Reflections on Revelation Day 199. In the middle of an apocalyptic vison, we get the Christmas story. https://smlr.nu/ror-199 

 “5 And she gave birth to a Son, a male, who is going to [a]rule all the [b]nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Revelation12:5. 

Day 199 

The child in this verse is clearly a representation of Jesus Christ. So, in the middle of an apocalyptic vision, we get a glimpse of something familiar, the Christmas story. The birth and ascension of Jesus Christ are clearly on display here. 

Although we are familiar with the stories of the Christmas season, it is still hard to imagine Jesus as a child. It is moving to realize that God took the enormous risk of inserting His Son into a world He could not control, an environment in which He was relatively helpless, facing the wrath of the dragon in full force. The measure of God’s sacrifice is also the measure of His love for us. From the top of glory to the bottom of humiliation, from a Son to a Servant! “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Phil.2:6-8. NLT. The infinite God upon whose shoulders the universe hangs became so helpless as to hang at the breast of a woman. To be a man was something, but to be a man of sorrows was far, far more. But to bleed, to suffer and die; THIS WAS MUCH FOR HE WHO WAS THE SON OF GOD, but to suffer a death of such unparalleled agony; this is the depth of condescending love that the most inspired mind must utterly fail to fathom. 

Revelation 12 portrays the history and experience of the church from the birth of Christ to the final crisis of earth’s history (V:17) As such it sets the stage for Revelation’s primary focus on end-time events from chapter 13 on. Remember; as with the head, so with the body. 

In Chapters 12-14 we are introduced to 7 mystical figures. The dragon, the women, the first and second wild beasts, and the image of the 1st beast, an eagle and a serpent.