Until now, we have dealt exclusively with Paul’s letters regarding the topic of the snatching away. After all, it is the fullness of the nations who will enter in the snatching away (Rom. 11:25), and Paul is the apostle of the nations (Rom. 11:13). He makes known the secrets concerning the ecclesia, the body of Christ.
Discover
But some conclude from this that we cannot also find the event of the rapture in other places, such as in Revelation 12. And that is strange, because it is precisely Paul who says that this secret was revealed to him (Eph. 3:3) and that he would make it known (Eph. 3:8). Paul himself leads us in this by citing Scriptures from the Old Testament and demonstrating that this secret was already hidden in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g., Eph. 1:20-22). We can now find this revealed secret throughout Scripture.
Prejudice
It is a fatal misunderstanding and prejudice that the Book of Revelation is exclusively about Israel and the nations and that the ecclesia cannot appear there. The Book of Revelation is about the revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1). And now that we know the secret that Paul reveals, we should expect the ecclesia, which is His body, to appear there as well (Eph. 1:23).
Revealed with Him
Now that we know this secret, the veil is removed and we can discover it throughout Scripture! Wherever Christ is spoken of, it is about both Head and Body. Paul writes in Colossians 3:4 that when Christ is revealed, we will be revealed with Him in glory, so we should be alert to find the ecclesia in Revelation. We must, of course, seek it out, because it is a secret.
In Revelation, which is full of symbolism, we find a depiction of the ecclesia in chapter 12. It speaks of a great sign.
Revelation 12
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
Conclusion
Revelation is often called the conclusion of prophecy, and rightly so. It not only appears at the end of our Bible and is therefore the conclusion of prophecy, but it also refers to and connects earlier prophecies.
The Woman
We encounter a woman quite often in the book of Revelation. For example, as a bride (Rev. 21:2, 9), who stands opposite a prostitute (Rev. 17:1, 5, 16). This bride and prostitute represent faithful Israel and unfaithful Israel, respectively. A woman in prophecy is usually a symbol of Israel (Jer. 3:20).
The sun, moon, and twelve stars also confirm this. The twelve represent the twelve sons of Jacob, or the twelve tribes, but the sun, moon, and stars also speak of the house of Jacob (Gen. 37:9-10).
2 and she is pregnant, and she cries out in labor, and is in anguish to give birth.
New life
In Romans 8:22-23, Paul says that the whole creation is groaning and in labor pains. Here it is Israel that is pregnant and bringing forth new life. Perhaps the labor pains are a representation of the history of the Jewish people, which is characterized by pain.
Male son
The woman is about to give birth to a child, who is said to be a male son who will rule over the nations (Rev.1:5), which is later said of the Messiah in (Rev.19:15). But we now know that the Messiah, or the Christ in Greek, speaks of Head and Body (1 Corinthians 12:12). We will see that this is also the case here.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven; and behold, a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
The dragon
The dragon symbolizes Satan (13:9), who controls the final world empire with seven heads and ten horns of the end times, which is also described in a chapter later and which receives its power from the dragon (13:1-3).
4 His tail draws a third of the stars of heaven and throws them to the earth. The dragon stands before the woman who is about to conceive, so that as soon as she bears her child he may devour her.
Third Part
We have already seen that the stars represent Israel (Dan. 8:10). From Zechariah, we know that two-thirds perish in the great tribulation, and one-third calls on the name of YAHWEH and is saved (Zech. 13:8-9). Is this referring to the first third that is killed?
5 And she brought forth a man child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child is caught up to God and to His throne.
Reign
The male child is a representation of Him who will rule all nations with a rod of iron, a direct reference to Psalm 2:9, where this is said of the Messiah. This prophecy is also cited elsewhere in Revelation and applied to the Messiah’s reign (2:27; 19:15). Traditionally, this is interpreted to refer to Jesus’ ascension.
But upon closer reading, this is unsatisfactory. For in Jesus’ ascension, we read nothing about imminent danger, as we do in Revelation about the dragon that wants to devour the male child. Nor do we find Jesus’ ascension described as a snatching away, but as a quiet being taken away from the earth, which the disciples witness (Acts 1:9-10). The image of the birth of the male child, being snatched away from imminent danger, does not fit here.
Future
Furthermore, the snatching away of the son in Revelation takes place just before the 1260 days of the Great Tribulation, during which the woman (> Israel) is kept in the wilderness (Rev. 12:6). This also determines the time of the rapture. It is still future and therefore cannot be applied to a past event.
Christ
Yet, the son is indeed Christ; His identity is confirmed by the quotation from Ps. 2:9. Psalm 2 speaks of the Anointed One (Ps. 2:2), My King (Ps. 6), and (My) Son (Ps. 7:12).
We can only understand this image if we are familiar with Paul’s letters, in which he reveals the secret that Christ consists of Christ and the ecclesia, which is His body. The ecclesia is one with Him and is considered one with Him. We have already seen that Paul also speaks of a mystery regarding the snatching away (1 Cor. 15:50). The word for snatching away (>harpazo) used in Rev. 12:5 is the same word as in Thessalonians 4:17, where Paul speaks of the snatching away.
Destined for the Throne
The male child is snatched away to God and to His throne, thus to heaven, to take up dominion there. And that is precisely what Paul announces in his letters: the Christ, Head and Body (1 Cor. 12:12), will rule over the universe, heavens and earth.
Ephesians 1
10 to govern the fullness of the times, to gather together in one all things, both things in heaven and things on earth, in Christ.
A People
The male child, like the woman, therefore represents a people. A people that is not a nation in the literal sense, yet is called a nation in Scripture (Rom. 10:19). The ecclesia is a gathering of all nations (Acts 15:14).
Revelation 12
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Israel (>the woman) is given the opportunity to flee into the wilderness. We also find this described in Jesus’ so-called “speech on the last things” (Matt. 24:16). There, in a place outside the land, the faithful part of Israel will be preserved from the great tribulation, which lasts 1260 days (Rev. 11:3).
that they may feed her
Then it says: that they may feed her there. Here, “they” is plural. And that seems strange, because the only logical explanation is that “she “htey” represents the male son. For it is the woman who is being fed, and the dragon is bent on destroying her (Rev.12:17). There remains one option within this sign, and that is the male child.
But in the meantime, we will have no difficulty seeing in the male child the companionship of Christ and His ecclesia. They will feed Israel in the wilderness. Perhaps literally with bread from heaven, like the manna in the desert. But certainly also with the word of God, the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8).