Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome to corona protocols again. We're in chapter 12 of the book of Revelation. And really, we're going to see the whole of the plan of God sort of summed up in this chapter. It's a terrific chapter. So let's start reading at verse 1 to verse 6.

A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun. With the moon under her feet and a crowd of 12 stars on her head. She was pregnant. And cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven, an enormous red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns and 7 crowns on his heads.

Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The trap the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 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. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1260 days.

Mhmm. Loads of imagery there, isn't there? Yeah. Draw from the old testament. Yeah.

Absolutely. So it's 1 of the things we've said about Revelation before is that it's like taking a load of threads from the old testament and just tying them all together, isn't without a whole load of explanation, but there is this kind of expectation that the readers and John will know something about about the old testament, these old testament stories. And you've got this sign that kicks off the chapter. And revelation is full of that, isn't it? It's either a trumpet or a moment of silence or something to grab your attention.

And say, look, I wanna signify something here. I wanna tell you something. And we're told to look at this woman and to begin with, we're told she's clothed with the sun, with the moon, and under her feet are a crown of 12 stars. And that is taking us all the way back to the first book of the bible to Genesis and to the story of Joseph. And it's kind of a description of of his exaltation, really, and how his family are gonna bow down and acknowledge that he's the exalted 1.

And this woman seems to be describing something of that. So this is this is the people of God. This woman stands for the people of God. And, you know, people are bound down to them in a certain that heard in a sense. Yeah.

And it's and it's the people of God as he read through the chapter. Yeah. The people of God both in the old testament and the new testament. Mhmm. So in 1 sense, you could call this the, you know, the the church.

People who got old and new. A new testament church. But it's a woman and a woman is gonna give birth. And again, that takes us back even further than Joseph you can go right back to to Genesis where there's this wonderful description of a serpent slayer that's going to be born. And so it's it's the first of God's good news promises.

So the world has has is cursed because adam and eve fell into sin. They moved away from God But along with this cursed world is this beautiful promise. This evangelical promise, good news promise that the woman will give birth to this child who will crush Satan's head. Mhmm. And so you've got this battle here because you've got you've got a dragon here, which is clearly Satan as you read on in chapter 12, we'll see that and and yet this woman is gonna be the 1 who's gonna give birth to this child.

This child is the promised 1 who's going to rush satan and all of the curse. Yeah. And and it's it's this is a weird scene because he he satan seems to know that in 1 sentence. You know? Because it's a massive mismatch here because Satan, this dragon.

I mean, let's let's face it. He has got power, hasn't he? You know, 7 heads, 10 horns, 7 crowns. He he is being described as 1 with authority. As Paul just says, he is the goal of this age.

You know, there there is a authority, a measure of authority that has been given to him. And what possible threat could a small child to him. Yeah. You know, he's he's the goal of this age, you know, do what he wants in 1 sense. What is this child got against him?

It's David and Goliath, but to the next level, isn't it? And yet actually, he knows that this is this child is going to devour him and is gonna destroy him. And he wants get it. Because that's how God works, isn't it? Yeah?

You you mentioned David and Goliath. And that's that's classic God, isn't it? Yeah. He works through the small, the spies, the little children. Mhmm.

In in in this in this case, a small child. Mhmm. But if what I think what it's a very frightening thing, isn't it? Because you've got at at this delivery suite. There's there's a woman giving birth to this child.

And you don't meant it doesn't mention any doctors or nurses, but there's a flipping great dragon. Yeah. And, I mean, it's it's it's awesome because the woman's giving birth to this child and then there's this dragon ready to devour because he hates what the woman is gonna give birth to. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, I think I think we've seen it before. I can't remember actually, but this Psalm 2 this Psalm 2 image as well. Mhmm. This is the reason that the child is such a threat to the dragon because he's the foretold prophesied 1 who is gonna rule the nations with an iron scepter, which means gonna come in judgment, basically.

And and and and Satan knows something of this. And it's interesting that in verse 5 as well, you've got this child that is born and then snatched up to God and to his throne, which is a very brief summary of Jesus' ministry. He was born into the world. He crucified, was risen and then snatched back up, taken back to his father's right hand where he reigns. So he's come and done his crushing work and has returned, but then what's happening to this this woman here?

Well, the the woman the woman if it's the people of God -- Yeah. -- which I think it is, are left there to carry on his work -- Mhmm. -- while he rules. I mean they're under him, aren't they? But that, you know, she's left.

The church is left in in this place where they're going to know brutal attack from from Satan. Mhmm. Because Satan can't kill the child. Yeah. Mhmm.

So he can only kill the the mother of the child. It sounds wrong but but in in in many ways, the people of God because of all of the promises are the ones that gave birth to Christ. Mhmm. But they're also Christ's offspring, aren't they? In another sense.

And so they're left behind or we're left behind if we're Christians and Satan's gonna come and attack. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. What's this thousand 260 days?

Yeah. Well, I think again, 1 of the things we've seen here in Revelation is that Although although this time of wilderness, it, you know, is a real time and there will be hardships there. It is a limited time. And that God has set a cap on the amount of days. He knows how many days it's gonna be.

Yeah. And that that's the amazing thing, isn't it? But although we are in the wilderness, it says to a place prepared for her where she might be taken care of. Yeah. Which is weird because often, you know, if you think about kids, you know, in order to in order take care of them.

You have to be with them. Yeah. You know, whereas God actually Jesus has come, he's gone back to heaven, we're in the wilderness, but we are to know that he is taking care of He's with us still by his spirit to protect us. And he knows that the days of testing and the days of wilderness and the days of hardship will come to an end. He's gonna take care of us for all of that period and then we're gonna share in his victory in the end.

Yeah. And I think the interesting thing is for today, what's happening with orders lockdown and aroma stuff and where this hits is that actually God has his plan. So we've seen in the past these waves that are coming are partial judgments. Come on, pay attention everyone. But the real plan of God in this world is his people -- Yeah.

-- his church. Yeah. Not that those people are already better than anybody else. No. But those people are people that have trusted the blood of the lamb.

Mhmm. And because, you know, people like us sinful people like us no better than anyone else in the world. Mhmm. But we're forgiven because we've trusted in the blood of Christ and we're protected by him. We are his people.

That is the message of the bible. That is what God is working to. So the church that is often despised I mean, a real church, the people of God, is what God is about. And the coronavirus is meant to get to get our attention to look at this. Yeah.

We'd probably need to leave it there and come back tomorrow.