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One of the marvels of the Revelation is that this last book of the Bible ties into and explains the Bible’s first prophecy. For, notice that what is written at Revelation chapter 12 about the ‘woman’ and her ‘seed,’ and the ‘dragon’ and his ‘seed,’ provides a thrilling conclusion to a Bible ‘mystery’ (Greek: mysterion) that was first mentioned thousands of years before John did his writing.
This is described at Romans 16:25 as being:
‘The mystery that has remained a secret through the ages.’
You can see that the prophecy found in Revelation 12 is explaining the prophecy that is found at Genesis 3:15, where God said to the Snake (the Slanderer) in the Garden:
‘I’m going to create hatred between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. So, he will watch for your head, and you will watch for his heel.’
Then in the Revelation, we find the four characters of Genesis 3:15 finally identified as:
· The ‘snake’ (or dragon), who is the Slanderer
· The Slanderer’s ‘seed,’ who are (in part) the Slanderer’s messengers
· The ‘woman’ that gives birth to the seed and thus appears to be God’s faithful heavenly organization (the ‘JeruSalem Above’).
· The ‘woman’s seed,’ who appears to be God’s entire Kingdom arrangement – Jesus and his ‘chosen ones.’
For more information, see the linked document, The Seed – God’s Kingdom.