The War in Heaven - Pt. 1

 

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:7-9 ESV).

 

The last few days we have looked at the first six verses in Revelation 12 and saw that it had some interesting characters. We've got the pregnant woman, crowned with 12 stars. We've got the wrathful dragon, out to devour. And then there is the promised child who is born and caught up into heaven, escaping the dragon. There is enough right there for an extensive book series. As we also saw, this vision opens up a panoramic view of scripture extending from the garden of Eden to the Second Coming of Jesus. In this ancient conflict, taking place both in heaven and on earth, we noted that the dragon failed to prevent the coming of the promised child despite numerous attempts at destroying both the promised line of the woman and the child himself.

 

When we think about heaven it is easy to think about God's throne and presence. Most of the time we also associate thoughts of peace, holiness and fullness of joy along with thoughts of heaven. We could also think of the praise and worship surrounding the glory and majesty of God. Rarely do we think of war. However, a war in heaven is coming. Currently, as we see in the book of Job, Satan is allowed to come before God and does so to live up to his name as the accuser of the brethren. A day is coming, however, when this will no longer be allowed. So, the key questions are when does this war occur, who fights in this battle and what is the outcome?

 

Let’s consider the first of these questions today. Many Biblical scholars place the time of this war in the mid-point of the Tribulation because of its context in this chapter and by linking it to the prophecy in Daniel 12 which states that Michael will take his stand to protect the people of Israel at this point. That could well be the end point for this war, but we don't know for sure. It is possible that this war begins at the rapture of the church. Knowing that the rapture of the church is a fulfillment of the Jewish wedding model, I don’t think Satan will have access to heaven when the bride is taken back to her heavenly home to be with her bridegroom. I won’t be dogmatic in this belief, but it makes sense to me that Satan will be filled with rage at the rapture of the body of Christ as this fulfillment of the child. He will then realize that the Church age believers have truly overcome him and will never come under his influence ever again. That is the essence of our hope! Once we are in our heavenly home, we won't have to see him, hear him, or come under his influence or accusations ever again. Now, that is truly good news!