This is so important to this passage in Revelation chapter 12 and I am just now starting to see it more clearly. God will have a mature people that when all of heaven looks inside of them, they will see Jesus. The reason the church finally gets there is, she heard the thunder, and decided to go to the top to meet God, and therefore was transformed as 2 Corinthians 3:18 confirms. In Revelation chapter 12, God gives another picture of this mature church – she is a woman, she is pregnant and she is ready to give birth. If we are the “woman” then that means, maturity gets you pregnant! So what does the woman give birth?
Rev 12:5 – She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. (NIV)
A male child! Within the scope of maturity and understanding our destiny, we must take this side trip from our message dealing with reconciliation. Who is the male child or as the King James Version puts it “man child?” This verse always sounded like Jesus to me at first glance, so I keep that in mind. Scripturally we see the term “rule the nation with a rod of iron” found in three places in Revelation. It is seen here in chapter 12; it is described as pertaining to “overcoming” Christians in Revelation chapter 2; and pertained to Jesus in Revelation chapter 19. What a puzzle, but remember that God communicates in pictures that are to be interpreted by the people who are walking with God on the mountain instead of by the brainy scholars. Listen to what the Holy Spirit is teaching you about who is who. Proper interpretation will be one of the following: The man-child is only the group pertaining to overcoming Saints. This is in agreement with Revelation chapter 2. Or, the man-child is Jesus as described in Revelation chapter 19. Finally, the man-child can be both Jesus and the overcoming Christian; if this is the case then we must balance our focus. Psalm 2 confirms that the Christian overcomer is granted the promise that was originally given to the Son of God only. Psalm 2 was a promise to Jesus that we are now granted the privilege to receive as our own. So which interpretation should we use for the man-child?
The answer of whether it is only referring to Saints, to Jesus, or simply both is given only through what the Holy Spirit is saying through scripture and can never be know by “figuring it out.” Therefore, let us observe some truth that we already know. Remember the scripture in 1 Corinthians, of how Paul took the act of ministering and used a picture, a metaphor to illustrate the principle. He used several pictures meaning the same thing. We are an eater of meat, a drinker of milk, a field receiving planting and water, or a temple being built. These are different pictures and yet only one principle being taught. Giving more than one picture brought clarification to what Paul was teaching and also added detail to the teaching.
The temple of God is OPENED in Revelation chapter 11 and Jesus is seen as the Ark in heaven. In chapter 12 immediately following the opened ark, we see a second opening; an opening of the womb. The woman labors in pain and now OPENS her womb so the “man child” can be seen in the Earth. In this entire book, we have taught you to minister the Word of God – Jesus to others. We minister Jesus as gold, silver, and precious stones (another picture that Paul used). We minister to others Jesus Who is the Tree of Life. We minister Jesus without the mixture of bitter water, tares, and false doctrine. We minister Jesus the Word of God in the SOIL of others without soulish pride. In addition, all of this type of ministry allows Jesus to come forth from out of our lives through the process of maturity. This ministry is THE WOMAN of Revelation 12, a people who sanctify themselves to live on the mountain with God, Jesus grows up in them, they are transformed into His image and they IMPART JESUS TO OTHERS. This is maturity defined. Paul said it this way:
Gal 4:19 – My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you–(NAS)
Why was this Man-child caught up to the throne? Because if we read the entire passage we seen that the adversary wants to destroy 3 people – the man-child, the woman and the OTHER offspring (“the remnant of the woman”). God catches the man-child to heaven and is out of reach. In other words, snatching him up to heaven divinely protects the man-child. The woman who gave birth is divinely protected from the enemy as well but remains on the Earth and it is the earth that saves the woman from the flood of the dragon. This shows that God puts His stamp of approval on Her and she should never be considered immature as some teach – she is a life-giver, she is a mature woman, and she gives birth to that which is caught up like. Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus were all caught up when their call was fulfilled. The remnant is the one that the enemy seeks when he cannot get to the woman and the man-child. The remnant is described as they “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Therefore, God puts His stamp of approval on all three pictures presented in this chapter. God’s approval of ALL THREE must be established or we will hinder the Holy Spirit from revealing truth. We must make natural observations and examine what we know, then the Holy Spirit gives light beyond what we naturally know. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit helps us with the tasks of study and observations as well.
Here is another picture that I see fitting with this passage in Revelation, and what Paul said about laboring so Christ would be formed in others. Jesus gives the parable of the sower of the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God being sown. The adversary attacks whenever Jesus (the Word) is sown. See this picture with me because it illustrates the function of the enemy to attack and should be compared to the attacks seen in Revelation chapter 12.
Mark 4:14 – The sower soweth the word.
Or another way of putting it; the minister of the word makes the womb (ground) pregnant.
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
This is the same picture seen in Revelation where the dragon seeks to devour the child as soon as He is born. In the following verses, we see more attacks from the devil to prevent the Word of God from growing up. The GOOD NEWS of this parable is that it ends with a people that have allowed the Word of God (Jesus) to grow to PRODUCTIVITY. As well, Jesus is the Branch that grows up inside of us. What God is prophesying in Revelation and many other scriptures is this; there shall be a people that will have had the seed sown in them, and they will produce 30, 60, and 100 fold. In addition, they will give birth to another people that are 30, 60, and 100 fold, by sowing that same seed – that seed is Jesus and the fruit that is produced is Jesus as well. It is not just about you becoming mature, it is about you imparting the life that makes others mature. You become the “mother” giving birth, you become the “father” that raises sons that become fathers, and you become the “hard-working farmer” that labors over the soil that God is blessing. The MAN-CHILD is CAUGHT UP to the throne to signify that the Word of God was birthed in others and the adversary cannot get to Him. Do you see it; God is declaring the Word that you will deposit to others as OFF-LIMITS TO THE DEVIL as well as you are off limits to the devil. Therefore, who is this word deposited?
Rev 12:17 – Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring– those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (NIV)
The dragon could not touch the Male child (WORD), or the woman – so the devil seeks to “make war” with the REST (literally – others remaining, remnant) of her offspring. How do we know that Jesus the Word of God was imparted to this offspring? Because whenever you truly minister Jesus, you will see a people that obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. That is how you know that the Word fell on good soil. This plan of God is about you becoming like Jesus, to the point you cause others to become like Jesus. The true meaning of “making disciples!” The parable of the sower ends with these words:
Mark 4:21-23 – And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
The opening of the Temple to reveal the Ark and the woman giving birth to reveal Jesus the male child is simply another way of prophesying that the bushel shall be removed from that candle of Jesus in you and then placed on a candlestick to light others. Whatever you have in your heart, whomever you have been serving, will be manifested, for nothing is hid. We must have ears to hear and eyes to see. Who is the man-child? Is it Jesus? Is it the Overcomers? Is it both? The Holy Spirit will reveal this if you have eyes to see. What do I see? I see the man-child primarily as a people that are so In Christ that you cannot tell them – from Him. Jesus is the focus as the Word of God planted and grown up, but the church is there too, just as our example in Psalms that we gave earlier. The man-child is a promise of the Word of God that is sown by the woman. That promise is being realized and shared by overcoming Saints that hear and see what God is saying, and produced 30-60-100 fold lives. Therefore, they are as a male child caught up to heaven as Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus. Caught up as one who walked in intimacy, one who walked in the power of ministry, and One Who walked in total obedience to His Father. Jesus became a culmination of all God’s plans, a culmination of Who God is, and the Love demonstrated, which conforms others to that same Image. The thunder of Revelation chapter 12 reveals a great wonder – that wonder is a people that Jesus grew up in, and they imparted to others that Jesus grew up.
Revelation is not the first book that used metaphors, parables, and symbols; these types and shadows are seen from cover to cover. Paul used them, Peter used them, and most all writers of scriptures taught with pictures. The 4th thunder of the Old Testament demonstrates intimacy through Moses heeding the thunder and then meeting God face to face. It reveals to the world the glory of that encounter with God. Being “caught up” to heaven is the experience of being summoned to the top of the mountain where God is, and having a face-to-face relationship Him. It is a place that is totally out of reach from the enemy, it is a place Enoch had been. It is a whirlwind that captured Elijah, and it is a whirlwind that admonished Job about the greatness and awesomeness of God. It is a whirlwind that comes again according to Isaiah in the last day. The “catching up” in Revelation has spiritual significance – NOW. The Word of God is received on good and obedient soil that is “caught up” to the intimacy of face to face relationship where we know when we are acting on our authority and when we are walking and speaking only on His authority. A relationship that lives on the mountain and leaves that mountain in productivity – giving life to others!
John Robert Lucas
Excerpt from Temple Builders: Final Push to the Summit
