The brothers also overcame the enemy by not loving their soul life. Due to Adam’s fall, Satan has joined himself to man’s soul life, man’s self (Matt. 16:23-24). Hence, to overcome him we should “not love our soul life,” but rather hate it and deny it (Luke 14:26; 9:23). The overcoming believers who constitute the man-child do “not love their soul life even unto death.” Those who do not love their soul life are willing to be martyred. We must hate our self. As long as we love our soul life, we are dust, good to be food for Satan. But if we do not love our soul life, our self, there will be no dust, and Satan will be killed. When our soul life is killed, Satan is killed also. This is the way for us, as the stronger part of the woman, to overcome Satan.
If you preach to Satan, he will leave you. Then you should be prepared to say, “Satan, even if you hate me, I would die to you. I would like to lose my soul life, for when I die, I have a glorious graduation.” If you are willing to lose your soul life, Satan will have no way with you. If he bothers you, you may preach to him; if he hates you, you die to him. What then will he be able to do? He will be able to do nothing and he will quit. This is the way to overcome the enemy.
The man-child is brought forth by the suffering woman, by the suffering people of God (vv. 2, 4-5). The words cried out in verse 2 signify that she was praying. “Being in travail and in pain to bring forth” signifies that throughout all generations God’s people have been suffering the travail of delivery (Isa. 26:17-18; Jer. 6:24; 13:21; 30:6; Micah 4:9-10; 5:3; Gal. 4:19) to bring forth the man-child to fight for God’s kingdom.
Verse 5 says that the man-child “was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” This is the authority of Christ (Psa. 2:9) which He gives to the overcomers (2:26-27). The man-child, the resurrected overcomers, will exercise the authority of Christ over the nations and rule them with Christ in the millennial kingdom (20:4, 6).
Verse 5 also says that the man-child “was caught up to God and to His throne.” To be “caught up” is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child differs from that of the majority of the believers as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There, the rapture of the majority of the believers will be to the air and at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16), which will be the seventh trumpet (11:15). But here, the rapture of the man-child will be to the throne of God and before the “thousand two hundred and sixty days,” which will be the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months, v. 14; 13:5; 11:2), beginning from the fifth trumpet (9:1).
The rest of the woman’s seed mentioned in verse 17 is the weaker part of the woman, which includes the Israelites who keep the commandments of God and the believers who have the testimony of Jesus. Both the Israelites and the weaker believers will be left to go through the great tribulation. They will be persecuted and attacked by the dragon.