All Glorious is the Princess in Her Chamber
Eve, the Virgin Mary, and Christ's Bride, the Church
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Revelation 12:1–6 (ESV)
Who is this? Ever wondered that? Perhaps not, it is not something the majority of people puzzle over. Unless, of course, like me you are well acquainted with Roman Catholic apologetics on this matter.
Perhaps your response to reading the passage above would be ‘that’s clearly referring to Israel, which would mean the woman is the Church’. This would be a typically protestant understanding of the passage, in which the doctrine of ‘Regina Caeli’ (Mary as Queen of Heaven) is eschewed for various reasons. I will confine myself to what would be a more typical Lutheran reason: there simply is too much in the text which does not apply to Mary alone or directly, particularly the 12 stars for 12 tribes. However, we read on in Revelation 12:
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 12:13–17 (ESV)
It is also clear that the Woman ‘gave birth to the male child’, which is Christ, which signifies Mary. The Roman Catholics are correct on that point. Then, the text reads, the dragon, being furious with her, made war on her offspring: those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. This is clearly a reference to the Church, whose offspring we Christians are, who hold to the commandments of God and the testimony of Our Lord.
My proposal, then, is that the Woman in revelation 12 is both Mary and the Church. To see this more clearly, we’ll need to do some more digging in the text.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 5. We read:
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Romans 5:14 (ESV)
And
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:17 (ESV)
Adam, here, is the federal head of mankind, and the type of the one to come. Christ is the one to come, the federal head of redeemed mankind, all those who believe on Him. Now, both Christ and Adam have brides, do they not? Just as Adam listened to the voice of his wife and sinned, and in him all died, (Genesis 3:17, 1 Timothy 2:14, Romans 5:17), so by Christ’s voice, His Word, his wife is redeemed and in Him, all live (Ephesians 5:25-27). As an aside, this may be what it means for the Woman in Revelation 12 to be ‘clothed with the sun’: clothed with the righteousness of Christ. There is a typological connection between Eve and the Church, between the bride of the one man Adam, and the bride of the one man Christ. This is made clear in Genesis 3:20:
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Genesis 3:20 (ESV)
Again, in Genesis 3, we also read of the first gospel prophesy given by the Lord to us in His Word. This will be a key connection a little later on. We read:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
The first proclamation of the Holy Gospel comes directly from the mouth of God Himself. From the offspring of Eve would be born the Redeemer who would finally destroy the serpent and all his works and ways. From Eve would be the God-Man who would die to redeem Adam’s race. Death, the serpent, would pierce Him, but He would trample upon death by death as He crushes the head of the serpent. But for Christ to be born of Eve, He would have to be born of another woman, one who knew not a man (Luke 1:34 SBL Greek New Testament).
Now, let us bring Mary back into this picture, as our Revelation 12 text requires a treatment of the Mariological references it contains. Soon after hearing the Word of the Lord declaring that she would give birth to Emmanuel, Mary prays:
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Luke 1:46–49 (ESV)
I believe that Mary’s magnificat prayer echos two particular Old Testament prophesies which primarily refer to Christ’s Church. The first is taken from the Book of Malachi, the third chapter. We read:
I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 3:11–12 (ESV)
Does some of this sound familiar? Refer back to our text in Revelation 12, where the dragon pursues the Woman. In Malachi 3, God promises to rebuke the pursuing devourer. All nations will call Israel blessed, Malachi prophesies. This is what Mary prays concerning herself in her thanksgiving to God for His blessing and calling on her life. The second prophesy I believe Mary may refer to is taken from the 45th Psalm. We read:
All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. In place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
Psalm 45:13–17 (ESV)
Here, again, is the refrain ‘all generations will call [me] blessed”. Here, also, as Malachi says, ‘all nations’ will praise the Princess. As the preceding context of Psalm 45 demonstrates, the Princess is the Lord’s Bride. Notice, also, that just as the woman in Revelation 12 is clothed with the sun, the Princess is clothed with gold. The Princess has the blessing of the Almighty that all generations will praise her. The Lord promises this to Israel in Malachi’s prophesy. In the New Testament, as we saw, Eve is a type of the Church because she is the wife of the type of the one who is to come. Israel, the Church, is the fulfilment of Eve as Christ is the fulfilment of Adam.Christ died to redeem Israel, his Bride, and promises that she will be praised and called blessed by all generations as His redeemed Bride.
And finally, Mary refers to herself as the one whom all generations will call blessed. Mary is the one who would bear the offspring of Eve who would destroy the serpent. The Son of Mary is the one who would rebuke the devourer and redeem His Bride, who all generations would praise and call blessed. Just as Eve is a type of Mary, Mary is also a type of the Church which is immediately to come. Mary was the entirety of the Church when she conceived Christ and believed in Him, obeying the Word of God delivered her by the Angel. The Woman of Revelation 12 is Mary because she herself is a type of the Church, whose sons are the sons of God through the washing of water with the Word.
All glorious is the princess within her chamber, the Woman with a crown of 12 stars, clothed with the sun, and with the moon as her footstool. All generations will call her blessed. Praise be to Our Lord and Saviour who trampled death by death to redeem her and glorify her.
Friday Evening
Blessed Saviour, You spilled Your blood to redeem me from death. Having been lifted up on the cross, You draw all men to Yourself. You have drawn me to Yourself through Baptism. How could I refrain from loving You who so loved me that You did die for me? Gracious Saviour, continue to draw me to You. Draw out of me every night of sin into the daylight of Your truth and love. Draw me out of the power of the evil one, out of evil passions and desires, and out of the many cares of this world and life in it. Draw me to the Holy Feast, where You give to me Your body and blood for the forgiveness of my sin; draw me daily into the grace of my Baptism. Yes, Lord, draw me unto You. Amen. (57).
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
(LSB 878:4)