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Context No. 978 of 4322 · Revelation

Context · Reflection

Revelation 12:13-17: in context

13When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 16The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. 17The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.

In Revelation's great vision, a dragon has just been thrown down from heaven, and now, enraged, he turns on the woman who gave birth to the male child. She is given the wings of an eagle to fly to a place in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. The dragon spews a river of water after her to sweep her away, but the earth opens and swallows the flood. Furious, the dragon goes off to make war on the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus.

This strange, symbolic scene is really a picture of the church's experience between Christ's victory and the end. The dragon has already lost, thrown down from heaven, and precisely because he is defeated and knows his time is short, he rages against God's people on earth. Persecution, in this vision, is not a sign that evil is winning but a sign that it is losing and knows it, lashing out in fury from a position of defeat. And the woman is protected, given wings, nourished in the wilderness, rescued when the flood comes by the earth itself. She is kept, not from all attack, but through it, safe in the place God prepared. The dragon cannot destroy her, so he turns to make war on her children, ordinary believers who keep God's commandments and hold to Jesus. That is the situation of every faithful Christian: targeted by a real and furious enemy, and at the same time held by a God whose protection the dragon's flood cannot overcome.

When opposition to my faith feels overwhelming, can I read it as this vision does, the fury of an already-defeated enemy, and trust the God who nourishes and keeps his people through the flood?

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