Two kinds of Women
Dear Beloved Brethren,
In this meditation, we will be looking into the topic: "THE TWO KINDS
OF WOMEN". Recall that for some time now, we have been taking our
discussion from the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And,
we are doing so in proclaiming the message that Jesus Christ is
sending to His church today. The principles of the relevant truth abound
in all scriptures.
Now, there are two main divisions in the book of Revelation. We
have said that over and over again. The first division deals with the
Lord's inspection of the seven representative churches. In
Revelation 1:11, you will find that in the vision God gave to the
apostle John, seven representative churches, symbolised in seven
golden candlesticks were shown, with the Lord Jesus Christ walking
in the midst of these candlesticks, speaking to them concerning their
conditions. That is covered in Revelation 1, 2 and 3. And in verses
19 and 20 of Revelation 1, we are shown that the book of Revelation
would consist of the things, which are, and the things, which shall
be hereafter. This is a very important observation and should be
noted very carefully.
In the very first verse of Revelation 4, we are introduced into the
second division of the book of Revelation, that is, the things,
which shall be hereafter. We are called up in the spirit to ascend to a
heavenly position to see things, as they shall be. Things as they
shall be drawn from a considerations of the warnings the Lord had
given to the churches in Revelation 1, 2 and 3, and the response he
was calling from them. Those who faithfully respond to His
warnings
and turn in repentance and submission to His will comes to a
heavenly course. While those who live their lives, ruling themselves and
not giving attention to the warnings of the Lord Jesus Christ take on
an earthly course that leads to shame and dishonour.
And, in the recent few editions, we have been comparing the two
kinds of developments issuing from that same congregation of God's
people. And, we have looked at the two kinds of cities, the two kinds of
lambs and the two kinds of streets. In this meditation, we will be
taking two kinds of women. Our consideration will be drawn from
Revelation 12, for there we find the first kind of woman. She
follows a faithful course, a life of repentance, and obedience to
the Lord's call and warnings and receiving help from the Lord takes on
a heavenly course. The second woman, the unfaithful woman is given
to us in Revelation 17.
In this meditation, we will dwell measurably on the faithful woman.
This will enable us to see things in clear perspective. Revelation
12:1-5:
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars:
And she being with child cries, travailing in birth, and pained to
be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his
heads.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations
with
a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to His throne."
We begin our meditation by asking, Who is this woman? We begin to
answer this by taking note of what this woman does not represent,
so that we can better appreciate what she stands for in these
scriptures.
First, it is generally believed that this woman is Mary. The
consideration taken for this position is in verse 5. Verse 5 says,
".and she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God, and to His
throne.". Thus, identifying this child to be Jesus, it is commonly
believed that the woman who gave birth to him must be Mary, the
Virgin Mary, the Mary mentioned in the gospel as the wife of
Joseph.
This will not be true, for, we know that Mary was a virgin and had
not had any child prior to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ (the
human Jesus). But, in the 17th verse if this chapter, we are told
that this woman in question had given birth to many children before
the birthing of this man-child. Thus, the woman cannot be Mary.
Let us read Revelation 12:17:
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman (that is the woman who
brought forth the man-child), and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ."
So, here, we find that the woman have had many children before.
"The remnant of her seed" means "The remaining of her children". Thus,
without doubt, we know the woman cannot be Mary.
Now, some suppose that this woman must be speaking of the fleshly
Israel. And that since Jesus Christ came of the tribe of Judah, He
is of Israel. Therefore, the woman is said to be a composite woman
and stands for the church of the Old Testament. Again, this can be
faulted, in two counts. First, we know that, the Lord Jesus Christ
was the one who established the New Covenant (Testament). We are
told that the woman is standing upon the moon and clothed with the
sun. The sun represents the New Testament in its capacity to give
life to the Lord's people when the Holy Spirit quickens it. Again,
you will recall that Jesus Christ appeared to John the apostle in
the isles of Patmos, about A. D. 95. And he was to write the things
which were and the things which shall be hereafter, that is, things
that were future to that date. If you will turn with me to
Revelation 4, we will read what we have reffered to several times
in this edition. Revelation 4:1 :
"After this, I looked........................."
After what, one may ask? It is after events in the letters that
the Lord Jesus Christ caused John to write to the seven churches have
transpired. In that first episode, the Lord was concerned with
discussing with John the failures, weaknesses or strength of those
congregations that represented all of the Lord's people who were
then physically alive. So, he says,
"after these, I looked.... And behold, a door was opened in heaven:
and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet
talking
with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things
which must be hereafter."
So, from chapter 4 to the end of the book of Revelation, all the
things that were shown were things future to A. D. 95. For we know
that the birthing of the man-child is something that takes place much
later. That is important.
Now, let us go back to Revelation 12. If this woman is not Israel
and she is not Mary, how do we explain verse 5, for verse 5 has an
obvious reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. And, we answer in the
affirmative that the man-child stands for Christ, but not Christ
the head, but Christ the body. All scriptures speak of Christ, ".for
the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10b)
"Ye search the scripture, for in them ye think you have eternal
life, but they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39). So all
scriptures speak of Christ the head primarily, and then Christ the
body.
Now, if you will turn with me to Revelation 2, you will find that
the promise of rulership over the nations in the age to come is also
made to the church. (Revelation 2:24-27)
"But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as
have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as
they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that
overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give
power over the nations:
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a
potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father."
Notice the way verse 27 ends, ".even as I received of my Father.".
So Christ has this position of being the head over the kingdom of
heaven. But those who overcome, who are brought into full grown
Sonship, who have a part in the kingdom that is to be revealed,
shall share with Him in the rulership function. So, verse 5 of
Revelation 12 speaks of Christ, but not Christ the head, but Christ the body,
those in the church who overcome and are brought into full union
with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, Let us come back to the matter of who this woman is. You will
notice that at the beginning, we said that the Lord was interested in
showing the apostle John, the future of those evil tendencies in
His people when they are fully developed. He was saying to them
several
times in those seven letters, ".repent, repent from those things
that are evil, a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump, if you do not
repent, this is the way things will be hereafter.". So, the visible
church systems, since John's day broke into two contrasting lines,
the faithful taking on such characteristics we saw of the true city
and of the true lamb. You will also find out that the unfaithful
becomes as the great city (Revelation 11:8) the street of the
earth, and now, the harlot woman (Revelation 17).
So, we are looking at two kinds of women, the one in Revelation 12,
the faithful woman, and the other in Revelation 17, and the harlot
woman.
Now, let us come to the first five verses of Revelation 12 and
attempt to give an exposition:
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars."
Now, this woman stands for the church. Somebody may ask, "if this
woman stands for the church, how then can we understand verse 17
which showed that the woman had given birth to some children prior
to the birth of the man-child?" We would answer that fully when
discussing the characteristics of the seed, the triumphant seed
that comes to the estate of the man-child, you will get an
understanding.
But, let us first agree that in scriptures that the woman is
sometimes used to symbolise the church. Both man and woman are
sometimes used to symbolise the church, but the woman as a symbol
for the church is the more commonly understood figure. In Isaiah 54
for example, we are told ".break forth O barren, thou that did not
bear.", and the seventeen verses of the chapter discusses things
that pertain to the church in a prophetic language. In Ephesians
5, that is also very clear. The church is set forth as a woman in
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, she as bride and the Lord
as bridegroom. In the closing verses of that chapter, Paul tells us
this is a mystery, Paul was teaching on the relationship between a
man and his wife and ended up by saying ".this is a mystery, but I
speak concerning the church and Christ.".
So, we notice further that this woman was said to be pregnant.
What made this woman pregnant? You will recall (see Language of
Prophecy) that the moon, if the context so allows is the word of God
quickened to the understanding of the believer by the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. The sun speaks of Christ as the living Word ministering
and imparting life to the church. Galatians 4 helps us to know what
makes this woman pregnant. Taking the history of Abraham, we are
told that Abraham had two wives, the one was Sarah the rightful
wife, and the other was Hagar. We are told that Abraham had a child of
Hagar by the flesh. Hagar had Ishmael in the power of the flesh.
It was a biological seed. But something curious was said of Sarah.
It was said that Sarah gave birth to Isaac by the promise. Isaac was
said to be a child of the promise. The ministration of the
promises of the scripture, gives to church a burden for that which is
indicated. This may be compared with a woman receiving seed in
pregnancy. Now, the Lord makes us to see something of His will, as
the promises are ministered. When we understand and desire them,
we begin to long for their fulfilment in our lives. Consequently, we
are pregnant with something. And as we continue to seek the face
of the Lord and ponder over these promises, there comes a time when
the pregnancy is fully developed and comes to full term.
Now, you will recall that in Christ's letters to the seven
churches, certain promises are made. They are things that the Lord Jesus
Christ was relying upon to secure an obedient response from His
people. By deriving strength from these promises, the people were
expected to break free from the things that were contrary to God.
Later, we shall be able to talk more on these promises. We shall
then be better positioned to understand what is meant here that the
woman being with child travailing in birth and pained to be
delivered. But these promises were made by Christ to provoke the
listeners unto a faithful response. The promises do not speak of
what we will receive when we go to heaven, when we share in the
celestial glory of the Almighty God. Rather, the promises are
indicative of things that the Lord will build into His people as
they grow up into the fullness of Christ. With the seventh promise
exempted, all others are to be fulfilled in the believer on this
side of our walk with God, before we come into the fullness of life in
Him.
For example, the first promise says ".to him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the
paradise of God.". The sixth promise says, ".he that overcometh I will make
a pillar in the temple of my God, he will no longer go out and I will
write upon him the name of the city of my God which is New
Jerusalem and I will write upon him my new name.". Of course, we notice that
in Revelation 14, the promise is fulfilled for the 144,000 other
lambs that stand with the principal lamb (the Lord Jesus Christ) on
mount Zion.
So, the promises are the things that provoke the woman to seek the
Lord for a new life, a new level of grace and walk with Him indicated
in the promises.
We will be closing with what we promised we would do. What are the
characteristics of the seed? In Genesis 22, a promise is made to
Abraham. It is made to Abraham and his seed. Galatians 3:6
assures us that the seed is Christ. And verse 29 of the same chapter says
it is Christ the head and Christ the body. It says, ".if we be
Abraham's seed, then we have put on Christ.". What will be
fulfilled, what will be worked into the overcoming church when
fully fulfilled in the believer makes him an overcomer. And, no power on
earth, underneath the earth or anywhere can overcome such a one.
So, let us turn to Genesis 22. The reason why the remnant of the
seed was messed up by the dragon was because they did not develop
all of these characteristics to their full estate. Although they moved
in the power, grace and glory of God, nevertheless, they fall short
of that man-child life revealed in Revelation 12:5. So, come with
me to Genesis 22:16
"By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is
upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemies:
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice."
There are three distinct characteristics when fully worked into the
believer make him as a seed of Christ indeed, a full-grown seed.
And, we just quickly name these three:
1. First, the seed shall be as the stars of heaven and of the sand
upon (not in the sea, but upon) the seashore, overcoming certain
things.
2. The seed is to possess the gate of their enemies. Thus, it is a
fighting and triumphant seed.
3. In the seed, all nations of the earth are to be blessed. It is
a seed receiving capacity to minister
The life of God unto others, bringing salvation, deliverance,
healing etc.
These three characteristics, when fully developed in a people make
them overcomers. Not one, not two, but all three. One of the
weaknesses of the remnant of the woman's seed discussed in
Revelation
12:17 is that they did not develop all three characteristics to
their fullness.
The Lord bless you, the Lord cause His face to shine upon you. You
can consider this meditation as just an introduction to Revelation
12. As the Lord leads us, we will take in fuller details several
aspects of the message in this chapter. The Lord keeps you, in
Jesus name. AMEN.
In our next meditation, we will be considering the topic "A WIFE
GOING ASIDE". We once again covet your prayers. May the good Lord
of this harvest prosper His harvest as He prosper His work in you
and you in His harvest. Once again, remain blessed in Him.
JESUS IS LORD!
Your Brother - 'Segun Ogunfile.
The Writings of Segun Ogunfile 