Is the woman in Revelation 12 actually the Virgin Mary?

Question

Rev 12:1And 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:

Rev12:5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

The statue of the Virgin Mary at Notre Dame shows a golden woman standing on a crescent moon.
http://www.nd.edu/~wcawley/corson/serpent.htm

Why is there so much art in Europe showing the Virgin Mary standing on the crescent moon with 12 stars around her head if she is not the woman in Rev 12?

Answer 1

Yes, she is. It is obvious her child is Jesus. Who said yes to God and gave birth to Jesus? The Blessed Virgin Mary did. To ignore or deny that is ridiculous. Th twelve stars represent the 12 apostles. She was the first Christian (she said yes to God, to Jesus and followed and supported Him all the way) and is a model on how Christians should live.

Answer 2

Revelations Chapter 12 has nothing to do with The Virgin Mary, First of all Mary was not a Virgin AFTER Jesus Christ was born because Joeseph & Mary had other childrens, Rev. Chapter 12 is talking about Israel. 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun & the moon under her feet, & upon her head a crown of 12 stars. This woman that is clothed with the sun will be Jews that will go over into the milliennium, & the moon under her feet is a type of the law age, The 12 stars are the 12 tribes of Israel with 12,000 out of each tribe & that is where you get the 144,000 in Revelation. As you read Chapter 12 you see Israel fleeing from the anti-christ into a place that is prepared by God. So this woman is NOT the Virgin Mary But Israel.

Answer 3

The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Genesis 37:9-10) symbolizes God's people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev 12:6, 13-17); cf Isaiah 50:1; 66:7; Jeremiah 50:12.)

Answer 4

The Blessed Virgin Mary has become the symbol of His Church. That is why when you hear Catholics referring to His Church they use female words such as she or her. For example as the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus we are reborn through the baptism of His Church. I've read the Infancy Gospel of James which originally did not make the cut in the Books that were allowed into the Bible. One of the reasons the Gospel of James was not written by the Apostle St. James the Just but was attributed to him, it was written during the 2nd century. It's proof that the early Christians did believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary. And also tells of the story of her parents St. Joachim and St. Anne and the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Another reason why it wouldn't have been allowed because it would have been placed before the other Gospels in the New Testament placing Mary before Jesus. Even though it's Apocrypha by the Catholic Church it's not one of the Gnostic Gospels. The early Church Fathers would have never compared the Blessed Virgin Mary to Eve, because while Eve had been disobedient to God, Mary on the other hand is the obedient daughter of God. Latter on the Catholic Church called her the new Eve, basically how the Eve from the story of Adam & Eve should have been.

Answer 5

In 1950, a catholic pope (finally) made an evolutionary edict; which proclaimed that Mary had been ascended into heaven to become the Queen of Heaven. So, there were the three: Father, Son and Holy Ghost and NOW there are the Four. A significant event has happened; and in 100 A.D. John on the island of Patmos got to see it.

I see way too much of people (in R&S) discounting what God has done by 'claiming' that it came from the pagans or the witches or druids and so forth, and it is just not advanced thinking...It is reductionistic thinking and an easy way to confuse people.

Yes, God turned the female fertility cults loose on the world....thousands of years before He called Abram (to walk 3,300 miles) and started teaching Abram how things really work.

Why would He do this? I believe that He wanted to let the female goddess have a big headstart, let 'her' (and her consort, a male) gain a massive following and let what they did "decay" to a certain point; so that He could step onto the world stage (via men and women) and correct their errors and cause the evolution/s that He needed.

And what is it that "they" developed (that God charged the Hebrews with exterminating)??? The weather protection and fertility cults is what they produced. This alone was innocent...Dance, Chant, have guiltless sex, light candles, pray to the 'goddess' and consort to protect the crops and to bear lots of children (to work the fields). What went into "decay" was: somewhere along the line, they got the idea that to kill a virgin, coupled with prayer, candles and dances; would make the protection more powerful.

Then, somewhere along the line, they got the idea: Let's throw an infant or child into the bonfire to make things work better. Thus, instead of Life, we see anti life and blood thirst.

Which is the real agenda of the goddess and her consort. To kill, steal and destroy.

And this says nothing about God wants the full glory for creating the world; but, first He had to let them show their true colors, then He wanted the hebrews to wipe them out (and the hebrews joined them!! Which made God quite unhappy with them). Then, the hebrews became slaves of the egyptians, who were followers and embellishers of these cults (with a twist, they tried to use the black arts to get the secret of immortality). And, of course, pharoah was a male god. And God humiliated them.

And God is going to humiliate the pagans, mockers and unbelievers; one of these days.

In sum, then, Christianity (thru the hebrews) is contaminated with lots of other beliefs; but that does not make it any less valid. Which belief system is Life and which are anti life? Is the litmus test.

Answer 6

No, it is the nation of Israel.
The sun is Jacob, the moon is Rachel, and the twelve stars are Jacob's twelve sons; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The clue is found in Genesis 37:9-10.

The manchild that the nation of Israel brought forth is Jesus, who will rule nations with a rod of iron. Jesus was caught up to God and his throne.

The statue at Notre Dame is an extension of the worship of Mary. It is a Catholic teaching.

grace2u

Answer 7

12:1 the woman represents the true people of God, the faithful in Israel before Christ came, and His church today.
12:5 The Child is Christ. The woman in the wilderness shows that God will preserve His people from ultimate harm during times of persecution.

Answer 8

i believe the woman being referred to may very well be Mary, the was a great miracle where 70,000 people saw the sun spin in circles, come crashing to the earth, and dry the rain soaked ground instantly, then went back to its original place in the universe, this happened in Fatima, Portugal in 1917, the Portugese Government officials told the children to admit they were lying or else they going to throw them in a pot of burning oil, yet the children maintained they were telling the truth, dont ya think if they were lying they would have just admitted it rather than face being boiled alive? and how do you get that many people to lie about that same incident? i mean if 70,000 people told me they saw a blue monkey at the San Diego Zoo, i would believe they saw a blue monkey at the San Diego Zoo!

Answer 9

In my studies and my opinion I truly believe that the woman in revelation is referring to the body of Christ or the true church of God. Of course the man child that this women gives birth to is referring to Christ who will rule all nations with a "rod of iron". A rod in the scriptures typically is symbolic of judgment.

Isaiah 11:4 "But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked."

Answer 10

I believe the woman speaks figuratively of Israel, but especially those who are true followers of God. That the woman is a figure can be seen in verse 17: "And the dragon (Satan) was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." This refers to all Gentile believers, of whom it can not be said that Mary is their mother.