Revelation 12:15-17

John, in the same chapter, beholds another conflict. The defeated dragon changes the scene of combat. On earth he wages. war of "persecution" which results in the exile of the woman to the wilderness for. period of 1260 years, there in silence and obscurity to be nourished of God until the time appointed for her to come forth. We have pointed out the fulfilment of this portion of the vision in the establishment of the Papal power and in its persecution of the true worshipers;. persecution that results in the apparent disappearance of the true Church from the earth. Though not visible to the eye of the historian during this period, yet the true Church, fed of God, survives in the hearts of hidden and persecuted saints. The period of her exile began about 533, in the reign of Justinian, and ends about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Before the end of the period, the Divine measure, the reed of the apostles, was used to measure the temple, altar and worshipers, and, as the result, over three-fourths of. century ago, the true Church began to appear, as. visible body, once more in the world.