A Study of The Book of Revelation, Part #42

A Study of The Book of Revelation

The Child
The third of the seven personages

Prospective and context is important when seeking to obtain a deeper understanding of God word.  To obtain the proper prospective of John’s vision we are reminded that John is looking backward over time from the day of God’s judgement to the beginning of creation.  Another prophet who is referenced in this study is Daniel, his prospective was looking forward.  John is ordered to write these things so that the church  would have a clear knowledge of what has happened and what is to come.  The vantage point can be confusing to some and often is the cause for misinterpretation of the scripture.    

The Bible ought to be viewed as beautiful mosaic.  Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials.  To take one small piece from one location and shape it to fit in another location distorts the whole picture.  Any attempt to view or pass it as the original would be misleading.  The attempt to view and redefine the scripture based upon small segments of the Bible sets a dangerous precedent, because it creates a polluted form of the gospel that in time will become accepted as the norm.   As the church morph into an institution  and become caught up in the affairs of the world, this method is used to redefine God and to change the word of God.  The greatest messages of the Book of Revelation are based upon the church knowing its place in the overall scheme of things.  This is important if we are to understand the prophecies that are unfolding around us.  This is important if we are not to be deceived by the false teaching of the “Red Devil” polluter.

Mosac of Christ in Hagia Sofia

Often the scripture is broken up into small pieces or verses, each one focusing on one aspect of the message of Christ.  The sad  reality of this is that when broken up and reshaped the picture or message is destroyed.  The message of the Bible must flow smoothly and seamlessly.  All of the pieces must fit together, from Geneses to Revelation.  One picture, one message and one story.

Verses 5 and 6: “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 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.”

 In verse 5, the woman delivers the Man child, the child is caught up unto God, and in verse 6, the woman flees into the wilderness where God has a place prepared for her protection. She will be fed there for 1,260 days - the last half of the Tribulation.

Those of us who are born again have nothing to worry about. Jesus is the head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23). He is the foundation of the Church (I Corinthians 3:11), and the gates of hell shall never prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18). We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh and if you are born again, fret not. When all of these horrible things take place, all believers will have a grandstand seat in the sky! The Man child is caught up to God and to God’s throne. We who are members of the New Testament Church will be caught up with Him before the horrible time of Tribulation comes upon earth.

From the birth of the Man child to the time He was caught up to God covered a period of about thirty-three years, the length of time Jesus lived on this earth. He had approximately three and one-half years of public ministry. Between verse 5 and verse 6 there is a time element consisting of the Church age - the day of grace. It has already been more than 1900 years. We do not know just how many more years remain until the woman will flee into her place of protection, probably the rock fortress of Petra. We are living today in the age of grace. When this age comes to a close, the Rapture will take place, the Antichrist will begin his reign, and in the middle of the seven years of tribulation Israel will be forced to flee into the prepared place lest she be completely annihilated. 

There again I will reiterate, the church need to know its place in the overall scheme of things to understand the mystery of Revelation.  Many of the prophecies fulfilled and unfulfilled refers to the Children of Isreal and not the church.  There are promises made to the church and we look forward to those promises with blessed hope.  

 Only God knows the centuries covered in Revelation 12. “A thousand years is as one day with the Lord” (II Peter 3:8). God has plenty of time. The finite mind cannot conceive of time as measured by Him who is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:1,2). You may rest assured that God’s program is running on schedule: “Known unto the Lord are all His ways from the beginning” (Acts 15:18). The woman Israel flees into the wilderness, signifies a place devoid of natural resources, a place of complete isolation. The Word tells us that Israel will again be fed as they were fed in the days when God rained manna from Heaven and sent quail for meat. If God did it then, could He not do it again?

 In Jeremiah 30:7 we read, “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” That will be a time “when all their faces turn to paleness.” It will be the time described by Jesus in that memorable twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (the temple of God in Jerusalem is the holy place referred to here. Read Daniel 7:8 and Revelation 19:20, then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains (This refers to the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week of prophecy, the time when Antichrist breaks all his promises to the Jews who are then back in their own land.): Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not” (Matthew 24:15-23). The people in Judaea are here instructed to flee to the mountains when they see the “abomination of desolation” stand in the holy place. This time of tribulation will be so terrible that the Bible instructs those who are on the housetop not to return into the house to take any of their possessions. We may not fully understand this statement but in the Holy Land the porch is sometime on the housetop. Most houses there are built flat, with concrete tops, and people sit up on the housetop in the cool of the day. Those who, therefore, are sitting on the housetop are instructed not to go inside to take anything, but to flee to the mountains. Those who are in the field are not to return to their homes for anything, but they, too, are to flee for their lives. Can you imagine such terror and such horrible days of persecution?  Prospective and context is important to understanding these prophecies.

The question that many will entertain at this point is who is he talking to.  A simple fact of the scripture, from the time Jesus began his ministry until he was rejected and hang of the cross, Jesus live under the law and his message was to the Jews only. Matthew 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: Matthew 15:26  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.   Matthew 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.  The law forbid the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, but after Jesus uttered those imortal words, "It finished" the Gospel of Grace was then preached to all mankind.    

Verse 19 of Matthew 24 speaks of them who are with child and who have young babies. Many ladies and mothers worry about this verse; but mother or mother-to-be, if you are a child of God you need not worry because when this time comes to pass, all believers, the true church,  will be with Jesus in the air. This has to do only with Jewish mothers. The message is addressed to the people in Judaea and surrounding territory, and of course Israel will be in their own land at this particular time. It will be a time of sorrow and woe to the Jewish mothers with young children and to the expectant mothers, but it does not refer to any mother Jew or gentiles  who is born again. If you are a Christian, you have nothing to worry about, because you will be with the Lord Jesus in the air. This part of the Great Tribulation has to do with Israel, and except those days should be shortened there would not be any flesh saved (Matthew 24:22). But for the sake of Israel those days will be shortened. 

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THE ARCHANGEL