Revelation 12:12
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12 Therefore [dia][touto] rejoice,[euphraino] ye heavens,[ouranos] and[kai] ye that dwell[skenoo] in[en] them.[autos] Woe[ouai] to the inhabiters[katoikeo] of the earth[ge] and[kai] of the sea[thalassa]! for[hoti] the devil[diabolos] is come down[katabaino] unto[pros] you,[humas] having[echo] great[megas] wrath,[thumos] because he knoweth[eido] that[hoti] he hath[echo] but a short[oligos] time.[kairos] KJV-Interlinear
12 "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." NASB
Rejoice, ‘euphraino,’ means to be glad, very glad, to celebrate, to make merry as in bubbly or bubbling over with uncontrollable celebration.
Have you ever been to a sporting event where your favorite team is playing?
The game has been hard fought, with the score going back and forth, the end always in question. Then in the last period, with but minutes to go, no time outs left for anyone, your team scores and goes in to the lead, the clock is ticking and the crowd begins to swarm down to the sidelines to rush onto the field when the game finally ends.
The opponent is still fighting hard in the last few minutes, but to no avail, and everyone in the stadium now knows the outcome. The celebration begins on the sideline as the crowd cannot wait of the final signal for the game to be over.
That is the excitement in this verse. Rejoice, O heavens.
The home team is the entire universe and all believers and elect angels everywhere and throughout history. The excitement. The anticipation. All of the joy of being witness to the end of Satan’s role in history. No other event in history could possibly match this as Christ begins His final crush of evil and all that goes along with it.
But on the other hand, there still remains seconds on the clock of history, and Satan knows it. His millennia, his centuries, his decades, his years, his months, are all but gone, and Satan is in a full panic.
To win he must kill off humanity so that there is no one to rescue, no one to go into the Millennium.
Therefore, woe to those who remain alive in the world, for that last half of the Tribulation will be like no other time in all of human history.
To witness would bring tears to your eyes, as God squeezes out the very last person who will believe and be saved, and as the very last of humanity refuses to believe and brings upon themselves judgment and total annihilation, at their own hands.
But knowing the end result, knowing the final score, knowing that your team has now taken the lead and will hold on to it until the final buzzer, brings an unbelievable anticipation of rejoicing that you and everyone will be hard presses to control.
This verse portrays the teams on the field locked in a ferocious battle during the final seconds, with the crowd on the sidelines shouting, jumping up and down, with a deafening roar of victory.
Go to bed tonight and bring this picture, this scene, into your dreams. It is an event that is going to occur, and you will be there, if you are a believer in Christ, and you will see it all.
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