3. THE WAR IN HEAVEN Revelation 12:7-12 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels; --After mentioning the flight of the woman, we have in this paragraph a statement of the sources of power, both wicked and good, with which this war was to be carried on. The words describe what John saw in the picture; they symbolically represent the efforts to destroy the true church. According to Daniel 10:13; Daniel 12:1, Michael is an angel of heaven that assists the righteous. Symbolically this indicates that in the struggles the church would be under the providence of God and led by those holding the testimony or words of Jesus. This evidently was designed to encourage the Christians to endure faithfully in spite of all persecutions. Verse 9 plainly says the dragon is the devil or Satan. Just as Jesus operates through his followers, so Satan operates through human agents. In this case pagan Rome is the instrumental dragon, the devil the influencing dragon. Hence, the visible war refers to the conflict between pagan Rome and the church. 8 and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.--This means that pagan Rome was to fail in her war on the church. In spite of bloody persecutions and a multitude of martyrs, the church still survived and won imperial recognition early in the fourth century. The decrees by Roman emperors to banish the Christian name from the earth had failed, as we have already seen. The devil through paganism continued to war against the church. Some forty years after Constantine recognized Christianity as the true religion, the Roman Emperor Julian withdrew privileges conferred by Constantine and was considered by the church as a tyrant. Gibbon says that "the genius of Paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts of Julian, sunk irrevocably in the dust" under his successor Jovian; that under Jovian's reign "Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory." (Vol. II, p. 521.) 9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.--Here we have the direct statement that the devil is the indirect but real power that operated through paganism. John in the vision sees him and his angels cast down from heaven to earth. That represents the fact that paganism, which formerly ruled in the Roman Empire, had lost its seat of authority; Christianity had so prevailed as to overcome that influence. When the Christian religion became so influential as to affect the ruling house, all the agencies that were angels or helpers of paganism also lost place and power. 10 And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ:--John heard a great voice coming from the place where he saw the dragon cast down. Verses 10-12 are a song of thanksgiving for the victory the saints gained over the pagan enemies. The word "brethren" in the next clause probably indicates that the rejoicing was done by the martyrs who had, under the fifth seal, inquired how long they must wait. See notes on 6 :9-11. Those exalted sing a song in celebration of victory. For other examples, see Exodus 15 and Judges 5. The victory over paganism was enough to cause rejoicing by the spirits of the martyrs as well as living saints. The expression now is come "the kingdom" does not mean that the kingdom had not existed before that time. It can only be that it had come in the sense of prevailing over its enemies--come to its rightful position of authority to exist by permission of the empire. The saints had been saved a tong time, yet the text speaks of salvation coining. Their Christianity had been preserved through persecutions. The authority; of Christ had existed since Pentecost (Matthew 28:18 Acts 1:6-8), yet the passage says it now is come. These blessings had all come in the sense they were permitted to enjoy them in spite of all sacrifices they had made. for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.--Satan is here called an accuser of the brethren. This shows that through his agents he makes false charges against the true people of God. Seeing the dragon cast down indicates that paganism as the devil's agency lost its authority to persecute the church because Rome became, at least, nominally Christian. Day and night shows that Satan's work against righteousness is constant. 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.--Clearly this refers to a time of martyrs. "Our brethren" who were accused by Satan are the ones indicated. The blood of Christ was not only the ground of their justification, but that which stimulated them to a victorious struggle. The victory of Jesus even in giving his life was, by their faithfulness, made their victory. The word of their testimony means that in spite of their persecutions their testimony to Christ's words had not failed. They had not loved their lives so much that they would refuse to die for the truth. The supreme sacrifice was made for the church. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.--The great voice in heaven which John heard was exhorting those who dwell in the heavens to rejoice. It is true that "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God" even over one that repents (Luke 15:10), but another application seems more probable for the verse iii hand. The preceding facts represented by the woman-dragon symbols indicate things that happened to the church and pagan Rome. This is presumptive evidence that this part of the symbol should be so applied. In verse 5 the man-child (seed of the woman, verse 17) was caught up to God. This occurred when the church gained recognition from the Roman Empire. This was the "heavens" to which the church was exalted and furnished to them the occasion for the rejoicing here mentioned. Elliott (Vol. III, p. 33) quotes from Eusebius as follows: "Formerly we used to sing, 'We have heard what thou didst in our fathers' day.' But now we have to sing a second song of victory; our own eyes have seen his salvation." This is almost the language of verse 10. Woe for earth and sea is what the voice announced would take place, not that it was asking for a woe to fall upon them. In these visions the world probably means the Roman world ; earth and sea would mean the woe would come upon the whole Roman Empire. It would happen because the devil had come down--that is, paganism was operating under his influence. Satan was wroth--instigating the Roman Empire to engage in the most cruel measures--because he knew that his time was limited. There are three ways in which he knew his time for action was limited: He would soon cease to operate, primarily through pagan Rome; under the reign of the beast his power was to he restrained for a thousand years ; and at the judgment his influence over the righteous is to end. His career, then, is strictly a limited one.