Read Revelation 12:1–6
The book of Revelation is recursive and kaleidoscopic. “Recursive” means that it revisits the same topics and
events over and over. One way John lets us know he is revisiting a topic is by repeating phrases like “flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail” (11:19). While it is not a perfect analogy, think of the movie Groundhog Day. When the radio alarm comes on and plays “I Got You Babe,” you know time has jumped backward (rather than continuing to move forward). The difference between Revelation and Groundhog Day is the kaleidoscopic element. When you look through a kaleidoscope, you see an image tinted by colored filters. But when you rotate the kaleidoscope, the same image suddenly looks different. The thing you are looking at has not changed, but your perspective on it has.
Why do I bring all this up? Because today’s passage jumps backward with a new perspective. At the end of Chapter 11, the Kingdom has come, the heavenly temple is open, and human history has come to an end. So why is there still more story? Why did it not stop there? It is probably because John is about to show us the same events from a new perspective.
But where is John taking us back to? It sounds an awful lot like the birth of Jesus from a cosmic perspective.
Consider the parallels between this passage and Jesus’ birth: Mary gave birth to Jesus, then had to flee to Egypt because an enemy of God wanted to kill her son. Here, the woman gives birth to a child who sounds a lot like Jesus, then has to flee to the wilderness because an enemy of God wants to kill Him. If these are the same event, what new perspective is John giving? It is that the birth of Jesus was more than a historical event in time and space. It is a reality of cosmic significance—the meeting of the Kingdom of Heaven with a fallen world. It is a reminder of the certainty of God’s victory, even while evil rages against it. It is a reminder that Jesus’ birth is not just an event in the past but a reality and hope for today.
