"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered." - Revelation 12:1-2
The Bible tells us that there are three heavens:
The sky (Gen. 1:6-8, James 5:18)
Outer space (Deut. 4:19, 11:17; Matt. 24:29)
Where God dwells (Acts 7:55, 2 Cor. 2:12, Heb. 9:24)
Prior to modern technology, this verse was viewed as another sign that John witnessed in the third heaven. Just like with the Flying Scroll and the 7 Years of Fuel, previous generations did not have the technology to truly understand what the Apostle John saw.
This prophecy was fulfilled back on 23 September 2017 and was a symbol for the upcoming birth of the Church i.e. the Rapture. It is often taught that the Church was born on Pentecost, but that is not quite accurate. Colossians 1:18 tells us that Jesus is the head and we (the Church) are the body. When a child is born, the head comes out before the body. That is what this sign is talking about.
"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne." - Revelation 12:3-5
Again, this wonder in heaven is about a birth. At first glance it would appear that Revelation 12:1-5 is a quick overview of the birth of Jesus. It definitely does share some similarities. However, there are some clues as to why this isn't the case.
The phrase "caught up" in the Greek is "harpazo" which means “a sudden snatching away”. In the Latin, the term used is "rapio" from which we get the term Rapture. This is the same term that Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17:
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
It is also important to remember that Jesus wasn't raptured before Satan could devour Him. Jesus conquered Satan at the cross (Heb. 2:14), rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-4), was seen by over 500 (1 Cor. 15:6), then Jesus ascended of His own accord in Acts 1:9-11. The entire purpose of the Rapture is to protect His Bride, the Church, from the Tribulation. We are not appointed to wrath because we have been washed clean by His precious blood (Psalm 32:2; Isaiah 43:25, 53:6; Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:21)!
Paul spoke of this in 1 Thessalonians 5 when he said:
"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." - verses 1-10
The phrase "wake or sleep" is different in this context than in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 where God revealed the Rapture to Paul. In that portion of Scripture, Paul was speaking of the living and the dead being raptured. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10, Paul was talking about those that are awake (people looking for Christ's return) and those that are asleep (believers that care more about the world than living for Jesus). When the Rapture occurs, every single believer in Christ will be raptured and will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Another important fact to consider is that Jesus is not the only one that will rule during the Millennial Kingdom. He told John, "and he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father" (Rev. 2:26-27). Paul also told Timothy that "if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him..." (2 Tim. 2:12).
So now that we know what the sign is about, what did it look like? This is what appeared for two days on 23 and 24 September 2017:
