The Woman is Israel. The Man Child is Messiah, that Israel was to bring forth and who is known to us as Jesus. The Dragon is the evil spirit behind the world system that not only sought (through its agent Herod) to kill Messiah at birth but which also sought to destroy Him throughout His ministry, eventually crucifying Him. But the Man Child was "caught up to heaven", a reference to His triumphant Ascension to Reign. "Man Child" is simply another way of saying Son of Man, so we see an allusion to
Dan 7 and the Son of Man and His receiving of the Dominion (reign). Click
here for my thread on the Identity of the Son of Man in
Daniel 7 for more information.
The Dragon then sought to destroy the woman by a flood proceeding out of its mouth. This signifies the devil spewing out lies, deceptions, false doctrines, etc in order to carry God's people away. But the earth helped the woman by swallowing up the waters: the false doctrines, deceptions, etc infected the world order and "the inhabitants of the earth' while God's faithful remnant were spared, holding fast to the truth. God's people were hidden, out of sight as it were, an underground church if you will, and this kept her from being drowned by the flood of satanic influences. History has shown glimpses here and there of remnant believers that never bowed the knee to the world's religio-political system. Known by various names - always supplied by their adversaries - these people lived in the hills and hollows, the mountain valleys, always under the radar but repeatedly popping up as advocates for Christ and His Word, often burnt, drowned, hung, and otherwise persecuted for "heresy". The worldlings swallowed up all the genuine heresy, with their papal infallibility, Magisterium, Tradition, Creeds and Synods, Confessions, and other sundry delusions, both Catholic and Protestant. The remnant continued out of the spotlight, preserved by Divine Providence.
The Dragon, the spirit behind the world order and its religious, political, social, and economic systems and authorities, has always been antagonistic and hateful towards the seed of the Woman (the "children of Israel", which keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, see
James 1:1,
Acts 26:7, 1 Peter 1:12,
Romans 9:22-26, etc).
The thread on the Son of Man (linked to above) demonstrates how the Son of Man (Man Child) represents both Christ and His people, because His people share corporately in His destiny and experience. What Christ experienced, He experiences for us, and we participate in that by our identification with (and our being baptized into) Him. He has Ascended, and we have been seated (enthroned) in the heavenlies with and in Him. To persecute the church is to persecute Christ (see
1 Corinthians 11:20-29). Christ's victory over the world is working itself out in His people's corporate experience "down here on earth". The victory in the heavens is in the process of manifesting here in the earth.