Listen:  138.1 

To answer your good question, let’s read Revelation 12:1-6, “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. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” 

As you can see, there are several persons here we need to identify: the woman, the great red dragon, and the man child.  Who are these three?  It will be most helpful if we begin by identifying the child.  In verse 5, we learn that this child “was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.”  Let’s compare that to what we read in Psalms 2:7-9, “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”  We see that the one spoken of, who would use a rod of iron in His judgment, is the Son of God…the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.  We see additionally in Revelation 19:15-16, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  So, there is no doubt that this child mentioned in Revelation 12:5is the Lord Jesus.

Let’s consider next this “woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”  As the one who gives birth to this child, the Lord Jesus, who is this person?  Joseph, the son of Jacob once had a dream where he would reign over his 11 brothers.  We read in Genesis 37:9, “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.”  This dream speaks of the nation of Israel, of which Joseph was the 12th star.  Most know the account of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, only to rise to prominence in Egypt, later to have his family bow down to him.  Joseph’s dream, describing the sun, moon, and twelve stars is a picture of Israel, the nation that birthed the Messiah.  Romans 9:5tells us concerning Israel, “…of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came…”  There is no doubt that this mother mentioned is Israel. 

It is of great importance to note that this portion in Revelation 12is not in chronological order and has gaps in its history that may not be immediately evident.  For example, the woman here is in great labor, yet we know the Lord Jesus was born over 2000 years ago.  We read of Israel in Isaiah 66:7, “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.”  We learn from this that Christ was physically born before Israel’s great travail during the tribulation period.  Revelation 12:4 speaks of the dragon, who is Satan as the one who, “…stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”  This, of course, Satan did through King Herod who we read of in Matthew 2:16that he, “…sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.”  Revelation 12:5tells us this, “child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”  That one brief statement, encompasses the entire earthly life of the Lord Jesus, who after His death, burial, and resurrection, was taken back to Heaven as we read in Acts 1:9-11.

With all that accomplished, we next read that the woman “fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”  This speaks of a remnant of faithful Jews who will be protected by the Lord for the 2nd half of the Tribulation Period.  There is so much more that could be said about this portion, but time constraints prohibit us from going further.  For a greater understanding of the Book of Revelation, I will offer two suggestions as good commentaries to read:

Lectures on the Revelation by H.A. Ironside and

Exposition of the Revelationof Jesus Christ by Walter Scott   (138.1)