1. Revelation 12:15 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What was the serpent’s intent in pouring out this river of water?

Revelation 12:15 (ESV)

15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.

His intent was “to sweep her away with a flood.” The Greek term pictures the river carrying her, without indicating whether the carrying is negative or positive. In a desert a sudden river tends to be dangerous as the water rushes down a wadi or channel. But as the river in the deserts of Egypt was not dangerous but instead a source of life, so the serpent’s river could just as well be the later—and carry the woman away from God through the gift of abundant food and the prosperity that follows.