THE WOMAN – 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. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. (Revelation 12:1-2)
Identity of the Woman – As with many of the visions in Revelation, there are a variety of viewpoints as to the identity of the “woman clothed with the sun.”
• Mary – One viewpoint is that this is a symbolic reference to Mary the mother of Christ.(1)
• Church – Others identify her as the Church, with the twelve stars representing the twelve apostles referenced in Revelation 21:14.(2)
• Israel – Still others see the woman symbolizing Israel, as indicated by Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9–11, where the sun and the moon referred to Jacob and…
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