Revelation 12:14 Commentary and Bible Study

This reminds us of Isaiah’s eagle – ‘They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). She is given wings that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place. Israel walked to the wilderness; she is given wings by the Lord. Is the woman safe in this situation? Has God adequately provided for her protection? Surely she is vulnerable to the devil when he concentrates the intensity of his hatred on her. He is determined to destroy her, to extinguish the church altogether. As each generation passes away and is removed out of harm’s way, he gnashes his teeth and directs his attention to the next. He tries to create problems in one generation which will be passed on to the next. But with each saint that that goes to be with their Lord, he senses his failure. In fact in all the history of the world he has never succeeded in destroying a single child of God. Not one has lost his salvation. Some have been backslidden; many have stumbled; but all have been brought to heaven. Satan has only served as the instrument of God for the training of his people, God’s master swordsman, as Rutherford put it, to teach them use of their weapons. So how does the Lord protect his people? He gives them a place of refuge and the ability to flee to that place of refuge from an enemy who is stronger than them. This verse explains more fully the role of the wilderness mentioned in verse 6. The language is symbolic, allegorical. Every element of this verse has meaning: the wings, the place to which she flees, the time she is there, and the serpent from which she flees. We have seen that the wilderness represents the withdrawal from the world which the church seeks in turning her back on worldliness and pursuing a simple lifestyle. There she is sustained directly by God as he provides her with the manna and with water from the rock. She is not to try to isolate herself physically from the world or to go out of the world – her mission is to preach the gospel and win the lost – but she cannot do that by becoming a part of the world. The wilderness is her God-given place, a place where he knows she will be safe. And God gives her the means to escape to this place. She is provided with two wings. In Exodus 19:4 God says to Israel of old, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.’ These wings allow the church to escape the danger of temptation. The wings carry her over terrain that she would not otherwise be able to pass over. The church has been enabled to bear trials which are amazing when we read about them. These wings are given to her because without them she would be vulnerable to the devil’s attack. She cannot face him in battle directly, so God provides her with a way of escape. He intervenes to limit the power of the devil to tempt her. How long does she spend in the wilderness? She spends ‘a time and times and half a time’ or three and a half years, a period which we have seen in Revelation 12:6 symbolises the entire gospel age. The church needs to take refuge throughout this age. She will never find a place of peace in the world. She will be embroiled in this battle up to the moment Christ returns.