<p>12:6 <em>And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred and sixty days</em>- This three-and-a-half-year period is surely the same &quot;42 months&quot; during which Jerusalem is trampled (11:2) and the same period during which the two witnesses testify before their death (11:3). It may be objected that the man child is snatched away before this three-and-a-half-year period begins (:5). It could be that the snatching away to God occurs not immediately, and that we are reading in :5 of a situation which finally occurs (after three and a half years) and now :6 backtracks to explain how this happens. For it was Mary who fled through the wilderness to Egypt with the man child in her arms. And it would seem that she was there in Egypt with the Lord for around three and a half years. This is the same period of the Elijah ministry (Lk. 4:25). The 'problem' with the witnesses being killed after this period and the man child being snatched away before it need not unduly concern us; I have many times made the point that we have in Revelation a kaleidoscope of images, and we are not being given any neat, linear chronological outline of events. As the images rotate and merge, there are going to be points of apparent overlap and morphing of images.</p><p>The woman who gave birth to the repentant Jewish remnant, the man child, finds safety in the wilderness as did Mary and as did Israel when they fled Egyptian persecution. There they too were provide for. This may connect with the picture presented in Is. 26:20 of the faithful entering into a quiet room, until the tribulations pass over. Likewise the letters to the churches with which Revelation open feature the idea of the faithful being somehow preserved from tribulation (see on 2:10). The only other time the Greek phrase &quot;a place prepared&quot; occurs is also in John's writings (Jn. 14:2,3); due to the Lord's death, salvation is assured for all in tribulation. The prepared place is in God's Kingdom (Mt. 25:34). Perhaps the woman will somehow be saved or given miraculous protection during this tribulation period.&nbsp;</p>