In the middle of the book of Revelation (ch. 12), John sees a panoramic vision of Satan (as a red dragon), Israel (pictured as a pregnant woman), and Christ (as the child of that woman). It spans from the devil’s fall from heaven to the Great Tribulation, immediately prior to the second coming of our Lord.
The red dragon is hell-bent on doing one thing: devouring her male child (12:4). The dragon stands before the woman awaiting this birth. He is rapacious to destroy this woman, her child, and His people; this is what he lives for.
But this is a special woman and a special child…she is God’s chosen nation, and He is God’s anointed Son. God loves Israel; He’s made promises to her; and He will do everything in His sovereign power to keep her from ultimate harm. And we see His plans for her unfold in the 7-year Tribulation. Plans which started in eternity past and will culminate in the coming of His Son and on into the eternal Kingdom.
But square in the middle of that glorious timeline is the birth of this male child. A son of the woman, a son of David, a son of Judah, a son of Abraham, a son of Noah, a son of Adam and Eve. Into time and space, into our fallen history, came this male child, into an era with an evil Herod, who did everything in his power to kill Him. And into an era with a people-pleasing Pilate and a jealous, glory-hungry group of Jewish leaders who should have led their people into submission under Him, but instead, murdered Him.
He was born to die. But He was also born to be caught up to God and to His throne upon His resurrection. This male child is no ordinary son – He is the Son who is to rule all the nations. A human child but divine, of Joseph and Mary, but also of God. This is the Son we are waiting for, our blessed hope (Titus 2:13). The One who will shatter His enemies like earthenware (Psa 2:9).
The One who will bless “all who take refuge, who trust, in Him” (Psa 2:12).
And the devil has no hold on Him…whether He’s in a manger, on the cross, or physically absent from the earth. The Son will one day rule with a rod of iron. And we do well to worship Him with reverence and rejoice in Him all that His birth entails…with trembling.
