Trumpet Ministries, Revelation 12:16
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And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. (Revelation 12:16)
We interpret the expression "the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood" to mean the nations of the earth will do what they can in an attempt to assist the saints, just as Rahab assisted the spies sent out by Joshua.
It is our opinion the "they" who "should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (Revelation 12:6), and those who nourish the woman (Revelation 12:14), may refer to the faithful remnant of saints, both Jewish and Gentile, who will be able to bring salvation to those who come to them during the great tribulation.
Jacob and his family fled to Egypt (symbolizing the world) during the famine. Joseph and his family fled to Egypt in order to escape from King Herod.
The victorious remnant of saints may find favor with various nations and tribes when they are forced to flee from the cities of Antichrist. If so, they then will be in a position to feed and nourish whoever calls on the name of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. (Joel 2:32)
Throughout church history the nations and peoples of the earth either have persecuted the Lord’s elect, His witnesses, or else have sheltered them. Whenever Christ comes into view, every human being is brought to the only important decision of his or her life: what will I do with Jesus and His brothers?
It is our understanding that the nations that have received the Lord’s elect, His witnesses, will become the nations of saved peoples of the earth. The nations and peoples that have rejected the elect will be punished when the Lord Jesus comes and establishes His Kingdom on the earth.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. (Matthew 10:14,15)
Jesus’ apostles, in the setting of the above passage, were preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. They were not building churches at this time. They were going forth in advance of the Lord Jesus, preparing the towns and villages for His coming. They were Christ’s witnesses—witnesses of His soon appearing to that particular area of the land of Israel.
Each city was judged on the basis of how it received the Lord’s witnesses. The judgment may not have been exercised at that time (nearly two thousand years ago). But if not, it will be exercised when the Lord comes and establishes His Kingdom on the earth.
It appears to us that the manner in which we Christians bear witness will return to this ancient pattern just before the Lord returns. We shall go forth, accompanied by powerful signs and wonders, to every city and village on the earth. Our purpose will be to bear witness of the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to heal the sick, cast out devils, and warn people to repent and be baptized in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
If this type of witnessing is to be true of us in the near future, then the task of each church now is to build up the saints in Christ so they will be able to participate in the worldwide latter-rain witness of the Holy Spirit.
The issue that determines whether or not a nation or tribe will be saved is how that group of people treated the elect, the remnant, the brothers of Christ:
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40)
In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew the sheep are standing on the Lord’s right hand and the goats are standing on the Lord’s left hand.
Where are the elect, the Lord’s brothers to whom He refers, in this scene? The text does not state but it does mention them (see Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:11). Evidently they are standing with Him in glory as He judges the nations of the earth.
Whether the people of a nation or tribe enter the Kingdom of God or the everlasting fire depends on how those people treated the Lord Jesus as represented by His brothers—the least to the greatest.
There have been nations, villages, and peoples throughout church history that have received and treated in a kindly and respectful manner the messengers of the Lord.
Then there have been other nations and villages that have cast the brothers of Christ into prison, despising them and the Lord who sent them. The people of those nations turned a deaf ear to the Gospel, refusing and rejecting the Lord’s ambassadors.
During the Day of Christ, each person on earth, great and small, will be gathered to await the King’s decision. The persons who have received the Lord’s brothers will be given an inheritance in the everlasting Kingdom of God. The persons who have ignored or harmed the Lord’s representatives will be sent into the everlasting fires of judgment.
Woe be to anyone who hurts in any manner an individual who has become as a little child in order to enter the Kingdom of God!
Any person who gives a cup of cold water to a prophet, knowing he is a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward. But those who harm the Lord’s witnesses, His elect, His brothers, will be judged severely.
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. (Matthew 10:40-42)
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6)
Every incident that has arisen throughout history concerning the treatment of the disciples of Jesus will be judged at the coming of the Lord. We have the assurance that God will reward every assistance and avenge every injustice that has taken place as His elect have faithfully borne witness of the Lord to the peoples of the earth.
The record is in Heaven. It is accurate and complete. There will be no mistakes when the transcripts are read in that Day.
It is our understanding that the peoples of the earth will assist the elect during the period of time in which Antichrist attempts to destroy the true Church of Christ—she who travailed in ministry until Christ was formed in the overcomers.
We can see this pattern in the life of Elijah. Jezebel, a strong type of Antichrist, was attempting to destroy the prophets of the Lord. Obadiah, a type of those who will assist the saints during the flood of persecution proceeding from the mouth of the serpent, was a man of wealth—the overseer of King Ahab’s household.
Notice the symbolism in the following passage:
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) (I Kings 18:4)
Obadiah was not one of the prophets whom Queen Jezebel was attempting to destroy with her "flood" of persecution. But Obadiah "feared the Lord greatly."
There will be people located at key points throughout the earth who are not of the end-time witness; yet, they will be among those who fear the Lord greatly.
The prophets of the Lord were hidden by fifties in a cave. They were provided with bread and water.
The cave represents the place of refuge for the Church. The bread and water are the provisions God will furnish through the God-fearing peoples of the earth in order to nourish the woman, the Church (Isaiah 33:16).
The number fifty (the term Pentecost means fifty) refers to the Spirit of God who will empower the end-time latter-rain witness and who also will raise up the standard against the flood of persecution from the enemy.
The two fifties speak of the double portion of the Holy Spirit that will be poured out by the Lord to prepare the world for His appearing. We can notice this same doubled fifty in the two sets of fifty rings linking the linen curtains and the goats’ hair curtains of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. These two sets of fifty rings were located over the Veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
The Most Holy Place, being 1,000 cubic cubits in volume, typifies the millennial reign of Christ, the thousand-year Kingdom Age. We notice two sets of fifty rings placed at the time of passing from the Holy Place, the Church Age, into the Most Holy Place, the Kingdom Age.
And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle. (Exodus 26:6)
And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. (Exodus 26:11)
Gold symbolizes Deity. Brass (bronze) symbolizes judgment. There will be a double portion of God’s Holy Spirit poured out on the earth during the days attending the return of Christ from Heaven. This outpouring will bring the judgment of God to bear on the deeds of the people of the Church and of the world. The unprecedented issuing of the Spirit in judgment will bind together the Church Age and the Kingdom Age so they will be viewed as one expression of Christ.
Christ will walk the first day and the second day and the third day He will be perfected. The Church Age and the Kingdom Age constitute one development of Christ, one establishing of Christ as the Center and Circumference of all creatures, all events, and all things of the entire creation of God.
Every individual who assists God’s elect, His prophets, His remnant, His witnesses, during the closing days of the Church Era will be rewarded by the Lord.
God will place individuals at strategic points all through the tribulation period so they will be able to protect and nourish the saints.
No doubt God will nourish some of the saints from Antichrist’s table. Obadiah was the overseer of King Ahab’s household. Observe also that the Lord Jesus was fed from the table of that Antichrist, King Herod:
And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. (Luke 8:3)
Herod’s steward’s wife nourished Jesus from her substance. It does not require much imagination to suppose some of the "substance" came from Herod’s stores.
God can and does use ravens, which by Jewish law are unclean birds, to feed His prophets:
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. (I Kings 17:4)
Does God command ravens? Did the Lord command the uncircumcised Cyrus the Great to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem?
God always retains total control of the creatures, the events, and the things of the universe. No harm can come to anyone who is trusting the Lord. God makes all things work together for good for His elect.
The Spirit of the Lord directed Elijah to a place of nourishment, providing him with bread, meat, and water, after Elijah had prayed down a severe tribulation upon Israel (I Kings, Chapter 17).
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:17)
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