THURSDAY
In this next section we see a further explanation of how the dragon was thrown down to earth and how God protects the church. These are similar themes from 1-6 told from a different angle. Yesterday we saw that Satan was thrown out of heaven because Christ was victorious by the cross and resurrection. Our text today will fill in that narrative.
Revelation 12:7-12
Satan Thrown Down to Earth
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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!”
One of the big questions in this text is when this happens. Is this war a prehistoric war where Satan rebels and is defeated? Is this an end times battle? Is this a battle that took place during Jesus life in which Satan was defeated and sent out of the throne room by Christ’s death and resurrection? This timeline could be similar to the woman in the previous section where John moves in and out of all three seamlessly without warning. If we had to pick one it would most likely be the time of Jesus and his death and resurrection because of vv. 10-11.
The angel, Michael, features as God’s general of sorts fighting against Satan and his demons. Michael is mentioned in Daniel 10 in reference to fighting against the prince of Persia—the evil spirit at work behind the evil of the kingdom of Persia. Of particular interest is in Daniel 12 where Daniel says that Michael will arise at a time of great distress and deliver the people of God.
In any case, the dragon is thrown out of the throne room of God. Verses 10-11 along with v. 5 from yesterday, suggest that Satan’s defeat is brought about at the cross and resurrection. This is when the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ come. The verb “have come” is singular implying that these 4 are one and the same event—the cross and resurrection viewed as one. Satan is no longer in the throne room accusing the people of God.
Believers conquer Satan when the the blood of Christ shed on the cross is applied to them through faith. That is to say, when their sins are paid for and they stand justified before God because Christ has paid the penalty that their sins deserved. There is, therefore, nothing to accuse believers of anymore. Believers have the righteousness of Christ. Believers also conquer by the word of their testimony. That is to say that they were faithful witnesses to Jesus even unto martyrdom. So the call is for faithfully believing the gospel and faithfully living the way of the Lamb whether it leads to martyrdom or not. This is how the dragon is conquered.
Remember John’s call to conquer in the letters to the seven churches. This is how believers are to conquer. It is by trusting in the blood of Jesus for their forgiveness and remaining faithful witnesses to the gospel even if it leads to death. This is a call to conquer like the Lamb conquered.
The beast conquers the believers by putting them to death (11:7; 13:7) but believers conquer Satan (the greater power behind the beast) by surrendering their lives. Jesus, the crucified Lamb, is the model of this principle that believers should all follow.
At the downfall of the dragon there is great rejoicing in heaven (v. 12). This rejoicing likely includes believers as well as heavenly beings. Unbelievers are described in Revelation as the earth dwellers. Saints can then be described as heaven dwellers. Satan’s defeat has been assured by the victory of the cross but he is still acting in anger on the earth. He knows his time is short so he is sowing as much evil as possible until his defeat is finalized in chapter 20.
This text begins the message that we will see play out through the rest of the book—Babylon, the beasts, etc are not the true enemy. There is a greater power at work behind evildoers and evil empires—Satan and his demons. Satan is our true enemy. With this framework, no matter how severe the persecution Christians face, we can love even our persecutors for they are deceived by the evil spiritual forces of this world. We can pray for them to come to the truth and accept the salvation that Christ brought on the cross.