Revelation 12:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

NIV: The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.

NASB: But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time, times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent.

CSB: The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.

NLT: But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.

KJV: And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

NKJV: 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.

Satan's end-times assault on Israel does not succeed. Many Jews will escape to the wilderness, likely the region known as Petra (Matthew 24:16). This is at least partly in response to Jesus' warning to flee to the mountains when they "see the abomination of desolation…standing in the holy place" (Matthew 24:15). This "abomination" likely refers to defiling of the temple, such as through setting up an idol of the head of the Revived Roman Empire.

God responds to this idolatrous act by bringing about an invasion in the middle of the tribulation, most likely by Russia and her allies. Some students of prophecy believe the two wings of the great eagle mentioned in Revelation 12:14 refer to an airlift that rescues Jews from the Russian invasion. However, the use of "wings" as a reference to protection is well established in Scripture (Deuteronomy 32:11–12; Exodus 19:4).

The Jewish refugees will be sustained in their place of safety for "a time, and times, and half a time." This equals three and a half years, the length of the second half of the tribulation. God is able to protect those who trust in Him.

Revelation 12:13–17 depicts the dragon pursuing Israel in an attempt to destroy her. He sends an army to devour her, but to no avail. God protects members of Israel who flee into the wilderness, where He sustains them for the second half of the tribulation. Then, the Devil focuses on the believing remnant of Israel. This passage of Scripture relates to Ezekiel and Joel's description of an invading army from the north that troubles Israel (Ezekiel 38; Joel 1—2). It also relates to Revelation 9 that describes an invading army of demonic inspired forces. Revelation 13 reveals the two evil figures the Devil uses to persecute the believing remnant of Israel.

This chapter relates several highly symbolic visions, which introduce figures critical to the end times. First is a woman, representative of Israel. Second is a red dragon, identified with Satan. Third is a male child, who is Jesus Christ. The red dragon seeks to devour the woman's male child, but God caught the child to His throne, referring to the ascension of Jesus after His resurrection. The passage then continues to describe a war in heaven between Michael and Satan—here Satan becomes the fourth key figure—which results in Satan's complete and total eviction from heaven. Satan attempts to destroy Israel, most likely through an armed invasion, which is supernaturally defeated by God through an earthquake. The fifth main figure is the collective ''offspring'' of the woman. These events are given further details in passages such as Ezekiel chapter 38.

Preceding verses have brought us to the middle of the tribulation, after the seal judgments and very near the end of the trumpet judgments. Now, the focus shifts to symbolically introduce a series of important figures. These are mentioned in various eras, not as part of the earlier chronology of Revelation. This passage relates to Matthew 24:15–26 and Isaiah 16:1–4. Ezekiel 38 and Joel 1 describe an invasion into Israel from the north, and Revelation 9 identifies the invading army as demon inspired. Revelation 13 continues to describe major end-times figures, focusing on ''the beast,'' also known as the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''