Posted on 04/20/2002 11:13:03 AM PDT by Romulus
The woman is most definitely NOT the Church. Let's read the verse again...
I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head...
If she was described purely as having twelve stars, you might be able to make a case because of the tie-in with the apostles. But God also describes her with the Sun and the moon. This identifies her as ISRAEL, because of Jospeh's dream about his family -- the FAMILY OF JACOB, who BECAME the nation of Israel. From Genesis 37...
9 Then Joseph had another dream and told his brothers about it. "Listen to this dream," he said. "The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!" 10 This time he told his father (Jacob) as well as his brothers, and his father rebuked him. "What do you mean?" his father asked. "Will your mother, your brothers, and I actually come and bow before you?" 11But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father gave it some thought and wondered what it all meant.
If you want to say the woman is the Church you MUST account for the sun and the moon. The only other time in the Bible we see this allusion to the sun moon and twelve stars is in describing the Family of Jacob = Israel.
Tipoff # 2, the woman is PREGNANT. The Church is always depicted as the Virgin Bride of Christ -- NEVER depicted as pregnant.
Tipoff # 3, (Rev 12 vs 5) -- She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with an iron rod...
The Church DID NOT "give birth" to Jesus Christ. (On the contrary, it was quite the other way around!)
Also, Chuck, you didn't answer my other questions to you from # 79.
Pretty good, Chuck! God bless ya, buddy! :-)
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