Revelation 12:14 (NJB)
14 but she was given a pair of the great eagle's wings to fly away from the serpent into the desert, to the place where she was to be looked after for
a time, two times and half a time.
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12:14 wings of a great eagle. Not actual birds’ wings, but a graphic depiction of God’s providential protection of Israel (cf.
Ex. 19:4). Wings often speak of protection (cf.
Deut. 32:9-12;
Ps. 91:4;
Isa. 40:31). Eagles—probably vulture-like griffins—were the largest birds known in Palestine.
a time and times and half a time. Three and one-half years; the second half of the Tribulation. (cf.
v. 6;
11:2, 3;
13:5).
The MacArthur Bible Commentary.
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12:14 The faithful Jewish remnant is
given two wings of a great eagle, enabling it to escape quickly to its
wilderness hideout. (Some have conjectured that these
wings speak of a great Air Force.)
There the remnant is cared for and protected from the serpent's attacks for three and one half years (
a time, times, and half a time).
Believer's Bible Commentary: A Thorough, Yet Easy-to-Read Bible Commentary That Turns Complicated Theology Into Practical Understanding.
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As Israel was in the wilderness forty years, and had forty-two stages in her journey, so the Church for
forty-two months,
three and a half years or times [literally, seasons, used for years in Hellenistic Greek (Moeris, the Atticist),
Greek, "
kairous,"
Da 7:25;
Da 12:7], or 1260 days (
Rev. 12:6) between the overthrow of Jerusalem and the coming again of Christ, shall be a wilderness sojourner before she reaches her millennial rest (answering to Canaan of old).
A Commentary: Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments.
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So not all of Israel is destroyed. Some are protected for the three and one-half years ("time, times and half a time"). This would be the second part of the three and a half years when Satan is allowed to unleash his fury.
Layman's Bible Commentary - Layman's Bible Commentary – Volume 12: Hebrews thru Revelation.
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