The prophecies about "she who is to give birth" (Mi 5:2)

Summary:

Six major series of biblical prophecies evoke a Woman, a Virgin, a Bride, a Daughter, a Mother and a Queen. A host of other Old Testament images and figures are also prefigurations of the Virgin Mary, starting with the Ark of the Covenant, which is the most significant of these. The "first Covenant" described in the Old Testament is the "prefiguration" (Heb 9:9) of a "new and eternal Covenant" (Jer 31:31; Is 65:17) and the promise of fulfillments "to come".

In this logic of Revelation, we must understand that, in the Old Testament, God chose a people (Israel), a land (the Promised Land) and a city (Jerusalem) in which to build the Temple, at the heart of which is the Holy of Holies, built to house the Ark of the Covenant, the place of God's presence, covered by the divine cloud (Ex 19:18; 24:16; 40:34; 1 Kgs 8:10). The entire Old Covenant thus converges towards this Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:10; Lev 16:2), embodying the Revelation through which God "descends" to Earth (Ex 19:18), and whose fulfillment will come in Mary, who is first and foremost the "Ark of the New Covenant" (Rev 11:19) covered by the shadow of God's Spirit (Lk 1:35), in whom the Son of God makes himself truly and eternally present: "Dance and rejoice, Daughter of Zion! Break into ovations, O Israel! Rejoice and be glad: behold, the King of Israel, the Lord, is coming to dwell in your bosom, Daughter of Jerusalem" (Zech 2:14; 2 Sa 6:2-16).

Mary is thus the "Woman" par excellence who will be a "helper" (Gen 2:18) to "Man", the "New Eve" being associated with the "second Adam" (1 Cor 15:45), who is Christ. Throughout the history of the world, from Genesis to the Apocalypse (Rev 12:1), including the history of Israel, Mary is the embodiment of expectation: First of all, through Christ, whom she "encompasses" (Jer 31:21-22) more than anyone else (having been the one who was most with him throughout his whole life, during the nine months of her pregnancy, then the thirty years of his hidden life and finally the three years of his public life); secondly, through the mystery of the Church, of whom Mary is the icon, to fight together against the devil, to whom God said from the outset: "I will put enmity between you and the Woman, between your offspring and her offspring. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bruise her heel" (Gen 3:15).

Mary is also announced in the great prophecy of Isaiah as the "Virgin" who will be a "sign": "The Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin is with child and will bear a son, and will call his name Emmanuel, that is, God-with-us" (Is 7:10-14), and who will remain eternally a "sealed fountain" (Sg 4:12), despite childbirth: "This gate will remain closed; it will not be opened; no one will enter through it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it; it will remain closed" (Ez 44:1-2).

At the center of the economy of salvation, Mary is positioned in a unique relationship with God, being the only one to be at once:

• Daughter of the Father (like us, but to a greater degree than us, being "the preferred one" [Ps 45:10], "the chosen one" [Tb 13:11], "the stump of Jesse" [Is 11:1] on which the flower of the Messiah will grow): "Sing and rejoice, daughter Zion! Now, I am coming to dwell in your midst - oracle of the Lord" (Zech 2:14); "Shout for joy, daughter of Zion! Rejoice, O Israel! Rejoice and triumph with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has lifted the sentence that weighed on you; he has turned away your enemy. The Lord King of Israel is within you" (Zeph 3: 14-15).

• Bride of the Holy Spirit (like consecrated women, but more dignified, being "immaculate", "filled with grace"): "You are beautiful in every way, my beloved, there is no flaw in you!" (Sg 4:7); "most beautiful among women" (Sg 5:9); "Like a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among women" (Sg 2:2); "She is a well-walled garden, my sister, my bride, a sealed spring" (Sg 4:12); "One alone is my dove, my perfect one" (Sg 6:9).

• Mother of the Son (she alone): she is truly "she who is to give birth" (Mi 5: 2), her miraculous childbirth that kept her a virgin also being alluded to: "Before she was in labor she gave birth, before the pains came to her she was delivered of a son. Who has ever heard such a thing? Who has ever seen such a thing?" (Is 66: 7-8).

At the end of her earthly life, "the favorite" will finally be "crowned with stars" (Rev 12:1), fulfilling the figure of the Queen, led in her glory "to the right hand of the King" seduced by her beauty (Ps 45:10-12). It is of her that we can truly say that "her children rise up and call her blessed" (Prv 31:28), or "in you generations of generations will show their gladness, and the name of the Chosen One will endure for generations to come" (Tb 13:13; Lk 1:48).

In the Christian fulfillment of Scripture that recognizes Christ Jesus as "the center of the universe and of history" (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis 1), the eminent place of his mother, the Virgin Mary, must of course be especially highlighted, since it was she alone who responded in the name of all humanity with her "Fiat" to the Incarnation of the Son of God and then to the Cross, thus enabling and sealing this new and eternal Covenant by which we are saved.

After Easter, in the light of the Risen Christ, the Akathist hymn and the Fathers of the Church used a typological, analogous rereading of many other Old Testament images, figures and prophecies, far beyond what the ancient Synagogue could have perceived, as they recognized "the Mother of the Saviour in the economy of salvation in an ever clearer light" (Lumen Gentium n. 55).

Because of this, and since the Holy Virgin is at the heart of God's plan of salvation, many of the Bible's most important symbols were re-interpreted and found to relate to Mary:

• The Tree of Life (Gn 3: 22) "whose splendid fruit nourishes believers" (Akathist Hymn).
• Noah's Ark (Gn 6: 9) "which shelters all the sinners of the earth" (Saint Alphonsus de Liguori) and "which frees us from the flood of sin" (John Mauropous).
• The Mountain (Gn 8:4) "whose height surpasses the thoughts of men" (Akathist Hymn).
• Noah's Dove (Gn 8:8-11) "which brings to the world the branch of peace" (Akathist Hymn).
• Jacob's Ladder (Gen 28:12) "in which God descends to the earth" (Akathist Hymn).
• The Burning Bush, where God hides in the midst of the flames, while the humble bush is not consumed by the flames and retains its integrity (Ex 3:2 quoted in DHES 2 page 9 ?).
• The Fecund Cloud (Ex 16:10), which brings down to earth righteousness and justification (Is 45:8 quoted in DHES, 2 page 10 and DHES 1 ?, page 87, note 7).
• The Column of Cloud (Ex 13:21) "which illuminates our walk in the night" (Akathist hymn).
• The Sea (Ex 14:28) "where the Pharaoh who holds us in the bondage of sin meets his doom" (Akathist Hymn).
• The Abyss (Ex 15:5) "of unfathomable depth" (Akathist hymn).
• The Rock of Moses (Ex 17:6) "from which springs the Source that gives drink to the thirsty" (Akathist hymn).
• The City of Asylum (Num 35:28) "for those who struggle in the turmoil of life" (Akathist Hymn).
• Aaron's staff - the rod of an almond tree which without root or sap from the earth blooms and produces miraculous fruit (cf. Num 17:8 quoted in DHES 2 page 9 ?).
• The Land (Ex 13:5) "flowing with milk and honey" (Akathist hymn).
• The Beautiful Land of Faith (Deut 28:8) "where the promise is fulfilled" (Akathist Hymn).

She is also foretold by the image of the Temple and its components, being by analogy:

• The Tabernacle (Ex 29:42) "of the living God" (Akathist Hymn).
• The Table (Ex 25:23-30) "which offers Reconciliation in its fullness" (Akathist Hymn).
• The Sacred Vessel containing the heavenly manna held in reserve in the Tabernacle before the Lord (Ex 16:33, quoted in DHES 2 page 10).
• And she is truly "the Temple of the God of all immensity" (Akathist Hymn).

She is also seen in biblical images and other natural parables, such as:

• The Star (Sir 50: 6) "which announces the rising of the sun" (Akathist Hymn).
• The woolen fleece of Gideon (Jdg 6:37-40) "which gathers the dew of Heaven" (Origen, St. Bernard).
• The Bridal Chamber (Tb 6:14-17) "where God marries our humanity" (Akathist Hymn).
• The temple gate seen in a vision (Ez 40:16-48) "hidden for centuries" (Akathist Hymn).
• The strong Tower of David (Sg 4:4) "that guards the Church" (Akathist hymn).
• The Dawn (Ps 130: 6) "which precedes the rising of the sun" (Akathist hymn).
• The Moon (Sg 6: 10) "which reflects the light of the sun" (Akathist hymn).
• The Royal Throne (2 Sa 7: 13) "of the King" (Akathist Hymn).
• And she is indeed (Ps 46: 5-6) "the most holy dwelling of Him who sits above the Seraphim" (Akathist Hymn). 

In the same way, many biblical characters and attitudes are re-interpreted as foreshadowing certain aspects of the Virgin's life and mission:

• Eve, recognized as the "Mother of all the living" (Gen 3:20);
• Sarah, who could bear the "son of promise" only by a miracle (Gen 17:17);
• Rebecca, "chosen by God" for his chosen one (Gen 24:15);
• Rachel, the "beloved" who weeps for her children in Bethlehem (Jer 31: 15);
• Deborah, who leads the people of Israel and "sings her victory" (Jgs 5: 12);
• Myriam, sister of Moses, who sings and leads Israel in a new song (Ex 15: 21);
• Judith, "blessed above all women on earth", who strikes our enemy on the head (Jdt 13: 18);
• Esther, who intercedes for her people and wins the King's favor (Est 8:4);
• Anne, who miraculously gives birth to Samuel and sings her song of thanksgiving;
• Tamar, who perpetuates the tribe of Judah (Gn 38: 1-30);
• Leah, who never bore another child after reaching the limit of perfection (Gen 29:35);
• Ruth, the "humble servant" who glorified her Lord (Ru 3: 9);
• The Mother of Maccabees, who stands firm through the martyrdom of her sons (2 Macc 7:22-28);
• The prophet Elijah, who was taken up to Heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11);
• Mary is truly the "Queen, seated at the right hand of the King" (Ps 45:10-18).

"Such is the admirable Virgin announced from the very first days of the world, foretold by the prophets, portrayed so many times in the Old Testament," convert from Judaism David Paul Drach wrote (De l'harmonie de l'Église et de la Synagogue II, page 9).

Beyond reasons to believe:

Book Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn (Image, October 18, 2005)