“And there was a war in heaven… and the great dragon was thrown down… and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:7-12, NASB)

Do you know who the greatest loser of all time is? We get the answer by reading today’s passage. It says that Satan and his angels are the greatest losers of all time, and that Christ and his people are the eternal victors. It says,

“And there was war in heaven, 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. 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. And 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, who accuses them before our God day and night. 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 to death. 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.’”

John’s vision of the “woman” and the “great red dragon” and the events that followed is shown between the blowing of the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15 and the beginning of the seven bowl judgments in Revelation 15:1. As I stated in the previous devotional, I believe that chapters 12 and beyond are not in chronological order, but rather a moment of intermission in which John is shown a brief overview of history from heaven’s perspective. For example, it says in verses 7-9 that “there was a war” in heaven, and Satan and his angels were defeated and cast down to the earth. This event most likely occurred before the Garden of Eden, so it cannot be a chronological event between the trumpets and the bowls judgments. It outlines the ongoing struggle between God and Satan, which started long ago and ultimately leads to a seven-year period during which Satan, through the Antichrist, rules, ending with their final defeat. Its main point is that God and His Lamb are the ultimate victors, and Satan and everyone who follows him will be the greatest losers in heaven and on earth.

The word “war” appears three times here. It made me wonder, “What would a war in heaven look like?” It would be nothing like any wars we have seen or read about on Earth. Initially, I had some idea of what it might look like, but I was confounded by the thought of who and what was involved in this war. First of all, it would be a war of angels, who are spirit beings. Second, its battleground would be in the heavens and not on earth. Third, it would also be a battle between two great angels, Michael and the great dragon, who is called the devil and Satan.

As a result, instead of answers, I came up with more questions. Who starts this war anyway? Why was there a war in heaven? What does it look like if two angelic armies fought one another, considering that they are spirit beings with no bodies? How many angels are there in heaven, and how many of them were with Michael, and how many were with Satan? If there are “myriads of myriads” of angels (Rev.5:11), how spread out was this warfare in the heavens? Can angels die or be harmed by this war? If angels cannot die, how long can this war go on? How do you determine who the victor in the end was? Did John see these angels battling together in human form or some spirit form? What kind of armor were they wearing, and what kind of weapons were they using to fight this battle? If the devil was in the form of a dragon, were his angels also transformed into dragon-like creatures, or were they the same as the good angels? Were Satan’s angels in good angel form initially, but began transforming into a demonic form as they were being thrown down from heaven? More questions than answers!

But one thing that is obviously clear is that Satan was the loser. He will always be the loser when fighting against God and His servants! Furthermore, it says that Satan and his angels were defeated in this war in heaven and were thrown down to the earth. Wars on earth, both physical and spiritual, are a direct result of this war in heaven. A voice out of heaven said, “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.” Satan and his angels were not strong enough to win the war in heaven, and were cast down to earth and are now waging war against God’s people. However, even then, Satan is predicted to be the loser, for it says that God’s people “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 to death.” Our weapons of warfare against him are the “blood of the Lamb” and our faithful “words of testimony,” even to the point of death. Just as Satan was declared a loser in heaven, he will be declared a loser on earth. He will be known as the greatest loser in heaven, the loser on earth.

• What do you think this “war in heaven” looked like?
• Do you sense a “war” being waged upon us by Satan and his angels today, and what does it mean to overcome them with the blood of Jesus and the words of our testimony?