War in Heaven Mythical conflict.

Talk to most people about Revelation, and you'll get weird looks.

“Revelation is notoriously difficult to understand – so weird, in fact, that most of us just avoid it altogether. And yet, it is still God’s word for the church.” The book of Revelation is one of those sticky books of the Bible that is challenging to read through because it is hard to determine what is literal and what is symbolic in the revelation to the apostle John.

But inside its chapters are a lot of warnings and encouragements for the church and the second coming of Christ. There is even a “war in heaven” mentioned.

In Revelation 12, the apostle John switches from talking about the seven trumpets and trials of the earth to war in heaven. Revelation 12:7-10 is where the war begins.

The word tannin or dragon appears multiple times in the Old Testament when referring to a great monster, whether in the sea or on land (Exodus 7:9, 7:10, 7:12; 32:33; Psalms 91:13). However, the word dragon only appears in the book of Revelations in the New Testament (12:3, 12:4, 12:7, 12:9, 12:16, 12:17).

Each reference to the dragon in Revelations is when communicating something about the Devil and his actions.

The war in heaven is a biblical concept that describes a cosmic battle between God's angels and Satan's fallen angels . The book of Revelation depicts this war as a future event that will take place at the end of the age, when Satan and his followers will be cast out of heaven and thrown to the earth .

Some Bible commentators interpret this war symbolically, as a representation of spiritual warfare within the church or the world .

Revelation 12:7 - "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,"

Satan who was called Lucifer meaning “morning star” was among God’s foremost creation, to understand why Lucifer was cast out of heaven one has to understand what he was before his fall.

Lucifer means the “morning star” which indicates he was an epitome of brightness/beauty. Lucifer wasn’t an archangel like many presume, there is no record in the Torah, or Bible, or Koran that attributed archangel to the Lucifer, a lot of people say he was an archangel because they believe archangels are the highest rank of angels that there is, but that also is not true, the seven archangels mentioned in the book of Enoch Lucifer was not among. Though angels are in ranks and orders.

Does that make him powerful yes, why? Because, he was a cherubim, not just any cherubim but a cherubim that covers. What are Cherubims, these are angelic beings that attend to God, they have no business with man (unlike the archangels that also minister to man) these creatures minister to God continually in worship and priestly duties, they do not leave the glory of God.

Where ever the glory goes they go. They walk before the throne and see the secrets of God. Cherubim are one of the highest class of angels just below the Seraphims (burning ones) they are among God’s oldest creations. Do angels have will, yes, some do, because if they had no will, Lucifer couldn’t had sinned.

The last great angelic battle and Satan’s ultimate expulsion from heaven are described in Revelation 12:7–12.

In this passage, John sees a great war between Michael and the angels of God and the dragon (Satan) and his fallen angels or demons that will take place in the end times. Satan, in his great pride and delusion that he can be like God, will lead a final rebellion against God. It will be a cosmic mismatch.

Thus, the dragon and his demons will lose the battle and be thrown out of heaven forever.

A common misconception is that Satan and his demons were locked away in hell after the fall of Satan. It is clear from many Bible passages that Satan was not barred from heaven or the earth after his first rebellion, which predated the creation. In Job 1:1—2:8, he appears before God to accuse Job of ulterior motives in his worship of God. In Zechariah 3, he again appears before God to accuse Joshua, the high priest.

Indeed, the name Satan means “accuser.” In Genesis, he visited the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve. He tempted Jesus in the wilderness before Jesus began His ministry, an incident recorded in Matthew 4:1–11. The question arises that, if Satan had already rebelled and been cast from heaven before the world was created, why is he free to be in heaven and on earth?

In 2 Corinthians 12:2–3, the apostle Paul provides a major revelation that there are three “heavens.” In this passage, he seemingly talks about himself being taken up to the “third heaven” where God the Father and Jesus dwell. The second heaven is the universe or outer space, and the first is our atmosphere or air.

The Bible indicates that Satan and some of his demons are allowed to move in this space (Ephesians 2:1–2; 6:12).

In this age, Satan and his highest ranking angels can still oppose the work of God and hinder the angels of God (Daniel 10:10–14) within the boundaries of the middle or second heaven. The battle recorded in Revelation 12 removes Satan and his minions from this realm.

When Satan is expelled from the middle heaven, there will be great rejoicing in heaven, since the age-old accuser will be forever banned from his mission of accusation and slander against the elect. Satan’s power and freedom will be seriously curtailed.

However, the inhabitants of the earth will suffer terribly after this event, because Satan will be enraged. He will also be aware that he only has three and a half more years until he is bound and cast into the bottomless pit.

This will usher in a period of intensified suffering on earth (the Great Tribulation) during which the Antichrist violates his peace treaty with Israel, desecrates their temple, declares himself as god, and begins to systematically murder all those who refuse to worship him.

This next event, a war in heaven, will not be able to be seen with the naked eye by the people who are still left on the earth as the 7 year Tribulation starts to unfold.