THE WOMAN
CLAD WITH THE SUN IS THE TRUE CHURCH OF GOD. JOHN NAPIER:
This is proved, first, by the Song of Solomon, Solomon bearing the figure of
Christ, who descended of him. His beloved woman and spouse throughout all that
canticle bears the figure of Christ’s church. Second, spiritual Jerusalem,
which is Christ’s church by diverse Scriptures, is also called Christ’s spouse
in the Revelation. Third, bodily marriage is by Saint Paul called a symbol and
a sacrament of the union of Christ and his church, according to which the
husband represents Christ, and the woman espoused represents the church.
Fourth, in the whole Scriptures, as idolatry is called spiritual whoredom,
necessarily the true worshiping of God is represented by a perfect spouse, and
the true church that worships him is his spouse, and so the church of God is
figured by a woman. Last of all, the whole tokens of this woman contained in
the text so truly and perfectly agree with Christ’s church (as is declared in
the principal treatise) that necessarily we must conclude this woman to refer
to the true church of God. A PLAIN DISCOVERY OF THE WHOLE REVELATION OF SAINT JOHN.
(Revelation, ed. Rodney Petersen, Gerald L. Bray, and Timothy
George [Reformation Commentary on Scripture 15; Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP
Academic, 2025], 68)
