Mary and Revelation 12

[Gene_C]

Hi all,

Revelation 12:1-6, 13-17

"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. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 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. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

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. 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, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring–those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

I’ve only heard of three possibilities for the woman in this passage: Mary; the Church; or Israel. What are your thoughts? And is there anything definitive from the Magisterium?

Thanks.

Blessings,

Gene C.

 

[alyssa]

I don’t think it has to be one of the three, I think it can be interpreted as more than 1 thing at the same time- it isn’t ONLY Mary, or ONLY Israel, etc.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

There were no Chapter or verse divisions in the original writing. So consider this in conjunction with the preceding verse Revelation 11:19

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.

and Hebrews 9:4

Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, in which were the gold altar of incense 4 and the ark of the covenant entirely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar containing the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant.

Note that there is no reason to believe that the old Ark is in Heaven. This would seem to be Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant since she contained Jesus - The Bread of Life, The Power of the Priesthood, and the Word of God.