Revelation 12:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

These are the one thousand two hundred sixty days, half of the week, during which the tyrant will rule, persecuting the Church. She flees from city to city and hides in the wilderness among the mountains, having with her nothing except the two wings of the great eagle. That is, she has the faith of Jesus Christ, Who stretched out His holy hands on the holy wood and unfolded two wings, right and left. He calls to Himself all who believe and covers them, "as a hen gathers her chicks" (Mt 23:37). Of this Malachi also says: "For you who fear My name the Sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in His wings" (Mal 4:2). And the Lord says: "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Having come, then, into this wilderness barren of evils, the Church is nourished there, rising to the heavens on the wings of virginity. These the Word called the wings of a great eagle (Ezek 17:3), when she conquered the serpent and drove hostile clouds away from her full moon. Among other reasons, all these words have been set forth to teach you, beautiful virgins, to imitate your mother according to your strength. Do not be troubled by the sorrows, changes, and calamities of life, so that with her you may enter boldly into the bridal chamber with lamps burning. Therefore do not fear the snares and slanders of this beast. Prepare yourselves bravely for the struggle, armed with the saving helmet, breastplate, and girdle (cf. Eph 6:14-17).

But from the first times she was given love for God and neighbor, the protecting and assisting providence of Him who was crucified for us, and the two covenants, or the two wings of the eagle. On them she might be carried into the wilderness, to the heights, and grow in a life alien to every pleasure. This will occur with special force at the coming of Antichrist, who will rule for a definite time, as has often been said before, three and a half years. Then perhaps those hidden in the sensible wilderness, in mountains, caves, and ravines, will escape his threats.

But the woman did not fall under Satan's power; she fled into the wilderness. In accordance with what was said earlier concerning the Virgin Mary, this is Egypt. Therefore the prophet asks for wings like a dove, so as to fly far away and remain in the wilderness (Ps 54:7-8). Stronger wings were given to the All-holy Virgin, the wings of a great eagle. By the eagle's wings John means the appearance of the divine angel, who urges Joseph to take the Child and His Mother and flee into Egypt. Through this appearance, as though on eagle's wings, they went into Egypt. The dragon, having failed in one undertaking, which he carried out through Herod, contrived another against the Virgin: the murder of Her Son. And finally, in order, the account speaks of the Lord's Cross and death.

The Church uses the two Testaments as two wings. Taught by them and instructed in their commandments, she strives to avoid the enemy's traps. Strengthened by examples from them, she conquers the devil. The idea that the two wings are the two Testaments most probably comes from Tyconius. In addition, the Church is guided by twofold love, toward God and toward neighbor. Her place of solitude is the place of our worldly pilgrimage, since "while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord" (2 Cor 5:6). This applies still more to the heart that departs from the world, not by leaving a place, but by leaving attachment. Therefore the prophet says: "Behold, I fled far away and lodged in the wilderness, waiting for Him Who saves me" (Ps 54:8-9).

The Church, relying on the two Testaments and fleeing the poison of this restless age, daily hastens, by the affection of her mind, into the solitude of a quiet and discerning spirit. She joyfully sings: "I would flee far away and remain in the wilderness" (Ps 54:8). Nor is there any contradiction in her asking for wings like a dove, while here she receives the wings of an eagle. We understand that in the first text the Church is meant, whose youth will be renewed like the eagle's by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the second, she is meant according to the height of her flight and the loftiness of her gaze, by which she sees God with a pure heart. "For a time, times, and half a time." Here the fullness of the Church's time is meant, which includes the number of days mentioned above. A time means one year, times means two years, and half a time means half a year.

According to some interpreters, this means the support of the Church by the state, first the Roman Empire and then the Russian Empire, whose coats of arms bore the eagle. Yet the Church must not seek this support, because her true food and drink is the word of God. According to Saint Andrew of Caesarea, the two eagle's wings mean the two Testaments, the Old and the New. With their help, the Church "flies up to the height and is nourished, and will be nourished, in a dwelling free, that is, in the wilderness, from every pleasure that enervates. This is always so, but especially at the coming of the antichrist, who will rule for three and a half years. During that time, even those hidden in a sensible wilderness, in mountains and caves, may escape him."

With full probability one may see in these apocalyptic words a reference to the grievous events of the great Jewish war. At the first entry of the fearsome Roman armies into the borders of Judea, a great number of Christians, saving their life and religion from the combined Jewish and Roman fanaticism, withdrew to the small city of Pella. They also scattered in the wilderness along the left bank of the Jordan. In this case they were, of course, guided by the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. During His earthly life He had warned His followers of the threatening events to come and commanded them to withdraw into the mountains (Mt 24:16-20).

A testimony to the abiding of God's grace in the Church of Christ without departure until the end of the world may be drawn from the Apocalypse, or Revelation of Saint John the Theologian. It prophetically depicts the destiny of the Church of Christ until the end of the age. In this Revelation we continually see the true Church. First she appears in the image of the twenty-four elders around the throne of God (ch. 4), worshiping Him Who lives unto the ages of ages. Then, perhaps according to the spread of Christianity, she appears in the number of the one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed with the seal of the Living God. Further on, she appears in a great multitude, which no one can number, from every tongue, tribe, and people, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (ch. 7).