When will Michael fight the Devil?

Revelation

Revelation is a difficult book to understand.

Lots of people have different interpretations of how the events described in Revelation will play out.

One Pastor may think that most of the prophecies in Revelation have already been fulfilled.

Another pastor may think that most of the prophecies in Revelation haven't been fulfilled.

Ultimately we wont know until we are either in the presence of God, or until they do occur.

With that being said, we can still look for context clues and I can share with you what I think, and why.

We are only told about this particular battle once in Revelation chapter 12, so lets turn there.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 12

12:1 Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.

2 She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth.

3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.

4 Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

5 So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne,

6 and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 12

7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

8 But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels.

9 So that huge dragon—the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world—was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

Our Cast of Characters

lets look at the characters we are presented with:

A pregnant woman

A child

A dragon

and Michael

The woman has a crown of 12 stars, like the 12 tribes of Israel, so I think that the woman represents the nation of Israel.

Israel was chosen as Gods holy people to bring forth the Messiah, Jesus. So I think her Child is Jesus.

The Bible talks about very powerful divine beings, and often refers to them as stars.

The prophet Daniel refers to the devil as a dragon so we can match the dragon as the devil.

and the Angel Michael is mentioned by name, so we don't have to guess.

Thematic Clues

Look at Verses 1-5.

I am pretty sure this has all actually happened, and It can show you why Revelation is so hard to interpret.

See, we have the nation of Israel struggling to follow God and bring forth the Messiah.

We see the devil and how he wants to kill the Baby that will be born to Israel.

We see Jesus birth and ascension.

Starting in Verse 6 though, we see the nation of Israel returning to God and fleeing to the Wilderness..

From Here on I think this is future prophecy that we are waiting to see happen.

We see that this war breaks out in heaven between Michael and the Dragon.

Michael beats the dragon and throws him to the Earth, shutting access to heaven off from the devil.

So we can guess this occurs after Israel returns to God and begins accepting Jesus as the Messiah.

lets see what happens after this then.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 12

13 Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.

14 But the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of—away from the presence of the serpent—for a time, times, and half a time.

15 Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood,

16 but the earth came to her rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth.

17 So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus.

18 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.

The Two Beasts

13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 13

2 Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule.

So, The Dragon tries to kill off Israel, but she is taken and hidden in a special place.

Then we have the appearance of this beast that is given authority by the devil to rule on Earth.

I think this beast symbolizes the Antichrist.

So the fight between Michael and the Devil, in my opinion, will occur sometime between the Jewish people starting to really accept Jesus as the Messiah, and the arrival of the Antichrist.

I could be wrong, but that's OK. Our salvation doesn't depend on how we interpret revelation, it depends on our loyalty to Jesus as the Messiah.

So study, learn, and ask questions, but remember.

What makes us Christians.

What makes us brothers and sisters.

Is our loyalty to Jesus, and dependence on Him for eternal life.