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WAR IN HEAVEN (REVELATION 12)
Here are some of my favorite “Had I known” sayings from the web:
“If I knew than what I know now, things would be different.”
“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” (Maya Angelou)
“If I knew then what I know now, I would have exactly the same thing.”
“I wish I’d known early what I had to learn late.”
“Beware of “Had I known” (British proverb)
“If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them
first.” (Lois Wyse)
“Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in making an atomic bomb, I would not have lifted a finger.” (Albert Eistein)
“If I had read as much as older men, I would have known no more than they.”
Have you wondered what it is like to peep into the future, to peer or peek into the future – to see what is coming, becoming and upcoming? The events of the first 11 chapters or half of Revelation are basically earth events, including the seven churches (Rev 3-4), the four horses (Rev 6:10), the angels on earth (Rev 7:1, 10:2), locusts (9:3), inhabitants (8:13) and the two witnesses (11:6). Heaven is mentioned 7 times in chapter 12 more than any chapter in the book. The drama, developments and duel are now switched from earth to heaven, from Satan’s power to God’s omnipotence, from our present dread to our permanent deliverance, from deadlock.
The two witnesses’ appearance in the previous chapter (Rev 11:3) was the last straw to the loser Satan. As you remember the two witness were killed by the beast, but were resurrected and ascended to heaven like Christ. Who else would appear next when the beast could not get the job done? Chapter 12 will debut the dragon, who is also known as the enormous/great red dragon (v 3) or great dragon (v 9).
What is the destiny of the earth– the planet, her people and their plight? How are we to overcome Satan who accuses and attacks God’s people? Why is God’s love for us greater than Satan’s lies against us?
Ignore Satan’s Friendship
1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
The 2022 Academy Award is renowned for ‘the slap” Will Smith gave Chris Rock for a joke Rock made about physical appearance and ailment of Jada Smith, who had previously shaved her head after being diagnosed with alopecia. Chris Rock said live on national TV, “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2 (war movie), can’t wait to see you,” in reference to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Immediately at the break, fellow actors Denzel Washington, Tyler Perry and Bradley Cooper went up to a distraught Smith to comfort him. Ironically, Smith won Best Actor 15 minutes later, and said, “Denzel (Washington) said to me a few minutes ago: ‘In your highest moments, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you’.”
Denzel Washington explained, "There's a saying when the devil ignores you, then you know you're doing something wrong. The devil goes, 'Oh no leave him alone, he's my favorite. Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it's because he's trying to do something right. And for whatever reason, the devil got ahold of him that night."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/oscars/denzel-washington-speaks-publicly-about-will-smith-slapping-chris-rock-the-only-solution-was-prayer/ar-AAVMQSV?cvid=d7ab49b2a3d04f71fadb3531abbb1832&ocid=winp1taskbar
Unlike the Lamb of God who has seven horn and seven eyes for the seven Spirits of God (Rev 5:6), the dragon (v 3) and subsequently the beast (Rev 13:1), has seven heads and ten horns for the ten kings (Rev 17:12). Seven is supposed to stand for completion but it now stands for competition. Ten is supposed to mean “perfection,” but it is now a means of pride. Seven and ten are supposedly to be superior but now it becomes self-importance.
dragon is likened to the Emperor and as the beast is to Darth Vader. The dragon is the master and the beast is the manager. The beast’s power is derived from the dragon (Revelation 13:4). After the beast’s appearance in the last chapter (11) the dragon appears in chapter 12. While the beast’s battle was with the two witnesses in the previous chapter (11:3-7), the dragon’s battle is now with the mother and child.
There are two “hina” purpose clauses, one from the great dragon and one with the woman. The great dragon has only one purpose, so that (hina) he might “devour” the woman’s newborn child (v 4), who is more likely a reference to the nation Israel than Christ because of the references to the twelve stars (v 1) and the desert/wilderness (Rev 12:6, 14). There are three contrasts in verse 4: sky/heaven and earth, dragon and the woman, to be “born/delivered” and to “devour” her child the moment it was born. To devour literally means eat up, eaten alive, be chomped on, carved up, chewed up, and chowed down. To slay, slaughter and skin and sashimi, tear to pieces, The woman, unlike the “wonder” in the dragon, is “great” wonder. The closest the dragon got to the baby was the stars of heaven (v 4), never the child, to God or His throne (v 5). Taken care of (v 6) or feed her in Greek means she and her child survived the dragon’s attacks against her for three and a half years. She was rescued by God with another “hina,” by feeding her in the wilderness.
Invoke Satan’s Failure
7 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 opened the eyes of the world to Vladimir Putin’s grander ambitions. In last month’s interview Putin confessed his admiration for Peter the Great, and compared himself to the ruthless 17th century Russian tsar who not only occupied Finland and Estonia, but plotted to control the world via conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul), Afghanistan and India.
Putin said, "You might think he (Peter the Great) was fighting with Sweden, seizing their lands. But he seized nothing; he reclaimed it! It seems it has fallen to us, too, to reclaim and strengthen.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61767191
War (v 7) is not a good word in any generation, and even in the Bible. Chapter 12 is one of few chapters in the Bible with the most references to war. The nine references to war Revelation equals all the New Testament books put together, with the most in chapter 2, even though there are merely two references to war (vv 7, 17). This war, however, is not humanly but heavenly, not cultural but celestial, not orthodox but otherworldly.
The warfare is with the enemy, otherwise known by his five names: the great dragon, that ancient serpent, the devil, or Satan (v 9) and the accuser of our brothers (v 10). Michael and the angels’ fight with the dragon and his angels is contrasted with one as an infinitive of purpose (“TO fight”) and one a regular verb “fight.” Guess who is the instigator in the fight? Michael and his angels in the infinitive form are the aggressors, the assailants and the activists. The NIV translation of “But he (dragon) was not strong enough” in the negative is not the case; in Greek it’s “he did not prevail” or “he was defeated.” He did not and will never prevail, not that the dragon did not try. He tried with all his wickedness, wrongdoings and wiles. Satan did not fight against God but against Michael, who was supposedly the chief of the angels and archangels and the guardian of Israel, according to the Jews; the leader of God’s Army the heavenly forces, and the intercessor of saints, according to various traditions. God could have used any angel because nowhere in the Bible was written that Michael is indispensable to the fight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(archangel)
Three things we learn about the dragon:
He’ll never love!
He’ll never listen!
He’ll never learn!
The devil’s first defeat is in heaven and always in heaven. (v 11). It is in His power, plan and our part.
The devil’s defeat is thorough as he was hurled to the earth (cast in KJV). Hurled (v 9) means cast in KJV, poured (Matt 26:12), send (Luke 12:49) and thrust (John 20:25). Verse 9 has an unimaginable repetition of the verb eight times in one chapter (vv 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16) – three times in once verse the verb “hurl,” with one left out in NIV at the end of verse. It means to “throw or impel (someone or something) with great force.” Dictionary.com says, “to throw or fling with great force or vigor, to throw or cast down.” It is Satan’s total defeat, downfall and damnation. He was thrown down, tossed out, and thrust out - contained, crippled, conquered, confined and captured.
The climax of verse 12 is significant because it contains the only imperative in the whole chapter:
Verse 12
What Rejoice, you! But woe to the earth and the sea! He is, because he knows that Imperative
What heavens and you who dwell
Where Earth and sea
Why (1) because (hoti) the devil has gone down to you
(2) because (hoti) his time is short Hoti
How filled with fury Participle
When short
Rejoice (v 12, eu-phraino) is the only imperative in the chapter. It means good (eu) frame of mind (phren). Fury (v 12) occurs for the first time in the book, but it is as short lived as the devil. The angels part and the believers part are different. We are to overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of testimony. How was Satan defeated? Believers overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (v 11), from where we get the words such as test, testament and testify.
Imagine Satan’s Frustration
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring — those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Here are true church signs in the internet:
A free thinker is Satan’s slave
If the devil is offering you a treat, it’s a trick
Try Jesus, If you don’t like Him, the devil will take you back
If the devil is knocking at your door, let Jesus answer it
Gossip is the devil’s radio, R U his DJ?
Jesus said, “I’ll be back” way before Arnold did
The dragon or serpent occurs in the alternate verses of 13, 15 and 17, and the woman in the even verses (vv 1, 16). Each verse has an animal – dragon (v 13), great eagle and serpent (v 14), serpent (v 15) and dragon (vv 16-17). There are two purpose clauses (hina) in the passage: “that she might fly” (v 14) and “sweep her away” (v 15). The odd verses 13, 15 and 17 remind us of the dragon’s attempts and the even verses for God’s arrangements for the mad, miserable, menacing, militant and murderous dragon, but he was stifled, stymied and stumped in his plan:
The Dragon The Woman
V 13 he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child
V 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that (hina) she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert
V 15 from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to (hina) overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent
V 16 the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth
V 17 the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring
The devil has no friends, foreknowledge nor future. The earth (v 13), animals (eagle) and the desert (v 14) are his adversaries, not his allies. The water and the river (v 15) seemingly on the serpent’s side are only mouth water, not really mountain dew. It’s like stinky dog saliva! The only persecution (v 13) word in Revelation describes none other but Satan’s activity. He will use tricks, traps and temptations in his scouting, scheming and stalking.
Try as he might, however, the devil could not get a hold off the woman, the man child (v 14) even the remnant of her seed (v 17) because of the three “rance” believers possess in Christ – assurance (the blood of the Lamb), utterance (the word of their testimony) and perseverance. The real devil is not invincible, infinite or immune, but accountable, answerable and accused before the Father (John 5:45). He is fallible, flawed and will be frustrated each step of the way. In the end, he will be vexed, vilified and vanquished, and will flee (James 4:7), fear (James 2:19) and fall (Rom 16:20).
Conclusion: Satan is created (Ezek 28:15), conceited (Isa 14:13), corrupted (Isa 14:14), cursed (Gen 3:14) and conquered (Gen 3:15). Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:11-12) Are you living as a godly, grateful and growing believer? Have you asked God to set you free from the prison of deceit, decadence and dread the devil has thrown you in? No matter your situation, the Lord is strong to protect, provide and prevail!
