The main difficulty we have with overcoming failures of any kind that involve sin is the simple fact of the enemy. If we listen to his lies and fall into his deception then we are unable to hear the voice of the Lord proclaiming our liberation. The truth is that Satan has lost his ability to accuse us any longer. Christ is our advocate before the Father and the truth in Christ our Lord sets us free. Thus the primary task of the enemy towards believers is to lie and deceive. He will do all he can to keep us under spirits of condemnation, lies, and deception. The word devil itself in the Greek means to throw over, divide, accuse, bring charges, slander, reject, misrepresent and deceive. Satan is an interchangeable word which refers to him as our adversary. Scripture tells us the following about the devil:
1. He entices people to do things (1 Chronicles 21:1)
2. He had access to God before Christ (Job 1:6)
2. He was limited by God in the Old Testament, before the coming of Jesus (Job 1:12; Job 2:6)
4. He can physically attack people (Job 2:7; Luke 13:16; 2 Corinthians 12:7)
5. He was an accuser of believers in the presence of the Lord before Christ’s victory (Zechariah 3:1)
6. He tries to divert men’s attention away from the things of the Lord and uses them to accomplish his
purposes (Matthew 16:23; Luke 22:3)
7. He has on occasion requested or demanded permission to work in the lives of believers (Luke 22:31)
8. He sexually tempts men and women in times where they lack self-control (1 Corinthians 7:5)
9. He is the Father of Lies (John 8:44)
10. His first work was one of deception as he communicated with Eve in Genesis 3:13. One of his primary works is to deceive the world (Revelation 12:9) and believers, taking them away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3)
11. He is cursed by God (Genesis 3:14)
12. He was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44)
13. He takes away the word of God from the heart of some people (Luke 8:12)
14. He oppresses people (Acts 10:38)
15. He plants people in the midst of the churches as tares (Matthew 13:38). They are his sons and daughters.
16. He is a schemer (2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 6:11)
17. He disguises himself as an angel of light in order to deceive (2 Corinthians 2:14)
18. He blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4)
19. He can hinder the movement of believers (1 Thessalonians 2:18)
20. He can display power, execute miracles, and perform false wonders (1 Thessalonians 2:9)
21. He condemns (1 Timothy 3:6)
22. He sets snares or traps (1 Timothy 3:7; 2 Timothy 2:26)
23. He used to have the power of death but has such no longer (Hebrews 2:14)
24. He flees when resisted (James 4:7)
25. He prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)
26. His works are destroyed by and through the Son of God (1 John 3:8)
27. He has assemblies or control over churches and synagogues (Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9)
28. The devil casts believers into prison (Revelation 2:10)
29. He was cast down to earth after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, full of wrath (Revelation 12:12)
30. He has only a short time to work (Revelation 12:12)
31. He pursues believers while he can and seeks to overcome them through deception/false teaching (Revelation 12:15)
32. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19)
33. He is bound (Revelation 20:2). I realize some see this as a future binding and not a current one.
34. Before the very end he will be released from prison (Revelation 20:7)
35. He will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented day and night forever (Revelation 20:10)
36. He is bent on stealing, killing, and destroying (John 10:10)
There is a great deal of material on our enemy and it is good to know about him. However, it is far more important to know of the victory of Jesus and his people that has already been won. Linked with this is the practical knowledge we can glean for the battles that we face with our adversary. The question then is as follows: What was accomplished for us by the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus against Satan, who seeks to keep us as far from God as possible? I can think of no better chapter of Scripture to answer this question than Revelation 12, one of the premier passages giving the foundation of spiritual warfare and some explanation of the reality and nature of the battle between Satan and the Church. There had always been warfare between the people of God and Satan, but following the ascension of Jesus it has become more acute. There are two sections to this chapter, verses 1-6 and verses 7-17. Each looks at the same victory of Jesus from two different angles, one from earth, and the other from heaven.
12:1: “A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”
This is a picture of the people of God, the covenant community of faith. These are called Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New Testament. We turn to Genesis 37:9-11 for the immediate background. Immediately we see pictured here Israel or Jacob as the sun, his wife as the moon, and his 12 children as the stars. The crowns are an expression of the heavenly and glorious character of the church in spite of her fragile and uncertain earthly history.
12:2: “and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.”
Picture in your mind Israel, the woman, as pregnant with the Christ child. This is a good way to view the entirety of the Old Testament, beginning especially with Genesis 3:15 where we have the first promise of the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head. When you look at Genesis 3:16 you will see also the mention of a woman being in great pain during childbirth. Though this refers to all women it perhaps has an allusion to the painful history of Israel, through which the Messiah would come. By looking at Isa 54:1 and Galatians 4:26-27 we see that the pregnant woman is indeed the faithful followers of God and not national Israel. These birth pangs are represented by the persecution of the faithful remnant or covenant community during the Old Testament and times following leading up to the birth of Jesus. In Isaiah 26:17-18 we see Israel described as being pregnant and in pain. See also Isaiah 66:7 and following.
12:3 “Then another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his head were seven diadems.”
Compare also Rev 13:1, a description of the beast who is an agent of Satan in the world. There is much OT imagery for the monster that persecutes God’s people. Sometimes the dragon is represented by evil kingdoms like Egypt in the OT. Perhaps here Rome is also being thought of as a dragon. But behind it all is Satan. In the OT Egypt pursued Israel into the wilderness (see Ezekiel 29:3 and Ezekiel 32:2); in the immediate context of Revelation 12 it is Rome that is being used of the devil to pursue the new Israel. The practical key for us is that Satan is always pursuing destruction for the church and he has other agents in league with him, spiritual and human.
The numbers 7 and 10 are numbers in Revelation that represent completeness. The failure to account for Hebrew numerology has led to some fanciful and, in my opinion, erroneous interpretation of several passages in Revelation (such as the 1000 year reign of Jesus and the 144,000). Thus Satan and his representatives are making false claims to sovereignty and earthly kingship. The color red, used to describe the dragon, is perhaps illustrative of blood. We also note that in the Old Testament the dragon lives in the sea. The same is true here in Revelation. Destruction comes from the sea. Perhaps this is why there will no longer be any sea in the new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1).
12:4 “And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.”
A third of the stars in heaven are swept away by the dragon. Though some may think this is an allusion to the other demons Satan took with him out of heaven in the beginning, it more likely represents his persecution of the saints, represented by stars. In verse 1 above we have already seen that stars represents the children of Jacob or Israel. We also turn to Daniel for more help in defining these starts. See especially Daniel 8:10-12 which speaks of the devil’s warfare against holy saints. Also, Daniel 12:3 refers to saints as stars. Also, we turn to Daniel 7:24-25 to see the persecution of the saints at the hands of Satan’s agent, the anti-Christ. We determine that the saints are those who have been persecuted by the enemy. As in Daniel so also at other times, it looks like the evil one is winning the war. Indeed, he has a God-given time in which he may work, but he has limits in terms of both times and power. On this point see Daniel 7:9-12.
The dragon is standing here before Israel in order to devour her child. As we read through the Old Testament we can see numerous occasions in which the line of Messiah and line of David are nearly extinguished. William Hendriksen says that “the entire Old Testament becomes one story, the story of the conflict between the seed of the woman and the dragon, between Christ and Satan. Here are a few examples: Hendrickson 137-140
1. Genesis 3:15: The seed of the woman is bruised by the serpent but crushes the serpent’s head.
2. Seth, ancestor of Messiah, first in the line of Christ: Satan influences the sons of Seth to marry the daughters of Cain. As a result the entire world is destroyed by a flood, except for Noah and his family.
3. Abraham and Sarah: Sarah is barren but miraculously gives birth to Isaac. The angel of the Lord appears, perhaps the Lord Messiah himself, safeguarding his own birth.
4. Isaac and Rebekah: Rebekah is barren but Jacob comes by a miracle and the line of Messiah continues.
5. Esau wants to kill Jacob but does not do so.
6. Judah has sex with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, whom he thought a prostitute. They and their child are in the direct descent of Jesus.
7. Pharaoh decrees the death of all male born Hebrew children; but not all are put to death.
8. The golden calf incident: idolatry and immorality occurs and God plans to kill all the Jews. However, Moses intercedes and they are saved.
9. David and Saul: On numerous occasions the demonically influenced Saul tries to spear David. He fails to kill him.
10. 2 Kings 11 and Queen Athaliah who kills all the male descendants in the line of David . . . except that one is hidden by Jehosheba. Joash keeps the promised line of Messiah going.
11. Isaiah 7: The King of Judah, Ahaz is going to be destroyed by Israel and Syria. The promise of Virgin birth is given.
12. Esther and the Jews in the 5th century BC. The Jews are decreed destroyed but are saved through the efforts of Mordecai and King Esther.
13. Matthew 2: King Herod kills all the male children two years old and under in an attempt to kill the King of the Jews. He fails.
14. The crucifixion of Jesus. Satan finally thinks he has won but in fact he has sealed his doom.
The above are just some of several examples whereby the line of Messiah was miraculously preserved. We can also think of the story of Ruth and Boaz, the adultery of Judah with Tamar, and others.
12:5 “and she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to his throne.”
In this verse we also see the birth of Jesus and his ascension. It is a snapshot of his birth and kingly destiny, using Psalm 2, which is mentioned also in Revelation 2:27 and Revelation 19:15. The victory and rule of the Messiah over all who rise up against him are highlighted in this verse . Notice that there is no mention of Jesus’ death or burial because the total focus is victory.
12:6 “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”
Here we have a replay of the exodus story. Egypt pursued Israel and she went into the wilderness where she will be for 1260 days or 3.5 years, representing the period between the first and second comings of Jesus. See also Revelation 11:2-3 where the church is persecuted for this same period of time. Here we see is the time where the nations are allowed to persecute the church and during this same time the two witnesses will preach the gospel. The two witnesses represent the church and not two figures who will arrive on the scene at some point in the future. When we look at Israel we see them as a nation in the wilderness until they reached the Promised Land. So also is the church. The wilderness is the world. Here we live and are protected by God. The protection is spiritual and not necessarily physical. The world is trying to move us to idolatry and immorality, the same temptations the Israelites faced in the wilderness. We all know the world kills some believers but we are promised a way of escape from all temptations that come our way in the world (1 Cor 10:13). See also Deuteronomy 8:14-16 which describes the provision of God for Israel in the wilderness, a place of fiery serpents and scorpions. Here the encouraging words of commentator Simon Kistemaker: “three factors emerge from spending time in the desert: a person is completely dependent on God to provide for the material and spiritual necessities of life; the desert is always a temporary place; and last, the desert is a place where God trains his people spiritually and prepares them for service. (Revelation, page 359)
12:7-8 “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. 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.”
Here the scene changes but John is talking about the same victory of Christ and defeat of Satan. Now we are looking at it in the spiritual or heavenly realm. This is typical apocalyptic style, to define the same events through different lenses of heaven and earth. Here we see a conflict between holy and demonic angels which mirrors the conflict between the saints and the world. The background for this imagery is Daniel 10 where Michael and the Son of Man (pre-incarnate Christ) fight together for Israel against the demons over both Persia and Greece. Moving this scenario into the time of Jesus we see that now Christ (the Son of Man) is on earth. His battle partner, Michael, is doing the fighting in the heavenly realm. They are still fighting together for the people of God. In fact, it is the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the Messiah that unleashes or releases the effect of Michael’s victory in heaven. Also helpful here is to turn to Daniel 2:35 which describes a stone striking the statue which represents four kingdoms. The point of that imagery is that four kingdoms were on the way to being established, namely Babylon, Medes-Persians, Greece, and Rome. Rome becomes the strongest of all but is destroyed by the stone or Jesus, whose kingdom replaced that of Rome and will continue forever.
12:9-10 “And the great dragon 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. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before God day and night.”
Here we see the results in the heavenly realm of the victory of Jesus described in verse 5. The devil is an accuser and slanderer by definition of the Greek language. The word Satan is akin to “adversary.” He is the one who seeks to overcome others. When we look back at the history of man we see that the role of Satan and his agents in the world, ever since the fall in Genesis 3, is two-fold: to deceive and to slander or accuse. We can look at the example of Job and that of Joshua the high priest in the book of Zechariah as examples of the enemy accusing God’s people. He was permitted to do so by God. In this passage of Scripture we see that the right of Satan to slander is nullified. His basis for slandering any in the past was their sins and the fact that an adequate payment for the sins of human beings had not been paid. With the death and resurrection of Jesus we have the payment and acceptance of that payment by God (propitiation by blood which satisfies the wrath of God against sin). In other words, the privileged place of Satan to come before God as an accuser is taken away by the sacrifice of Jesus. As Romans 8:1 says, “ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And later in Romans we are told that no one, not even the former great accuser, can bring a charge against God’s elect children. This is the primary defeat of the devil. The dragon is also a deceiver, a work which he still continues, though even this work has been greatly curbed, as evidenced by the binding of Satan in Revelation 20. The gospel is being proclaimed all over the world and people are coming out of deception. Since the victory of Jesus the people coming to God has been exponential in comparison with the times preceding Jesus. In other words, it is in this sense that Satan is bound and defeated. Yes, he is still active in the world as the final end of his working is in the coming future.
Let us not also diminish the fact that the salvation, power, kingdom, and authority of Christ began 2000 years ago, and is not some event in the future. This is clear from other passages in the Bible such as 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 which says, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” This tells us that his kingdom has begun but that it is not fully free of all enemies. In the future will come the consummation of his rule, when the last enemy, death will be defeated. Satan is defeated now but allowed to work and fight until the very end. But he is limited and he has no claims upon the people of God. This is typically referred to as the already and not yet aspects of the reign of Jesus. Indeed, as we minister in the name of Jesus we will tread upon our adversary as the disciples did in the gospels. The already won victory of Jesus over Satan in the past is our only ground for our own winnings over his attacks in the present. We see such domination of the dragon by the Christ and his disciples throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus (see Luke 10:17-20) and we are told of the defeat of Satan via the cross by Jesus himself in John 12:31-33. Furthermore, 1 Peter 3:22 tells us that Jesus “has gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to him.” We can also look at passages like Colossians 2:15 which tells us that Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public display of them. The only conclusion are left to make is that Jesus is reigning and the kingdom is now. What these verses do is help us understand the nature of the victory, as outlined in the paragraph above. The final execution of our great enemy comes at a future date. He is bound now and has a chain hooked to him which limits his work.
The primary work of the devil against the people of God is lying and deception. We will take a look at this in more detail at the end of Revelation chapter 12, seeing that the Scriptures back this up in great detail. Let us also be reminded that Satan and his hosts fell at the beginning of the first creation due to rebellion. Here also, it should not surprise us that the devil and his demonic legions fall again at the beginning of the second or new creation, which began with the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.
12:11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”
This is how we have practically overcome the devil’s accusations and deception. It is the blood of Jesus that enables us to win battles against him. We are forgiven and thus can no longer be accused before God. He will not hear any accusations against those whose sins have been forgiven. This is remarkable and hard to believe in practical living at times. What happens now is that the devil lies to us and accuses us to our faces. He has no audience with God as the Lord is for us. So, he tries to lie to us and deceive us so that we will believe we are not forgiven. Once we grant him this ground then he has us in his hands to keep us from fulfilling our roles in the life-giving, life-changing, world-changing work of the gospel. Our ability to influence and do amazing things in the name of Jesus is largely made null and void as long as we are under the sway of his lying messages about ourselves and our standing before God.
This is why it is important for those who are forgiven to testify to others about it! This is given to us as part of the armor of God, which results in the practical defeat of Satan in my own personal experience. This is what Ephesians means when it tells us to shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). The testimony of sinner-saints over the penalty and power of sin results in stripping the devil of the power that we allow him to have over us. To the degree that you trust in the full effect and benefits of the blood of Christ upon your failures, to that same degree will you trample on the head of the serpent.
12:12 “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
Now we are getting into the clearer explanation of what the defeat of Satan means for us. He has been kicked out of heaven as an accuser of the brethren. Now people can be free. The dragon failed to extinguish the Christ. All his efforts backfired, resulting in his current and future defeat. His doom has been sealed. So now there is rejoicing for all those in heaven, the triumphant church, those no longer living on the earth. We who remain, the militant church, must continue to face the angry serpent who is allowed to wreak havoc in the world for a period of time. Knowing that he has only a short time is motivational fodder for our enemy. Thus, he will do what he can to harm the church while he has the opportunity. He has limited power and limited time. In addition, we are told in Scripture that the gates of hell will never prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18) and that God will never desert or forsake his people (Hebrews 13:5)
The time frame where Jesus is allowed to work is defined as three and one half figurative years, representing the time between Christ’s ascension and His second coming. We see this same time period mentioned in Revelation 11:2 where the nations are permitted to tread underfoot the holy city for a period of forty-two months. In Revelation 13:5 we read that the beast is given an arrogant mouth and authority to act for forty-two months. Thus we have a clear time frame given for the actions of the serpent against the people of God. At the end of this period the kingdom of God will be handed over by Jesus to God the Father and Satan’s final demise will occur. We are left to conclude that Jesus reigns now and has all authority now; but at the same time Satan is still allowed to act with great wrath on the earth for a designated period of time.
12:13 “And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.”
For the fifth time in this chapter we are told of the throwing down of the dragon. After this he became bent on persecuting the woman, the faithful people of God. This reminds us of Pharaoh who pursued the fleeing Israelites into the wilderness.
12:14 “But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”
As in most of the Apocalypse this verse is steeped in the Old Testament. God bore the Israelites on eagles’ wings in rescuing them from the Egyptians (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11). Psalm 91:4 tells us that under his wings we may seek refuge. The weary, the tired, and those who stumble who choose to wait for the Lord will gain new strength, mounting up with wings like eagles. The picture here is no doubt meant to remind us of the Exodus journey out of danger once again. Just as Israel went into the wilderness, so does the church. It is the place we live between the accomplished victory of Jesus and His glorious return. Thus we are assured protection and in the end victory against the wrathful dragon. See again Matthew 16:18 and Hebrews 13:5 which were mentioned above.
12:15 “And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.”
The pouring out of water against us here represents the attempts of the enemy to deceive the children of God through a flood of words. He uses false teachers, compromisers, and demons to accomplish this work. We see this is the case by examining other Scriptures once again. Perhaps we are meant to recall Pharaoh who proclaimed that every male Hebrew child was to be cast into the sea (Exodus 1:22). Consider also Psalm 144:7-8 in which David prays, “Rescue me and deliver me out of the great waters, out of the hand of aliens whose mouths speak deceit, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” Even here in Revelation 16:13 we see that out of the mouth of the dragon, beast, and false prophet come three unclean demonic spirits who perform miracles. The primary work of the evil one against us is to deceive us and keep us from enjoying all that has been won for us by Christ. In this way, he tries to separate us from fellowship with God and useful service to him. Many such Christians are right now in bondage to his lies and deception. The scriptures are clear that Satan parades as an angel of light, plants wicked tares in the churches, and does all he can to lead believers astray.
12:16 “But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.”
Isaiah 43:2 tells us that when we pass through the waters, God will be with us; the rivers will not overflow us. Exodus 15:12 describes the defeat of the pursuing Egyptian army at the time of the Exodus as being swallowed by the earth. Thus here we have another picture from the Exodus to show us that God is for us and will help us against our enemies, especially versus our arch-enemy, Satan himself. Another story where we see the earth work for God is in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Numbers 16. If you read that story you will see that these men led 250 other Israelites in rebellion against Moses. They accused Moses of not leading them to a land flowing with milk and honey nor to an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Is this not exactly the kind of deception and lies the devil uses against us? Indeed it is! The result for Korah, Dathan, and Abiram was that the earth opened up and swallowed them and their families along with all of their possessions. Thus we are to learn that all the attempts of the evil one to drown the church through lies and deception shall not succeed. As Ezekiel 29:3 reminds us God once turned back the plans of Pharaoh who is described as the great monster who lives in the midst of the rivers.” In Ezekiel 32:2-3 he is described as a monster in the river that has muddied the waters. Pharaoh failed in all his attempts. Likewise, here in Revelation 12 we see that the enemy has failed in a second exodus attempt to destroy the people of the Lord!
12:17 “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
Having failed over and over, the dragon is determined to make war with the individual followers of Jesus. This is what he is doing, concerning himself most with the true followers of Christ who want to make a difference in the world. We are the sons of Zion who proceed to follow the leading son of Zion, Jesus himself (Isaiah 66:7-8). Like him, we too will be persecuted. As long as we cling to Jesus and His work we shall overcome. Nothing shall be impossible for us as we tread upon all the power of the evil one through him.
We see from this glorious chapter that Satan is a five-time loser:
1. He attempted to devour the male child but failed (12:5)
2. He fought against Michael and his angels (12:9)
3. He pursued the woman but God prepared a place for her in the wilderness (12:6, 14)
4. He poured out the water of deception to try and overcome the woman but the earth swallowed up the water (12:15-16)
5. He makes war against individual believers but they are intent on obeying God’s commands and holding to the testimony of Jesus (12:17)
In conclusion we quote another great passage referring to the defeat of the dragon at the time of the first exodus. It is found in Psalm 74:14-15: “You divided the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You broke open springs and torrents; you dried up ever-flowing streams.” God is our deliverer and the means by which Satan and his fiends have been vanquished is the blood of Jesus, his resurrection, and his ascension. All of these works of Jesus are highlighted in the chapter and repeatedly we are told of the failure of the devil to win. This chapter has explained for us the reality and the nature of two things: the ongoing attacks of the devil against us and the never-failing accomplishments of Jesus in which any who wish may find real victory in all of the practical issues of life, even to the point of overcoming great moral failure. It is up to you and I to live out the ramifications of these truths which can certainly bring us freedom. Nothing shall ever separate us from the love of Christ and no enemy can take us out of his hand!
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