The seven main characters in chapters 12 through 14 are;
(1) a woman representing Israel, (2) the dragon,
representing Satan, (3) the man-child, referring to Jesus,
(4) Michael, the arch-angel, (5)Israel, the remnant of the
seed of the woman, (6) the beast, out of the sea, the world
dictator, and (7) the beast out of the earth, the false
prophet.
The woman clothed with the sun, Israel – Revelation
12:1-2.
There are four women mentioned in Revelation, (1) Jezebel
(Revelation 2:20), (2) the harlot (Revelation 17:4), (3) the
bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7), the true church,
glorified and returning with Christ; and (4) a woman clothed
with the sun (Revelation 12:1), symbolic of the nation
Israel. This is evident for the following reasons: (1) her
description is reminiscent of Genesis 37:9-10 where these
heavenly bodies, the sun and the moon, represent Jacob and
Rachel. This identifies the woman with Israel and the
fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. (2) The 12 stars in
her crown would link her to the 12 tribes of Israel or the
12 sons of Jacob, the patriarchs of Israel. (3) In verse 2,
she is seen with child, one who rules with a rod of iron
(Revelation 12:5). This can be none other than Christ, who
as promised in Scripture, was from the nation of Israel
(Matthew 1:1-25; Psalm 2:8-9; Revelation 2:27; 19:15). (4)
That she is Israel, the nation, and not Mary, the mother of
Jesus, is clear from the fact she will be persecuted in the
last half of the Tribulation (Revelation 12: 6, 13-17). She
is not the church; Christ gave birth to the church.
Therefore, the woman is the nation of Israel, the matrix and
source of Messiah.
