Volume 3 Issue 1

WAR IN HEAVEN

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nd there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9) We all know what warfare is. We see it in one form or another everyday. In fact, the 20^th Century has experienced more bloodshed from war than all the preceding centuries put together. There have been wars that engulfed the entire world, wars between one nation and a neighbor, civil wars, and even wars among religious groups such as in Northern Ireland. We experience war in the streets of our cities because of gangs. We experience war on the nation’s highways and call it road rage. We experience war in our homes and call it domestic abuse. We wage war against crime, drugs, immorality, and even poverty. These are all things we either see and experience first hand or read about in daily newspapers or see on TV. War is a fact of everyday life and if war in some form or another has not touched you, you are a rare person indeed.

Why is war on earth so widespread? Because there is a war going on in heaven and it has spilled over onto the earth. This war began when the archangel, Lucifer, rebelled against the authority of the Lord God. Lucifer desired to enthrone himself above God. Lucifer, who became Satan, boasted, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL MAKE MYSELF LIKE THE MOST HIGH.” (Isaiah 14:13-14) Five times Satan asserts, “I WILL”. Pride was the original sin in the universe and it is pride from which all others sins find their source. This is why the grace of God, shown through the Lord Jesus Christ, is scorned and rejected by mankind. Man’s attempt to save himself by practicing good works is the same sin Satan was guilty of when he rebelled against God. That may sound strange, yet what is the purpose of good works when they are done, not by the power of God within us, but in our own strength? Is it not to prove that we do not need God? Is it not to prove that we can be godlike without God? Yes, and this is what Satan was guilty of. He said, “I will make myself LIKE the Most High.” Satan did not say he would make himself a monster, an evil being bent on the destruction of God’s creation. He said he would make himself like the Most High, but without submitting to the headship of the Lord. Satan’s greatest weapon against mankind is to implant this same desire within us, something he began in the Garden of Eden. The war in heaven came to earth.

Mankind’s fate rested upon the response Adam and Eve would give to the serpent when tempted to eat of the forbidden fruit. Would they, like Satan, chose the path of pride to become godlike in their own strength and reject God’s headship, or would they submit to the authority of their Creator? We know, of course, the answer. They rebelled against God’s command not to eat of the forbidden fruit, thus condemning all of mankind to inherit a sinful, prideful nature.

The word for war in the Hebrew comes from a root that means TO FEED ON, figuratively, TO CONSUME. This definition is personified in 1 Peter 5:8 which says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to DEVOUR.” This desire to devour man, to wage war against him, has been Satan’s craving from the beginning. God’s punishment of Adam and Eve after they ate of the forbidden fruit is documented in Genesis chapter three, but so is the serpent’s punishment. “And the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go, and DUST SHALL YOU EAT all the days of your life; and I will put ENMITY between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.’” (Genesis 3:14-15) Scientifically speaking serpents do not eat dust. So what is God talking about when the curse He places upon the serpent is to eat dust? “Then the Lord God formed man of DUST from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) Satan, instead of enjoying the Bread of Life, the food that came down from Heaven, the only food that produces eternal life, found himself restricted to a diet of death. Satan, perhaps thinking the war was won when he brought about the fall of Adam and Eve, soon realized that this was just the beginning. Satan, in a very real sense, had bitten off more than he could chew. Instead of exalting himself above the throne of God in heaven, he had sentenced himself to hard labor upon the earth, for it was upon the earth that his food source lived.

This punishment also was to bring about a confrontation that Satan could not possibly win; a confrontation between himself and the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ. If Satan could devour Jesus as he had Adam all would be lost. This war is described in Revelation. “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (Revelation 12:4-6) Satan’s first volley in this war was to stir up King Herod so that he ordered the killing of all male children two years of age and younger in Bethlehem after the Wise Men had failed to report back to him when they had found the young Messiah. Jesus escaped this massacre when Joseph, being warned in a dream to flee to Egypt, took Mary and Jesus and did as the angel said. The second volley was Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Here again, Satan failed. The third volley was the crucifixion of Jesus. It seemed that at last Satan had won, his appetite for dust finally sated. But as David testifies of the Messiah, “Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo DECAY.” (Psalms 16:10) That is, Jesus did not return to dust. Instead He was raised from the dead having taken possession of the keys of death and Hades. Satan’s celebration feast at the death of Jesus upon the Cross was in reality his last supper.

This turn of events infuriated Satan. With Jesus now beyond his reach he turned his attention to the woman which here symbolizes the Church. Though Jesus had been taken to heaven, His Body, the Church, remained upon the earth. Beginning with the Apostles and continuing down the last 20 centuries, the Body of Christ, the Church, has been engaged in a constant war. From mild criticism to harsh rebuke to being burned at the stake Christians have fought this war against evil people and evil governments.

The Apostle Paul continuously found himself at odds with the Jews. They defamed and slandered him and frequently sought to kill him. He alluded to this when he said, “If from human motives I fought with WILD BEASTS at Ephesus, what does it profit me?” (Corinthians 15:32) Who were these wild beasts? In the book of Daniel he is given a dream that encompasses the great empires that are to rule the world throughout history. Each one of these godless empires is symbolized by WILD BEASTS. These beasts are described in Daniel chapter seven. The wild beasts Paul warred against in Ephesus were the agents of Satan disguised as secular governments and as FOLLOWERS OF GOD. The most vicious enemies Paul (and Jesus) faced were the Jews who refused to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah and did everything in their power to stop others from believing. This is precisely the war we as Christians fight today.

When the Bible says that Michael and his angels fought with Satan and his angels it means more than winged creatures in heavenly garb engaged in mortal combat. While this is certainly a PART of the war it is only a part. The word angel is the Greek “aggelos” and means “messenger”. Thus, in a very real sense, the angels that fight on the side of Michael are the saints, the members of the Body of Christ. Likewise the angels, the messengers that fight on the side of Satan, are the unbelievers, the hypocrites, the followers of other gods, and the false Christians. It was Jesus who said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matthews 28:19-20) In other words we have been commanded to share the message of the Gospel with the world; in a sense we have been made angels; that is, messengers. Satan too has his messengers. “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his SERVANTS also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) This observation is not said to suggest that heavenly angels, pure spirit-beings, do not fight fallen, demonic angels, but rather to explain in greater depth what this war in Revelation chapter twelve is talking about.

Least anyone desires to argue this explanation the Bible makes clear that we war not against flesh and blood, but against HEAVENLY powers. “For though we walk in the flesh, WE DO NOT WAR ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the HEAVENLY PLACES.” (Ephesians 6:12) We may face individuals that hate us and desire our hurt or even our destruction; we may face heads of state that have been granted the power to take our liberty, our possessions, and our lives, but it is not that PERSON OR PERSONS that we are to fight against. Rather it is the SPIRIT behind them that is to be engaged in war. They are themselves a prisoner of Satan, being used by him to devour the saints. This is well illustrated by the meeting between Pilate and Jesus. With the Jews crying out for the blood of Jesus Pilate was trying to find a way to save Him and at the same time placate them. He told the Jews he found no guilt in Him. The Jews responded by saying that Jesus ought to die because He had claimed to be the Son of God. Pilate, being a Roman and accustomed to thinking there were many gods and goddesses in the world, became frightened of Jesus when he heard this. Perhaps he thought it was possible that Jesus was a god and if so he did not want to offend him. In order to ascertain for himself if Jesus were a god he asked Him, “Where are You from?” (John 19:9) Notice it was the ORIGIN of Jesus that Pilate was wanting to know. Was He of heavenly or earthly origin? “But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I HAVE AUTHORITY to release You, and I HAVE AUTHORITY to crucify You?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over Me, UNLESS IT HAD BEEN GIVEN YOU FROM ABOVE; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.’” (John 19:9-11) Jesus recognized what Pilate did not – that his authority was not his own, but had been granted to him. The Lord God allowed Pilate to be used by satanic forces to further His purposes. The Jews, however, had the greater sin because they claimed to belong to the family of the true God, to operate from the Holy Spirit, and thus were implicating the Lord in the crucifixion of Jesus. Yet it was not the Holy Spirit that they were following when they handed Jesus over to Pilate, but Satan himself. They were following the lead of Judas Iscariot. “And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. And he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the multitude.” (Luke 22:3-6) The battle lines had been drawn. The war that raged in Heaven was being played out for the world to see.

Fortunately, Jesus won the war. He secured victory for His creation by His resurrection from the dead. Satan is a defeated enemy, but like a dictator unwilling to accept defeat, Satan fights on, waging war against the Body of Christ, attempting to destroy as many as possible by deceiving them into questioning God. Satan succeeded into bringing about the fall of man by having Eve question God’s commands. “And he (the serpent, Satan) said to the woman, ‘Indeed, HAS GOD SAID, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’” (Genesis 3:1-2) With the abundance of Garden surrounding her and her freedom to choose from any food there to meet her need, Satan’s question forced her to focus upon what God had forbidden. This is EXACTLY how Satan operates today in unbelievers and especially in those who call themselves Christian. “But the SPIRIT explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful SPIRITS and doctrines of demons.” (1Timothy 4:1) Notice the deception BEGINS in the spiritual realm and is played out in the physical realm. Sometimes this deception is more obvious than at other times. They underpinning motives behind Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of the Lord is easily recognized as satanic. However, how many would have recognized Peter’s rejection of Jesus prophecy that He would be crucified in Jerusalem as of satanic origin? “And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘GET BEHIND ME, SATAN! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’” (Matthew 6:22-23) No doubt Peter spoke from a sincere motive, not wanting Jesus to suffer the fate of crucifixion. Of course, Peter probably also spoke from selfish motives. If Jesus were the Messiah and was born to free Israel from the grip of foreign powers and if the Apostles were to rule and reign with Him, sitting upon twelve thrones, how could that ever come to pass if Jesus were dead? It would have been this selfishness that Satan would have found a foothold within Peter’s spirit. Satan would use Peter to wage war against Jesus by appealing to His human nature to preserve Himself. How easy it would have been for Jesus to agree with Peter, to reason within Himself that for Him to live would far better serve the purpose of God. In fact there were times when Jesus did practice self-preservation. One time Jesus upset the Jews with His words, “And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. BUT PASSING THROUGH THEIR MIDST, He went His way.” (Luke 4:28-30) Jesus did this because He knew it was not His time to die. Nevertheless, when it was time for Him to die He was prepared to do so and not even the rebuke of a close friend would convince Him to change His mind or weaken His resolve to fulfill the will of His Father. Jesus rebuked Peter because the SPIRIT behind his words was at war with the Father’s will.

As Christians we are told how to fight this heavenly war. “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. FOR OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:10-13) This armor consists of SEVEN things. (Seven is the number of SPIRITUAL perfection on this earth.) The armor is TRUTH that is to be girded about our loins; the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS; the shoes of the Gospel of PEACE; the shield of FAITH; the helmet of SALVATION; the sword of the SPIRIT which is the WORD OF GOD; and PRAYER in the SPIRIT. Each of these is important, but we do not have the space to go into much detail here. Suffice it to say that the loins speak of the power of procreation. We will either give birth to lies or the truth, depending the spirit we submit to. The breastplate covers the heart. “Keep your heart with all vigilance and above all that you GUARD, for out of it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23 AMP) If righteousness is what covers (guards) our heart then true spiritual life will beat with our breasts. That which is to be foundational in our walk as Christians is the Gospel of peace. Though we are in a war the aim is not to destroy others, but to set them free by proclaiming that God is not angry at creation. Rather, He has come to make us one with Him. The word “peace” means “to join; to set at one”. The shield of faith speaks of a large shield that covers the entire body. Without faith all the rest of the armor becomes nothing more that human effort to save himself. Salvation is to cover our heads; that is, our MINDS. We must remember that salvation is a GIFT from God and not the result of works. The Bible is the sword that we use to defend ourselves and to strike at the heart of the enemy – exposing all that is not of God. Lastly, it is prayer that allows us to SEE. Even with all the other pieces of armor in place, without prayer, we are BLIND. Prayer opens our eyes to the will of the Lord so that we will know the difference between, “A time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:8) Sin is our enemy, not people. War in the heavenlies – love each other.

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