God's Kingdom Is Born!

 Vision 7 - REVELATION 12:1-17

Subject:  The heavenly woman gives birth, Michael battles with Satan and casts him to earth 

Time of fulfillment:  From the enthronement of Christ Jesus in 1914 up to the great tribulation

THE sacred secret of god has been unlocked.  (Revelation  10:7) Jehovah's Kingdom  by his Messiah  is  now a dynamic reality. It rules!  Its presence spells out doom for Satan seed  and glorious victory for the Seed of God's heavenly organization.  The seventh angel has not finished blowing his trumpet, however, for he has much more to reveal to us about the third woe.  (Revelation 11:14)  The signs described in Revelation chapters 12 to 14 Will help us to broaden our appreciation of all that is involved in taht woe and in bringing God's sacred secret to a finish.

John now sees a great sign - one of outstanding  interest to God's people. It introduces a thrilling prophetic vision, the meaning of which was first published in the March 1, 1925, issue of the Watch Tower in an article entitled "Birth of the  Nation" and then  again in 1926 in the book Deliverance. This brilliant flash of Bible understanding became a historic marker in the advanccment of Jehovah's Work. So let John describe the drama  as it starts  to unfold: "And a great sign was seen in heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars , and she was pregnant. And she cries out in her pains and in her agony to give birth." -REVELATION 12:1, 2.

For the first time, John beholds  a woman in heaven.  She is, of course, not a literal woman.  Rather, she is a sign, or a symbol. (Revelation 1:1) What does she symbolize?  In  the inspired prophecies, women aat times represent organizations  "married" to outstanding personalities.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel was spoken of as a wife of Jehovah God.  (Jeremiah 3:14)  In the Greek Scriptures, the congregation of anointed  Christians is spoke of as Christ's bride.  (Revelation 21:9-14)  The woman John here sees is also married to someone, and she is about to give birth. Who is her husband?  Well, later her child is "caught away to God and to his throne." (Revelation 12:5)  Jehovah thus claims the child as his own. Therefore, the woman that John sees must be Jehovah's wife. 

Next time: God's Kingdom Is Born! 

From the jw. org publications