Core Truth: While from a human or earthly point of view many Biblical prophecies are hard to understand and interpret because they seem to be all happening “in the moment,” whereas in reality their various elements are often separated by literally thousands of years. Such is the case with our Scripture today where a large span of earthly history is telescoped down to seem like it is all happening at once but is actually spanning or covering a very large portion of history here on earth.
Scripture: Revelation 12:1-5
… a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign was seen in heaven: behold, a great fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal crowns. And his tail swept across the sky and dragged away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who is destined to rule (shepherd) all the nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that she would be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one half-years).