Major Discovery Concerning Revelation 12

Next month is The Great American Eclipse and the month after is The Great Sign.  For those of you who have followed our articles on the Revelation 12 Sign, you know that we openly admit that we don't know for sure the day or the hour of the rapture, but we do recognize that a strong case can be made that the male child in Revelation 12 represents the Church in union with Christ and therefore Revelation 12:5 portrays the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church.  Therefore, the rapture may not occur in close proximity to the September 23rd sign itself, but the sign is pointing forward to the general nearness of our departure.

I was recently studying Paul's letter to the church in Galatia and I stumbled across what might be the pivotal clue we've all been looking for, but first, let's review the existing reasons why the male child in Revelation 12:5 should be identified as the Church:

1. The Church is twice called a man (Ephesians 2:15, 4:13) and the most common metaphor in the Bible for the Church is actually the "Body of Christ", rather than the "Bride of Christ".  That is not to say the Church is not also Christ's Bride, but that as far as metaphors go, and there are many, the "Body of Christ" is the one most frequently used (e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 12:12-13, 25-27; Romans 12:4-5; Colossians 1:18, 24, 2:19, 3:15; Ephesians 4:4, 11-13).  So to say that the male child is only Christ would be to neglect these many other Scriptures.

2. The Apostle John intentionally made a grammatical error in Revelation 12:5 by modifying masculine huios (son) with neuter arsen.  He is clearly connecting this particular male child with the male child in Isaiah 66, which is a corporate entity.

3. Revelation 12:5 says that the male child "will rule all the nations with a rod of iron" and Revelation 2:26-27 informs us that the Church "will rule them with a rod of iron".

4. Identifying the male child as the Church preserves the corporate symbolism in Revelation 12.  The woman is Israel, the dragon is the satanic world system that arises under Satan and the antichrist, and the child is the Church.

5. The male child is raptured in Revelation 12:5.  The Greek word used is harpazo, which means "caught up" or "snatched up" and it is the word used for the rapture of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.  Every single mention of Jesus' ascension is described using the words epairo or anabaino, both of which indicate a gradual rising, not a violent snatching away (harpazo).  Revelation 12:5 is a clear connection to the rapture event.

6. The context of Revelation 12 is the Tribulation and Revelation 1:1 indicates the vision is yet future.  Reading past events into the passage would be a violation of a number of important exegetical principles and also a violation of the text's prima facie meaning.

7. Revelation 12:5 was the original proof-text of the modern dispensational movement and the founders of modern pre-tribulationism recognized it as such (e.g. John Darby, Harry Ironside, etc).

8. The raptured child in Revelation 12:5b is called teknon (informal child), rather than huios (son of honor), which is strange considering that Jesus is exclusively called huios in the Scriptures, except on a single occasion by his mother (Luke 2:48).  In addition, the Apostle John uses teknon to refer to the Church as the children of God in his first epistle (1 John 3:1-2, 10, 5:2), and uses huios exclusively to refer to Christ in his gospel and first epistle (John 1:49, 59, 3:13, 16, 5:19, 14:13, 1 John 3:8, 4:15, 5:5, 5:20).  To assume John is suddenly changing course in Revelation 12 would be contrary to all evidence.

9. Any mention of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection in Revelation 12 is sorely lacking if indeed the male child is Christ.  These missing details have confounded scholars for centuries in addition to the fact that the child is raptured to Heaven shortly after birth with seemingly no intervening period of time.  These missing details suggest that the male child is the Church.

...And now on to what I found in Galatians, which is point #10.

Let's start with Galatians 3:16:

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ.

The Apostle Paul makes a critical argument in this verse.  He says that you should go back and look at the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis (specifically Genesis 13:15, 15:5, and 17:8).  He then says that you should do a grammatical study on the word used for offspring or seed and take notice that the noun is in the singular rather than plural form.  It is almost unheard of for one of the Bible's many authors to walk their audience through a grammar study.  What in the world is Paul doing?

It was already well established that the Abrahamic Covenant was a promise apart from the law to bless all the families and nations of the earth.  Abraham was promised not just one, but many offspring, "as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore" (Genesis 22:17; see also Genesis 15:5).  Yet here in Galatians 3:16 Paul zeroes in on a single noun.  His conclusion is that the singular male offspring promised to Abraham is Christ.  Christ is the true Son of Promise.  Christ is the singular seed.  Christ is the male child of Genesis 3:15 and the later Abrahamic Covenant.

So is Paul contradicting the corporate aspect of the promise to Abraham?  Is he saying there will not be many?  Here is the prophetic linchpin in Paul's concluding remarks in the passage:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's [singular] offspring, heirs according to promise.

- Galatians 3:28-29

Paul makes the unequivocal statement that Believers are united in Christ.  The many are one.  And he drives his point home by saying that through faith the Church is the singular male child promised to Abraham.  The Greek is as clear as day (see here).

While some of the earlier points (#1-9, especially #1) hint at this truth, Galatians 3:29 spells it out directly (and notice the 923 backwards!).  There is now direct Scriptural support for identifying the male child in Revelation 12:5 with the Church in addition to all the circumstantial evidence.

To summarize:

10. The Church in union with Christ is the singular male child promised to Abraham.

You can read a more detailed study of the first eight points here and here.

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