Prophecy II
Revelation 12:7-14:5
If this second
prophecy could be given a title, I
would call it, “Lucifer’s
Hatred for the Woman.” This
prophecy shifts our focus from
Lucifer’s hatred for Jesus to
his hatred for the woman – the
followers of Jesus. We have already
noticed that the first prophecy began
with the birth of Jesus and ended
with Lucifer chasing the woman into
the desert for 1,260 years. This
prophecy begins with a war on
Resurrection Sunday 9 Revelation
12:7) and it ends with the 144,000
standing around the Lamb on Mt. Zion
and singing a new song. (Revelation
14:5)
The first scene in
this prophecy opens triumphantly!
Jesus has kicked Lucifer out of
Heaven. The final scene in this
prophecy also ends triumphantly! John
sees the 144,000 standing with Jesus
on Mt. Zion. This final scene is very
important to the people who will live
during the Great Tribulation because
most, if not all, of the 144,000 will
be killed in the line of duty and the
remnant of the woman will be totally
decimated. (Daniel 12:7; Revelation
13:7) But, do not be discouraged.
“Victory Day” will come!
Even thought the remnant of the woman
will be crushed beyond recognition
and the wicked will temporarily
rejoice, the victory over the
leopard-like beast, the lamb-like
beast, the image of the beast, and
the mark of the beat will surely come
to God’s saints. “This
calls for patient endurance and
faithfulness on the part of the
saints.” (Revelation 13:10)
Blessed is the one who waits for and
reaches the end of the 1,335
days.”
(Daniel 12:12)
As you study this
prophecy, it is important that you
see four chronological segments.
First, there is war in Heaven and
persecution of the woman for 1,260
years. Second, the leopard-like beast
rises from the sea. Third, the
lamb-like beast rises from the earth.
Finally, the 144,000 are taken to
Heaven to gather around Jesus. Right
now we are living between the first
and second segments, Revelation 12:17
and 13:1. At this point in
Earth’s history, we have reached
an excellent perch. We can examine
the progression of prophecy over the
past 2,000 years, and we can look
“around the corner” and see
what is coming in the near future. In
other words, this prophecy began on
Resurrection Sunday and according to
my calculations, it has less that ten
years to go until it is completed.
(Note: Please understand that if time
should last longer than ten years,
this will have no effect on the
meaning or the fulfillment of this
prophecy. It just means that my
calculations on the whereabouts of
the 6,000th year of sin is
incorrect.)
With these things
said, let us being this study with
Revelation 12:7. This is the first
verse of a new prophecy because,
according to Rule One of Apocalyptic
Prophecy, chorological order is
broken between verses 6 and 7. In
other words, the war in Heaven (verse
7) occurs before the dragon
chases the woman to the desert (verse
6); therefore, a new prophecy begins
because chronological order is
broken.
Resurrection Sunday
“And there was
war in heaven [on Resurrection
Sunday]. 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 red dragon was hurled down
– that ancient serpent called
the devil, or Satan, who leads the
whole world astray. He was hurled
[in] to the earth, and his angels
with him.”
(Revelation 12:7-9,
insertion mine)
Comment: These verses
describe Lucifer’s second and
final eviction from Heaven. This
eviction took place on Resurrection
Sunday. Because every war has a
history of conflict, we have to start
at the beginning of the story to
understand the war that took place on
Resurrection Sunday.
When God cast Lucifer
out of Heaven the first time (Isaiah
14:12-17, Ezekiel 28: 12-19), God did
not completely sever relations with
the devil and his angels. Even though
Lucifer was not permitted to live in
Heaven, God did permit Lucifer to
attend specific meetings in Heaven.
(Job 1) God continued to treat
Lucifer with utmost respect and
kindness because there is no hatred,
evil, or fear in God’s heart.
(Remember, God loves His enemies just
as much as He loves His friends and
He commands us to do the same.
Luke 6: 27-36)
After Lucifer led Eve
and then Adam into sin, God crowned
Lucifer as “the prince of this
world.” (John 12:31) As prince
of this world, God permitted Lucifer
to join with princes from the other
worlds when administrative meetings
were called in Heaven. At these
meetings, it appears that the angels
discussed matters pertaining to the
governance of the universe. (Job 1:6)
This information is pertinent for two
reasons. First, as “the prince
of this world,” the devil was
granted entrance into God’s
presence whenever administrative
meetings were held. Second, when
Jesus died on the cross and shed His
own blood, Jesus paid a great price
to redeem and possess Earth. When
Jesus ascended to Heaven on
Resurrection Sunday, He immediately
proceeded to take Lucifer’s
position away from him. As stubborn
and rebellious as he is, “the
prince of this world” refused to
acknowledge Christ’s redemption
payment and war broke out in Heaven
between Christ and Satan for a second
time.
Note: You
may recall that Lucifer tempted Jesus
in the desert. The devil promised to
give the world to Jesus if Jesus
would bow down and worship him (Luke
4:7,8), but Jesus knew (a) worshiping
anyone other than God is blasphemy,
and (b) Lucifer’s offer was a
lie because the devil had no
intention of giving the world to
Jesus. Everything in the universe
belongs to the Father and Jesus knew
the Father would give Him this world
if He faithfully carried out the plan
of salvation. The Father dethroned
Lucifer as “the prince of this
world” when He gave the world to
Jesus on Resurrection Sunday, but
this transaction led to war in Heaven
again. (Psalm 2:7,8; 24:7-10; John
17:6)
The Bible indicates
that the war described in Revelation
12:7-9 occurred on Resurrection
Sunday (April 9, A.D. 30). Many
Christians erroneously think this war
occurred before Adam and Eve
sinned, but according to Scripture,
this is not possible, Here is why:
When Jesus cast
Lucifer out of Heaven, a powerful
declaration was heard throughout
Heaven’s court: “Then I
[John] heard a loud voice in heaven
say: ‘Now [that is, at this
time] have come the salvation and
power and the kingdom of our God, and
the authority of his
Christ.’” (Revelation
12:10; See also Matthew 28:18.) Using
His Commander-in-Chief powers as
Michael the archangel, Jesus and His
angels drove Lucifer and his angels
out of Heaven’s court and a
victorious Jesus took over as
Earth’s representative in
Heaven’s court. Jesus was given
this honor on the basis of His
perfect redemption – much to the
delight of the holy angels. Then, the
verse continues as an angel
proclaimed: “For the accuser of
our brothers, who accuses them before
our God day and night, has been
hurled down.” (Revelation 12:10,
continued) Consider the last sentence
again. Lucifer’s is called the
accuser “of our brothers.”
The angels call us brothers! Think
about this. If this war occurred before
Adam and Even sinned, then sinful
people would not have existed and
there would be no one for Lucifer to
accuse. Lucifer’s accusations
began After Adam and Eve
sinned. Lucifer taunted God with
accusations from time to time that
God’s government was unfair
because He granted grace and
forgiveness to human being and not
angels. These accusations were
baseless because God waited patiently
for the angels to repent, but they
would not. Twice in the Bible,
Lucifer is rebuked for promoting
baseless arguments. See Zechariah 3:2
and Jude 1:9.
Revelation 12:10 is a
punctilliar declaration: “Now
have come the salvation and the
power and the kingdom of our
God…” This declaration
could only be made after the price
for man’s salvation had been
paid. When Jesus walked out of the
tomb, the devil and his angels
realized their fate and they had no
intention of yielding to an honorable
defeat. He would not give up his seat
in Heaven’s court as “the
prince of this world” to someone
he loathed. The only way the devil
would surrender to Christ was through
force, and that is exactly what
happened. Jesus forced the devil and
His angels out of Heaven!
Consider the next
verse and notice that the last word
is “short.” This word is
significant in this context because
Lucifer’s demise is coming. If
Lucifer was 100,000 years old when he
was cast out of Heaven on
Resurrection Sunday, another 3,000
years (counting from the death of
Jesus to the end of the 1,000 years
in Revelation 20) is
“short” indeed.
“Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them [because
Jesus prevailed and the devil has
been cast out of here forever]! But
woe to the earth [land] and the sea
{people and nations of the whole
world], because the devil has gone
down to you! He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his [remaining]
time is short.”
(Revelation 12:12)
Devil Cast out of
Heaven after Jesus Was Born
The Bible says the war
in Revelation 12:7-9 took place after
Jesus was born. Study the
chronology that is declared in this
text:
“When the dragon
saw that he had been hurled to the
earth, he pursued the woman who had
given birth to the male
child.” (Revelation 12:13,
italics mine) We can easily chart
verse 13.
a. The
birth of Jesus
b. The
death of Jesus
c. The
devil cast out of Heaven
d. The
beginning of the 1,260 years
e. Deadly
would inflicted on papacy
Chart 14.1
There is no wiggle
room. Verse 13 says that after the
devil was cast out of Heaven, he
chased the woman who had given
birth to the male child.
Therefore, the war in Revelation 12:7
had to occur between 4 B.C. and A.D.
538.
