Since the beginning of history, mankind has been plagued by war. Since the time that Cain slaid the blood of his brother Abel, there has been a pattern of war for humanity. In the Old Testament of our Bible, there are 100 recorded wars. Historians estimate there have been over 500,000,000 wars throughout world history. Remember the song from the 70’s? War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again yall. Today, we’re going to look at the first war of history. This was not a world war, this was a was a heaven war. Satan, versus God. Now turn with me to Revelation chapter 12 and let’s get started.

First, to understand the book of Revelation, you have to know that Revelation is full of interludes. Revelation progresses chronologically until you get to some key chapters: 4 & 5, 10, and now chapter 12. Remember that Revelation was written by the Apostle John, who was exiled on the island of Patmos because of his testimony. Jailed John is there on Patmos, and he’s caught up by the Spirit of God, taken to Heaven’s throne room, and witnessing the future end of the world. When we get to Revelation chapter 12, we’ve seen Jesus’s letters to the churches, a complete message for all churches of all time, then a picture of worship in heaven, and then, the end of the world. We’re 2/3 the way through the tribulation, we’ve seen the seals, and the trumpets, most of the world has been destroyed. And then,

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth.

-Revelation 12:1-2 CSB

Who was this woman? Could this be Mary? Since she’s about to give birth to Jesus? That’s certainly part of the picture, but it’s not the whole picture, because this woman continues long after Jesus’s birth and ascension, and the imagery reaches all the way back to Genesis. Could this be the church? The bride of Christ? No, because the church did not birth Jesus, Jesus birthed the church.

Who is she? This woman is Israel. God’s covenant people, through whom He brought the promised Messiah into the world. Notice the sun, and the moon, and the 12 stars. Sound familiar? Do you remember Joseph’s dream from Genesis 37? The one that got him sold into slavery, at the onset of God’s covenant with Israel? He saw the sun, and the moon, and the stars. The sun represented himself, the moon represented Rachel, and the stars represented the tribes of Israel. We’re being intentionally taken back to that moment, when history is being formed. God is reminding us of where the covenant story began. This woman is Israel, the nation God chose, preserved, and through it He fulfilled His promise to send our Savior into the world.

Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.

-Revelation 12:3-4 CSB

At this verse, we have broken chronology. This word “then” is not a preposition in the Greek, it is an aorist verb. This is not a chronological sequence of events. To understand this passage, we have to see it as God sees it. Outside of time. One commentator said it well, “Revelation 12 completely transcends the usual categories of time and space. It is not meant to be a foretelling of history but a representation of the struggle in the spiritual world which lies behind history.”

We don’t have to guess who this fiery red dragon is, he’s called out in verse 9 as the serpent from Genesis 3, Satan himself. Daniel saw the same thing in the Old Testament. The 7 heads represent a succession of kingdoms that come to world power, the 7th kingdom being the one of the end days. The 10 horns represent the world rulers who will play a part in the rise of the Antichrist. The seven crowns represent the worldly authority vested to Satan. Throughout history, Satan has exercised his influence through governments, empires, and kings. From Egypt to Babylon, from Rome to the final world power yet to come.

And remember from Revelation 1, that the stars represent the angels. This is describing the fall of Satan from Heaven and him bringing one third of God’s angels with him.

God is reminding us here that our greatest enemy isn’t political. It’s spiritual. Behind the visible kingdoms of this world stands an invisible enemy who has been opposing God’s purposes since the beginning of time. Remember Ephesians 6:12 that says:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

-Ephesians 6:12 CSB

The greatest battles are fought in the places we cannot see.

And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.

-Revelation 12:4 CSB

Here we have the birth of Jesus. Remember the Massacre of the Innocents in Matthew 2. When Herod learned of Jesus’s birth, he made the decree to slaughter all the boys in and around Bethlehem. This was Satan at work, trying to devour the child. Satan has a pattern of trying to stop the work of God in its infancy. Pharoah killing every Hebrew boy in Exodus. Athaliah destroying the royal family in 2 Kings. Haman’s plot to exterminate the Jewish people in Esther. Herod murdering the boys of Bethlehem. This is the pattern of spiritual warfare. When you are called by God, Satan will try to kill that call in its infancy.

But God won’t let the enemy win.

She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.

-Revelation 12:5 CSB

In these verses, we see the birth and ascension of Jesus. From Matthew 1 to Acts 1. Jesus was born, and Jesus was raptured. Caught up. Harpatzo’d.

Then we fast forward to where we are currently in the book of Revelation, the 144,000 sealed of Israel. God is protecting them from the moment they’re sealed half way through the tribulation, through the 3.5 years following to the end of the tribulation.

The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there for 1,260 days. Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

-Revelation 12:6-9 CSB

This moment in Revelation 12:7 takes us back to the white space in your Bible in between where Genesis 2 ends and Genesis 3 begins. Revelation 12:7 is the account of Satan falling from Heaven. These verses tell us exactly what happened, connect Satan to his many surnames- the dragon, the serpent, and the devil, and explains why there is so much brokenness and evil in this world. A third of the stars is the third of the angels who went with Satan. These are demons who are roaming the earth, who will be thrown into the abyss.

Why was Satan cast out of Heaven? Because of sin. Because of Pride. Remember the account of this from Isaiah 14:

Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground. You said to yourself, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will set up my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly, in the remotest parts of the North. I will ascend above the highest clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you will be brought down to Sheol into the deepest regions of the Pit.

-Isaiah 14:12-15 CSB

We have even more details about this event in Ezekiel 28:

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone covered you: Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold; they were prepared on the day you were created. You were an anointed guardian cherub, for I had appointed you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways until wickedness was found in you. Through the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I expelled you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and banished you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud because of your beauty; For the sake of your splendor you corrupted your wisdom. So I threw you down to the ground;

-Ezekiel 28:12-17 CSB

Pride comes before the fall. Don’t fall in to pride, it is the most tempting of all the sins. From pride comes destruction.

The greatest battles are fought in the places we cannot see.

But this is not the end of the story! Look what happens next:

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them!

-Revelation 12:10-12 CSB

From the moment Satan entered the earth, the battle was won! Remember, God exists outside of time. Time is a human condition. God sees everything as it is: all the past, all the present, all the future, there is nothing that can surprise Him and nothing that is outside of His perfect plan for the world, and His perfect plan for you! At that moment when sin entered the world, God’s plan for redemption was already set: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

We win every battle by the blood of the Lamb.

And by the power of your testimony. How God has radically transformed your life for His glory. No one can take away your testimony.

Any power that Satan has is only on this earth. He does not have any power in Heaven. He does not have any power over eternity. In the end, he will be thrown into the lake of fire and will suffer forever. We are sojourners here. This earth is not our home, our home is in Heaven with the Lord. We are not just human beings who have spiritual experiences, we are spiritual beings who are having a human experience.

Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short.

When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male child. Satan is spending his days persecuting the people of God. The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.

-Revelation 12:13-14 CSB

Now we’re talking about the 144,000 of the tribulation. They’re protected for time, times, and half a time, which is 3.5 years following their seal with the Holy Spirit from chapter 7.

From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth.

-Revelation 12:15-16 CSB

Jesus told us that Satan is prowling around the earth like a lion seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. He is spewing death from his mouth. But God is in control. Remember, the woman is Israel. Biblical Israel. God’s covenant people. Even though Israel has turned against God by denying Jesus, God has a plan to redeem them. And when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you’re grafted in to Israel. Romans 11:17 says:

Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree.

-Romans 11:17 CSB

Christians have not replaced Israel, but Christians are grafted in as God’s covenant people.

So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring,—those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.

-Revelation 12:17 CSB

Satan is going to do everything he can to keep you from carrying out God’s plan, but he will not be successful. The battle is already won.

We win every battle by the blood of the Lamb.

Complete surrender to Jesus Christ. If you think life is hard, that’s because it is. God will deliver us to Heaven and this life will be a distant memory. And the work we do here on earth will echo for eternity.

Years ago there was a man who was persecuted. He was a preacher, a pastor. He was put on trial for preaching God’s Word. He stood there on trial and was given a choice by the judge. Never preach again and go home, or keep preaching and go to prison. This man had a wife, who he loved, and he had children, who he loved, especially his blind daughter Mary. He wrestled with the decision. He wrote that leaving his family behind was like pulling the flesh from his bones. Every day he knew they were struggling without him, and every day he knew he could walk free with just a few words, but he couldn’t say them.

He was given a Bible, a pen, and some paper. If you had seen him, you would have thought, what a waste. A gifted preacher, forgotten behind bars. But no one could see what God was doing inside that prison cell. The man began to write. He wrote a book about a man making his journey to the promised land. 12 years went by. 12 birthdays, 12 Christmases, 12 years of hearing prison doors close on him. But then, he was released. He was reunited with his family. God redeemed the time. That man was John Bunyon. And that book he wrote, that was Pilgrim’s progress. For hundreds of years, it’s sold millions of copies and pointed millions of people to faith in Jesus. That prison cell that was meant to silence him was the place God used to speak through him to share the Gospel with millions of people around the world.

Revelation 12 reminds us about how our enemy works. The dragon attacks. The dragon imprisons. The dragon persecutes. The dragon tries to silence. But every time, what Satan tries to kill, God uses to spread His glory. Satan is powerful, but he is not all powerful. Satan has never once been able to derail the plans of God.

There is one thing that separates us from God. Sin. When Satan was cast out of heaven, sin entered the world. God tells us the first step to being made right with Him is to repent of our sin. To turn it around. To stop walking away from God, and to decide to follow Jesus. God’s grace covers all the brokenness of this world, but we have to choose it. We have to make the decision to leave the way of the devil, and to join the family of God. This life is just a blip in eternity. We’ll sing a hymn after communion: through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come, but grace has brought me safe so far, and grace will lead me home. We all carry sin, we all carry pride, but God’s amazing grace brings us home.

Do you trust God’s plan?