Revelation 12:15

like a flood after the woman
Flood is ποταμόν [potamon] , used to describe a large quantity of water, as during a natural disaster (Mtt. Mat. 7:25; Luke Luke 6:48; 2Cor. 2Cor. 11:26; Rev. Rev. 8:10+; Rev. 16:4+) or in great abundance (John John 7:38; Rev. Rev. 22:1+). Since the origin of this flood is a sign (the mouth of the great dragon) and the text says like a flood , it is best to take this as a figure of speech denoting the overwhelming military force of an adversary (Ps. Ps. 65:7; Ps. 69:2-4; Ps. 124:1-5; Isa. Isa. 8:7; Isa. 59:19; Jer. Jer. 46:7-8; Dan. Dan. 9:26; Dan. 11:21-22). The dragon’s pursuit of the woman may be a continuation of the Beast’s invasion of the glorious land. ¹ If so, the flight of the woman does not take place until after the abomination is set up (Mtt. Mat. 24:15). Then, the invasion of the Antichrist continues in his pursuit of the woman.

Many commentators interpret Daniel Dan. 11:41 with reference to the occupation of the land of Palestine by the Beast. The event that causes the Beast to move in is the invasion of Palestine from the north by the King of the North (Dan. Dan. 11:40). The covenant made by the Beast (Dan. Dan. 9:27) has evidently guaranteed Israel an inviolate right to the land. Some event must be necessary to cause the Beast to abrogate his covenant. Since the covenant is said to be broken in the middle of the week (Dan. Dan. 9:27) and the invasion from the north is seen to be the cause of the breaking of the covenant (Dan. Dan. 11:41) it may be concluded that this invasion takes place in the middle of the week.²

carried away by the flood
Carried away is Ποταμοφόρητον [Potamophorēton] , which denotes drowning.³ Satan desires to drown her with his flood, but God has plans to regenerate her with His living water (Eze. Eze. 36:25-27; John John 7:38-39).

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Notes

¹ “This invasion of Israel sent by Satan was described in Daniel Dan. 11:41 as: He shall enter also into the glorious land . This is the same invasion spoken of in Revelation Rev. 11:1-2+ by which the Antichrist will succeed in taking control of both Jerusalem and the Temple and will commit the Abomination of Desolation.”—Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 267.

² J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 352.

³ Frederick William Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 694.