low that we comprehend the true
character of the church of God--the bride of Christ.

[Sidenote: The man child]

The next object to claim our attention in the vision under
consideration is that of the man child to whom the woman is said to
give birth. A variety of interpretations of this man child have been
given. Some say that it refers to Jesus Christ, but this application
is objectionable for different reasons. First, Jesus is everywhere
represented as the founder of the church, not as its child. Second,
true analogy is lacking: there is nothing about a mere child to
proclaim divinity. Others have identified the child with the Emperor
Constantine; but here again the consistent use of symbolic language is
overlooked; for if the woman, the mother, represents the church, then
the child horn of her can not represent a single, definite individual,
but rather a collection of individuals or another phase of the
church itself. In other words, if the one single symbol represents a
particular individual, the other must also represent an individual.
Thus, if the man child is identified with Christ, the mother should
signify the Virgin Mary; or if Constantine is intended, then Helena,
mother of Constantine, should be represented by the woman.

It is clear, however, that the woman signifies, not a single
individual, but the church. Therefore the child born of her must
simply signify another phase of the church but the same family. By
means of this twofold symbol--involving the closest relationship
known--is set forth the fruitfulness and perpetuity of the church.
There is also another reason why a double symbol should be selected
to set forth the true church--to represent two distinct phases of the
church's life and history, which, in the nature of the case, could
not be represented under a single symbol. According to the description
given, the man child was caught up to God and to his throne, while the
woman remained on earth and fled into the wilderness, where she had a
place prepared of God for 1,260 days. The man child, then, represents
that phase of the church which was caught up from the earth but
ascended to heaven and there lived and reigned with Christ; while the
woman represents that phase of the church which continued on earth and
fled into the wilderness during the period of the great apostasy.

There is also direct Scriptural testimony justifying this
interpretation of the man child. In Isaiah 66 we have a sublim