Greetings,
We have spent the past two weeks scripturally proving that angels and demons are in fact two different classes of beings. In order to come to this understanding it became necessary to prove that giants (otherwise known as nephilim) were hybrids. They were half man and half angel. This week we are going to dive further as we begin to flesh out what this means for us today.
We are now going to return to the topic of angels. We have already gone over the fact that Lucifer was the first angel to rebel. However, when we took a closer look at what happened during the Genesis 6 incident we realized that Lucifer had little if any involvement in that rebellion. This is further proven in that while the angels discussed in Genesis 6 were cast into hell (2 Peter 2: 4-5) and placed in everlasting chains under darkness (Jude 6) Satan wasn’t. Satan was clearly roaming the earth during the time of Job.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job 1:6-7)
The fact that there were two separate rebellions proves something important for us. There were and have historically been multiple angelic rebellions. This week we are going to discuss how this relates to the twelfth chapter of Revelation. Instead of jumping right into a particular verse and using it out of context to prove something we think we should believe, we will begin at the beginning.
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” (Revelation 12:1-2)
There is a great wonder in heaven. As we proceed to define this wonder we are going to allow the Bible to interpret itself. In other words, where do we see the Bible using the same description and how does that fit with what we are being presented with here? In the book of Genesis, one of the twelve sons of Jacob (renamed Israel) is Joseph. He has a dream in which the sun the moon and eleven stars bow down to him. That dream is interpreted by his father who responds as follows:
“And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (Genesis 37:10)
Based on this interpretation Jacob is represented by the sun, his wife is represented by the moon, and the twelve stars are the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus the woman that is in the midst of all of these symbols represents the nation of Israel. Sure enough, Israel is represented by a woman on numerous occasions throughout scripture (Hosea 3:1, Ezekiel 36:17). Therefore, Revelation 12:2 is describing the time when the nation of Israel was ready to deliver the Messiah to the world. This is the exegetical timeframe for the next comment.
“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” (Revelation 12:3-4)
As we read the next portion of Scripture we see a dragon having seven heads and ten horns. We know that this is a symbolic representation of Satan because Revelation 12:9 says so. Regarding the seven heads and ten horns, heads on a beast are scripturally significant of successive kingdoms while horns tend to mean rulers within a kingdom ruling at the same time. In any case, the tail of this dragon draws a third of the stars of heaven and casts them to the earth. Allowing the Bible to define itself, stars are in this case are symbolic of angelic beings (Revelation 1:20).
Notice that in verse 4 the purpose for drawing them to the earth is clearly given. It is to devour the child, the Messiah, as soon as it is born. The timeframe for this angelic rebellion led by Lucifer does not seem to be prior to the Garden of Eden. If we accurately exegete the passage and simply read what it says it gives us a timeframe of some point prior to the birth of Jesus (but after Israel becomes a nation).
Verses 5 and 6 go on to discuss that Jesus was born anyway, He was not devoured, and He was ultimately caught up unto God. As we know Jesus lived, died a horrific death upon the cross, was raised to life, and at some point afterwards was caught up into heaven. Verse 6 goes on to discuss the nation of Israel and how she will flee into a place prepared for her in the wilderness for 1260 days. This seems to jump forward in history quite a bit correlating with the timeframe given for the coming great tribulation (Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15-21, Revelation 13:5-7).
The passage in Revelation 12 picks up in verse 7 and now we are at a significant war in heaven.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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.” (Revelation 12:7-9)
In this war Satan and the fallen angels with him are cast out of heaven. The question is: when does this war take place? Some have suggested that it happened prior to the Garden of Eden. If this were true, why is Satan still coming before God in the book of Job? This conclusion makes no sense. The passage is clear that after this war “their place was no longer found in heaven.”
Others have said that this war is yet to come. They suggest that during the great tribulation Satan will make war with heaven. Could that be what this passage is referring to?
I am firmly persuaded that neither of these possibilities is the truth of the matter. Instead, I am convinced that this war actually occurred and came to its end during the time that Jesus conducted His ministry on earth. In order to grasp this, it is essential to understand the implications of the next verse: Revelation 12:10.
To be continued…
