The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

152
DAY OF THE LORD
Notice that the Church in its place of refuge will have no fortifications
or walls or gates since the only defense she will have are the two wings
of the great eagle.
"And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." That refers to the
one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week)
during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which
flees from city to city, and seeks concealment in the wilderness among
the mountains, possessed of no other defense than the two wings of the
great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching
forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and
the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered
them as a hen her chickens. 1
Note also how the place is described as “desolate places that are now
inhabited” which agrees with Revelation 12, where we are told that the
Church will be given “ two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into
the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” (Rev 12:14)
The Church will be kept safe and “nourished” or looked after by the
Lord during her sojourn in the wilderness in the same way that the Lord
nourished and protected the Church of the Old Testament for forty
years in the wilderness of Sinai. The prophecy of Ezekiel tells us that
the Church will be at rest and dwelling safely. We are also told in the
same prophesy that the “camp of the saints” or the place of refuge of
the elect during the Great Tribulation will be made up of “peoples that
are gathered out of the nations,” that means the elect from all over the
world will be gathered in this one place.
Satan’s final assault on the Church will fail, even as his first assault
on the fleeing Church failed, as we are told in Revelation 12:15-16:
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman,
that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth
helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up
the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
1
Hoppolytus of Rome: Treatise on Christ and Antichrist