“But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 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. And he stood on the sand of the sea” (Revelation 12:16-17 ESV).
So, the fact that the earth served to protect the woman of Revelation 12:13-16 from the dragon’s destructive flood only served to enrage him more. Nevertheless, this sequence of events is much like God’s miraculous parting of the Red Sea in one sense. For instance, when the people of Old Testament Israel departed from the nation of Egypt, the Biblical book of Exodus tells us, “The Egyptian army, with all the horses, chariots, and drivers, pursued them and caught up with them where they were camped by the Red Sea…” (Exodus 14:9 GNB).
In response, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, “…and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:21-22).
This allows us to draw certain parallels between these narratives. In the Exodus account, God parted the waters to provide His people with a way of escape. Here in the book of Revelation, God parted the earth to offer a similar path to safety. While the method of escape varied, the final result (arrival at a place of safety) remained the same.
However, that served to infuriate the enemy even further: “So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus” (Revelation 12:17 NET). The word “furious” or “enraged” comes from a root word that means “any violent emotion, but esp. anger” or, “violent passion… by implication punishment.” (1) Thus, anyone who seeks to follow Christ during this period will be subject to a declaration of war.
So, that brings us to the end of Revelation chapter twelve. However, it also brings us to the emergence of two pivotal characters in the following chapter: the beast of the sea and the beast of the earth.
(1) G3709 – orge – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv). (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3709/kjv/tr/0-1/