Maynard - you need to read the whole of Rev 12, not just one verse. When you read the whole chapter you will learn who the woman really is. It mentions persecution of the woman in the last days. How is this Mary? Keep reading and you'll see it does not speak of Mary at all, rather the woman described is Israel. Verse 12-17 talks about how the devil will make war against Israel and try to destroy her. It also says the woman will flee into the wilderness and God will protect her.
Note also the similarity between this and the description Joseph gave of his father Jacob (Israel) and his mother and their children (Genesis 37:9-11). The twelve stars refer to the twelve tribes of Israel. So the woman in Revelation 12 is Israel.
Jesus, the son of David from the tribe of Judah, came from Israel. Israel gave birth - or brought forth - Christ Jesus. Verse 5 says that the woman’s child was "a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." Clearly, this is describing Jesus. Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and will one day establish His kingdom on earth (Revelation 20:4-6), and He will rule it with perfect judgment (the “rod of iron”; see Psalm 2:7-9).
Note also the similarity between this and the description Joseph gave of his father Jacob (Israel) and his mother and their children (Genesis 37:9-11). The twelve stars refer to the twelve tribes of Israel. So the woman in Revelation 12 is Israel.
Jesus, the son of David from the tribe of Judah, came from Israel. Israel gave birth - or brought forth - Christ Jesus. Verse 5 says that the woman’s child was "a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." Clearly, this is describing Jesus. Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and will one day establish His kingdom on earth (Revelation 20:4-6), and He will rule it with perfect judgment (the “rod of iron”; see Psalm 2:7-9).
katy,
I read all of it, frequently. We should read all of it and take a good account.
Most of the debate over what the Woman represents is misdirected because it does not take into account the way that Revelation uses symbolism.
The vision contains fusion imagery, in which one symbol is composed of elements from several different things. For example, the four living creatures John sees around God’s throne (4:6–8) are a fusion of elements from the cherubim seen in Ezekiel (Ezek. 10:1–14) and the seraphim seen in Isaiah (Isa. 6:1–5).
Similarly, the priest-elders John sees around the throne (4:4) are numbered twenty-four because they are a fusion of the twelve patriarchs of Israel and the twelve apostles of Jesus, a symbolism which occurs at the end of the book (21:12–14), where New Jerusalem is seen to have twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles and twelve gates with the names of the twelve patriarchs. And so on. You get the idea.
Polyvalent symbolism, in which symbols have more than one meaning, also is part of Revelation’s imagery. For example, the seven heads of the beast are said to be both seven mountains (Rev. 17:9) and seven kings (17:10).
The Woman in Revelation 12 is part of the fusion imagery/polyvalent symbolism that is found in the book. She has four referents: Israel, the Church, Eve, and Mary.
- She is Israel because she is associated with the sun, the moon, and twelve stars. These symbols are drawn from Genesis 37:9–11, in which the patriarch Joseph has a dream of the sun and moon (symbolizing his father and mother) and stars (representing his brothers), which bow down to him. Taken together, the sun, moon, and twelve stars symbolize the people of Israel.
- The Woman is the Church because, as 12:17 tells us, “the rest of her offspring” are those who bear witness to Jesus, making them Christians.
- The Woman is Eve because she is part of the three-way conflict also involving her Seed and the Dragon, who is identified with the ancient serpent (the one from Eden) in 20:2. This mirrors the conflict in Genesis 3:15 between Eve, the serpent, and her unborn seed—which in turn is a symbol of the conflict between Mary, Satan, and Jesus. And of course Eve suffered in child-birth.
- Finally, the Woman is Mary because she is the mother of Jesus, the child who will rule the nations with a rod of iron (19:11–16), and was "caught up to God and to his throne" at his ascension.
katy-follower said:
Don't forget verse 2 of the scripture you mention: "Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth"
If you believe this is Mary...
Interesting point - part of the curse of sin is pain during childbirth, as noted in Genesis 3:16: To the woman He said:“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” - so if your religion teaches that Mary could not be suffering birth pain (because of your belief of her Immaculate Conception and no Original Sin), then why do you believe this is Mary suffering in Rev 12:2?
If you believe this is Mary...
Interesting point - part of the curse of sin is pain during childbirth, as noted in Genesis 3:16: To the woman He said:“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” - so if your religion teaches that Mary could not be suffering birth pain (because of your belief of her Immaculate Conception and no Original Sin), then why do you believe this is Mary suffering in Rev 12:2?
Conversely, portions of the narrative do not apply to each referent. 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).
Woman of Revelation 12