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. REV 12:2 She was pregnant and was crying out in pain from the birth and the agony of giving birth.

Who is this woman? The four choices are the Virgin Mary, the Levitical Priesthood, the Church, or Israel. Mary may be an important player to Catholics, but not to others. Mary is not the woman, mainly because this is a view of the future as well as the past. The Levitical priesthood can be ruled out, for they did not give birth to Jesus. Whereas the church is clearly described as a woman. Jesus gave birth to the church, not the other way around. That leaves Israel as the subject. Israel had the purpose of bringing forth the Saviour of all mankind. Who disappeared into the wilderness, leaving only the Levitical Priesthood. The last of the original Israel that still existed at the time of Jesus. Levi, Judea, Simeon, and Benjamin. All but the Levies were finally swept away in 110 AD by the Romans. The Jews who live in Israel today are not the Israelites and Jews of old, but people who turned to Judaism for various reasons over the centuries. Now she rises in the heavens to give birth again. A second coming of the Saviour.