"And her son was forcibly carried up to the Deity, and his throne"

Before the Woman's Son could "rule ALL the nations" of the Roman Habitable, it was necessary that he be placed upon the throne of the Deity. "There is no power but of the Deity," says Paul; "and the powers that be are ordered of the Deity." The throne of the Deity upon the Roman Habitable would be the seat of the Supreme and Sole Sovereignty of the empire, wherever it might be located. Jerusalem is styled "the throne of Yahweh" in Jer. 3:17. That city is the place where supreme power will be established in the Millennium. It was also Yahweh's throne when occupied by David and Solomon - 1 Chron. 29:23. But in the days of Constantine, supreme power had long before departed from Jerusalem. Israel and Judah had been broken and divorced; and a people formed from among the Gentiles for the Divine Name. This people came to contend with the Pagan Dragon for supreme power. After a long and bloody conflict they acquired it by the will of the Deity, "of whom are all things" (1 Cor. 8:6). Their military commander is therefore, said to have arrived at the Deity and his throne. Hence Constantine, as sole emperor of the Roman world, invested with supreme power in all spiritual and temporal affairs, is the illustration of the import of the text predicting the translation of the Woman's Son "to the Deity and his throne."

But under the circumstances of the case it was not possible for him to attain that high position without further conflict. He had fought his way up from a Caesar of the fourth rank of Roman princes, to be the first of the three Augusti of the empire; but he could ascend no higher while his two colleagues, Licinius and Maximin, ruled Illyricum and the East. These had to be removed by force of arms; for they were not the men voluntarily to abdicate position and power in favor of a rival as ambitious as themselves.

The word in the original indicating this necessity, is herpasthe; rendered in the Common Version, "was caught up." The phrase "to the Deity" implies ascending from a lower to the highest position. Hence the word "up." The word implies violence in the action it represents; as, to convey, take or carry by force. I have, therefore, rendered it, was forcibly carried up. Her son did not forcibly translate himself into the possession of supreme power; but he was carried up to that high position by his Victorious armies, whose hearts and arms were energized by Divine power.