Revelation 12:6

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, etc.] Not as soon as she was delivered of her child, which is not reasonable to suppose, and would have been improper if not impracticable; nor indeed was this flight until after the war was over, mentioned in (<661213>Revelation 12:13-17); nor until the dragon and his angels were conquered and cast out; nor until a fresh persecution was raised by the dragon against the woman, as appears from (<661214>Revelation 12:14); where this account stands in its proper place, and is here only introduced by way of prolepsis, or anticipation, and that with this view, to show what care was taken of the woman, as well as of her son: and this does not design the…”

“woman fled--Mary's flight with Jesus into Egypt is a type of this. where she hath--So C reads. But A and B add "there." a place--that portion of the heathen world which has received Christianity professedly, namely, mainly the fourth kingdom, having its seat in the modern Babylon, Rome, implying that all the heathen world would not be Christianized in the present order of things. prepared of God--literally, "from God." Not by human caprice or fear, but by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, the woman, the Church, fled into the wilderness. they should feed her--Greek, "nourish her." Indefinite for, "she should be fed." The heathen world, the wilderness, could not nourish the…”

“And the woman - The woman representing the church. See the notes at Revelation 12:1. Fled - That is, she fled in the manner, and at the time, stated in Revelation 12:14. John here evidently anticipates, by a summary statement, what he relates more in detail in Revelation 12:14-17. He had referred Revelation 12:2-5 to what occurred to the child in its persecutions, and he here alludes, in general, to what befell the true church as compelled to flee into obscurity and safety. Having briefly referred to this, the writer Revelation 12:7-13 gives an account of the efforts of Satan consequent on the removal of the child to heaven. Into the wilderness - On the meaning of the word “wilderness” in…”

“And the woman fled into the wilderness - This wilderness is undoubtedly on earth, where the woman also herself is now supposed to be. It betokens that part of the earth where, after having brought forth, she found a new abode. And this must be in Europe; as Asia and Afric were wholly in the hands of the Turks and Saracens; and in a part of it where the woman had not been before. In this wilderness, God had already prepared a place; that is, made it safe and convenient for her. The wilderness is, those countries of Europe which lie on this side the Danube; for the countries which lie beyond it had received Christianity before. That they may feed her - That the people of that place may provide…”

“12:6 Like the people of Israel who were spiritually refined in the wilderness (see Hos 2:14-15; Acts 7:38-45) and in exile (see Isa 5:13; Ezek 12:1-3), the Christian church must face its own wilderness. Revelation presents messages of endurance and perseverance in the face of trouble and shows that God provides places of refuge and avenues of escape for his people (cp. 1 Cor 10:13). 1,260 days: See study note on Rev 11:2-3.”

“the woman: Rev 12:4, Rev 12:14 that: Kg1 17:3-6, Kg1 17:9-16, Kg1 19:4-8; Mat 4:11 a thousand: Rev 11:2, Rev 11:3 Revelation 12:7”