Welcome back to our series on Revelation chapter 12. This is the final post in our study of Revelation chapter 12. For the last two posts, we’ve been studying a war that broke out in heaven between the archangel Michael and Satan, with Satan losing the war and being cast down onto the earth. In this final post, we’re going to see how these two wars—the war on earth and the war in heaven—merge together. Ready? Let’s get into this.  

Revelation Chapter 12

Eleventh in an Eleven-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

Satan’s Activity When Cast Down to Earth

Rev. 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In verses 13–17, John tells us about the dragon’s activity when he is cast down to earth. As we study these verses, you’ll notice some duplication of the activities listed in these verses with the activities listed in verses 1–6. To refresh your memory, the first six verses tell us about a war that takes place on earth. We saw a pregnant woman who was about to give birth. Then we saw a dragon use his tail to cast down one third of the stars. After that, the dragon immediately focused his attention on the man child being birthed with the intention to kill it. Before he was able to kill the man child, it was caught up to God in heaven, making it impossible to kill. Then it says the woman fled into the wilderness where she would remain for three- and one-half years. An important point to remember is that the dragon did all these things through the Antichrist figure. The war in verses 1–6 happens on earth. Keeping all that in mind, let’s examine the following verses.

Let’s start by looking at verse 13: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.” When Satan was cast down to earth, it’s at that point that the war on earth and the war in heaven meld together. When the dragon was still in his seat of power in the unseen realm, he was directing this war against Jerusalem/Israel. But just because he was cast down to earth doesn’t mean he is prevented from continuing his war against Israel. He continues to direct the war, but now it’s from a close-up position.

The Melding of the Two Wars

In verse 14, we see what the woman does in response to the dragon persecuting her: “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” The woman flees into the wilderness where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The phrase “a time, and times, and half a time” could also be stated as “one year, two years, and one-half year” which equals three- and one-half years.

If you noticed, there is a similarity in verses 14 and 6. Here is verse 6 again: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Both these verses say the woman flees into the wilderness. They both say the women is fed, or nourished, in the wilderness. They both say she stays there for three- and one-half years. Essentially, these two verses are saying the exact same thing. They are not talking about two different times the woman flees into the wilderness. They are speaking about the same event.

When the city of Jerusalem is invaded and half its residents flee into the wilderness, that will be the signpost that tells the inhabitants of earth that the seventh trumpet has been sounded and the dragon has lost his place in heaven and he is now on the earth—among them. For the people on the earth, that’s a good thing to know.

Eagle’s Wings

Let’s talk about the eagle’s wings in verse 14 when it says the woman was given “two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness into her place.” Some have suggested that the phrase “eagle’s wings” is a reference to the possibility that the Jewish people will fly on airplanes when they flee Jerusalem. However, the phrase “eagle’s wings” is just a metaphor that means God will be with them as they flee. Exodus 19:4 confirms that this is the correct interpretation. The Lord described how He delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.” When it says the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might flee, it’s talking about the Lord helping them escape.

Let’s consider whether a literal interpretation to the phrase “eagle’s wings” as being airplanes is even practical. The enemy has just invaded Jerusalem. So half the people in Jerusalem, all at the same time, are going to purchase tickets from an airline to fly them to destination “wilderness”? I don’t think so. The phrase “wings of an eagle” is not a reference to the Jewish people making their escape on airplanes.

The Flood

Now let’s look at verse 15: “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” As the Jewish people flee, the serpent casts water out of his mouth like a flood toward the woman so she is carried away. The book of Daniel also talks about Antichrist’s attack being a flood. Daniel 9:26 says, “The end thereof shall be with a flood,” and Daniel 11:22 says, “with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him….”

Antichrist chases after the fleeing Jews with a flood. But is this a literal flood? No, this couldn’t possibly mean that he will send a torrent of water after them. Let’s, again, consider a literal application. Think about it. Antichrist invades the city of Jerusalem. As the enemy goes from house to house pillaging valuables, half the people flee the city. So in the midst of their invasion of the city, they stop and take the time to engineer some sort of device that would release so much water that it would cause a flood. This would take an enormous amount of time to engineer and execute. Obviously, this flood is symbolic.

In the Old Testament, the word “flood” is used to denote the swiftness with which an army attacks and its spreading out and covering the land. An example would be in Isaiah chapter 28: the Assyrian king’s army was described as a flood of mighty waters. Then in Jeremiah chapter 46, an invading Egypt is described as a flood, rising up in battle and spreading over the land. Jeremiah prophesied about an attack on the Philistines by an invading army using the imagery of a flood to describe the army: “Thus saith the Lord; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land…” (Jer. 47:2). Lastly, the judgment for the city of Ninevah was described as “with an overrunning flood he [God] will make an utter end of the place… (Nah. 1:8).

The nature of a flood is that it moves swiftly, it spreads out and covers everything. It is symbolism that means to quickly overwhelm. The dragon spewing water out of his mouth at the sun-clothed woman is symbolic of the Antichrist figure descending upon Israel. Moving like a flood, Israel’s enemy will come swiftly and overwhelm the land. It will happen so suddenly that they will have absolutely no time to prepare to leave. There will be zero time to do any sort of preparation. There will be no time to discuss with the family on whether they should pack up and leave. There will be no time to book a flight, purchase a ticket, pack a bag, and stand in line waiting for a flight to leave.

The Earth Opens Her Mouth to Swallow the Flood

In verse 16, we read how the fleeing woman escaped the flood: “And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” The Antichrist will not have the victory he desires. His flood does not sweep away the fleeing woman. The prophet Isaiah prophesied about this very same flood when he said: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord” (Isa. 59:19).

When the little horn descends upon Israel, God will lift up a standard against him. What does it mean to lift up a “standard”? A standard is a flag raised during battle. In ancient times, when the commander wanted to communicate to his troops to advance toward the enemy, he raised the battle flag, the standard. Today, raising the standard is obsolete because the general communicates with his troops electronically. But in ancient times, the way the commander gave a command to all his troops at the same time was to raise the standard up high in the sky. When the troops saw the standard raised, they knew it was time to advance toward the enemy. This is yet another confirmation that a flood is symbolic of an army, moving swiftly and overwhelmingly. This scripture in Isaiah connects the standard, the battle flag, being raised to engage in the fight with the enemy’s flood, which is an army.

When Antichrist’s army chases after the fleeing Jews, God will have the earth open her mouth to swallow the enemy. This obviously is a metaphor in the same way the flood is a metaphor. We can only guesstimate what it means for the earth to open its mouth. Perhaps this is an earthquake, causing the earth to split open preventing the enemy from pursuing any farther. There is a great earthquake that takes place in Jerusalem in the middle of the 70^th week, so the possibility of this referring to an earthquake splitting earth open is a strong possibility. And, perhaps, it is the reason that only one half of the residents was able to flee and the other half was not (Zec. 14:2).

Attacking the Remnant of the Woman’s Seed

In verse 17, we see what happens when the flood sent by the dragon is unsuccessful: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Because of the earth opening up and swallowing the little horn’s army, his attack against the fleeing Jews will be halted. The earth opening up will make access to them impossible. The Jewish people will be kept safely out of the reach of Antichrist for the last three- and one-half years of Daniel’s 70^th week. The little horn will then refocus his attention toward the “remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” This is an interesting phrase. The phrase “remnant of her seed” indicates this remnant comes from the woman. They are her offspring. Yet this remnant of her offspring has become Christians, for it says they “have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” This most likely is in reference to the 144,000 servants, the man child. As already noted, the two wars—the war on earth and the war in heaven—overlap one another, which results in duplicate information.

This is duplicate information to the war on earth when Antichrist invaded Jerusalem. In verses 4–5, we saw the dragon cast down a third of the stars. This is symbolism for the invasion of Jerusalem: “And his tail doth draw the third of the stars of the heaven, and he did cast them to the earth…” (v. 4). This is all the information about Jerusalem’s invasion we have in this passage. John gives us no more details about the attack. After the attack on Jerusalem, the dragon then turned his attention on the woman and her man child that she birthed for the purpose of devouring it: “and the dragon did stand before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she may bring forth, her child he may devour; and she brought forth a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and caught away was her child unto God and His throne…” (vv. 4–5). The primary information of this account of the war in verses 4–5 is about the man child.

The scenario of the war after the dragon was cast down to earth in verses 13–17 gives us the same scenario. In this duplicate scenario of the invasion of Jerusalem, the primary focus is on the fleeing woman and not the man child. Verses 13–16 provide us with details about the invasion: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was supplied with the two wings of a giant eagle, so that she might fly from the presence of the serpent into the desert (wilderness), to the retreat where she is to be kept safe and fed for a time, and times, and half a time (three- and one-half years, or 1,260 days). Then out of his mouth the serpent spouted forth water like a flood after the woman, that she might be carried off with the torrent. But the earth came to the rescue of the woman, and the ground opened its mouth and swallowed up the stream of water which the dragon had spouted from his mouth” (Amp.).

When the dragon couldn’t get to the woman after she fled to the wilderness, he turned his attention to her seed, or descendants, who were Christians: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (v. 17). The dragon, or Satan, directs his attention to the seed of the woman that have the testimony of Jesus Christ. When it says the “woman’s seed,” it means it comes from her DNA. These are descendants of the children of Israel who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They are most likely the 144,000 servants. We know he will not succeed in killing the 144,000, as they will be caught up to God before he can get to them.

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