REVELATION 12:1

And 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:

A ‘woman’ is symbolic of a church. The prophet Isaiah likened the church to a woman when he prophesied, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called. 6For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.” (Isaiah 54:5,6) The apostle Paul likened the church to a woman when he instructed husbands to love their wives even as Christ loved the church: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” (see Ephesians 5:25) Paul also likened the church at Corinth to a woman when he wrote of presenting her as a ‘chaste virgin’ to Christ: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2)

The ‘sun’ is symbolic of Jesus Christ. Malachi prophesied of Jesus Christ as the ‘Sun of righteousness’: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” (Malachi 4:2) John described Jesus as the ‘true light’: “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:9) Jesus called Himself ‘the light of the world’: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) The ‘woman’, therefore, being shown to be ‘clothed with the sun’ reveals the church of God to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of those who had been baptized into Christ as having put on Christ: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

The ‘moon’, like the ‘sun’, is symbolic of Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied that the sun and the moon of the church of God will never go down, for the Lord will be her everlasting light, “Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” (Isaiah 60:20) The woman, therefore, being shown to have the ‘moon under her feet’, reveals the church of God to be founded on Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote of Christ as the only foundation: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11) When the disciple Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the ‘Christ, the Son of the living God’, Jesus pointed out this profound truth to be the rock upon which He would build His church: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:16-18)

The ‘stars’ are symbolic of the servants of Christ. Jesus revealed the seven stars to be the ‘angels of the seven churches’: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches…” (Revelation 1:20) The ‘angels of the seven churches’ were identified to be prophets. Daniel prophesied that they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars: “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3) The stars in the crown on the woman’s head being numbered twelve reveals them to signify the servants of Christ in the twelve tribes of spiritual Israel, even the hundred and forty-four thousand. The ‘twelve stars’ being in the form of a ‘crown’ reveals the hundred and forty-four thousand to be the crowning glory of God’s church. Isaiah likened the redeemed to a ‘crown of glory’ and a ‘royal diadem’ in the hand of the Lord: “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 4Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” (Isaiah 62:3-5)

Therefore, in the sign of a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, we see the church of God in the hundred and forty-four thousand clothed with Christ and established in Him, and a crown of glory in His hand.

The revelation of the church of God in the sign of a woman signals the beginning of the third prophesying of the Revelation prophecy, for the first prophesying began with the revelation of the church of God in the sign of a ‘white horse’ (see Revelation 6:2), and the second prophesying began with the revelation of the church of God as ‘the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein’. (see Revelation 11:1)