The Woman in Labor

"In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (Gen 3:16) opens the image of labor under the curse. The Prophets apply it to the covenant nation: "like as a woman with child" (Isa 26:17); "be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion" (Mic 4:10). Micah ties the birth to the ruler from Bethlehem (Mic 5:3), and Isaiah foresees Zion delivered of a man child (Isa 66:7-8). In Rev 12:2 the cry is covenant conflict rather than mere childbirth, the long struggle of the covenant community to bring forth the promise in a fallen world, rooted in the Genesis curse.