And war broke out in heaven:
Michael and his angels
engaging in battle vs. the dragon
The dragon fought
and so did his angels.
BUT THEY WERE DEFEATED
and there was no longer any room
found for them in heaven.
The great dragon,
the ancient serpent,
he who is called “the devil” and “satan”
and leads the whole earth astray,
he was hurled down to the earth,
and his angels were hurled down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice speaking in heaven saying
“Now is come the salvation
and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the sovereignty of His Christ;
for the accuser of our brethren
has been hurled down--
he who, day after day
and night after night,
was accustomed to accuse them
in the presence of God.
But they have gained the victory over him
because of the blood of the Lamb
and
of the testimony which they have borne,
and
because they held their lives cheap
and did not shrink even from death.
For this reason be glad,
O Heaven,
and you who live therein!
Alas for the earth and the sea!
For the devil has gone down to you
full of fierce anger,
because he knows that his appointed time is short.”
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon
and his angels fought.
- From Revelation 12 to the end of the book is the account of the conflict between the sovereignty of God in Jesus
Christ vs. the pretended sovereignty of the devil expressed through world power
- Chapter 12 makes sense of history like no other chapter. What is the meaning of history? There is a war going on
between spiritual beings – it is a cosmic war.
- Conflict no longer shown as between individuals and an oppressor but now between good, heaven, and the
Lamb vs. evil, hell, and the dragon (although still going on in church)
- The attempts of the dragon not only proved unsuccessful against the church, but fatal to his own interests (MH)
- Michael is a high-ranking angel. One of his responsibilities is to guard God’s community of believers. (LB)
References: Daniel 10:13 (But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia), 21 (But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one
upholds me against these except Michael your prince); 12:1 (At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons
of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people
shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.); Jude 9 (Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed
about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”); Revelation 20:2; Matthew 25:41
(Then He will also say to those on His left, Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels)
12:8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
- The enemy has 24/7 watch of accusation going
- The ploy of satan: to turn angels gaze off of God (Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28)
- Though he hates the presence of God, satan is willing to appear there to accuse the people of God. (MH)
- There are four gradations in the ever deeper downfall of satan: (JFB)
1. He is deprived of his heavenly excellency, though having still access to heaven as man’s accuser, up to
Christ’s first coming. As heaven was not fully yet opened to man (John 3:13), so it was not yet shut against satan and
his demons. The Old Testament dispensation could not overcome him
2. From Christ, down to the millennium, he is judicially cast out of heaven as the accuser of the elect, and shortly
before the millennium loses his power against Israel, and has sentence of expulsion fully executed on him and his by
Michael.
3. He is bound during the millennium
4. After having been loosed for a while, he is cast forever into the lake of fire
12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the
whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
- The attempts of the dragon not only proved unsuccessful against the church, but fatal to his own interests. The victory
fell to Christ and His church, and the dragon and his angels were not only conquered, but cast out. (MH)
References: Luke 10:18 (And He said to them, “I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven); John 12:31 (Now is the judgment of this world; now
the ruler of this world will be cast out); Genesis 3:1 (Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”), 4 (Then the serpent said to the woman, “You
will not surely die.); 2 Corinthians 11:3 (But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ); Revelation 12:15; 20:2, 3; 9:1; Matthew 4:10; 25:41
12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them
before our God day and night, has been cast down.
• Answer to enemy: 24/7 prayer and worship (day and night)
• The triumphant song that was composed and used on this occasion. The conqueror is adored. (MH)
References: Revelation 11:15; Job 1:9 (So satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?), 11 (But now, stretch out Your
hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face); 2:5; Zechariah 3:1 (Then he showed me Joshua the high priest
standing before the Angel of the Lord, and satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.); Luke 22:31 (Simon, Simon, behold, satan has
demanded permission to sift you like wheat); 1 Peter 5:8 (Be of sober spirit, be on the alert, Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a
roaring lion, seeking someone to devour)
12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they
did not love their lives to the death.
- Is there not a cause to get up out of our beds and give ourselves to God in an extraordinary way? If there not a cause
that is worthy of extraordinary lifestyles before God? Is there not something worth paying a price to live differently in this
generation?
- Spiritual victory in the willingness to embrace martyrdom
- Their love to their own lives was overcome by stronger affections of another nature (MH)
References: Romans 16:20 (And the God of peace will crush satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Amen); Luke 14:26 (If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life
also, he cannot be My disciple); Revelation 2:10; John 16:33 (These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world
you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world); 1 John 2:13 (I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has
been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because
you know the Father.)
12:12 “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth
and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has
a short time.”
References: Psalm 96:11 (Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness); Isaiah 44:23 (Sing, O heavens,
for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has
redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.); Revelation 18:20; 8:13; 10:6