And when the dragon saw that
he was hurled down to the earth,
he went in pursuit of the woman
who had given birth to the male child.
Then the two wings of a great eagle
were given to the woman
to enable her to fly away into the desert
to the place assigned her,
there to be cared for:
for a period of time, two periods of time,
and half a period of time,
beyond the reach of the serpent.
And the serpent poured water from his mouth --
a very river it seemed --
after the woman,
in the hope that she would be carried away by its flood.
But the earth came to the woman’s help:
It opened its mouth and
drank up the river
which the dragon had poured form his mouth.
This made the dragon furiously angry with the woman,
and he went elsewhere
to make war upon her other children:
those who keep God’s commandments
and hold fast to the testimony of Jesus.
12:13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who
gave birth to the male Child.
- The effects of the Incarnation: devil kicked out of heaven forever; comes to earth and is mad and causes big
trouble (DP)
- The dragon and his army are routed and expelled from their former celestial place. This casting down by no means
brings about His destruction. His appearance on the earthly scene is the signal for the continuation of the struggle on
earth. He finds there a new stage on which to continue the conflict against God and all good.
- Woe comes upon the earth because it is the battlefield and the wrath of the devil is multiplied because he knows he
has only a short time.
- Even though defeated the devil still has power to do considerable harm. His power is stimulated by defeat.
- God is gong to raise up supernatural protection for part of the nation of Israel and part of that supernatural protection
is going to be through the body of Christ.
- The dragon is enraged with the woman when he is cast out of heavenly places – he is confined to the earth. He is
enraged with wrath and he has one focus: to exterminate – to utterly destroy the nation of Israel. Why? Because he hates
Jews. That is not mostly why. He doesn’t want to be thrown into prison and the battle for Jerusalem is the Son of David
coming back. That’s who he hates: the Son of David. But the key to the Son of David having this position is the Jewish
race in Jerusalem inviting Jesus back. So He has a two-fold strategy. Number one strategy is to completely exterminate the
Jewish race and there is going to be an energized attempt by the powers of darkness to go beyond where the Holocaust did.
Satan’s number two strategy is to so offend the Jews against Jesus – he has been very, very successful – that even if they
can’t kill every one of them, they will never say to Jesus, “You are blessed of God’. That means that You are God and You
are our only hope.
References: Revelation 12:5
12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to
her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
- Eagle – strength, power
- Wilderness – a place of testing and a place of Divine encounter
- The similarity to the Exodus (NIV)
- Presence of the serpent – face (NIV)
References: Exodus 19:4 (You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself);
Deuteronomy 32:11 (As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings);
Isaiah 40:31 (But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be
weary, they shall walk and not faint); Revelation 12:6; 17:3; Daniel 7:25 (He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute
the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and
half a time.); 12:7 (Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left
hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people
has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.)
12:15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause
her to be carried away by the flood.
- Carried away – swept away – threw (NIV)
References: Isaiah 59:19 (So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes
in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.); Revelation 12:9; 20:2; Genesis 3:1 (Now the serpent was more crafty than
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made…..); 2 Corinthians 11:3 (But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,
your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ); Hosea 5:10 (The princes of Judah have become like those
who move a boundary; on them I will pour out My wrath like water)
12:16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her
offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.
- The devil is so enraged now with the woman and that she has supernatural protection and he cannot entirely devour
- Israel, so he goes off to make war against the people that God is using to help the nation of Israel – the body of Christ.
References: Revelation 11:7; 13:7; 14:12; 1:2; 6:9; 14:12; 19:10 Genesis 3:15 (And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel); 1 John 2:3 (And by this we know that we have
come to know Him, if we keep His commandments)