Friday, August 13, 2010

War in Heaven

"And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found in heaven for them any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Revelation 12:7-9

This was the first war in the Universe. The angels took sides - good versus evil. God tells us in the Scriptures of the origin of evil - see Isaiah 14:12-15 & Ezekiel 28:12-15. Pride entered the heart of Lucifer, the covering cherub, the one who stood closest to God. He was created perfect, but he began to covet the position that only God could have; he wanted to be like God. And so he spread his poison among the perfect angels of God, and eventually gained loyal angels to his side. And war broke out in heaven. We have reason to believe, from Revelation 12:4, that he drew with him a following of one third of the angels in heaven.

Michael, translated in the Hebrew, is "who is like God". There is only One who is like God, the Father. He is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Commander of the angels who remained loyal to God.

We are not told how the battle was fought, but the good news for us is that Satan did not prevail - he lost the battle - he was cast out of heaven. He lost his place there, and he has lost every battle in the fight between good and evil since.

Christ will be victorious in the final battle, also. I choose to march under His banner. How about you?