Who is the woman? Study Revelation 12 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · REVELATION 12 — THE WOMAN, THE CHILD, AND THE DRAGON
Interpreters differ. This commentary sees her as Israel, the people through whom the Messiah came, in line with the imagery from Genesis 37, with the recognition that the church is the continuation of the people of God, and that her offspring in verse 17 are all who belong to Jesus. Others identify her with the church or with Mary. The main point is that Satan opposes the people of God and the Messiah.
Interpreters differ. This commentary places it at the middle of the tribulation, when Satan is cast out of heaven and begins the final persecution. Others see it as occurring at Christ's ascension or at the cross, or as a symbol of Satan's defeat by the cross. The language of the loud voice, "now has come the salvation," suggests that the expulsion marks a decisive moment in the unfolding of God's kingdom.
He does accuse, as Job and Zechariah 3 show, but the believers' standing in Christ answers every accusation, and his access is ended. Believers should not be paralyzed by the enemy's accusations, since Christ's blood is sufficient, and there is no condemnation for those who are in Him.
It means to rely on Christ's atoning death as the ground of forgiveness and acceptance, so that the accuser has no claim. It also means that victory is achieved by faithfulness, even unto death, and not by earthly power. This applies to all believers in every age.
They are those who keep God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus, which describes believers. In the context of the tribulation, they are those who come to faith and who endure the persecution of the Antichrist. In a wider sense, they include all believers who are targets of Satan's hostility.
Chapter 12 begins a new section of the book, often described as the second half, chapters 12–22, in which the focus shifts from the judgments to the powers behind them and the final conflict. It gives the background to the conflict between the people of God and the evil forces: the dragon, Satan, has been at war with God and His people from the beginning, and now he directs his rage against the woman, the child, and her offspring. The chapter is full of symbols, and the central ones are explained within the passage: the dragon is Satan (verse 9), the child is the Messiah (verse 5), and the woman is the people of God who gave birth to Him. The scene stretches across history, from the birth of Christ to the final persecution, and it explains why the saints suffer: Satan has been cast out of heaven, is enraged, and has only a short time.
The imagery of the woman, the dragon, and the child draws on a motif found throughout the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world, in which a dragon seeks to destroy the child of a goddess, as in the Greek myth of Leto, the mother of Apollo, who was pursued by the serpent Python. Some scholars see John as reworking this familiar pattern to make a polemical point: the true Savior is Jesus, not the emperor who claimed to be the incarnation of Apollo. Whatever the background, the Old Testament provides the primary source, in the serpent of Genesis 3, the sun, moon, and stars of Genesis 37, and the Exodus. The historical truth behind the image is also attested by the narrative of Matthew 2, in which Herod tried to kill the infant Jesus. The statement that Satan accuses believers day and night before God matches the picture in Job and Zechariah, and the New Testament teaching that believers have an advocate in Christ (1 John 2:1).
This study preserves the hard questions, explanations, context, apologetic note, and references from Dr. Shallua's Commentary.