A WAR IN HEAVEN?

Is it possible that a war could really take place in heaven, and if so how could one side win over the other when both sides are immortal. It seems strange to think that angels would fight against each other when God is in control. But, in Revelation 12 we read of just such a war taking place, between a great red dragon and Michael. It is this war and the parties involved that I would like to look at in this study and examine whether or not this is an historical or a future event.

Firstly lets look at who is actually fighting whom? Revelation 12:7 is a good starting point.

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

The dragon portrayed here is the Devil, this is clearly explained in verse 9 which says;

9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, Satan……….and his angels were cast out with him.

There is no argument there, the scripture is quite clear that Satan is the dragon and we also see that it confirms that he was not alone but had help from HIS angels, just as Michael did. As to the number of Satan’s army we have no record, but we can be sure that his army is not greater than Michael’s.

Secondly we have Michael, who is mentioned in the scriptures by name 5 times, and appears in other places but not named. He has the position in heaven of Archangel, as written in Jude 1:9

9. 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.

Already we see they have had dealings with each other and Michael although on God’s side does not presume to be better than Satan, but uses the word of God as strength and power. We also learn from Daniel that Michael is the angel who is responsible for protecting the ‘chosen race of God’, the Jews. In Daniel 10:14 an angel was sent to tell Daniel what will befall his people, the Jews, in the later days and in Daniel 10:21 we read how Michael is described as ‘your prince’. Again in Daniel 12:1 we read.

1. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people…..

An instance in Joshua 5:13-15 where Joshua was nearing Jericho, having led the people back on the right track with God, a man appeared with a sword. Joshua asks if he has come as friend or foe.

14. And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
15. And the captain of the Lord’s host said…….

This angel is widely believed to be Michael. The title and the job description both fit. Michael is used in all instances regarding fighting the enemy when ever the Jewish nation is threatened, even in the last days as in Revelation. Michael we find is the ‘captain of the Lord’s host’ not to mention a ‘prince’ and ‘archangel’. All these things go to making Michael very high in the angelic heirachy and would command an army of his own as we see in Revelation.

As to the number of his army we do not know but in earthly terms a prince in Bible times would have under him a large number of people. In Joshua 22:14 we read of the princes of the tribe of Israel.

14. And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

In Jewish circles Michael is classed as having the title, ‘Viceroy of heaven’ a title to which it is said Satan himself once held before his fall from favour. Michael’s name means ‘Who is as God’. Many believe, myself included that Michael took over from Lucifer as second in command.

Having now established the two sides let us look at the time of the war, is it as many believe a war past, fought a long time ago when Lucifer first sinned and God threw him out of heaven? Or is it a war to come, and if so when? I would go for the latter, I do not believe it has taken place, as the punishment of fighting a war as we read in the scriptures will be Satan’s expulsion from heaven along with his angels. The key words are in Revelation 12:8-9

8. ..neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9. And the great dragon was cast out…….he was cast out into the earth…

We see that the Devil and his angels will not have a place in heaven any more. It does not say there won’t be any more room left for them, in the sense that they will be unwelcome, it clearly states THEIR PLACE, (which translated is ‘a portion of space marked off from the surrounding space, also the condition or station held by one in any company or assembly’) will not be found. Linked to this is the word CAST which translated means ‘to throw to the ground or to throw or let go of a thing without caring to much where it falls’.

Both these together give us a clear picture that the Devil along with his angels will be evicted forcibly from heaven. They will no longer be able to call heaven their home and neither will they be able to occupy a space in heaven. They did not belong anymore. It doesn’t stop there, not only will he be cast out of heaven but he will be cast to earth. The AV states into the earth, which to some might imply underneath or in the bowels of the earth, which is where we get the miss-representations of the Devil shovelling hot coals in the centre of the earth.

The actual wording is ‘to the earth’, so we assume he will now be given the earth as a dwelling place, after all he does own it. To be cast to Earth in this sense means cast to Creation, the land and the sky and space, everything we physically see. Above that is the spiritual world, which is the heaven inhabited by angelic beings.

This being the case we have a problem. If this is a past event before creation or at the dawn of time, how can we explain Job 1:6 when Satan is standing before God.

6. Now there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

The Sons of God mentioned in this verse are not us or church going people from whatever time. They are angels, who at some predetermined time, go before God to give their report. I have discussed this a little later when enlarging on verse 4.

If we are to believe Satan has waged war against God or even Michael and has been cast out, surely God would not allow him in his presence for any reason let alone in the realms of heaven. This would not equate to a permanent casting or banishing to earth. And if it wasn’t a permanent result of the war, why mention it at all, or even do it. There are two other verses that I believe show this to be a future event and they are in Revelation 12:10 and 12..

10. ...the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before God day and night.
12. Therefore rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you….

Here again in verse 10 we see the Devil able to go before God day and night accusing the brethren, and then after the eviction, the heavens rejoicing at his departure. If this was not permanent, then why rejoice and give the earth this terrible warning.

We seem to have this apparent contradiction, that, on the one hand the scripture is saying the Devil is relegated to earth and yet in other verses he is able to go before God without any trouble. How is this possible?

It is because we assume the Devil lost favour with God because of the war, and put that as the turning point for his fall and decline, where in actual fact it was the culmination of years of planning from his initial fall before Adam.

Revelation 12 is a chapter written for the Jews, and tells them what is to come regarding their race and the times of the end. It was not written with the church in mind and as such contains a gap between verses 5 and 6 where God deals with the church.

Between these two verses the Jewish nation was put on hold during the ‘day of grace’ when Christ forms and gathers up the church, after which, God returns to the Jewish nation and the promise to form a Kingdom, can be fulfilled.

If we start then with verse 1 I will attempt to put into easy understandable English what each verse is saying and by doing so you will see that the war is a future event

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.

Here we have an image of a woman which is the nation of Israel, clothed with the sun which is the glory and power of God and the moon which is under her feet symbolising that she, Israel is founded and guided by the word. The twelve stars forming a crown are the twelve apostles forming the rule by which the Israel nation will be governed in the kingdom. Twelve tribes ruled by 12 leaders and above these the Lord Jesus Christ.

This wonder was the plan of God for earth, that all should bow before the thrown of Christ who was sent to set up a Kingdom on earth with the chosen race the Jews and by who all nations will be blessed. No doubt this plan was glorified and spoken of in heavenly realms as a coming event, preparations probably underway for some time.

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

The view is of Israel waiting patiently for the coming King, who will come from their own race. This king would be Jesus, Son of God. They knew from the scriptures this would happen and God put it in their hearts to want and expect this, so we see the analogy of birth pains, and the wish for the speedy deliverance. After all the coming King was to deliver them out of bondage and give them a kingdom with their God as head.

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 head.

Now we are introduced to the Devil, described as a red dragon, the colour of blood. The number of heads, horns and crowns refers to his earthly assistance and power. The 7 heads being the 7 hills on which the Roman Empire stood and the 10 horns the 10 divisions made in the fall of the Empire forming 10 nations and tongues. The 7 crowns are the power he has with the nations and angels under him. This image tells us he was prepared for this event and already his troops were getting ready for a fight. Whether they be angelic or terrestrial armies.

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.

This is a very interesting verse and it is one which everyone associates the Devil with having a third of the angelic forces at his disposal. This act of drawing a third of the stars of heaven is in addition to the ones he already has fighting with him. The word ‘draw’ in this verse is actually translated from the word meaning ‘to drag or draw, of violently dragging a person along or taking to trial or punishment’. We see the ones he draws with him are the ‘stars of heaven’.

Are these normal everyday angels or are they the higher ranking angels. Job 38:7 describes two separate types of angels naming one group ‘ Morning stars’ and the other ‘sons of God’. From Genesis 6:2 that ‘sons of God’ are mentioned as being normal angels, there is no mention of them having any rank. Lucifer is described as ‘Son of the morning’ in Isaiah 14:4, and we know him to be of a high rank. Also in the account of his fall he spoke of exalting his throne above the ‘stars of God’ in Isaiah 14:13.

We must ask then, has he drawn a third of the entire angelic population or a third of the high ranking angels, the ‘stars of heaven’. By enlisting these higher-ranking angels he could quite conceivably get the angels under their charge as well.

We can only assume from Revelation 12 that the Devil has already got with him his own angels, who followed him after he lost favour with God initially before Adam. All angelic princes, especially one as high as Lucifer had their own armies who would be loyal to their prince as I suspect they would be toward God. What we have to ask ourselves is was this act an act of ‘dragging’ or ‘drawing’ these angels to earth, done in the sense of taking prisoners, or is it saying that the angels followed, doing so to their own judgement.

After all the word tail used, is linked with Revelation 9:10 and 19, where it is likened to a scorpions tail. It states that the power is in the tail and also the sting. So were these angels deluded by the dragon, Satan by false promises, drawn by his cunning and deceit, only to find out that there was no going back, they had made their choice and would be punished for it – "the sting in the tail!"

If this was a recruitment drive we can see why. In the verse the dragon or the Devil, goes to earth to await the birth of Jesus in order that he might destroy him at his birth. We saw this attempt through King Herod, when he ordered all first born killed and also another instance in Exodus 1:16 where the King of Egypt asked the Hebrew midwives to kill any male children born but leave the female, an early attempt to find the king. The Devil also tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. As we know from the scriptures all attempts failed.

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.

Although this verse seems to shorten or simplify things, it definitely is talking about Jesus. Psalm 2 confirms this rule with a ‘rod of iron’, also Revelation 19:15. Mathew 16:19 tells us that Christ was called up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, so too does 1Peter 3:22. This verse misses out all the life of Jesus and his death, but as the Devil did not succeed in his bid to destroy Jesus then the passage tells us all we need to know. After all, Johns account in chapter 12 is an overview of the history of the Jewish nation, it does not need to go into detail, the rest of the Bible does that.

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 three score days.

This is a very important verse and should be looked at in the context of when it is taking place. To the casual observer it could be construed that verse 5 is followed immediately by verse six, in time. Indicating that after the death of Jesus the Jews fled or scattered. It is not, and we must realise this, if we are to understand the scriptures correctly. John is talking about the Jews and as such does not mention anything concerning Christ’s church (The called out ones, the Christians). He wants to give an uninterrupted account of the woman, Israel. So we have at the ascension of Christ, verse 5, the end of one dispensation and the beginning of the dispensation of Grace, the time of the Gentiles.

Only when this is complete can the work with the woman, Israel continue. The end of the time of the Gentiles will be marked by the rapture, when Christ will call home his church (1Thes 4:16-17). Luke 21:24 explains how the Jews will be down trodden and almost ‘forgotten’ until the time of the Gentiles comes to a close, and the renewal of the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ can be restarted.

So where does this verse fit into time, is it past or future. It most certainly is future and will occur not long after the rapture when the Devil realising that his time is short makes an attempt to attack the chosen race of God. The race which brought forth the ‘Man child’. This period of time, which the Devil has left as prince of this world will be 7 years, spit evenly into two sections of 3.5 years or 1260 days or 42 months. The 1260 days mentioned are the first 3.5 years commonly known as the great tribulation, although the whole 7 years will be a tribulation for all those living, when the Jews will be hounded more than they have ever been and also anyone that, during this period believes on God.

This is the time of Satan when the anti-Christ will rise up. During this 3.5 years Israel as a Jewish nation will flee from the persecution into the wilderness. Probably the deserts, to a place specifically prepared to protect the nation (scholars, who have studied the Jewish scriptures believe it will be Petra). It does not necessarily mean the whole nation will go but perhaps those who’s understanding is such, that they realise what is about to take place.

Meanwhile we can see from Revelation 11:1 that there will be some Jews who do not flee to the wilderness but can be found in the temple of God. These are the Elect of God and it is because of them that the days will be shortened during the days of tribulation (Mathew 24:22). This means that it will be so bad during these times that only the shortening of days will allow mankind to get through. These Jews are the devout Jews, the elect, numbering 144,000 mentioned in Chapter 7:1-8 who will make up the inhabitants of the 12 tribes in the New Jerusalem.

As with all scripture there is always another verse backing it up and this one is no exception. After verse 6 we come to another end. If you like an end of a sentence, when the writer turns from one party the Jews to another the Devil. There is no gap in the sense of verse 5 and 6, this is merely a change in location.

If you jump to verse 14 you pick up the thread of the Jewish escape, again after a change in location and subject. This act of fleeing into the wilderness is not one of disorder or dispersement, it was one God had planned for and in verse 14 actually tells us it was for only 3 and a half years ( time, times and half a time). This period of time does not marry with any time length in Jewish or Biblical history. Only that of the Anti-Christ.

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

Now returning to the story of Lucifer we see the war happening, within these first 3 and a half years. It happens here because Satan knows his time is short and because God has removed the Church has given the Satan a freer hand than ever before. He believes he can mount an assault on heaven and hopefully stop his inevitable end. He also believes that he can regain his rightful place, in heaven. In Daniel 8:25 we read that a king with the help and power of the Devil will even try to stand up against the Prince of princes, which is Christ himself.

So much is the arrogance of Satan that in the vision of Daniel it is said in Chapter 8:10-11 concerning the war, that the Devil gained power and attacked the host of heaven and even magnified or sought to better the prince of that host, Michael. In verse 10 it mentions casting some of the host of the stars to the ground and stamping on them.

This should not be confused with the scripture where the dragon drew a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the ground. The instance we are now looking at is an act of war and anger. It is also an act preceded by the desolation of the temple of God here on earth (Daniel 8:11-14 and 11:30-31), which takes place during the tribulation not before the birth of Jesus.

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

He will lose the war in heaven and as a result will finally be cast out of heaven never to return. As we said at the beginning THEIR PLACE was not found any more. An analogy would be like once owning a caravan in a site and by not following site regulations one day, the owner removes your caravan and dumps it outside the grounds. You would no longer have the right to enter the site anymore as you no longer had a residence there or the right to say you had a legitimate reason for entering, having broke the rules or your contractual agreement. Your PLACE would have been removed by the power and authority of the owner

9. 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.

Just to reinforce the issue we are left in no doubt who the dragon is. We are given most of the names he is known by and also an end destination of his exile. For it is inevitable that if there will be no room for him in heaven the only other place he could go would be earth. This then is the sealing of Satan to the boundaries of earth and creation. No longer could he enjoy the liberty of free access to heaven and the heavenly realms above earth. This is confirmed in the next verse.

10. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Hear we have a statement backing up a few scriptures. We have the expulsion of Satan from the realms of God, and a statement that implies before his casting down he had unlimited access to heaven, in which he used it to accuse Gods people. I doubt very much that Lucifer would send messages to God, via other angels. He would be in their personally. However I do not think that he had access to the throne. Only the perfect could go there and perfect he wasn’t. It might well have been at one of the debriefings the angels had, as in Job.

11. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their own lives unto the death.

This verse shows us and proves that whatever happened it happened after the death of Jesus as we are told the blood of the lamb was instrumental in the overcoming of the enemy. Jesus as the lamb had not shed any blood until the crucifixion.

12. Therefore rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhibitors of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

We are now entering the final stages of Lucifer. During the first 3 and a half years when the Jews will be nourished it will be a good time for them but nearing the end he will take his revenge on them and then during the next 3 and a half years ( Daniel 8 v 14) Satan will rule with devastating authority.

Cruelty and hatred will be the only laws and his attack on the Jewish race will intensify. This verse also once again gives us the evidence of the positioning in time of the acts. Heaven would not be rejoicing if Satan was not gone for good and also the realisation of Satan that his time is now short, puts these times in the future.

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman, which brought forth the man child.

Satan now will realise that he is in the end times, and that his domain has been lessened by the ‘imprisonment’ if you like, within the confines of creation. It says ‘he saw he was cast to earth’, which probably means he may have tried to go up into heaven and found he could not. A fitting end to a creature who once sought to rule the earth. His wish has been granted but unfortunately it will be like being strapped to a ticking bomb. The end now in sight he will, like most people we see in history try to take as many with him as he can.

Although the chapter goes on and is closely linked to Daniel, I think we can see that the scriptures do reveal that the war has not yet happened. It will happen in the end times after Christ has removed the church from the earth.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

To conclude the only other question left is how do angels fight, if there is no way of killing an angel surely the war would just keep going on and on.

The war in heaven is a war in the sense of one side trying to overthrow the other by might but, and this is a big but, the actual casualties and outcome of the war rests entirely upon the will of God. God obviously knew what Satan was planning and could have at any time stopped him or his army from reaching heaven. The reason he didn’t was simply it was not in his will to do so.

Certain decisions have to be made by man and Satan, and events unfold to bring about other events. Although it would seem that God for a little while was on the verge of losing it, he in actual fact was in control of everything. As he allows us on earth to go our own way, which sometimes means entire countries starving, it is something he must do in order to bring to fruition a greater plan. It can be said that by this way God does bring on himself a lot of criticism, but at the end of the day the choice was actually ours or in the case of the angels theirs. They must take the final blame, as mankind will for the horrors and atrocities that have happened on earth.

If there is no killing or wounding then during this was, what actually are each side doing. To this we must look to a few scriptures. Jude 1:9, Daniel 10:13&20, Revelation 20:1-2, Revelation 9:14 and 8:10 Daniel

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.

Here we have a clear demarcation of power. Michael did not and could not overpower the Devil under his own strength. The Devil appeared to have more power on an angel to angel confrontation. It took the words of God to stop Satan and the power contained within them. There was no fighting in our sense of the word it was a battle of spiritual strength.

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael one of the chief Princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia:………

This is probably the best verse to show angelic powers, and also shows us how God hears us but the answer might be delayed by the powers of darkness. Daniel having prayed was awaiting an answer and when the angel of the Lord came he apologised for his delay and said the prince of Persia, which was one of Satan’s angels had delayed him for 3 weeks. The angel, who we are not told had any rank was powerless in his own right against the prince and was delayed either by confinement or argument.

The prince probably asked by what authority he was working under. We do not know, but are shown that Michael, one of the Chief princes had to come to his aid. As a chief prince Michael’s power would be greater than that of the Persian prince. The angel then states that he will have to fight once more on his homeward journey. In the following verse the angel tells Daniel that his strength came from Michael ‘your prince’.

The angels although acting on God’s word seem to be allowed to act independently under their own power, until the need arises, and then a greater angel will come to his assistance. In effect it is a good case of delegation. The underlying trend is that delay is a form of fighting, holding or binding the angel from going further. It also shows that Satan seems to be at this point existing in a lower heaven. A spiritual heaven, between God and earth. If he has taken this as his home then it would be right to assume that all angels would have to pass through his domain.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan and bound him a thousand years.

In this verse we see quite clearly the idea of binding. This verse is taken from the time when the Devil will be bound for a thousand years while Christ rules on earth during his millennial reign. Whether the chains are actual or symbolic of God’s word, we are not told, but the outcome is certain. The devil can’t influence the earth or get out of his chains for the allotted time. The angel in this instance is not reported to be of rank but would have been given the power from God to carry out this important task..

Saying unto the sixth angel which had a trumpet, loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

This verse shows the opposite but nether the less binding of angels in one place for specific periods of time. Whether the time be set or indefinite the bonds are adequate to do the job.

And it waxed great even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped on them.

Here we are given in Daniel’s vision an instance where certain angels from heaven are cast to the world or earth and as it says stamped on. The word stamped is from a word meaning ‘tread upon, oppressively or abusively’. The angels were not literally jumped up and down upon but held in an oppressive manner, being abused of their privilege of free movement.

As we can see in conclusion a war fought in heaven or by angels is not a war fought with weapons like ours but rather words and within limits of powers. This may be a reason the dragon will try to draw the stars of heaven, as ranking angels, down to assist him as apposed to the general angelic populous. After all one powerful soldier is better than 10 powerless. Although on the surface it may seem like God is not in complete control and his angels are not powerful enough to defeat the Satan’s angels, we must always remember Mark 16:16

16. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

As long as you are within the will of God you can be assured that he will protect you and you need not fear the enemy. Only those who do not believe will be judged with the enemy.