823. We are driven to the conclusion that, just as the covenant promise of Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled to a literal woman, up to a certain extent, in the birth of Jesus Christ of a virgin (no human male having any part in its realization), so will it be to the end. As Christ was born of a literal woman, so will this man child be born of that sex. The beginning of the fulfillment was to one woman; but it seems more likely that the filling out to the full of the terms of that great covenant will be to many of that sex,¾a body of women.
824. Since the only actual interpretation of prophecy must come after, not before its fulfillment, we can only form a conjecture as to the meaning of these things. Since the sign John saw was “in heaven,” the events seem to refer to the spiritual world. The agony and travail of the Woman seem to signify some great spiritual travail of soul into which women will be plunged just before the Lord’s second coming; and as a result a large body of men (the man child), of exceptional holiness and devotion will rise; this will be that bringing forth of a man child. The entire sign relates to spiritual transaction; and the man child will be the spiritual, not the physical, seed of the woman.
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827. The “childbearing” of Revelation 12 is that same “childbearing” of 1 Timothy 2:15, of which the Apostle Paul speaks prophetically, in connection with those words about the formation of woman after man, in the spiritual sense. He says of woman: “She shall be saved through the childbearing [R. V.], if they continue in charity and holiness with sobriety.” We have elsewhere spoken of the partial fulfillments of this prophecy (par. 209), but now we come to its completion, in the special protection and care of Almighty God, when the world is in the throes of the Great Tribulation. Because Woman has brought forth that man child who will, with Michael’s help, cast Satan down to the earth (12:13), Woman will be borne away into “the wilderness” beyond his power of avenging himself further on her.
WHY did I cry? Because long before I read this lesson (recently) I thought I could see the same thing in 1 Timothy 2:15. And when I read Revelation 12 (which was a God thing- long story) I found it very VERY personal and I wondered if it was related to the prophecy of 1 Tim 2:15. I want to believe that this promise (from 1 Timothy 2:15) is for my own marriage, for my own husband that he will be among those of whom Bushnell speaks here:
see “I labor in birth until Christ be formed in you“
Further, I have to wonder if we are in that time of which the prophecy speaks and Bushnell foresaw when she wrote some 100 years ago. IS the agony and travail of soul related to 2 Timothy 3 as well?
Travailing over these men and the wounds they have caused and do cause (the porn generation?) is very VERY painful, moreso than childbirth and I have given birth to eight natural children. AGONIZING is accurate!
[...] May 17, 2008 by Charis cross posted from here [...]
[...] I cried when I read this… [...]
So often with Bushnell’s writing, things I’ve at best been uncertain about and at worse thrown out completely I later come to be convinced of. As fascinating as I’ve always found her interpretation of Rev. 12, I was uncertain about her conclusion of women leading men into a holier life because I once heard it taught that when God starts a new movement He always uses men: He formed Adam and then Eve (the beginning of humankind), sent Jesus (the beginning of a new covenant) and sent out the twelve (the foundation of His church).
But today in Church I remembered Jeremiah 31:22, which Bushnell taught about in one of her lessons. “The Lord will create A NEW THING on the earth – a woman will lead a man.” (Bushnell’s translation) I don’t remember which lesson she taught it in, but she believed this verse was speaking of women leading men into holiness.
Jer 31:22 is covered in Lesson 53. Here is a post on that topic:
God’s design that the “new woman” in Christ Jesus, shall lead man out of the wilderness of the inefficiency of egotism into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
This is a quote from a man I asked some questions in 2004–I learned of him at takehisheart.com:
First of all, the Lord has shown me more than one mistranslation and the corrections but this time He did not show me exactly what was mistranslated. I believe this to be because He was showing us a bigger picture.
When God was dealing with us on this issue of obedience to husbands He also dealt with the issue of one spouse (the believer) sanctifying the other (the unbeliever). God wanted us to understand more than what people think these scriptures mean. I know that if God had just shown me the words mistranslated we would still not understand the whole picture He wanted to give us.
For an example, through the years I have always wondered what to say to women who tell me God told them to attend this ministry but their husbands won’t let them. I honestly didn’t know what to say. God had to deal with us about this type of issue because there were women here who did not do other things God told them to do because of their husbands not agreeing. I must say every one of those times when the woman did not obey God concerning an issue, the issue grew to a bigger problem or something was not accomplished that God wanted accomplished. God gives guidance for our benefit or His – there is a reason God says to do something, there is a purpose.
Who knows best? God or the husband? It’s about the first commandment. By it we know we are to love God more than our spouses. Jesus said, “If you love me, obey My commandments! (This includes what He tells us to do in our own lives.) So if women obey their husbands rather than God they are saying they love their husbands more than God. It’s a hard thing, but true! I now ask people this, “What are you going to say to Jesus when you stand before Him and He asks you why you obeyed your spouse rather than Him?” Then He will wave His hand across His body like He did with me and show you what your disobedience caused. Not a pretty sight – but heaven is a place of truth!
I must speak to the subject of “the believer sanctifying a non believer” because God brought the two subjects together for us. This is not about the saved and the unsaved. What God taught us was a general picture of the following scenario. If a person receives truth down the river of life, for example, like how to tithe correctly and they decide they want to tithe correctly but their spouse doesn’t want to do it, we suddenly have a believer and a nonbeliever! If the believer persuades the unbeliever to do it anyway they have sanctified the unbeliever. One picture of sanctification is basically coming into obedience to God.
My comment: Through this we can see that our husbands can be sanctified (made holy) through our faith and obedience to God (and prayers, of course)!
Thanks for all you’ve shared, Charis. GWTW is helping me alot to get free of years of wrong mindsets.