Charles Spurgeon Commentary Revelation 12:14-15

"And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream." — Revelation 12:14-15 (ASV)

Read history and see what fierce and brutal persecutions were used like floods against the gospel of Christ.