A child is born

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

A CHILD IS BORN

Rev 12:1-6

12:1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

NIV

Oh the hay day the scholars have had with this great and wondrous sign which appeared in heaven. They are casting all sorts of people and things in the roles of both this woman and the dragon. One of the principles we need to apply to all the rendering or according of this revelation to John is that it all is not absolutely chronological. Many of the events described by John could all be happening at the same time but that he could only focus his attention on one of the happening at a time in order to fully record what he was witnessing. This might be like us when attending a three ring circus, not that anything in heaven is a circus, but there are three rings with acts going on in each plus clowns roaming around and all the side shows on the midway, all happening simultaneously. How would we record all that we saw? Would we not have to make a list and write about each thing we saw? This may well be as with John’s record of this revelation. This women is no doubt the church as we have been described as the bride of Christ. We are clothed with his brilliance, with the sun, the light of the world. Some would suppose, again, this whole event has already happened as the Roman Empire did use a Red Dragon as one of its emblems. But then why would this woman need to run in the dessert. Her child certainly was taken up to heaven. Satan surely would like to devour her child. Jesus is the ruler over all the nations whether they care to admit it or not. What can all this mean to us? How does it apply to our walk with the Lord? We the church have certainly fled into the wilderness of this world and we are certainly cared for by God. The time frame could have some significance, but 1260 is not exactly three and half years as 1274 days equal three and a half years. So we really do not know what that is. It could represent years, but then the church has been in existence longer than that. The point is we are the church who are clothed in the radiance of Jesus Christ. Satan would like nothing better than to destroy all that Jesus represents. We are also in part giving birth to another child. We are giving birth to a whole new group of children of God. A child in that sense, that we are part of God’s plan to give birth to more believers. We talk about the job of the pastors, or evangelists who declare the word of God, but we are too as well. The shepherd does not give birth to sheep, sheep beget sheep. So we the church, the believers should give birth to other believers. Yes it is the spirit who convicts men of their sin, but it is we who explain that to them and share the road to their salvation. Also in another sense if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit then it is through us he convicts people of their sin and need to repent. But Satan is ready and willing to devour new believers, but God has prepared a place for them in heaven, and he has given all believers a place where the dragon cannot destroy. He has given us the truth. Perhaps there is something about this desert place, as Jesus was tempted in the desert but he overcame all temptations by declaring the word, the truth to Satan. As we are in this place prepared by God for us, we are tempted too by Satan, but we also have been given the word, the truth to declare as our defense against him. Although Satan is ready and willing to devour the child, he does not have the power to do so, as the child was snatched up to heaven. Although this may well mean Jesus, it also may well imply we too have been or will be snatched up to heaven. Although we are not ruling with an iron scepter as that only can apply to Jesus, we have authority over Satan. We are not his victims, we are not his captives, but we have the authority of Jesus over all the dark forces of evil. We are a child of God.