Rev 12:13-17 | Family

Revelation of John 12:13-17

Two wings of a great eagle; representing the assistance granted by God to his church, to escape the rage of her persecutors, or to endure and survive it.

The wilderness; the sojourn of the church in the wilderness agrees with the prophesying of the two witnesses in sackcloth. It is another representation of the same thing.

A time, and times, and half a time; the same as three years and a half, forty-two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days. See Da 7:25. The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman; thought by many to represent the inundation of northern barbarians, by which Satan hoped to overwhelm Christianity. The earth helped the woman; these pagan hosts, instead of destroying God's church, in many ways befriended her. They settled down in the regions conquered by them and embraced Christianity. The remnant of her seed; representing those who remained faithful to the truth of the gospel. The manner in which he made war upon them is immediately set forth in the following chapter. Sin unrestrained is outrageous, cruel, and persevering. When the agents of Satan are foiled in one way, they try another; and unless changed by the power of the Holy Ghost, however often they may be disappointed, they will continue their opposition for ever.