<p>12:5 <em>And she gave birth to a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and to His throne</em>- The &quot;man child&rdquo; is clearly referring to the Lord Jesus, who is to subdue the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 12:5 = 2:27; 19:15). But this is a prophecy of events to happen after His birth. The entity the woman gives birth to is part of &quot;the seed of the woman&quot;, they are &quot;in Christ&quot; as Paul would put it; but not the Lord Jesus personally. All that is true of Him becomes true of those in Him. We have learnt already that those who overcome shall reign with Christ on His throne, and they too &quot;shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces&quot; (2:27). Perhaps that repentant Jewish remnant at this time will be literally snatched away from persecution and be preserved. It would seem that this man child is connected with the two witnesses, who die and are resurrected, and then likewise snatched away to Heaven: &quot;And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them: Come up here And they went into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them&quot; (11:12). The woman who gave birth to this remnant would then refer to the true Christian believers who were already in existence before the tribulation started. They escape, as explained in :6.</p>