Revelation 12:1-18, The Woman and the Dragonġ A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.Ģ She was pregnant and was crying out in birthpangs, in the agony of giving birth.ģ Then another portent appeared in the heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.Ĥ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. It is now that the vision of the woman and the dragon happens: The seven seals and the seven trumpets and perhaps any mention of seven helps to unite the seer's visionary experiences. It is helpful to remember that the visions blend and complement each other. Here she is united with God and those who are children of God through the covenant promise "I will be their God and they will be my children" (Rev. In chapter 21 the woman will be the symbol of the new Jerusalem, the heavenly bride. This revelation of God above in the ark of the covenant is now complemented by the vision of the woman representing those who faithfully follow the true witness of God, Jesus the Messiah.
This symbol is carried over from the Hebrew Scriptures into the new revelation after the one who has been pierced is celebrated on the Lord's day, Sunday (cf. Verse 19 above is the revelation of God through the ark of the covenant. It is the final verse of the scene that leads to the section on the woman clothed with the sun. Somewhat like the combination of the realized and yet future eschatology of the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation looks back to the death of Jesus and from that event shows the ultimate victory over all sin and death. In the light of what follows in the vision of the woman, we are led to see that the ultimate eschatological victory of the Messiah lies ahead in the future, but, at the same time, the death of Jesus upon the Cross is the real victory over all forces of evil. In this scene both judgment and salvation are announced. Revelation 11:15-19, Woman Clothed with the Sun 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever." 16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 singing, "We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.ġ8 The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, and the prophets and saints and all who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth."ġ9 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple, and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
The text is clear in its Messianic message: It depicts the seventh angel blowing his trumpet, hence, the completion of another great moment in the seer's (John, the Elder) vision. In order to place the vision of a woman clothed with the sun and having the moon beneath her feet, the text has been situated within its larger context.