6. He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child--12:13. Here the scenes narrated in verses four to nine were resumed. These descriptions repeated in different symbols the events of the first series which chapters four to eleven had envisioned. In verses four to nine of this chapter the woman’ s flight into the wilderness was related. Here in verses 13 and 14 the reason and manner of her flight were described. The reason was that under the guardianship of Michael and his hosts the dragon and his forces prevailed not in the “ war in heaven” --in the high places of authority in governments-- against the woman’ s seed. Being defeated it was said that neither was their place found any more in heaven--that is, in the sphere of previous activity against the church, in the realm of political authority and government. But Michael’ s triumph and the dragon’ s failure to destroy the woman’ s seed did not prevent the further persecutions. Enraged at being thwarted in his plans to annihilate the church by the destruction of the man child in Jerusalem, where it was born, and which was caught up to God and to his throne, the dragon turns upon the woman and launched a general persecution against the whole church. It was at this point and for this reason that the woman fled into the wilderness (verse 6), the manner of the flight being described here in verse 13. The “ two wings of a great eagle” that were given to her was the same symbol of divine strength employed in the exodus of Israel from Egypt. In Exodus 19:4 God said to Israel, “ Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’ s wings, and brought you unto myself.” The instinct of the eagle, when its young are ready to attempt flight, is to hover over the nest and flutter its wings to lead the young ones into the venture. In Deuteronomy 32:1-52 :1 l-12, in the Song of Moses, it is recorded that “ as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreacleth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him (Israel), and there was no strange God with him.” In this same imagery, and doubtless in allusion to it, the seer of Revelation represents God’ s hovering protection and imparted strength in the flight of the woman from besieged Jerusalem into the wilderness, as God did for Israel in the exodus from Egypt, to “ a place prepared of God” (verse 6), or “ into her place” (verse 14) --the same place. As previously noted, the Lord foretold this flight in similar description of the tribulation of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, “ such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” According to this statement of the Lord there cannot ever be events of the future to fulfill these descriptions. It is evident that the context of Revelation is only an extension of the Lord’ s predictions in Matthew twenty-four, and that the Revelation was received and recorded several years before the destruction of Jerusalem, the impending “ present distress” of 1 Corinthians 7:26, which was so soon coming upon the church of the God. In the same Corinthian context the apostle said, “ the time is short.” The darkest threatening cloud and the most frightening, horrifying portents hanging over the whole church, were the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and their attending tribulations.