Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
Before her pain comes the woman brings forth a man child, and the man child is Christ, the one who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and was caught up unto God and to His throne. His bringing forth is not His birth at Bethlehem and not a conversion, for He never was a sinner to be converted, but His begetting from the dead in His resurrection. That birth of Christ stands distinct from what follows, when a nation is born at once in one day in the first resurrection. At the voice of the Lord roaring from on high to recompense His enemies, at the last trumpet, Zion brings forth her children suddenly before the final great travail, the dead in Christ rising incorruptible and the living being changed to immortality to meet the Lord. Believers are now only begotten by the truth with the first-fruits and earnest of the Spirit, but in that resurrection morning they are born of the free woman into the kingdom unto eternal life, for God who has begotten will not shut the womb but will open the graves and put His Spirit in them so they live.
Context and Language
Isaiah means Jehovah is salvation, and he prophesied between 760 and 698 B.C., beginning as a young man in the reign of Uzziah and continuing through Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, with his work extending into the reign of Manasseh, by whom he was martyred, in crucial times in Judah typical of the great days to come. The book divides into chapters 1-39 and 40-66, placing this verse in the second division, which looks to the future and connects deliverance from Babylonian exile with deliverance from sin through the Messiah, with the two deliverances woven together or the spiritual kingdom and its Founder coming into clear focus. From chapter 40 onward there is less local color than in the earlier prophecies, and there Isaiah is the Gospel prophet, speaking more than any other Old Testament prophet of the last days, the sufferings and work of Jesus Christ, and the coming kingdom of glory, carrying forward to the sufferings of Christ and the glory of His reign.
The verse belongs to the section from Isaiah 66:5 to Isaiah 66:14 that brings to view the coming of the Lord and the destruction of the wicked at the beginning of the thousand years. It stands in a discursive prophecy that changes rapidly from scene to scene like a panorama with only a general relation between events, unlike the chain-linked prophecies of Daniel and John and the Saviour's prophetic discourses, which are plainer and easier to follow, so the time of its scene must be ascertained by comparing it with other plain texts because transitions are often very sudden. It contains end-time language similar to that in 2 Peter 3 and Psalm 97, which those who deny the pre-millennial advent treat as spiritual rather than literal. It shows a child brought forth before Zion's final and great travail comes, and that birth before pain is the strange thing that causes the exclamation over who has heard such a thing.
Christ and Resurrection
The man child delivered before travail came and before pain came is Christ, the same man child of Revelation 12:5 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and was caught up unto God and to His throne. This new birth of Christ is His resurrection from the dead, predicted in the begetting of the Son this day when God raised Him up. It is not His natural birth and not conversion, since Christ never was a sinner and needed no conversion. The verse describes the birth of Christ as distinct from the following verses, which describe the first resurrection when a nation is born at once, in one day.
Zion is the woman who gives birth before her labor pains, bringing forth her children at the resurrection when the dead are redeemed from the grave and the remnant joins them to go up to Zion. Zion's children are brought forth suddenly, before the travail, as part of their birth as a people after the Lord's voice roars from on high at His coming to recompense His enemies, when the earth gives up God's people and the dead in Christ rise. This birth is the resurrection or the change to immortality, not conversion in this life. In like manner all Zion's children come forth by resurrection when those who are Christ's are His at His coming, when a nation is born at once, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed. Together they meet the Lord and dwell in Jerusalem.
Zion giving birth to her children is being born again in the resurrection. Believers are now only begotten of God by the truth, having the spirit of adoption as first-fruits, earnest and pledge, but are not yet born. In the resurrection morning they will be born free of the free woman into the kingdom unto eternal life, made free indeed by the Son. The sudden bringing forth seals the certainty that God, having begotten, will not shut the womb but will bring to the birth by opening the graves and putting His Spirit in them so they live.
Prophecy and Application
The sudden birth before travail fits without conflict into the full order of last events, for signs make known that the end is near and a proclamation and warning message is given so that God's people are not left in darkness. At Christ's coming the righteous dead are raised and the living are changed to go up with the Lord to the Father's house, while the great day of God's wrath slays all the wicked. The earth is then left utterly desolate without a living man for a thousand years. At the close of the thousand years the city of God comes down to earth, the wicked dead are raised and destroyed by fire, and the melted and purified earth becomes the everlasting home of God's people.
The same prophecy shows that the Sabbath will exist in the new earth. It belongs to the portion of Isaiah that reveals the Sabbath still kept in paradise restored.
It also points to a persecution for the truth of the commandments of God in the last days just before the second coming of Christ. The patience called for in connection with the nearness of Christ's coming is patience not in prosperity but under afflictions. That affliction is the suffering persecution that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will endure.
The sudden bringing forth is a prophecy to be fulfilled in China if the Christian church presses in now to meet the opening providence of God. That pressing in means leading the people to a fuller knowledge of God. It means giving them the Scriptures as never before.
Before her pain comes the woman brings forth a man child, and the man child is Christ, the one who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and was caught up unto God and to His throne. His bringing forth is not His birth at Bethlehem and not a conversion, for He never was a sinner to be converted, but His begetting from the dead in His resurrection. That birth of Christ stands distinct from what follows, when a nation is born at once in one day in the first resurrection. At the voice of the Lord roaring from on high to recompense His enemies, at the last trumpet, Zion brings forth her children suddenly before the final great travail, the dead in Christ rising incorruptible and the living being changed to immortality to meet the Lord. Believers are now only begotten by the truth with the first-fruits and earnest of the Spirit, but in that resurrection morning they are born of the free woman into the kingdom unto eternal life, for God who has begotten will not shut the womb but will open the graves and put His Spirit in them so they live.
Context and Language
Isaiah means Jehovah is salvation, and he prophesied between 760 and 698 B.C., beginning as a young man in the reign of Uzziah and continuing through Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, with his work extending into the reign of Manasseh, by whom he was martyred, in crucial times in Judah typical of the great days to come. The book divides into chapters 1-39 and 40-66, placing this verse in the second division, which looks to the future and connects deliverance from Babylonian exile with deliverance from sin through the Messiah, with the two deliverances woven together or the spiritual kingdom and its Founder coming into clear focus. From chapter 40 onward there is less local color than in the earlier prophecies, and there Isaiah is the Gospel prophet, speaking more than any other Old Testament prophet of the last days, the sufferings and work of Jesus Christ, and the coming kingdom of glory, carrying forward to the sufferings of Christ and the glory of His reign.
The verse belongs to the section from Isaiah 66:5 to Isaiah 66:14 that brings to view the coming of the Lord and the destruction of the wicked at the beginning of the thousand years. It stands in a discursive prophecy that changes rapidly from scene to scene like a panorama with only a general relation between events, unlike the chain-linked prophecies of Daniel and John and the Saviour's prophetic discourses, which are plainer and easier to follow, so the time of its scene must be ascertained by comparing it with other plain texts because transitions are often very sudden. It contains end-time language similar to that in 2 Peter 3 and Psalm 97, which those who deny the pre-millennial advent treat as spiritual rather than literal. It shows a child brought forth before Zion's final and great travail comes, and that birth before pain is the strange thing that causes the exclamation over who has heard such a thing.
Christ and Resurrection
The man child delivered before travail came and before pain came is Christ, the same man child of Revelation 12:5 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and was caught up unto God and to His throne. This new birth of Christ is His resurrection from the dead, predicted in the begetting of the Son this day when God raised Him up. It is not His natural birth and not conversion, since Christ never was a sinner and needed no conversion. The verse describes the birth of Christ as distinct from the following verses, which describe the first resurrection when a nation is born at once, in one day.
Zion is the woman who gives birth before her labor pains, bringing forth her children at the resurrection when the dead are redeemed from the grave and the remnant joins them to go up to Zion. Zion's children are brought forth suddenly, before the travail, as part of their birth as a people after the Lord's voice roars from on high at His coming to recompense His enemies, when the earth gives up God's people and the dead in Christ rise. This birth is the resurrection or the change to immortality, not conversion in this life. In like manner all Zion's children come forth by resurrection when those who are Christ's are His at His coming, when a nation is born at once, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed. Together they meet the Lord and dwell in Jerusalem.
Zion giving birth to her children is being born again in the resurrection. Believers are now only begotten of God by the truth, having the spirit of adoption as first-fruits, earnest and pledge, but are not yet born. In the resurrection morning they will be born free of the free woman into the kingdom unto eternal life, made free indeed by the Son. The sudden bringing forth seals the certainty that God, having begotten, will not shut the womb but will bring to the birth by opening the graves and putting His Spirit in them so they live.
Prophecy and Application
The sudden birth before travail fits without conflict into the full order of last events, for signs make known that the end is near and a proclamation and warning message is given so that God's people are not left in darkness. At Christ's coming the righteous dead are raised and the living are changed to go up with the Lord to the Father's house, while the great day of God's wrath slays all the wicked. The earth is then left utterly desolate without a living man for a thousand years. At the close of the thousand years the city of God comes down to earth, the wicked dead are raised and destroyed by fire, and the melted and purified earth becomes the everlasting home of God's people.
The same prophecy shows that the Sabbath will exist in the new earth. It belongs to the portion of Isaiah that reveals the Sabbath still kept in paradise restored.
It also points to a persecution for the truth of the commandments of God in the last days just before the second coming of Christ. The patience called for in connection with the nearness of Christ's coming is patience not in prosperity but under afflictions. That affliction is the suffering persecution that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will endure.
The sudden bringing forth is a prophecy to be fulfilled in China if the Christian church presses in now to meet the opening providence of God. That pressing in means leading the people to a fuller knowledge of God. It means giving them the Scriptures as never before.