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Date: February 11, 1972
Scripture Reading: Rev. 12:1-5, 7-11; 19:1-9
The first three men that the Bible speaks of are Adam, the Lord Jesus, and the church as the one new man. The third man — the church — is a corporate man produced by the Lord Jesus through His death on the cross and through the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost after His resurrection. However, the church soon became desolate. God then began to call for overcomers, signified by the man-child in Revelation, to accomplish His purpose. The man-child is the fourth man spoken of in the Bible.
The man-child in Revelation 12 is brought forth by a universal woman. Verses 1 through 5 say, “A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child, and she cried out, travailing in birth and being in pain to bring forth. And another sign was seen in heaven; and behold, there was a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems...And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, so that when she brings forth he might devour her child. 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.” Verse 1 says, “A great sign was seen in heaven.” Hence, the woman, the dragon, and the man-child in this vision are all signs.
Certain Scriptures are clear and can be interpreted literally. For example, the phrases in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and God so loved the world (Gen. 1:1; John 3:16) are neither symbolic expressions nor signs. Rather, they are clear words that can be interpreted literally. However, other verses, which contain visions, symbols, and illustrations, cannot be interpreted literally but should be expounded according to their spiritual significance. For example, Matthew 25 says, “At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins” (v. 1). Virgins here does not refer to ten actual virgins; rather, it signifies a group of people. Matthew 13:24-25 says, “The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat.” Wheat and tares are metaphorical expressions that refer to a group of people who are like wheat and to another group of people who are like tares. Based on this principle, the woman and the man-child in Revelation 12 need to be interpreted figuratively.
The woman in Revelation 12 is not an actual woman but a symbol with spiritual significance. Verse 1 speaks of the woman being “clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” This gives us a view of the universe and shows that the woman represents a corporate woman in the universe. The word universe encompasses both time and space, involving all time both past and present and including all space, that is, all places. This woman, as a sign, refers to a group of people, encompassing all time and all places; therefore, she is a universal woman.
This universal woman is clothed with the sun, the moon is underneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars is on her head, but who does she symbolize? The Bible speaks of the sun, the moon, and twelve stars together in the same context twice — once in Revelation and once in Genesis. In Genesis 37 Joseph dreamed of the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him (v. 9). From the context we can see clearly that the sun refers to his father, the moon to his mother, and the eleven stars to his brothers who, along with Joseph, add up to twelve stars. When the sun, the moon, and twelve stars are put together, they represent all of God’s people. Hence, the woman in Revelation 12 symbolizes the totality of God’s people. Everyone who is of God throughout the ages and throughout the earth is included in this woman.
The Bible often refers to people who are of God as females because, figuratively speaking, God is the unique male. Hence, those who belong to God are female. According to the flesh, I am a male, but before the Lord, I am a female. In Song of Songs in the Old Testament the Lord is spoken of as our Beloved, and we are His love (2:10). In the New Testament, the ten virgins in Matthew 25 refer to all those who are of the Lord. Ephesians 5 also speaks of the church as the wife of Christ (v. 25). Thus, we can see that the persons who belong to God in the Bible are designated as females. Therefore, the woman in Revelation 12 symbolizes those who are of the Lord throughout all the ages on the earth. This woman includes Adam, Abel, Enosh, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Peter, James, John, and you and me.
This woman is clothed with the sun, and the moon is underneath her feet. Furthermore, there is a crown of twelve stars on her head. Each of these heavenly signs is associated with a part of the woman — her body is clothed with the sun, the moon is underneath her feet, and the twelve stars are on her head. Each of these parts signifies a specific age. Sun denotes the age of grace. Luke 1:78 says that the first coming of the Lord Jesus is like the rising sun visiting us from on high. Stars and moon denote the dark night of the Old Testament age before the coming of the Lord Jesus, which can be further divided into the age of the patriarchs and the age of the law. The age of the patriarchs is signified by the twelve stars, and the age of the law is signified by the moon. The age of the patriarchs is from Adam to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob until the giving of the law; the dispensation of the law begins with Moses and concludes with the coming of the Lord Jesus. In the age of the patriarchs, people were not under the principle of the law but under the principle of grace; hence, the stars are on top of the woman’s head. The law was not God’s original intention; hence, the moon, representing the law, is underneath the woman’s feet. These three symbols — the sun, the moon, and the stars — tell us that this woman is composed of all the Lord’s people in these three ages.
Some Bible expositors say that this woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus, but this understanding lacks thoughtfulness. Mary was an Israelite woman, and it would have been impossible for her to be represented by a universal woman who stands between the heavens and the earth, who is clothed with the sun, who has the moon underneath her feet, and who has a crown of twelve stars on her head. Mary is only a part of this woman. This woman is the aggregate of all those who belong to the Lord throughout the age of the patriarchs, the age of the law, and the age of grace.
Revelation 12:4 says, “The dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, so that when she brings forth he might devour her child.” This dragon symbolizes the ancient serpent Satan who stands before the woman with the intention to devour the man-child whom she will bring forth (v. 5), not to destroy the woman. The woman and the man-child are one entity before the child is brought forth; therefore, the man-child is a part of the woman. In the Bible females signify the weaker part, and males signify the stronger part. Although the woman symbolizes that God’s people are weak, the man-child who is brought forth by the woman symbolizes a stronger part within the woman. This strength is seen by the fact that the man-child will shepherd all the nations with an iron rod (v. 5). In speaking of the overcomers in the church in Thyatira, verses 26 and 27 of chapter 2 say, “He who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod.” A comparison of these verses with 12:5 proves that the man-child is composed of the overcomers in the church. Just as the man-child is a part of the woman, the overcomers are the stronger part of the church.
The first man created by God, Adam, failed to accomplish God’s purpose. Therefore, God Himself came to be the second man, the Lord Jesus, in order to accomplish His purpose. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church as the one new man was produced. This is the third man in the Bible. However, shortly after being produced, the church became weak and was unable to accomplish God’s purpose. Hence, in Revelation the Lord called for overcomers to be the man-child in order to accomplish the work that the church has not been able to accomplish (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:5).
All the churches on the earth today are a part of the universal woman as the totality of God’s people. However, not everyone among God’s people is strong. Consequently, God needs to call overcomers to be the man-child to accomplish His purpose. The case of Gideon in Judges 6 and 7 is a type of God’s call for overcomers. At that time the children of Israel were experiencing the oppression and attack of Midian; consequently, God called Gideon to lead the people into battle against Midian. Initially, more than thirty-two thousand Israelites responded to God’s call and were willing to fight. God, however, felt that there were too many people, so He asked Gideon to proclaim, “Whoever is afraid and trembling should return and depart from here” (7:3). As a result, twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. However, God still felt that there were too many, and He eventually selected only three hundred men who lapped water into their mouth with their hand (vv. 6-7). They were the overcomers, the man-child of that time. Thus, we see that the overcomers are a group of people who, by God’s grace, do not care for their own enjoyment but for God’s purpose and interest. This is the distinction between the overcomers and others: they care only for God’s purpose, not for their own enjoyment, future, career, marriage, family, or security.
Matthew 22 says, “Many are called but few are chosen” (v. 14). There are many believers throughout the ages, but only a minority of them are the man-child. Furthermore, the book of Revelation shows that Satan’s attention is not directed toward the woman but toward the man-child, whom he seeks to devour. This is the real situation today. Although Satan afflicts the church and deals with the church, his darts are always aimed at the strong, overcoming ones — the man-child — in the church. Whoever is strong in the church becomes a target of criticism, opposition, and even attack. Revelation 12:5-7 even speaks of there being war in heaven when the man-child is caught up to God and to His throne. The man-child will war for the kingdom of God and cast down Satan and his angels (vv. 7-9).
Revelation 12:11 says, “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death.” They in this verse refers to the man-child, the brothers who overcame Satan. Verse 10 speaks of Satan accusing the brothers before our God day and night. The brothers, however, overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony, and because they did not love their soul-life even unto death. We can overcome Satan because the blood of the Lamb has redeemed us, because of the word of our testimony, and because we do not love our soul-life, our self, even unto death. Concerning negative things, the man-child will cast down God’s enemy, Satan, from heaven. Concerning positive things, the man-child will bring in the kingdom of God. Verse 10 says, “I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ.” The man-child casts down Satan and brings in the kingdom of God.
The man-child in chapter 12 of Revelation becomes the bride in chapter 19. The overcoming believers who constitute the man-child will be called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb (vv. 7-9). Not every saved person will attend this marriage dinner. This dinner, which lasts one thousand years, is only for the overcomers. All those who are saved will be in the New Jerusalem in eternity future, but not everyone will be part of the bride. Nor will everyone be called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. We must be today’s man-child, the overcomers, to be part of the bride in that day and to enjoy the marriage dinner of the Lamb. In the coming millennial kingdom the overcomers will eat and rejoice together with Christ, enjoy His presence and joy, and enter into the full enjoyment of Him for one thousand years.
From Genesis to the end of Revelation God has a purpose, which must be accomplished through man. In this matter the first man, Adam, failed. Then the Lord Jesus became the second man to accomplish God’s purpose. Through His death and resurrection, the one new man was produced, which is the church as the third man. This new man should have been able to accomplish God’s purpose, but the church failed. Therefore, God came in to call out overcomers from the church. These overcomers are the man-child. Only the man-child, composed of overcoming saints, can defeat and cast down God’s enemy, bring Christ back, bring in the kingdom of the Lord, and accomplish God’s eternal purpose. Wherever the overcomers go, Satan is cast down and Christ is brought in. Hence, the kingdom of God, in which Satan is defeated and Christ is expressed, is with the overcomers. These overcomers are the man-child, the fourth man in the Bible.
