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7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels
...
First, we read, And there was war in heaven. More literally, it reads, And a war [or it could be translated, And a battle] occurred in heaven.
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And we read,
Da 10:21
But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince
. {holdeth: Heb. strengtheneth himself }
And finally, we read,
Da 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book
.
In all three of those verses in Daniel, notice that Michael is called a prince, which could be translated as chief, and a prince or chief is a ruler. Therefore, Michael must be a ruler. And so up to this point we have learned that Michael is a ruler, and, as we had learned in Jude 1:9, he could be either a chief angel or a chief messenger. So, he must be either a ruling chief angel, or a ruling chief messenger. How do we decide?
Notice that when we previously read Daniel 12:1, Michael is called the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people. The for in this sentence, the great prince which standeth for the children of they people, can just as well be translated in the Hebrew as over so that the sentence now reads, the great prince which standeth over the children of thy people ...
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Therefore, Michael does not just stand for the people of Daniel as an angel could do, but he stands over Daniels's people, which means He is above them and rules over them. Also, in Daniel 10:21 that we previously read, Michael is called the prince (or chief) of Daniel when it states, Michael your [Daniel's] prince. So, Michael must be a ruler over Daniel as well. Thus, we can conclude Michael is a ruler over Daniel and his people who we know are God's people, which means that Michael is a ruler over God's people.
But now, here's the problem: nowhere in the Bible are celestial angels described as being rulers over God's people. In fact, angels are described like this in Hebrews 1:13-14:
13
But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool
?
14
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation
?
Thus, we see that angels do not rule over God's people, but they minister for or serve them. We must conclude, therefore, that Michael who rules over God's people is not an angel, but rather, He is a Chief Messenger that rules over God's people. And the only person in the Bible who could be described as Chief Messenger and ruler over God's people, the elect, is Jesus Christ Himself. Indeed, we even read that Christ is a messenger in Malachi 3,
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord [Christ], whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts .
So, Michael the Archangel in Jude 1:9 would have been better translated as Michael the Chief Messenger, and Michael is the Christ; He is not a celestial angel.
But now, returning to our verse: it states,
7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels
...
We now know that this verse is telling us that Christ and His angels fought against the dragon who we learned is Satan so that Satan fought and his angels. And because our verse says that this war was in heaven, the angels that fought with Christ must be celestial angels, and the angels that fought for Satan must be celestial angels as well. Nevertheless, this war in heaven worked itself out into this physical realm from the very beginning when Satan fought against God by deceiving Eve and so winning the right to rule over mankind and this world. Ever since then, Satan and his angels fought against the Son of God and His angels, and those battles in heaven had an effect on the history of this world ...
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their resurrections into new incorruptible and sinless bodies as well as the creation of a new heaven and earth from the remains of this heaven and earth after they are destroyed by fire on the Last Day of Judgment Day that we are now in. This is why it can be said, earth without end, amen because this heaven and earth will be transformed into the new heaven and earth, and, indeed, it will have no end. So, in a real sense, the heaven and earth that we now live in will continue forever because the leftover remains of this heaven and earth after being destroyed by fire will continue into the next life but will be transformed into an incorruptible and glorious heaven and earth. This is how the Bible can speak of this earth as remaining forever even though it will be destroyed by fire on the Last Day. For instance, we read,
Ps 78:69
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever
. {established: Heb. founded }
And again,
Ps 104:5
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever
. {Who ... : Heb. He hath founded the earth upon her bases }
And there are more verses, but you've got the idea. So, let's move forward to our next verse, which reads,
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Revelation 12:8:
8
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven
.
More literally, it reads, And they were not strong toward Him; neither was their place found still in heaven. That is, in Satan and his angels war against Michael, the Christ, and His angels that led up to the cross, Satan and his angles were not strong enough to defeat Christ and His angels, for at the cross, Christ paid for the sins of all His elect from every nation to win them back from Satan and to Himself, for as long as they still had sin that required the punishment of death as the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), Satan could still claim rulership over them. But when Christ took their past, present, and future sins upon Himself and paid the price of death for them at the cross, Satan no longer had a legal right to God's elect. So, Satan's rulership over the remnant of the elect from every nation was shattered, and Satan was defeated at the cross. It was now guaranteed that Satan would be destroyed for his rebellion from the beginning when this world and his people are destroyed on the Last Day to give way to a new incorruptible and eternal world created from the remains of this temporal and fallen world after it is burned up by fire. And like this temporal and fallen earth will be transformed into a new incorruptible and eternal earth, the temporal and fallen bodies of God's people, the elect, that remain till the end or that lie in the graves and are resurrected at the end ...
will be transformed into eternal and incorruptible bodies fit for eternal life in the new incorruptible and eternal heaven and earth to all be created on the Last Day of Judgment Day that we are now in, which will be the Last Day of this fallen world. As we read in 1Corinthians 15,
51
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep
[that is, not all the elect will have physically died by the Last Day of this world]
, but we shall all be changed
[on the Last Day]
,
52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
[that is, the elect who had already passed away before the Last Day]
shall be raised incorruptible, and we
[the elect who still remain on earth by the Last Day]
shall be changed
.
53
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality
.
54
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory
.
55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory
? {grave: or, hell }
56
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law
[for, remember, the law says that the wages of sin is death - Romans 6:23].
57
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
.
58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord
.
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But now, the 2nd part of our verse says, neither was their [Satan and his angels'] place found any more in heaven. During the approximate 11,000 years of the Old Testament period, Satan and his angels could roam around freely in heaven and accuse the elect of sin day and night before God, for as long as the elect continued to sin, Satan could argue before God that they were still ruled over by him, for it was through deceiving Eve who then also got Adam to sin that the whole human race fell into sin so that Satan won the right to rule over them all. And because Satan had won this right to rule over the world and its people, he was still allowed to roam freely in heaven because until Christ won back His elect at the cross by paying the price of eternal death for all their past, present, and future sins, and, by His death and resurrection insured that His elect would become sinless and incorruptible on the Last Day as well as that this earth would be made incorruptible on the Last Day; therefore insuring that everything that Satan had corrupted by his deception of Eve would be restored on the Last Day, there was no real proof that Satan would be eternally destroyed. But now that the proof of the cross had come, ensuring Satan's eternal destruction, there was no longer a place found in heaven for him and his angels. No longer could Satan and his angles roam freely around heaven and accuse the elect day and night before God. But now, after the cross, he could only accuse the elect on earth through evil men and not directly before God in heaven.
Revelation 12:9:
9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him
.
In our previous verse, we learned that there was no longer found a place for Satan and his angels in heaven, and here, as a result, they were cast out of heaven into the earth. And we know this took place at the cross when Christ was crucified and then rose from the dead because it was at that time when Christ actually won back His elect from Satan by having paid for their sins, which also guaranteed that they would be cleansed of all sin and given new sinless and incorruptible bodies on the Last Day to be restored in the 2nd Adam, Jesus Christ, to be as they were in the 1st Adam before he fell into sin at the instigation of his wife and Satan, the serpent, and thus, undo all that Satan had brought about when he had won rulership over mankind in the beginning to clearly reveal God as the real ruler over mankind once again in the new heaven and earth, which will be the continuation of this earth but only newly created into an incorruptible and eternal heaven and earth where God's people, His elect, will dwell throughout eternity without sin, nor pain and sorrow, nor sickness and death, but righteousness in the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Now, once again as we learned back in verse 3, when we read, And the great dragon was cast out, we realize that he is called great because he won the right to rule over the entire world and its people as if he were the one who created them, as if he were God ...
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And, as our verse states, he deceives the whole world. Literally, it states, ... Satan, the one deceiving the whole world. In the Greek, the participle translated as the one deceiving is in the Present Tense and Active Voice, which means that Satan is ongoingly or continuously deceiving the world (see
Present Tense
Then, after we read that the great dragon was cast out, we read, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan. He is referred to as that old serpent, or it could be translated, that ancient serpent, because his history goes all the way back to shortly after the creation of the world when he came as a serpent in the garden of Eden to instigate the fall of Adam and Eve into sin to win rulership over them and their posterity. But we also read that the dragon is also called the Devil and Satan. The Greek word diabolos, from which we get the English word diabolical, means false accuser or slanderer, and the Greek word Satanas, with Aramaic origin, means adversary. So, the dragon is called the Devil because he is an accuser and slanderer, and he is called Satan because he is the adversary of Yahweh and Christ. But both the words Devil and Satan can be used interchangeably to mean the prince of the demons, the author of evil, persecuting good men, estranging mankind from God and enticing them to sin, afflicting them with diseases by means of demons who take possession of their bodies at his bidding (Online Bible definition for devil).
Revelation 12:10:
10
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night
.
Here, we first read, And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. The word loud in the sentence, And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, can just as well be translated as great so that our verse can read, And I heard a great voice in heaven. Whose voice is this loud or great voice in heaven? When we look up both terms loud voice and great voice in the book of Revelation, we find that they often refer to the loud or great voice of Christ. For instance, we had already found in
Revelation 1:10
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Now, let's look a little closer at Christ's proclamation, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. First, He says, Now is come salvation. Literally, it states, now became salvation; not in the sense that salvation just came into existence at the cross (for the Old Testament Saints, the elect, were already spiritually saved by God who had retroactively applied Christ's blood back in time to them, which only God Himself could do, for He is not subject to time and is Master over it), but, rather, now became salvation in the sense that salvation just became a reality at the cross to all His creation, for unless Christ was born and suffered as a man on earth, died, and rose from the dead on behalf of His Old and New Testament elect and His fallen creation, their complete salvations (first spiritually in this life by being born spiritually of God, and then physically by their bodies and this heaven and earth being transformed into incorruptible and eternal bodies and a new incorruptible and eternal heaven and earth) would not be possible. So, there is no wonder why that immediately after Christ is crucified and then rises from the dead, He proclaims in a great or loud voice, Now became salvation; that is, now salvation became a reality, or became real, for all to see.
But not only did salvation become a reality or real at the cross, but we read that so did strength.
This Greek word dunamis means strength, power, or ability, but is normally translated as power, and sometimes power as in mighty works or miracles. And because the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was definitely a mighty work and miracle, the word strength would have been better translated as power because at the cross, power became a reality to bring about the complete salvation of God's elect both in their spirits during this life and then in their bodies by their resurrection and transformation into sinless incorruptible and glorious bodies on the Last Day, and to save this fallen earth by its destruction in fire and transformation into a new incorruptible and glorious heaven and earth on the Last Day in which God's now sinless and incorruptible people will dwell with Christ forevermore.
But now, we not only read that salvation and power became a reality or real at the cross, but next, we read that the kingdom of our God became a reality at the cross. Why? Because what happened at the cross guaranteed that the kingdom of God, which consists of all the elect, would be built spiritually on this earth as Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) and then completed in the new heaven and earth.
And finally, at the cross, the apostle John heard the loud voice of Christ saying in heaven, Now became the power of His Christ. Here, the word power means the power to rule or govern and so would have been better translated as authority. So, our verse now states, Now became the authority of His Christ ...
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20
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places
,
Well now, the last sentence of our verse gives the reason why at the death and resurrection of Christ, the apostle John heard the loud voice of Christ in heaven saying, Now became salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: it was because, as we read, the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Actually, a more literal translation reads, the accuser of our brethren was cast [not is cast] down, which is accusing [not accused] them before our God day and night because the verb to cast is in the
Aorist Tense
21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come
:
22
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things
...
So, our verse reads, Now became salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren was cast down, which is accusing them before our God day and night.
Indeed, at the cross, the great dragon, Satan, was cast out of heaven and down to earth. Satan lost his right to rule over all the people in the world and the fallen creation because by Christ being crucified on behalf of the fallen creation and in the place of His people, the elect, and paying for all their sins, past, present, and future, Satan lost his right to rule over this creation and the elect, and it was also guaranteed that Satan and his evil angels, and all the unsaved of this world will be destroyed forever in the Lake of Fire on the Last Day due to their sins. But, at the cross, although Satan officially lost rule over God's elect and the earth, he would be permitted to continue to rule over the unsaved of the world and the earth to one degree or another until both he and his angels, and the unsaved are destroyed forever on the Last Day when this heaven and earth is destroyed in fire and then created a new incorruptible and glorious heaven and earth where God's elect will dwell forever in their new incorruptible and glorious bodies to be ruled over by Christ forevermore. No more Satan and his angels, no more sin and death, no more corruption of bodies or of the earth, but joy, peace, and righteousness forevermore, amen.
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11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death
.
This verse confirms that we, the elect, overcame Satan at the cross, for the verse states, And they [the brethren of the previous verse who are the elect] overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. Of course, the blood of the Lamb is the blood of Christ when He was crucified on the cross in 33 AD. So, all the elect who are but a remnant from every nation overcame Satan, sin, and death through the crucifixion of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It was there where their sins were paid for to ensure that they received new sinless and eternal spirits in this life and then new sinless and eternal bodies on the Last Day to live in a new incorruptible and glorious heaven and earth created from this burned up and fallen heaven and earth on the Last Day. It was there where Satan and his evil angels, and the unsaved people of this world were guaranteed to be destroyed forever in the Lake of Fire on the Last Day. Yes, it was from there that death was conquered so that God's elect will never experience eternal death in punishment, but only eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Now, we read that the elect not only overcame Satan by the blood of Christ, but also by the word of their testimony. And because the word of their testimony was the gospel that they sent into the whole world to bring the unsaved elect unto eternal salvation before Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011 ...
it was responsible for ripping the elect out from the kingdom of Satan, which the elect were once a part, and raising them to eternal life in the kingdom of God through the shed blood of Christ. This is how the elect overcame Satan by the word of their testimony.
Finally, we read, and they loved not their lives unto the death. This does not just refer to all the uncountable Christian martyrs throughout history who have given their lives due to their faith in Jesus Christ, but it refers to every one of God's elect, for ever since we were born spiritually from above by the Holy Spirit in this life, we have had to put to death or die to our own lives of sin to live for Christ. As we read in Colossians 3,
5
Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry
;
6
for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God
{1 }
upon the sons of disobedience
: {1) Some ancient authorities omit upon the sons of disobedience; See Eph 5:6 }
7 {1 }
wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things
; {1) Or amongst whom }
8
but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth
:
9
lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings
,
10
and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him
:
11
where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all
.
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So, in this real sense, we have all loved not our lives unto death if, indeed, we had truly been eternally saved in Jesus Christ before salvation came to an end on May 21, 2011, when Judgment Day began.
CONCLUSION
In this study, we learned the most exciting truth of all time: Satan and his angels were defeated and cast down from heaven to the earth at the cross! This means that ever since Christ died and rose from the dead in 33 AD, we, the elect, have had all our sins, past, present, and future, paid for to insure that we would be restored to having sinless spirits in this life by being born again and then sinless bodies on the Last Day by our old bodies being transformed so that Satan can no longer have rulership over us because he had won the right to do so when he got our parents, Adam and Eve, to fall into sin, resulting in all who descended from them being conceived in sin in the womb as sinners. Thus, Satan and his angels were defeated and cast out of heaven at the cross because they no longer had the right to rule over God's people.
But Satan and his angels were also defeated and cast out of heaven at the cross because when Christ took on the eternal wrath of God by being crucified in the place of His elect to pay for their sins, it guaranteed that Satan and his angels who have sinned, as well as all the billions of unsaved people in the world who have sinned, would be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire on the Last Day of this world ...
Now, as we rejoice in Satan's defeat and until the next time, may Yahweh bless thee, and keep thee: Yahweh make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Yahweh lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace (Numbers 6:24-26).
Revelation 12:7-11
Satan and his angels are defeated and cast down from heaven to earth at the cross!
By Brother Mike (2-19-22; 55 minutes)
7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels
,
8
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven
.
9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him
.
10
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night
.
11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death
.
INTRODUCTION
When I say that the greatest truth of all time is that Satan and his angels were defeated and cast out of heaven to the earth at the cross, you might think twice to come up with what you think is a greater truth. But when we come to realize all that the defeat of Satan required, brought about, and will bring about in the future, then you also will likely find it difficult to come up with a greater truth.
Now, may our Lord, Jesus Christ help us to see how great of truth it is that Satan was defeated at the cross that our joy may bubble over into our lives to the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
Revelation 12:7:
7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels
The only way there could be war in heaven is if there were factions in heaven that turned against God because Yahweh originally created all things good but with a free will. And, indeed, up until the cross in 33 AD, as we shall see in verse 11 of Revelation 12, there were factions against God roaming freely in heaven because of Satan and those angels who had rebelled against God in the beginning. Indeed, Satan thought that he could be equal with God, and he apparently convinced many of the angels to follow him. Therefore, God sentenced them all to eternal destruction, but apparently did not immediately carry out their sentence because Satan won the right to rule over the whole world and its people when he deceived Eve to eat the forbidden fruit who then got her husband Adam to follow her to eat of the forbidden fruit as well (Genesis Chapter 3).
Now Yahweh had to win back rulership over the world and its people before He could have the authority to carry out the sentence of casting Satan and his angels into the Lake of Fire forever on the Last Day ...
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20
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places
,
Well now, the last sentence of our verse gives the reason why at the death and resurrection of Christ, the apostle John heard the loud voice of Christ in heaven saying, Now became salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: it was because, as we read, the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Actually, a more literal translation reads, the accuser of our brethren was cast [not is cast] down, which is accusing [not accused] them before our God day and night because the verb to cast is in the
Aorist Tense
21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come
:
22
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things
...
So, our verse reads, Now became salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren was cast down, which is accusing them before our God day and night.
Indeed, at the cross, the great dragon, Satan, was cast out of heaven and down to earth. Satan lost his right to rule over all the people in the world and the fallen creation because by Christ being crucified on behalf of the fallen creation and in the place of His people, the elect, and paying for all their sins, past, present, and future, Satan lost his right to rule over this creation and the elect, and it was also guaranteed that Satan and his evil angels, and all the unsaved of this world will be destroyed forever in the Lake of Fire on the Last Day due to their sins. But, at the cross, although Satan officially lost rule over God's elect and the earth, he would be permitted to continue to rule over the unsaved of the world and the earth to one degree or another until both he and his angels, and the unsaved are destroyed forever on the Last Day when this heaven and earth is destroyed in fire and then created a new incorruptible and glorious heaven and earth where God's elect will dwell forever in their new incorruptible and glorious bodies to be ruled over by Christ forevermore. No more Satan and his angels, no more sin and death, no more corruption of bodies or of the earth, but joy, peace, and righteousness forevermore, amen.