- Pursued/persecuted the woman: The meaning here is to “eagerly seek after, to pursue, to harass, cause trouble, molest.” Satan is being represented as creating and using deceit to trick and deceive people of faith and those who could be so (2 Thess. 2:9-10; Rev. 13:1-10).
- Two wings of a great eagle: Shows the plight of the Exodus and how God guides, protects, shelters and cares for His people (Ex. 19; Deut. 32:11; Psalm 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 91:4; Is. 40: Jer. 49:22).
- Fly to the place prepared: Indicates that God prepares and then comes through to deliver His people from their oppressors. Remember, Revelation is a book about God’s grace and protection just as much as it is about condemnation and last days.
- Desert: Means a place that is deprived of aid and protection, a solitary, lonely, desolate, place. Here, it refers to God providing the manna for the people of the Exodus while they were in a desolate environment. In context, it shows the grace and hand of God as He cares and provides for His people. In the midst of dire circumstances, we have a God who not only cares, He is involved!
- Be taken care: Meaning God’s provision to bring up, to nourish, and to support. This, in context, is also the expression of how Christ’s work delivers us and enters us into His Kingdom as well as protects us in spiritual warfare (Rom. 8:12-17; Eph. 6:10-18).
- Or a time, times and half a time: Refers to the three and a half years of Daniel. Also stated as 1,260 days in the idioms and language of the early Church and Jewish community, and was colloquial for the period of time from the finished work of Christ until He comes back. This is the period in which the Church has been since its inception, where we are now at this writing. This is also shown in the context, as 12:1-6 shows Christ’s exaltation, while 12:10 shows His salvation to us; in 12:11-17 the Church is shown in the world with faith and persecutions, then Christ returns to slay the Dragon. This encompass the Church Age (Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 4:32).
- Out of the serpent’s reach/face: Protected from the deception, cunning, wisdom, and the outward appearance of evil. The application to this term is that we can tolerate all things with Christ!
- From his mouth: Meaning the “edge of a sword,” as the utterance of thoughts to cause harm.
- Spewed water…to overtake: Means a flood or war and refers to being overwhelmed and carried away. This is a theme of judgment (Psalm 32:6; 69:15; Jer. 47:2).
- Sweep her away. This passage is a parallel to the Exodus.
- The earth helped/hid. For the Jewish audience, this meant that God sometimes uses His creation to intervene on behalf of others, such as the earth opening and swallowing Korah and his wicked men, the tree that hid Isaiah, and Jonah and the great fish. This is also an illustration from the Greek story of “Leto and Apollo,” where the sea god hid and provided for Leto, and protecting her from a dragon so she could bear a child. The image here is that God protects and promises safety just as he did with the Exodus (Gen. 4:10; Num. 16:30-33; Is. 43:2; 53:7-8).
- Enraged: Satan is mad because he did not get his way and definitely does not want us to have His Way!
- Make war: How Satan produces and constructs quarrels and battles us fervently. He seeks to destroy and mislead us into thinking we do not need God. And, if his tricks do not work he will do all he can for as long as he can to destroy us. But, the great news in this passage is, we do not just have a great Referee, we have God on our side! Satan wants us to do his bidding, deceiving us along the way, but he can do nothing that God does not allow and he can’t do anything against the strength and resources that Christ gives us.
- Offspring/seed: Means the descendents of Eve and more to the point believers who will obey God, and the one who will crush the serpents head. It refers to the people of God, Christians saved by faith. Christ also defeats Satan, but Satan, as prophesied, will bruise His and our heel (Gen. 3).
- Who keep/obey: This infers that those of faith have received their faith from Christ; thus, we resound to observe, attend, and carefully take care of His precepts and what He gives us. Keep in mind that there are conditions—not to our salvation other that to receive it by faith—but conditions under which to grow in our faith and service to Him. We have to have faith, we have to be saved in Christ, and we have to respond to Christ, being proactive with our faith in our situations, producing Fruit and character, not sitting and doing nothing.
- Testimony of Jesus: This refers to the testimony that Jesus bore by His work and involvement. Christ’s blood and sacrifice prevails when we accept it and us it as our main artillery. Our unwavering faith in Christ, by whom and what He has done is too much for Satan to handle; he can’t stand against the goodness of Christ. Thus, when we are in Christ, we prevail; Satan has already lost and has been defeated (Rev. 1:2, 9; 19:10).