The Invisible War

Revelation 12 THE INVISIBLE WAR

Join us on Tuesday nights in person or on zoom as we discuss these questions from Revelation 12

How does Revelation 12 provide a summary of the grand narrative of the Bible?

This passage shows that God is faithful to fulfill His promises. What word of promise from God do you need to trust today?

Consider each of the descriptors for Satan in 12:9. What do these tell us about his character and his goals for humanity?

This passage shows that our salvation is secure and our enemy is defeated. How do Christians sometimes fail to rest in these realities? How can we learn to rest in them?

What does it mean to have victory as described in Revelation 12:11-12? How can believers walk in this victory?

Why does Satan want to destroy the people of God?

Revelation 12 Bible Study

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1 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. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 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. 5 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, 6 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.

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!"

13 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. 14 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. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 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. 17 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.

Spiritual Warfare In Heaven and Earth In History

Spiritual warfare is all too often neglected in the life of the average Christian. Satan is real, and his hatred toward all who are made in the image of God dare not be ignored. Osbourne.

Here in Revelation 12 we are given a glimpse of the concerns of the spiritual world, and we discover that the spiritual warfare between Satan and God is the real world in which we dwell.

We don't begin to see the meaning of world history, until we recognise that world history is not about Empires rising and falling, as some historians focus upon these. It is not about conquest and control as some remind us about each Australia Day. It is not about economic systems, as Marxists would promote. It is about the Invisible War between Satan and God. And this Invisible War, this Spiritual War, is actually what every life and all life is about on Planet Earth!

But as we examine Revelation 12 we are confronted with some elements that we need to understand.

There is a woman who is "clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

1 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.

The woman is Israel. Some have said it is Jesus's mother Mary, but the rest of the chapter doesn't fit with that.

This threefold description of the woman stems from Jacob's dreams of Gen. 37:1–9. In the first dream, the sheaves of grain bound by his brothers bowed down to him (37:7), and in the second dream, "the sun and moon and eleven stars" bowed down to him (37:9). It is generally agreed that the "sun and moon" refer to Joseph's parents, Jacob and Leah, while the stars are his brothers (see Wenham 1994: 352).Osborne

Beale (1999: 625–26) points out the number of places that the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars refers to faithful Israel (Exod. Rab. 15.6; Num. 2:4; 9:14; Isa. 60:19–20; Midr. Ps. 22.11–12; etc.). Therefore, it seems likely that the woman here represents Israel, the people of God and possibly the Church as well, or the Church within the nation of Israel.

2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.

In verse 3 the dragon, is introduced. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 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.

He is warlike, fiery red in colour, and has seven heads, 10 horns, and seven kingly crowns, which will identify him with the final form of imperial suzerainty that John will watch as the rising of the dragon-inspired beast from the sea in chap. 13. An additional item that helps still further in identifying the dragon, however, is added to the text at this point. The dragon's tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. This is an apparent reference to the precosmic fall of Satan from heaven. This heavenly conspiracy was led by Satan, but a significant number of angels were cobelligerents with him and so forfeited their "home" (Jude 6) in heaven. This fall is plainly mentioned in 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6; and perhaps Rev 12:7–10; and many interpreters believe that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 in the lamentations on the kings of Tyre and Babylon say more than can adequately be said .. about those two earthly kings. Patterson

Origen "Most evidently by these words is he shown to have fallen from heaven, who formerly was Lucifer, and who used to arise in the morning. For if, as some think, he was a nature of darkness, how is Lucifer said to have existed before? Or how could he arise in the morning, who had in himself nothing of the light? Nay, even the Saviour Himself teaches us, saying of the devil, 'Behold, I see Satan fallen from heaven like lightning.' For at one time he was light." Jerome adds, "Lucifer fell, Lucifer who used to rise at dawn; and he who was bred up in a paradise of delight had the well-earned sentence passed upon him, 'Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.' For he had said in his heart, 'I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,' and 'I will be like the Most High.'" Augustine joins them in concluding, "For example, what is said in Isaiah, 'How he is fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning!' and the other statements of the context which, under the figure or the king of Babylon, are made about the same person, are of course to be understood of the devil; and yet the statement which is made in the same place, 'He is ground down to earth, who sendeth to all nations,' does not altogether fitly apply to the head himself."

Again, regarding Ezekiel 28, Cyril of Jerusalem claims, "The devil then is the first author of sin, and the father of the wicked: and this is the Lord's saying, not mine, that the devil sinneth from the beginning: none sinned before him. But he sinned, not as having received necessarily from nature the propensity to sin, since then the cause of sin is traced back again to Him that made him so; but having been created good, he has of his own free will become a devil, and received that name from his action. For being an Archangel he was afterwards called a devil from his slandering: from being a good servant of God he has become rightly named Satan; for 'Satan' is interpreted the adversary. And this is not my teaching, but that of the inspired prophet Ezekiel: for he takes up a lamentation over him and says, Thou wast a seal of likeness, and a crown of beauty; in the Paradise of God wast thou born: and soon after, Thou wast born blameless in thy days, from the day in which thou wast created, until thine iniquities were found in thee." Tertullian says plainly, "Now, whence originated this malice of lying and deceit towards man, and slandering of God? Most certainly not from God, who made the angel good after the fashion of His good works. Indeed, before he became the devil, he stands forth the wisest of creatures; and wisdom is no evil. If you turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel, you will at once perceive that this angel was both by creation good and by choice corrupt. For in the person of the prince of Tyre it is said in reference to the devil: 'Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty' (this belongs to him as the highest of the angels, the archangel, the wisest of all); 'amidst the delights of the paradise of thy God was thou born' (for it was there, where God had made the angels in a shape which resembled the figure of animals."

The 7 heads and 10 horns will appear again in chapters 13 & 17 and will address both Satan's control of 7 worldly kingdoms of the past, as well as his future control of 10 future kingdoms. That he has 7 diadems on his head, unlike the 10 crowns on the head of the beast in 13:1 is an indication of his attempt to completely usurp the royal rights that belong only to Jesus Christ.

His tail sweeps a third of the stars of heaven and throws them to the earth would seem to indicate 1/3 of the angels falling and becoming demons when Satan rebelled against God. We have already seen in 9:1 that many of these angels have been kept under chains until the time set by God when the Key of the Abyss is opned and they are allowed out on the earth.

The dragon throughout history sought to destroy the child and when he was born he again made every effort to terminate him.

5 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, 6 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.

Psalm 2.

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

The Lord Jesus. Birth to Ascension 5 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,

Everything skipped over. Holy Week skipped over.

Why? The Dragon is a Complete Failure.

Satan is Defeated.

Now John jumps ahead to the Tribulation period

6 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.

3 and a half years. 42 months. Second half of tribulation after antichrist in Temple profanes sanctuary stops sacrifices and demands all people worship him.

Faithful Jews flee Jerusalem. Similar to 70 AD

Think about the kaleidoscope of human history zigzagging through the previous verses:

the fall of the human race in Eden

calling of Israel as God's people to be the instrument for bringing Christ forth

satanic opposition to Jesus during his days on earth

Christ's ascent to the throne of God

Because of the need to get to grips with the final battle between Satan and God, John locates us quickly from the fall of the angels under Lucifer, through the important events in that warfare: the birth death resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then he skips through to the end of the age when the last battle will occur.

2. War In Heaven 7-12

Michael is named in Scripture as the archangel (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9). Interestingly, the name Michael means "who is like God?" and stands in stark contrast to Satan's egocentric attack on the Lord where he said in Isaiah 14:14, "I will be like the most high."

Jude 9 alludes to a strange incident concerning warfare with the devil not found in the Old Testament: "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

The other three texts that mention Michael call him a "prince":

Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

Daniel 10:21But first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.)

Daniel 12:1At 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.

Michael also appears in intertestamental literature such as 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, Ascension of Isaiah, Tobit, Testament of Moses, Testament of Levi, and the Qumran literature.

Satan and his demons are cast out of heaven and, as verse 13 notes, they are cast to the earth. Satan and his demons were cast out of heaven as their home at the time of their original rebellion. However, the Bible seems to indicate that they still have some degree of access to heaven (see Job 1:6; 2:1). However, in the future, during this great battle that takes place during the tribulation, they will be cast out permanently and denied any access to heaven at all. In other words, they will be banished and barred from the presence of God and heaven forever.

• 12:9 contains 4 instructive titles of our archenemy: 1) the great dragon – which emphasizes again his ferocity and terror, 2) that serpent of old – which identifies him with the beguiling snake of Genesis 3 who seduced Adam and Eve into committing sin, 3) the devil – literally diabolos which means "to accuse or slander," and 4) Satan – a proper name which means "the adversary" or "the enemy."

"Cast down" occurs 3 times in the ninth verse to emphasize the certainty and finality of his defeat. That same phrase will occur 3 additional times in 12:10, 12, and 13. Satan has been cast from the throne of God (Ezekiel 28:16 &17), he will be cast from heaven (Revelation 12:9), he will then be cast into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:3), and he will finally be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). Truly, his fall is great. Akin

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!"

12:10–12 A loud voice in heaven signals the triumph. The salvation, power, and kingdom of God, and the authority of his Christ have come. The work of Christ on the cross provided the basis for salvation in Christ's atoning death, but salvation is not ultimately finished until Satan and evil are destroyed, the saints are glorified, and the heavenly state in its purity is established. So, with the defeat of Satan and his angels and with the death of Christ on the cross, the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ begin to affect not only heaven but also earth. The accuser of the brethren, the devil, who delighted to accuse them before God day and night, has been cast down.

The loud voice from heaven announces the era of salvation, of the power and kingdom of God, and of the authority of his Christ. There is certainly a sense in which all this is inaugurated with the first advent of Christ. But the Apocalypse brings the reader to the fulfillment, the consummation of the plan and purpose of God. The salvation of mankind is center focus in the Apocalypse as in all the New Testament. Accomplished in the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus and appropriated by faith, this salvation awaits a final touch of God's grace, the glorification of the body, and ushering in the final, eternal state. This consummation is now in full view. Patterson

Six judgments have been or will be experienced by Satan: (1) his being put out of his original position in heaven (Ezek. 28:16); (2) the judgment pronounced by God in Eden (Gen. 3:14-15); (3) his judgment at the cross of Christ (John 12:31); (4) being cast to the earth in the middle of the Tribulation (Rev. 12:13); (5) confined to the Abyss at the beginning of the Millennium (Rev. 20:2); (6) cast into the Lake of Fire forever at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:10). Ryrie.

What is the devil doing now? Accusing you to God.

The accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night cannot do so any longer.

In the midst of this Spiritual Warfare, this Invisible War, how can we have any hope of success?

"But there is a way to have victory over Satan, and this is stated in verse 11. "They" refers to the believers of verse 11.

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.

There are three elements in the formula for victory in verse 11.

(1) The basis is the blood of the Lamb. Blood is the evidence and proof of death; thus the death of Christ is the basis for all victory over Satan. He died for our sins. He is the propitiation for all our sins. His blood covers all our sins. And we who were lost can now be saved

(2) by the word of their testimony The activity that overcomes Satan is testimony, or witness. Even if it leads to death (as it sometimes does), the witness will be effective in defeating Satan. . Not only are we saved through the blood of Christ, but we are also sealed with His Spirit because of the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit of God has entered our lives because a full atonement has been made and we can propate this truth to others and so see them liberated from the bondage of Satan.

(3) for they loved not their lives even unto death. The attitude involved in victory is complete self-sacrifice, even to the point of being willing to die. All the inexplicable persecutions, tortures, and martyrdoms of saints in all ages are made right by this verse. Seeming defeat is ultimate victory over the enemy of our souls."

3. The Final War On Earth

And now John takes us to the final battlefield in this Invisible War. It is when and where the Invisible War the Spiritual War, becomes visible and physical.

And it has to do again with Israel!

Jews today make up an infinitesimal portion of the world's population. The national and geographical entity called Israel is a small piece of real estate where to date few natural resources have been discovered. Water supply is always a problem; and unlike many of her neighbors, she does not appear to have extensive oil deposits or other wealth-bearing commodities. Doubtless the Dead Sea contains invaluable mineral deposits, but these have been notoriously difficult to extract; and other than rather large potash products, not that many assets are available to Israel in the land. Nevertheless, she is the object of almost worldwide opposition.

The interesting question to be raised from all this is why a piece of relatively unprofitable real estate and a small population of ethnic Jews, even if the worldwide Jewish population is counted, would generate such antagonism toward the Jewish people? There is no conceivable explanation. Even if one posits atrocities rarely committed by Jews, all the other nations of the world are equally guilty and many of them more so. So it is impossible to provide a rational explanation for the almost universal practice of anti-Semitism. On the other hand, this chapter makes that understanding crystal clear. Satan, the ruler of this age, has put in the hearts of people to hate the Jews and therefore to pursue them. His ancient antipathy for God and for God's purposes in redemption flowers into hatred for every person or entity chosen of God for a role in that plan. God chose Israel as the object of his love and the vehicle of his salvation. Consequently, Satan, unable to launch a successful assault on God, chose Israel as the object of his wrath. Patteson.

THE ANTAGONISTS, 12:13

As anticipated in verse 6, Satan's attacks after his being cast out of heaven center on the woman, Israel.

THE ASYLUM, 12:14

Eagles' wings indicate the rapid flight that will be necessary for Israel to escape the attacks of the dragon through his agents (cf. Matt. 24:16 for the flight and Ex. 19:4; Deut. 32:11-12 for eagles' wings). Apparently these fleeing people will find asylum in some place in the wilderness that will give them a certain amount of natural protection for "a time and times and half a time," or three and one-half years (the last part of the Tribulation). Some have suggested that this wilderness refuge will be the presently deserted city of Petra in southern Palestine.

THE ATTACK, 12:15-17

Satan (who also can cause miracles to happen) will launch his attack with a flood, apparently in an effort to flood people out of their wilderness refuge. God, in turn, will cause the earth to open (an earthquake?) in order to swallow the water of the flood and thus save the persecuted people. Is this a physical flood, or is this used in a symbolic way: "their army came in like a flood"? I guess the earth opening (as it did to destroy Korah, Dathan and Abiram of the sons of Aaron and their families when they rebelled against Moses, Number 16:31) would certainly stop this attack.

When he fails to conquer or destroy those who have fled to the wilderness, Satan turns his attack on "the rest of her offspring." These are those who did not flee to the wilderness refuge. All those whom Satan will attack are the remnant in the sense of being on God's side; otherwise, he would not be interested in attacking them. Some flee into the wilderness asylum; the rest do not, and it is against them that Satan unleashes his attack in verse 17. Ryrie

First, it reveals God's salvation, power, and kingdom. While the devil may claim to possess or offer these to humans (see Rev. 13), they truly belong to God alone. Because God's angels won the battle, none can ever claim that Satan has these in his possession. Very quickly the consummation will demonstrate this for all the universe.

Second, it reveals the authority of his Christ. Authority refers to Christ's right to rule. God on heaven's throne gave Christ the right to rule the kingdom. All authority belongs, then, to the Messiah, not to Satan. (In Rev. 13:4 the dragon will give authority to the sea monster.) Satan's final dismissal from access to the throne will display the authority of Jesus as never before.

Third, it means that the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night cannot do so any longer. The concept of continuous satanic accusation appears here only in Scripture, although Job 1â€"2 shows Satan accusing Job before God. This verse does not mean that the devil has had direct personal access to the throne of God during the present age. Rather, just as the prayers of the saints on earth go up unceasingly before God (8:4), so the accusations of the devil have been going up. For reasons Scripture doesn't develop, God has permitted into his presence the enemy's accusations against the saints. (This is surely one important reason for the intercessory ministry of Christ in heaven, Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25.) When Satan and his angels at last are expelled from heaven, then he will find that heaven has forever closed its doors to his accusations. His response will be vicious (v. 12).

For still our ancient foe Doth
seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing,

Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also,

The body they may kill God's truth abideth still

One little word shall fell them

God always sees his redeemed people from a heavenly perspective.

God always sees the devil as a repulsive dragon that opposes the redeemed.

The devil is the accuser of the brothers and sisters before God.

God's divine protection of his people during the final crisis does not mean that they will all be kept from martyrdom.

The consummation is necessary because of the age-long conflict between the woman and the dragon people of God and the devil.

The consummation is necessary to end the final war Satan will bring against God's people.

Be willing to see yourself as God sees his people: radiant and wonderful.

Expect that some of the devil's attacks on you will come as false accusations.

Conquer the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.

Do not despair when you are persecuted for keeping God's commands.

The present eschatological period between Christ's two comings is often compared to two decisive events in World War II—D day and [VE-day]. D day marked the landing of Allied troops in Europe. This decisive operation guaranteed the final defeat of Germany. D day is therefore like the first coming of Jesus portrayed in Revelation 12. However, the final surrender of the Axis forces did not occur until almost a year later on [VE-day.] Christ's second coming—the [VE-day] for the church—remains a future event. Christians now live in this interim period, called by God to overcome the dragon and his forces by putting on the spiritual armor that he has given us (cf. Eph. 6:10–18). Duvall

Believers will face spiritual warfare.

God protects his people against Satan.

Sources: Easley

Akin,

Ryrie,

Osbourne

Patterson

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