The Dragon of Revelation 12

What are the general accepted beliefs within the SDA, as to what that dragon clothed with the sun and having the star crown on her head mean? Any thoughts?

I moved this here where you may receive a faster answer to your post.

Much appreciated

The dragon in Revelation 12 is not clothed with the sun, nor does he have the star crown on his head.

The dragon is identified in Revelation 12:9 as "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world"


You probably mean the woman in Revelation 12
She is clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.


We look to Genesis for an answer to what this means for it is a fulfilment of a promise made there:



The SEED is the child of the woman.
He is MESSIAH the PRINCE!
Jesus Christ, born of woman into the human race.

Galatians 3.16 tells us "And to thy seed, which is Christ."

The Woman represents God's people, who put their trust in Him.

Isaiah 6.2
"I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman."

Here are the three texts below:

Yes I meant the Woman, thanks. Will wait for a few more responses and then give my thoughts

The woman represents God's church and/or remnant people. The sun represents Christ, and the moon represents the prophets.

I could explain in more detail, but that's the nutshell version.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

The woman represents the Levitical priesthood, principally from among the Jews. The twelve stars on her head are the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve tribes which she served. The priests were the ones who knew God and served in his temple. They were, as it were, in heaven.

All that they did and all where they served prefigured the coming of the Messiah. Those things were, in a manner of speaking, their child, the embodiment of whom was Jesus of Nazareth, the first of many priests to come (who we are if we prove faithful).

You would notice that after her first born, she goes into the wilderness. There is no temple on earth for her to do anything. Her children therefore (true Christians) serve in a spiritual temple among the nations of the world. However, the Dragon's hatred is directed at her, i.e. at the priesthood (which we as a people have inherited), and he seeks to make war against us by setting up his own parallel administration and subverting the truth, casting down all who would not honour him and his priests.

It is the reason why those who "walk in the manner of Jesus Christ" (have his testimony from the days of the Apostles) and keep God's commandments engender his wrath. (Rev. 12:17)

////

For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet: “The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” [Revelation 12:6.] {GC88 54.2}

Babylon is represented as a woman --a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church. {GC 381.1}

Why did she fall from heaven?

///

Fall from heaven?

Well, she was in heaven; and suddenly we find her along with the Dragon on earth; unless the wilderness is in heaven too.

///

"woman" as a symbol

A woman is often used as the symbol for the people of God in both the Old Testament and the New.

For example:


The imagery runs all through scripture -- God's people portrayed as a beloved woman and wife. But her commitment to sin is viewed as adultery -- giving herself to another. A pure and faithful woman are God's faithful.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN
Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;
God's people are clothed by the glorious righteousness of Christ.

She is clothed with the sun--the Sun of Righteousness (Mal.4:2) for she has "washed her robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 7:14).



Who is the husband? Isaiah 54.5, tells us who the true husband is.

"For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel."

Christ is our MAKER (John 1:2) Christ is our Redeemer (Rev. 5:9) The pure woman is the FAITHFUL bride of Christ, (the citizens for the heavenly kingdom, from all ages) who "has made herself ready, to whom is granted to be clothed with fine linen bright and pure, the fine linen of righteous deeds, for the marriage of the Lamb has come." (see Rev. 19:7,8)


A "woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" is seen (Revelation 12:1). According to Genesis 37:9,10, these represented the first family of Israel: Jacob (the "sun"), Leah, (the "moon"), and Jacob's twelve sons (the "twelve stars").

When we first see the "woman" she is still Israelis the earthly city of Jerusalem, since the Israelites were the embodiment of the woman. Zion or Jerusalem was their primary dwelling place and worship center. Jerusalem was considered to be the "wife" or "bride" of God (Jeremiah 2:2); however, she was an "adulterous wife" (Ezekiel 16:32). Therefore, the New Jerusalem, the capital city of the new heaven, will become the perfect "Bride" of the Lamb of God when it comes down from heaven


Heb.12.22 "You are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem."


People are the citizens of the kingdom.

The pure woman represents the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. The citizens of God's kingdom.
Revelation 21:2, portrays this woman of ZION, the Heavenly Jerusalem (complete with the citizens) prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
So we see 12 stars about the head of woman, for the Bible says:



(Rev.3:11-12) "Behold I come quickly" hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take your crown. He that overcomes will I write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem." (Rev. 21:9,21,12; 22:14) "Come I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife...the holy Jerusalem descending...having the glory of God...with twelve gates which are twelve pearls...and names written thereon are the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Blessed are those who wash their robes, (who do His commandments) so that they will have the right...to enter the city by the gates.

This woman represents the people from all ages who have the name of GOD'S kingdom written upon their foreheads, who will enter those 12 pearly gates as citizens of the heavenly kingdom.

Thanks for your views. Here's the best interpretation I've seen yet--

Rev. 12:1-6 -- "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: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 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.

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. And 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. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days."

We all somewhat agree, I know, that this woman of Revelation 12 is symbolical of the Church; that the Dragon is symbolical of Satan; and that the child represents Christ. But inasmuch as we may not agree as to whether the woman is symbolical of the Old Testament church or of the New or of both, it is essential that we study to see eye to eye.

Now, the questions naturally arise, If Christ is the One Who brought forth the Christian church, then how can she be His mother? And was not Christ born at least thirty years before the Christian church came into being? Is not the egg laid before the chicken is hatched?

And finally, is it not true that if we blunder forth on an erroneous premise that we shall find ourselves further and further from the truth on the subject? -- Most assuredly. Let us, then, make certain of the foundation upon which we build.

We all know that Christ was born, not to the Christian church, but to the Jewish. This being so, then how can we escape the truth that this twelve-star-crowned woman is primarily the Jewish church who travailed and gave birth to the "world's Redeemer" in the Old Testament period?

Moreover, before the child was born, and before the Gospel of Christ came to the Church, she was clothed with the sun, and the moon stood under her feet. There is therefore not the slightest excuse for one to conclude that the woman represents the Church clothed with the Gospel of Christ. And if her sun clothing does not represent the Gospel of Christ, then what does it represent?

Since she was clothed with the sun before Christ's birth, and before the Gospel came, then her sun-clothing must be the Bible, the Word of God that clothed her in the period of the prophets.

What is symbolized by the moon under her feet? -- The fact that the moon of the heavens reflects the light from the sun to earth, the symbolical moon therefore being under the woman's feet, and the sun shining directly upon her, not by reflection through the moon, denotes that her channel of light conveyance, the moon, was passing away, was no longer needed, that the sun itself, the source of her light, shining directly upon her, enveloped her with its bright rays.

What could the moon then symbolize but the period before the Bible came, the period before Moses, in which the Word of God did not shine directly on the people as It does to-day (for they had no Bible in those days), but was reflected on them by men of God, the medium, that is, the prophets before Moses never wrote down the messages of God but verbally passed them on.

Though this twelve-star-crowned woman symbolizes something in the Old Testament time, as we have already seen, she nevertheless is seen to symbolize something in the New Testament time. This we see from the fact that after the child was born, and after the Christian church came into being, the woman was given the wings of a great eagle, and was thus enabled to fly into the wilderness, there to be nourished "for a time, and times, and half a time."

Moreover, her leaving the vineyard (her homeland -- Palestine) and going into the wilderness (the lands of the Gentiles, for that is what wilderness symbolically stands for in contrast to a vineyard), again shows that she continued after her child was born.

Taking all these points into one common whole, they positively show that the woman is symbolical of God's ever-living Church for all times, and that she is His saving Truth, His true wife, the Truth that gave birth to Christ and that gives birth to all His "brethren" (His followers), "the remnant of her seed." Rev. 12:17.

When the promise of the coming Saviour was made, it was then that the dragon learned that the Church was to give birth to the "man child," and from then on he watched her closely, hoping to destroy the world's Redeemer as soon as He was born. This he endeavored to accomplish through Herod, when he caused a multitude of little children to be slaughtered. The child Christ, nevertheless escaped, and the Devil met his first defeat in this connection.

Now the Dragon being fortified with seven heads and ten horns, denotes that he controlled all the civil and religious powers in that day (for the symbolical number "ten" denotes universality, just as do the ten toes of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the other Bible beasts, and the ten virgins of Matthew 25).

The horns represent all the civil powers, while the heads represent all the religious powers, for the Biblical number "seven" denotes completeness. Moreover, the fact that the Church (the Jews), the only agency through which God worked up to that time, crucified the Lord, is in itself sufficient proof that the Church had apostatized, that she had become the Dragon's seventh head, and that thus was the Dragon armed with ten horns and seven heads, -- with all the civil and religious powers. And, so, you see, the Dragon with his horns and heads represents the world captured by the Devil.

Thus it is that the world was lost in that day, and thus it was that Christ came to redeem it. To do all this He started a new church organization. In this light we see Christ, the world's Redeemer, and His mission even more important than we have ever seen it before.

The Dragon's drawing from heaven a third part of the stars (angels, Rev. 12:9) with his tail, not with his claws, denotes that in the beginning of Satan's universal rebellion the angels volunteered to follow the rebel leader, and to unite with him in his evil work against the human family.

Maybe the woman represents the church and not the Christian church?

The woman represents God's people.
We see that representation in the OT and in the NT.

There is always the "pure" and the "harlot"--
The faithful and the unfaithful both of whom claim to be God's people.

In the OT Zion is seen as Jerusalem as this was the place where God's truth was centered and was to spread out to the world, in the NT Zion is no longer old Jerusalem, but the New Jerusalem that heavenly city.

God's people --
Rev. 3:12 I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God:

REV. 19 and 21 refers to Jerusalem as the bride of the Lamb.
This includes all the citizens -- those with the name of the city of God which is New Jerusalem written upon them.

Why, then, did the woman fall? Why was she cast out of heaven? She was in heaven; and suddenly we find her along with the Dragon on earth; unless the wilderness is in heaven too.

///

James Peterson,

Do you agree with Ellen White's view of the woman and the wilderness?

The depiction has a lot of symbols in it.
A dragon with seven heads,
A woman standing on the moon.

When we first see this depiction neither were actually in heaven. The woman is giving birth, and the dragon is trying to kill the child as soon as He is born.
John sees it as a "wonder in heaven",
And if the woman is standing on the moon -- he sees her only up in the sky (heaven), not in God's home heaven.

So maybe this is a depiction of Christ coming to unite earth and His Home Heaven -- the woman in the sky giving birth to the only one who could bring this reconciliation about, is between heaven and earth and the dragon is reaching up to render that link incapable to make that connection by attempting to devour the Christ child who alone could make that link.


But yes, the woman herself fell -- remember the theme runs all through scripture of God's people pictured as a woman, unfaith going into harlotry.
In the end their is only a "remnant" of her offspring, not the whole woman worshipping the true God. (see Rev. 12:17)

No, I don't. {GC 54.2} is not the correct interpretation for Rev. 12:14-16 ...


The sepent never gets to touch or trouble the woman during those "time, times and half a time." She is like Elijah the prophet who fled from the face of Jezebel and dwelt in safety by the river and was kept alive by God. She is really not an entity like a church at all but an idea, a system. She is spoken of in Rev. 11 as the two witnesses. ONLY AFTER the period of "time, times and half a time," does the serpent have access to her again, and even then only through her children (i.e. the true adherents of the idea, or system).

You'd best be able to understand it if you think of Jesus Christ being crucified by the Romans and then, long after, the Christians being burnt for light by the Roman Caesar just before the Temple was destroyed in 70AD. Between the two incidents, the Christians were among the Greeks in the city-states and the gospel was growing among them away from the Jewish persecution.

The problem is, as I said from the beginning, SDA are so enamored by EGW, that they believe everything she says even things that are not biblical or right. And they do so because they fail to read the Bible for themselves.

///

James, thanks for answering my question.

Sounds like James has accepted some of the preterist views.

Interestingly enough, I've had many people (usually on forums) tell me I shouldn't allow EGW to influence my understanding of the Bible (as James has also done here, several times now) -- however, everyone who tells me this usually has their OWN interpretation (which differs from EGW) that they want to promote. And the interesting part is that these people who say they simply "read the Bible as it reads" have interpretations that all differ from each other.

So a person with a preterist leaning says, if I just lay EGW aside and read the Bible "as it reads" I would see it his way.

A person believing in the pre-tribulation rapture says, if I just lay EGW aside and read the Bible "as it reads" I would see it his way.

Etc. ETc.

Each one maintaining that they are reading the Bible correctly and thus everyone else should see it their way. However, they all disagree with each other!

Yet each group has their scholars and books that basically support their particular interpretation. They generally read these books or listen to presentations that validate their chosen outline of understanding of prophecy.

And so -- I see in EGW's writings that best matches what I have found in scripture. It is this very issue that has convinced me that she was inspired.
Her writings ring true to scripture, and she pulls everything together beautifully so many times, that any doubt of her inspiration is removed,

Yes, read the Bible -- there is no substitute for it. It should be the foundation of our faith in Christ.

1. Living in city states is not "the wilderness"
Christians were actively travelling all over the known world preaching the gospel.

2. There was a lot of persecution of Christians between 31 A.D. and 70 A.D., from Jews who also lived in the Greek States; from Gentiles who didn't want their idol worship disturbed; and from Rome, which expelled them from Rome along with the Jews.

3. The leading faction that persecuted and demanded Christ's death were Jews, not Romans. Pilate yielded to the pressure of the Jews leaders.

The other understanding -- which fits much better:

1. The wilderness was literally a largely uninhabited place -- mainly the mountains and valleys of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

When Constantine placed himself as the guardian of the Christian Church and bequeathed upon Sylvester, the bishop of Rome, great honors, that a serious separation began to take place.
As the bishop of Rome continued to gain strength, the Christians who could not abide the corruptions entering the state approved Christian church, withdrew to the valleys sheltered in the rugged mountains.
They were called Waldenses from the Italian word for "valleys" and where they spread into France, they were called Vaudois, a French word meaning "inhabitants of the valleys".

Here they found protection from the wrath of Rome. Not only were the mountains protection, but also the presence of the Lombard kings, unconquered until about 800 AD assured religious tolerance there. Here they lived for hundreds of years (long before Waldo they were there).

It was in the years when the papacy was at its height -- that a ruthless campaign to purge out God's church took place.
Many times they were able to escape but by the 1400's the papacy was desperate to rid the world of her opponent.

Revelation 12 tells of these dreadful crusades against the church in the wilderness.

12:15 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.


It was the height of the papal oppression and cruelty, as that flood of soldiers and ruffians, urged on by promises of absolution and heaven, swept through the mountain valleys to purge out the hated church, but it's power was soon to be broken.

12:16 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.

1. The reformation was about to rise over Europe and break the hold the papal church had over the people.

2. A new land was discovered to which people would soon flee where Roman armies would not pursue them.

I will respond to your full post later, but I think this is important enough to warrant a first response. The "wilderness" of the Revelation is NOT a "largely uninhibited place". It is a prophetic term used to describe a heathen land, meaning the vast majority of people either don't know God or treat his word lightly: a spiritually barren place. The term is used again in Rev. 17 in this manner:

"3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ...
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

SECONDLY:

I will allow Luke (Acts 11) to speak to you directly concerning the early Christian persecution at the hand of the Jews and the evangelization of the world, first - of the Greeks.

"19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them:and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord." This was the wilderness to which the woman fled as it is written in the Testimony of Jesus Christ, "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." (Rev. 12:14)

Those who do not read the Bible for themselves, but bury their heads in the books of another, will surely stumble and fall.

///

You should disabuse yourself of the fantasy you just described.

For your information, Peter Waldo (who would start the Waldensian Movement) was about 1000 years after Constantine. Here, you can read about him and his movement here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldensians

Have a good day.

///

That is what the Catholic church has taught.
But the question is, can we accept these historical refutations as truth, or is the picture that Protestant historians of old painted more trustworthy?

Now Peter Waldo did give the movement a "boost" as he was an energetic leader, yet he most certainly did not originate the "church in the wilderness."




One nineteenth-century historian wrote, "It is plainly established nowadays that Peter Waldus or Valdus was not the founder of the Waldensian church, but owes his enlightened ideas to her. Schetsen van de Geschiedenis der Waldensen (Amsterdam: W. H. Kirberger, 1852), p. 32.

There is clear evidence, however, that during the early centuries evangelical churches were established in southeast France. According to the fourth-century church historian Eusebius, in the second century there were many Christian churches in and around the Alpine area. ( Johannes Florentius Martinet, Kerkelyke Geschiedenis der Waldenzen in de Valeyen van Piemont, tot op deezen tyd (Amsterdam: Wed. Loveringh en Allart, 1775)p.24


• Neander in his ‘General History of the Christian Religion and Church’ mentions that the Waldenses date their separation from Rome to 325AD when Sylvester was given special recognition as the Bishop of Rome under Constantine and the church became aligned with the secular power.

The earliest leader of prominence among the Waldenses is Vigilantius who lived 364-408 AD.
It was in his time that the protests against the introduction of pagan practices into primitive Christianity swelled into separation. And he was in Alpine regions.





Yes, the true apostalic church was in the wilderness, while the roman church ruled on the plains.

Revelation 12:6 And the woman (the pure church) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

Revelation brings many details of the Great Controversy into focus.

Who receives our worship?
Revelation four and five introduces the divine, righteous and glorious Beings
God the Father on His throne.
The Lamb that was slain, having seven horns also called the Lion of Judah, our Savior Jesus Christ.
And the seven spirits representing the Holy Spirit.

In Revelation 12-13 we meet the opposing forces.
The dragon -- that old serpent the devil.
The seven headed beast -- antichrist (in the place of Christ)
The earth beast -- ( false prophet)


Then we have the two women
The woman clothed in white
The woman clothed in scarlet

Both claim to be God's Bride, but one is a harlot while the other stays true to Christ.
One unites with the beast, the other is seen again in Rev. 19 ready to meet her bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

There are two signs
The seal of God signifying God's faithful, commandment keeping people.
The Mark of the beast signifying a people paying homage to the beast.

Two destinies
Life
Death

Two cities
Babylon
Jerusalem

Revelation 12

This chapter is a grand summery of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan. (The Lamb and the Dragon)

Paul helps us understand the issue by writing:
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers fo the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12)

A Great Wonder in Heaven

There appears 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.

The word for "wonder" infers a "sign".
A great sign appears in heaven.

A woman is symbolic of God's people in both the OT and the NT.
A pure and comely woman as those who follow Christ, the harlot as those who try to play on both sides.
The woman (God's people) is the trophy to be won by the winning contender.

The woman in Rev. 12 is clothed with the sun.
"The sun of righteousness" (malachi 4:2)
"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD...for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness." Isaiah 61"10

The moon under her feet.

The moon reflects the light. The earthly sanctuary reflected the light of the gospel and gives a foundation in understanding the reality of Christ's salvation and mission. But now her light is come as she is about give birth to Redeemer Himself.

The twelve stars in her crown

Revelation 1:27 tells us "stars' represent the messengers (or leaders) of the churches. We see both the twelve tribal leaders and the twelve apostles mentioned in other places of Revelation. (Rev. 7, and Rev. 21:12,14)

The woman is at a crises point; a point in time on which the fate of the world hangs. The Creator is about to take on a human body and come into the world as the Savior. This is the promised "seed" of the woman that would smite the serpents head foretold in Genesis 3:15.

12:3 And there appeared another sign (another wonder) in heaven, a great red dragon....

The dragon is clearly identified as that old serpent the devil.
He has positioned himself to devour the Christ child as soon as he was born. He fully intended to crush this threat to his rule upon earth before there was any chance of Christ crushing his head.

The Biblical record shows Satan was constantly trying to kill Jesus while Christ was on earth. Herod and his infamous massacre of baby boys. Christ's own hometown people trying to throw Him off a cliff, the constant plottings of the priests and Pharisees, and off course the final crucifixion.
Satan thinks he has destroyed his rival, but HOW WRONG HE WAS!
Christ bursts forth from the tomb as conqueror of sin, death and Satan.

He (the Man-child) is caught up unto God and to His throne.

Heb. 8:1-2 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Col 2:13 Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

John, who wrote down the messages in Revelation, was present on the Mt. of Olives when this Man-child, then a full grown man, our Resurrected Savior, was caught up unto God and to His throne. He also personally knew about the dragon venting his anger and frustration upon the "woman". All his fellow disciples had died a violent death because of their commitment to Christ, John alone was left alive of the twelve and he was an exile on the Isle of Patmos because the Emperor could not kill him even though he threw him in a boiling pot of oil.

However, outright persecution did not diminish the church. The blood of martyrs was like seed spreading the gospel news to countless others who wanted a faith like that of the martyrs.
So the dragon devises a different plan.

The dragon would join the church!

This picture is shown us in Revelation 13, where a beast that has some pretty strong links with Daniel 7, emerges. Yet it is different. It has the same number of heads and horns as the dragon! It receives it's power from the dragon. What does this beast represent?
Daniel 7 gives us the clue -- it is the continuation of Rome, but that continuation represents CHRISTIAN ROME. Beginning at the time of Constantine the Roman power placed itself at the head of the church. And from this union the "little horn" is born and grows and takes power over the other divisions after imperial western Rome falls.

Now to all appearances the church of Christ is the Roman church. Yet, the Roman church is NOT the pure woman.

"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."

While the church of Rome claims to be the connecting link from apostolic times to present Christianity, their claim is not Biblical. It is the Church in the Wilderness that is the connecting link between apostolic Christianity and God's people today.

The woman did not fall, she is symbolic of those redeemed from the earth.

The number 12 is always associated with the church...Twelve tribes, twelve apostles, 12 sets of 12,000 apostles in the 144,000 who are redeemed from among men, and they could only be redeemed from the man child, who was also born here and then caught up to heaven.

The woman is the church in all ages...from Adam, to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to Christ, to the 144,000.

Standing on the Moon is the law and the prophets; That which pointed to Christ, but a faint reflection of His glory. So you have to stand on the moon to get be clothed in the Glory of Christ.

Being clothed with the sun is the righteousness of Christ, Righteousness by Faith, the Mystery of Godliness.

Read Spurgeons sermons on this issue; http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/spe/view.cgi?bk=65&ch=12