Woman Clothed With the Sun in the Book of Revelation

Below is the 21st of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from The Parousia, the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell:

"The Fourth Vision
"VISION OF THE SEVEN MYSTIC FIGURES.
"Chaps. xii. [12] xiii. [13] xiv. [14]

"The catastrophe of the trumpet vision lands us in the very same crisis as the catastrophe of the seven seals. They are both different representations of the same great event. But there is still room for fresh representations; and the next vision ushers in a completely different set of symbols, though belonging to the same period and relating to the same events. ...These [symbols] are,---1. The woman clothed with the sun; 2. The great red dragon; 3. The man-child; 4. The beast from the sea; 5. The beast from the land; 6. The Lamb on Mount Sion [Zion]; 7. The Son of man on the cloud. We call this vision, therefore, the vision of the seven mystic figures. It occupies the next three chapters---chaps. xii. [12] xiii. [13] xiv. [14] It is of the utmost consequence for the correct interpretation of these apocalyptic visions that we keep ste[a]dfastly in mind the limits of the area to which we are restricted by the terms of the Book. It is only a point in historical time and geographical space,---the consummation of the Jewish [Old Covenant] age. The theatre of action, and the greater number of dramatis personae, must always be sought at the central spot, where is the focus of the interest,---Jerusalem and Judea. ...

"1. The Woman clothed with the Sun.

"CHAP. xii. 1, 2 [Rev. 12:1-2].---‘And there appeared a great wonder (sign) in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.’

"CHAP. xii. 5 [Rev. 12:5].---‘And she brought forth a man child, who shall rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.’

"It is not surprising that this representation of the woman who brings forth a man child destined to rule all the nations, who is caught up to God and to His throne, etc., should at the first view suggest the Virgin Mother and her Son, who was no sooner born than He was persecuted by the murderous jealousy of Herod, ‘who sought the young child to destroy him [Matthew 23:13];’ and who ascended to the throne of God [Acts 1:9-11]. Nevertheless, such an interpretation at once breaks down, being wholly incompatible with the subsequent representations in the vision. There is nothing in the history of Mary corresponding to the persecution of the woman by the dragon [Rev. 12:3-4]; to her flight into the wilderness after the ascension of her Son [Rev. 12:6]; to the flood of water cast out by the serpent to destroy her [Rev. 12:15]; and to the war made upon ‘the remnant of her seed [Rev. 12:17].'

"...We have no difficulty, therefore, in accepting the common opinion that the woman clothed with the sun is representative of the Christian church. But this alone is too vague a statement. It is the persecuted church, the apostolic church, the church of Judea, that is here symbolised. That is to say, it is the Hebrew-Christian church in the closing days of the Jewish [Old Covenant] age.

"The emblems with which the woman is adorned [Rev. 12:1] will not seem incongruous or extravagant when we remember the lofty language in which the prophet Isaiah addresses Israel: ‘Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee,’ etc. (Isa. lx. [60]) That the apostolic church should be resplendent as the sun, that the moon should be beneath her feet, is only in keeping with all that is spoken in the New Testament of the dignity and glory of the bride of Christ [as depicted in Rev. 21:9, Eph. 5:30-33 and other passages].

"But that which identifies the woman in the vision as the Hebrew-Christian church is the crown of twelve stars upon her head [Rev. 12:1]. That this is emblematic of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel seems beyond question; and it therefore fixes the reference of the vision to the church of Judea."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book of Revelation: Written to be Understood by its Original 1st-century Readers

Below is the first of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from   The Parousia ,  the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " We come now to the consideration of the most difficult and obscure part of divine Revelation, and we may well pause on the threshold of a region so shrouded in mystery and darkness . The conspicuous failures of the wise and learned men who have too confidently professed to decipher the mystic scroll of the apocalyptic Seer [John] warn us against presumption. We might even feel justified in declining altogether a task which has baffled so many of the ablest and best interpreters of the Word of God.  But, on the other hand ,   do we honour the book by refusing to open it, and pronouncing it hopelessly obscure ? Are we justified in so treating any portion of the Revelation which God has given us? Is the book to be virtually handed over to diviners and charlatans, to be the sport of their fantastic s
Read more

Revelation's Messages to the Seven 1st-century Churches of Asia Minor

Below is the ninth of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " The First Vision "THE MESSAGES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.  "[Rev.] Chap. i. 10-20; ii. iii [Rev. 1:10-20; 2, 3] "Notwithstanding what has been said respecting the imagery and symbolism of the Apocalypse [Book of Revelation],  it is not to be forgotten that underlying these symbols there is everywhere a substratum of fact and reality. We have only to read the messages to the seven churches to discover that we are in a region of actual fact and intense reality.  There is such individuality of character in the graphic delineations of the spiritual state of the several churches, that  we cannot doubt that they are accurate and truthful portraits of the Christian communities [in 1st-century Asia Minor] which they describe . There is indeed a strange commingling of figure [symbol] and fact [in  
Read more

The Seven Seals: Symbols of Jerusalem's Fall in A.D. 70

Below is the 10th of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell:  "The Second Vision " THE SEVEN SEALS , CHAPS. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. 1. [Rev. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8:1] " Introduction to the vision , chaps. iv. v. [Rev. 4, 5] " ... Nothing can be more vivid and dramatic than the scenes which are successively exhibited as the Lamb opens the seals . The four cherubs that guard the throne, one after another announce the breaking of the first four seals, with a loud cry of ‘Come!’ And as each is opened the Seer [John] beholds a visionary figure pass across the field of view, emblematic of the contents of that portion of the scroll which is unrolled. ...   " What, then, do these symbols represent? It needs only a glance to see their general nature and character. Everywhere it is WAR, and the concomitants of war,---blood, famine, and death, all leading up to and
Read more