Rev 12:1And 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
2And she being with child cried travailing in birth and pained to be delivered
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads
4And 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
5And she brought forth a man child 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 wildernesswhere she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels
8And prevailed not neither was their place found any more in heaven
9And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night
11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death
12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place,where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman,and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ
The word "wonder" in greek is sēmeion which can also be translated SIGN So 1st we see the woman and the dragons are SIGNS, not actualities.
This woman has noting in common with Mary or the nativity /early life of Christ.
Indeed the passage does point us to Christ. But then who is the woman and why can it not be Mary?
This is an allegory, not an actual event. It is to teach us something about the nature of God. Some believe the woman is Israel from who's roots the Savior came. The woman is clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. These are Old Testament symbols used for Israel (Jer. 31:35-36), and Gen. 37:9-10 where they speak of Jacob and his sons, the ones from whom Israel springs. Sjhe has on her head a crown made up of twelve stars (there are 12 tribes in Israel)
In the Old Testament Israel is sometimes called a "woman"(Is. 54:5-6; Jer. 4:31; Mic. 4:9-10)
One commentator notes this
In 11"19 we read: "And the temple (sanctuary) of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of the covenant." This is strictly Jewish ground; the temple, the ark, the covenant belong to Israel, represent Hebrew relations with God and Hebrew privileges. The Spirit now takes up Jewish things, Jewish standing, covenant, hopes, dangers, tribulations and triumph." William Moorehead
What we do know is this woman as described does not fit what we know about Mary
She never fled into the wilderness, She never grew wings to fly there...and from a Catholic perspective two things should eliminate this sign as being Mary
1) She suffers labor pains, those pains are a part of the curse of original sin
2)This scripture speaks of her OTHER seed as a preputial virgin she would have no other seed
EXCELLENT. WELL PUT.
Sometimes I’m embarrassed for Roman Catholics et al . . . regarding the silly things they are expected to believe . . . and this claim of this prophetic woman being Mary is one of those times. Incredible.