In honor of women’s history month, I’m sharing some stories from my ebook, “15 Things You Never Knew About Women of the Bible.” There’s a link at the end if you’d like to download this free resource and read more untold stories of hidden women of the Bible. Enjoy!
15. A Woman Fights a Seven-Headed Dragon While Giving Birth
At the end of the Bible in the mysterious book of Revelation, we find the woman who is clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet (12:1). On her head, she wears a crown of twelve stars. She is giving birth to a savior of the earth while a great dragon with seven heads and ten horns stands before her so that he might devour her child as soon as he is born. The dragon is evil, of course, and he has great power, enough to wipe a third of the stars from the sky with his tail and throw them to earth (12:4).
This woman is perhaps symbolic of God’s people or the goodness of Creation itself. Just as she gives birth to a savior, God rescues her baby and gives her eagle’s wings to fly off into the wilderness to be nurtured for a period of time. Or as the scripture says, “for a time, and times and half a time.” (12:14). The story tells us that creation came to the aid of the woman as she fled the evil dragon. The earth “opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth” (12:16).
She comes into the story just as war is breaking out in heaven; one in which Michael and his angels fight against the dragon and his angels. A war of darkness and light, the darkness is defeated in the end. But in the meantime, the devil dragon increases his power on the earth, charging his batteries with the hatred, greed, and deception of the people he stirs up in the world. The dragon may be expelled from heaven, but he lives, as the story tells us, to make war on all the woman’s children.
The woman clothed with the sun shows us the unique combination of vulnerability and strength that women carry so well. Giving birth to anything—a baby, a dream, a relationship, a new beginning—is a precarious and vulnerable act. But women have a unique ability to channel a deeper strength that shelters what remains vulnerable within us. Even though we may be hunted by the dragons of our past, by trauma, pain, or oppression, God gives us the ability to channel our Divine gifts into the world. Giving us the wings of an eagle to carry us when we’re too tired to carry ourselves, taking us to the wilderness to be nurtured until the way is clear.
Check out more stories like this one in this free PDF. Find out about the woman who was with God at the creation of the world, the women who were prophets, military leaders, and the women who funded Jesus’ ministry. Click this link for your free download.