Revelation 12:17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish nation during the Abomination of Desolation in 70 AD.¹ Members of Christ's ancient church survived, however, because they fled to Pella before the massacre occurred at Jerusalem and surrounding areas.² Members of the ancient church that lived outside Judea in the wilderness of the Roman provinces also survived.³ They were, however, subject to deadly persecutions from both Jews and Romans as the apostolic period came to an end.⁴ These persecutions actually strengthened the faith and commitment of many ancient church members.⁵

When the dragon (Satan)⁶ failed to destroy the woman (Christ's ancient church)⁷ with a flood of Roman evil and destruction in 70 AD,⁸ the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed.⁹ The remnant of her seed was the rising generation of Christians in 70 AD that survived the Abomination of Desolation.¹⁰ This reaffirms that the wings of the great eagle in Revelation 12:14 do not symbolize the Great Apostasy since Satan is still making war on a faithful remnant from the ancient earthly church in Revelation 12:17.

Some scholars mistakenly say that the remnant refers to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the modern era.¹¹ However, John's account clearly indicates that the Abomination of Desolation in 70 AD was the beginning of sorrows for the rising generation of members from the ancient church.¹² It was also the beginning of sorrows for non-Christian Jews who paid, and continue to pay, the price for crucifying the Savior and rejecting his gospel.¹³

After 70 AD, Satan employed more subtle means within the ancient church¹⁴ to attack the faith of those which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.¹⁵ By subtle means, Satan used his earthly influence¹⁶ to sow seeds of apostasy within the ancient church until he destroyed it from within.¹⁷

Some scholars say that Satan's war against the remnant of the ancient church in Revelation 12:17 is an attack against members of Christ's restored church in the latter days.¹⁸ That cannot be the case, however, because the historical context for that verse is the start of the Great Apostasy in 70 AD. In that historical timeframe, the woman's remnant survived the Abomination of Desolation in Revelation 12:17 only to face the Great Apostasy that begins in the very next verse in Revelation 13:1.¹⁹ Some Greek manuscripts actually take the first phrase from Revelation 13:1 and place it at the end of Revelation chapter 12, giving chapter 12 an extra verse, saying: "And I stood upon the sand of the sea."²⁰ Regardless of where chapter 12 ends and chapter 13 begins, it is clear that John's narrative continues without interruption. Furthermore, Revelation 13:1-7 symbolically describes the Great Apostasy as part of Satan's continuing war against the remnant of the woman's seed after 70 AD in its proper timeframe.²¹

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

— Revelation 13:18