Revelation 12:7-17 Kicked OUT

Satan and the angels who followed him were kicked out of Heaven FOREVER. He has no place before God’s throne any longer. And he cannot accuse those who follow Jesus before God.

Satan, Lucifer, used to be the most beautiful of all God’s angels. But conceit and pride crept in and spoiled him. He even wanted to take God’s place. If you are anything like me you will have had times when conceit and pride crept into your life and possibly into your service too. We were allowed to ask for forgiveness for these attitudes. I don’t know if Satan was afforded that opportunity or not but the fact that he was willing to “go to war” to take over God’s throne, would demonstrate that he wasn’t even interested in repentance.

We are told several times in scripture of the fall of Satan and of those who followed him. We are introduced to him in Genesis as a liar and a trickster who opposes God. In Job he came before God to discuss man with God. It seems strange to think of Satan in Heaven where there is no sin.

When Satan sinned against God he was thrown out of Heaven with all the angels who followed him. He was given dominion of the earth by Adam and Eve. They relinquished their birthright to him in exchange for a lie. We are all still paying for that trade.

Jesus’ death on the cross put a stop to Satan’s access into Heaven. Jesus had to cleanse the altar and all the instruments with His blood. That is why He told Mary not to touch Him yet. He had another task to do now that He was completely clean. Sin was fully removed from Heaven with the application of His blood.

But Revelation gives us a deeper picture of that battle. We are not told the “date” this battle took place but its result instead. First we see that it isn’t just Satan fighting but all of his supporters too. Even with all that help, he (and they) loose. “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Second we see that he is thrown down to earth. The earth is his new home, whether he likes it or not.

Satan’s biggest weapon is deceit. He will lie to you, about you, against you, and even for you if it accomplishes his purposes. One of his favorite things used to be lying about you. He would point out an individual and tell God all kinds of stories about how they were sinning. A lot of it was probably true too as we are NOT sinless on our own.

Satan’s most powerful tool was lying to man though. God could see through Satan’s lies but our pride and greed makes us ripe for his interference. Eve bought into his lie and look where it left us! His lies ARE NOT WORTH IT!

I LOVE that Satan cannot accuse us before God anymore. He used to have access and he would accuse the brothers day and night before God. Now there is only Jesus taking up our cause before God. His blood covers ALL our sins so when God looks at us, He sees His son instead.

We have a job to do in the aftermath of this battle. We have to stand firm in our faith in Jesus “even unto death” (verse 13b). We have nothing to fear from death when Jesus is our Lord!

So we have made it back to the woman and the dragon in our story. The dragon is furious because he has been kicked out of Heaven and thrown down to the earth instead. He is hell bent on destroying whatever belongs to God now. He goes after the woman. He missed the Child so he goes after the next best thing, God’s chosen people.

I was confused by the “wings” this woman had. My bible helps tell me that the wings are a reference to the exodus of Israel from Egypt. That sounds plausible to me but the timeline doesn’t fit with the 3 ½ years of protection she will need. I’m going to assume it will be another exodus like escape for Israel.

The flood of water sent to drown the woman by the dragon has me intrigued. I’m wondering if this might refer to the Holocaust where Hitler tried to rid the earth of all Jews. The rest of the earth came to Israel’s rescue and “swallowed up” the threat.

After this attempt to eradicate Israel, Satan turns his attention to the believers instead. He has been on this campaign since the beginning. This won’t stop until Jesus returns. Yes, I believe the church will be raptured before the great tribulation starts, but there will still arise believers during that terrible time. THEY will become Satan’s concentrated target and his henchmen’s. We will meet two of the biggest in that category tomorrow.

Father God, THANK YOU that this story does NOT end here. There is so much more to come and the best part is that in the end You win! Thank You also that Satan can’t stand before You and offer up all my faults any more. I know that I possess several of them but Jesus’ blood covers them completely.

Thank You also Father that You will provide protection during the great tribulation for those who come to You. You give us SO many chances and incentives. I pray for those who wait until the last second. What is it going to take!?! Please let my children recognize the truth earlier. I know, I have to LEAVE them in Your hands, but it doesn’t hurt to pray for them again.