God is in the business of rendering men and women unrecognisable. He is the God who transformed Jacob from a thief and a conman to the judge of the 12 tribes of Israel. He is the God who made a sovereign out of a shepherd, a priest out of a murderer, a law giver out of a law breaker, a philanthropist out of a fraudster! It is little surprise that the recurrently dysfunctional Israel appears here in Revelation chapter 12, clothed with the most glorious of all natural objects (1 Co 15:41; Rev 21:23), the sun.
The woman of Revelation chapter 12 may appear unrecognisable, but Israel she is. She is the nation who gave rise to Messiah, whose remnant perceivers through the days of tribulation and who ultimately will rise to the place of pre-eminence amongst the nations of the earth, for which God had always fitted her. Her secret of triumph and victory is the same as ours. The battle she faces is part and parcel of the same cosmic struggle as ours too. We may at times be oblivious to the spiritual battle unfolding behind the scenes but we ignore it at our peril. On rare occasions we gain an insight and get a glimpse into what is actually taking place in the spiritual realm.
- The deliverance from Egypt was effected by Moses but in the midst of Satanic opposition (Ex 7:11, 22).
- The trials of Job were only the tangible expression of a conversation between Satan and God.
- The prayers of Daniel were hindered by the same cosmic conflict
- The person of God's Son knew the trial in the wilderness and the attack on the cross
- The denial of Peter proceeded from the attack of the wicked one
In all of these cases, God's people triumphed and did so glorious, having discovered the secret of being on the winning side. It was their connection with Christ that brought certainty and victory (Revelation 12:2,5). The victory which is His becomes ours.
From a series of bible teaching messages preached from the book of Revelation at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.