<p>12:16 <em>And the earth helped the woman; the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth</em>- &quot;The earth helped the woman&quot; might refer to some of the Islamists indirectly 'helping' the woman by turning against Babylon.&nbsp; See on Rev. 17:16. I suggested on :14 that the woman escapes through the wings of an eagle, and this may parallel this thought- if we understand the eagle as the symbol of the abusers. Somehow something within their own system enabled her to survive. The earth opening has been encountered in 9:2, where the bottomless pit is opened. Perhaps it is this very source of the locusts which absorbs the flood of judgment the dragon spits out against the woman. The language suggests that the dragon plays God in bringing a flood upon the woman. The Islamists justify their judgment of Jews and Christians by arguing they have Divine, even Biblical, warrant for doing so. But they are stopped in this, in that the flood is swallowed by the opening earth- itself a sign of condemnation. This is language very similar to how the Koran describes the abating of the flood in Noah&rsquo;s time: &ldquo;And it was said: O earth Swallow thy water and, O sky be cleared of clouds And the water was made to subside&rdquo; (Sura 11.44). They themselves will realize that their pogrom of destruction against &quot;the woman&quot; is being stopped by God.</p>