THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO PERSECUTE THE WOMAN (VERSES 13-17)

“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 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. 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. 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. 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 Christ.”

The Dragon’s Attempt to Persecute the Woman (verses 13-17)

What do we have in view here? Simply that the dragon has failed. He’s been cast out of heaven and he knows—we need to understand this, even impress it on our minds. Satan is not oblivious; he’s not ignorant to what is going on here. Again, the battle’s been fought, the victory’s been won and he knows that he’s been defeated, BUT he is compelled to bring as many down, to take as many down, with him as he possibly can. So he is filled with wrath, and he attempts to take out his vengeance upon the woman [“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child,” Verse 13].

Well, again, who is the woman? She is symbolic of the faithful of God of every age. So, he persecutes this woman who brought forth the man child, and God steps in to protect her.

This is beautiful imagery here. The woman is given the wings of a great eagle to fly to her prepared place in the wilderness. This, of course, is taken from the imagery of the Old Testament, Exodus, chapter 19, verse 4, where we read about Israel being borne up on the wings of an eagle—that symbolic imagery of the mother eagle bearing her young on her wings, and so on. [Exodus 19:3-6: “And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the Words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.’”]

God, thus, provides the means of escape for the woman and provides a place of security. And “she is nourished for a time and times and half a time,” [verse 14] which is, in light of what we have already looked at from back in chapter 11 and from Daniel 7:25, a period of one thousand two hundred sixty [1260] days or forty-two months. Again, it represents the period of tribulation; it represents the period of time that we are in right now—the whole period, if you will, until He comes again.

This dragon, called “the serpent”in verse 16, tries, like a “water monster,” to overwhelm the woman by casting out his mouth floods of water to carry her away. He wishes to engulf her, that is, the people of God, to drown her. However, he fails in his attempt and the earth swallows up the water of the flood just as the sand in the desert swallows up streams flowing through it [“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. 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,” verses 15-16].

What did Jesus promise concerning His kingdom? What did He say would, or could, prevail against His kingdom? Nothing! Not even the gates of Hades, He said, will prevail against the church, Matthew 16:18 [“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”].

The Dragon’s Intent to Persecute the Woman’s Offspring (verse 17)

Again, the dragon is very angry with the woman and since he fails to destroy her and her Son, he has failed in his battle. So, he concentrates his attention on the remnant of her seed [“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 Christ,” verse 17].

Once again, we are looking at the fact that we are living in that time—we’re living in the last day; we’re living in the time that is in view here; we’re living in the time when Satan continues to prevail…not pressing on toward victory, because the victory has already been won, but rather, to take as many casualties as he possibly can.

I think I may have shared this with you before, but I read this a while back, and it sort of helped me to picture this. The image was given of the first Gulf War back in 1990 when the coalition forces had ejected the Iraqis out of Kuwait and they were into the southern part of Iraq, etc. And you remember what Saddam Hussein and his forces did as they were leaving Kuwait? Well, they were clearly defeated—there was no victory to be won at all. But what did they do? They brought as much destruction as they possibly could—lighting those gas wells on fire and destroying the infrastructure, and just doing everything imaginable. Why? To win the war? No, the war had already been lost. But simply in the evil mindset of that tyrant, he was going to make it as hard, as difficult as possible—he was going to take as many casualties as he could. He wasn’t going to go quietly.

That is, perhaps, an example of the same thing that we see here in the actions/reactions of Satan. His desire is to take as many casualties as he can. He goes about, as Peter said, like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour [“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, Who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen,” 1 Peter 5:8-11]. And Satan is seeking to devour you and me.