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Weekly Update from the Senior Pastor
March 21, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
“The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, to be taken care of for 1260 days.” Revelation 12:6.
“The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to a place preparedfor her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time.” Revelation 12:14.
Okay, who is this woman? Why does Revelation twice make clear that she has a place prepared for her, where God will take care of her? What are these two strange verses describing—and how does that impact our lives?
Good questions. The first answer is that the “woman” is us. At the application level, you are her! She is a collective symbol of you and me and all who call on Jesus as Lord. The woman symbolizes all who follow Jesus Christ, His church, symbolized as the bride of Christ (see Rev 19:7-9).
Those 1260 days, or 42 months or three and a half years (same length of time), what does that symbolize? It is:
The whole period of God’s protection for the woman, from the time Jesus ascends till He returns (Revelation 12:5-6):
- The time the ‘holy city’ is trampled on and the two witnesses give their testimony—up until final judgment (Rev 11);
- The entire time the beast, using the dragon’s power, throne and great authority, wars against “those who dwell in heaven,” and causes all those dwell on the earth to worship him—that is, those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:1-8).
Let’s net out these symbols for you today:
This world is a tough place for faith, and the dragon has unleashed strategies of deceit and hate through multiple human agencies (his seven-headed beast). But that’s okay because God knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:18 ). And if you are His, God prepares a place for you to protect and preserve you in the fulfilling of His purpose. Guaranteed.
So as you pursue a long obedience in the same direction for Jesus, these things I’m sure about you:
- Where you are is the place God has prepared for you for now.
- And what you are going through, you are not going through alone. God is taking care of you and He is doing His work in and through your obedient heart. I love the words of Jeremiah 29:11 in the Message paraphrase:
I know what I’m doing [says the Lord].
I have it all planned out—
plans to take care of you, not to abandon you;
plans to give you the future you hope for.
One fun Update from Jaymz Drury, who with John Ingram , coached our High School Youth Basketball Team:
We began practicing in December, 2006, for our annual church-league where a number of local congregations compete in the Christian Basketball Association. We won the championship the previous year. With John’s help and strong support from CT Gordon, we had another great year. Though we lost the Championship game, most of our games were in the winning column,. One of our Youth, Victoria Thompson , said the best part were the times we shared and prayed at the end of practice. We played some good basketball, but even more, we became closer friends and followers of Jesus, saw prayers answered and let our Lord lead this group.
In the Lamb,
Richard
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