Christopher0121
Brother In Christ
- Jun 28, 2011
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Those who do not believe that Mary was regarded as Queen Mother of Heaven by early Christians obviously don't understand the Jewish understanding of גְּבִירָה (Gebirah). You see, in ancient Israel a newly appointed king meant a newly appointed queen. However, they generally didn't appoint a king's wife because most kings had more than one wife. The custom was to appoint the kings mother as queen. This position was known as גְּבִירָה (Gebirah), Queen Mother. We see how Solomon elevated Bathsheba to this office and even gave her a throne next to his own in the royal court.
Why is this ancient Jewish custom important???
This explains Gabriel's greeting to Mary during The Annunciation...
Luke 1:28-29
New Catholic Bible
28 The angel came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled by his words and wondered in her heart what this salutation could mean.
In ancient Israel this greeting begins with "Hail", a common royal greeting. It is exactly what was said mockingly to Christ as they mocked Him for being King of the Jews...
John 19:3
New Catholic Bible
They kept going up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews,” while striking him on the face repeatedly.
To greet Mary this way is to greet her as a Queen. And the angel was greeting her as a Queen Mother, because she would give birth to the King of Israel... Luke 1:30-33.
We also see something curious when Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth...
Luke 1:39-45
New Catholic Bible
39 In those days, Mary set out and journeyed in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why am I so greatly favored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 For behold, the moment that the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that what the Lord has said to her will be fulfilled.”
Not only did Elizabeth's child (John the Baptist) leap as he was filled with the Spirit in Elizabeth's womb, but Elizabeth herself was filled with the Spirit. And you'll note... it happened at the mere sound of Mary's voice. Then Elizabeth gives veneration to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why am I so greatly favored that the mother of my Lord should visit me?" This is very important. You see, not only does Elizabeth speak of Mary as "blessed", a veneration of reverence common for royalty, Elizabeth also calls Mary, "mother of my Lord", which affirms Mary's role as, Gebirah. The reality of this begins setting in with Mary and Mary then is recorded as having broken into song...
Luke 1:46-55
New Catholic Bible
46 And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
48 For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant;
henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is shown from age to age
to those who fear him.
51 He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has routed those who are arrogant in the desires of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of Israel his servant,
ever mindful of his merciful love,
55 according to the promises he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
In verse 48 Mary rejoices that ALL generations will call her "blessed". Why? On account of her being the very Gebirah, or Queen Mother, of Heaven. And so, here we see from the very beginning that Mary is regarded as Queen Mother by Gabriel, Elizabeth, and even herself upon said realization.
You will note that in some of the most ancient Christian art work, especially in the Catacombs, dating from the early 2nd century late 1st century, Mary is painted as Theotokos, Mother of God, and as Queen Mother. This recognition of Mary as Queen Mother of Heaven, the Mother of God, is one of the earliest Christian practices to date. Tie all this up to include her intercession at the wedding in Cana, to her being appointed John's mother (and so the Church's mother), and how Acts specifically mentions her by name when the Apostles are gathered, and finally John's "woman" in Revelation 12 who gives birth to the king who will rule all nations fleshes out quite well to represent Mary as the Archetype of the Church as a whole.
Revelation 12:1-17
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was with child and about to give birth, crying aloud in the anguish of her labor.
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems crowning his heads. 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them to the earth.
The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up directly to God and to his throne. 6 The woman herself fled into the wilderness where she would be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days in a place prepared for her by God.
7 Next, war broke out in heaven, with Michael and his angels in combat against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon—the ancient serpent who is called the devil, or Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—was hurled down to earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brethren has been cast out,
the one who accused them day and night before our God.
11 They have conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
even in the face of death
they did not cling to life.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to you, earth and sea,
because the devil has come down to you.
He is filled with rage,
for he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon realized that he had been hurled down to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she was to be looked after for a year, two years, and a half year.
15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed out water like a river after the woman to sweep her away with the flood. 16 However, the earth came to the rescue of the woman: it opened its mouth and swallowed the river spewed from the dragon’s mouth.
17 Then the dragon became enraged at the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.
This reference goes back to the first prophecy in the Garden of Eden...
Genesis 3:14-15
New Catholic Bible
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you will be the most cursed
of all the animals
and of all the wild beasts.
On your belly you shall crawl
and you shall eat dust
for all the days of your life.
15 I will establish hostility
between you and the woman,
between your line and her line.
Her offspring will crush your head
and you will bruise his heel.”
You will note that God promises to establish hostility between Satan and "the woman", his "line", and "her line". And her offspring would crush the serpent's head though the serpent will bruise his heel (the Crucifixion). But the telling thing about this prophecy is the grammatical subject... the Woman. Hostility exists between Satan and Mary, the mother of the offspring. So, from the beginning this woman's role as Mother of God, and so Queen Mother, plays a key part in mankind's salvation.
Point is... from my vantage point... the adoration and reverence given to Mary as Queen of Heaven is perfectly biblical and actually enriches one's understanding of Revelation 12.
Why is this ancient Jewish custom important???
This explains Gabriel's greeting to Mary during The Annunciation...
Luke 1:28-29
New Catholic Bible
28 The angel came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled by his words and wondered in her heart what this salutation could mean.
In ancient Israel this greeting begins with "Hail", a common royal greeting. It is exactly what was said mockingly to Christ as they mocked Him for being King of the Jews...
John 19:3
New Catholic Bible
They kept going up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews,” while striking him on the face repeatedly.
To greet Mary this way is to greet her as a Queen. And the angel was greeting her as a Queen Mother, because she would give birth to the King of Israel... Luke 1:30-33.
We also see something curious when Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth...
Luke 1:39-45
New Catholic Bible
39 In those days, Mary set out and journeyed in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why am I so greatly favored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 For behold, the moment that the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that what the Lord has said to her will be fulfilled.”
Not only did Elizabeth's child (John the Baptist) leap as he was filled with the Spirit in Elizabeth's womb, but Elizabeth herself was filled with the Spirit. And you'll note... it happened at the mere sound of Mary's voice. Then Elizabeth gives veneration to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why am I so greatly favored that the mother of my Lord should visit me?" This is very important. You see, not only does Elizabeth speak of Mary as "blessed", a veneration of reverence common for royalty, Elizabeth also calls Mary, "mother of my Lord", which affirms Mary's role as, Gebirah. The reality of this begins setting in with Mary and Mary then is recorded as having broken into song...
Luke 1:46-55
New Catholic Bible
46 And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
48 For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant;
henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is shown from age to age
to those who fear him.
51 He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has routed those who are arrogant in the desires of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of Israel his servant,
ever mindful of his merciful love,
55 according to the promises he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
In verse 48 Mary rejoices that ALL generations will call her "blessed". Why? On account of her being the very Gebirah, or Queen Mother, of Heaven. And so, here we see from the very beginning that Mary is regarded as Queen Mother by Gabriel, Elizabeth, and even herself upon said realization.
You will note that in some of the most ancient Christian art work, especially in the Catacombs, dating from the early 2nd century late 1st century, Mary is painted as Theotokos, Mother of God, and as Queen Mother. This recognition of Mary as Queen Mother of Heaven, the Mother of God, is one of the earliest Christian practices to date. Tie all this up to include her intercession at the wedding in Cana, to her being appointed John's mother (and so the Church's mother), and how Acts specifically mentions her by name when the Apostles are gathered, and finally John's "woman" in Revelation 12 who gives birth to the king who will rule all nations fleshes out quite well to represent Mary as the Archetype of the Church as a whole.
Revelation 12:1-17
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was with child and about to give birth, crying aloud in the anguish of her labor.
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems crowning his heads. 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them to the earth.
The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up directly to God and to his throne. 6 The woman herself fled into the wilderness where she would be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days in a place prepared for her by God.
7 Next, war broke out in heaven, with Michael and his angels in combat against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon—the ancient serpent who is called the devil, or Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—was hurled down to earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brethren has been cast out,
the one who accused them day and night before our God.
11 They have conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
even in the face of death
they did not cling to life.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to you, earth and sea,
because the devil has come down to you.
He is filled with rage,
for he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon realized that he had been hurled down to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she was to be looked after for a year, two years, and a half year.
15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed out water like a river after the woman to sweep her away with the flood. 16 However, the earth came to the rescue of the woman: it opened its mouth and swallowed the river spewed from the dragon’s mouth.
17 Then the dragon became enraged at the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.
This reference goes back to the first prophecy in the Garden of Eden...
Genesis 3:14-15
New Catholic Bible
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you will be the most cursed
of all the animals
and of all the wild beasts.
On your belly you shall crawl
and you shall eat dust
for all the days of your life.
15 I will establish hostility
between you and the woman,
between your line and her line.
Her offspring will crush your head
and you will bruise his heel.”
You will note that God promises to establish hostility between Satan and "the woman", his "line", and "her line". And her offspring would crush the serpent's head though the serpent will bruise his heel (the Crucifixion). But the telling thing about this prophecy is the grammatical subject... the Woman. Hostility exists between Satan and Mary, the mother of the offspring. So, from the beginning this woman's role as Mother of God, and so Queen Mother, plays a key part in mankind's salvation.
Point is... from my vantage point... the adoration and reverence given to Mary as Queen of Heaven is perfectly biblical and actually enriches one's understanding of Revelation 12.
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