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War in Heaven
Even though this is introduced as a "war in heaven" that is fought between angels and demons, it concludes as a victory by the saints in the world, who themselves overcome the devil "because of the blood of the Lamb...the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death." It would seem the Lord would have us consider the matter from both angles, the spiritual root and the earthly conclusion. While the concept of earthly war is fairly easy to grasp, "war in heaven" is an altogether different matter. It might be said to be the highest order of competition in the marketplace of ideas, very similar to earthly marketing campaigns promoting everything from vacation resorts to politicians. The perfect political campaign, for instance, would be one that persuades everyone that one candidate is a virtuous champion of truth, justice, and the American way, while all others are perceived as morally bankrupt, untrustworthy, and concealing insidious agendas. In this information age, we are inundated with just such appeals seeking to plant beliefs as deeply as their audience will allow. It is the art of propaganda, and its aim is not just to gain sales or votes; it is to make you believe their offerings are better than competing options. If they can accomplish that, they have done more than just get a sale or vote, they've gotten a devotee. War in heaven is very much the same as this, except that the competing "products" are all the ideas floating around under the banner of Christ; it is a campaign between two candidates and their followers -- Satan and Yahshua. Dating all the way back to the Garden of Eden, It is not a new war at all, but the final chapter of it will be a full scale campaign by both sides that, in Yahweh's words, will shake both heaven and earth in ways never before seen The only thing that can be stated with absolute certainty is that the true answer to each issue will eliminate somewhere between all and all but one of the competing ideas, but until that is established, there will be controversy and competition in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is represented in the world by the saints, whose hearts and minds are the realm in which war in heaven is conducted. Each sector of Christianity is competing with the world and mostly each other for a collection of the biggest and most pieces of other people's souls. At this point, it may not be war, but there is certainly a lot of competitive posturing and skirmishes towards that end going on. Full-scale war is on the horizon, and that is how the Lord is going to segregate or sanctify His true servant-brethren from all the hypocrites like a man would sort sheep from goats. When the truth is manifested by the two empowered prophets (Revelation 11), the battle lines will be drawn, and there will be no neutral territory for people to find refuge. In the hidden realm of the spirit, Michael and his angels will stand up against Satan and his, but if one listens carefully, the voices of angels and demons aren't hard to hear, even now. They may not actually show a face or speak out loud themselves, but their influence in the minds of their charges is openly displayed everywhere. Our beliefs -- the things we accept as true -- are continually solicited with ever increasing seduction and coercion, and those are the voices of angels and demons. In the heavenly realm, what we believe -- really believe, that is -- is given much more currency than most in the world do, a fact that will no doubt come more in view as the sun sets on this age. There's so many historical examples of how heavenly war plays out in the world. The timeline of events from the preaching of John to the day of Pentecost might be considered a war story, for instance. John started making an impact on the beliefs of the Jews, and the children of the devil sitting in "Moses' seat" over them rose up against him. The confrontation was the beginning of the war that escalated even more when the baton was passed to Yahshua, who, unlike John, did miracles. For a time, Yahshua was gaining ground in this war, but was ultimately forsaken by nearly everyone and left to stand on his own against paid false witnesses in a kangaroo court. Of course, because of the resurrection, He wasn't done yet, and the next offensive, the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, proved to be a decisive victory, though the war was far from over. The upper hand quickly went back to the devil as his servants infiltrated and corrupted the ranks of the church, ultimately raising his flag on the church with the unholy matrimony that spawned the "Holy Roman Empire", where it has remained ever since, though there has also always remained a number of resistance movements, as well. This is not the end of it, though, as there is a time where Michael and his angels stand up with the children of God against their adversaries. This is much like the return of Moses to Egypt and correlates directly with the anointment of the two witness-prophets in the last days, a complete disruption of the status quo. Pharaoh didn't think anyone could trump his power...until Moses came along, and the same could be said of the Pharisees and scribes before Yahshua and His profound wisdom and miracle-working power showed up. When the two witnesses put on a barbecue of their enemies in full view of the world, there will be war...and the devil will be defeated, at least insofar as in the hearts and minds of the true children of the kingdom, and that is the point in which he is expelled from the realm of heaven. Another description of what seems to be the same event can be found in the third chapter of Zechariah, where a more intimate view of the earlier phase of this war is revealed. In my estimation, the picture is of the two witnesses, who are described in Revelation 11 in a way strongly representing the role of the high priest, a role held by Joshua at the time:
The prelude to this is practically identical to what John wrote in Revelation 12 about the devil, who works through his human agents in the world. For a time, he is able to continually accuse the saints in God's sight, but when he is cast down, this power is lost. He will be as the impotent Pharisees in contrast to Yahshua's mighty miracle-working power and the mighty Pharaoh in the face of the fugitive-slave Moses. When Michael stands up against the devil, there will be no real contest. In the world, when the two witnesses manifest the precise miraculous power detailed by the Apostle John 2,000 years ago, that will both defeat their accusers, it will also cloth them in white, above reproach at least in the eyes of those that matter; they will overcome the devil by the "blood of the Lamb," as John wrote, which cleanses all sin and renders its effects null. Their sudden prominence also will serve like an amplifier to their testimony, which is another of the three-pronged defense they have against the devil and his agents; the other is the depth of their commitment, which is essentially a 'til death do we part' betrothal to Christ. As with the case of Yahshua, the two witness-prophets will make a huge impact for a time, but will ultimately find themselves virtually alone under the prosecution of the antichrist. In light of the unprecedented horror of the predicted slaughter of the saints, I've come to think these two will probably surrender for the sake of stopping the extermination of their brethren, effectively giving their lives for the remaining 144,000 saints. Yet, like a master chess player, their sacrifice only appears for a moment as a loss. Three and a half days later, the remaining saints in the world will, as the apostles before them, witness the resurrection with their own eyes when these two rise just like Yahshua did when they last saw Him in bodily form...only this time, before the whole world. As the heavenly voices proclaim checkmate, serving notice to the kings and kingdoms of the world that they now belong to the God of the Bible and His Anointed One. At that point, the survivors of the antichrist's holocaust, all 144,000 of them, will be gathered to the place where the two witnesses' carcasses were laid, just as Yahshua's few remaining disciples were sent to Jerusalem, where He had been slain, after His resurrection. On eagles' wings, they will be assembled on Mount Zion. A nation can, indeed, be raised in a day, as Yahweh spoke through Isaiah.
Genesis 3:14-15 |
