The Persecuted Woman (the Church in Europe) Flees from the Dominant Church, to the ‘New World.’
“And the serpent hurled water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth.” – Revelation12:15,16. NASB
In Revelation, water can be used in three different ways: it can represent 1) nourishment; 2) cleansing; and 3) flooding, destructive power. Flooding rivers and winged dragons are actually parallel images in the ancient world. That is the root concept behind the ancient idea of a dragon. So ancient readers would see the flood of waters as a natural way for the dragon to attack the woman in this story.
Rivers resemble snakes as they meander across the landscape. Flooding rivers resemble snakes with wings. The earth swallowing a flood is a known phenomenon. In the Kalahari Desert, the Okavango Delta is swallowed by the desert as this large river pours into one of the driest places on earth and disappears.
The mouth of the serpent seems to be an allusion to the serpent’s deceptive words in the Garden of Eden. If that is the case, the flooding waters here may mean powerfully deceptive words as much as persecuting force. The flooding waters contain both deception and threat.
Satan has two main methods of persuading people away from God: 1) deception and persuasion on the one hand and 2) force, threats, and persecution on the other.
Many students of the Bible believe that this scene anticipated the situation of Europe in the Middle Ages. Faithful followers of God, like the Waldenses in the mountains of northern Italy and southern France, copied and studied the scriptures. They often faced threats and destruction from armies sent out by the dominant Christian church. They were persecuted because the scriptures were too great a threat to the prevailing belief system of Catholicism. The Women, (The church in Europe persecuted by the Beast/ Dragon, see Daniel 7:25. C.f. Revelation 13:5-9) fled to the New World. The earth literally opened and swallowed the persecuting flood from the Roman Church.
The other event that swallowed the flood was the reformation. Through the work of great men like Wycliffe, Knox, Luther, Calvin and many other reformers the message of Righteousness by faith and the freedom of religion were heralded across the myriad countries of Europe and the New World.
The ‘free world’ was based on the double premise of a church without a Pope and a country with out a king. Protestantism and democracy. This double premise will be challenged in the last days, as we shall see in Revelation 13. The system of the Middle Ages , which embraced the union of church and state, will return with more vehemence than before.
These two major events helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the flood of persecution: Firstly, the reformation combined with the onslaught of the Ottoman empire that preoccupied the Catholic church in Europe and secondly the discovery of the Americas. Thus, the reformation was born. About the same time as the distractions for the church in Europe was happening the ‘pilgrim fathers’ left the Old World where persecution made life uncertain and followed their hearts to a New World where their dreams of a new life with liberty of worship without persecution, and eventually a democracy. A church without a Pope and a country without a King. Protestantism and democracy.
In the final days of earth’s history, prayer will be vital protection when God’s people are in distress. “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” – Psalm 32:6-7, NIV.
Thank you Ross , for your perseverance in sending the study and message of hope every day.
Blessings
Elliette
Thank you for your diligence in reading them Elliette. We have reached the important part of the book that focusses more on what is facing us.