re now living,--not in the time of the third woe, but
in the time of the devil's activity among the "inhabiters of the earth
and of the sea;" that is, the population of Christendom either in a
tranquil or revolutionary state. The enemy makes his _second_ attack
upon the "woman" in a new and unexpected mode of warfare. So long as
permitted, he never ceases to persecute the saints. When defeated in
_heaven_, he renews the assault upon the _earth_. If the edicts and
bulls of crowned and mitred heads have lost their power to terrify and
destroy the souls of men, he will try to effect the same object by other
means.

14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness, into her place; where she is nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, water as a flood, after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

Vs. 14-16.--To guard against the _second_ attack of the dragon, the
woman flees a _second_ time to the place of safety, which had been
mercifully prepared for her preservation before the war began, (v. 6.)
And she is in no less peril from her deadly enemy than before.

The "two wings of a great eagle" have furnished occasion to many fertile
minds for indulging in fanciful conjectures. To such persons nothing
occurs answerable to the symbol but some emblem of imperial power or
national sovereignty. And because the eagle was the visible symbol on
the military banner of Rome, it is conjectured that "the eastern and
western empires afforded protection to the church!" Why, the empire, in
both its wings, was the deadly enemy of the church, as we have already
seen! (ch. xi. 7.) Alas! what absurdities result from political bias!
The unlettered Christian will readily perceive under the emblem in the
text, a plain allusion to the gracious interposition of the church's
Redeemer in the days of old. "Ye have seen what I did unto the
Egyptians, and how I bare you on _eagles' wings_, and brought you unto
myself." (Exod. xix. 4.) Thus the Lord delivered his people and brought
them into a literal wilderness on their way to the promised land of
liberty. And now in a time of equal danger, he will "set his hand again
the second time" to deliver his peop