Who is the Woman in Labor in Revelation 12?
The mention of the woman in Revelation 12 is not the first time Scripture describes a special woman in labor. Thus, we'll use the Tanakh to discover her identity.
In our previous article, Deciphering the Chiastic Nature of the Book of Revelation (Part II), we discovered that the book of Revelation is arranged thematically in a literary pattern called a chiastic structure. We also noted that Revelation 12 is the central axis of the entire book of Revelation. Therefore, it is the most important chapter in Revelation and its message is crucial to correctly determining what Adonai (the Lord) is trying to communicate to us. Our next task is to determine the identity of the woman (Revelation 12:1), the man child (Revelation 12:4-5) and the remnant of her seed (Revelation 12:17), the main characters in Revelation12. I did not mention the dragon, because I think we all know who he is.
Many scholars believe the woman is Mary, Yeshua’s mother, and that the man child is Yeshua. This is partly based on Revelation 12:5 which states that the man child will “rule all nations with a rod of iron.” This is also specifically mentioned concerning Yeshua in Revelation 19:15 where it states, “He himself will rule them with a rod of iron,” and therefore it is believed the man child of Revelation 12:5 is speaking of Yeshua. Others believe the woman is the church, while still others believe the man- child is the church. Before looking at the evidence that I believe identifies the woman, man child and her seed, I’d like to present reasons why I believe Revelation 12 does not pertain to Mary or Yeshua.
Revelation 12:1—“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” This verse does not pertain to Mary as she is never spoken of in such magnificent imagery as in Revelation 12:1. She is spoken of as one of lowly estate, as in Luke 1:48, “For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.” The thought that Biblical writers would speak of Mary in such glowing terms is a consequence of Catholic doctrine regarding Mary, who some Catholics worship as much as Yeshua.
Revelation 12:6—“Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” This does not refer to Mary, because 1) she did not flee to the wilderness after giving birth to Yeshua, 2) she wasn’t nourished in a wilderness for 1,260 days and 3) she was not singled out for persecution by the dragon as stated in Revelation 12. Although Joseph and Mary did flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod, it’s a huge leap to connect their actions with the actions of the woman of Revelation 12.
The woman cannot refer to Mary because the seed of the woman (her children) are those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” according to Revelation 12:17. Are we to believe that Mary gave birth to all the believers of the end times?
The woman cannot be Mary because hasatan did not try to devour her child at birth. It was many months later, after His birth, that hasatan tried to kill Yeshua through Herod’s decree. This is why Herod had all male children 2 years old and under killed in Bethlehem.
According to Revelation 1:19, “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this,” John was commanded to write the things he had seen (Revelation 1:1-20), the things which are (Revelation 2–3, the state of Yeshua’s assemblies), and the things which “will take place after this (Revelation 4–22). In Revelation 4:1, John heard a voice saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this (the letters to the assemblies).” Therefore, we should understand that the events recorded in Revelation 4–22 are events of the future which occurred after Yeshua’s lifetime on earth.
According to Revelation 12:5, the man child was delivered at birth from the deadly schemes of the dragon by being “caught up to God and His throne.” In no way does this event fit the events of Yeshua’s birth or life. It is a huge stretch to suggest that Yeshua’s ascension (which happened 33 years after His birth) into heaven after His resurrection fulfilled Revelation 12:5. The total premise of Revelation 12:5 is that the man child is delivered from the dragon at his birth as a result of being caught up to God’s throne.
Revelation 12 clearly informs us that the noteworthy events of the great tribulation—the casting of hasatan to the earth, and the persecution of the woman and the remnant of her seed—are triggered by the catching away of the man child! Mary’s labor and Yeshua’s birth occurred 2,000 years ago and therefore did not and cannot trigger the end-time events mentioned in Revelation 12 which are yet to occur.
The woman can be identified by making the correct thematic connections to passages Adonai has already provided. Revelation 12:1, “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars,” is thematically connected to Joseph’s dream recorded in Genesis 37:9-11,
Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, ‘Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.’ 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, ‘What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?’ 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Jacob interpreted the sun and moon as referring to himself and Joseph’s mother (Genesis 37:10), and the eleven stars as referring to his brothers. Thus, the sign of Revelation 12 pertains to the nation of Israel! The sun, moon, and stars (Joseph would be the twelfth to fulfill Revelation 12:1) clearly refers to Jacob’s family as the beginning of the nation of Israel and thus, the woman is the nation of Israel. It is a huge mistake to attribute this vision to the church or Mary as is so often done. The number twelve is the prominent number referring to Israel and her twelve tribes, not the church or Mary.
Israel is referred to as a woman throughout the Tanakh.
17 As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we been in Your sight, O Lord. 18 We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth wind; we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19 Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead, (Isaiah 26:17-19)
For example, Isaiah 26:17-19, explicitly refers to Israel being in birth pangs! This passage is clearly a prophecy of Revelation 12:1-2, identifying the woman in birth pangs as the nation of Israel.
But the prophets of Israel go even further and speak of the man child also!
Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. (Isaiah 66:7-11)
Once again, here we see that the woman who gave birth to the man child is Israel/Zion. Also, notice that Israel will give birth to a male child (Isaiah 66:7) and other children (Isaiah 66:8), just as John prophesied in Revelation 12:5 (the man child) and Revelation 12:17 (the remnant of her seed).
Micah 4:9-13 also speaks of Israel as a woman in birth pangs, waiting to deliver her children:
Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. 10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. 11 Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” 12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. 13 “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
This passage in Micah also contains a prophecy that Adonai will take Israel out of her land (to Babylon) where she will experience deliverance! Likewise, we find this in Revelation 12:13-16, as the woman is forced to flee from Israel into the wilderness where Adonai will provide for her deliverance.
Finally, Micah 5:1-5 helps us see that the woman in birth pangs is none other than the nation of Israel:
Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; he has laid siege against us; they will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek. 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” 3 Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel. 4 And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; 5 and this One shall be peace.”
All these passages from the Tanakh clearly identify the woman of Revelation 12 as the nation of Israel. In the next article we will identify the man child of Revelation 12!
Shalom,
Tony Robinson