Revelation 12:5-6

⁵ And she brought forth a male Child, One Who is destined to shepherd (rule) all the nations with an iron staff (scepter), and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.

• The church brought forth Jesus, not Israel. What mother hates her own child as Israel hated Jesus? True believers, which are Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, brought forth Jesus. 
• Jesus was resurrected from the dead, glorified to His former state of being, and raised up to Heaven. Satan thought he had destroyed Jesus by crucifying Him, and yet Jesus was raised from the dead. Just as satan will think that he has destroyed the two witnesses and will fail. The glorious Truth that sets us free is that death is never an ending for the chosen ones of God! 
• Satan is given too much credit for acting alone in religion today. He is just a tool of our Father and he repeatedly shows his ignorance throughout history. Look how our Father has used him throughout the years and you will see this Truth. Our Father didn't make satan very smart. Satan is a deceiver, that is how our Father made him, and he constantly is trying to convince people that he is in charge. Ego, pride, and jealousy always act this way. What satan sows, he reaps. He sows deception, so he is always being deceived. God knows the beginning and the end. Our Father knew what satan would do because He made him that way! Our Father created the good and the evil and they all work together for His good.
• I form the light and create darkness, I make peace [national well-being] and I create [physical] evil (calamity); I am the Lord, Who does all these things. Isaiah 45:7
• Think for a minute about John seeing this part of the vision. Up to this time, John was shown all that was wrong with six of the seven churches, and then he was shown all of the destructive actions of the wicked. John was shown the pain, the grief, and the absolute destructive nature of the world. He had taken and eaten the scroll that had made him sick, but now He sees the victory of Jesus. 
• John knows Jesus, he knows Who He is and what He is, this is a refreshing time during the vision for John. He has just seen that the rule of the world has been handed over to Jesus. He has seen Heaven and earth rejoice, and now he sees Jesus being protected by God. It is easy to preach on just the hardships of the unsealed during a study of Revelation, but the glorious power of our Father working through His chosen ones is what brings us joy and hope. 

⁶ And the woman [herself] fled into the desert (wilderness), where she has a retreat prepared [for her] by God, in which she is to be fed and kept safe for 1,260 days (42 months; three and one-half years).

• Notice that the Church is in the wilderness here, not in Heaven. Heaven is not a wilderness.
• Wilderness means we are not part of Babylon, the worlds system of living and doing things
• We will be removed from Babylon, Revelation 18:4, before the Great Tribulation 
• For the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation the Church is protected and fed. Jesus Shepherds His Bride to food and water during this time. He will protect us from the scorching sun and He will wipe away all of our tears. He will use us to provide to those in need, even when the world tells us that we can’t buy or sell. The demonic attacks of the creatures of the Abyss never will come nigh us. Our yoke is easy and our burden is light and greater is our Lord Who is in us, than anything that is in the world.
• Notice here that the Revelation of Jesus never shows us that the woman would reject the child, as Israel rejected Jesus. I believe that is a huge point to not mention if the woman was actually Israel, as so many believe and preach. 
• Also, Israel never fled into the wilderness, the Jewish people fled into Europe and Russia, heavily populated areas of the world, not the wilderness. But the true Church has always been on the outside looking in. Not the false Christian churches, they have been accepted for centuries and found favor with men. Governments have been able to manipulate them from the beginning to carry out their evil purposes. But the real church, those truly called and chosen by God, have always been rejected. Many are called to be the Bride of Christ but few are chosen to be.