^12:13And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.

John interrupted the vision of the woman (verses 1 - 6) to explain the casting out of the devil from heaven. Now he picks up the rest of the vision of the woman and why she is persecuted.

And when the DRAGON saw that he was THROWN DOWN to the earth,

Being "THROWN DOWN" (verse 9) must have happened so quickly that the devil couldn't believe his eyes.

he PERSECUTED the WOMAN who had given birth to the MALE CHILD.

Up to this point, the DRAGON (devil) has other fallen angels doing the "dirty work" on earth. Now he himself realizes he has to take charge and destroy Israel once and for all. He can't touch the MALE CHILD anymore (verse 5) because he has no more access to Him.

On earth, the two witnesses (Revelation 11:3) have been vocal in their testimony. They, the two witnesses are no longer in Israel, but their prophesies will haunt the DRAGON. The two witnesses, too, are out of harms way (Revelation 11:12).

If the devil himself is going to take charge of events especially against Israel, one cannot help but feel for our Jewish brothers. It was prophetic of David to request that we "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6). In this verse in Revelation, that peace will be gone and the WOMAN is forced to flee (next verse).