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newbie1234
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See zech14:1-5 for confirmation of Israel fleeing to azal during tribulation.1st. The Woman of Revelation being Mary is the simple, literal reading of the text. If Protestant scholars have agreed on one thing it is that we must look for the clear, obvious interpretation of a bible text. Who is the woman who gave birth to Jesus? Jesus’s Mother. Simple.
**2nd **The figures that appear in Revelation 12 are the same as those that appear in the proto-gospel of Genesis. Genesis 3:15. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Satan is both the Serpent of Genesis, and the Dragon of Revelation. Jesus is the “seed” who will crush the serpent in Genesis, and the child who will rule with a rod of iron in Revelation. In both, He and His mother, the Woman, are at permanent enmity with the serpent. The Woman of Genesis 3 and Revelation 12 is the same. However no one suggests that the woman of Genesis 3 is Israel.
3rd Verse 17 of Revelation 12 is a confirmation of Mary’s spiritual motherhood of all Christians. This motherhood is already made implicit through the fact that Christians share in Mary’s motherhood through Jesus, both by being part of Jesus’s body, and brethren of Jesus.
4th. The interpretation of the Woman as Israel is contextually wrong. For all the other figures in this passage represent individuals, not ideas or classes of people. The Child is clearly Jesus, the Dragon is clearly Satan, each star swept out of the sky is one of the rebel angels who followed Satan. Later in the passage, we find Michael and his angels, and also the Beast - the Antichrist. The Woman is the only figure in the passage who, according to some, is not the individual stated in the text, but a collective representation. This biased exegesis must be seen as the ‘anybody but Mary’ defense.
5th. Conversely, when Israel, Christians or the Church appear elsewhere in Revelation, they do not appear as personifications. They appear in literal form, as groups of individuals. See Rev 7.4: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel; Rev 7.9: …a great multitude that no-one could count…; Rev 12.17: …the rest of her offspring - those who obey God’s commandments… Even where the Church appears as the Bride of Christ, and a female personification would be expected, we do not get one. Instead of appearing as a woman, the Church appears as a City - the new Jerusalem. Rev 21: 9-10.
6th. If there is any doubt as to what a symbolic personage in Revelation might represent, or if a veiled meaning is intended, that meaning is immediately explained in the text. The Lamb is defined as the Lord of Lords, the Dragon is Satan. The Heads of the Beast are Kings. However no such explanation is given with respect to the Woman, underlining that the obvious meaning is the one that is intended.
7th. If we look at the reference to the Sun, Moon and Stars in this passage, the Sun, Moon and stars can indeed be taken to represent Israel. BUT in Revelation the Sun, Moon and Stars are not the subjects of the Vision. They instead form the adornments of the woman. This indicates that although the Woman is linked with Israel, she is quite clearly NOT Israel.
8th. The Woman of Revelation 12 is introduced as a great sign in Heaven. Where else in the bible can we see a Woman announced as a great sign. Look at Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son.” We can see that this is exactly the same sign as in Revelation 12, confirming that the Woman in both occurences is Mary.
9th. Verse 17 shows the Christians, both as Children of the Woman, and as being persecuted. Who was persecuting the Christians after the ressurrection? The Jews! So how can the Woman represent the Jews, when She and her offspring are being persecuted by the Jews?
As far as the Woman “fleeing into the desert”, this is either referring to, the Flight into Egypt from Herod’s assassins, or else to the first persecution of Christians after Stephen’s death, when all Christians had to flee Jerusalem.Not at all. The interpretation of the Woman as Israel is a modern invention, with no ancient attestation whatsoever, and it is at variance with the symbolism of the chapter.
It is possible that there are subsidiary meanings to the figure of the Woman - as there are to some other figures in Revelation. But the obvious primary meaning - that the woman giving birth to Jesus is actually Jesus’s mother - must be accepted. The only reason that some fight so hard against it, is that it conflicts with their deep-seated anti-Mary bias.