The War in Heaven
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The War in Heaven
The War in Heaven
Good afternoon! I hope everyone is doing well. I know the game last night was not what most might have hoped for. They started off so well. What we need to always remember is that in the end God is in control of all things. I believe that that even includes who wins the world series.
One of the primary themes that is seen throughout the book of Revelation is this constant battle that exists between the Kingdom of God and what we might call the Kingdom of Satan. In fact the New Testament makes it seem like the normal experience for the church is to suffer tribulation and persecution because of this very battle that is occurring. And then at the end of the age the church will experience the most intense persecution that she has ever experienced. And in the end times there is going to be a satanically inspired leader, an antichrist, who is inspired and empowered by satan, and whom we have already seen introduced as the beast. And the whole purpose of the antichrist is to destroy the rule of God by gaining power over the whole earth. The antichrist will demand worship from humanity and those who choose Christ will experience martyrdom.
We have already seen that during this time of Great Tribulation God will assert his sovereignty by pouring out his wrath towards sin upon this earth. This began with the blowing of the trumpets and their plagues. And with the sounding of the seventh trumpet the last of these is to be experienced, the seven bowls. The bowls will bring about what we read in chapter eleven as the destruction of the destroyers of the earth and finally the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
But, before we get there God wants to slide back the veil you might say so that we might see this war that has been occurring in the heavenlies ever since Genesis chapter three. When Satan in the guise of a serpent attempted to begin the destruction of the earth. The spiritual warfare that we are going to see portrayed in Revelation chapter twelve has always had a manifestation in the physical world as suffering and tribulation within the church. Revelation chapter twelve is going to provide for us an explanation to God’s people here on earth why it is that we must face such evil and persecution. But even in the midst of this evil we will see that Satan the entire time has already been defeated by Jesus and as a result we are able to resist and conquer Satan by the blood of the Lamb.
So look one of the difficulties always is that we have a tendency to want to figure out the historical realities behind the visions. And there are going to be points throughout this passage that we are going to want to go. Well this must be speaking of this moment in time. Resist that temptation. That is not the purpose of this passage at all. This passages purpose is not to speak upon a past event in history. Nor is it meant to speak of a future event during the tribulation. This passage is about the plight of God’s people from Adam and Eve until today and continuing forward in time until Jesus returns. Remember this is one of those interludes that Jesus provides so that we might see who is in charge and has been in charge from the very beginning. This passage is meant to provide hope and courage to a people suffering tribulation. Whether that be struggles today or the great tribulation that is yet to come.
So let’s start at the beginning in chapter twelve verses one and two which read.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
The Woman
The Woman
So we are introduced to this woman whom we are told is a sign to the world. And it says she is clothed with the sun, the moon is under her feet, on there are twelve stars upon her head as a crown. All of this language is meant to depict the grandeur and glory of this woman. We want to try to assign specific reasons for each because there are twelve stars that crown her head and we want to quickly state that that is either the twelve tribes of Israel or their patriarchs being represented. Or it is the twelve apostles. Well, which is it? The passage doesn’t state. So you have to guess. And here’s the thing. I don’t believe that is what God has in mind anyways. God presents this woman who is purely symbolic of something that we will get to in just a moment. And we are to see that she comes forth onto the scene in grandeur and in glory. That is what the focus is in this passage.
Oh but wait this verse says that she is also pregnant and near to giving birth. And we are going to see later that she gives birth to a baby boy who we will see is clearly a reference to Jesus. So who is this woman.
Well, there are three very popular ways of interpreting this. First there are those we see Mary as being represented as the Mother of the Lord Jesus. This is quite understandable. There are those who see Israel as the people who will give birth to the Messiah. This is a consistent picture that is scene throughout the prophets. For instance Isaiah 66:7 states that Israel is to give birth to a son. There are also those who see the woman as being representative of the church. I believe that this position is actually a bit more difficult to understand in this context as Jesus wasn’t birthed from within the Church. Rather the Church was birthed from Jesus death. In the end however, I don’t believe that any of these is quite fitting of the chapter as a whole and the purpose of the chapter.
Paul gives us a clue as to the possible meaning of the heavenly woman in Galatians 4:26 where he writes “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” Paul in this passage is speaking of the spiritual ideal Jerusalem. This is a picture I believe of the heavenly representation of all the people of God though. Not only Israel.
If we continue to carry this symbolism out and the apply to it the picture we are going to be given about the birth of the Messiah. And here’s the thing I do not believe that this birth is actually pointing to the historical birth of Jesus from Mary and the same goes for what we will see as his catching up to heaven is not a reference to the ascension. When we connect all of this well I believe that we begin to see the reality in this world of the impacts of the spiritual warfare that is constantly occurring just out of sight behind the veil so to speak within the heavenlies.
Then in verse three we are introduced to the antagonist in our great story and we read.
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
So I will cut right to the chase becasue I believe most of us would have no problem connecting the dots on this one. This is Satan, that great serpent. And listen we need to understand that Satan will always attempt to fool the people of God by presenting himself as a Christ type figure. And I believe that is what we see in the sevens that are represented here. In particular the seven diadems. He sees himself as the complete ruler of all things. We are going to see that when Jesus returns He is wearing many diadems. The ten horns are a reference that goes to Daniel chapter seven and are symbolic of the great power of Satan. Again we don’t want to get to caught up in the details of the vision because it’s not the details that are important but rather Jesus gives this vision for us to see a bigger picture that has been occuring from the beginning.
Then in verse four we read.
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.
So a couple of questions that I want to address first that come from this passage. The first is does Satan swipe a third of the stars from the heavenlies during the end times? I do not believe that that is going to happen. The second is does Satan take out a third of the angels either by luring them to follow him or killing some who stand with Jesus? I do not believe that this is what this is speaking about either. I do believe that what God give to us is a glimpse of the power of Satan however. Remember this is not a picture into historic events rather it is a story in essence being played out before our eyes of the spiritual warfare that occurs all around us all the time. And Satan our adversary is very powerful.
Then we see that he stands at the ready with the intent of destroying the child that is to come from the woman. Satan stood ready to bring down the Messiah as He came forth from the people of God.
Then in verse five we read.
She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
So, why do I say that this does not represent historical events. Jesus was born into this world from the virgin Mary, he lived a perfect sinless life, and he died upon the cross, three days later he arose from the dead, and then he ascended into the heavenlies.
Not quite the same picture is it.
This is what this verse is saying. That from out of the people of God a male child is to be born who will rule the nations with a rod of iron. This is a clear reference to Psalm chapter two and specifically verse nine. And then in our story here the child is almost instantly caught up to the heavenlies and is seated with God in the heavenlies.
And on top of all of those inconsistencies our vision so far has never left the heavenlies. Eventually we are going to see images of earth, but all of this so far has been a spiritual representation of spiritual warfare all of which has occurred in heaven not here on earth.
The other difficulty in connecting this to historical event is that the ascension of Jesus into the heavenlies is never seen as a means of escaping Satan. But rather the ascension is portrayed as just another cog in the great wheel of victory over Satan.
What we need to see here simply is that in the end Jesus wins and Satan loses. Period.
Then in verse six we read.
and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Look our scene is still in heaven. We still have a few more verses before the vision moves to the earth. So as a result to make any connection to some escape of anyone either historically in the past or still yet future is a mistake. This is a much broader picture that Jesus is painting for us. The dragon is going to turn on the woman when his attempts to kill the Child fail. And even more broader any time that Satan attempts to frustrate the plans of Jesus He will and always has turned his anger and wrath upon the people of God. But His efforts are always in vain. God has always and always will protect His children just as He did His only begotten son, Jesus.
The verse ends with a reference to the Great Tribulation that period of three and a half years when things are going to become absolutely horrible for those here on earth. But as bad as it might become God will protect and preserve His people eternally.
Then in verses seven and eight we read.
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.
Again we need to be careful to not attempt to place this story at some point in the historical record of time. That is not the point of the story that God is revealing here. And if we do we will misunderstand the point of what God is trying to reveal to us.
Michael is reference a few times throughout scripture primarily in Daniel ten through twelve where He is scene as what we would call the guardian angel of Israel.
In Daniel ten through twelve we see that Michael alongside the guardian angels of the gentile nations defeat Satan.
Here in our passage we see Michael as the defender of all the peoples of God against Satan. And that the people of God have no need to fear Satan for he is a defeated enemy.
Then in verse nine we read.
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.
Now, finally our vision shifts from the heavenlies to the earth. And it is not until now that this actually occurs.
The realm of Satan is often times depicted biblically as being here on earth. We see this both in Ephesians chapters two and six.
There is a parallel verse in Luke chapter ten verse eighteen where we read Jesus saying.
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
As a result again we try to place the fall of Satan at a specific moment in time within our history. But, that is not the point or purpose of our passage. Here is what we need to take from this spiritual reality that God is given us this glimpse into.
Jesus says this after he sends the disciples out to proclaim the gospel and they have returned. And so what we should see is that the Kingdom of God goes forth through the power of the Gospel of Jesus and this is our greatest weapon to bring down the Kingdom of Satan.
Then in verse ten we read.
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
So what we need to see here again is that Satan we know is continually going before God the Father in order to bring against us our sin. He stands before God and rightly accuses us of every sin that we commit and declares that destruction is our due. But Jesus...
Jesus has been given authority over the Kingdom of our God. And he is the one through His death, burial, and resurrection has brought about the salvation we so desperately needed from the stain of sin upon our lives.
Jesus says, I have covered that and every other sin with my blood.
Then in verse eleven we read
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Every single one of us today needs to stand firm and stand fast in our testimony concerning Jesus Christ. Even if that means the loss of our own lives. Everyone of us should be willing to die for the name of Jesus. Unfortunately in America we fail to speak the Gospel of Jesus for far less than the loss of life.
Let us move on.
verse twelve reads.
Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
So we see two very different results from the defeat of Satan. First we see the heavens break forth in rejoicing at his defeat. And then we are told that even though he is defeated he is not destroyed. And He is going to do everything in His power to attempt to prevent that destruction.
Then in verse 13 we read.
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
In verse six we saw the woman flee from satan and then Michael came to her aid. And now Satan renews those attacks against her.
And in verse 14 we read.
But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
The is Jesus stating in spiritual terms that he will always provide a way to protect and preserve His church. He has done so throughout history and he will do so through the great tribulation that is yet to come.
Then in verses 15 and 16 we read.
The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
This is obviously symbolic language right. When did such a thing ever happen? Be careful the flood of Noah was brought about by God. Throughout the entire vision that we are given the dragon has been angry with the woman. The water pouring forth from the serpent is a picture of his anger towards the woman and all of that anger and wrath is now directed squarely upon the woman.
and Verse 17 reads
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
This verse in particular I believe shows that the woman represents the people of God through all time. The rest of her offspring after the birth of the Messiah must be the Church and those prior were true believers within Israel. Satan now turns the full weight of his anger and wrath towards God upon the Church. Just in case you weren’t certain. That’s you.
But in the end we stand victorious even if we lose a battle here and there. Jesus has already won the war.
Amen.
Amen.
So What?
So What?
I had three points that I was going to make this morning but after writing out the first and I believe most important we are going to leave it there.
And that point is Spiritual Warfare.
Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual Warfare
Even though Jesus has won the war over Satan and we could say that our side now stand victorious much of the world is still being deceived by the lies of Satan.
We exist within a physical world that is in the constant throws of a spiritual battle that it is completely and it is completely unaware.
We need to always remember this when we are dealing with the secular world. That person standing before us that is not a believer in Jesus Christ stands before us under the power and persuasion of satan. And so the sin that they so desperately cling to, and in fact today seek for our stamp of approval upon, they see that sin as being ok because they have been deceived by Satan. And they have been deceived in order to bring about their destruction. They all too often cling to their sin so tightly that they are unwilling to let go and grasp the hand of Jesus that reaches out to them in order to rescue them from the destruction that they are so swiftly running to.
The plight of trans people has been an ongoing topic within our household. Why? Because our country has chosen to make it a significant topic within our culture.
I will say this the Bible says that it is sin. What you think or desire is not relevant. It is sin. And those that embrace a trans lifestyle are no different than those that embrace any other sin within the scriptures.
But what we need to see is a people who have been decieved by Satan. and that deception is bringing about their destruction. And not only in the time to come. But even here and now. Women as young as 14 and 15 are receiving mastectomies that are dangerous to reverse. Young men and women are receiving hormones that stop the process of puberty and they are often times destroying their abilities to ever have children. And our country has been so deceived by Satan that instead of trying to truly help these children with the mental anguish and torment that they are experiencing we are pushing them further into the darkness. And as a result there is no single group within the world that is more suicidal. It’s not even close. And yet here we are offering up our children to the god of the world to satan. We might not like the way I just put that. But that is biblically exactly what our world is doing. And we should weep at the loss of childhood, at the loss of life that our world is inflicting upon so many young people today.
This is a spiritual battle that is raging in the spiritual world right now. And the worst part is that so many Christians choose to stand in judgment upon these poor young people and do nothing.
The church should be on its knees doing the greatest thing we could ever do for these young people. We need to pray that God Almighty intervene and save them from the power and deception of Satan.
My heart breaks to see so many young people in so much pain and suffering and our world celebrates that pain and suffering. How perverse. How twisted we have become. We as Christians need to see the truth and engage in spiritual warfare so that the very souls of these lost and hurting young people might find rest and salvation in their savior Jesus Christ.
And this is just one area in which Satan is right now winning the battle I believe against the church. We are losing this battle because we fail to see that the battle is not against flesh and blood it is a spiritual battle that we are called to stand firm against and fight even if that fight means our own deaths.
Amen.