«　WEEK 44　DAY 1　»

　　Rev. 12:5 And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

　　2:26-27 And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;…as I also have received from My Father.

　　Revelation 12:2 says that the woman was with child, and verse 5 says that “she brought forth a son, a man-child.” The child here, being a man-child, signifies the stronger part of God's people…Man-child here does not indicate a baby. Rather, it indicates the stronger part within the woman. The woman represents the totality of God's people. But throughout all generations there have been some stronger ones among God's people. These are considered in the Bible as a collective unit fighting the battle for God and bringing God's kingdom down to earth. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 399-400)

　　History proves that not everyone among God's people is a strong one… This was true during the time of the patriarchs…I believe that God had hundreds of people. Noah, however, was a strong one. During the time of Israel, there were hundreds of thousands who belonged to God, but only a few of them were strong. For example, Elijah and Jeremiah were strong ones. Undoubtedly, the majority of God's people were genuine, but they were not strong. We find the same thing in the New Testament. Although there were thousands of Christians in the early days, not that many were truly strong. Even at present there are thousands, even millions, of Christians, but not many are strong. I encourage you all to be strong.

　　We should not only be part of the woman but also part of the man-child… The man-child consists of the resurrected overcomers. That the man-child “is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod” (Rev. 12:5) indicates that the man-child consists of the overcomers as mentioned in 2:26-27. These overcomers are those who have already died.

　　Revelation 12:5 says that the woman “brought forth” the man-child. Brought forth here signifies resurrection, as in Acts 13:33-34. The man-child is composed of the overcoming saints who have died and who have been resurrected. This is proved by the words unto death in Revelation 12:11. The Lord Jesus was brought forth in resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God. To Him that was a birth. Acts 13:33 and 34, a quotation of Psalm 2:7, reveal that when He was resurrected, He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God. Prior to that, He was the only begotten Son of God with divinity, but through His resurrection He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God with both divinity and humanity. All the overcomers who die will be part of the man-child. By resurrection the man-child will come into full existence…If you are an overcomer today and live until the Lord comes back, you will not be a part of the man-child. Instead, you may be among the firstfruits mentioned in Revelation 14. But if you are an overcomer and die before the Lord comes back, you will be resurrected to be part of the man-child.

　　Revelation 12:5 also says that the man-child “was caught up to God and to His throne.” To be caught up is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child differs from that of the majority of the believers, which is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There, the majority of the believers are raptured to the air and at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16), which is the seventh trumpet (Rev. 11:15). But here, the man-child is raptured to the throne of God and before the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months, 12:14; 13:5; 11:2), beginning from the sixth seal, before the fifth trumpet (9:1). (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 400, 405-406, 412-413)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 34-36