Revelation 12: Female Figures and Figures of Evil

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER OF THE APOCALYPSE DESCRIBES A HEAVENLY WOMAN clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars. Together with the Bride of Christ and the Whore of Babylon, she is one of three symbolic women who appear in the visions of John of Patmos. A fourth woman, apparently an influential teacher in the church in Thyatira, is regarded by John as a false prophet, a “Jezebel” (Rev 2:20). Each woman of the Apocalypse is unequivocally aligned either with God or with Satan. These female images are part of a system of symbols used by an author who speaks to his audience in code. The woman of Revelation 12 is the mother of a son who is snatched into heaven. She is persecuted by a dragon, flees into the wilderness, and there is nourished by God. This symbolic woman has been variously interpreted as the Virgin Mary, Israel, Eve, and the church. In actuality, her identity is multifaceted. This essay will explore the many aspects of her identity, examining those which are derived from the Old Testament, as well as those which come from sources outside the Bible. In particular, I will explore the woman’s relationship to the dragon, since this will shed light on how we are to understand the woman.