And there was war in the heaven Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon fought, and his angels;
Chapter 12 turns from signs seen in the sky to an actual clash, and the battlefield is heaven itself. Three questions follow: who is Michael, how can Satan be in heaven at all, and when does this fight happen?
This scene is not called a sign. One commentator insists the war is real, and notes how many refuse to believe it:
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.
If Satan were already in the lake of fire, this verse would make no sense. One writer places him elsewhere, and draws a line he cannot cross:
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 appears rarely in the Bible, and always with one nation in view. That makes his arrival here a signal:
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.
Some have thought Michael is Christ under another name. One writer weighs it and does not agree:
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 strangest thing here is that God does not simply speak and end the war. One writer ties this to the work of Christ:
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.
One writer dates the war and follows what it means for Israel:
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.
Losing heaven costs him one office, but not every weapon:
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.
- Place — Satan is not in the lake of fire yet. He holds a place in the created heavens, but never in the light where God dwells, which no one can approach.
- Prince — Scripture names Michael only where Israel is at stake. His arrival signals that God has taken up His purposes for that nation again.
- Permission — God does not crush the dragon Himself here. He leaves the fight to created armies, on ground the work of Christ has already won.
- Period — the war falls in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation. Satan is thrown to earth, Israel's hardest days follow, and God uses them to bring that nation back to Himself.
- Price — Satan loses his standing as accuser before God for good. He is left with the earth alone.
and he prevailed not, nor was their place found any more in the heaven.
Revelation 12 shows a battle fought above the earth. This verse gives the result: the dragon and his angels lose, and their place in heaven is gone for good. Two questions follow at once. How could Satan have a place in heaven at all? And what changes when he loses it?
The verse assumes the dragon held a place he could be thrown out of. Other passages prepare us for that, and they also mark a limit on how far up he can go.
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 defeat falls on the dragon himself. The loss of place falls on his whole company. One writer links the speed of it to what Jesus said about Satan falling.
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 his presence defiles heaven, why has God put up with it so long? One answer links the delay to the death of Christ, and sets the accuser beside the Advocate.
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.
Losing his place is not the same as losing all power. One role ends; two others go on below.
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.
Some have read this as a picture of the gospel triumphing in history. Kelly answers that the victors named in the text are angels, not believers, and that the two kinds of conflict cannot be merged.
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.
He draws one more conclusion from it.
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.
Heaven cleared is the first stage, not the last.
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.
- Place — Satan now holds a place in the heavens, though likely not where God dwells. This verse marks the moment he loses it, never to get it back.
- Patience — God bears with him there, as He bears with rebel man on earth. The death of Christ is why the reckoning has waited.
- Power — Believers' faith does not evict him. Angels do, acting in judgment, and the blow falls like lightning.
- Prosecution ended — He loses his role as accuser before God. His work as false king and false prophet goes on for a time on earth.
- Purging — A cleared heaven is only stage one. Earth follows, and the end is new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.