Today’s reading is Revelation 12.
Back to the Beginning
John sees a glorious woman, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, wearing a crown of twelves stars. As glorious as she is pictured, she cries out in pain and agony because she is giving birth. Genesis 3:16 comes rushing into our memory:
I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children (ESV).
When we see she and her son attacked by a great red dragon, the serpent of old, the previous verse in Genesis comes rushing into our minds:
The LORD God said to the serpent,…
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel (ESV).
We see the fulfillment of the first foretelling of the Messiah in a cosmic apocalyptic display. The woman bears her seed and the serpent of old is crushed.
The Woman in All Her Guises
On the one hand, this woman is Mary the mother of Jesus. On the other hand, she is much more than that. She is Eve who gave birth to Abel, but the serpent convinced Cain to kill his brother. Yet, he was replaced by Seth. She is Sarah who struggled mightily to have children and herself succumbed to the tempter’s ideas by trying to produce the heir through her slave, Hagar. She is Rebekah who gave birth to Jacob and Esau and whose fall to temptation nearly caused Esau to kill Jacob, the seed of promise. She is Leah the unloved who gave birth to Judah. She is Tamar whose father-in-law, Judah, nearly kept her from bringing the offspring into the world. She is the unnamed mother in the tribe of Judah giving birth during Egyptian bondage as Pharaoh tried to kill off all the Israelite sons. She is Rahab, who, apart from God’s grace, could not even be in the assembly of God bearing children in the kingdom. She is Ruth redeemed by Boaz whose son becomes a redeemer for Naomi and whose great-grandson, David, was attacked by lions, bears, giants, and kings. She is Bathsheba whose first son died because of David’s sin and whose second son was embattled by his brothers for the throne. Are you seeing the picture? Over and again these women in the line between Eve and Mary struggling to bear children. All the way along the dragon was trying to stop the birth of the woman’s seed and cut short her children’s lives.
On the other hand, when we see this litany of mothers embattled by the serpent, we realize this woman is not a single woman. She is a line of women. She is a nation of women. She is the nation who was God’s bride (see Ezekiel 16) through whom He brought the seed of woman into the world in order to crush the serpent’s head. She is Israel herself.
However, in an admittedly weird twist, here in Revelation 11, as a representative of the people of God she represents the continuation of God’s people even after Christ has come. She becomes the protected church and bride of Christ carried and protected in the wilderness as Israel was. As Jesus in John 10 was the door through which the shepherd entered the fold and also the shepherd entering through that door, this woman is the universal body of God’s people from all time. She was the people through whom the Messiah entered the world and she is now the people who enter the world through the Messiah.
The Promise Fulfilled
Oddly enough, the promise to the serpent and to the woman in Genesis 3 is nowhere else mentioned. Though nearly all students of Scripture see that as the first gospel promise, no other New Testament writer calls attention to it.
Yet here, in glorious description, we are shown God keeps His Word. Though generations lay between. Though battles and struggles and wars lay between. Though at times it seems like the enemy has overcome and God has neglected His Word. Though we cry out, “How long?!,” God always keeps His promises. And we who follow Him are the blessed beneficiaries.
Praise the Lord!
Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 12.
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PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family
How does Revelation 12 prompt or improve your praise of God?
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