The Revelation of Jesus Christ is most often viewed as the "heaviest" of the books of the Bible, and for the most part it is a title that is deserved. We see the rise of Antichrist, Satan thrown to earth, demons released from the abyss and the death of millions if not billions of people globally. However, it is also, the book of the Bible with most celebration, the most pageantry and the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ back into the world at the Second Coming (Revelation 19).
One cannot help but be excited upon a close reading of the text. We see into the very throne room of heaven in chapters 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, 19 and 20. We see the New Heavens, New Earth (new in quality; resurrected) and New Jerusalem in chapters 21 and 22.
However, to get to the Eternal State described in Revelation 21 and 22, there are times of great suffering and grief that must work out the plan of God to eradicate sin in all of creation. The Revelation is truly a book of great contrasts: God and Satan; heaven and hell; angels and demons; Christ and Antichrist; the nations of the world and Israel.
Fixed in the middle of chapter 12 we see the story of the great triumph of Michael and the holy angels over Satan and his demonic horde, and the subsequent rejoicing in heaven. In other words, we see a victory party.
I don't know about you, but I love being on the winning team. I was on losing football teams in high school, and learned some great life lessons from it. That being said, being on the winning team has it's lessons as well. I think that victory in sports, in academics, in the workplace are all a foretaste of sorts of the celebrations that we will have in heaven. In fact, those celebrations from being on the winning team, personally or by rooting for the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA, Stanley Cup or NASCAR champs and seeing them win will merely pale in comparison to the celebrations of victory and holiness in heaven.
This week, we will study the great victory party in heaven at the expulsion of Satan and his demonic hoodlums from heaven--forever.
The Peal of a Thundering Voice
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. Rev 12:10
I have some great memories of a fellow that used to work for me, the late John K. Smith. We knew him as "Boose", and boy could he make us laugh. He loved a good practical joke, and made our work a lot more fun. My favorite memory of Boose was on the Fourth of July back in the late 1980's. Both of us ventured up the hill behind his home near Rogersville and Boose sent up a "quarter-stick mortar", one of those fireworks that, when launched, flew hundreds of feet up into the air went BOOM. I will never forget that loud BOOM echoing up the valleys near Rogersville, Boose's mother's panicked call to his home thinking that Boose's house had exploded, and how worried he was when the State Police parked just down the road from his home! (fireworks were illegal then too).
In the Revelation, we see the term phone megas from the Koine Greek, interpreted as loud voice, paired together about twenty times. The two terms paired together are the roots from which we get megaphone. In short, there is a booming voice that echoes throughout heaven like thunder pealing up the valleys here in Western Pennsylvania in mid summer (or the BOOM of a quarter-stick mortar on the Fourth of July!). When you see the term loud voice something of great importance or magnitude has either happened or is going to happen.
Phone megas is in plural form and describes the loud, booming voice in response to the victorious war by Michael and God's angels over Satan and his demons. Since it is in plural form, it means a collective voice--many people saying the same thing. This collective voice would be that not of an angel or angels in heaven because of the reference to "our brethren", a term used only for saved people. This victory will be a humiliating defeat for Satan, and a glorious one for God's team. I remember the last Super Bowl won by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the victory parade and loud party that followed. That party would like a tea party compared to the rejoicing in heaven.
However, it will not be a moment to slap the angels on the back or to cheer on the victorious Archangel Michael. No, it will be a time of rejoicing in the One responsible for the salvation of men and women through His blood.
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. Rev 12:10
Salvation, Power, Kingdom and Authority
Most people--of the faith and outside the faith--view the term salvation as a "one time shot". However, the Greek term soteria denotes "deliverance, preservation, salvation." (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words).
Our faith is a saving faith. By this, I don't just mean being saved and going to heaven, escaping the flames of hell. Two huge benefits of being saved are the change in lifestyle of a truly saved person and in the final and total removal of sin in the person's heart. In other words, we are being saved over the period of time from that moment our salvation begins to the moment we go to heaven, and we are finally saved in that all sin is removed from our being.
But another element of soteria is that we have been saved from Satan and his hoodlums attacks forever once we hit the gates of heaven, either through death or rapture. We are delivered to heaven, we are delivered from Satan, from ourselves and from corrupt culture. Our salvation finds "its consummation is in the person of Christ." (J. Vernon McGee). Our faith is about the person of Jesus Christ, not just His teachings. It is about not what he taught, but what He has done, once and forever on the cross.
Dr. McGee feels that this particular verse looks forward to that day when Jesus comes back and will rule for a thousand years. I agree with him; it will be a day when our salvation will truly make sense to both us and to those that will still need to be saved. Satan will not be around, the world system will not be corrupt and we will not have sin in our beings whatsoever--we will be a shining example of the end result of salvation.
The term strength is best translated as power. Jesus will rule from the throne of David and his power will be unequaled. Power today is often abused as we see the living application of "absolute power corrupts absolutely" in action in world governments, including our own. The powers that be in Washington DC feel that they can do whatever they want and are not concerned with their people. The kingdom of our God is a reference to the Millennial Kingdom.
The Koine Greek word for power is exousia; Strongs translates the word as "authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength." It refers then to the authority of Jesus Christ, and this kingdom authority will not be built over time or established by the church but will be exercised when Jesus returns (Rev 19). The Millennial Kingdom, which we will discuss in a few months, will be an unparalled time in human history, when Satan will not tempt, and Jesus will rule the world in a perfect theocracy.
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... 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." Rev. 12:10, 12
Ding Dong The Wicked Angel Is Cast Down!
As we have discussed in weeks past, Satan continually accuses the saints in front of God in heaven--day and night, in fact. In short, this means he never gives up. One thing about Satan, he is nothing if not persistent. And his persistence is to see God defamed, to see Jesus mocked, and to see the saints suffer and for the saved and unsaved alike to die, and die miserably.
The second half of the Tribulation is called "The Great Tribulation", and for good reason. While the first half is beyond horrible in the terms of our understanding (millions will suffer and/or die), the last 3 ½ years will be even worse in more ways than just suffering and death as we will see in weeks to come. The reason why this is the case is due to the wrath of God but also the wrath of Satan, who has been expelled from heaven
But there is an excitement in heaven. Why? Because this is the breaking point of sorts. The watershed event. The great divide. Antichrist will declare in the rebuilt temple that he is God, Jews will be saved by the millions and then flee under Gods protection, which we will see in the next few weeks. Satan, who not only accused us in front of God continually and without ceasing (and you thought Rand Paul's filibuster was long!), and was the "prince of the power of the air" ruling the atmosphere, will be cast down to the earth and the seas (see verse 12 above). It is the beginning of the end for the rule of Satan as the "god of this world" and he knows his time is short.. In other words, the writing is on the wall.
Is it little wonder that there is rejoicing in heaven? I don't know about you, but I'd be pleased as punch and more to not have Satan and his hoodlums around, but can you imagine how Michael and the angelic host will feel? Here's an example. I hate workplace drama. It is not of God, and is a constant source of irritation. Satan and his constant drama in heaven accusing God's people will be over. Those that sin will be expelled from heaven, and the "workplace drama"--elevated to a higher level than you or I have ever had to endure--will be over. It's will be like the celebration in Oz when the Wicked Witch melted and died--"Ding Dong The Wicked Angel Is Cast Down!"
How To Overcome Satan--The Short Form
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. Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)
Speaking of a future event in the past tense because of its certainty, the inspired apostle John sees the victory already won and notes that the believers alive on earth overcame Satan, though it is yet to happen. How they did so is most instructive. They did not defeat him by means of incantations, exorcisms, ritual formulas, or by "binding" or rebuking him. Satan, being far more powerful than any human, is impervious to such fleshly tricks and gimmicks. Nor was it through their own personal power that the Tribulation believers defeated Satan.--John MacArthur
In a few weeks, we will be studying the Armor of God in Ephesians 6. That will be a more complete version of a teaching on how to resist the forces of evil in the world, but today will look at "the short form". It is not all inclusive, but if a person does not have these elements of the faith, then they will not be successful in "fighting the good fight" at the very least, and may even not have a saving relationship with Jesus at the worst.
First off, whom is "they"? We identified them as brethren, or Christians, but it's important to note that this verse is written in past tense, as MacArthur notes above. In other words, this is a victory that is so certain that the unified voice of these saints speak of it as though it has already happened.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb: The reason why we "overcome" or become conquerors is because of Jesus Christ only. Jesus died as a sacrifice for us, the sinless spotless Lamb of God, so that we as sinners could be with him forever. His precious blood was shed to wash away the sin from us not only in the past but today and in the future. Jesus has taken it (our sin) out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Col 2:14 NKJV). If Jesus is not your Savior, then hell is your final destination.
By the word of their testimony: What this means is pretty simple: do you share your faith with others? We are called to tell others about our faith; otherwise we would be ashamed (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 1:12). Everyone that is truly saved has a testimony, or an eyewitness account of what Jesus has done for them. We are all called to share that testimony; people in persecuted countries do this today at great peril as will many during the Tribulation Period.
And they did not love their lives to the death: While this means exactly what it says for people during that day, for us it means to be willing to sacrifice for God. Today, we must be willing to sacrifice our time, talent and treasure for the cause of Christ; it's the least we can do. Are you willing to give up your current lifestyle and live for God? You have to be willing to lose your "life": He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39, NKJV).
