The Wings of the Great Eagle
The prophecy of
Revelation 12 decribes a woman, in heaven, who is clothed with the sun,
and has the
moon
under
her feet. There is a crown of 12 stars on her head. This woman in
heaven represents the Church, as her seed are those who "keep the commandments of
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Revelation
12:17)
In Genesis
37:9, Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon and 11 stars made
obeisance to him, and his father Jacob interpreted the story as
representing himself, his mother, and his brothers bowing down to
Joseph. This story identifies stars, and the sun, and the moon with
Israel, because Jacob and his descendants received the name Israel.
The
woman clothed with
the sun is Israel, but not the nation Israel that exists
today; it is the name that scripture applies to the people of God, the
saints. When Paul wrote in Romans
9:6, "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel," he
identifies the true Israel as the Church. In chapter 11 he shows that
the Gentile believers are like branches of a wild olive, that were
grafted in to the olive tree that is Israel. He refers to the Church as
the "Israel
of God" in Galatians
6:16.
The woman travails in birth, and is confronted by the great red dragon,
with seven heads and 10 horns, who tries to devour her child. The man
child is destined to rule all nations with a rod of iron, a clear
reference to Christ. He is caught up to the thone of God. The 12
apostles are represented by 12 stars in the woman's crown.
Paul calls the Church "the Jerusalem which is above" in
Galatians
4:26, where he writes:
But Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
In Ephesians
2:6, Paul writes of believers "sitting together in
heavenly places in Christ." Daniel referred to the
wise ones who turn many to righteousness as shining "stars" (Daniel
12:3). According to the promise God gave to Abraham, in Genesis
22:17,
his seed will number
as the stars of heaven. The seed of Abraham is identified with those
who believe in Christ in Galatians
3:29:
And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise.
This supports the identification of stars in John's prophecy with
believers. John pictures one third of the stars being swept by
the "tail
of the dragon," and cast down to the earth. (Revelation
12:9) These represent those
Christians who have abandoned their faith, and returned to the
world. Daniel also foretold this (Daniel
11:35):
And some of them of
understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them
white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time
appointed.
Just as the woman's presence in heaven ties in with the identification
of the saints with stars, the presence of the dragon in heaven is also
significant. Is it because the adversary, and accuser of the saints
lurks among them? Michael and his angels fight the dragon and his
angels, so that their place is no longer found, and he is cast to the
earth with his angels. But it is the saints who overcome the dragon,
"by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony."
(Revelation
12:11)
Revelation
12:14 says:
And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that
she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is
nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the
serpent.
After believing in Christ, the experience of believers is typified by
the Israelites sojourn in the wilderness upon their deliverance from
Egypt. Israel in the wilderness pictures the Christian's position
in relation to the present worldly system. The reference to the wings
of an eagle, and the woman's escape from the
serpent to the wilderness
allude to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. The scripture says they rode
"on eagle's wings."
Exodus
19:4 says:
Ye have
seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare
you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
What were these eagle's wings? What could they represent?
Revelation
4:7 has a description of four beasts that John saw around about
God's
throne. One was like a lion, one like a calf, the third with a face
like
a man, and the fourth like a flying eagle.
These same creatures are also mentioned in a vision of God that was
described in Ezekiel
1:10, and in Ezekiel
10:14.
Andrew Jukes, in his book "The Four Faces of Christ", discussed the
symbolism of these four faces. He relates them to the different views
of
Christ presented by the four gospels. Christ is pictured as a ruler,
represented
by the lion, in Matthew; in Mark he is presented as a servant,
represented
by the ox; in Luke he is presented as a man, and in John's gospel, the
spiritual or prophetic aspect of Christ is presented, which is
represented
by the eagle.
The powerful wings of the eagle enable it to soar to a great height,
thus it views things from above, and so, scripture uses the eagle to
represent
the divine perspective on things, as opposed to the human viewpoint.
Now, can there be a connection between these concepts, and the "wings
of a great eagle" that empower the Church to escape from Satan, and the
flood of misinformation that comes forth from his mouth, described in
Revelation
12:14? Perhaps, the eagle's wings provided to the woman picture the
Church learning to understand Bible prophecy. This gives God's
perspective on things. John tells us in Revelation
19:10: "...for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
In the Exodus, Israel was brought out of captivity with a great
deliverance,
through Moses. For the Church to be delivered from errror,
an understanding of Bible prophecy is crucial. The deliverance of
Israel from Egypt was a judgement of God upon pharaoh, and similarly
the Church's escape to the wilderness judges Satan, who is typified by
the pharaoh of Egypt at the time of the Exodus.
So, it may be, the two wings of the eagle that enable the Church to fly
to the wilderness, described in Revelation
12:14, represent new understanding of the message of prophecy,
that comes from God, and which was previously hidden from us.
See Also:
Copyright © 2005 by
Douglas Cox