The Catholic
Church has a number of unbiblical teachings on Mary, the mother of Jesus
Christ. Some of these include the
concept of her bodily Assumption into Heaven, Mary as the “Queen of Heaven,”
Mary as the “Mother of the Church” (i.e., of all Christians), and Mary as the
“Ark of the New Covenant.” It seems that
a misinterpretation of Revelation chapter 12 is the springboard, at least in
part, for these particular Catholic teachings.
But is Mary the woman portrayed in Revelation 12? What does the Catholic Church say?
Note these
official Catholic sources:
On February
2, 1904, Pope Pius X, in his papal encyclical (an official letter to the
church), titled Ad Diem Illum
Laetissimum, said:
“A woman clothed with the sun, and
with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head.”
Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary… (Paragraph 24)
On May 13,
1967, Pope Paul VI, in his papal encyclical, The Great Sign, said:
The great sign which the Apostle John
saw in heaven, “a woman clothed with the sun,”…as referring to the most blessed
Mary, the mother of all men by the grace of Christ the Redeemer.
And Pope
John Paul II, March 25, 1987, wrote in his papal encyclical (Redemptoris Mater):
For Mary… by her ecclesial
identification as the “woman clothed with the sun” (Rev. 12:1)… (Paragraph 47)
So,
according to these popes, the Catholic Church officially sees Mary as the woman
who is clothed with the sun in chapter 12 of the book of Revelation, where she
is (supposedly) revealed in all of her splendor. But it doesn’t stop here. This interpretation also leads to other
doctrines which cause Mary to be overly honored in other aspects, as well. The influence of this interpretation develops
a mindset that can eventually lead to the worship of Mary, though most Catholics
will not admit it.
But to be
fair, there are some Catholic apologists who see several different interpretations
of the “woman” in Revelation 12. In spite
of the official Catholic documents quoted above, some will say that the woman
clothed with the sun could possibly represent 1) the church, 2) Eve, 3) Mary,
or 4) Israel.
But let’s
take a look at the passage in context so that we can determine if it does indeed
point to Mary or not. Here it is:
(Revelation 12:1-6)
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:
2) And she being with child cried,
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3) And there appeared another wonder in
Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and
seven crowns upon his heads.
4) And his tail drew the third part of
the stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5) And she brought forth a manchild, who
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:
and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.
6) And the woman fled into the
wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her
there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Ok, it seems
obvious that the manchild who will rule with a rod of iron (v. 5)
is Jesus Christ, I think most everyone would agree; although there are some who
believe that the manchild will be the 144,000 Jews who are sealed by God (Revelation
7:1-8; 14:1-5). But anyway,
let’s find out who this “woman” is in context.
1) It is not the church.
How do we
know? Because the church did not give
birth to Jesus (v. 5). One could argue
that Jesus “gave birth” to the church, but not the other way around.
2) It is not Eve.
One could
say that Eve, in a sense, gave birth to Jesus, but she also indirectly gave
birth to everyone else on the planet (except Adam). So, this is not helpful. Also, there is nothing in Scripture about Eve
fleeing into the wilderness for special protection for 1260 days (v.
6).
3) It is not Mary.
Yes, Mary
directly gave birth to Jesus Christ, but she did not flee into the wilderness
for protection. Someone might object and
say that this happened when she and her husband Joseph fled to Egypt, but according
to Revelation
12, the woman’s flight was not when her Son was a child, but it was after the ascension of Jesus to the
throne of God (v. 5-6). And again,
their flight into Egypt had nothing to do with her being fed for 1260 days. So, this “woman” in Revelation does not
describe Mary.
4) It is the nation of Israel.
If the
“woman” is seen as Israel, everything lines up.
Israel is “clothed with the sun” (a symbol of her glory given to her by
God). She has the “moon under her feet”
(symbolic of the dominion God gave her).
She has a crown of twelve stars (representing the twelve tribes - Genesis
37:9-10). She produced / gave
birth to the Messiah (John 4:22), Who will rule with a rod
of iron (Psalm 2:7-9; Revelation 19:15).
She will flee into the wilderness to escape the wrath of the antichrist and
will be under God’s special protection for 1260 days (Revelation 12:6) - (or 42
months - Revelation 11:2; 13:5), (or three and a half years - Revelation
12:14; Daniel 7:25; 12:7) – these are all referring to the same thing. This extremely heavy persecution of Israel will
begin in the second half (middle) of the seven-year Tribulation period (Daniel
9:27; Matthew 24:15-21). These 1260
days have nothing to do with Mary, but everything to do with Israel.
By the way,
the mention of the angel Michael in the same context (Revelation 12:7) is
another clue that the author is speaking about Israel, since Michael is
identified as the “great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people [Israel].”
(Daniel 12:1)
Since the
evidence points to Israel as the
identity of the “woman clothed with the sun,” shouldn’t the Catholic Church
make some serious changes in their doctrines and dogmas concerning Mary? Yes they should, but we seriously doubt that
will happen.
