Here is a relatively short, fresh, sober article published 3 days ago by Pete Garcia, an independent prophecy student who makes some very good points.

http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8461

Apparently John Darby, William Kelley, William Blackstone and  H.A. Ironside  all held a similar view of Rev. 12 as being a Pre-Tribulation Rapture sign.

Garcia’s article references this interview with Michael Svigel, who is a Department Chair at Dallas Theological Seminary >  http://mydigitalseminary.com/pre-tribulational-rapture-interview-michael-svigel/

In the 2013 interview Svigel said, “I argue that the symbol of the male child in Revelation 12:5 is best identified as the body of Christ, the church, and the child’s catching up to God and His throne is best identified as the catching up of the body of Christ elsewhere described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.”

So here we have a reputable, contemporary opinion that the Revelation 12 speaks of the Rapture which is portrayed as a ‘birth story’ of the Church.  The Church wasn’t ‘born’ at Pentecost 2,000 years ago, it was conceived at Pentecost.  In keeping with the premise that the Church is the Body of Christ, the “Immaculate Conception” happened before the birth of Christ.

Even more interesting now?