The woman, the dragon, and the man child: the pregnancy

Study:

"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." Revelation 12:1,2

What is this pregnancy?

Notice the words of Jesus:

"Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:19-22

Jesus here refers to his capture, trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection. How do we know? Because in John 13 is the last supper, the Lord's supper, prior to the crucifixion.

"Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; ... He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself." John 13:1-4

And John 18 is Gethsemane where the mob finds Jesus and takes Him.

"When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples." John 18:1,2

This raises an important question. Recall the parallel structure of Revelation 12:

Revelation 12:1-6

Revelation 12:7-17

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. vss. 1-3

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. vss. 7,8

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: vss. 4,5a

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. vs. 9

and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. vs. 5b

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. vss. 10-12

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. vs. 6

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 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. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. vss. 13-17

According to this structure, the pregnancy of the woman runs all the way back to Revelation 12's war in heaven, prior to the casting out of Lucifer/the dragon. How can that be? First, the pregnancy!

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8

"But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you," 1 Peter 1:19,20

According to these verses, Christ has been crucified from before the Creation of the world. And what of the woman? The church, neither Old Testament nor New Testament, existed back then. But they did!

"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." Revelation 17:8

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" Ephesians 1:4

According to these verses, the church or kingdom of heaven has existed from before the Creation, but only in the mind of God. This is not predestination but just God's foreknowledge. We all have free choice even though God can see what our choices will be.

If the pregnancy is not Mary's pregnancy but is the crucifixion, what does that make the birth?

Christ has already told us: "...but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. ... but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." The birth is the resurrection! But do the scriptures verify this anywhere else? Yes! God says the resurrection is the birth of His Son... and this is the only time He claims to have begotten a son!

"And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Acts 13:32,33

In summary, the pregnancy is the crucifixion of Christ and the birth, His resurrection!

To be continued...

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