Revelation 12:7–12

These verses do not call the scene a sign. The presence of Satan in heaven is real. A war there between the armies of good and evil, under their leaders Michael and the Dragon, is certain. Many are surprised to hear that Satan has a place in "the Heaven," though not in the immediate presence of God. Others refuse to believe it.

Satan and his angels are in heaven; see Ephesians 6:12. Satan has access to the heavens that God created, where His throne stands. There he accused Job. But Satan cannot enter the light no one can approach… It is a great mistake to believe that Satan is in the lake of fire. He is with the angels in heavenly places. People will be in the lake of fire burning with sulfur before Satan is there.

Michael, the dragon's opponent, is "the great prince who has charge of" God's people. He is the only "archangel" named, and Scripture always mentions him in connection with Israel… So it seems that evil rulers and powers stand behind the nations that oppose Israel, and that Israel itself is under Michael's special guard… It is a sign, then, that God has taken up His purposes for Israel again: Michael, the great prince who has charge of the people, is the angel who here goes to war against the dragon, Israel's relentless persecutor and slanderer.

Who is Michael? We meet this great name in Jude, where he argues with the devil, and in Daniel, where he is the great prince who rises up as ruler of God's governing power, on behalf of the Jewish people… I do not see that Scripture reveals him to be Christ under a hidden name. But he is certainly the direct and higher agent of God's governing purposes.

The question of good and evil is one and the same everywhere, and it gets its answer for heaven as it does for earth. First in the work of Christ, which glorifies God about it all. Then, as the fruit of that work, in the winning back of what had been separated from Him… It sounds strange to us to hear of war in heaven — of armies drawn up on both sides, of resistance that fails, of a struggle left, it seems, to the strength of creatures, with God not stepping in directly.

But God has decreed that in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation Period, Michael and his angels will fight a decisive battle in heaven against Satan and his angels, and throw them down to earth… Michael is called Israel's prince, so his fighting will be on behalf of Israel, though Israel will suffer all the more after this time. But God will use Satan's hatred to drive Israel back to Himself through the sorrows of the Great Tribulation. So Satan's presence on earth will result in Israel's true blessing in the end… Verse 9 gives four names for this great enemy of God: the dragon (the one who terrifies), that old serpent (the deceiver), the devil (the accuser) and Satan (the adversary). Yet angels defeat all this hellish power, though certainly at God's direction.

Next comes war in heaven; Michael and his angels fight against the dragon. The devil is thrown out, and with that he loses his anti-priestly character. As the accuser of the brothers before God day and night, he was anti-priest. But he still keeps his anti-kingly and anti-prophet characters. His accusing is finished. There is no place for him any more in heaven, though he still has a place on earth.

No careful reader of Scripture will wonder at finding Satan in heaven. Our knowledge on the subject is limited. Still, we read of "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." We see him as the devil, or slanderer, accusing God's people. We see him as Satan, the adversary, opposing Joshua the high priest, and Michael the archangel. Probably he cannot enter "the third heaven" where God dwells, but he clearly has some place in the heavens out of which he is driven by this war.

The dragon himself suffered a shameful defeat, and the whole company of sinful angelic beings is banished for ever from "the heaven." The seventy disciples came back from their mission full of joy that even the demons obeyed them through His name. But that was only the seed of full and final victory over the enemy and his power. The Lord announced that victory beforehand when He added at once, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:17-18). Whatever resistance he offers, his fall from heaven will be complete and instant, like a flash of lightning.

If it were not for the death of Christ, God would long ago have shown how He views the defilement the enemy has caused there. He bears with the rebellion of the world. He also bears with another rebellion: the boldness of Satan, who dares to push himself into His own presence and bring accusations against His people. But do not forget: if there is one who loves to accuse, there is another who intercedes, the Advocate, who never slumbers nor sleeps... In time, God will no longer allow Satan to taint the air of heaven.

The devil is cast out, and by that he loses his anti-priestly character. He accused God's people before God day and night, so he was anti-priest. But he still has his anti-kingly and anti-prophet characters. His accusing is over. There is no place for him any more in heaven, though he has a place on earth.

Michael and his angels threw the dragon and his angels out of heaven. It was not the spiritual victory of the saints. God's people overcame him this way while he was not yet cast down, and this is the warfare the Christian has to wage (Ephesians 6). But a quite different war casts him out of heaven. Not saints by faith, but angels, acting by divine power in judgment. When Revelation 12:8-9 comes true, Christian warfare will have no more place here than Satan and his angels will have a place above.

Notice that this naturally, if not necessarily, supposes the removal of the church to heaven before the change takes place. If the church were still on earth when the devil and his angels are cast out of heaven, it would no longer be true of us that we wrestle with wicked spirits in heavenly places.

God is still bearing with His enemies, angelic and human. But when His patience reaches its set limit, He will use His power and rid Himself of all who keep opposing His will. He will clear the heavens first. Revelation 12:7-9 describes that final conflict. The clearing of the earth will follow quickly. When judgment has purged the whole scene, above and below, new heavens and a new earth will appear, where righteousness will dwell for ever.

The first two titles describe character — cruelty and subtlety. The last two names, Devil and Satan, refer to the dragon as a person. The devil is an actual historical being, and New Testament Greek uses the word only in the singular. Where older translations say "devils," the word should be "demons." As the devil, he is the accuser, the slanderer, and tempter. As Satan, he is the open and declared adversary of Christ, the public enemy of God and of His people.

In the Genesis account, then, it is just the serpent, the visible agent of the mischief, that is mentioned. So also, in 2 Corinthians 11:3 we read, "the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning." Only in the last book of the Bible do we get the clearest identification of the serpent with the unseen actor working through it. There, twice over in almost the same words, we read, "that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan" (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). He is the originator and instigator of that dreadful thing, sin, which has invaded this fair creation.

Next comes Satan's special work, the one his tireless energy drives at. He "deceives the whole habitable world." … The prime mover in all is alone before us. By God's permission Satan deceives everyone caught in the prophetic scene. It does not matter who the people used are, or what the means are. Satan himself is the leader who lures the world on to its moral ruin. … Then, however, Satan keeps in the background; here in the light of Heaven he stands fully exposed.

No careful reader of Scripture will wonder at finding Satan in heaven. Our knowledge on the subject is limited. Still, we read of "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." We see him as the devil, or slanderer, accusing the brothers. We see him as Satan, the adversary, opposing Joshua, the high priest, and Michael, the archangel. He probably cannot enter "the third heaven" where God dwells. But he clearly has some place in the heavens, and this war drives him out of it.

Repeating the verb cast out three times emphasises the shameful expulsion of Satan and his angels from Heaven. Who these angels are is a question shrouded in mystery. All we know is that they make up Satan's fighting host, and are cast out of Heaven with their chief. Satan can then no longer enter God's presence to accuse the saints to Him. His poisonous breath can never again infect the holy atmosphere of the heavenly places. The heavens have to be cleared of evil as well as the earth. The ground on which both are purified and reconciled is the sacrifice of Christ. How complete, therefore, and far-reaching in its results is the blood of Christ!

As the dragon he is the destroyer. As the ancient serpent he is the deceiver. As the devil, he is the accuser. As Satan, he is the adversary — the adversary of God, of all good, and of our souls. … If the devil is the destroyer, our Lord is the DELIVERER. If the devil is the deceiver, our Lord is the TRUTH — the Holy and the True. If the devil is the accuser, our Lord is the INTERCESSOR AND ADVOCATE. If the devil is the adversary, our Lord is THE FRIEND. You must choose, Christians, under whose control you will come.

The song does not say who sings it. But only saints in heaven could speak of the suffering remnant on earth as "our brothers." So this is not the song of angels. It is the song of glorified saints, represented by the elders. Driving Satan out of heaven was a necessary first step to "the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ." It was so necessary that, once it is done, the song already says these have come. Every obstacle in heaven is now removed, though there are still enemies to overcome on earth.

The salvation spoken of here does not seem to be the salvation of the body, as some think. The verse explains it as the rescue of people who are called "our brothers" from the accusation of Satan. So the voice seems to be that of the glorified saints. The "brothers" they speak of are the saints on earth. In the past those saints overcame these accusations by their own faithfulness, and now the accusations are ended forever.

Clearly the passage speaks of people in heaven at this time who feel deeply for their suffering brothers on earth. That is the undeniable fact. Who are they but those who are one with Christ, the mighty male child of this chapter? Because Satan has fallen, they look ahead to the full setting up of the kingdom, though three and a half times have yet to pass in fact.

Has there ever been a time in the church's past history when God stepped in so strikingly that it would match this? Is it really true that, when Constantine adopted Christianity, salvation came? Surely not.

God bears with the rebellion of the world. He also bears with another rebellion: the boldness of Satan, who dares to push his way even into God's own presence and bring accusations against His people before Him. But do not forget: if there is one who loves to accuse, there is another to intercede — the Advocate, who never sleeps. There may be the devil against the saints, but there is Christ for them, who always lives to make intercession.

There is in heaven an accuser of us also, who says things about us that are true. He knows our lives, and he reports our faults and failures in heaven. Another is there too, One not seen in this vision. "If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). So we need not fear what the accuser may say, true though the charges may be, because there is One there to plead His death.

Satan is completely beaten and overthrown in the very place and seat of his power. Never again will the court of Heaven listen to his accusations, just or unjust.

"Therefore be full of delight, you heavens" — that is, for this reason: Satan and his angels have been thrown out of heaven for ever. Rejoice, let gladness reign throughout the whole of the heavenly spheres. This is the only place in Revelation where the word "heavens" appears. Everywhere else the book uses the singular. But the heavens are not the only ones to share in the joy that follows Michael's victory. It adds, "and you that dwell (or tabernacle) in them." The whole company of the redeemed, and the angels too, share in the call to rejoice — for the heavens are their native region.

"Woe to the earth and to the sea." The Authorised Version wrongly adds "the inhabiters of the earth." The addition does not belong. This is not an outburst of anger. It is a prophetic announcement of coming judgment on the earth — that is, on all settled and stable governments and peoples. It announces judgment on the sea too — that is, the restless and revolutionary part of the world.

In verse 12 those in heaven rejoice that Satan is banished from there. But woe is pronounced on the inhabitants of the land (Israel) and the sea (the nations). The devil's bitter hatred will rise to a frenzy of action, because he knows his time is short. Satan wants to do all the harm he can, but God allows it in perfect wisdom, using the evil to teach people what comes of choosing Satan's authority instead of God's. Behind it all stands God's stern wrath against the piled-up wickedness of both Jews and Gentiles — a wrath that is calm, deliberate, and completely righteous.

This woe connects Satan's removal from his heavenly seat with the crisis of Jews and Gentiles at the end of the present age. Here we find the hidden reason. Why should there be such an extraordinary storm of persecution then? Why is Satan so active here below for that short time, the three and a half years before the close? Here it is explained. Satan can no longer accuse above, so he does his worst below, while he can.

The "great rage," or wrath, of Satan exceeds that of the nations (Rev. 11:18), because he is the prime mover and the invisible leader. His rage at being banished from his heavenly place for ever grows sharper, because he knows he has only a short career left on earth… God allows Satan, once cast down, to rage against and persecute His saints on earth for 1260 literal days… At the close of that time the Lord appears, and Satan is shut in the abyss for a thousand years. This is the second stage in the judgment of the devil. The first was his casting down from the heavens. Only the third remains — cast into the lake of fire at the close of the kingdom reign, his eternal doom.

Here we find that all the heavenly people are called to rejoice that the accuser of the brothers is cast down, and that they have overcome him. The heavenly people are the church of God, because our citizenship is in heaven and we are one with Christ there. At the very moment when these heavenly saints have overcome, Satan comes down to earth with great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time. So we get full rejoicing in what is heavenly, and at the same time the most desperate woe in what is earthly. This makes the contrast clear and definite between these heavenly ones and the dwellers on earth. All through Revelation they stand against those who are heirs of heaven.