And the woman fled into the desert, where she had a place prepared for her by God, in order that she might be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days. Rev. 12:6.
Bible scholars generally agree that the woman of Revelation 12 represents the church suffering at the hands of Satan, particularly after the resurrection of Jesus. Persecution, of course, can come in many forms.
I was born on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when it was relatively poor (today that neighborhood contains America's most expensive real estate). My parents soon found affordable housing across the Hudson River in New Jersey. But while I grew up in another state, my family and I still thought of ourselves as New Yorkers. We went to church in Manhattan, and when we could afford it, my brother and I went to Adventist schools in the city as well.
It was tough growing up Adventist in New York City. Not only were most of the people on the street secular, but we didn't even feel at home with Christians of other denominations. We were a tiny, scattered community in the midst of an enormous world of skyscrapers and forbidden attractions. Like most New Yorkers, we hurried from one familiar place to another through a vast jungle of strangers with unfamiliar faces.
I can't say that anyone ever really persecuted me for my faith. I just knew I was different, even strange. I wanted to be liked, but the neighbor kids knew I was not one of them. I didn't go to the movie theaters with them and never showed up at the school dances on Friday night (I went to public school for five years). If my friends asked if they could come over on Saturdays I made some excuse or other. When offered a beer or a smoke, I declined as politely as I knew how (although I suffered many guilty struggles at the neighborhood candy shop). Persecuted? No. Abused? No. Scorned and rejected? Not really. My non-Adventist friends and neighbors were really nice people. A fish out of water? Yes. A stranger in a strange land? Definitely.
Growing up, I felt more at home in the book of Revelation than I did in my neighborhood. John seemed to understand my struggles with the world--the forbidden attractions, the sense of being different, even weird. He portrayed the kind of world I was living in. When I read about the woman in the desert, I felt she represented me. The Roman world as understood by Bible scholars was a lot like my world. Christians in Asia Minor, even if no one persecuted them, still struggled with how to live in a pagan world.
Lord, train me in the relatively easy times to be faithful in the hard times that Revelation tells us are coming.
Bible scholars generally agree that the woman of Revelation 12 represents the church suffering at the hands of Satan, particularly after the resurrection of Jesus. Persecution, of course, can come in many forms.
I was born on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when it was relatively poor (today that neighborhood contains America's most expensive real estate). My parents soon found affordable housing across the Hudson River in New Jersey. But while I grew up in another state, my family and I still thought of ourselves as New Yorkers. We went to church in Manhattan, and when we could afford it, my brother and I went to Adventist schools in the city as well.
It was tough growing up Adventist in New York City. Not only were most of the people on the street secular, but we didn't even feel at home with Christians of other denominations. We were a tiny, scattered community in the midst of an enormous world of skyscrapers and forbidden attractions. Like most New Yorkers, we hurried from one familiar place to another through a vast jungle of strangers with unfamiliar faces.
I can't say that anyone ever really persecuted me for my faith. I just knew I was different, even strange. I wanted to be liked, but the neighbor kids knew I was not one of them. I didn't go to the movie theaters with them and never showed up at the school dances on Friday night (I went to public school for five years). If my friends asked if they could come over on Saturdays I made some excuse or other. When offered a beer or a smoke, I declined as politely as I knew how (although I suffered many guilty struggles at the neighborhood candy shop). Persecuted? No. Abused? No. Scorned and rejected? Not really. My non-Adventist friends and neighbors were really nice people. A fish out of water? Yes. A stranger in a strange land? Definitely.
Growing up, I felt more at home in the book of Revelation than I did in my neighborhood. John seemed to understand my struggles with the world--the forbidden attractions, the sense of being different, even weird. He portrayed the kind of world I was living in. When I read about the woman in the desert, I felt she represented me. The Roman world as understood by Bible scholars was a lot like my world. Christians in Asia Minor, even if no one persecuted them, still struggled with how to live in a pagan world.
Lord, train me in the relatively easy times to be faithful in the hard times that Revelation tells us are coming.
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