Trumpet Ministries, Revelation 12:7,8
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And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. (Revelation 12:7,8)
What event started this war? Why wasn’t it fought a long time ago? Why has God waited until now to finally cast the devil out of Heaven so Satan and his angels never again can find any place there?
At the beginning of Chapter 12, Satan is a sign, a wonder in Heaven. But now he and his angels no longer are able to prevail. They are defeated in battle. They are not strong enough to maintain their position against Michael and his angels.
Up to this point Satan has had access to the gatherings of the sons of God when they presented themselves before the Lord.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. (Job 1:6)
God is patient with evildoers. He waits forever, it seems, to execute judgment. Divine judgment may be slow in coming but it is as certain as the rising of the sun.
Judgment always is executed against wickedness in people, unless a thorough repentance is demonstrated and remission of guilt is obtained through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. No transgression is ever left unjudged.
God’s patience in allowing Satan and his wicked, rebellious angels to remain in Heaven, where they can accuse the brothers of the Lord before the throne of God day and night, is another wonder in the heaven.
But God always knows exactly what He is doing.
God has been working out a vast plan that will destroy Satan and his angels from the creation of God. God’s plan includes the development of conquering saints who, being filled with Christ, will insure that never again will there be a rebellion in the spirit realm.
The Divine plan will provide a house, a rest, a "body" for the Lord God of Heaven. It also will bring forth the Bride without spot or wrinkle for the Lamb. Finally, God’s plan will furnish a group of kings and priests who will rule eternally over the nations of saved peoples of the earth.
The lusts of Satan and his angels and demons are being utilized by the Lord as He works out His plan in the earth. Evil and rebellious spirits are providing a source of necessary stumbling blocks—offenses that perfect the pearls and precious jewels of character and virtue with which the Bride, the new Jerusalem, will be adorned.
Just as soon as every detail of God’s plan has been perfectly developed and executed, Satan and his angels will be cast out of the heaven into the earth.
Many times we Christians fret ourselves because of evildoers. God’s Word forbids us to do that (Psalms 37:1). God knows what He is doing and He is making all things work together for good for those whom He has called to be in the image of His Son—the brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What has changed that Satan and his angels should now be cast out of the heaven into the earth?
There shall be delay no longer. The heavenly woman has been delivered of the Son, meaning Christ has been formed in the saints. The purpose of God has been accomplished. The obedience of the saints has been fulfilled. God is not willing that Satan should be allowed to remain in a position where he is able to accuse God’s saints. There no longer is any place left in the heaven for Satan and his angels.
Canaan, the land of promise, the goal of the tribes of Israel as they wandered for forty years in the wilderness, is a type of dominion over the material creation. Entrance into Canaan is a type of resurrection to immortality, to the Kingdom of God, to fruitfulness and rulership.
Satan has held spiritual control and possession of the material creation. But the Lord God of Heaven has given all authority over the creation to Christ (Psalms Two). The brothers of Christ are pressing forward, under the guidance and power of the Spirit of God, to resurrection life and Divine authority, to the spiritual control and possession of the material creation.
The casting of Satan out of the heaven into the earth indicates that his spiritual control has been removed from him. He now is bound to the earth. He still, through his wisdom, is able to deceive and draw people after him. But Satan and his fellow spirits have been driven from the thrones in the air from which the physical creation is governed.
All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? (Isaiah 14:10)
It appears there is a relationship between the end-time latter-rain ministry of the two witnesses (Revelation, Chapter 11) and the casting of Satan and his angels out of the heaven into the earth.
After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. (Luke 10:1)
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:17,18)
As we understand it, this does not mean Satan was cast out of the heaven at the time of the witness of the seventy. Rather, Jesus is beholding in vision the end-time ministry of the two witnesses as the saints go forth in the double portion of the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, cast out devils, and proclaim repentance in the earth because of the soon coming to the earth of the Kingdom of God.
The Lord’s witnesses will go "before his face" in order to prepare the way of the Lord. The anointed saints will tread on all the power of the enemy. The authority of the name of the Lord Jesus will overcome the authority of the wicked spirits who have maintained spiritual control over the prisoners of the earth.
We have seen, therefore, that Michael and his angels for the first time are able to defeat Satan and his angels and to cast them from their places of rulership over the material creation. The wicked are forced out of the heaven and hurled into the earth. They do not desire this but are helpless to resist in the face of superior spiritual authority and power.
Evil spirits do not desire to be cast out of human beings, but they are helpless to resist when the Holy Spirit speaks to them through the saints in the authority of the name of Christ.
It appears superior power has been given to the holy angels led by Michael because of the end-time anointed testimony of the elect, and also because Christ has been formed in the saints and has been caught up "unto God, and to his throne."
The saints on the earth will tread on all the power of the enemy. Also, their names have been written in Heaven (Luke 10:20). Christ has been formed in them and they have gained authority and power before the throne of God in Heaven (Revelation 3:5).
Victory before the throne of God in Heaven. Victory on the earth. As a direct result of this double victory the elect angels are empowered by the Father to defeat Satan and his angels, forcing them out of the heaven and down into the earth.
All judgment has been given by the Father to His Son, Jesus Christ. The Son of God has passed the administration of Divine judgment into His Body, the Church. It is the Church, the Seed of the woman, that shall crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20).
The members of the Body of Christ are God’s judges. Judges possess great authority. The officers bearing the weapons of judgment must wait for the decision of the judge.
The heavenly officers bearing the terrible weapons of the execution of the sentence of judgment are the elect angels of the most high God—the angels who excel in strength, performing the will of the Father.
But the elect angels bear no authority of judgment, only the power to execute the decisions of the Judge, Christ, who has been appointed by the Father.
God’s Judge is the Lord Jesus Christ. All judgment has been given to the Son.
The decisions of the Head are spoken through the Body because the Head and the Body are one Christ, one Anointed King, Priest, Judge, and Deliverer. As in the human being, the Head and the Body are one person.
The elect angels await the decisions of the Judge. God the Father speaks in His Son because the Father and the Son are One.
The Son speaks in His Body because the Son and His Body are One.
When Michael hears the authoritative decisions flowing from the throne of God Almighty He is empowered by the Lord God to execute the sentence of Divine judgment.
Michael and his legions rush toward the destruction of the enemy with galactic force. The release of energy is sufficient to overcome all satanic opposition. The Word of God Almighty is in the midst of the righteous angels, a power so great as to be far beyond human imagination or description. Resistance is impossible. God the Father has spoken through His Christ. The enemy is forced out of the heavenlies, down into the earth—the planet he has plagued for so many thousands of years.
The reason the Church has been unable, prior to this time, to use the keys of the Kingdom of God to greater advantage is that it has not been one with the Son in the Father. The churches have been as the Body of Christ with the head of man. Therefore the Father has deemed it wise and fitting to issue the authority and power of the Kingdom of God only in small amounts.
As soon as the Christian Church dies to self-will, self-exaltation, self-seeking, self-vaunting, calling attention to itself because it has not been crucified with Christ, the Life of Christ will enter the Church and the Church will become one with Christ and will live by His Divine Life.
When the Church becomes one with Christ, living by His incorruptible, eternal, resurrection Life, the authoritative decisions of Divine judgment will issue through the mouth of the Bride of the Lamb.
As soon as the Divine judgment is uttered through the Body of Christ, Michael will recognize the Voice of God. He will attack in the fullness of the strength of God.
The victory of Michael and his army signals the end of Satan’s dominion over the earth.
To the Body of Christ has been given the keys of the Kingdom of God. The keys of the Kingdom of God compose the key of David—the authority and power for building the Kingdom of God (Revelation 3:7). It is the throne of David (Luke 1:32).
The key of David is the authority to open and shut the gates of the Kingdom: the authority to bind and to loose, to forgive sins and to retain sins. It is the authority to bind the forces of wickedness and to release the righteous into the Presence and blessing of God.
The saints, in Christ, speak the Word. The angels execute the deed in the spirit realm. It is Mahanaim —two armies, the double camp. It is a dance, with Christ doing the leading.
Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look on thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? as it were the company of two armies. (Song of Solomon 6:13)
Whenever Joshua brings the army of judges to the walls of Jericho, to the entrance to resurrection ground, the captain of the Lord’s host appears with the sword of execution in his hand. The army of saints and the army of angels work together under the direction of Joshua (as he obeys the Lord), under the guidance and power of the anointing of the Spirit of God. It is the dance of Mahanaim.
The place of Satan and his rebellious angels was not found "any more in heaven." It is an eternal judgment. By forming Christ in the saints, the Lord God has guaranteed that never again will anyone but God attempt to exercise dominion throughout His realms, whether the spirit realm or the material realm.
The wretchedness, the abomination that causes desolation, of someone other than God making himself God and seeking worship, never again will destroy the creation, bringing everyone and everything into confusion, uproar, madness, pain, suffering, frenzy, restlessness, fear, dread, bondage, corruption, death. The nightmare is over forever. Satan and his angels have been driven from the spiritual thrones that dominate the creation.
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