10. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ--12:17. Because his strategy to destroy the church within Jerusalem, by the woman’ s flight and the help she received from the earth, the dragon’ s wrath, mentioned in verse 12, was intensified in the persecution of the remnant of her seed--or as otherwise translated, the rest of her seed. By the phrases remnant, or rest of her seed was meant that part of the church which did not dwell in Jerusalem and Judea and was not of the martyred number. The woman’ s seed was composed of two classes--first, the man child, represented collectively as firstfruits, who were caught up unto God, symbolizing the martyrs; second, the remnant or rest of her children who were not martyrs, but remained on the earth to pass through the tribulation. The word man child is an aggregate term which could not have referred to a single person, anymore than the collective phrase rest of her seed could have had singular meaning. The text will not yield to the view that the woman’ s man child was Christ. There is no principle of exegesis which can represent the church as the mother of Christ. But there are numerous examples that represent both the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament collectively as composed of the same ones who are separately called the children, as a part of the whole. Hosea 4:6 referred to Israel as a whole, and then mentioned them as “ thy children.” Isaiah 66:7-8 prophesied of the nation that brings forth children. Jeremiah 31:15 had “ Rachel (the nation of Israel) weeping for her children.” (Also Matthew 2:18) Daniel 12:1 made reference to Israel as a people, but as “ thy children.” Matthew 13:38 refers to the “ children of the kingdom.” The kingdom is composed collectively of them all, as a whole, yet they were children of it. Galatians 4:26 calls the spiritual Jerusalem “ the mother of us all” --it is composed of us all collectively, but the mother of us all separately. Hebrews 12:23 refers to the general assembly and church of the first born. The word firstborn is in the plural number in the Greek text and means the firstborn ones. The general assembly and church are collective, but the firstborn are the children of it. So it is in Revelation with the woman--the church; and her seed, children composed of the two classes--the man child (martyrs) caught up unto God; and the rest of her seed, throughout the empire, against which the dragon “ went to make war,” and who, with the plaudit of the seer, kept “ the commandments of God” and had “ the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The commandments mentioned here pertained to their fidelity in the tribulation; and the expression the testimony of Jesus Christ referred to the witness or testimony that He had borne to them concerning the outcome of the period of trial through which they were passing, as in chapter 3:20: “ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (trial) which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell in it.” The world referred to the Roman world, and them that dwell on the earth referred to Christians in every kingdom, nation or tributary, in every place or part of the empire. (3) The summary of the symbols. The context of chapter twelve yields three major points which must be classified and discriminated in order: First, the woman was a symbol of the Jerusalem church --represented as “ the new Jerusalem,” in chapter 21:2 at the close of the Revelation, and stands for the whole church. Second, the man child referred to the martyred souls as “ the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb.” (Chapters 6:10- 11; 14:4; 20:4) The woman’ s seed “ caught up unto God and to his throne,” who thereby entered into a state of victory over the dragon and his wrath in a distinctive sense. (Chapter 12:5) Third, the remnant or rest of the woman’ s seed were distinguished from the man child, as being that part of the woman’ s seed who suffered the trials of the great tribulation but were not slain or beheaded as were the martyrs. (Chapters 6:9-11 and 20:4) The woman of this chapter, therefore, must be considered as the organic body of the church--the totality of its members; distinguished from her seed, or children--the constituent members of it, in the two classes mentioned. The text and context will sustain this analysis, and these viewpoints can be maintained.