The Heavenly Battle: Michael vs. The Dragon

It says here in Revelation 12, verses 7 and 8, And there was war in heaven,

Revelation 12:7

Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon.

And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough,

and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

So there has been a war in heaven since the fall of Satan.

Isaiah chapter 14 talks about this. Ezekiel chapter 28 talks about this.

Isaiah 14 · chapter mention Ezekiel 28 · chapter mention

Though at present, he still has access to God's presence in heaven.

We mentioned that last time.

Satan's domain is the earth and the air around the earth, right?

This is why the Bible describes him as the God of this world.

In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, and the prince of the power of the air,

2 Corinthians 4:4

in Ephesians 2, verse 2, And his demon hosts as spiritual forces of wickedness

Ephesians 2:2

in the heavenly places in Ephesians 6, verse 12.

Ephesians 6:12

So Satan, along with the evil angels, has actively opposed both the holy angels

and God's people since his fall.

And in the Old Testament, demons really sought to hinder the ministry of the

holy angels specifically to who?

Israel, right? We see examples of that in Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

We talked about this, I believe, a couple weeks ago, verses 12 and 13.

And in the present age, Satan prowls around like a what? Remember?

A roaring lion seeking someone to devour. That's 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8.

1 Peter 5:8

And he oppresses individuals. That's talked about in Luke chapter 13,

Luke 13 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 10. and he actually uses sin to disrupt and pollute the church.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 5, 1 through 11.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Believers, all of us, are to be wary of his schemes. 2 Corinthians 2, 11 talks about that.

Give him no opportunity, it says in Ephesians 4, and resist him, it says in James 4.

So the war raging between supernatural beings in the heavenly sphere is going

to reach its peak during the tribulation.

And that future conflict is going to find, as we see here, Michael and his angels

waging war with the dragon.

And so the grammatical construction of that phrase in the Greek text actually

indicates that Satan, or the dragon, will start this battle.

It could be translated that Michael and his angels had to fight the dragon.

The Bible doesn't reveal how angels fight, nor does it, you know,

does our limited knowledge of the heavenly realm. We just don't know.

It's hard to even speculate in it.

I mean, it's just hard to think about it because we just, those are unknown things to us.

But there was a scholar, Henry Morris, he wrote this, and I thought I'd share

it with you tonight. He says, with what weapons and by what tactics this heavenly

warfare will be raged is beyond our understanding, he said.

Angels cannot be injured or slain with earthly weapons.

And such physical forces, as we know about, are not able to move spiritual beings, right?

I mean, you got the demon out there. You can't kill it with a gun, right?

And so, but he says these beings do operate in a physical universe.

So there must exist powerful psychospiritual energies of which we yet have only

vague limitations of, energies which can propel angelic bodies at velocities that,

you know, through space or move them or affect them in some way.

And he said it's with such energies and powers that this heavenly battle will

be waged, and the spectators in heaven, including John, he said, will watch in awe.

When Michael finally prevails and Satan is forced forever out of heavens,

a tremendous cry of thanksgiving will resound through the heavens.

And that's in his book, The Revelation Record.

That's where that particular quote there is found. But tonight,

the key interpretive question is not how the battle will be fought, is it?

But what will cause it? What's going to cause this battle?

While it's impossible to be totally dogmatic about it completely,

the ultimate battle here, it may be triggered by the rapture of the church.

Describing that event, the Apostle Paul, if you remember, actually wrote these words.

He said, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,

with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpets of God,

and the dead in Christ will rise first.

That we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the

clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

I always love that. Don't y'all? Wow, what victory.

That's in 1 Thessalonians 4. Well, possibly as the raptured believers pass through

their realm, the prince of the power of the air and his demon host will try

to hinder their passage.

I don't really know what he's going to attempt or how this war is going to start.

That may trigger the battle with angels and the holy, you know,

with Michael and the holy angels.

I don't know. But Michael and the dragon, Satan, have known each other since they were created.

And the battle during the tribulation

here will not be the first time that they've opposed each other.

Michael's always seen in scripture as the defender of God's people against satanic destruction.

In fact, in Daniel chapter 10, the inspired prophet there gives an Old Testament

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

example of him in action.

A holy angel dispatched with an answer to Daniel's prayer in Daniel 10 verse 12 was delayed.

Daniel 10:12

Y'all may remember this. We talked about this when I went through this with

our Mighty Warrior group when we first started out.

But it was delayed for three weeks. It was delayed.

By a powerful demon who was in control of the Persian empire.

And that's in Daniel 10. But it was not until Michael, one of the chief princes,

came to help him in verse 13 in Daniel 10 that he was able to prevail.

And so Daniel chapter 12, verse 1 actually speaks of Michael's defense of God's people.

Daniel 12:1

Now, at the time here of the tribulation, Michael, the great prince who stands

guard over the sons of your people will arise, arise,

and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was

a nation until that time.

And at that time, your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.

So the New Testament, y'all, also reveals Michael to be the defender of God's people.

Jude chapter 9 actually describes his conflict with Satan over the body of who? Do you remember?

Moses. You remember that one in scripture?

Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the

body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment,

but said, you remember the words he told him?

The Lord rebuke you. Boy, that sounds like a a good angel, right?

Sounds like Michael knows who the real power comes from. But after Moses's death

in Deuteronomy 34, Michael actually contested Satan for possession of Moses's body.

And which Satan apparently wanted to use for some crazy purpose.

I don't really know. There's been different guesses as to why he wanted Moses's

body, what he would do with it.

Maybe he was going to use it for some purpose to make Israel fall or turn away in some way, he thought.

But in the Lord's power, Michael actually won the battle over Moses' body.

And the Lord buried Moses, it says, in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor.

But no man knows, it says in the passage, his burial place to this day in Deuteronomy 34, verse 6.

Deuteronomy 34:6

And by the way, as y'all already know, it is strongly speculated that Moses

will be one of those two witnesses, right?

So, significantly, Jude chapter 9 here, it describes Michael as an archangel.

The only other reference to an archangel in Scripture is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4,

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

and it reveals that at the rapture, the Lord himself will descend from heaven

with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.

It is possible that the archangel in that passage is Michael,

and that he is shouting as he confronts Satan's attempt to interfere with the rapture.

We just don't know for sure how all this is going to happen and what's going to trigger this.

But the reference here to the dragon and his angels, actually just to us,

it reinforces the truth that the demon host here are under Satan's command, right?

A principle that was really stated by Jesus in Matthew chapter 25,

Matthew 25:41

verse 41. He says, then he will also say to those on his left, what?

Depart from me, accursed ones, and to the eternal fire, which has been prepared

for the devil and his angels.

So the repetition of the phrase, waging war, waged war, it really emphasizes

here the force, the fury of this battle, y'all.

There'll be no minor just skirmish. It's not just going to be a light skirmish,

right? But it's an all-out battle.

Satan will fight desperately to prevent Christ from establishing his millennial kingdom.

Just as he oppressed Israel's restoration, if you remember from captivity and

was rebuked for it all the way back in Zechariah 3.

Well, thus the supernatural war here is going to reach that peak as the time

for Christ to establish his earthly and eternal kingdom draws near.

So all of Satan's attempts, all the attempts to oppose God throughout history have failed.

And he'll lose this final angelic battle as well. Somebody say amen, right?

Praise the Lord. I mean, the devil and his angels are not strong enough to defeat

God, Michael, and the holy angels.

Satan will suffer such a complete defeat that there will no longer be a place

found for him and his demon host in heaven.

So every inch of heaven, as it were, will be thoroughly scoured and all the

rebellious fallen angels permanently cast out.

They'll no longer have access to God's presence and Satan will never again accuse

believers before God's throne. Wow.

What a battle this is going to be and what a victory it's going to be, right?

I mean, this defeat will also mark the end of Satan's reign as the prince of

the power of the air in Ephesians 2.2.

But heaven's cleansing, if you will, is earth's pollution.

As Satan's full fury explodes on humanity when he's cast to the earth in chapter

12, verse 12 that we read.

At exactly what point in the tribulation Satan and the demons will be evicted

from heaven is not totally revealed.

Really, not even the duration of their battle with Michael and the holy angels

is revealed. But all that can be said with certainty here, y'all,

is that Satan and the demons will be cast out of heaven forever.

And possibly at the rapture, like I said, I don't know, possibly,

but no later than the midpoint of the tribulation.

Verse 12 here says that Satan and his forces have only a short time after they

leave heaven, supporting the view that they will have only the last three and

a half years of the tribulation to operate.

Rather than the full seven years, right? They will not arrive on earth later

than that, since they clearly are present during the terrible events,

as you have noted probably as we study,

the last three and a half years that we've talked about, the great tribulation

as Jesus referred to it as.

So during that last period, church, Satan's full power will be directed where?

At anyone belonging to God, especially Israel.

Don't you imagine he's going to be pretty angry? He knows he's been defeated.

He's been cast out forever.

And his focus will be at anybody belonging to God, especially Israel.

Well, that leads us right into shouting time, Brother Ronnie.

I mean, this is going to be the victory. The victory. Because look right here,

it says, And the great dragon, verse 9 of chapter 12,

was thrown down the serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan,

who deceives the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth,

and his angels were thrown down with him.

And, y'all, as a result of this defeat, the great dragon was thrown down from

heaven to earth, and that describes Satan's second and permanent expulsion from heaven.

So the dragon is called great here because of his formidable power,

his formidable power to inflict harm, right?

To bring disaster, all of it.

Earlier, he was described as having seven heads, seven crowns, and ten horns.

That description actually pictures Satan as the ruler of the world.

We talked about that some. But the fourfold description of the dragon,

y'all, it leaves no doubt as to his identity.

In fact, over in chapter 20, verse 2, it talks about, First,

he's called the serpent of old, identifying him as the serpent in the garden of where? Eden, right?

And emphasizing his subtlety, his treachery, y'all. And so the dragon is also called the devil.

Which means slanderer or defamer or false accuser. That's a fitting title for

the devil, right, of Satan, the false accuser.

He accuses men to God, God to men, and men to other men.

And Satan is this malicious prosecutor of God's people.

He's constantly trying to align them or to arrange them, I should say,

before the bar of God's holy justice, trying to somehow make it all fall apart,

trying to come up with some scheme, right?

And so part of his prowling around like this roaring lion as it talks about

in 1 Peter 5, probably no doubt includes seeking evidence of believer's sins

with which to accuse them before God's throne.

But y'all, the glorious truth is this, and I shared this verse with our Sunday

school class this morning, it fit great with what we were looking at in Psalm 32,

but this glorious truth is there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

That's the truth, amen, in Romans 8, 1, because if anybody sins,

Scripture tells us we have an advocate with the Father. Who is that?

Jesus Christ, the righteous, 1 John 2, 1.

In Romans 8, verses 31 through 34, the apostle Paul so eloquently and emphatically

Romans 8:31–34

stated the impossibility of Satan successfully accusing believers.

Let's, let's look at it. I think this is so important.

Look at what he says there. He says, what then shall we say to these things?

Are you ready? If God is for us, who's against us?

He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all,

how will he not also with him freely give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died.

Yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God,

who also, get this church, intercedes for us.

Wow. Now, then the text just plainly identifies the dragon as Satan.

Satan is a Hebrew word that means adversary.

And it's a fitting proper name, church, for this enemy of God and God's people.

And tragically, the most glorious created being, the star of the morning,

as he was called in Isaiah chapter 14, is now and forever branded the adversary.

Isaiah 14 · chapter mention

He assaulted God in his original rebellion when he demanded to be what?

Like the Most High in Isaiah 14.

And he deceitfully led Eve into sin by manipulating her to distrust the character

in the Word of God. We see that all the way back in Genesis 3, 2 through 5.

And finally, the dragon is described as the one who deceives the whole world.

He deceives, that deceives translates the present participle of the verb here

to lead astray, to mislead.

Planeo, or to deceive. And the use of that present tense there,

church, it indicates that this is Satan's habitual, if you will,

habitual, continual activity.

As he constantly, he's constantly accusing believers, so he deceives the whole world.

And so beginning with the fall, Satan has actually duped the human race throughout his history.

He's warned Jesus that, he says, A liar and the father of lies.

The father of lies. Jesus talked about him in John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

Satan lures people to their destruction, right? By causing them to what?

To pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.

We read about that in 1 Timothy. In fact, he seduces people to believe him and not God.

To believe that he tells the truth and God lies.

That's all the way back in Genesis 3, 4.

So his deception will dominate the world during the tribulation.

And he mounts his last desperate assault against God through his agent and false

prophet, the associate of the Antichrist.

Satan will deceive those who dwell on the earth. It talks about in chapter 13, verse 14.

Deceitful demons, in other words, under Satan's control, will gather the world's

armies for the battle of Armageddon.

We'll see that in more detail when we get to it in chapter 16 to 19.

But Satan will also use Babylon, the great end-time commercial empire,

to deceive the unbelieving world.

In addition to energizing his servants, Satan himself, y'all,

will be actively involved in this deception.

At the end of the tribulation, by the way, he'll be thrown down into the abyss.

For how many years? Somebody know? A thousand years.

So that he will not deceive the nations any longer. That's Revelation 20, verse 3.

Revelation 20:3

And guess what else? He will be released for a brief time. Anybody know when?

At the end of the millennium, he'll be released for a brief time.

Satan, in other words, it says in chapter 20, verse 8, and we'll get to this,

will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth.

But in the end, it says here in Scripture, that the devil who deceived them

will be thrown into the lake of fire and breadstone,

with two other notorious deceivers, the beast and the false prophet, right?

And there, the three of them, along with all the demons, what does it say?

Revelation 20.10 talks about this, will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Matthew 25 speaks of that as well. And they were cast out of heaven with Satan

at his original rebellion.

And so also his angels be thrown down with him after his final expulsion from heaven.

And then the arrival of the excommunicated demon host, if you will,

and their evil commander on earth will add immeasurably to the horror of the tribulation.

They'll join the innumerable demons that are here already roaming the earth,

and these demons actually here are going to possibly, we don't know the exact number.

We've talked about this a little bit just based on other scriptures.

There's at least 200 million and other formerly bound demons.

So we don't know the total number. They're going to just create an unimaginable Holocaust of evil.

So, but we're going to have the victory as we see here, the victory.

And then we come to that last part, y'all, because when there's victory,

what happens after that?

There's celebration, right? Well, I've probably gone a little bit too far tonight,

maybe to go further. So I'm going to save the celebration for next week. Is that okay?

I think we probably, maybe you've reached your limit tonight.

I don't know. But the celebration we'll look at next week.