In the book of Revelation a woman is described who is clothed in the sun and the moon under her feet about to give birth. The dragon appears by her and is ready to devour her child. When the child is born he is caught up to God to his throne. The question of course is who is she?
The Woman, Israel
Revelation 12: 1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
The Red Dragon, Satan
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 4 And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
The Male Child, Christ
5 And she gave birth to a son, 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. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
She has been called Israel, The Virgin Mary, The Apostolic Church of the Age of Grace. Who she is appears to depend on which Church you belong to and their view of End Times Eschatology. Predictably the Roman Catholics believe the woman is the Virgin Mary. In the fleshly realm she is Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, who was a virgin overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The mother of the prophesied Messiah. In the celestial realm the woman in white is symbolic of the Nation of Israel and is also the mother of the Christian Church through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Bear in mind that the Church was essentially Jewish for the first two hundred years after the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.
She is not the Virgin Mary of the Roman Catholic Church because that is Mithra who is the Zoroastrian angelic divinity (Yazata) of Covenant, Light, and Oath. The Statue of Liberty is actually a graven image of Mithra. At least, I understand that to be the case because the Emperor Constantine began the process of Christianising the Polytheistic religion of Pagan Rome. There is a statue in Rome that many believe is Mary but is actually an ancient statue of Mithra. There are many Catholics who are in all probability Christian and who have no knowledge that beneath the Christian subterfuge the hierarchy of the Church is secretly still quite pagan.
As I mentioned before which Church you belong too has a huge impact on your view of End Times eschatology. For instance the Adventists are adamant that they have usurped Israel and are heirs to the promises made to her through Abraham. So to them the woman of Revelation twelve can only be the Christian Church. Obviously the Catholic Church has tended to favor that view as well evidenced by the rabid antisemitism that they have rained upon the Jews throughout the Church Age. Both contend that Israel can only access the promises made to Abraham through the Christian Church along side gentile believers.
To me it is obvious that the woman of Revelation is not the Bride of Christ because the Church did not give birth to a male child who was caught up in to heaven with God on the throne. Through Mary the mother of Jesus it can be said that Israel gave birth to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Hence, Israel is the only realistic choice for the identity of the Woman in Revelation Twelve.
I hold a dispensational view of eschatology and part of that is a belief that God will honor his promises to Abraham and his descendants, both physical and spiritual. So to the nation of Israel and to those gentiles grafted into the fig tree through our faith in Jesus of Nazareth and his redemptive work on the Cross.
I have been brought up with a love for Israel and a hope that as many Jews as possible can be won to Christ. So when I read of the Woman in White who is heavily pregnant and being harassed by the Dragon. I can’t help but tear up about her plight and how the Lord protected her and the child Jesus Christ. I can’t understand how anyone can read Revelation Twelve and think that the woman is anyone but the nation of Israel. I guess it’s all just about how you interpret the scriptures and the lens that determines your eschatology.
Reference List
Scriptures http://www.biblegateway.com NASB
Mithra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithra 7.11.18
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