Scripture reading: Revelation 12:1
“There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet…” If the “woman” is the church, then “the sun” would be Christ and the clothing would be the glory of Christ, or of God, upon this church. This church has the approval of God. Some naive brethren say that this woman is Mary. Revelation 1:1 tells us that we are going to hear of things “which must shortly come to pass.” Therefore, Revelation 12:1 could not be written about Mary as that would be writing about things in the past. Revelation is about the church which is in the future, which future is very much upon us at this time. We see the “woman (the church) clothed with the sun (Christ), and the moon (the church) under her feet.”
We will establish scriptures where the word “WOMAN” refers to church, where “MOON” refers to church, and where “SUN” refers to Christ. I am determined that everything in this study must be backed up by the Word of God.
Psalm 84 speaks of God as the sun. Verse 11, “For the LORD GOD IS A SUN and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Malachi 4:2, “But unto you that fear my name shall the SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS arise with healing in HIS wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” This verse refers to Jesus Christ as “the sun of righteousness.” Another beautiful scripture is found in 2 Peter 1:19, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the DAY STAR arise in your hearts.” The DAY STAR in the natural is THE SUN. The SUN arising IN THE HEARTS OF THE BELIEVER IS JESUS CHRIST.
Let us look at the word “WOMAN.” Every reference to every church in the Bible, except one reference to one church, is feminine. There is one scripture we will come to that speaks of a masculine church, the final church. Every other reference to the church is as a woman; every pronoun used is a feminine pronoun.
Let us look at just two of these references. 2 Corinthians 11:2, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” This verse does not need any explanation. Ephesians 5:23-24, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” This verse is as clear as it can be. The church is always feminine, always referred to as a woman.
The next word of consideration is the “MOON.” There is a story found in Genesis 37:9-10, “And he (speaking of Joseph) dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, THE SUN and THE MOON and THE ELEVEN STARS made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” Jacob interpreted the dream correctly. “Shall I (Jacob, the sun) and thy mother (the moon) and thy brethren (eleven stars)…?” We see this type of analogy all throughout the Scripture. These are basic thoughts of the Bible to bring us into the understanding that “the sun” is God or Christ, “the moon” is the church, and “the stars” are the sons of God.
In Revelation 12 we can put these words in perspective. Here we have the “woman clothed with the sun.” This is the church clothed with the righteousness of God. This church, whomever she is, is the one that is approved of God when this vision is coming to pass. She had “the moon under her feet.” She was a church standing on a church. She had gained ascendancy over the church which might have been her birth. She came out of the moon and is standing on top of the moon church. The glory of God has been moved from one church to another.
This truth is not so strange. We see in history wherein God would move in one church, and when that church failed and became worldly, God would pull some of the people out of that church. Those pulled out would move in the light of God in great revival and God would be with them. When they would fall into complacency and somehow lose their candlestick, God would move on to another church. This has been the way of God through the ages.
The natural phenomenon is that the sun shines on the moon. The moon has no light of its own. Moonlight comes from the sun. The moon reflects the light of the sun. Here the light from the sun has been removed from the moon and is concentrated on the woman.
There is a church amongst us that is not approved of God, and there is a church THAT IS approved of God. The light of God is upon a specific church. I am not talking about a denomination. No! No! I am speaking in regards to the people of God, the Body of Christ, which is not an organization. They are scattered all over the world, but they are the people upon whom the Lord God has put His approval. The approval of God is upon a specific church and these people have been called out, or sometimes kicked out, of other churches.
(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 2, pages 22-24)
Thought for today: Let us be amongst the church THAT IS approved by God!
