In Revelation 12:1-5 there is the description of a strange sign: “A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and being with child, she cried out, being in travail and in pain to bring forth. And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. And his tail drags away the third part of the stars of heaven, and he cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, so that when she brings forth he might devour her child. And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.”
This sign about the woman, the dragon, and the man-child is hard to understand until we come to the key point, which is the ruling of the man-child over the nations. Those who will reign over the nations are the overcomers. These are considered by God as the stronger part of His people. The rest He considers a woman, not as strong as the man-child.
Among God’s people part are stronger than the rest. Most are weaker ones. Nonetheless, both are God’s people. In His heavenly ministry Christ is taking care of both parts. When He cares for the weaker part, however, He does so mainly by the exercise of His rulership to prepare “the two wings of the great eagle” to bring the woman to a refuge in the wilderness (12:14). (You can study this further by going over the Life-studies of Revelation.)
The man-child, in contrast, is cared for not so much by the Lord’s rulership as by His heavenly ministry. They are sustained in an overcoming condition by the heavenly life supply. Christ exercises His heavenly ministry to supply the stronger part of His people that they may be strengthened to be the rulers of the coming kingdom.
This chapter twelve, like chapter seven, is an insertion. These insertions indicate that while Christ is executing God’s administration, He also labors to nourish and supply His lovers and seekers that they may be kept in the overcoming state. Christ is busy! On the one hand, He has to take care of the crisis in Iran; on the other hand, He is here to nourish us. In Iran He is the Ruler of kings; here He is the heavenly Minister, providing all of us with the rich, divine element.
Even while you have been attending this conference, I have the assurance that you have been nourished and strengthened. Sometimes I have been told that I overload people with too much food, as though they were camels, needing a supply for a long journey. This actually is my intention! I know you have a long journey to take, so I want to be sure you have plenty of food. I hope you will have enough for several meals, not just one. Thank the Lord we have such a big capacity for storing our food!
The Lord is the heavenly Minister caring for us, His members. Though we are only small ones, we are still under His care. He ministers the heavenly supply to us not only during a conference like this, but also in all the church meetings. We can all testify that in every church meeting He is there ministering. Whether the meetings are good or poor is secondary. As long as there is a church meeting, be assured that the Lord is walking and speaking there. His heavenly ministry is going on.
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