesting to me. What are we accused of? My thought is that we are accused of not loving our fellow brothers and sisters, in the light of knowing that they may come to earth and fail to return to their previous glory. The accusation seems effective, at least in part.
Verse eight is encouraging. The dragon will not prevail. There is a way to cast Satan out of our lives and into the place prepared for him.
Skipping a bit to verse eleven, we see how we can overcome (looking at the Joseph Smith Translation):
11 For they have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; for they loved not their own lives, but kept the testimony even unto death. Therefore, rejoice O heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
We had faith in Christ before we came here. We had to. We were not given to know how the plan would work, if it would work at all. We were told that we would come here to earth and live and suffer and have joy and learn and grow and progress and die. We knew we would all sin and come short of what we needed to do, what we were commanded to do, and what we feel prompted to do. We would be lonely, sad, disappointed, and we would feel very distant from our Heavenly Father and His Holy Home. Yet, we had confidence in the plan, in our Elder Brother, that things would work out for us in the end. We had faith that the atoning sacrifice He would make for us would allow us to repent and come back into the presence of our Heavenly Father - clean, pure, and unashamed. And we knew that the love Christ had for us was sufficient. We knew that because we were with Him. We stood shoulder to shoulder against Satan in the great war in heaven, bearing testimony of the plan and according to our faith.
My feeling is that the tactics employed by Satan in this great battle was not a large-scale offensive. Rather, I believe that it was a one-on-one thing, where Satan and his minions came to us each individually, sneakily and subtly, trying to cheat our souls and make us follow him. We did not choose to follow him. We had faith in our Savior. And that proved powerful enough to overcome all of the tricks and sneakiness of the adversary.
The chapter then finishes out to say that because he did not prevail, nor can he or will he prevail, Satan sets his wrath loose upon us. The last verse indicates why it is that he's so upset with us:
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.
I know with all my heart and soul that we have power over Satan and his forces. We are strong, powerful people with great ability. It is our faith and our testimonies that are so enabling. In spite of our weakness, in spite of our trials, in spite of the world and its reverses - we ARE powerful people! We will overcome! We have Christ on our side, and He is mighty to save. Our testimony is in Him, and our allegiance is to Him. Our Master, our Friend, our King!
It begins with the great wonder in heaven. The Doctrine and Covenants in several places, and in Isaiah and other places throughout the scriptures, refers to the "marvelous work and wonder" that will take place shortly before the coming of the Lord. This marvelous work and wonder is the restoration of the Gospel and the establishment for the last time on the earth of the Lord's Kingdom. Thus, the woman who is the great wonder in heaven, is the Church and Kingdom of God on the earth. It says that she is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, having a crown of twelve stars... Twelve, the number, is a symbol of power and authority, meaning the priesthood.
It is interesting that she is a woman.
She has a child, whom the great red dragon wishes to destroy. That child is Christ. This child rules the nations with a rod of iron - see 1 Nephi 11 for the meaning of the rod of iron (the word of God).
This red dragon is a powerful creature. He (gender specific pronoun is used here in the text) has seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. His tail draws out a third part of the stars of heaven. This is the third part of the people who chose to follow Satan.
Then it mentions a war. The war begins in heaven, but is continued here on the earth.
The past 100 years in the world's history has seen many, many wars. Not only the large, international struggles, but there have also been many internal struggles in which many have been killed. Russia, China, etc., have seen mass murders and extinctions of millions upon millions of people. There is a blood lust that has permeated our world and fills everything with violence. We even have video games that glorify the wanton destruction and moral depravity the likes of which the world has never seen before. It is shocking and repulsive, soul-numbing and reprehensible. Yet we have this in our living rooms for our children to enjoy.
The enemy is not in a far off country. The enemy is in our very homes.
So how do we overcome?
Starting in verse seven, we read of how Michael (Hebrew name meaning "like unto God") and his angels fought against the dragon. This dragon is called by several names - the old serpent, the Devil, Satan, the deceiver, and the accuser. This last one is particularly interesting to me. What are we accused of? My thought is that we are accused of not loving our fellow brothers and sisters, in the light of knowing that they may come to earth and fail to return to their previous glory. The accusation seems effective, at least in part.
Verse eight is encouraging. The dragon will not prevail. There is a way to cast Satan out of our lives and into the place prepared for him.
Skipping a bit to verse eleven, we see how we can overcome (looking at the Joseph Smith Translation):
11 For they have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; for they loved not their own lives, but kept the testimony even unto death. Therefore, rejoice O heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
We had faith in Christ before we came here. We had to. We were not given to know how the plan would work, if it would work at all. We were told that we would come here to earth and live and suffer and have joy and learn and grow and progress and die. We knew we would all sin and come short of what we needed to do, what we were commanded to do, and what we feel prompted to do. We would be lonely, sad, disappointed, and we would feel very distant from our Heavenly Father and His Holy Home. Yet, we had confidence in the plan, in our Elder Brother, that things would work out for us in the end. We had faith that the atoning sacrifice He would make for us would allow us to repent and come back into the presence of our Heavenly Father - clean, pure, and unashamed. And we knew that the love Christ had for us was sufficient. We knew that because we were with Him. We stood shoulder to shoulder against Satan in the great war in heaven, bearing testimony of the plan and according to our faith.
My feeling is that the tactics employed by Satan in this great battle was not a large-scale offensive. Rather, I believe that it was a one-on-one thing, where Satan and his minions came to us each individually, sneakily and subtly, trying to cheat our souls and make us follow him. We did not choose to follow him. We had faith in our Savior. And that proved powerful enough to overcome all of the tricks and sneakiness of the adversary.
The chapter then finishes out to say that because he did not prevail, nor can he or will he prevail, Satan sets his wrath loose upon us. The last verse indicates why it is that he's so upset with us:
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.
I know with all my heart and soul that we have power over Satan and his forces. We are strong, powerful people with great ability. It is our faith and our testimonies that are so enabling. In spite of our weakness, in spite of our trials, in spite of the world and its reverses - we ARE powerful people! We will overcome! We have Christ on our side, and He is mighty to save. Our testimony is in Him, and our allegiance is to Him. Our Master, our Friend, our King!
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