Simple Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation — Part 9
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:”—Revelation 12:1 (KJV)
Who is this woman?
This is a good place to point out another important key to understanding the book of Revelation. There are many seemingly mysterious characters in the book of Revelation, but you can often discover who certain characters are by looking at how they are described. Then you can cross-reference those characteristics to see where else those exact characteristics are mentioned in Scripture. Those cross-references will often give you important clues to help you understand who these characters are.
Keeping that in mind, where else in Scripture do we have the sun, moon, and stars representing something symbolic?
Do you remember Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9?
*“Joseph later had another dream, and he told his brothers, ‘Listen to what else I dreamed. ****The sun, the moon, and eleven stars ***bowed down to me.’” (CEV)
Joseph’s father immediately interpreted this dream:
“What kind of dream is that? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come to you and bow down to the ground in front of you?”—Genesis 37:10 (ISV)
It seemed apparent to Jacob that the sun represented the father, the moon represented the mother, and the stars represented the individual brothers. We have already seen in Scripture that stars often represent individual believers. So when we apply this to the woman in Revelation 12:1, what does this tell us about who she is?
If she is clothed with the sun, then she is clothed with the glory of the Father, who is God Almighty.
She wears a crown of twelve stars. A crown can represent kingdom authority. If stars represent individual brothers, then we could say that she is crowned with kingdom authority that is not concentrated in one individual, like a pope, but is shared among individuals within the kingdom, with the number twelve representing governmental authority. It’s interesting to note that surrounding God’s throne are twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:4). Twenty-four is twelve times two. Also, the wall of the New Jerusalem has twelve foundation stones bearing the names of the twelve apostles of Jesus (Revelation 21:14). Twelve is a very significant number in the Kingdom of God.
But what about the moon under this woman’s feet? If the moon represents the mother, who is the mother?
To find the answer to this question, we need to go to Galatians 4:25-26:
“Now Hagar is (represents) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above [that is, the way of faith, represented by Sarah] is free***; she is our mother.” ***(AMP)
In this passage, Paul is contrasting the Old Covenant—the law—represented by Hagar, and the New Covenant—the way of faith—represented by Sarah. So Paul seems to be saying here that the New Covenant is our mother. Applying that to the woman in Revelation 12:1, we see that under her feet is the solid foundation of the New Covenant, upon which she stands.
So, this woman is the Church. She stands on the foundation of the New Covenant, clothed with the glory of the Father, and governed by the Kingdom authority given by God to the individual believers.
Others have tried to make this woman represent Israel or Mary, the mother of Jesus, but as we follow what happens to this woman in the rest of chapter 12, those interpretations fall apart. What happens to this woman never happened to Israel or to Mary, nor is it prophesied that these things will ever happen to them.
This sun-clothed woman is the *true *Church. Later in the book of Revelation, another woman appears. She is described in detail in Revelation 17. She is the *false *church who appears in great contrast to the true Church described here in chapter 12.
But the sun-clothed woman is not alone. In Revelation 12:2, we find out that she is pregnant. This is what has led some people to speculate that this sun-clothed woman might be Mary, the mother of Jesus. But this woman is not pregnant with Jesus. What happens to this child never happened to Jesus. The birth of this child will trigger the incredible events of the last few years of this age.
We’ll find out who this child is in the next message.
For a more detailed explanation of the events in the book of Revelation, I highly recommend this free book about the end-time harvest (PDF download), as well as this free book about the Daniel’s prophecy (PDF download), and this free book about Revelation prophecies (PDF download). These were all written by my friend and former pastor.