Hello Mike,

I’m trying to understand the verse in Revelation that states that the dragon sent a flood after the woman (out of his mouth), but the Earth helped her. Do you recall writing an explanation of this verse that you could point me to?

Thanks

S____

Hi S____,

Rather than tell you what is being said, let me simply give you the definitions of the symbols, and I’ll let you tell me what it is saying.

First let’s read the verse:

Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14 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.
Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now, how many symbols are in this parable?

1. a dragon
2. a woman
3. the earth
4. the man child
5. two wings of a great eagle
6. the wilderness
7. time, and times, and half a time
8. mouth of the serpent
9. water as a flood after the woman
10. earth opened its mouth
11. dragon making war
12. the remnant of her (the woman’s) seed.

1) A ‘dragon’ – also called “the serpent,” is defined in this very chapter:

Rev 2:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

2) The woman. Notice who it is that the dragon actually ‘makes war’ with:

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The question that should jump into the mind of every person reading this verse is, Why doesn’t the dragon make war with the woman? The obvious answer is that ‘the woman’ is not ‘keeping the commandments of God,’ neither is she “caught up to the throne of God.”

3) ‘The earth’

Jer 22:1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
Jer 22:3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
Jer 22:4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
Jer 22:5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

This chapter is addressed to the political leaders of the people of God. It is not addressed to the chief priests or the scribes. Here is a lament that ends this chapter:

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
Jer 22:30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

And again:

Mic 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah [political, not religious leaders] which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Mic 1:2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

4) ‘The woman who brings forth the manchild.’ The first part of this chapter tells us a little about this ‘woman:’

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

These verses almost sound like a description of the coming of Christ to the nation of Israel, known as “the church in the wilderness.”

Act 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

We are even told that this woman “flees to the wilderness.” While the whole Christian world recognizes who the ‘woman’ is, just as in the days of their Messiah, they fail to see who the ‘manchild’ is.

The church is always proclaiming its rights as ‘the chosen of God,’ when in reality they are merely “sanctified in Christ, called to be saints”. There is a ‘vast impassable gulf’ between the ‘called’ and the ‘chosen.’ All the ‘chosen’ have been called, but very few of the ‘called’ have been ‘chosen.’ The Christian church as a whole is suffering from the same delusion that Korah had:

Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

Indeed, “the Lord walked among” the seven churches of Revelation, but to see how close to Korah they come, just read the 2nd and 3rd chapters of the book of Revelation. Yet all seven churches had been ‘called out of Egypt.’

According to Paul, there is a world of difference between being “called to be saints” and being a mature son of God.

1Co 1:1 Paul…
1Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…

What does our Lord tell us of the “called”?

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Sure enough, what does Paul tell us of these “sanctified … called” Corinthian Christians?

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

In the space of 4 verses, Paul informs these “sanctified, called” Corinthian Christians that they “are yet carnal.” What is it that is so significant about the story we are reading here in this 12th chapter of Revelation? Notice what is the focus of the great ‘dragon’:

Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

The focus of the dragon at first is not on the woman, but on her “manchild that was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” Now notice what is the station of the woman in relationship to the manchild:

Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

The manchild is “caught up unto God, and to His throne.” What happens to the woman that the manchild came out of?

Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The only other place in the new testament that this phrase is used is in the previous chapter:

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

9) A “Flood”

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

This word ‘flood’ is the exact same Greek word used by our Lord in His parable of ‘the house upon a rock:’

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

What are these floods intended to do?

Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

This whole story here in Revelation 12 is just reiterating at a later date a prophecy given by God Himself in the garden of Eden:

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed [Christ and those “in Him” (Gal 3:16) ]; it [‘Her Seed’] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his [The ‘seed of the woman’] heel.

There have been many attempts to destroy the ‘seed of the woman’ over the generations since Adam and Eve. The first recorded effort was Cain’s murder of Abel. “In the stead” of Abel God gave Adam and Eve Seth to carry ‘the seed of the woman.’

The next effort was the Egyptian Pharaoh’s attempt to destroy all males in Israel. God used Pharaoh’s own daughter to “help the woman.” ‘The earth helped the woman.’ A later Pharaoh sent out an army to destroy Israel. That army died in the Red sea. How do the scriptures describe this event?

Exo 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

The next event was Korah’s efforts to lead Israel back into Egypt. In this case, the earth literally opened up its mouth and swallowed up the flood.

What do the scriptures mean by the word ‘flood?’

2Sa 22:5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

Psa 18:4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

The next recorded effort was King Saul’s efforts to destroy David. God used Saul’s own son to help David to survive this trial and multiple attempts to destroy the “seed of the woman.”

The next attempt was Haman in the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes. With Esther’s courage, God used Artaxerxes Himself to “help the woman.” So just as Haman was about to commit genocide against the Jews, ‘the earth’, the political leaders of God’s people, Esther and her uncle Mordecai, destroyed those who were about to destroy them. “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood” that the dragon had cast out of his mouth after the woman.

Then there were the efforts of Herod to destroy Christ, the efforts of Saul of Tarsus to destroy the ‘Christ’ of Christ and still later the efforts of Rome to extinguish Christianity in its infancy.

To this day, ‘the seed of the woman’ is at enmity with the ‘seed of the serpent.’ What is so hard for most Christians to grasp is the fact that ‘the woman’ under discussion is not just the mother of the ‘seed of the woman’. Right after placing curses upon both Adam and Eve, we are reminded that Eve is the “Mother of all living.”

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [ art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

It has been noted that Genesis is revealed in Revelation and Revelation is hidden in Genesis. It was ‘the woman’ who brought forth ‘the seed of the woman,’ the “manchild, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” It was also ‘the woman’ that tempted ‘the man’ to eat of the forbidden fruit.

There is a reason why the ‘manchild’ is “caught up to God and to His throne,” while ‘the woman’ is “given two wings of a great eagle to carry her away into the wilderness where she is nourished of God for times time and half a time.”

We are so unfamiliar with Old Covenant typology that we are led by our blind leaders to believe that this is a positive thing. It is not! “The wilderness” is a symbol which is always typical of rebellion. All the while that Israel was “nourished of God in the wilderness,” she lived from one rebellion to the next. Read the book of Numbers to get the number of rebellions Israel endured in ‘the wilderness.’ Paul says ‘these are typical of us.’

1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples [Greek: tupos– types], to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [same Greek word: tupos- types]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

So “the woman was carried away into the wilderness.” Where else do we find this “woman in the wilderness?”

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

What are we told happens to this woman after the 3 1/2 years in the wilderness expires?

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Notice how closely this accords with the ‘woman’ of Jeremiah 4:

Jer 4:5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. Jer 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

Jer 4:30 And when thou [Jerusalem- typical of God’s ‘harlot’ wife] art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers [ the ‘ten horns on the beast] will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
Jer 4:31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

There should be no doubt who ‘the harlot’ is:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city [Jerusalem – the ‘many called,’ but not “chosen” people of God of every generation] become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

I hope these verses of scripture are of some help in your efforts to understand the word of God. God’s word is in spiritual language:

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

I believe you would glean much from ‘The Scriptural Meaning of Words” on the web page. I will be adding to that list as I can.

I hope I answered your questions. If not, please let me know.

Mike