Borne On Eagles' Wings

In the last post about the Revelation we considered Satan's fall from heaven and his fearful work of dragging as many as possible with him to his destiny, the bottomless pit, the abyss. The woman, the symbol for the church of all ages, will be protected, however. Listen.

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. - Rev 12:13-18 ESV

Given the two wings of the great eagle? When the Children of Israel were in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, the LORD spoke these words through the prophet Moses:

. . . while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." - Exo 19:3-6 ESV

Later, the prophet Isaiah writes,

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. - Isa 40:28-31 ESV 

This then is the wondrous promise to us who are in Christ, who are the offspring of the woman, the church. Yes, Satan will make war on us. He will kill us and our families. He will do everything possible to tempt us to sin and give up in despair. But the everlasting God, the Creator of the far stretches of the earth, will give us power. He will fill us with His Spirit. He will nourish and feed us with His all-powerful Word. As we "wait for the LORD," as we put our faith and trust in Him, we will not be disappointed. We will rise above the fray and fly from the conflict in victory. We will remain firm in our faith and—in the words of Luther's great hymn—

"And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Let these all be gone, They yet have nothing won. The Kingdom ours remaineth." 

The battle is real. The devil is real. The temptations and trials are real. But so is the victory. Hold to the testimony of Jesus! His great work of self-sacrifice upon Calvary's cross bears witness about Him. He is the one sent by the heavenly Father to be both the High Priest and the final sacrifice for the sins of the world (John 3:16; 5:36-37). And the Father has accepted that sacrifice as the full and final payment for the sins of all mankind.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds," then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. - Heb 10:11-25 ESV

Let this Word of God comfort and strengthen us in all times of testing. And then let us walk with patience and in faith, for the devil's time is limited and the day of his judgment draws near.