Exploring the Mystery of the Woman Clothed With the Sun
Bible Study Guide
Before we remove the mysterious veil hiding the woman clothed in the sun, let’s address a few housekeeping items.
Have you ever had an MRI performed on you? If you have, you understand what an MRI does. It focuses on a region of your body. Then it takes a picture of that region by slicing the picture in very thin sections.
It allows the doctors to see what’s happening to one specific part of that region. They do this by examining each thin slice of the picture.
When we study the book of Revelation, we often find ourselves exploring the events in chronological order. While there is a chronological order to some of these events, it’s not the case for all.
Some of the events in this book are just a slice of the total picture. Like an MRI, it drills down to a specific event without looking at the whole picture. Sometimes these slices fall into the whole picture chronologically. Other times, they are layered upon other events. Which means that could be taking place at the same time as other events.
Some could occur over a short period of time. Others could take a much longer time frame to manifest. It’s just important that we don’t look at each event in chronological order. While Revelation is not entirely in chronological order, God does have a perfect order and time for all of it to take place.
The Sign of the Woman With Clothing Made of the Sun
As we’ve seen so far, this book is filled with symbols. This one begins with the sign (symbol) of the woman cloth with the sun. We’re not always told throughout Revelation when they’re symbols and when they’re literal. We’re not to assume that symbols give us allegorical authority to interpret with our opinions and ideas what those symbols mean. Because this will turn out to be nothing more than sinking sand.
This is a very dangerous place to be. God never asks for our opinion or thoughts on His Word. So it’s best when God gives us a symbol, we allow God to interpret it for us. This is where the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit will never direct us in the wrong place.
We are still to take signs literally. What do I mean by that? Every sign that God gives represents a literal event, person, place or thing. How do we find the literal meaning of these symbols? We find them through the Bible’s interpretation with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This is one of the important reasons why any Bible reading, exploring, or studying should be preceded by a prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in the wisdom and understanding of God’s word. The Holy Spirit will never let us down.
Who the Woman Clothed In the Sun Is Not
(Verse 1) Fortunately, for us, John reveals right out of the gate that he sees a sign in heaven. This means, we know that what John is looking at is a symbol of something literal. Let’s see who this woman clothed with the sun really is.
The Catholic Church interprets this woman to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. Much like the Catholic Cathecism which has no biblical foundation, this interpretation is also false.
Remember, John says these are signs (symbols) of literal things. It would be too easy to interpret the woman as Mary. Especially since she’s seen here giving birth to a child. Rather, the woman symbolizes something else. But what?
If we jump ahead in this passage, verse 6 reveals that this woman clothed with the sun is not Mary, the mother of Jesus. It states that she’ll be placed in the wilderness to be protected by God for 1,260 days. This places the woman, rightly so in the midst of the 1,260 days of the Great Tribulation.
This confirms that this woman is not Mary. Mary is not alive and she’s not returning for the Great Tribulation. The woman in this passage is a sign, but a sign of what?
Who Is the Woman Clothed With the Sun?
If we jump ahead in this passage we find clues that reveal the woman is in fact not Mary. But first, let’s go back in time. Several thousand years to the beloved story of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Jacob has an unusual dream. This dream in the book of Genesis points to who this “woman clothed with the sun” is.
“Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
(Genesis 37:9)
If you continue, scripture reveals that the sun represented his father, Jacob; the stars his brothers who represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Scripture is not entirely clear who the moon symbolizes. Many Bible scholars believe it was Joseph’s mother Rachel or Bilhah. Bilhah was Rachel’s maid and she may have played the supportive role of Joseph’s mother after Rachel passed away.
Either way, many believe that the moon symbolized a mother figure in the life of Joseph. This would be a reasonable possibility considering the moon stands below the woman’s feet supporting her.
When you put all these characters together, you have the nation of Israel. God promised to build a great nation with multitudes of people from Jacob. The twelve tribes of Israel stand as the nation of Israel as a whole.
More Unraveling of the Woman Clothed in the Sun
Throughout the Old Testament, Israel has often been referred to as a woman who’s about to give birth. We can clearly see this in the following passages.
“As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, Lord.” (Isaiah 26:17)
“Who has ever heard of such things?
Who has ever seen things like this?
Can a country be born in a day
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
than she gives birth to her children.
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth
and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?” says your God.” (Isaiah 66:8-9)
“Why do you now cry aloud—
have you no king?
Has your ruler perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?”
(Micah 4:9)
Each of these verses refers to the nation of Israel as a woman in labor about to give birth. Even before Christ revealed this scene and its woman clothed with the sun to John, it was already established this radiant woman is Israel.
Now that we’ve seen scripture unravel the mystery of the woman clothed in the sun to be the nation of Israel, let’s explore who this next character John sees as another sign in heaven.
Who Is this Child Born Out of Israel?
The nation of Israel symbolized by the woman clothed in the sun is about to give birth to Christ. The dragon (Satan) has known about the birth of Jesus out of Israel for ages. Probably before we found out in the garden of Eden.
This is where we first learn of Christ as the seed of the woman. This is where the spiritual war began between the dragon and Israel and the seed of the woman (Jesus). The next study guide will explore this spiritual war more closely.
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