Revelation 12:5

And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.

And she was delivered of a son ... and her child was caught up to God, and unto his throne ... These two clauses open and close this verse; and the whole biography of the earthy life, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God is here compressed into nineteen words! The critics have really had a fit about this. Some have even denied that the birth of Christ is mentioned here. Roberts, following Caird, wrote:

John does not mean precisely the birth of Jesus (passing over the earthly life of Jesus and going directly to his ascension), but rather his death, resurrection and ascension.[29]

Despite such views, the pregnant woman, the travailing in birth, and the delivery of a man child in this passage can mean nothing else except the birth of Christ; and the compression of Jesus' whole biography into such a short space is perfectly in harmony with what the author did by presenting the entire Old Testament history in a single verse (Revelation 12:4). To suppose that the birth is not included here would make the passage mean that the woman brought forth his death and resurrection; because the emphatic statements of her pregnancy and her being delivered clearly makes her the achiever of whatever happened in Revelation 12:5. This therefore has to be a reference to Jesus' physical birth in Bethlehem.

The consternation of the critical community that John should have produced so short a biography of Jesus is a mystery to this writer; because it is in perfect harmony with all of John's writings. He left out of his gospel all of the miracles but seven and omitted the actual birth of Jesus altogether. He did many other things that some would have accounted unbelievable. Paul also did exactly the same thing which John does here. In his letter to Timothy, "He passes straight from the birth of Christ ("He was manifested in the flesh") to his resurrection ("He was vindicated in the Spirit"); and the whole passage contains no mention of the life and death of Christ."[30] Thus, this thumb-nail biography of Jesus is in the very best New Testament tradition; and there is no need to make out that Jesus' birth here actually means his death! What was the reason for the brevity? The movement of the narrative demanded it. How false then must be the conclusion that John "is not interested in the human Jesus."[31]

We have belabored this point a bit, due to the false allegations of some that the apostle John did not write this but "took over a pagan myth."[32] Morris expertly refuted such notions by pointing out that John "described heaven in Revelation 4 with no mention of Christ; but when he came to Revelation 5, he emphasized the central place of the Lamb."[33] That example shows that John is quite capable of concentrating on one thing at a time.

She was delivered of a son, a man child ... Of special note is the double emphasis of masculinity here. Alexander Campbell translated this, "She bore a masculine son."[34] Pieters rendered it, "A son, a he-man, a fierce assertion of the virility of Christ."[35]

Regarding the identity of the Son, our own view that he is unmistakably the Christ of the ages is already clear enough. This is the usually accepted meaning. "A long array of commentators regards this as a reference to the birth of Christ, and we must join them."[36] "The man child is certainly symbolical of Christ."[37] Just who else, in the whole history of the world, ever qualified for this identity as certified in the next clause?

Who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron ... "These words are quoted from the second Psalm, and they identify beyond question who the child is (See Revelation 2:27)."[38] Both that second Psalm and the book of Revelation deal with the victory of Christ over his adversaries.

As Summers said, "Some scholars of the continuous-historical school deny this, viewing the woman as the church, and the man child as the sons and daughters born of the church's travail."[39] Among those of that view was the late eminent preacher and scholar, L. S. White, with whom this writer began his ministry of the gospel. He wrote: "The child is a symbol of faithful Christians, and the woman is the church of the living God."[40] It appears to be impossible, however, to harmonize such interpretations with the fact of the sex of this man child being so vigorously stressed here. Such interpretations are not actually derived from the text, but from prior interpretations leading up to it. Since the previous chapters have already taken them up to the times of Constantine the Great, or later, "They must find something after the fourth and fifth centuries to which this may be applied."[41]

And her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne ... This clearly denotes the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

How Ellicott and the historical school can regard this as a reference to the elevation of Constantine to the throne of the Roman Empire, and quote Gibbon that "Christianity was seated on the throne of the Roman world," we fail to comprehend ... As for the futurists, they would leave the "iron rod" (of this verse) idle in the hands of the exalted Christ until the Second Advent.[42]

It should be noted that according to this verse, it was God's throne in heaven to which this man child was elevated.

[29] J. W. Roberts, The Revelation of John (Austin, Texas: The R. B. Sweet Company, 1974), p. 100.

[30] G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 200.

[31] William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 78.

[32] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 159.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Alexander Campbell, as quoted by James D. Strauss, The Seer, the Saviour, and the Saved (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1972), p. 162.

[35] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 159.

[36] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 367.

[37] Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1961), p. 171.

[38] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 84.

[39] Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 171.

[40] L. S. White, Sermons on Revelation (Cincinnati, Ohio: F. L. Rowe, Publisher, 1917), p. 185.

[41] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 160.

[42] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 369.