13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman, who brought forth the man child: 14 And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place, where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water as it were a river; that he might cause her to be carried away by the river.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 18 And he stood upon the sand of the sea.
2007-12-30 13:46:37 · 13 answers · asked by Debra M. Wishing Peace To All 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Sir exactly how did the "Church" bring forth Christ? He brought forth the Church.
2007-12-30 13:53:53 · update #1
Please take note of punctuation. It does NOT state that she was nourished by the serpent.
2007-12-30 14:11:25 · update #2
Mary,"Birth-Giver to God Incarnate"
on a spiritual( allegorical or moral or eschatological/epigogical) level
it can include the Church, the individual believer and the Jewish people
2007-12-31 00:22:33 · answer #1 · answered by James O 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God's heavenly wife-like organization. It is from this entity that his son, Jesus, the Messianic King (and the primary part of the seed mentioned in these verses) comes about. The "rest of her seed" are the 144,000 anointed co-rulers with Christ who will rule from heaven.
Notes:
Revelation is presented in signs.... saying that Christ came from Israel would be a literal interpretation of the verses, not one in harmony with the way the book is written and the context of this chapter.
Also, the verses do not say that the dragon (Who is Satan) nourished the woman, but that the dragon persecuted her and then she was removed (presumably by God) and nourished AWAY FROM THE FACE OF THE SERPENT (also, Satan).
2007-12-30 13:51:42 · answer #2 · answered by eliz_esc 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
1- Women often represent religious systems in Revelation.
- Jezebel is associated with a religious system of false teaching and life (Revelation 2:20).
- The Great Harlot is associated with false religion (Revelation 17:2).
- The Bride is associated with the Church (Revelation 19:7-8).
Here, the woman represents the People of God, the Church, because all Revelation is about the triumph of Jesus in his Church, with his Church, for His Church, to His Church... for you and me, who are members his Church... and for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets, as Jesus says in Lk.13:28, because the victory of the blood of Lamb is retroactive, for all persons since Adam to the end of the world...
... Yes, the woman represents Israel, and there is general acceptance of it in the commentaries.
... but there are some objections about the Church of Christ, claiming that Jesus "gives birth" to the Church, not the other way around... but John sees a continuum between the OT and NT elect in 21:12-14. My opinion is that in prophecy there doesn't appear to be a sharp dividing line is drawn between the true Israel and the new Israel, because the people of the promise are one people, whether they lived before or after the coming of Christ'... yes, because the victory of the blood of the Lamb, again, is retroactive... it applies both to the Church of the Old Testament, to Israel, and to the Church of the New Testament.
2007-12-30 14:37:08 · answer #3 · answered by *Truth Seeker* 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God's true church. When God spoke of the struggle between the serpent and the woman in Genesis 3:15, He was in fact predicting the struggle between the devil and His church.
The woman fled into the desert for 1,260 days. This refers to persecution of the church. During a very dark period in history when religious authorities tried to dominate, people were persecuted because of what they believed. A symbolic day=years in the bible. For 1,260 years christians suffered persecution. "fled into the desert". This period started in A.D.538 by Roman Emperor Justinian, who named the bishop of Rome the head over all christian churches. The Roman church persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, killed millions of christians. Christians with beliefs founded on God's teachings in the Bible, not human traditions. The church tried to suppress the reading of the Bible, so that no one knew that the church had absorbed so much paganism. It was considered a Heresy to read and defend the Bible. Heretics were condemned to be burned alive during the spanish inquisition. By doing these horrible acts, they thought they were doing God a favor. They had no idea they were being used by the enemy to destroy God's true church.
Persecution of the saints ended in 1798, when French general Alexander Berthier arrested Pope Pius VI(Rev.13:3-it would receive a deadly wound)Unfortunately, this tendency to persecute those who insist on following the teachings of the Bible is not merely a matter of the past.
God's remnant church is proclaiming the second coming of the Lord. They are a small group of faithful Christians who believe in the validity of His commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. The devil hates this remnant, and will continue persecuting it. It doesn't matter what church you come from, if your beliefs are founded on God's teachings in the Bible; you can take part of God's remant church.
2007-12-30 14:55:34 · answer #4 · answered by delmar 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Israel. Verse 13 is a key, out of the nation of Israel, the tribe of Judah, came Christ, the "man child". Verse 14 refers to Israel fleeing the man of sin during the final three and 1/2 years. Matt. 24:16 - 22 is speaking of the remnant of Israel fleeing to the mountains during the last half of the tribulation, this would tie into this verse in Revelation.
2007-12-30 13:57:57 · answer #5 · answered by BrotherMichael 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The Church. This has been the majority interpretation of the Church for 2,000 years. The modern Roman Catholic apologists use of this passage is a pretty recent phenomenon. Almost all the early fathers saw this as Israel or the Church, or if they were so inclined, Israel and the Church as a single entity.
Edit: Sorry, I realize that my answer is a worded somewhat sloppily.
2007-12-30 13:54:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
The woman represents the faithful Jews and the child represents Christ.
2007-12-30 15:12:11 · answer #7 · answered by Freedom 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Grace and peace to you. The woman is the nation Israel.
The rest of her seed are the body of Christ, or true believers.
Peace
2007-12-30 13:54:54 · answer #8 · answered by strider 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Israel and the Jews....
It was the JEWISH nation that 'brought forth the man child that was to rule all nations'.
Hello people?...read it in context.
"he persecuted the woman, who brought forth the man child who was to rule all nations.."
Who brought forth the man child ?
Lets say it all together now.....Jesus came from the root and offspring of David.....JEWISH....
Hello??
2007-12-30 14:00:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The church
2007-12-30 13:50:52 · answer #10 · answered by ace 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋