(last edit 2009.02 - the woman)
This subject is building on the subject page. Isn't it obvious that if there is a daughter of Jerusalem, that the mother is Jerusalem? It keeps on amazing me how the singular authorship of God shines through the Bible in all its facets.
Though the word Jerusalem applies to several objects, prophetic and otherwise, the points here will only relate to that which is stated in the title.
Galatians 4:24-26, Which things are allegorized, for these are two covenants, indeed one from mount Sinai giving birth for bondage, which is Hagar. 25For Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and it corresponds to the present Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children. 26But the Jerusalem above is free, which is mother of us all. (ACV)
From this brief introduction, it is already obvious that New Jerusalem, the city of the Saints, is different from Jerusalem above. Jerusalem above has been revealed in several ways.
Genesis contains the earliest reference to her.
Genesis 3:14,15, And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (ASV)
We know the seed to be primarily Jesus Christ; also, included in this firstfruit seed are the Saints, the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb.
Revelation chapter 12 mentions the woman once again; also, Isaiah does so.
Revelation of John 12:1,2, And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; 2and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.(ASV)
Isaiah 54:1-6, Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. 2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 3For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth; and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. 5For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God. (ASV)
From the quoted scriptures, it seems clear that the woman brings forth the seed, Christ, and the daughter of Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the man-child that shall rule the nations.
Since Jerusalem above is 'our mother', the mother of the Saints and of Christ, the only interpretation that comes to mind for her, for Jerusalem above, is the simple '
Jerusalem above' represents what is explained below.
The identity of this woman remains controversial. Some say it is Eve, which it cannot be since she is long dead and couldn't bring forth Christ 4,000 years later; others say that the woman refers to God's heavenly organization of angels. Since all the angels came to existence through the pre-human Christ, how can that be? How can his children bring forth their mother?
Yes, that is right. In Proverbs chapter eight, Christ is synonymous with the female personified wisdom. About Christ we are told that all things came to be through him and for him. In this sense, we must understand that gender roles are fluid and dependent upon function in the Biblical narrative about heaven and these symbols.
Thus the woman surely can refer to Christ himself. This one is God's wife to judge from Proverbs chapter eight. He is God's wife, God's son, God's ransom, God's Amen. This wife of God then was born as a male child. We are talking about functions and symbolism, not about the gender of animals, or fleshly individuals.
The seed also refers to Jesus Christ, and the head being bruised refers to Satan being crushed.
Bear in mind the focus of the subject. There are scriptures that just address 'Jerusalem' and clearly refer to New Jerusalem, and perhaps vice versa. There are also plenty of scriptures addressing unfaithful Jerusalem. None of these points are spoken about here.
