"13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 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. 17 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 12:13-17
The dragon, having been cast down to the earth, persecutes the woman. It is this simple symbol that explains two fundamental historical realities - the persecution of the Jews, God's ancient covenant people, and the persecution of the Church of Jesus Christ. Behind even the fact of the Jews' rejection of Christ and their consequent sufferings, there lies this sinister pressure upon them from Satan because as a nation they brought forth the Messiah. It is the dragon turning his attention upon the woman. This also explains how, in any time of monumental arrogance on the part of dictatorial world-rulers, almost inevitably, and as a matter of course, they find a scapegoat on whom to vent their passions. And it has generally been either the Jews or the Church. Just as truly, history substantiates the words of 14 and 16, both in relation to the Jews and to the Church, for in spite of all manner of atrocities perpetrated upon them, both have been preserved down the ages by the sovereign hand of God. To use Paul's famous words from 2 Corinthians 4, both the Jews and the Church can say, 'We are.... persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus'. This is the theme of these verses. Help ever comes to God's beleaguered people, and the divine protection (14) sustains them throughout the ages, till He comes.