Audio Download

Rev 12:7-9 – Part 2 – There Was War In Heaven

[Study Aired Dec 15, 2024]

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  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.

We paused our last study with the intent of contrasting the function of the archangel, Michael, who we are told wars against the adversary for us, with the function of another archangel, Gabriel. Both are called ‘archangel’ because both of these angels perform very important functions in fulfilling the plan and purpose of God as the Lord continues to “work all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11)

Here are the verses which reveal what the archangel, Michael, does in service to the Lord:

Dan 10:13  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.

Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Jud 1:9  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.

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

Here are some verses which reveal the function which the archangel, Gabriel, performs in service to the Lord:

Dan 8:8  Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
Dan 8:9  And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
Dan 8:10  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 upon them.
Dan 8:11  Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
Dan 8:12  And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
Dan 8:13  Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? [Rev 11:1-2]
Dan 8:14  And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
Dan 8:15  And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
Dan 8:16  And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

Gabriel was sent to cause Daniel to understand the vision of the two-horned ram being attacked by the he-goat with one horn which horn was broken and replaced by four lesser horns out of which came a little horn which became great and caused the daily sacrifice to be taken away and cast down. Gabriel appears again in the next chapter of Daniel where he is again sent to “give Daniel skill and understanding of the vision of the seventy weeks prophecy” which leads again to the casting down of the daily sacrifice and to the same abomination of desolation. Gabriel causes Daniel to see that the visions “are one” (Gen 41:26).

Dan 9:21  Yea, whiles I [was] speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
Dan 9:22  And he informed [me], and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
Dan 9:23  At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

Those who are “greatly loved” are given to understand the mind and words of God. This is the function of the archangel, Gabriel.

We learn more about Gabriel’s function in the invisible realm of the spirit in Luk 1, where he is once more sent to make Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist to understand, “and show [Zacharias] glad tidings”.

Luk 1:18  And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
Luk 1:19  And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

The last time Gabriel is mentioned is in this same first chapter of Luke where he is sent to inform Mary of the impending birth of Christ.

Luk 1:24  And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
Luk 1:25  Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach among men.
Luk 1:26  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27  To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

It is Gabriel who is sent to “give skill and understanding”, whereas Michael is the archangel who “stands up for [and fights for the Lord’s] Israel”. It would appear that both angels are very busy serving the Lord and His Christ.

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

There is no doubt about the outcome of the battle for those who are called with Christ to partake in this war in the heavens.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is] God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

God’s elect are known only to Him, and His Son in whom we are all called. Nevertheless their victory in this war in the heavens is as sure as the rising of the sun, and was known to God and Christ before times eonian, or “before the world began”.

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

This is the comfort of the scriptures for those who are given to believe that they are of those who were “called with a holy calling which was given in Christ before the world began”. So Paul continues with this very comforting message for those who are given that calling.

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Satan is doomed to lose the war in our heavens:

Rev 12:9  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.

“The great dragon… that old serpent called the Devil and Satan”. Here we have another example of how often “the dream is one” is demonstrated to be true in scripture. This “war in heaven” was first revealed in Genesis, and the destruction of the dragon, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan was revealed right there at the beginning.

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15  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.

“He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”, is Satan’s inevitable end in his war with the Lord’s saints. Just as the first Adam was created to be destroyed so, too, this great red dragon was created to be destroyed, and it is in the destruction of this great dragon that the principalities and powers in the heavens will be made to be at one with God through Christ, along with all things in the earth.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say,whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

As we have demonstrated so many times, “The day of the Lord” is “the day of judgment”, and the melting of the elements in fervent heat is the fiery trials of that “day of the Lord”. This is not in another age, if we are in Christ. It is ours, and it is now. We are the first to be judged and if we are judged first then we will have no part in the “great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death”.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

It is because it is here and now and it is ours, that we are told “the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”. The Lord comes “as a thief in the night” to us all. “All things… things present and things to come, are ours”. But there are some things which are ours first, never to be repeated, such as “the second death”. It is only after we have begun to be judged in this age that we can then live these words:

1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Truly, “The sum of thy Word is Truth”. (Psa 119:160)

“He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out [of heaven] with him” is the cleansing of the heavens referred to in this verse:

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

What was it that cleansed “the patterns of the things in the heavens”? It was “the blood of bulls and goats”.

Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

What “holy places made without hands [did] Christ enter into”? Christ has entered into the consciousness of our hearts and minds to “purge it from dead works to serve the living God” instead of the dying flesh, which is the food of “our [first] father the devil”. It is into our conscience that Christ has entered and that is “the heavens themselves”, which have been purged and cleansed by the blood of Christ. It is our hearts and minds of which the carnal temple is a “pattern of the things in the heavens”, and that is where God’s throne is and where He dwells.

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

We are also that “cloud of witnesses” which signified “receiving Christ out of the sight” of His yet carnal disciples.

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Where did Christ go when “a cloud received him out of their sight”? Christ tells us where He went and where He is at this very moment.

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world [Greek, aion – age]. Amen.

In other words, Christ and His Father are very near us, and just as Christ Himself did not need to move one inch to be “in heaven… [we also are] seated with His Father on His Father’s throne”.

Deu 30:14  But the word [Christ] is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

Isa 51:16  And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

It is Christ and His words being in us, in our hearts and minds, which “places us in the heavens” which are within us.

Yes, it is true that the resurrection has not yet occurred outwardly, but it is also true at the same time that “in earnest”, in down payment form, we have been raised up with Christ to be seated with Him in the heavens, just as Christ was simultaneously in heaven and on this earth.

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

The word ‘places’ is in brackets because it is not in the original Greek manuscripts from which our modern translations come. We are now, at this very moment, seated with Christ in the heavens in earnest or in a spiritual, down payment form.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [Greek, down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Here is the Old Testament prophecy of this “cleansing of our heavens” which is also called “the earnest [down payment] of our inheritance”.

Eze 36:25  Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh [a new spirit].
Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Eze 36:28  And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Eze 36:29  I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
Eze 36:30  And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Eze 36:31  Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

As those who have been cleansed, we will be physically nauseous of “our own evil ways … and our iniquities… and shall loath [them]selves in [their] own sight”.

Summary

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

We have seen in this study that this “war in heaven” is a life-long war, and that in spiritual terms “the sword will never depart” from our house. We have seen that this war begins in earnest when we are given to “eat the little book” which is the doctrines of Christ. What we have seen is that Christ’s Words and His doctrines are what produce this struggle within us, which is called in spiritual terms, a “war in heaven”. We have seen the scripture which defines our weapon of choice, and which calls God’s words “the sword of the spirit”,

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

It is the entering of this “sword of the spirit” into the very belly of our old man that becomes bitter when we finally realize what Christ meant when He said that He had not come to send peace but He had come to send a sword, and to make our enemies those of our own spiritual household.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Who Is Michael?

We have seen that there really is a spiritual realm which is populated with spiritual hosts and multitudes and armies. We have seen and read the scriptures which reveal that these heavenly multitudes are governed by princes and captains, three of whom are the great red dragon, Michael and Gabriel. We saw that it is the function of the great red dragon to be that old serpent, the devil and Satan, to withstand God and the Lord’s words and to “deceive the whole world”.

We saw the scriptures which call Michael “the prince of thy people”, which tell us that it was Michael who came to help Christ who was being withstood by the Prince of Persia, and we see here in Rev 12:7, that it is Michael who “makes war with the dragon”.

We have also seen the scriptures which named Gabriel as an angel whose function it is to make us skilled in understanding visions and dreams, and who brings good tidings of both the coming of Elijah before Christ, as well as the coming of Christ Himself.

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

We have seen that the expulsion from our heaven, and in due time from all heavens of all men, is as sure as the rising of the sun. What we saw is that “all things [really] are working together for good to them who love God and are called of God according to His purpose”, which purpose has been predestinated to be worked in “all things… after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). We saw that this predestination was from “before the world began”, and that those who are given the calling to be in that “blessed and holy first resurrection” will not be hurt of the second death, and will be there by God’s own sovereign decree, and cannot be separated from the love that God has for those who are His “very elect”.

Rev 12:9  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.

We have seen that this “war in heaven” and this “casting out of the great red dragon and his angels” is the cleansing of our heavens from all of the lies and false doctrines, and character assassinations which are the words and doctrines of the great red dragon and his angels. Here is what this dragon does in our lives.

Dan 8:12  And an host was given him [the little horn] against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

It is the lies of the dragon and his angels which have defiled our heavens, and which require that “the heavens themselves be cleansed” with better sacrifices than the blood of bulls and goats.

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

God has “planted the heavens” within us by making us eat the little book and placing His words in our mouths to “prophecy before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” within our own hearts and minds, before we will be either worthy or prepared to do so, before those without. That is what “plant the heavens” by “putting His words in our mouths” means.

Isa 51:16  And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

Next week, Lord willing, we will see why the woman is not seated with Christ in His throne, along with the manchild she brings forth, and we will also see how those who make up that manchild win this war in heaven. We will then see that we have reason to rejoice that we have been given to see that “all things present and things to come are ours” here and now, and that we are blessed to have this war being fought here and now instead of later.

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 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.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters 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.
Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.