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The Bible doesn't go into
much detail about the actual battle itself as it concentrates more on the solution
than the problem, but there are key verses scattered around that give us just
enough to see that this battle took place and it is still taking place today.
Anyway the first scripture that comes to mind would have to be Revelation
12:7-12
7 And there
was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon and his angels fought back.
8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
9 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.
10 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 Christ. For the
accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has
been hurled down.
11 They overcame 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.
12 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."
This scripture points out
quite clearly that there was a war in Heaven between the Michael and his Angels
against Satan and his Angels.
Satan and his Angels lost and were hurled to the earth. After this the Heavens
rejoiced that Satan was cast down, but the Earth would be filled with trouble
because the Devil is filled with fury (Angry Rage) because he knows that his
time is short."
In Ezekial 28 we read the following:
12 "Son
of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: `This is
what the Sovereign LORD says: "`You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom
and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby,
topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they
were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on
the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness
was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian
cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your
wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle
of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to
ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible
end and will be no more."
The first part of this
chapter is dealing with the leader of Tyre, then from verse 12 to 19 (quoted
above) it is talking about the King or the Prince of Tyre. The earthly King
is mentioned first then the Spirit behind him which is none other than Satan
himself. We can see clearly that the Guardian Cherub was driven in disgrace
from his privileged position, he had access to the the Garden of Eden, the Mount
of God and he walked among the Fiery Stones, (maybe the Fiery Stones were the
planets) anyhow he came to a horrible end and it says that he will be no more.
Even Jesus said in Luke
10:18 I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Satan has been cast down to the earth, he is also called the Prince
of the Air. But he can go know further because the Holy Angels will not
allow it and he remains in this realm until he is thrown into the Bottomless
Pit for 1000 years after a brief period of freedom he will then be thrown
into the Lake of Fire and all those that have followed him.
So it seems that this battle
is all about Satan who was once a Chief Angel who fell from his privileged position
because he became proud on account of his beauty, this in turn corrupted his
wisdom. Satan then made accusations about God and God's children day and night
and God threw him to the earth and made an example of him before Kings.
One of Satan's titles is the Accuser. At some stage this battle could have been
similar to a court case. Satan was hurling accusations against God and his Kingdom,
but God allowed it for a time so creation could weigh up for themselves his
argument. Satan eventually got one
third of God's Angels to side with him. But as time went on it became obvious
that Satan's
way lead to death and there was no reason to his lies and doctrine. The
Devil and his Angels were eventually cast down as there was no longer a place
for them in heaven.
Now many people wonder why God didn't snuff Satan out at the earliest stage of rebellion', so as to avoid all the problems that would follow. We need to realize however that God has nothing to hide and no accusation brought against him can stand. Instead God allowed Satan's rebellion to continue to the end. God also allowed all those that followed him to go all the way with their rebellion so God could show all of creation that anything outside of his will leads to pain, death and destruction. Satan's rebellion has shown the foolishness of living life outside of God's will. This rebellion has shown even more that God is perfect and worthy of all worship and praise, as only his ways are eternal and He has the best way for all living creatures.
Now this battle is being fought here on earth. We live in a world that is caught up in this battle against God. The whole world is under the sway of the Evil One and again we can see that Satan's way leads to problems such as poverty and death. Everybody in this world suffers to varying degrees and all the misery and suffering that this world has had to endure is because of this rebellion against God. In God's Kingdom there is no pain and no suffering. God's Kingdom is creation in harmony with its Creator.
Continuing on we also find other disputes or smaller battles which are obviously part of this bigger battle.
In Jude 1:9 we read the following:
But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Here again we see the Archangel
Michael and Satan against each other.
In Daniel
10 we see another smaller battle take place between Demon Princes and Angels.
This chapter explains that Daniel was in mourning for three weeks and ate no
meat or wine. During this time he receives a visit from an Angel of God. The
Angel speaks these words to him.
13 But
the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael,
one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with
the king of Persia.
14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the
future...
and again in Daniel 10:20-21
20
Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the
prince of Greece will come;
21 but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one supports
me against them except Michael, your prince.
Here we see that God sent an Angel to Daniel to explain a vision that he had received, the Angel had to fight the Prince of Persia for 21 days and needed the assistance of Michael to enable him to overcome this Demonic Prince in order to talk to Daniel. He also had to fight him again on his return. This shows us that there are Demonic Princes set over geographical areas, in this case Persia and Greece are mentioned.
In conclusion; God allowed evil to exist because he gave Angels and Men, free will. Free will is the ability to choose God or not. If we didn't have this choice, then we couldn't truly love God, because our actions would be the result of robotic orders rather than true choice. God also lets evil run it's complete course so that creation can see and understand evil. The ultimate conclusion of this, is that God's creatures who do not follow evil, will know without any doubt that only God is good as they will have witnessed first hand the results of rebellion against the only source of good in existence.
So what is the solution for you. Well Satan was cast out of heaven and this was counted as victory for the Kingdom of Light, but where is the victory for us who inhabit earth. Where is our victory, how do we fight against this enemy.
Well God in his mercy sent his only Son, Jesus to earth to live as one of us, in order to destroy the works of the Devil in our lives.
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is, the devil.
Jesus mission was a success. In Revelation 1:18 we read the following:
17 When
I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand
on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
According to Colossians 2:15 Jesus embarrassed the Powers of Darkness.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
As a result of Jesus life and death on this earth he defeated death and the Devil in order for us to overcome too. This is the victory that we can have in the name of Jesus Christ.
7
Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not
listen to them.
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and
go out, and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they
may have life, and have it to the full.
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus says here that he laid his own life down so he could give us life to the full. He also warns us that the enemy has come to steal from us, to kill us and to destroy all of God's works.
So far from the scriptures that we have read we can see quite plainly that Satan has suffered many major defeats. First in heaven and then on earth and now there are millions who defeat him every day.
It is your turn to fight
now.
You to can overcome evil.
I am not sure where you are at with God today, but If you haven't received God's gift of Salvation then I encourage you to do so, If you already have faith then I encourage you to live your life with courage and do the works of God and you too can defeat the Devil.
All Glory to the One and
only Eternal God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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