Painting #34 The Sun Clad Woman - Revelation 12:1

     This chapter begins the second half of the Book of Revelation, just as it marks also the beginning of the second half of the tribulation period, the final three-and-a-half years before the coming of Christ to earth to reign in power and great glory. The trumpet of the seventh presence-angel has sounded, and its echo will continue to resound throughout this last awful period, the great tribulation.

The Seed of the Woman

     However, the remarkable vision seen by John in this chapter looks back first of all to the very beginning of earth history, then races forward to the time of Christ and finally to the events still to be consummated in this final period. This review was necessary for John (and for us) to comprehend the full significance of the great sign about to be unveiled.

Revelation 12:1.     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.

     The word “wonder” is the same as “sign” in the Greek, John thus informing us that the immediate vision is symbolic rather than literal. No woman in the strict physical sense could be arrayed with the sun and standing on the moon.

     It is significant, however, that John feels it necessary to call this fact to our attention even when its very description makes this fact amply obvious. Evidently he would imply that most of Revelation is to be taken literally. This chapter is figurative and plainly so, but John nevertheless is at special pains to mention it.

     Furthermore, even when a passage in the Bible is intended to be understood figuratively, as in this case, there is always ample information, either in the immediate context or in the broader context of background Scripture, to enable us to discern its full meaning. The complete message of this great chapter is of such grand scope that it can only be fully appropriated and appreciated through this use of symbol.

     In his vision, as John gazed toward the heavens, it seemed that the sun was the brilliant apparel of a beautiful woman. On her head, above the shining sun, was a circle of twelve stars, forming as it were a diadem for the woman. Low along the horizon appeared the moon, seeming to form a footstool for her feet.

     Since the meaning of this sign is not explained in the context, we must look elsewhere in Scripture for its interpretation. There is, in fact, another “heavenly” woman mentioned in the New Testament – “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4:26). The specific connection of the sun and moon and twelve stars, however, is found elsewhere only in Joseph’s dream (Genesis 37:9), where Joseph understood them as representing his father, mother, and eleven brothers, who would someday bow down to him.

     Also, the nation Israel is occasionally represented in the Old Testament as a woman, sometimes as the symbolic “wife” of Jehovah (Isaiah 54:5, 6; Jeremiah 31:32; Hosea 2:19-23), and even as a woman in travail (Isaiah 66:7-9; Micah 4:10 – 5:3). Though none of these usages conform precisely to the symbology here in Revelation 12, they seem to suggest, when taken all together, that the woman seen by John may represent Israel, the true Israel, that is, the remnant in the nation that had believed God’s promises and sought to obey His Word throughout their generations.

     However, the subsequent emphasis on the seed of this woman would carry us back not just to the beginning of the nation of Israel (in Joseph’s dream, the woman seems to have represented his mother Rachel, although Rachel was already dead at the time; actually, Rachel’s sister Leah was the mother of Judah, from which tribe eventually came the Messiah), but back to the protevangelic promise in the garden of Eden itself. There God had predicted an agelong conflict between the Serpent and the Woman, and between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), and it is that conflict which is in view in this chapter.

     The woman, therefore, includes Israel (the faithful remnant in Israel, that is) but must go beyond Israel, back to the beginning. Eve (not Rachel, or Jerusalem) is the true “mother of us all” in the physical sense, and it was concerning her that the protevangelic promise (“the seed of the woman will someday crush the head of the serpent”) was given. The woman thus represents the whole body of believers. As the true Israel was symbolized as the wife of Jehovah and the true Church as the bride of Christ, so the great woman must represent all true believers, beginning with Eve herself.

     Her clothing is the sun, with the moon under her feet. The glory of the sun is a picture of the glory of Christ, who is “the light of the world” (John 8:12). Believers are all to “cast off the works of darkness” and to “put on the armour of light” – that is to say, “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:12, 14). Christ Himself is our glorious apparel, and this fact seems to be the primary meaning of the great symbol of the woman clothed with the sun.

     By the same token, the moon under her feet must represent the works of darkness which are cast off. The moon is not a true light, as is the sun, since it only counterfeits that light, not shining of itself but merely reflecting the sun’s light. Whenever objects are depicted as “under the feet” in Scripture, they are represented as subjugated, trodden down, held in bondage (Psalm 91:13; 1 Corinthians 15:25).

     Thus, the heaven-pictured woman in this verse seems most likely to picture the great body of the redeemed people of God through all ages. They have conquered the false “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), bruising him under their feet (Romans 16:20), and have hidden themselves in Christ’s righteousness so that they “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).

     The twelve-starred crown on the woman’s head seems to represent either the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12) or perhaps their respective angels (angels often are called “stars” in Scripture) or else the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Revelation 21:14), or possibly both. Just as Christ had said the righteous would shine forth as the sun, so the angel had told Daniel that “they that turn many to righteousness [shall shine] as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).

     The common interpretation that the woman of Revelation 12:1 is Israelis, thus, clearly too constricted an interpretation for the magnificent context in which this scene is placed. Israel is certainly included, but so are all the people of God throughout the ages, beginning with Eve herself.

Revelation 12:2.     And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

     The original evangelical promise was made by God in the garden of Eden: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). These words were directed to Satan, that old serpent, the very one who is central in this chapter of Revelation. There was to be perpetual enmity between Satan and “the woman” (that is, all believing women), and between the serpent’s seed (that is, all those who, like Cain, would reject God and His Word) and the woman’s seed (that is, all those who, like Abel, would believe and therefore obey God and His Word, no matter the cost).

     But someday there would come the prototype “seed of the serpent,” one who would be the very incarnation of Satan, completely embodying the character of his father, the father of lies (John 8:44). He will be “that man of sin, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), whose evil career is a major theme of the Book of Revelation.

     The one who will conquer this final and greatest seed of the serpent will be the prototype and only perfect “seed of the woman,” the Son of God, born not of the seed of man but born of the virgin. Before He can crush the head of the serpent, however, the serpent must wound His heel, and this conflict requires that He enter the human family through the divinely ordained process of conception and birth (in His unique case, of course, it would be by miraculous conception and virgin birth). It is this birth that is particularly in view in this great sign of the woman in the sky.

     But the woman is not only the virgin Mary. This woman in the vision is womankind in general. Mary was merely representative of all godly women through the ages, any one of whom could as well have been chosen by God to serve as the vehicle for the entrance of His Son into human life. All such women have shared the curse of Eve, the sorrow and pain experienced in conception and childbirth (Genesis 3:16). Nevertheless, in submitting, through faith in God’s promise, to this responsibility, believing women have been blessed abundantly “Notwithstanding [they] shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1 Timothy 2:15).

     In fact, in still another sense, this travailing woman pictures the whole creation, groaning under God’s curse because of sin, but still certain of the fulfillment of God’s promise of deliverance when the heaven-promised Deliverer would come: “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:20-22). When she is delivered of the child, then she herself can ultimately be delivered.

     God’s gracious promise of the coming Savior, the seed of the woman, given to all mankind, had eventually to be fulfilled in a particular chosen nation, a chosen tribe, a chosen family, and finally a chosen woman. Thus the promise to the world became the promise to Israel, then to the tribe of Judah, then to the family of David, and ultimately to the virgin Mary. The same heavenly woman prefigures all of these.

     All of these, therefore, must travail in pain before the seed is born, and the promised deliverance eventually accomplished. The nation Israel in particular will suffer: “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies” (Micah 4:10). “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth [note again the figure of birth in this promise to Judah and the city of David] unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth” (Micah 5:2-4).

     There is much depending on the birth of this glorious Son. Not only will He redeem and rule Israel, but He shall deliver the whole creation into glorious liberty. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Revelation 12:3.     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.

     Here is yet another sign in heaven. This is another symbolic enactment which John must understand if he would comprehend fully the great cosmic drama which had been taking place in heaven and earth since the very foundation of the world. In the protevangelic promise of Genesis 3:15 were two principal characters – the woman and the serpent. Likewise the two great miraculous signs (the words “miracle” and “sign” are both semeieon in Greek, as is “wonder” in these verses) which John now observed in the heavens centered on, first the woman, then the serpent.

     The serpent is identical with the great red dragon, of course (see verse 9), and there is no question that he represents Satan. The fabled dragon of antiquity appears in the New Testament only in the Book of Revelation, but is mentioned often in the Old Testament (Psalm 91:13; Isaiah 34:13) and was evidently considered a real animal. There is an increasing amount of scientific evidence today that the great reptiles known as dinosaurs survived into fairly modern times (some marine dinosaurs may even survive today in the inaccessible depths of the oceans and deep lakes of the world), and it is likely that these provided the prototype animal to which to relate the great symbol of Satan seen by John in the sky.

     This dragon was fiery red in color, perhaps anticipating the flames of his ultimate destination. However, this dragon, or dinosaur, was no ordinary dragon. Like the Gorgon of Greek mythology, it was a hydra-headed serpent, and thus all the more fearsome. Its seven heads all wore crowns, indicating kingly power. These are later interpreted (Revelation 17:10) as seven kingdoms of the past. The ten horns are interpreted (Revelation 17:12) as ten kings of the end times. A somewhat similar vision was seen by Daniel, except that the beast of his vision had only one head with ten horns (Daniel 7:7, 20, 24).

     For the identification of these kings and kingdoms, see the exposition of chapter 17. For the present, it is enough to say that they do represent the kingdoms of this world and that such kingdoms by and large are indeed under the domain of Satan. Since the number seven throughout Revelation is used to symbolize completeness, it would seem that this vision confirms that all Gentile kingdoms of past and present have been largely under the control of Satan. He is the one “which deceiveth the whole world” (verse 9).

     This, of course, was the very claim of Satan when he tempted Christ. “And the devil taking him up onto an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil, said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:5, 6).

     It is sobering to realize that all governments of men are ultimately controlled by the devil, even though God Himself ordained the powers that be (Romans 13:1) and commands Christians to submit to their ordinances (1 Peter 2:13). There have been many godly men in positions of political power and these have had a restraining influence. Furthermore, to the extent that a government is founded upon law rather than men, and to the extent that these laws are based on the laws of God as revealed in Scripture, to such an extent will the government be in conformity with God’s purposes rather than Satan’s. There have been periods in the history of Israel, as well as in the history of England, the United States, and other nominally Christian nations, when this seems to have been largely the case. Sad to say, however, Satan’s claim was so nearly the full truth that Christ Himself did not bother to refute it. John also had said in his epistle: “We know that . . . the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). Practically all the past kingdoms of the world, symbolized by the seven heads, and the ten main final kingdoms of the world, represented by the ten horns, are organically united with the guiding spirit of the great fiery dragon.

Revelation 12:4.     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.

     The dragon has not only controlled the nations of the earth. He has even dragged the stars of heaven down to the earth.

     As John observed this amazing phenomenon, he no doubt recalled his Lord’s words. “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). With all his power, Satan was inevitably to be defeated, for God had already cast him out of heaven, and his fall was so rapid as to be compared to lightning.

     This is also the scene behind Isaiah 14:12-15 (“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”) and Ezekiel 28:16, 17 (“I will destroy thee, O covering cherub . . . I will cast thee to the ground.”). It had long been known that Satan had a host of angels under his control. Christ Himself had spoken of “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Here, for the first time, we learn that these satanic angels constituted a third of all the angels. That the stars in the sign correspond to the devil’s angels is evident from verses 7-9. When Satan was cast to the earth out of his position at God’s throne, the great host of angels who followed him in his rebellion were also forced to follow him out of heaven, thereby all becoming “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). They are now “the principalities and powers” who were “spoiled” at the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:14, 15).

     When Satan was cast to the earth, he quickly gained victory over Eve but then God had pronounced his own coming destruction by the seed of the woman. This initiated an agelong effort by Satan to thwart the fulfillment of the prophecy, either by destroying any who could possibly be the promised seed as soon after birth as possible or else by preventing the birth altogether.

     He implanted his own seed in Cain’s heart, and then led Cain to kill Abel. “Cain . . . was of that wicked one, and slew his brother” (1 John 3:12). When Lamech made what seemed to be a Messianic prophecy concerning his son Noah (Genesis 5:29), Satan made a bold attempt to poison the whole human race with his own deadly seed. “The sons of God came in unto the daughters on men, and they bare children to them” (Genesis 6:4). The context of this remarkable passage indicates that this was a tremendous outbreak of demonic possession. Satan’s angels were able to indwell and control the minds and bodies of great numbers of the antediluvian men and women and then also their progeny.

     In Abraham’s time, Satan was apparently able to prevent even the conception of the son promised to Abraham until God intervened miraculously. The events that almost destroyed Jacob and that caused the rejection of Jacob’s first three sons and the slaying of Judah’s first two sons are further examples. At the time of Moses’ birth, Satan became bold enough to seek, through Pharaoh, to destroy all the make children in Israel. The many attempts of Saul and others on the life of David, the repeated efforts either to corrupt or destroy the successive kings of Judah and their families, and finally the almost-successful campaign of Haman to destroy the entire Jewish nation when they were in captivity in the days of Queen Esther were the continuation of Satan’s efforts to destroy the line of the promised seed before He could come into the world.

     In the days of Isaiah, the primeval promise concerning the woman’s seed had been made crystal clear: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Finally, at the promised time in the promised place through the promised family, the chosen virgin gave birth to the promised seed. As he had in the days of Moses, Satan once again undertook, this time through Herod, to find and slay the child by slaying all the male children in the region of Bethlehem, hoping thereby “to devour her child as soon as it was born.” As always he failed, since God cannot fail.

     Many times, Satan attempted to destroy Christ before He could go to the cross. When he was unable to destroy His holiness at the temptation, he attempted again and again to slay Him, but always without success. But when the proper hour had come, Jesus went to the cross, “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

     Through all the ages, Satan had attempted to prevent this promised mission of the seed from its fulfillment, continually standing before every woman in the line of promise from Eve to Mary, seeking to slay her man-child before he could accomplish God’s mission. His failure has made him more bitterly angry than ever, and he continues in every way he can to persecute the symbolic woman and all her seed.

Revelation 12:5.     And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

     That the primary fulfillment of this promise relates to Jesus Christ is clear from the reference here to Psalm 2:7-9: “The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Since the nations will not willingly submit themselves to God and His Anointed One (Psalm 2:2), He will have to subdue them forcibly, and then to reign over them with a scepter of iron. He is again identified thus when He finally conquers them as the victorious King of kings. “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15).

     As noted before, however, this promise applies also in a secondary sense to all who genuinely believe on Him and are therefore included among those who conquer with Him. “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father” (Revelation 2:26, 27). Even as the woman in the great sign-vision applies ultimately to all the people of God before the birth of Christ, especially the nation Israel, so the symbolic man-child is fulfilled not only in Christ Himself, but in all who would believe on His saving name and who, therefore, are “in Christ.”

     The child of the woman, instead of being devoured by the dragon, was caught up to the throne of God in heaven. This, no doubt, refers mainly to the resurrection and ascension of Christ, who “is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

     However, the words “caught up” are the same precisely as those used in connection with the rapture of believers at the return of Christ, when we “shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). It is thus very likely that, as the man-child includes both Christ and those who are redeemed by Him, so the catching away of the man-child refers not only to Christ’s ascension but also to the rapture and glorification of His saints. It presumably also includes the rapture of His two witnesses (Revelation 11:12) and possibly other tribulation saints.

Revelation 12:6.     And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

     Following the ascension of Christ and the later destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jewish remnant fled toward the Dead Sea wilderness and the storied mass suicide at Masada. This could hardly represent the event described in this verse, however. Furthermore this prophecy still awaited future fulfillment in John’s day. Since it follows the catching up of the man-child, the latter must include the rapture of the Church and probably also that of the two witnesses, as noted above. Thus the 1,260 days when the woman is in the wilderness must refer to the second half of the tribulation period. This interpretation is also supported by the fact that the intense persecution of the woman by the dragon must correspond to the forty-two months of totalitarian despotism by the beast (Revelation 13:5, 7).

     The woman, representing as she does the people of God out of whom came Christ and His Church, must at this point in time symbolize Israel, since believers of earlier times, including the Church, are no longer in the world. The 144,000 sealed Israelites are possibly in view. There is also a great multitude from all nations who will be saved during the tribulation (Revelation 7:9, 14); most of these, however, will no doubt be martyred (Revelation 6:9-11; 13:15), and those who escape would hardly have been in Jerusalem.

     It will be recalled that Israel had been granted authority to rebuild their ancient temple and to reestablish their ancient worship, through a seven-year covenant made with the leader of the western and Mediterranean nations, after the miraculous defeat of Gog and Magog (Russia and her followers) in their attempted invasion of Israel (see discussion in Chapter 6). However, this treaty was broken by that ruler after only half of the treaty period had expired. The worship in the temple was stopped, and the holy city was to revert to absolute Gentile rule for forty-two months, the unfinished term of the treaty (Revelation 11:2).

     Even though the majority of Israelites had not yet accepted Christ as their Messiah, they had renounced their atheism and liberalism, returning to orthodox Judaism, believing in the Old Testament Scriptures and in the God of their fathers. Many, no doubt, will be seriously examining the New Testament and the claims of Christ at this time, as a result of the testimony of the 144,000 witnesses, who had already become Christians.

     The sudden breaking of the covenant would surely generate intense anger against the beast, who had seemed like their friend and deliverer at first but had now become their opponent and persecutor. Resenting the worship of any god but himself, he had demanded that both Christians and orthodox Jews renounce their faith and yield worship and obedience to him only. This they will refuse to do, unleashing a bitter war of extermination against them.

     As Jesus had warned long ago: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place . . . Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: . . . For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24: 15-21). The “mountains” spoken of by Christ must obviously be the “wilderness” spoken of in Revelation. “The woman” is now the godly Jewish remnant in Jerusalem, probably including many new Jewish believers in Christ, and she must quickly flee to the wilderness to survive.

     The wilderness and the mountains may be either in the Sinai or in the mountains of Transjordan, or both. The Transjordan area, south and east of the Dead Sea, embraces the area occupied in biblical times by the Moabites and Ammonites (descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot) and the Edomites (descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau).

     Some have suggested that the “wilderness” would be all the nations of the world in which the persecuted Jews could scatter and hide. No doubt there will be many Jews in other nations who will also be subjected to persecution; but the immediate context clearly refers to the people in Jerusalemand Israelitself, who had been participating in the restored temple worship. The urgency of Christ’s command to flee as soon as the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place (that is, the idolatrous image set up in the temple for humanistic worship of the beast – see Chapter 13) indicates that they must flee immediately – no opportunity for plane reservations, packing belongings, or anything else. The nearest desert area they can reach will be their only opportunity for survival.

     The most quickly attainable desert area would be across the Jordanand Dead Sea into the regions of ancient Moab, Ammon, and Edom; and there are some intimations in Scripture that this is where they will go. Daniel, for example, in describing the end-time campaigns of the marauding prince, notes that only these three countries will escape his devastating armies (Daniel 11:36-45). Isaiah indicates that the Israelite remnant will flee into Moab and Edom, mentioning Sela (same as modern Petra) as their headquarters (Isaiah 16:1-5). Petra is the famous rock city, visited by countless Holy Land tours, which was at one time the almost impregnable Edomite capital.

     Wherever they will be, whether concentrated in one location such as Petra or scattered over these vast wilderness areas south and southeast of Jerusalem, these godly Israelites will be under God’s special protection and will receive His special provision. Isaiah foresaw this time in these words: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” (Isaiah 26:20, 21).

     In the “waste howling wilderness,” there is surely no food for a multitude of desolate Israelites to eat for three-and-a-half years. Nevertheless the Lord had fed several million of His people for forty long years in the desert once before, and He can do it again. The manna was called “angels’ food” (Psalm 78:25) and, no doubt, angels will again be the instruments God uses in meeting this need.

     That angels are indeed intensely concerned with all these events on earth has been evident throughout the Book of Revelation. It is the devil and his angels who are bent on persecuting the woman; therefore, it is Michael and God’s angels who will protect and feed her. It may well be that this conflict will precipitate the great battle described in the next passage.

Revelation 12:7.     And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.

     Even though Satan had long ago fallen from his exalted position at God’s throne in heaven, he and his angels are still allowed to function as “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and as “the rulers of the darkness of this world,” “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). They roam and rule the earth’s atmospheric heavens, with free access to all the kings and kingdoms of the world. They may still have access in some degree to the sidereal heavens, as suggested by their occasional designation in Scripture as “the host of heaven,” a term also applied to the stars.

     In particular, Satan himself has regular access to the very heaven of God’s presence, appearing there as accuser against God’s people on earth. The familiar scenes in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7 give graphic descriptions of Satan’s direct activity in the function of our “adversary” (the meaning of “Satan”) and “slanderer” (the meaning of “devil”). He is “the accuser of our brethren . . . which accused them before our God day and night” (verse 10). He also is shown appearing before God against Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3:1, 2). Furthermore Satan is not the only fallen angel who, at least occasionally, appears in God’s presence. There was a “lying spirit” there in the days of King Ahab, for example (2 Chronicles 18:18-22).

     But this situation is now about to be ended. No longer will Satan and his host befoul the heavens. “The heavens are the Lord’s (Psalm 115:16). Satan and his angels have been allowed to continue there for thousands of years, by God’s grace and for man’s testing, but the time has come to expel them. This battle probably began when the Lord and His holy angels descended from heaven to set up His judgment seat in the atmospheric heavens where the demonic powers had held sway for ages (I Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelation 4:2). Long before, when the archangel Michael had attempted to come to Daniel, he had encountered serious resistance from a satanic principality whom he called “the prince of Persia,” also mentioning “the prince of Grecia” (Daniel 10:12, 13, 20). Almost certainly the devil and his angels would offer strong resistance (but unsuccessful) to the great rapture of believers and the translation of God’s throne to Earth’s atmosphere, and this great “war in heaven” would become more intense than ever when Satan makes a last-ditch effort to destroy Israel and any remaining earthly believers. God had allowed him to send forth his demonic hordes from the great abyss on to the earth for a time, but these also were gone now, and Satan must engage in direct warfare with the heavenly hosts of Michael.

Revelation 12:8.    And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

     God could, of course, have destroyed Satan and his angels merely with a word, but He instead will allow His faithful angels to battle the wicked angels. Long restrained from this vengeance, Michael is finally permitted to enter into direct conflict with his ancient rival.

     They had met before, not only in heaven but on earth. “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 9). Now Satan’s privileges in the three heavens are to be withdrawn, however, and he is to be limited exclusively to the earth. Michael and his angels are commissioned to carry out this great expulsion and purification of the heavens, and they will gladly and vigorously enter into the battle, anticipating the time when even earth itself will finally be purged.

     With what weapons and by what tactics this heavenly warfare will be waged is beyond our understanding. Angels cannot be injured or slain with earthly weapons, and such physical forces as we know about are not able to move spiritual beings. But these beings do operate in a physical universe, so there must exist powerful physico-spiritual energies of which we yet can have only vague intimations, energies which can propel angelic bodies at superluminary velocities through space and which can move mountains and change planetary orbits. It is with such energies and powers that this heavenly battle will be waged and the spectators in heaven (including John) will watch in awe. When Michael finally prevails, and Satan is forced forever out of the heavens, a tremendous cry of thanksgiving will resound through the heavens.