Revelation Chapter 12
Verse 6 continued, “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”
Our next question would be, what is it that she is “fed”, and who are the “they” who feed her?
“In the land of Israel, the professed nation of God, a 3 1/2-year drought prevailed in the days of King Ahab. The general populace, with the exception of the Prophet Elijah, was greatly distressed. Elijah was instructed of the Lord to hide himself by the brook Cherith: “Thou shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. . . . And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook” (1 Kings 17:3–6). Obviously, the Prophet’s God-given supply of food differed from that of the general public. Though not abundant, it was sufficient for the need of each day. No doubt the Prophet partook of his portion, delivered in such a miraculous manner, with deepest gratitude and open thankfulness to the source whence it came.
Spiritual Application
Likewise, a somewhat similar condition of want is described under the third seal, affecting in this instance the whole of Christendom. It is a condition not of material deprivation, but of spiritual need—“not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11, 12). Yet the faithful Elijah class of this black horse era, though not finding an abundance of Scripture available, nonetheless fared better than did others. Instead of a diminution of benefit, the “no frills” life support system furnished for the Lord’s people seems to have had the opposite effect. The comfort and consolation of the Holy Spirit (the oil), and the love of the truth with its exhilarating, compensatory joy (the wine), appear to have disproportionately far outweighed their meager provision of food (Psa 37:16).”
“The phrase “they should feed her there” refers to the ravens that fed Elijah. The raven is a bird of the crow family, having glossy, jet-black plumage. The blackness of the bird prefigures a class of humanity whose sins are not covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness; that is, an unconsecrated, worldly element and, like the bird, normally self-centered and given to voraciously satisfying its own fleshly desires along material lines, hence ravenous by nature. Under God’s providence the ravens in Elijah’s experience provided the material necessities of life, whereas water from the brook, symbolizing the water of truth, was a commodity the ravens could not supply.”
And last how does the “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” relate here?
Elijah was "three years and six months" in the LITERAL wilderness and during that time there was no rain, and a great famine was in the land. (1 Kings 17:7; 18:2; Luke 4:25; James 5:17)
The Church was three and a half SYMBOLIC years (a day for a year-- 1260 literal years) in the wilderness condition, during which there was a spiritual famine because of the lack of truth--the living water. (Amos 8:11)
“Here for 1,260 years from 539 A.D. when the Pope had obtained dominance in the city of Rome until 1799 A.D. when the French Revolution ended with the embarrassing capture of the Pope by Napoleon the true saints fed on whatever truth God let to be known in the midst of the darkness.”
We shall with our next post take a look at Verses 7 and 8
Verse 6 continued, “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”
Our next question would be, what is it that she is “fed”, and who are the “they” who feed her?
“In the land of Israel, the professed nation of God, a 3 1/2-year drought prevailed in the days of King Ahab. The general populace, with the exception of the Prophet Elijah, was greatly distressed. Elijah was instructed of the Lord to hide himself by the brook Cherith: “Thou shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. . . . And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook” (1 Kings 17:3–6). Obviously, the Prophet’s God-given supply of food differed from that of the general public. Though not abundant, it was sufficient for the need of each day. No doubt the Prophet partook of his portion, delivered in such a miraculous manner, with deepest gratitude and open thankfulness to the source whence it came.
Spiritual Application
Likewise, a somewhat similar condition of want is described under the third seal, affecting in this instance the whole of Christendom. It is a condition not of material deprivation, but of spiritual need—“not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11, 12). Yet the faithful Elijah class of this black horse era, though not finding an abundance of Scripture available, nonetheless fared better than did others. Instead of a diminution of benefit, the “no frills” life support system furnished for the Lord’s people seems to have had the opposite effect. The comfort and consolation of the Holy Spirit (the oil), and the love of the truth with its exhilarating, compensatory joy (the wine), appear to have disproportionately far outweighed their meager provision of food (Psa 37:16).”
“The phrase “they should feed her there” refers to the ravens that fed Elijah. The raven is a bird of the crow family, having glossy, jet-black plumage. The blackness of the bird prefigures a class of humanity whose sins are not covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness; that is, an unconsecrated, worldly element and, like the bird, normally self-centered and given to voraciously satisfying its own fleshly desires along material lines, hence ravenous by nature. Under God’s providence the ravens in Elijah’s experience provided the material necessities of life, whereas water from the brook, symbolizing the water of truth, was a commodity the ravens could not supply.”
And last how does the “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” relate here?
Elijah was "three years and six months" in the LITERAL wilderness and during that time there was no rain, and a great famine was in the land. (1 Kings 17:7; 18:2; Luke 4:25; James 5:17)
The Church was three and a half SYMBOLIC years (a day for a year-- 1260 literal years) in the wilderness condition, during which there was a spiritual famine because of the lack of truth--the living water. (Amos 8:11)
“Here for 1,260 years from 539 A.D. when the Pope had obtained dominance in the city of Rome until 1799 A.D. when the French Revolution ended with the embarrassing capture of the Pope by Napoleon the true saints fed on whatever truth God let to be known in the midst of the darkness.”
We shall with our next post take a look at Verses 7 and 8
