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Revelation 12:1-6            

Revelation 12 is a challenging chapter which is steeped in symbolism and analogy.  This prophecy has the potential of polarizing many people into two camps during the last days based on the way it is interpreted.  Conviction over the true meaning of this chapter is crucial, and understanding the personification of the woman will shield mankind from the myth which will cover the globe that the Virgin Mary is earth's saving force.

Catholicism has long viewed the woman of chapter 12 as a representation of Mary, mother of Jesus.  Thus, paintings have often depicted her with the sun surrounding her head, moon and a crown of twelve stars.  Visions and apparitions of the supposed Mary have include signs of the sun which is said to pulsate and twirl, and shoot off colorful beams of red, orange, yellow, blue and so forth.

Is the woman of chapter 12 a depiction of the Virgin?  As always the Bible is its own best interpreter and so we turn to its pages for insight into these all-important predictions of the last days.

When theologians and students of prophecy forget the Scriptures were written by Jewish prophets, then private interpretations and heathen traditions of men supersede the plainest teachings found in Holy Writ.  Revelation 12 depicts both historical and future end-time events as though occurring at one time.  In this way the chapter reveals that confrontation between Christ and Satan in times past will be repeated in similar fashion during the appointed time of the end.

Revelation 12:1 introduces us to a "great and wondrous sign" in Heaven--a woman clothed with galactic light.  Does she portray a historical personality, a being from above, or a symbol of events to come?  In Revelation there are two prominent women.  Understanding this one fact alone is enough to guide us to the truth. The woman of Revelation chapters 12 and 21 represents the righteous city and people, whereas the woman of Revelation 17 and 18 depicts the city and people of sin and filth.

1. The righteous woman is clothed in the beautiful bright sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head. What was the sun and moon made for, according to Genesis 1:14-16?

The two great lights were made for "signs to mark seasons and days and years."  While the world at large uses the sun to mark years, Israel uses a solar-lunar calendar to mark the seasonal feasts of the Lord, the days and years.

2. How did God use the symbolism of the stars, moon and sun to set apart and represent Israel (Genesis 37:9-11)?

Joseph had a dream in which the sun, moon and eleven stars (eleven brothers) would bow down to him, which eventually came to pass in Egypt.  The stars represented the twelve patriarchs of Israel.  Jacob blessed his twelve sons individually (Genesis 49:1), and the dozen blossomed into the twelve tribes of Israel (v. 28).

3. How does Acts 7:8 verify this fact?

4. Twelve is nearly always associated with the people of Israel.  Exodus 28:21 says what?

The twelve stones in the priest's breastplate represented the twelve tribes.

There were twelve officers who ruled Israel (1 Kings 4:7); twelve Jewish apostles perpetuated the lineage of the dozen (Matthew 10:2); according to Revelation 21 and 22 the foundation walls of the New Jerusalem will display the twelve names of the apostles (Revelation 21:14); the city will be comprised of the twelve gates, twelve guardian angels, twelve names of the twelve tribes, twelve foundations, twelve fruits and twelve thousand furlongs of the four-square city.

The "moon" and "sun" which adorns the woman of Revelation 12:1 symbolizes a vital truth much greater than these common features in the sky might at first evoke.  Genesis 1:14-16 states that God called into existence the sun and moon "as signs to mark seasons and days and years."  God, in turn, used these massive sky lights to instituted His spring and fall holy days based on their daily, yearly and seasonal movements in relation to the rotating earth.  Leviticus 23:4 reads, "these are the Lord's appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times," (N.I.V.); the K.J.V. states, "in their seasons." 

Therefore, the "wondrous sign" of the sun and moon depicted with the woman in Revelation 12 symbolizes the seasonal feasts which come and go according to their movement.  This fact, in turn, further establishes that the woman represents the nation of Israel.  By instituting the Holy Days over 3,000 years ago, Almighty would weave a thread through the fabric of time that would connect Israel's conception to her birth as a "holy" nation, while helping to maintain the woman's unique identity as a chosen people throughout the centuries until the Age To Come.  The woman of Revelation 12, no doubt, represents righteous Israel. Consider the following information.

The Righteous Woman Contrasts The Wicked Woman

In the Sacred Scriptures, the people of Israel and the beloved city Jerusalem are often symbolized as either a righteous or evil woman depending on her response to God's leading through His prophets. 

5. How often is Israel and Jerusalem depicted as either righteous or wicked?  Why do the majority of references symbolize Israel's sinful state?

Jeremiah 2:2-3

Jeremiah 3:8-9

Jeremiah 3:20

Jeremiah 6:1-8

Ezekiel 23:1-4

Lamentations 1

Revelation 17:1-6

Revelation 21:2, 9-10