Queen of Heaven???

Is Mary Really the Queen of Heaven?

The simple answer is yes. In this blog, I'll be unpacking a Biblical Tradition and a funny misstep some may take.

If you’ve ever heard someone call Mary, the mother of Jesus, the "Queen of Heaven and Earth," you might wonder where that title comes from. Is it just a fancy Catholic tradition, or is there something deeper rooted in Scripture? Spoiler alert: it’s deeply biblical, tied to an ancient Jewish tradition that goes all the way back to King David. But not everyone sees it that way—some folks, like our friends in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) community and a few other sects of Protestants and Evangelicals, grab a verse from Jeremiah and think they’ve cracked the case against it. Let’s unpack this, explore the roots of Mary’s queenship, and have a chuckle at how a certain critique misses the mark.

The Davidic Roots of Mary’s Queenship

In Catholic theology, Mary is honored as the Queen of Heaven and Earth because her Son, Jesus, is the ultimate Davidic King, the "King of kings" (Revelation 19:16). This isn’t just a poetic title—it’s grounded in the ancient Jewish tradition of the gebirah, or queen mother. Back in the days of kings like David and Solomon, the king’s mother held a special role. Why not the king’s wife? Well, kings often had multiple wives (hello, polygamy), so elevating one wife above the others could get messy. Instead, the king’s mother was given the role of queen, acting as an advisor and intercessor, often seated at the king’s right hand.

Take Bathsheba, for example. In 1 Kings 2:19, we see her as queen mother under her son Solomon’s reign: "So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right." That’s a big deal! This pattern of the queen mother’s prominence repeats throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles for the Kingdom of Judah. Fast forward to the New Testament, and Catholics see Mary as the ultimate gebirah—the mother of Jesus, the eternal Davidic King whose kingdom surpasses all earthly ones.

This connection makes Mary’s title as Queen of Heaven and Earth a natural extension of her role as Jesus’ mother. She’s not divine, but she’s uniquely honored as the mother of the King, interceding for us just as the queen mothers did in ancient Israel. It’s a beautiful, biblical analogy that ties the Old and New Testaments together.

The SDA Critique: A Biblical Misstep

Now, here’s where things get interesting—and a bit funny. Some groups, like Seventh-day Adventists, reject the idea of Mary as Queen of Heaven. They argue that it’s unbiblical and even idolatrous, often pointing to a couple of verses in Jeremiah to make their case. Specifically, they cite Jeremiah 7:18, which says, "The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger." They also lean on Jeremiah 44:17-19, 25, where the people of Judah defiantly burn incense and make offerings to this "queen of heaven," believing it brought them prosperity.

For SDAs, these verses are a warning against false worship, and they see the Catholic title for Mary as a dangerous echo of this pagan goddess (likely Ishtar or Astarte). They’ll often argue that calling Mary the Queen of Heaven risks slipping into idolatry, and they point to these texts as proof that the Bible condemns such a title outright. Sounds convincing, right? Well, not so fast.

Here’s the irony—and it’s kind of chuckle-worthy. The "queen of heaven" in Jeremiah is a pagan deity, totally unrelated to the Jewish gebirah tradition or to Mary. The passages in Jeremiah are about idol worship that angered God, not about the legitimate role of a king’s mother in the Davidic line. By equating Mary’s queenship with this pagan figure, SDAs are cherry-picking verses and missing the broader biblical context. It’s like saying all kings are bad because some worshipped Baal! The gebirah tradition, exemplified by figures like Bathsheba, is a completely different concept, rooted in God’s covenant with David and fulfilled in Jesus’ eternal kingdom.

Why the Disconnect?

So why do SDAs lean so hard on Jeremiah? It’s likely because those verses are the only places in the Bible that explicitly mention a "queen of heaven," and they sound like a handy rebuttal to Catholic teaching. But it’s a classic case of reading something out of context. The Catholic understanding of Mary’s queenship doesn’t come from pagan goddess worship—it comes from the very biblical, very Jewish tradition of the Davidic kingdom. Mary’s role as queen mother flows from her unique relationship with Jesus, not from some ancient fertility cult.

In fairness, SDAs are passionate about sola scriptura and avoid anything that smells like idolatry. They see Mary’s exalted titles and worry it elevates her above what Scripture allows. But the humor lies in how they grab those Jeremiah verses, thinking it’s a checkmate, when really it’s a swing and a miss. The Catholic view of Mary as Queen of Heaven isn’t about making her divine—it’s about honoring her role in salvation history as the mother of the King, rooted in a tradition that’s as old as Israel’s monarchy.

Wrapping It Up

The idea of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth is a beautiful thread woven through Scripture, from the Davidic queens like Bathsheba to the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus and His mother. It’s not about worshipping Mary but recognizing her unique place in God’s plan as the gebirah of the eternal kingdom. The SDA critique, while well-intentioned, trips over a misunderstanding, conflating a pagan "queen of heaven" with a biblical tradition that’s entirely different. Next time someone throws Jeremiah 7:18 at you, just smile, point them to 1 Kings 2:19, and maybe have a little laugh at the mix-up. After all, the Bible’s story is bigger—and more connected—than a single out-of-context verse.

What do you think? Have you run into other arguments about Mary’s role that seem to miss the mark? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments!