Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Revelation 12:7-9

In Revelation 12:1-6, we saw that the dragon, Satan, waited to destroy Jesus Christ at His birth, and failed. We saw that Satan and his friends tried to destroy Jesus during His earthly ministry, and failed. They finally thought they had defeated Him when He went to the cross, but they failed, and He ascended to heaven to rule the universe. This is where we pick up in verses 7 ff.

At the point that Jesus ascends to heaven, war breaks out; notice who is on the offensive: Michael and the angels of God attack Satan and his forces… and they are defeated and cast out of heaven. Of course, we must keep in mind that this is a figurative passage and not a literal one, but once again we can glean much from it. Michael is the leader of God’s angelic army (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9). They go on the offensive against Satan, who is the accuser of God’s people, and they do so at that precise time because Satan’s accusations against the people of God have been rendered impotent by the atoning work of Christ on the cross. What can Satan say about those of us who have accepted God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ? The whole argument is pointless, for our sins have been taken away entirely. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies” (Rom. 8:33).

As always, the song tells the story for us:

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.

Therefore rejoice, you heavens
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

Revelation 12:10-12

The dragon has been defeated in heaven and cast down to earth where the battle will continue through this present age until Jesus returns for His final and total victory. The victory in heaven has three elements to it:

First, the victory of Christ over sin, and the defeat of the Satanic forces in heaven has made God’s rule manifest, and vindicated His name; there is great rejoicing in heaven (v. 10).

Second, God’s people who proclaim the good news of the victory of Christ on the cross, and persevere even to death bring great glory to God and vindicate His name on the earth (v. 11).

Third, Satan has now been defeated twice in rapid succession; he knows his time is short and he is none too happy about it as he takes his fight to the earth. Consequently, there is jubilation in heaven, for Satan’s fate is a foregone conclusion (v. 12).

We, God’s people here on earth, should rejoice as well, for even though we are living on the front lines of battle in this present evil age, we also know with surety that Satan is fighting his last ditch battle in utter futility, for God will win out no matter what Satan may do.

Next time, we will pick up with verse 13 and find out how Satan will make his last ditch effort here on earth…