“She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod”.
The Anti-Christ?
I don’t know anything about it. I just goggled the date to see why the poster said it. Sorry. Haven’t spent any time reading it.
Revelation 12:1-12
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days. Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time.”
I believe the Revelation is by and large a linear book, but with several summary passages that put things into a historical perspective. Rev. 12 is one such summary. It takes the reader through the history of the animosity between Satan and God’s people, and explains why he’s so enraged at being cast out of heaven at the beginning (not the middle) of the Great Tribulation.
When studying the book of Revelation it helps to realize that out of its 404 verses, 280 are basically quotes from the Old Testament. Therefore, having a good command of the Old Testament makes understanding the Revelation much easier. As an example, an adaptation of the woman in Rev. 12:1 first appears in Genesis 37:9-11 in one of Joseph’s dreams where he is the ruler over his brothers. (This is one of the many places in Genesis where Joseph serves as a type of the Messiah.) In Rev. 12:2 the woman is personified as Mary, the Lord’s mother. Put the two together and you realize the woman represents Israel who gave birth to the Messiah.
Beginning in verse 3 we see Satan’s fall, in which he was joined by 1/3 of the angelic host, and his attempt to prevent the Messiah from fulfilling His role as our redeemer. Having been the real leader of the plot to have Jesus killed, he was caught off guard by the resurrection, which turned what he thought would be his greatest victory into a resounding defeat.
Verse 6 is an account of the believing remnant of Israel heeding the Lord’s call to flee from their homes when they see the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15-21) because that will be the sign that the Great Tribulation has begun. At that time Satan will finally be expelled from Heaven and confined to Earth to begin the epic battle against God and His people we know as the Great Tribulation. This battle is described in Rev. 13-19 .