I happen to know a lot of people who are prophecy fans, and though I have to say that the subject is less engrossing to me than it is to a large amount of the people I know, I still find myself pondering the matter from time to time and seeking to subject it to my native analytical approach, seeking to pay attention with the details of prophecies and how people are led astray into false assumptions by not understanding them property.

Such it is with a particular prophecy that many people see as referring to a supposed “place of safety” in Revelation 12:13-17: “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earht, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

There are at least three different meanings of this passage that have possible historical fulfillment. As a student of history (and prophecy) I am not interested in fights over whether the first century meaning or the historical fulfillment throughout the Church Era or the end time fulfillment is valid, or that there is a spiritual meaning for the everyday lives of Christians. I believe that all approaches are valid and that the Bible speaks on multiple levels accurately and simultaneously. That is to say, that as far as fulfillment of this passage is concerned, that there are two certain ones in the past (at least) and a possible one in the future.

First, in the first century church, the brethren of Jerusalem escaped to Pella prior to the siege of the Romans. They walked from Jerusalem to Pella and were protected from the ravages of the Roman army during the Jewish Revolt. Throughout the course of history religious groups like the Waldenses and Copts which believe in the Seventh Day Sabbath have had to flee into the mountains or the deserts to avoid persecution from the nations around them. They too had to walk into the wilderness to be delivered from the floods of armies. And in the future, those of us who (like myself) believe that Revelation deals with end-time events believe that some believers will have to flee into some sort of safe place (wherever or however that may be). In all three cases there would be some who flee into safety and others who deal with the oppression.

But, contrary to the speculations of many, the flying on eagle’s wings has typically not involved literal flying. Why is this so? Well, it so happens that the biblical use of people traveling “on eagle’s wings” is itself a metaphorical expression for travel with the protection and care of God. For another example, let us look at Exodus 19:4, which reads: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.”

God didn’t have Israel flying from Egypt to Mount Sinai. They walked every step of the way, complaining all the way about food and water, breaking God’s Sabbath commandment and generally showing a complete and total lack of faith that they continued despite God’s endless miracles. They provoked God on more than one occasion to completely wipe them out and start again with Moses, and in the end all of the adults over 20 except for two died along the trip. But still, God brought Israel to Him on eagles’ wings, even though they walked, because however unworthy the Israelites were of God’s favor, God cared for them and protected them anyway.

And this same point is brought out in Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Here again we see the imagery of mounting up with wings like eagles, and here, like with the historical fulfillment of Revelation and Exodus that we read before, it has nothing to do with flying, but instead is about walking and running with the help and protection and guidance of God.

Why does this matter? The reason why it matters from a prophetic perspective is because of the warning given in the Olivet Prophecy concerning tribulation, in Matthew 24:15-22, which reads: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be such great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

Again, these are (or should be) very familiar scriptures, but do we really pay attention to the details? Here we see details that ought to give us some pause in relation to the historical fulfillment of God’s mercy and protection. We have events so sudden that someone cannot go inside their house to pack a suitcase, but they have to leave right away. We have warnings to those who are pregnant or nursing, and prayers that the flight not be on the Sabbath or in winter (when foot travel is particularly unpleasant or dangerous, or potentially ungodly).

What this means, in a nutshell, is that whatever future flight may be required for God’s believers is going to be sudden, and probably not as instantaneous as we might like. Hopefully we get to drive, but we might have to walk, like the Christians to Pella or the Israelites into the wilderness or the Copts into the Egyptian desert. This matters mainly because we have to prepare ourselves to face that possibility, in the recognition that God will be with us but will still require us to make an effort, perhaps a great one. Salvation, both physical and spiritual, is like that. Without God’s help it is impossible, but it also requires our strongest efforts. Let us keep that in mind the next time we ponder what it means to flee from Satan’s wrath “on eagle’s wings,” in light of what the Bible says on the subject, for our own sake.