Understanding Revelation 12 – Behind Blood Falls → CMADDICT.com

What is the “flood” that pursues Israel?

And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.

– Revelation 12:15

The reference to a river and a flood is in keeping with the symbolism of people being represented by water. In the case of believers, it depicts the life and power of souls set free and led by the Holy Spirit.

And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song…. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

– Revelation 14:2-3; 4

The nations without God are depicted in the Bible as a restless sea, devoid of peace.

But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

– Isaiah 57:20-21 (Berean Standard Bible)

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.

– Revelation 13:1

The October 7 “Flood”

October 7, 2024, Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza, massacring 1139 people and taking 251 hostages. In a striking and horrific display of the verses in Isaiah 5:20-23, they named their attack “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.” One terrorist sympathizer explained that the name reflected the torrent of resistance the attack symbolized. In a report released in January of 2024, Hamas attempted to portray the massacre as a “natural reaction” to their claim Israel is actively engaged in occupying their land and attempting to wipe out the Palestinian struggle for autonomy. Their true intentions were revealed, however, in their focus on discouraging Israel’s religious awakening and efforts toward reestablishing Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.1.

How does Israel escape?

Again, Matthew 24 has the key to opening our understanding into what is happening in the Tribulation.

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

– Matthew 24:15-21 (KJV)

Jesus is warning His people of the signs revealing the betrayal of the Anti-Christ. He tells them:

Know your history. Remember the abominations committed upon the house of God by heathen rulers in the past.
Understand what is about to happen when you see history repeating itself.
Flee evil.
Prepare to suffer.

But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth

And drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.

– Revelation 12:16

We can’t know by what means the Jewish people are delivered from this flood of evil that pursues them. The Bible only hints that its source is from the earth itself, an indication of a supernatural intervention through natural means.

Revelation 12:17

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

– Revelation 12:17 (ESV)

You mean it’s not all about us?

Matthew 24 is written for the Jewish people, given to the Jewish disciples of Jesus. Remember there will be a multitude of people who come to believe in Jesus during the Tribulation. All Israel will be saved in the end, though a great many Jews and Gentiles will die in the awful conflagration. Sometimes we forget the Bible is meant for all peoples through time until Christ’s return in the Second Coming. Next week we’ll explore why Matthew 24 helps us see Jesus’ message to His people.