Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Our Lord’s special protection of the nation of Israel during the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21) includes a specific place: “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” (Revelation 12:14). We should not interpret “two wings of a great eagle” to refer to modern aircraft. Rather, we should compare this metaphor to Exodus 19:4 (and other similar passages), where God reminds the Israelites of His providential care: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and brought you unto Myself.” The time frame of just under 3 ½ years (using the Jewish lunar calendar) uses the same terms employed in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7; all three delineate the last half of the Tribulation. The location of this “wilderness” sanctuary is not known. However, the mention of “Edom” and Bozrah” (the entrance to Petra) in Isaiah 63:1 and the words of Daniel 11:41 (“He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of His hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon”) have led good Bible scholars to focus on the ancient area of Petra in the mountains of Edom. Since both of these passages also mention the physical presence of the Messiah, such a suggestion is plausible. Still, we do not know for sure. What we do know is that this “is a place prepared of God” (Revelation 12:6). I think of the promise of Jesus to all believers: “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2c). Just as Jesus will prepare a temporal place of safety for this Tribulation remnant, He will provide an eternal refuge for all of His people, for the remnant of all the ages.