Revelation 12:14-17
Verse 14 is a precarious passage; the context places what is to happen after Jesus has been birthed into the earth and ascends yet the “time, and times, and half a time” has thrown off just about every commentary that has been written on the subject.
Some relate this timeline with the book of Daniel and the word “time” being used to represent one year. Based on that understanding, they come up with three and a half years which would be consistent with the last half of the Tribulation Period as noted in four other places in the book of Revelation.
Then there are those that calculate something more on the basis of 2 Peter 3:8 which states that “with the Lord a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.” So this would encompass many generations. They all have their theory which relates to history and not futuristic.
One Bible teacher made a statement that causes a chuckle; he stated that in the book of Daniel, Daniel was instructed to ‘seal up the book until the end,’ which is a reference to the end times. So the things that Daniel saw were a mystery then and apparently they are still a mystery concerning the “time, and times, and half a time.”
I have to agree that this is not clear, so I will not be dogmatic! I will examine a couple of points concerning this passage.
The first thing I note is that John is using “time, and times, and half a time” rather than the three and a half years or forty two months he used in other places. Why did he select this particular expression to define when this is to happen?
This could represent an overview of Jewish and Christian persecution over the centuries and coming to completion in the latter part of the Tribulation Period where God steps in and rescues them supernaturally so the Antichrist cannot get at them.
The second thing I take note of is that the woman is removed from the face of the serpent. As you may recall “the woman” is representative of Israel. There is not a time in recorded history or the present that this has been accomplished. The devil has been endeavoring to annihilate the Jewish Nation since their conception.
Through some different traditions it is believed that the Jews will escape to a location in Jordan called Petra when the persecution of the Antichrist commences. Once they are there they will be protected by God.
This City Petra is built into a mountain of red rock and has only one entrance. Just as God used a pillar of a cloud to keep the Egyptians from pursuing Israel at the Red Sea, we can be sure that He can keep Antichrist forces from being able to access the city of Petra.
This could be what John was indicating concerning this timeline and events. It may not be revealed until the time draws much closer. God is a strategist and does not reveal His plans prematurely so the enemy does not know.
In verse 15 we see the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a flood. This possibly represents an army sent to attack the woman (Israel) since often in the Word of God waters and/or floods can represent multitudes of people.
In verse 16 the earth gets involved in the fight. In the Bible natural disasters and earthquakes have been used to stop evil in its tracks. The upcoming war noted in Ezekiel 38 & 39 demonstrates this type of natural disaster as an intervention to assist Israel.
If a pursing army insists on attacking God’s people, the earth opening up is a possibility, which would most assuredly stop the assault. As stated in the book of Ecclesiastes, “the thing that has been, is that which shall be.” We find in the book of Exodus an earthquake being used to swallow up an evil group so it is not strange that it will happen again at this time to protect Israel.
In verse 17 since the Antichrist cannot get at the Jews, he turns his attention to “the seed.” The seed represented here would have to be the Christians who have come to know Christ throughout the Tribulation Period. Christianity came out of the Jews and they are the ones with the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Knowing the God we serve, that will be a frustrating task for Antichrist and in the end he will get his!