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 he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
Revelation 12:12-17
War In Heaven
The throne room scene in Revelation 4-5 is the catalyst for the war in Heaven and is critical to the woman because it delivers her vindication. Everyone is in the assembly. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is present. All the heavenly inhabitants are there. Everyone in the cosmic universe is there to witness this grand event including 24 representatives from earth. God the Father has a book with seven seals, but only a worthy man can open it, and no worthy man is found. John understands the gravity of the situation and begins to weep. Satan is ecstatic. His joy knows no bounds because without the opening of this book the names of the righteous will never be declared, the resurrection of the dead in Christ will never occur and the living saints will not be rescued. Of course, he is elated.
All through the ages, the heavenly host has watched as the true advocate of mankind performs a strange ritual every morning and every evening. It became known as the daily. It was not fully understood by anyone, but all knew it had to do with the sin of disbelief committed in the garden by the first man and woman. The angels knew that the daily is the reason the man and the woman were not slain at the very moment they sinned against God. They also recognize the daily provides divine protection to planet earth. The entire globe has been on a spiraling decline into decay since sin entered the world, but the daily demonstrates that God has a protective hand on the planet preventing it from self-destruction to the point of complete annihilation.
The fallen angels are especially interested in all these grand events because their fate hangs in the balance. They have put all their faith and trust in the one they believe to be their one, true advocate known as Lucifer. They listen carefully as he demands a reckoning against all law breakers and their hearts tremble with fear. He declares that anyone in the kingdom that has sinned against God should be destroyed. Satan desires to destroy mankind, and does not care at all if the fallen angels are destroyed by his demands. Satan is an evil one because he persuades all others to do evil so he can point a condescending finger at them. All hypocrites behave in this manner.
Finally, John sees Him. The Lamb that was slain stands upon the throne of God revealing to the entire cosmos that He is God. He is also the worthy man because he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. He is the prevailing one. When the Lamb takes the book out of the right hand of God, the book becomes the Lamb's Book of Life. Revelation 21:27 The twenty-four elders fall down before the Lamb, and all of Heaven recognizes the true advocate, Jesus Christ. The fallen angels chose Satan, the great adversary, as their advocate and he duped them. What is your choice today?
Once the Lamb receives the book, He immediately begins removing the seals revealing Himself as the woman's conqueror. He comes to her side with the rainbow, the sign of God's Holy Word reminding all the inhabitants of Heaven of God's promises to Noah regarding his descendants. Genesis 9:9-17 He gives the woman the Word of God, based upon promises made to mankind, as a sword to use against the wiles of the devil during the dark days. Finally, He goes to the woman and says, "Who will go and work in my fields?" He is certain to get a reply from the faithful within the church. Those that say, "Here am I, send me." will be anointed with the oil and the wine so they can complete the work of harvesting the fields during a time of duress. Revelation 6:1-7
Satan is furious with the turn of events. He despises the woman and her children. Some of these unholy children of men dare to enter in and breathe their odorous prayers into the air of the sanctuary. He despises the one that is always at the altar of incense creating a sweet savor to cover their foul breath. Satan insists that the inhabitants of earth are not worthy of an advocate. He demands that the daily cease because all men and women are vile creatures worthy only of death. Heaven can not argue with the truth of Ha Satan's statements regarding mankind. Heaven agrees to cease the daily for Satan's children, but Jesus continues to intercede on behalf of His own. The test of Job begins for the final generation. However, Satan and the fallen angels do not realize that the daily was the only thing allowing them presence into Heaven. They are kicked out and Heaven is so happy!!! However, the righteous angels in Heaven are also concerned about the inhabitants of earth. They love the compassion shown to mankind by our advocate and commit to join in the harvest of the last days. Matthew 13:36-39
Once the daily ceases and the woman's place in the wilderness is secured, war begins and the devil and his evil ones are cast down to the earth to begin a 3.5 year test of faith upon the last generation of the children of men. Daniel 7:7-8, 24-26; 8:9-12, 23-26. Why 3.5 years? The ministry of the advocate, Jesus Christ of Nazareth lasted 3.5 years. God is a just God; therefore, the great testing delusion of the adversary will last 3.5 years. Daniel 12:1-7 The test will be harsh, and many will fail. However, we have the sure word of God that you and I can overcome just as Job overcame the adversary.
These final days before the Day of Atonement when God, Israel's rightful King comes to visit, are called the Days of Awe. They will be awful, but they will also be full of awe. There will be much bloodshed of the innocent, righteous ones. However, there will also be many supernatural occurrences. Satan will send a flood of ungodly men to slay the woman. At the end of the 3.5 years, when she has finished testifying, he will succeed. However, there will be a massive global earthquake and the slain prophets will be resurrected and ascended. This provides encouragement to her seed (children born into the faith). Immediately, the plagues will begin to fall and in the sixth plague, Satan will rally all the ungodly to fight against the woman's children in the battle of Armageddon. God will appear in the Heavens and destroy the wicked ones with His very presence. The dead in Christ will rise, and those that are alive and remain (the saints) will rise up to meet them in the air. Mission accomplished! Read on to discover details regarding these final events.
