Whom or What Does the Woman Represent in Revelation Chapter 12?
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>
From: Martin Overfield
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000
Note: About six months after I wrote this Bible Note I began to have
serious doubts about some of my interpretation of this prophetic passage.
This note may help you to think. Perhaps in the future I will produce
another note dealing with how this chapter shows the Rapture of the church
in a very remarkable way.
Whom or What Does the Woman Represent in Revelation Chapter 12?
With current happenings in Israel, I thought this subject might be of
interest to some.
While running the risk of seeming to be dogmatic on the answer to this
question, I will present reasons for my view.
While I do not yet know how to explain every detail of Revelation
chapter 12, I believe that the woman represents the Nation (or people) of
Israel.
Reasons:
1. The "twelve stars" would seem to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
This by itself would not be conclusive, but taken with the rest of the
passage it makes sense to me. (Rev. 12:1)
2. "She brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod
of iron" -- This is an obvious reference to the Christ of God, Jesus the Son
of God. (Rev. 12:2, 5). In a Messianic passage, Psalm 2:7-9, we read that
the One Whom God calls His Son, not only asks the heathen for His
inheritance, but He will also "break them with a rod of iron".
It is further interesting that Christ promises in His letter to the
church
at Thyatira that those who overcome will be delegated the power to rule
with "a rod of iron", which He says He received from His Father. And
to further seal this issue, Revelation 19:11-16 makes it abundantly clear
that He whose "name is called the Word of God" (Only Jesus, God's Son,
bears this name in Scripture.) -- that He "shall rule them", the nations,
"with a rod of iron".
Couple with this statement the fact that the Dragon, who is clearly
Satan, the Devil, has a special interest in devouring this child more than
any other particular child, and we again see that Christ is indicated.
Satan certainly hated and despised Christ, and plotted Christ's death from
His time of birth (Herod's massacre of the babies in Bethlehem) to the time
of crucifixion.
The fact that Christ is the "man child" would preclude the Church from
being represented by this woman, because the Church is His offspring - not
the other way around.
3. The persecution of the Jews, and now the country of Israel. It has been
evident throughout history that God has miraculously defended Israel at
times; and, He will do so during the time of the Antichrist. The but that
Satan is most definitely hateful towards these people and bent upon their
destruction, especially because it was through this people that God became
man and provided the only means by which Satan's purposes to destroy
mankind would be defeated.
Whenever Satan no longer has access as "the Accuser" (see Job 1 and
2) -- and becomes the enforced ruler of the earth through the person of the
Antichrist, the beast, then will he exhibit his hatred for the Jews with
such a ferocious blaze of fury that it will take Christ Himself to finally
step in, upon Mount Zion in order to protect His people from utter
annihilation.
4. "The remnant of her seed". This seems to refer to the fact that Israel
will turn to God and the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, in great numbers during
the very last days of this present world system, which will culminate under
the reign of the Antichrist. (Romans 11:26) When Israelites flock to
Christ, Satan will have tremendous motivation for hating them. They will
then not only be identified with the people who were responsible for
bringing Christ into the world, but they will also become Israelites indeed!
"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;
whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Romans 2:28, 29)
Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield
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