"the human spirit once it is born again, thinks too. So it is not just the human mind (soul) that thinks."
-----God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.
-----We have the mind of Christ, 1 Cor 2:16.
-----Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth, Col 3:2.
-----The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the spirit is life and peace, Rm 8:6.
"
The career of the [Rv 12] woman corresponds to that of Israel, for it is Israel that gave birth to Christ,"
Contrary to brother McGee's thought:
Israel did not flee into the wilderness, where Israel has a place there prepared by God so that they might nourish her there 1,260 days, 12:6.
'They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life unto death,' 12:11 distinguishes 'they,' the overcomers, the man-child, from the individual Christ.
Satan was not cast to the earth when Christ ascended, 12:12-13.
Israel was not given the two wings of the 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, 12:14.
The earth has not and will not help Israel by opening its mouth and swallowing the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth, 12:15-16.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (
Isa. 9:6)
"does not concern us at all;
rather, it concerns the nation Israel.
Who is referred to here when Isaiah says, "Unto us"? The church? No; it's the nation Israel."
Brother McGee misses the point again:
-----Some of the branches were were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of the fatness of the olive tree, Rm 11:17.
-----The virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel (which is translated, God with us), Mt 1:23.
-----Today a Savior has been born to you in David's city, who is Christ the Lord...Glory in the highest places to God, and on earth peace among men of His good pleasure, Lk 2:11-14.
-----For as many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God, Gal 6:16.
"Isaiah is talking to Israel when he says, "Unto us a child is born," and that is the figure that John picks up here in Revelation."
To the contrary:
the figure that John picks up here in Revelation is a man-child for the nations, 'to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod;'
and for God, 'raptured to God and to His throne.' Not for Israel, Rv 12:5. Furthermore the man-child is from all of God's people. Which includes Israel, but is not limited to Israel: the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother, Gal 4:26.
To the contrary of the Dallas Seminary faculty's thoughts:
Robert Mounce is more accurate than they. The unity of the people of God wipes out dispensational and racial distinctions among the people of God, all the more in the rapture for the kingdom age.
'There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there cannot be slave nor free man, there cannot be male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise' Gal 3:28-29.
It is correct that Rv 12 expands Gen 37:9-11. However not as Israel, but rather as the totality of God's people,
which is what Jacob and his wife and sons were at the time of Gen 37. The main problem 'Dallas' faces, however, is the same
interpretive problem Vernon McGee ignores:
Israel did not flee into the wilderness, where Israel has a place there prepared by God so that they might nourish her there 1,260 days, 12:6.
'They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life unto death,' 12:11 distinguishes 'they,' the overcomers, the man-child, from the individual Christ.
Satan was not cast to the earth when Christ ascended, 12:12-13.
Israel was not given the two wings of the 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, 12:14.
The earth has not and will not help Israel by opening its mouth and swallowing the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth, 12:15-16.
Contrary to something called the Believer's Bible Commentary: A Thorough, Yet Easy-to-Read Bible Commentary That Turns Complicated Theology Into Practical Understanding,
The woman is not limited to Israel. But rather includes all of God's people, from Adam until the last 3 1/2 years. Just as in Joseph's dream, the sun, moon, and stars and Joseph himself constituted the totality of God's people on earth.
The sun, moon, and stars do not depict the glory promised to Israel. Especially since the woman is in a weaker role in Rv 12.
She is delivered to the wilderness for 3 1/2 years (42 months, 1260 days). It is her man-child who is raptured to God's throne to rule with Christ.
Contrary to John MacArthur's interpretation:
Rv 12's woman does not represent Israel. She includes Israel, but her totality is much greater than that. She represents the church and Israel....and the fathers before Israel, who are God's people. MacArthur makes the same mistake about the 'glory' of Israel as the previous commentary did. Contrary to MacArthur, the word 'context' does not refer to the very item one is discussing: eg, the woman's 'clothes' and description. Rather, 'context' means the setting and the surrounding narrative of the story. The sun refers to the New Testament people of God, where Christ has arisen as the daybreak from on high. The moon, in a lower position, beneath her feet, refers to the age of the law. The stars refer to God's people before the law.
Contrary to yet another commentary cited by VCU, the man-child here is not Jesus. He is the stronger part of God's people, resurrected and raptured to God as the fulfillment of God's purpose, and as the base for God to commence the termination of this age and the entrance into the kingdom age. The seed of the woman are not 'Gentiles who come to faith in the Tribulation.' 1) There is no 'coming to faith' by Gentiles in the Tribulation. In that the church is set. Israel is set. And who the nations are is set. All there is is response to God within the group of which one is part of. 2) This commentary is adamant that the woman is Israel, but allows for her offspring to be Gentiles. In other words, its author rejects spiritualization in interpreting the woman, but then grants himself latitude to spiritualize interpretively her seed, Rv 12:17. Lol.
Furthermore, mixing interpretation, it says that the woman is not an individual woman, but that her child IS an individual person, Jesus.
Lastly (thank God), the 'Bible Exposition Commentary' is also wrong in many ways. The woman does not symbolize Israel, nor is any focus on Israel in Rv 12. Rather the focus is on battle. The dragon battling the woman, losing to the man-child, and then on earth battling the woman again. The so-called 'Bible Exposition Commentary,' like Vernon McGee, John MacArthur, Dallas Seminary, and the rest of the inadequate interpreters, do not bother to interpret for us their storyline of Rv 12.
How is Israel supposedly in a wilderness for a time, times and half a time? When does the earth swallow rivers for her? This kind of 'interpretation' can be called lazy at best, but also lacking in basic literary skill as well as spiritual revelation.
