The wilderness is a place of drought, void of water. That shortage is meant to drive the woman (church) to seek her needs from the Lord (Psalm 63:1–11). But in his pursuit of the woman, the serpent provides an abundance of water, a whole river of it. Egypt is a desert, and yet life can flourish in that desert because of the river, even to the point that Egypt became a dominant political force several times throughout the centuries of history. The river that the dragon supplies would provide abundant means to quench thirst and produce crops and build a civilization without the woman needing to depend day by day on the Lord for her provisions.
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.