Each time I teach Daniel or Revelation, both difficult books to understand, I am asked about the endtimes (what we call eschatology), and how things unfold in the future. I am always reminded of Dr. Branine, who taught most of my theology courses in seminary – a man who always assigned me the most difficult verses in class because I was the least theologically educated student in the seminary.
Admittedly, I was a little self conscious. Yes, I grew up in the church but I was never taught in Sunday School the way my classmates were. They had memorized hundreds, if not thousands, of verses and I was no match for them in the classroom. Dr. Branine lovingly let me know that I would soon catch up – his method was to give me the most difficult passages to study and write papers on so I could become more theologically literate.
One of the most confusing areas of Scripture deals with the book of Revelation and how it should be interpreted. It is the study of the events leading up to the reign of Christ through all eternity. One of the verses I was assigned to write on is the passage when Satan and his fallen angels get thrown out of heaven. At first pass, this may not seem to be that significant, but I can’t count the number of people who think that Satan has already been banished already; or even that evil has been eliminated and no longer exists in our world.
Of course, in my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. Just look around… Ukraine, mob violence, killings, white collar crime, scams perpetrated on our oldest citizens and many other example of horrific things that can’t help but be evidence of evil present in the world today.
While we know that the earth is the dominion of Satan, many people believe that Satan and his legions of followers have already been banished from heaven and the throne room of God. But Revelation gives us a different view of this. It is important to remember that most of this great book occurs in the future – it hasn’t happened yet. Yet God gives the apostle John a glimpse of what is to come in the future.
If you have ever read the book of Job, it is disconcerting to realize that God gives Satan access to heaven. Many people believe that sometime after that, Satan was banished from heaven, but there is no Scriptural evidence for that… It scares many people. Today was one of those days that I was teaching on these very verses and, once again, I was made aware of how many folks think that Satan has already been vanquished.
I believe that the truth of the matter is that Satan is still alive and well, with access to God the Father in heaven, this very day. I believe that spiritual warfare is real and I also believe that guardian angels protect us and perform many ministerial duties on behalf of God.
I don’t think that Satan is thrown out of heaven until sometime in the future, at least according to the glimpse of the future that John was allowed to see. By the way, he was also told to write things down as a record for the future.
Make no mistake about it – God wins and Satan is eventually vanquished – eternally. The events surrounding the war in heaven that Satan and his supporters lose happens in the 12th chapter of Revelation. This doesn’t mean that evil goes away – merely that Satan and his fallen angels lose a heavenly battle and are thrown down to earth – residing there for the next season of years.
It is a compelling story and one that I have spent years studying. Tonight’s verse is the one that lets us know for sure when the endtimes have been triggered and Satan is no longer a threat in heaven – even though the earth is about to experience untold sorrow and destruction during the second half of the Tribulation.
The apostle, John, tells us and the other readers of Revelation about the war in heaven when Satan’s legion of fallen angels is defeated. He tells us, in Revelation 12:7-10, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 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. 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 Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
Ever since the birth of Jesus, when He was born to Mary and invaded the dominion of Satan, angels and spiritual warfare have been an important component of God’s plan.
My encouragement tonight is that, ultimately, GOD WINS! And that means that we win also. Satan will be banished to the lake of fire forever and we will reign with Christ throughout eternity. My prayer is that more people will learn about the Good News of Jesus Christ and that when the endtimes commence, more of us will be raptured into heaven where we can worship and live in the glory of God. Remember, WE WIN! Satan will be defeated. But for now, God still allows Satan access to the throne room in heaven. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…