A Great Sign
(Rev 12:1ampsim6)
Haeyong Kim, the author of 'Boys, Look for your thrilling Work,' became a 47-year-old gold medalist in the Paralympic Games after starting her career as a house-maid at 14. Later she completed a Masters degree at Columbia University after 14 years of voluntary service in Botswana, Africa without any regular education. Her life itself was a great sign of Gods grace for a heavenly citizen. What is the truly great sign that God shows us, especially in this evil and adulterous age when luxurious marriage and being well employed are considered the greatest achievements?
1. Its the revelation of the glory of the Church. The woman in verse 1 stands for the Gods faithful people, the Church, waiting for Christ the Messiah. The phrase clothed with the sun means that the Church enjoys the Christs splendor and glory, while the phrase the moon under her feet means that even though it is now persecuted, it will finally govern the world, and the phrase a crown of the twelve stars on her head refers to the final victory of the church. The glory of the sun, the moon, and the stars is similar to Christs glory. The mission of the Church is to show this glory. Those who see the glory of the sun, the moon, and the stars even in their trials will enjoy the life of divine power. We fall into despair and groan because we fail to see Gods kingdom, distracted by the shiny world. We can see the glory of the Church as much as we are able to shut ourselves from the world and see the heavenly kingdom in our worship place as much as we do our QT.
2. It is the pangs of childbirth. The child that a woman gave birth to refers to Jesus Christ (v.5). He also came to us through the suffering of delivery. So it was with Israel that was at a loss without its shepherd and misled by false teachers and exploited by Rome. It had every reason to cry out to God. Hearing its crying of pang, Jesus Christ lowered Himself to a tiny spot in a womb in order to visit Israel and us. The biggest miracle is Jesus Christs visiting us. Without birth pang or crying for salvation, we cannot bear or deliver a baby. Likewise without our nagging spouse or children around, who urge us to cry out to God, we are not able to serve others in proper relationships with them. However, our problem family drives us to cry out to God in suffering, making us humble enough to serve others with ease. Thus Gods kingdom is expanded by those who cry out to God in their suffering.
3. It is revealing Satans scheme to devour Gods child. A red dragon is wearing seven crowns on its seven heads with majesty like Jesus Christ. But this sign is different from the greatest sign of Jesus Christ, which is far greater than this. The dragon swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth with its tremendous power and wisdom, reflected in its tail and ten horns. We can easily discern Satan by focusing on the glory of God, the Church, and Gods people that the sun, the moon, and the stars stand for in verse 1. Satan also shows us his own signs of healing and giving wealth, which is different from Gods. A true sign is discerning Satans scheme to interrupt believing in Jesus with his tremendous power and money. Reading the Bible enables us to know Satans devouring scheme and cope with it properly.
4. It is recognizing that the desert is a place prepared by God. Satan, the red dragon was ready to attack the woman and devour the baby that she gave birth to. Thus both we and the people we bring to Jesus can be the target of Satans attack the victim of his hatred. However, we can overcome it with the awesome glory of Gods kingdom. God prepared a desert, not a palace, in order to train his chosen people, the church. He prepared a lonesome place for each of us our individual Patmos. What a mysteriously superb plan! Thus his desert project for us is a sort of protective policy from the evil and adulterous world. We come to church, an exit to the desert, escaping from bankruptcy or the violence of our family Ms. Kim, mentioned above, confessed that her moms persecution and her dads suicide became the foundation of her superhuman power and that she owed them the jewel of her suffering. She added that she wanted to scrub the jewel shiny and share it with others. Were often overwhelmed by the power, authority, and ability of those around us. However, remember that our crying is the birth pang of Christ, who will rule over the nations with his iron scepter.
She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter (Rev 12:5a).
