The above IS NOT the woman of Revelation 12
The woman of Rev 12 is not a church, nor Mary, nor Israel. I am the prophet like unto Moses Num 12:3 raised up of my brethren Acts 3:21-22 proving the power of God in the spirit of Elijah Matt 17:3, Luke 1:17 to restore Matt 17:11 the true word John 1:1 to prepare a people by turning their hearts to all the children of God. God our Father will not put any child of his into a hell fire no matter what their sins,no matter if they repent in this life or not. It never entered the heart or mind of God to ever do such a thing Jer7:31, Jer 19:5. The proof is in the hearing. Resist your carnal mind of hate, murder and revenge Rom 8:7.
Those that refuse to hear all the word delivered to the world is rejecting his word not mine.
*Acts 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
~ another false prophetess
How many women are presented in the Book of Revelation, and what do they symbolize?
United Church of God (UCG) has a section in their publication The Book of Revelation Unveiled titled “The Two Women of Revelation“.
The events described in the second half of the book of Revelation are directly related to the past and future of two symbolic women who are diametrical opposites. The first (Revelation 12) represents those who have been God’s covenant people–the “Church of God”–both Old Testament Israel and the New Testament called-out servants of Christ. The identity of this woman (national Israel or the New Testament Church) in Revelation is determined by the context and other scriptures. Jerusalem, the holy city, is portrayed as their spiritual home (Revelation 11:2).
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The second woman, represented as a harlot, is another great city. “And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH… [She is] drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Revelation 17:5-6).
What does she symbolize? “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (verse 18). She will be the pride of this world. But she will also have been the relentless persecutor of true Christians. God accuses her of being “drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (verse 6).
They then correctly trace the cultural and religious roots of this second woman back to Babylon the Great, a city founded by Nimrod soon after the Deluge.
However, are those the only two women portrayed? No, they are not. There is a similar but different symbol used when Christ triumphs and returns, called the wife of the Lamb or the bride of the Lamb in two different places.
Various interpretations have been given for the woman in Revelation 12. Catholics insist it is Mary, and many believe that the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (shown above) is a representation of that. Some Catholics and most Protestants believe it is the Catholic Church, and some vacillate between these opinions. Then, some see this as symbolic of Eve, as the struggle is between the seed of the woman and the serpent (dragon).
I can straight off the bat say that the woman in Revelation 12 is not the Lady of Guadalupe. I can also say it is not some crazy loon who got kicked out of UCG for running around saying she is That Prophet.
15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
~ Dt 18:15
Moses was a man. Moses was not like a woman. I don’t care if it is politically correct or not, and if you want to email complaints, send them to noonecares@nowhere.com. Better yet, complain to God, as He is the author of the Bible.
However, Gerald Flurry is not That Prophet either! It is blasphemy to call yourself that! Only One gets that title!
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Like I keep saying, context is almost everything.
All of the others have valid points, but they seem to gloss over the most obvious portions of the description in order to do so. After all, she is accompanied with 12 stars, the sun as clothing and stands on the moon, which altogether are a symbol of Israel. However, if it is Israel, then what are we to make of the wings carrying her off into the wilderness? If she is the Church, how can she give birth to the Messiah?
So, the question is: Is the woman of Revelation 12 Mary, Israel, Eve or the Church?
The short answer is: Yes.
A longer answer is that all of these are aspects of the woman that ignore the bigger picture, at least given how most people define things. Once again, I will suggest we have become sloppy in our definitions of things and too often apply a western view of things upon an ancient and eastern culture. Not only does our western view of things restrict our vision, but even the prophetic symbols in the Bible itself should show we often have a faulty view of things.
When we look at how the Bible itself explains the symbols, then how can we properly translate it into our western mindset? The answer, as usual, is context. Context means almost everything in biblical interpretation. Context is what makes the puzzle pieces fit together.
And, let’s not forget, the Bible itself is a context that provides an overall framework. So, like a puzzle, look at the bigger picture and work your way down to the detail in the surrounding area. Don’t force the pieces.
The detailed answer will be presented in parts, however.
The First Woman
There is a fourth woman, or I should say she actually is the first to be presented in the Book of Revelation. She is the easy one to describe, I believe. I will hedge that a bit, because, after all, she too is a symbol.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
One thing I find interesting to note is that Jezebel is only mentioned this once. The Nicolaitanes are mentioned twice. The synagogue of Satan is mentioned twice. Balaam is mentioned once alongside the Nicolaitanes. Balaam, of course, was a false prophet, but because Nicolaitanes are mentioned separately, the heresies involved must be different.
Likewise, Jezebel, a false prophetess, is only mentioned once, and it is literally said her children will be killed (v 23), something not told to any other group. Furthermore, this group has some who have “not known the depths of Satan”, which implies the others have! Pergamos, not Thyatira, is mentioned as being where Satan dwells, and even they are not charged with knowing the depths of Satan!
The real Jezebel, of course, was a Phoenician princess who married Israel’s King Ahab. She institutes organized idolatry in the land and persecutes the real prophets and faithful. She schemes and kills Naboth when he refused to sell Ahab his vineyard by falsely accusing him of treason and blasphemy. She even threatens Elijah’s life, which causes him to go into a spiral of depression causing a breakdown he apparently never fully recovers from.
As a side note, it should be pointed out that not all mental problems are caused by demons. More importantly, not all mental problems are caused by a lack of faith. What OT prophet was more faithful than Elijah? He is even used as a type for the one who prepares the way for Christ, John the Baptist, and Jesus made it obvious there will be another endtime fulfillment of that prophecy as well. No, I do not believe his problems were caused by a lack of faith, but we should keep in mind that we are all human and fragile and stress that is as severe as what he endured can cause even the strongest of us to crumble.
However, I think I know who Thyratira is. They will be around when “I come” (v 25). They will go into the Great Tribulation (v 22), which only occurs at the time of the end (Mt 24:21). There is a group who keeps the Sabbath, but many keep pagan holidays as well. They believe in the writings of a false prophetess. However, many have begun to set her teachings aside. Many of them are beginning to keep the holy days and eschew Christmas and Easter. They are putting away the idolatry that is still tolerated in that group, and I hope more do so before the end comes.
Remember, she is a symbol, but symbols stand for something. Like many events in Revelation, the symbols stand for something concrete, and I believe this Jezebel stands for a particular woman who would have been known in John’s day. However, Revelation is also a book about the future leading up to Christ’s return, so there has to be one that is influencing a group of God’s people in the endtimes as well.
I think, as usual, that we will have to agree to disagree on the number of women in Revelation.
I would suggest, in my terms of reference, that a ‘woman’ may be a symbol for a city and/or kingdom and a Church.
Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Israel the Kingdom is presented under the figure of a ‘woman’.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Israel the Church is presented under the figure of a ‘woman’
Na 3:1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
Na 3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
Ninevah the city/kingdom is also portrayed under the figure of a ‘woman’.
Woman = Church = City/Kingdom
In Revelation we have:
Rev 17:1b Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Babylon is portrayed under the figure of a woman.
Rev 21:9b, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
The New Jerusalem is also portrayed under the figure of a woman.
But I would suggest that the ‘woman’ of Revelation 17 is a telescopic woman – what appears to be one woman is actually two woman.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
I would suggest that the ‘woman’ the ten kings destroy is Babylon the Church, i.e., the RCC.
Rev 18:2a And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
I would also suggest that the ‘woman’ that Christ destroys is Babylon the Kingdom.
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Israel the Church is portrayed under the figure of a ‘woman’.
So in these examples, just using Revelation 17, 18, 19 and 21 the ‘women’, in my terms of reference, are:
The New Jerusalem
Israel the Church
Babylon the Church
Babylon the Kingdom
So if Babylon is a telescopic harlot – Babylon the Kingdom and Babylon the Church; then, arguably, the woman of Revelation 12 may also be a telescopic woman – Israel the Kingdom and Israel the Church.
So for me in the above I find six women.
Rev 1:4a John to the seven churches which are in Asia:
I could even be pedantic and say, just on this verse, that there are seven ‘women’ in Asia.
Whenever I think of a certain leader of a new church with Catholic prophecies as a guide I can’t help but think of this part of this verse:
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants…
Taking Jezebel metaphorically.
John from Australia wrote: “I think, as usual, that we will have to agree to disagree on the number of women in Revelation. …
“But I would suggest that the ‘woman’ of Revelation 17 is a telescopic woman – what appears to be one woman is actually two woman. …
“So if Babylon is a telescopic harlot – Babylon the Kingdom and Babylon the Church; then, arguably, the woman of Revelation 12 may also be a telescopic woman – Israel the Kingdom and Israel the Church.
“So for me in the above I find six women.”
No, John. You’re overthinking this as usual.
1. If the same woman has two meanings, it is still one woman.
2. A symbol is a one-way street. You don’t take the target of the symbol and count it as a symbol. If A=>B and B=>A, then it is no longer a symbol but the same exact thing.
So, you’re statement, “I could even be pedantic and say, just on this verse, that there are seven ‘women’ in Asia,” is incorrect. You are counting in the wrong direction.
I could see a case being made for a fifth woman, but I intend to show that two of them are actually the same woman described different ways.
I thought you might have picked up my ‘sloppiness,’ in that I counted Israel the Church twice – I had intended five, not six.
John writes:
I could see a case being made for a fifth woman, but I intend to show that two of them are actually the same woman described different ways.
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Would that potential fifth woman be Aholibah (Ezekiel 23:4)?