A Study of the ‘Man Child’ Part 1 of Is the September 23 Event the Revelation 12 Sign?

I have been a student of the Bible for about 40 years, but never thought I would ever research the Book of Revelation as I have been doing the past couple of years. Anyway, I thought I would share some very interesting things I have discovered about Revelation Chapter 12 and the celestial events associated with it. I plan to do it in two parts and both are related to only the first five verses!

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne. Revelation 12:1-5 KJV

I thought heavenly signs were just for Israel?

When referring to signs in the heavens, I am of course speaking of astronomy which is not the same as astrology.

The bottom line on the Bible and the stars: we may look to the stars for signs from God, but we are not to revere the stars themselves. Rick Larson/BethlehemStar.com

Scripture says God created the heavenly lights for signs and appointed meetings:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons [moed or moad—feasts; appointed meetings--BLB], and for days, and years: - Genesis 1:14 KJV

Because God set up appointed feast days He would have made sure his chosen people would see the signs above their land; therefore, when researching the Revelation 12 signs, one must look at the skies above Jerusalem when using astronomy software. This leads some to believe that signs are only for the people of Israel.

As far as I know there is nowhere in Scripture that it says these signs are strictly for Israel. If that were true then the wise men would not have bothered with the nightly skies because they were not “of Israel”—they were Chaldeans (Who Were the Wise Men?). However, Israel was the center of God’s plans for the first coming of the Messiah and will be the center prophetically in these last days leading up to the one-thousand year reign of Christ.

Revelation 12=FUTURE Events

Many teach that the first verses in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation are merely a retelling of Christ’s birth. At first glance Revelation 12 appears to be a retelling of Christ’s birth, but the planetary alignment that is to be seen this September is different from what researchers believe occurred back in 3 B.C. when the Messiah came the first time at his birth. Mark Correll compares the two events in his video The Sign of Revelation 12.

Dragon=Nachash=Satan

There are three main characters in the Revelation 12 picture we are given: The Woman, The Child, and The Great Red Dragon.

Cris Putnam writes on page 129 of the book On the Path of the Immortals:

Notice that this ultimate Great Red Dragon has seven heads, just like the Leviathan of the Canaanites. However, the same text sheds light on several mysteries. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”( Revelation 12:9)…In one fell swoop, John has connected the dragon to the Nachash, “the shining one” who deceived Eve in the garden, to Diablos,” the slanderer,” to Satan, “the adversary,” and identifies the sum total as one being consigned to terrorize the earth during the Great Tribulation.

As we argued in chapter 1, the most consistent view with the whole counsel of God is that the angelic war culminating in Satan’s demotion to earth is a future event. Amazon.com link

I will share more about the Dragon in Part 2.

Woman=Israel=Virgo

Most researchers agree that the woman referred to in Revelation 12 is Israel as represented by the constellation Virgo. What does that have to do with the mostly Gentile Church? Israel is the mother of all who believe:

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. Galatians 4:26 KJV

4:21-27 The difference between believers who rested in Christ only, and those who trusted in the law, is explained by the histories of Isaac and Ishmael. These things are an allegory, wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God points out something further. Hagar and Sarah were apt emblems of the two different dispensations of the covenant. The heavenly Jerusalem, the true church from above, represented by Sarah, is in a state of freedom, and is the mother of all believers, who are born of the Holy Spirit. They were by regeneration and true faith, made a part of the true seed of Abraham, according to the promise made to him. biblehub.com

The Seed of the Woman

A key thing to remember is that true Israel continued in the ways of YHWH making Y’shua their Messiah.

For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: - Romans 9:6b KJV

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. - Romans 9:8 KJV

Jesus Himself spoke of the difference between natural seed and the seed of promise when confronted by the scribes and Pharisees in John Chapter 8. Jesus tells them that He is aware that their natural birth is of Abrahamic descent, but that their true father is the Devil (John 8:44).

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, [was] not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. - Romans 4:13 KJV

Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, - Romans 4:16 KJV

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. - Romans 9:8 KJV

I believe Scripture shows us that those born again of God’s Holy Spirit, belong in the category of the promised seed—the seed of the woman. That is why Gentiles are grafted into the promise made to Abraham by way of the Messiah. So if we are grafted in, and Israel is our mother, could the Revelation 12 signs pertain to the Church as well as Israel?

Remnant of Her Seed

Thankfully Scripture interprets itself. As I read Revelation 12, verse 17 caught my attention.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man [child]. - Revelation 12:13 KJV

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. - Revelation 12:17 KJV

The dragon went to make war with the remnant of the woman’s seed. The word “seed” in verse 17 is translated from the Greek word sperma. Women don’t have sperm—it is from men that the bloodline or seed originates. It is in Genesis that we find the understanding of what the seed of the woman refers to:

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: - Genesis 3:14 KJV

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. - Genesis 3:15 KJV

It was the Messiah, Yahshuah Ha Moshiach, our Jesus who crushed the serpent’s head as He obeyed the Father and became the ultimate Passover Lamb! The reason He is referred to as the “seed of the woman” is because the Holy Spirit created the seed to impregnate Mary—the sperm did not come from a man but from God.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. - Luke 1:35 KJV

So who is the man child and who are the remnant of her seed ?

Who is the Man Child?

In the Revelation 12 configuration, the planet Jupiter represents the "man child". Jupiter entered into Virgo around November 20, 2016, with 'conception' occurring probably on Hanukkah (the Festival of Light). Due to its retrograde motion, Jupiter will spend a little more than 9 months within the womb of Virgo. This falls within the normal length of time for gestation of a human baby. Jupiter will then exit Virgo illustrating the birth of the child.

Some researchers say Jupiter exits on September 9 while others say it is on September 23. My thoughts are that only God knows the date of a natural conception and birth of a child (Psalm 22:9; Isaiah 44:24). It may also be possible that the birth of the child occurs prior to the birth pains (unsealed.org/TheCelestialC-section).

And she brought forth a man [arrēn-male] child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne. - Revelation 12:5 KJV

After “her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne” in Revelation 12:5, the dragon becomes filled with wrathful anger and goes to attack “the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. - Revelation 12:9 KJV

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. - Revelation 12:17 KJV

The remnant are people who come to believe on Jesus Christ as the Messiah at this time after the Revelation 12:5 man child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. So if the “remnant of her seed” are those who “have the testimony of Christ”, then the woman’s seed or “man child” must be those who “have the testimony of Christ” as well! This added to the fact that Jesus our Messiah is the seed of the woman, the promised seed, that is born within those who make Him Lord makes a strong case for the true Church to be a candidate for the man child of Revelation 12.

NEW INFORMATION! On July 11, 2017 Unsealed.org posted additional confirmation of who the male child of Revelation 12 is from Galatians Chapter 3: unsealed.org/major discovery re. Rev. 12

Someone is caught up to God and his throne in Revelation 12:5 leaving a remnant behind. It makes sense that the Church Bride—those born again of God’s promised seed—could be who this verse is referring to. 

Child is Caught Up

It should be noted that the Child is “caught up”—a phrase that is translated from the Greek word harpazo. This same phrase is translated raptus in the Latin Vulgate which is where we get the term “rapture”. Rapture

The Greek word harpazo means: "to seize, carry off by force; to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly; to snatch out or away" [source: Blue Letter Bible]. It also means "to seize up out of danger" (Click here to learn more about the abducted Bride.)

So the male child of Revelation 12 is seized up out of danger and the danger is the wrathful dragon!

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. - Revelation 12:4 KJV

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne. - Revelation 12:5 KJV

Jesus was an adult when He ascended to God and His throne and not a child. Nowhere in Scripture does it describe Him as being harpazo-ed—seized and carried off by force—His return to God and the throne is referred to gently as ‘ascended’ (John 20:17).

These observations lead me to speculate that it IS possible that Revelation 12:5 is referring to the rapture of the born again believers in Christ. For through Christ as Head of the Body, the saints rule and reign with Him (Revelation 2:26-27). Of course there is no way to be certain of this because we are treading in unknown waters called “the future”. So I will keep on studying…and looking!

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. - Hebrews 9:28 KJV

Related article: Part 2 of Is the September 23 Event the Revelation 12 Sign?