THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Part 26
The Woman, the Male Child, and the Dragon
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And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a Woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars:
And she being with Child cried, travailing in birth, and pained
to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the Woman which was ready
to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man Child, Who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His Throne.
And the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and
threescore days.
Rev 12:1-6 KJV
This is not a literal event that takes place; instead,
it’s a ‘figurative event.’ It is a ‘word picture’ describing a prophesied
event. This prophesied event is unfolding—even now!
A Child Who will rule all nations with a rod of iron.
Who is this Child?
He is “The Child of GOD.”
He will rule the nations in the Millennium with a “rod
of iron”—His Word.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them
in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Ps 2:9KJV
He will smite the nations with ‘the Sword’—“the Word
of His Mouth.”
And out of His mouth goeth a sharp Sword, that with it He should
smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron
Rev 19:15 KJV
God’s Word in the book of Isaiah said something very
remarkable about the travail of Zion in bringing forth the male Child Who will
rule the nations with an iron scepter.
Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came,
she was delivered of a man Child.
Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall
the Earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once?
for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith
the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
Isa 66:7-9 KJV
Lucifer led the rebellion of a third of the angels [his
tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven]. This rebellion occurred in
the universe (known as the second heaven).He rebelled against God and was cast
out of "the Second Heaven" down to the Earth.
"The little horn" [the antichrist] in
Daniel 8:10 waxed strong and "cast some of the stars" [tribulation
saints] to the ground.
And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down
some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
Dan 8:10 KJV
“…the
dragon stood before “the Woman” which was ready to be delivered, for to devour
her Child as soon as it was born” (v.4b). A fulfillment
of this is seen in Matthew 2.
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the
exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go
and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me,
so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the
star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the
place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On
coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed
down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with
gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream
not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for
the child to kill him."
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and
left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled
what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son."
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he
was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its
vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had
learned from the Magi. (vv.7-16 NIV).
Jesus Christ is He Who ‘was caught up to GOD and to His Throne.’
"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand
here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, Who has been taken from you into Heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into Heaven."
Acts 1:11 NIV
When “the Bride of Christ” is whisked away to
Heaven, Israel—the Israel that is by faith-will go into hiding in the
wilderness. And she goes into hiding for three and a half years [in the time of
the Great Tribulation].
Chapters 11, 12, and 13 of Revelation are known as
"mid-tribe" events.