Who Is The Woman In The Wilderness?

The time to come to grips with this momentous eschatological phenomenon in Revelation 12, the Woman in the Wilderness, is now, during a green tree, and not a dry.

While millions of American Evangelicals immerse themselves in the fool’s errand of trying to politically save the United States from “secular “and other “evil forces,” God is always moving on with his agenda. As we’ve seen with the incoherence and fanaticism of their Dominionist agenda, they are living in a fantasy doomed to disaster (Rev 17:16,17).

God’s Kingdom is a spiritual and eternal one, not one wrapped up in the fortunes of any given earthly entity, much less the last days fraud known as Mystery Babylon, the seat of the Beast (Rev 16:10; 17:3). As the Apostles put it, we are strangers and pilgrims in this world, just passing through it (Heb 11:13; I Pet 2:11).

Every attempt in human history to meld Church and State, to make the Church a “new (earthly) Israel” has been doomed to failure. We the faithful remnant, are expected to understand this (Rom 16:17,18).

The One Man Wrecking Crew

This should be doubly obvious now considering the astounding devastation (Dan 8:24 NIV) one man, Donald John Trump, has managed to wreak on the world the last ten years. As I argued in a recent article, this devastation is not just from weapons of mass destruction—that’s yet to come. Thus far his assault has been upon the entire intellectual and moral infrastructure the free world at least, has been built upon.

The entire rationale of the last 80 years, the post-World War II rules-based international order that US planners once led, brought unprecedented freedom, prosperity and self-determination to our world. All this has been under assault by this criminally-insane, eccentric madman who just recently announced that we are now an openly predator nation that can do or take whatever it wants on the sheer basis of “might makes right.”

His ability to infect all his minions around him with his poisonous thinking is turning us into the United States of Idiocracy. Just the recent babblings of his top minion Stephen Miller, a man born a Jew and yet now spewing pure Nazi philosophy, is but another small example.

Let The Dead Bury Their Dead

All throughout this ten-year ordeal, every decent person in America has lamented the shame this man and his millions of rabid “fans” have brought upon the former “Leader of the Free World.” He has shown a unique ability to tap down into the deepest part of America’s dark underbelly and find a way to bring out the worst in us.

Accordingly, there has been a persistent protest that, “This is not who we are,” that “we Americans are better than this.” I understand how they feel, and my heart goes out to every decent person out there who “sighs and cries” for all the abominations happening in our midst (Eze 9:4).

I lived through the 1960s and 70s, the heyday of the Civil Rights movement, when it seemed we were finally making progress on the promise of the Civil War. I lived through the twilight years of the 40-year New Deal, when we seemed to be on the way to perfecting a more equitable socio-economic system.

All of this has been utterly destroyed by Wall Street’s “Empire Strikes Back” project, starting with that dirty 1980 election.¹ It is perhaps fitting then that their agenda would find its ultimate absurdity with the fraudster/madman who currently leads them and his corporate fascist movement.²

So yes, throughout most of my life I had hoped we were finally making progress since the Civil War. The fact that the Christian Right is almost wholly a creature of what I call Confederate Christianity has convinced me that hope is now dead, because this is what they want.

So I must reluctantly conclude, no, this is who we are, and what America always has been—a nation envisioned by a brilliant generation of intellectuals with high ideals, but with a violent, hypocritical and libertine people from its beginning, a true Tower of Confusion to the world (Rev 17:5).

Moving On

Right after the 7th Trumpet judgment of Revelation 11:15 announcing the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we get a parenthetical, a recap of some details regarding the Great Tribulation period. We are prophetically introduced here in chapter 12 to a “great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1). But by verse six we find that she now “flees into the wilderness” (12:6) where she is protected by God for 1260 days.

Who then is this mysterious “Woman in the Wilderness”? It is my conviction that the time to prepare for this stage of the unfolding of the “mystery of God” (Rev 10:7) is now. As it is with so much of Revelation, a book packed with mystery clues and symbolism, we are forced, especially in passages like these, to come up with an interpretation, knowing that it’s going to entail a lot of speculation and guessing. In this article, I would like to give you my thoughts on this phenomenon and why I think it’s so important a subject to get right.

The Meaning of The Mystery

Suffice it to say that the Woman here is symbolic of the nation of Israel as she goes through different stages in her history. This is how most commentators interpret her, and I basically agree with them. However, a change takes place in her evolution that must be rightly interpreted if we want understanding of the hour in which we are living.

Israel of course is the nation God created for Himself, designed to be the tip of the spear of His plan to redeem humanity from the fall (Gen 12:2;15:5). In that first verse, we see this heavenly Woman adorned with symbols of exaltation and royalty, the twelve stars being symbolic of the twelve tribes.

In the second verse, we fast forward nearly two millennia and suddenly see her with “with child, [crying], travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” This is an obvious symbol of Jesus Christ her Messiah.

In verse three another figure appears, “a great red dragon” (Lucifer/Satan) whose tail drew “a third of the stars…standing ready to devour the child as soon as it was born” (3-4). This is a reference to Satan taking a third of the angels with him in his rebellion (Rev 11:9; Eze 28:11-19). Devouring the child refers to Herod’s attempt to kill off the child before he could grow up (Mt 2:16).

In verse five, we see that they are unsuccessful. The woman brings forth a “man [male] child,” an obvious reference to Jesus Christ, Who is then “caught up unto God.” To me, this is an obvious and simple reference to Christ’s Ascension (Acts 1:9). We know this because this “man child” [boy] is described as having a destiny to “rule all nations with a rod of iron,” a phrase repeated in Rev 19:15, and plainly referring there to Jesus Christ.

The “Man Child Company”

It’s at this point between versus 5 and 6 where we have another 2,000-year gap in history, in my opinion. Verse six reads,

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”

Now, 1260 days is an exact description of the 42 month, 3 ½ year Great Tribulation period, also known as the second half of “Daniel’s 70th Week” (Dan 9:24). I’ve tried to explain what this “week of years” (i.e., seven years) is, how it plays out and when, in previous articles here and here.

Yet it is a reading of verse six where a recent movement went completely south. And before I go any further into my thoughts on this woman, I would like to address this misguided movement that still feeds NAR/Dominionist error to this day.

The Latter Rain Movement arose right after World War II, starting with a revival³ that broke out in little North Battleford, Canada. As it developed, a vain interpretation emerged out of it that was based upon this Revelation passage.

This “man child” was not interpreted as a symbol of baby Jesus, but as a special company of believers, mostly intercessors, who “ascend up to heaven” spiritually or figuratively, to act as intercessors and “forerunners”⁴ to the Church on the earth, guiding them through the last days.

At the time, this “man child company” were seen as intercessors in the sense of “prayer warriors” who pleaded with God constantly on behalf of the people, or “held up Moses’ hands” (Ex 17:10) and the like. By the time this got to the NAR movement (New Apostolic Reformation), these “warriors” were now seen as doing “spiritual warfare” with literal demonic spirits and their power structures (“strong holds”),⁵ rebuking demons, “decreeing decrees,” and other forms of performative religiosity.

As the logic got evermore extreme, the “enemy” also came to be seen as “secularists, unbelievers, people of other religions, Democrats,” etc. So, you can take your pick here among two perverse interpretations, or just combine both into one.

The Woman As The New Israel

You can see this Man Child flap has obviously gotten out of control, but it did become a part of what became known as the Latter Rain movement of the 1940s. “Latter Rain” is a reference to a verse in Joel 2 during the Great Tribulation (also known as “Jacob’s Trouble”) when there is a hint of a special outpouring of God’s Spirit (Joel 2:23), or at least that’s a possible interpretation.

Yet the North Battleford people saw their post-War revival as a fulfillment of this prophecy, or at least the beginning of it. To get into it all entails more detail about Armageddon and the Great Tribulation, and it’s just too much to get into here. I’ll leave it to a future article.

For now, we want to get back to this woman. Dispensationalists interpret her fleeing into the wilderness in an almost comical way, claiming it’s the nation of Israel at the mid-point of a seven-year Tribulation fleeing to the caves of Petra from the wrath of the Antichrist. It’s so absurd to think that they somehow will remain undetected there for 3 ½ years no less, that Pre-Tribbers and Mid-Tribbers seem to be ignoring this interpretation lately when it comes to this passage.⁶

But who is she then? Well, it’s still Israel, but Israel has changed in the last 2000 years. Specifically, spiritual or faithful Israel only continued on as those Jews who received their Messiah when He appeared during Jesus’ first advent. This is what we call The Church, with the Jews being “the lump” (foundation) into which Gentile believers were grafted in as wild olive branches by the grace of God (Rom 11:17).

The Jews who didn’t believe became broken off branches fit only to be burned (damned—Jn 15:6; Rom 11:17), largely captured by the Pharisees as I tried to explain in the second half of this article. It’s the Church’s inability to see herself as the true, faithful, heavenly Israel from above that prevents her from seeing who the woman is at this point in Revelation 12:6.

Yet as it was said of Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day (Isa 1:21), so MAGA Christianity has become a harlot today as well (Rev 17:1-6).⁷ Plus, there are other types of churches discussed in Revelation 2 and 3. Some two billion people in the earth today are professing Christians. A lot of them are as dead as Sardis or as “rich and increased with goods” as the Laodiceans (Rev 3:1,14)?

What Is The 144,000?

This is why I identify the faithful remnant of the “true Israel” of our time with the 144,000 of Revelation 7. It’s the extremely figurative and spiritual nature of the language used here that confuses so many Christians as to whom this is referring to, especially as regards the reference to 12 tribes and the meaning of 144,000.

Firstly, we must understand that 144,000 is not a literal number, but a figurative one! 144 is 12×12, 12 in the Bible being a number of government, and symbolic of the coming saints who will rule and “reign with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev 20:4). And in the Greek, the word is not thousand but thousands! In other words, it’s a symbol of a great multitude (Rev 7:9) of a faithful remnant. Not as small as 144,000, but nothing near two billion professing Christians.

Secondly, the twelve tribes listed there can be typical of the varieties of traditions or denominations within Christianity that make up this faithful remnant around the world. I don’t want to read too much of a parallel between such groups and the literal twelve tribes of Israel, but I think that’s the idea, a wide spectrum of Christian tradition.

I would also assume the basic role of this “144,000 company” is mostly evangelistic. There is a definite allusion to a great harvest of the righteous during this time (Rev 14:15,16), just before the Grapes of Wrath harvest (vs 19). The first could also be an allusion to the true Rapture, as those believers still alive on earth are transformed into immortality just before the full brunt of Divine wrath is visited on the earth at Armageddon.

Two Parts To The Woman Too

Thus, as the identity of the Antichrist becomes more and more obvious to the world, as Israel’s covert ambitions and philosophical rot are exposed more and more, as MAGA Christians especially show themselves to be tares (Mt 13:36-40), it makes sense that this remnant of faithful Christians are able to bring in a great harvest. Since they understand what is going on (I Chron 12:32), they will be able to point multitudes to the true Gospel.

All these believers in totality then, make up the woman. Yet she seems to be comprised of two groups—those who find refuge in the wilderness, and those who suffer the brunt of the wrath of the Devil, working through the Antichrist especially to persecute them. So, let’s pick up the narrative then.

Verse six says the woman flees into the wilderness, and is protected there for 3 ½ years, a number that is repeated again in verse 14. 3 ½ years (1260 days) is the exact length of the Great Tribulation, a period of time that starts with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse war of Rev 6:1-8.

This war entails the playing out of the first four seals of the Great Tribulation. The fifth seal of the saints being persecuted seems to begin right away, since it triggers this flight into the back of the beyond of the world (Rev 12:14). And by “back of the beyond,” I don’t necessarily mean the most remote places on earth (even though it would include them), but at least outside the United States.

The United States is the Great Babylon of Revelation 16 to 18. It will be the seat of the Beast, the heart of darkness on the earth at this time (“the hold of every foul spirit”—18:2), the worst place to be. Repeatedly in the Scriptures we are warned to flee Babylon (Rev 18:4,5; Jer 50:8,28; 51:6,9,45,50).⁸

After the earth is traumatized by a nuclear war we had long feared would come, it will be open to the most extreme excuses (sorry, I meant measures) such as the Mark of the Beast cashless system, a system I’m sure Donald Trump will be eager to slap his name on to (Rev 13:17,18).

Nevertheless, this Woman flees, but it is said “the remnant of her seed” stay behind in “civilization.” What constitutes “civilization” at this time is yet to be seen, but I would assume it would entail more than the United States.

The extent of this cashless system is a question I have pondered a lot. I would assume the BRICs challenge to the US-based world currency will have been vanquished by World War III at this point. Even undeveloped countries have some digital infrastructure to support such a network.

Yet, much of the world still operates by cash or even barter. Certainly, true believers are not allowed by God to participate in this cashless system upon pain of eternal damnation (Rev 14:11). But I can’t give you a clear idea of all to expect at this point.

You’re Probably Feeling Faint Right Now

I know this is a lot to take in, but it underscores the importance of being educated in the prophecies in our time. It is no doubt a daunting task to try to apply reason and logic to such a spiritual and mysterious book as Revelation, but I am trying to do my part to be a faithful steward of these mysteries for you. Just this one sidebar in Revelation entails a lot of thought as you can see.

I hope it has got you thinking about this subject more. Whether you should consider leaving the United States at this point or stay will entail your own personal sense of God’s will for your life, your obligations where you are, etc. I just keep thinking that trying to make that transition would be a whole lot easier now than in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

Certainly the Tribulation period will be a very difficult one that will break up many families and friendships (Mt 24:10; Mk 13:12,13), and cause a lot of hardship. But since this Woman is fed by God in the wilderness, “the earth opening up her mouth and swallowing the flood” of the Dragon (Rev 12:16), I’m assuming God is trying to get us to think about what’s coming. For He has certainly made some provision for us here in a very daunting situation overall.

I can tell you I myself had a great struggle over this subject, especially over the first half of 2025. On January 7, almost exactly a year ago today, the house in which I was living in Pacific Palisades burned to the ground. It was just two months after that horrible election of 2024, and that fire represented to me a huge fork in the road in my life, for I had been thinking about such a move once Trump got re-elected.

I had a detailed plan to move overseas and was quite enthusiastic about it. But in my praying about it, I felt very insecure, as if it wasn’t right for me, at least at that time. It caused a huge period of double-mindedness for me, but by June I decided to go ahead and try it.

Twice. Each time I came back, not because I wasn’t hugely enjoying my adventure, but because I felt God wanted me in Los Angeles. I still don’t understand why, except I sense a lot of people here are depending on me, and being too obscure would mean I’m not as available.

So if you’re feeling apprehensive, I understand. But if you’ve never been outside the United States, I think you should take a trip. It’s a fascinating world out there and quite frankly, a lot more fun and safe than being here.

But you must decide for yourself. All I can say is, like the Boy Scouts, Be prepared. It will never hurt you to start thinking about these things now in a green tree, not a dry.

Notes:

1. George Bush Sr. and other members of the Reagan campaign made an illegal, criminal deal with Iran to hold back the release of the American hostages with their infamous “October Surprise.” The Evangelical Jimmy Carter would have won re-election if it weren’t for this treasonous Republican perfidy. ↩︎
2. The oligarchs behind Trump are now fully committed to corporate fascism, so this madness will not go away with the passing of Trump, if that ever even happens. ↩︎
3. Actually, a lot of revivals broke out right after the War, perhaps something of a spiritual refreshing for a much-battered generation that had just come through the Great Depression and World War II. Billy Graham rose to prominence during this time, and the general atmosphere of the country was much more devout and mature than it is today. A miracle-based Pentecostal movement broke out from about 1946 to 1957, losing its miraculous touch once charlatanism, grifting and scandal ruined it all. It was during this time that Oral Roberts, A.A. Allen, Kathryn Kuhlman and many others were in their hey day. ↩︎
4. The forerunner refers back to Jesus Himself in His role as our heavenly High Priest (Heb 6:20). That this “company” of super saints would think to adapt this term to themselves is near-blasphemy, but typical of what happens when you read into the Bible things that actually aren’t there. ↩︎
5. Itself a perverse interpretation of II Cor 10:4,5 where Paul is referring to ^“strong holds” of the mind, harboring “imaginations” (lit. “reasonings, arguments”), and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowlish dge of God,” ↩︎
6. Without over-simplifying here, Dispensationalism is the theory that God has ruled over the earth according to 7 (?) distinct time periods or “dispensations” (standards or rules). It is at best a distortion regarding God’s ever-evolving revelation of Himself through different eras. It also puts forth the idea that there are “two peoples of God” now—the Church and the Jewish people (especially as embodied in the nation of Israel), which is not true. https://donald-trump-antichrist.com/church-idolatry-israels-false-zionism/ Currently we are still in “Church time,” they claim. Once a seven-year Tribulation starts, the earth will revert back to “Jewish time.” By and large it’s an elaborate apologetic on behalf of a “Pre-Trib” or a “Mid-Trib” Rapture of the Church (I Cor 15:51-53), rather than at the Second Coming. ↩︎
7. The whore of Rev 17 is actually all of the United States, especially during the days of MAGA America. But tell me 80% of American Evangelicals aren’t a part of Dominionism, Project 2025 and an integral part of MAGA America. ↩︎
8. In my book, American Babylon, American Antichrist I go into detail on why I think Jeremiah 50 and 51 are prophetic of the United States at the end of the age. There’s a lot of evidence there. ↩︎