The woman in Revelation 12:1

[Lily]

Old Testament prophets referred to Israel as a " woman " Isaiah 54:5-6, Jeremiah 4:31, Micah 4:9-10.

Genesis 37:9-11 states,,,

9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Note : "behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me ".

Then note in Revelation 12:1,

"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 ".

I see those symbols as being those symbols as describing Joseph's family and the " woman " wearing the symbols given to Jacob and the tribes.

Basically, I see the woman in Revelation 12:1 as being Israel.

Of course, I fully apprieciate I could be wrong but would love you're opinions please.

[Steveg]

Old Testament prophets referred to Israel as a " woman " Isaiah 54:5-6, Jeremiah 4:31, Micah 4:9-10.

Genesis 37:9-11 states,,,

9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Note : "behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me ".

Then note in Revelation 12:1,

"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 ".

I see those symbols as being those symbols as describing Joseph's family and the " woman " wearing the symbols given to Jacob and the tribes.

Basically, I see the woman in Revelation 12:1 as being Israel.

Of course, I fully apprieciate I could be wrong but would love you're opinions please.

Lily,

I rarely just give a link to an article as I prefer to argue the point in my own words, but I think this is an excellent article on this topic

Holy Spirit Interactive: Edward P. Sri - Knowing Mary Through the Bible: Decoding the Woman of the Apocalypse

[eddybear]

Having looked at the passage again, I have to say I think "the woman" is Mary. My reason is that in verse 5, she gives birth to a son, who will rule the nations with an iron scepter. Further on this refers to Christ (Rev 19:15). Admittedly in Rev 2:27, this authority is also promised to the church, but the son in Rev 12:5 is male. The church is always referred to as the bride of Christ, i.e. female.

Another thing that makes me think this refers to Mary and Christ is the flight into the desert in v.6, which matches the flight into Egypt to avoid the slaughter of the children by Herod.

[DeaconDan]

The church is the the woman in Revelation 12.

Revelation refers to the heavenly (New-) Jerusalem as a bride (a woman). Revelation refers to the church as the bride of Christ. Thus, equating the church with Jerusalem. Revelation 12 calls the woman the mother of Christians. The Apostle Paul calls the heavenly Jerusalem our mother. If Jersalem is our mother and Jersalem is the church, then the church is our mother, and the woman in Rev 12.

The Old Testament references to Israel as a woman means the church. The Old Testament refers to Israel as the wife of the Redeemer (which is Christ). And, the Old Testament refers to Israel as a woman in labor. This Israel is the one the New Testament calls us citizens of through Christ. It is not Jacob. It is not a geopolitical state.

[DeaconDan]

Having looked at the passage again, I have to say I think "the woman" is Mary. My reason is that in verse 5, she gives birth to a son, who will rule the nations with an iron scepter. Further on this refers to Christ (Rev 19:15). Admittedly in Rev 2:27, this authority is also promised to the church, but the son in Rev 12:5 is male. The church is always referred to as the bride of Christ, i.e. female.

Rev 2:27 does not refer to the church itself. It refers to individuals. "To him who overcomes... He will rule them with an iron scepter." The saints, who will judge the world, are the children of the church, opening the possibility that the male child is a symbolic reference to the woman's children, identified as Christians later in the chapter. Their claim to be her children comes from Jesus, which would further explain the male child symbolism.

Mary is given no theological significance in all the Bible, aside from her physical maternal relationship to Jesus. It is incongruent for her to be the woman mentioned in Revelation. Nothing, or nearly nothing, in this vision is literal, so one should not expect the woman to be a literal woman. The dragon's 7 heads and 10 horns certainly represent various kings, making the time span covered by this one vision much longer than any individual's life time.

[Steveg]

Rev 2:27 does not refer to the church itself. It refers to individuals. "To him who overcomes... He will rule them with an iron scepter." The saints, who will judge the world, are the children of the church, opening the possibility that the male child is a symbolic reference to the woman's children, identified as Christians later in the chapter. Their claim to be her children comes from Jesus, which would further explain the male child symbolism.

Mary is given no theological significance in all the Bible, aside from her physical maternal relationship to Jesus. It is incongruent for her to be the woman mentioned in Revelation. Nothing, or nearly nothing, in this vision is literal, so one should not expect the woman to be a literal woman. The dragon's 7 heads and 10 horns certainly represent various kings, making the time span covered by this one vision much longer than any individual's life time.

The dragon is a literal person - John says so
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan

The child is literal person - She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. A clear reference to Psalm 2:9..
The woman is also similarly a literal person - Mary. This does not preclude her also symbolising the Church as she is the mother of the Church.

Mary is given theological significance in several places in the Bible. You just won’t acknowledge it.

[Jay Dub]

"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 ".

I see those symbols as being those symbols as describing Joseph's family and the " woman " wearing the symbols given to Jacob and the tribes.

Basically, I see the woman in Revelation 12:1 as being Israel.

Of course, I fully apprieciate I could be wrong but would love you're opinions please.

I agree with Lily, I can’t remember anywhere in the bible where symbolism is used in a prophetic way and later used in a different way in a prophecy

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Gal 3:16
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Isn’t this the same picture here Abraham and his seed meaning Christ
Doesn't Rev 12:17 again have the same meaning Don’t we see Israel and the Church in these end time prophecy

Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man

If the women is Mary, then when was she persecuted?

Another thing that makes me think this refers to Mary and Christ is the flight into the desert in v.6, which matches the flight into Egypt to avoid the slaughter of the children by Herod.

Eddy you make a good point, but to me the women fled into the wilderness after the child was caught up


Rev 12:5 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.


Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

Also the women is being taken care of for 1260 this is 3 ½ years We see this number in Danial when speaking of the final seven years and in Revelations and I believe in Matthew 24 when speaking of the final days

These scriptures to me are speaking of the final days and has nothing to do with Mary

[Bloodbought]

I agree that the woman in Revelation 12 is Israel.

There is no other viable interpretation unless you are looking for references to Mary and start from a biased perspective.

[Steveg]

I agree that the woman in Revelation 12 is Israel.

There is no other viable interpretation unless you are looking for references to Mary and start from a biased perspective.

There are several viable and rational interpretations, but you have to be open to them. I suppose you didn't read the link I gave to an article on the subject but here is a shorter one.

THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12 (This Rock: May 1997)

[Jay Dub]

Because the Woman is a four-way symbol, different.aspects of the narrative apply to different referents. Like Mary, Rev 12:5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. Like the Church, she is persecuted by the Devil after the Ascension of Christ. Like Israel, she experiences great trauma as the Messiah is brought forth (figuratively) from the nation. And like Eve, it is her (distant) seed with which the serpent has his primary conflict.
Conversely, portions of the narrative do not apply to each referent. Like Mary, she is pictured as being in heaven and she flies (mirroring Mary’s Assumption). Like the Church, she is persecuted by the Devil after the Ascension of Christ. Like Israel, she Mary did not experience literal pain when bringing forth the Messiah, but she suffered figuratively (the prophecy that a sword would pierce her heart at the Crucifixion). Eve did not ascend to heaven. And the Church did not bring forth the Messiah (rather, the Messiah brought forth his Church).

Steve, I am sorry and I don't mean to be offensive, but don't know how to say this in a way you will appreciate

This is the Catholic church again raising Mary to a position she does not deserve, she is not the women in Revelation, but the Catholic church insists that it is and even the link you provided has to go to depths of saying this women is a four way symbol

The only thing that can be possibly link Mary to the women is the birth of a son.

This then is the only verse left

Rev 12:5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. I agree that if this verse was on it's own we could say it is speaking of Mary, unfortunately for those who want this women to be Mary it is not supported by the rest of this chapter

Rev 12:13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.

Did Satan pursue Mary after he was thrown down? Which then proves that verse 5 is not speaking of Mary

Rev 12:1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

The writer of your article said this was Israel

Rev 12:2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
The writer said here that Mary suffered no pain at child birth

Every verse in Chapter 12 fits with Israel even those that seem to refer to the Church can be seen as Israel, because Paul tells us believers are true Israel.

Catholics can't see that, but they can look at a verse like this and see Mary

Rev 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert

Like Mary, she is pictured as being in heaven and she flies (mirroring Mary’s Assumption)

Even though there is no biblical evidence of Mary s assumption

Every thing points to Israel as the women This again is the Catholic church elevating Mary to a position that is contrary to scripture