War in Heaven Rev 12

12 1A 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. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.

4His 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. 5She 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. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The 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.

10Then 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. 11They 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.

12Therefore 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."

13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The 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

15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then 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.

Seals (Ch 7) 7 Trumpets (Ch 10-11) 7 Bowls (Ch12-14) th seal & 7 th trumpet & 7 th bowl - 3 signs of the end, the arrival of the Day of the Lord, the immediate warning of the return of Jesus Christ.

The Dragon 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns Dragon or serpent - common in ANE Mythology -  Leviathan of the Cannannites - Ps 74 13It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. 14It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.  Set-Typhon – the red crocodile of Egypt Ez 29v3 " `I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. Identified v9 – the Devil or Satan,

The Man- child  5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.  Ps 2v9 Messianic psalm seems to refer to Jesus Christ. Application in NT  Jesus' resurrection Ac 13:33;  His superiority over angels Heb 1:5;  His appointment as high priest Heb 5:5  her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.  Birth & snatching-up probably birth and ascension of Jesus.

The Woman  So who is the woman clothed in sunlight, standing on the moon with a crown of 12 stars ?  Mary - RC view – Queen of Heaven ? (no- a sign)  Eve -whose offspring is the serpent’s great enemy Gen 3:15 ?  Believing Isreal ( // OT dream of Joseph where sun, moon & 12 stars represent the family of Jacob (Isreal) ). Also she continues to exist after Christ’s ascension - i.e includes the Church – the New Isreal.

 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.  Background -Jewish suffering under the Syrian tyrant, Antiochus Epiphanes ( B.C.). when the temple was desolated for 3 years  3 ½ years // the dividing of the 70th "seven" (Da 9:27) into two = 1,260 days (v. 3; 12:6) and "a time, times and half a time" (12:14; cf. Da 7:25; 12:7). This period is a symbol for a limited period of unrestrained wickedness  Church is to be protected outside the key urban areas from the worse of the great tribulation.

 7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  Michael is the archangel protector of Isreal  Dan 11.44ff speaks of great battle at the `time of the end’ Dan 12 1" At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered. 2Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

 8But he(the Dragon ) was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The 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.  Some argue that this war in heaven and the angelic overthrow is the original fall of Satan and his angels prior to the Fall of Man

The origin of Satan  The Devil …. did not hold to the truth ( John 8:44)  The Devil fell under God's condemnation because of ambitious pride. 1 Timothy 3:6  Is 14 :12-14 is addressed primarily to King of Babylon but implies Satan (Lucifer – angel of light) is the power behind the throne 12How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. 14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." 15But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.

 Ez 28 ostensibly about king of Tyre but strong hints of the Satanic power behind the throne " `You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: 14You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.You were on the holy mount of God; ….15You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you…and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, 17Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth;

Implication from these passages  Satan was originally created by God as privileged angel or spiritual being of great wisdom & beauty  Cast down because of his pride and attempt to usurp God’s glory in the heavenly realms.  Fall prior to mankind’s fall because it was Satan(the serpent) who tempted Adam & Eve.

The origin of fallen angels (demons)  2 Peter 2 4For … God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment  Jude. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day  Problem: if bound how can they serve Satan? Either limited freedom or there is a second class of fallen angel not bound.

So, is this war in heaven a description of the original angelic fall?  Linked with Dan 12 passage - better to see it as a later battle in the heavenly realms.  `When’ is not as important at `what’. Symbolic of great battle between the forces of God & the forces of evil - from the original angelic fall – through the timeless cosmic victory of Jesus on the Cross – to the final judgment.

 10 For the accuser of our brothers,….has been hurled down.  The victory of Micheal and his angels - operating with the power and authority of God and his Messiah, Jesus Christ  Our brothers …. 11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;  The victory of the faithful Christians, the overcomers  12 But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!  So the spiritual battle in heaven has a earthly counterpart - which results in real suffering & opposition for the Church and the World

We see this in Luke 10v17-18 when the disciples are sent out by Jesus on their first mission.  17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18 He(Jesus) replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  So people get healed, saved, and delivered in the world, and Satan is defeated in the heavenly realms when the disciples act in the power and authority of Jesus.

Application :  Physical conflict has a spiritual counterpart. Try to discern the spirits operating.  We are called to be Spiritual overcomers.  We are called to be soldiers in a spiritual war Eph 6 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power…. 12For 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…..  Our weapons are not of this world …. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

 Another way of saying 11 we … overcome…by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony; - our faith in Jesus & the word of God  So we must pray. Beware of 2 dangers  Activism - Action without prayer  Super-spiritualism - all prayer, no action  Prayer combined with action is effective.  The accuser of our brothers, has been hurled down. Don’t let Satan get you down - you are good enough because Jesus has died to make you good enough.