Now you look in your Bible again.
Revelation chapter 12. And we're moving right along
in our study. And Lord willing, by and by,
we'll get to chapter 22. When the Lord says, Behold, I
come quickly, and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ answers
back, even so, Come, Lord Jesus. Even so, come. Come, Lord Jesus. Now, I'm taking the title for
the message from these first six verses that I want to study
with you and bring a gospel message to you. I'm taking the title
for the message from what is said in verse 5. The man-child
who rules all nations. And she brought forth a man-child,
of course we know that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised
seed, the seed of the woman, who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron, a rod of His justice, His holy justice. And her child,
when the Lord Jesus had accomplished all the Father's will, had done
all the work the Father gave Him to do, He was caught up,
He's caught up to God. He came from God, he went back
to God, and he is seated in the heavenlies on the throne of glory. Now, question, who is this man-child? Again, this is symbolic language
that represents spiritual gospel truth. Who is this man-child? Well, we have a plain and clear
answer. from the prophet Isaiah. Let
me read this to you. Isaiah 9, 6. For unto us a child
is born, right? A son is given. That's saying
two different things. The child was born, but the Son
of God was given. God so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son. And the government shall be upon
His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What's true of the Father is
true of the Son. They're one and the same. Our
Lord said, when you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Now,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. He made peace
for us with His own blood. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
God-Man Mediator who is God, our Savior, who came to accomplish
all God's purpose in saving His people. There's one God, one
Mediator between God and man. Who is that man? The God-Man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall and does rule with the
rod of iron and the rod of his absolute sovereignty and his
holy justice. We read in Psalm 2 just a moment
ago. Thou shalt break them, that is
his enemies, with the rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in
pieces like a potter's vessel. No one can stand in opposition
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He will break everyone to pieces. Now, in this section of our study
from chapter 12, 13, and 14, we see these characters that
rise in opposition to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
see the dragon, who is called Satan, that old serpent. We see,
in chapter 13 and 14, the beast out of the sea and the beast
out of the earth. the city Babylon, which is a
symbol of idolatry. We see men that have the mark
of the beast, that number 666 in their hand and in their head,
those who were deceived with false religion. It is clear that
the central theme of these next three chapters is the same as
the first 11th chapter, the total victory of our Lord Jesus Christ
over all his enemies. Remember now, this is a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he has never lost a battle. In chapter 1 down to chapter
11, we see pictures of outward struggle between the church and
the world of the ungodly. Now in this next section, chapter
12, 13 and 14, we see the conflict between the church and the ungodly
world is but an outward manifestation of the war between Christ and
Satan. In the end, Satan and his followers
are forever destroyed. The Lord Jesus and his church
are forever redeemed, safe and secure for all eternity. He wins, and we win in him. Even though sometimes Satan appears
to have the advantage, he never does. He's always under the rule
and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not a competitor of our
God. He's not in competition. He serves
God's purpose and he serves that God's will. Satan can't do anything
apart from the will of God, apart from the purpose of God. He's
not out there some rogue fallen angel. He is a fallen angel,
but he does the will and purpose of God. In this chapter we have
the whole Gospel age covered from verse 1 down to verse 17. From the incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto his glorious ascension and enthronement in
total victory. Remember when he had by himself
purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand of the throne
of God. And that's what it says in the last part of verse 5.
The man-child, the Savior, the surety was caught up to heaven,
caught up to God on His throne. It's the throne that He has established
from all eternity, and He sits upon it in absolute rule and
reigning over all things, over all enemies. Now, I want to look
at v. 1-6, and we see these three characters,
the woman, the man-child that is brought forth, and this great
red dragon who is ready to devour the woman's seed. Now again,
this is symbolic language that represents spiritual gospel truth. Now remember, it's a revelation
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at v. 1-2. There
appeared a great wonder or a sign or miracle in heaven. John is
seeing this vision given to him of God. A woman, unnamed, a woman
that's clothed with the sun, the brightness and glory of the
sun, S-U-N. And the moon was under her feet. And upon her head a crown of
twelve stars, verse 2, and she being with child cried, prevailing
in birth, in pain to be delivered. Now the woman that's pregnant
with child symbolizes the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
loved the church and gave himself for it. He is the head, we are
the body. The church is his body, his bride,
the spiritual kingdom of believers made up of all the elect of God,
chosen of God in that eternal covenant of grace, and redeemed
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We sing unto
Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. The Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah
54 is called our husband. He's our husband, He's our head,
and He has a bride that He chose, and a bride that He married,
and a bride that He redeemed and bought with His own blood. He's called our Lord, He's called
our head, He's called our surety, He's called our Savior, He's
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? The bride
is precious to Him. The bride is precious to Him.
Turn over here to Revelation 19. The bride is precious to
Him. He loved the bride so much that
He died in her stead to put away her sin. Revelation 19, let's
read about it, verse 6. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, as
the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine
linen is the righteousness of the saint. And he said unto me,
Write, blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper
of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are
true sayings of God." He loved the church, chose the church.
died for the church, redeemed the church, he calls them to
himself in love. The bride is precious to him.
Believers are called jewels or special treasure. In Malachi
3, verse 17, let me read this to you. They shall be mine, the
Lord saith the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my
jewels. His people are his jewels, his
bride. I will spare them as a man spareth
his own son that serveth him." We are His jewels. And then in
2 Peter, or 1 Peter chapter 2, let me just read it to you. 1 Peter chapter 2, we're called
His special treasure. We've been called out of darkness
into His marvelous light. This is 1 Peter 2, 9. He said,
you are a chosen generation. You're a royal priesthood. You're
a holy nation. A peculiar, a purchased people
that you should show forth the praises of Him who called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light. You see, it's all relative
to Him. He chose us. He bought us. He
redeemed us. He called us out of darkness. death, and deceit, and made us
new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now make no mistake,
Christ loves His church. and takes all means to accomplish
her glorious salvation by His perfect, faithful obedience unto
death. Even the death of the cross satisfied
the law of God, redeemed us from the curse of the law, and made
us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Now notice the description of
the woman in verse 1. Again, this is a picture of God's
church. This is a picture of you, as
a believer, clothed this woman a great wonder, this woman It
was clothed with the Son. Now whenever you see that word
clothed, believers are clothed with the garments of salvation.
Believers are clothed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is our righteousness. Believers
have a special, special covering that God provided for us. We're
clothed. We're clothed with this special
covering. Let's turn back and read it in Revelation 7 one more
time. Revelation 7 verse 9, And after
this I beheld, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all kindred, people, tongues, stood before the throne, before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hand,
palms of victory. And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne! And
the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders and
the four beasts fell down before the throne on their faces and
worshipped God, saying, Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving,
honor, power, might be unto our God forever and ever. And one
of the elders answered, saying to me, What are these which are
arrayed with white robes, and whence came they? And I said
to him, Sir, you know. He said to me, these are they
which came out of great tribulation, have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they before the
throne of God and serve him day and night in a temple, and he
that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. We are clothed
with the righteousness of Christ. shining forth as the sun. He's command the light to shine
in our heart that we might see the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the second thing he
mentioned in verse 1 about this woman that clothed with this
special clothing, who created the sun? God spoke and it was
done. Let there be light. And this
clothing that we have, the clothing of salvation is provided, created
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And then it says this woman has
the moon under her feet. Now, naturally speaking, the
moon that we see in the sky does not produce its own light, does
it? It's a reflective light of the
sun. the reflective light of the sun.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is the son of righteousness with
healing in his wings. The moon is under her feet. Now
the moon doesn't produce the light, it's reflection of the
sun. So even so believers don't produce
the light, Christ is our light. He's our light. Our Lord said
this, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. When it says,
let your light so shine before men, that's not us shining. That is Christ shining through
us. He is the light. I am the light
of the world. He that followeth me shall have
the light of life. And that light is Christ. And
then it says she's crowned on her head a crown of 12 stars. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
called what? The head. He is our head. He is crowned and we are crowned
in Him. She has a crown of 12 stars. Now, this crown here is a symbol
of what? It's a symbolic language of victory. A victory, a crown that is given
because the victory has been won. She's crowned with 12 stars
on her head. Believers are always victorious
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We win because He wins. He's
the winner. He went forth conquering and
to conquer. He's never lost a battle. He's spoiled every principality
and power. In Romans 8, we're more than
conquerors. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. And again, 2 Corinthians 2.14
says that He always causes us to triumph in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You remember in Revelation 1
verse 18, He said, I am He that liveth and was dead. Behold,
I am alive forevermore, and I've got the keys to hell and death. He has the right and title, the
crown rights, to our salvation. Now notice in verse 2, this woman
is also pictured as one pregnant with child, going through birth
pains, ready to be delivered. And here we see something of
the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The body prepared by
God that took the Son of God, that God the Son took into union
with his deity, came through the elect of God, came through
the church, as it would, the elect of God, through the tribe
of Judah. He's called the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the House of David. The house of David. The Lord
Jesus Christ came through that lineage. If you look at Matthew
1 and Luke 1, you can trace that lineage from Mary and Joseph
all the way back through Abraham, all the way back to the beginning.
The Lord brings the humanity through that chosen race, that
chosen seed. I want you to turn to Romans
1. Romans chapter 1. As to his humanity, he is called
the son of David. Romans chapter 1, look at verse
1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God, which he promised to for by his prophet
in the Holy Scripture, concerning his son Jesus Christ, which was
made of the seed of David, The humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ
came through the seed of David, tribe of Judah, according to
the flesh, but declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
His resurrection declared that He is God. And what he did was
successful in all that he did. Turn to one of the references
here in the book of Romans, chapter 9. Turn over there. The Lord
Jesus Christ came through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all the way down
through David, all the way down through Mary, Look at Romans
9. "...who are Israelites, to whom
pertaineth the adoption, the glory, the covenant, the giving
of the law, the service of God, and the promises, who are the
fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is
over all God blessed forever." Who is this God man? He's over
all God blessed forever. Divinity, that is His divine
nature, He had no mother. He is the eternally begotten
Son of God. As to His humanity, He had no
earthly father. God the Holy Spirit conceived
in the womb of Mary, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord's body came through the woman, the seed of woman, Mary. She conceived of the Holy Ghost.
But it was real humanity apart from sin. So he is fully, totally
God, fully, totally man, and one blessed person. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. For Jesus Christ had to take
humanity to himself. And had He not taken humanity
to Himself, He could not have suffered in our room and in our
stead to put away our sin. He had to be a man to honor the
law of God for us as the God-man. He had to be the man Christ Jesus,
and if He's not the man Christ Jesus, He could not have died
for our sins. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. Now here's another thought too
on verse 2. Virtually speaking, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the gospel is preached, they
bring forth the gospel delivering His message of salvation accomplished
by His atonement. We travail in birth delivering
this message of Christ and Him crucified as all our salvation. And our message is His atonement
is complete. He said, it is finished. I've
glorified thee on the earth. I've finished the work you gave
me to do. So there's the woman. And there's
the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we have this
verse 3. We have the dark side here. And
there appeared another wonder, another sign, another miracle
in heaven. Behold a great red dragon. Now there's no question as to
who this is. As we read over here in verse
10, verse 9 it says rather, the great dragon was cast out. He's the old serpent called the
devil and Satan. Now the devil is real. He's a
created fallen being. And this great red dragon, having
seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns upon his head. His tail
drew the third part of the stars, the angels of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the
woman, which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child
as soon as it was born." And there we see something of what
happened when the Lord Jesus Christ was actually born in Bethlehem. Satan was standing and ready
to devour the woman's seed as soon as she would deliver the
child. He's called Satan, the great red dragon there, he's
called the deceiver. He's called the accuser of the
brethren, who is willing and ready to draw attention away
from the gospel, and he parades as an angel of light to deceive
men who are not the elect of God. He parades as an angel of
light. He doesn't come to people with
a pitchfork and a red suit. He parades as an angel of righteousness,
preaching salvation based upon and conditioned upon what you
do. That's his aim, that's his goal, is to make people religious
in themselves. And it caused them to look to
themselves for salvation instead of looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is a deceiver. He is a liar. Notice he has seven
crowns on his head. Satan has been given some dominion,
some authority in this earth, only to accomplish God's purpose. He's called in Ephesians 2, he's
called the prince of the power of the air. In Isaiah 14, he's
called Lucifer, the son of the morning. In Ephesians 6.12, he's
called the ruler of darkness. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4,
he's called the God of this world. Now, he's not a rival to God.
He does have power, limited and given of God, but he's not almighty. He's not omniscient. He's not
omnipresent. He's confined. He has not only
seven crowned heads, but He has ten horns. Again, this is symbolic
language. These represent, these ten horns,
horn represents power, doesn't it? They represent His destructive
ambition to destroy, to deceive, and to kill. Now let me show
you a good scripture on that. Turn over here to John chapter
8. Remember our Lord when He confronted those religious Pharisees? And they said, you know, we're
somebody, Abraham is our father. Remember what they said? John
chapter 8, our Lord said, if you were Abraham's children,
you wouldn't kill me, seek to kill me. Verse 40, a man that
told you the truth, John 8 verse 40, which I have heard of God,
this did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father.
They said unto him, we be not fornicators, fornication, we
have one father, God is our father. Well, that's pretty bold, isn't
it? And the Lord said to them, if
God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth
and came from God, and there became I myself, but he sent
me. Why do not you understand my
speech, even because you cannot hear my word? You are of your
father. Uh-oh. Great Red Dragon, your
father, the devil. And the lust of your father will
you do. He was a murderer from the beginning. He deceived Mother
Eve from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there's
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own,
for he is a liar. He's a father of lies. And because I tell you the truth,
You do not believe me. He that is the truth, heareth
God's word. What is Satan? He is a murderer. What is Satan? He is a liar. What is Satan? He is a deceiver. He is a deceiver. Satan's goal
is to keep people lost and make them religious, to trust themselves,
and not to look to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Now look at verse
4. We go a step back. His tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven, the angels of heaven,
and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the
woman, which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child
as soon as it was born." Here we learn something of Satan's
rebellion, Satan's rebellion against God. Now, think about
this. And in my puny mind, the only
thing you can say about this, why does evil exist? Why did
God cause Satan and sin to enter into this universe? And the only
thing you can come up with is this, even so, Father, it seems
good in your sight. Could God have prevented Adam
from falling? Absolutely. Could God have prevented
Satan and his allies from rebelling against him? Absolutely. But he didn't. And here we see
something of Satan's rebellion against God. He led a rebellion
against the Lord, and one-third of the angels, the heavenly creatures,
followed his rebellion. They believed his lie. It says
there, remember, look at verse 4, his tail drew the third part. Now that's significant. His tail
drew the third part. Now I found this scripture about
false prophets in Isaiah 9 verse 15. The prophets that teach lies
is the tail. Satan's tail is Satan's lie. Satan's lie. The elect angels
did not fall, but these are fallen angels who did follow Satan and
his rebellion. Now, I want you to turn to 2
Peter 2, verse 4. God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment. So there is fallen
angels. There is Satan led rebellion
against God. We read about in Isaiah 14 where
it says when Lucifer said, I will be like God, I will be like the
multi, I will do this, I will do that. And God said, no, you
won't. you'll be brought down to the side of the pit. Now,
turn to one other reference. Right before the book of Revelation
is that little book of Jude, one chapter. And again, we read
about these fallen angels. Satan led a rebellion and drew
one-third of the heavenly host away in rebellion. Jude 1, verse
6. The angels which kept not their
first estate, but left their own habitation hath he reserved
an everlasting chain under darkness unto the judgment of that great
day." So there is elect angels that we studied
this morning. They're called elect angels,
and there are fallen angels that followed Satan. And these fallen
angels, they believe the same lie that that serpent told Eve
in the garden. You remember what he said to
Eve, that old serpent said to Eve, God doth know in the day
that you eat. And then Satan said, God said
in the day you eat, you'll die. And Satan said, you'll not surely
die. Added one word. You shall not
surely die. And then he said, oh, you will
be like God. These fallen angels believed
the same lie. You remember, he's a father of
lies. Now there were two races that
fell. One third of the heavenly host, for which there is no redemption,
they're reserved under judgment. The fallen angels, the Lord,
it says in Hebrews 2, took not on Him the nature of angels,
fallen angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. The
fallen angels have no Redeemer, no surety. So the two races that
fell, the fallen angels, which have no Redeemer, and then fallen
men, in Adam, Adam's race. All humanity sinned in that first
man, Adam. And Adam all died. But all the
elect of God, they have a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin,
according to the riches of His grace. Now turn to the book of
Hebrews and look at chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Turn over
and read this together. Let's read this together. Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the saying that through death he might destroy him, that
had power of death, or who had brought in sin. When sin is finished,
it brings forth death. So we see there Satan's destruction
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That through death, that
is the death of Christ, that he might destroy him, that has
the power of death, that is the devil. So how was Satan defeated? By the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verse 15, And deliver them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham. That's that children's seed,
Isaac. from which the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ was
born. Wherefore, in all things, it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful, faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation atonement
for the sins of the people. The people are redeemed. You
see, the fallen angels, they have no Redeemer. Thank God we
have Redeemer in whom we have redemption through His blood,
redeemed with His precious blood. I remember reading, and I'll
give this to you, it may help you, it may not. I remember reading
years ago, and I can't remember who, either Arthur Pink or Jonathan
Edwards or one of those old writers, talking about the fallen angels. The fallen angels that sinned,
they fell individually. That is, and he gave this illustration
of a cornfield. They fell individually. The fallen
angels fell individually. Now the human race didn't fall
individually, they fell collectively in Adam. So he gave this illustration. Humanity fell like a mighty oak
tree. We were in that oak tree. And
when that tree fell, we all fell in him. The angels fell individually
like a cornfield. Does that help? It helped me
when I read it back, I don't know, 35, 40 years ago. And I
didn't think of it until just the other day when I was looking
at this point Now, it says here in verse 4, "...the tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven, and He cast them to the
earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to
be delivered, to devour her as soon as she was born." So here
Satan cast out all his demons and his fallen angels. He's waiting
for the incarnate Son of God to come. And as soon as Mary
brings forth that child, He's ready to devour it. Is it going
to happen? Absolutely not. You remember
now, from the Lord's incarnation in the flesh, Satan's object
was to destroy the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of his
efforts have been foiled. Remember when the wise men came
to seek Him who was born King. And they came to Jerusalem, or
to Bethlehem, they said, or to Jerusalem, asking about this
sign that they had seen. And they asked, where is this
Messiah, the child being born? And the religious Pharisees said,
well, it's in Bethlehem. And Herod said to those wise
men, well, if you find Him, when you go to Bethlehem, if you find
me, you come back and tell me. Remember what Herod did? The
wise men went their way, they did not tell him. But Herod,
inspired by Satan, again this is all God's purpose, had every
infant child, two years old and younger, murdered. What was he
trying to do? He's trying to destroy the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ before he accomplished our salvation.
And then again, Satan tried to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ
in the wilderness. Remember, he was tempted 40 days
and 40 nights. Who was he tempted by? Satan. What did Satan do? He quoted
Scripture. And the Lord rebuked him with
the Word of God. You rebuked him with the Word
of God. And then the Pharisees repeatedly tried to destroy the
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't they? They were in Nazareth,
his hometown, when he preached the Gospel clearly. Preached
sovereignty, the sovereign grace of God. And they were filled
with wrath and tried to throw him off the cliff. Satan even
thought he had conquered the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.
Boy, he was deceived, wasn't he? But rather, Satan was defeated
at Calvary. Calvary was all the part of the
ultimate design of our Lord to put away sin and crush the serpent's
head. Now that promise that was fulfilled
in Calvary goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3. All the
way back to that first promise. When God spoke to Satan and said
this, you remember after Adam and Eve were deceived? And the
Lord said, Adam, where are you? And then the Lord pronounced
a judgment on the woman, on the man, and on the serpent. Remember? And here's what is written in
Genesis 3.15. He said to the great red dragon,
Lucifer, Satan, the devil, I put enmity between thee and the woman.
between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head. Christ shall bruise his dominion,
and thou shalt bruise his heel. His humanity was wounded and
bruised for us, but Satan's dominion was crushed when the Lord Jesus
Christ died for our sin. Now look at Revelation 12, verse
5. And she brought forth a man-child
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child
was caught up. Here's a resurrected, ascended,
glorified Lord Jesus Christ. Having finished the work the
Father gave Him to do, He sat down. on the throne of God, having
accomplished all things, delivered for our offenses, raised again
for our justification. Now, I'll close and quit with
verse 6. And the woman, now the Lord Jesus
Christ ascended to glory, He's seated in the heavenlies, but
now His church is still in the wilderness. We're still in this
wilderness. We're traveling through this
wilderness. And just like when the children of Israel were 40
years in the wilderness, they had no water, they had no bread,
they had no shelter. Who protected them? God did. With the cloud, with the fire,
with the manna, with the quail, with the water out of the rock.
The Lord provides for us in this wilderness. And the woman fled
into the wilderness where she has a place prepared. Who prepared
the place? The Lord has prepared the place,
the place of salvation, a refuge of strength in Christ. We have
a place prepared of God. And that tells us again, salvation
is of the Lord. A place prepared of God that
they, that is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, they should feed her,
What do we feed them with? The Word of Truth, the Bread
of Life, the Lord Jesus. He said, I'm the Bread of Life.
And we feast upon the Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says there are 1,203 score
days. There's 42 months, three and
a half years. And that's all symbolic of this
gospel age. We're not left alone. The Lord
prepares a place for us under the sheltering wings of our Savior.
He leads us and feeds us as our great, good, and chief shepherd
of the sheep. Look down at verse 13 and 14. When the dragon saw that he was
cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth
the man-child. And the woman were given two wings of a great
eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place
where she is nourished for time and times and half time from
the face of the serpent. We're kept by the power of God
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.