A Study of The Book of Revelation
The Archangel
The fourth of the seven personages
The fourth of the seven personages
 |
| Earl Gillespie |
In the Book of Revelation the
shifting of the prospective is easily done.
This shifting allows the reader to shape Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and
the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; and concludes
that the book is about the past. For
that very reason many professional preachers conclude that Revelation is no
longer relevant in todays society. Fire and brimstone messages are passé because
they frighten people. Because of this, very few Sunday morning messages are based upon the book of Revelation and
religious leaders go to great lengths to tone down the rhetoric of the book.
One religious writer stated, “the vision in regard to the woman and the child, who was
described as the church--the church in the condition in which it would then
be--which would be well represented by a war in heaven; that is, by a conflict
between the powers of good and evil, of light and darkness. Of course, it is not necessary to understand this literally, any more than the other symbolic representations
in the book.” Wow, the only question I had was, “Do you believe in God.” If you believe in God you must believe in angels, if you believe in angels you must believe in demons.
It is fashionable to believe
in God, but the supernatural aspect of God must be ignored and scientific
knowledge implanted rather than supernatural knowledge. The work of God is defined as things that you
could do for yourself. The healing power
of God is redefined as going to the doctor undergoing a major procedure and testifying
of the healing virtue of God. The focus
of prayer is our means to get things that we work for from God. The devil sees our cavalier approach to our
God and he is pleased. Christians now
need a God for all of the things non- christian don’t need a God for.
According to the pious
prelate the visions of John were the visions
of an old man who had seen the church in turmoil and was searching for a message of deliverance. Some even advance the theory that the book of Revelation was not even wrote by John. To degrade the Book of
Revelation is to degrade the Bible. The attempt
to spiritualize the things we do not understand is not the pathway to
understanding. Romans 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: To believe in God we must
believe in angels and if we believe in angels we must believe that angels have
a far greater purpose than making bank deposits. To believe in God we must believe also in the supernatural world, and if we believe in the supernatural world it will be easy to believe in the
todays Bible lesson:
Verses 7-12: “And there was war in heaven:
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more
in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him.
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is
come salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the
Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death. Therefore rejoice, ye
heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhibitors of the earth and of the sea! for the
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
“Michael and his angels
fought.” Who is Michael? He is leading the army of angels who are
battling Satan and his angels.
Michael is mentioned five times
in the Scriptures: (Daniel 10:13-21; Daniel 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7). He
seems to be the highest of all
angels. Jude calls him the archangel. Read I Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 9. I
will stake my faith on Michael being a real angel and not a figment of John’s
imagination.
It seems that Michael is the leading angel having to do with the Jewish
people, he is probably the guardian angel over God’s elect: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy
people” (Daniel 12:1). That refers to Israel. Michael shall stand up to see that Israel
does not perish in the Great Tribulation - the time of Jacob’s trouble. “He
(Jacob) shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7). Michael is the militant angel who fights on the side of God’s
elect-Israel.
The wars that rage here on
earth are but the reflex of opposing spiritual
powers in the lower heavens - the
atmospheric heavens just above us. Angels, good and bad, are
daily playing their parts in world affairs, political and religious
- right here on this earth now, and in the end time the wicked powers will have full sway. The struggle between light and
darkness, though invisible, is nevertheless real. Read I Samuel 16:13-15, I
Kings 22:19-23. Angels and angelic influence toward
Christians here on earth is accepted by most spiritual
people as a Bible fact. I believe that
every born again person has a guardian angel (Acts 12, Hebrews
1:14). Angels watch over little
children (Matthew 18:10).
In verse 7 war is declared:
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.” It is a Biblical fact that the atmospheric Heaven just above us is the kingdom of
Satan. He is referred to as the Prince of the air. The devil does not have access to the third Heaven
where God’s house is. Paul was caught up into the third Heaven, and was
forbidden to tell what he heard and saw there (II Corinthians
12:1-3), but John is giving us a peep.
Satan knows what God’s house
is like. Before he became Satan,
he was Lucifer, the “anointed cherub that covereth” (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28). But
sin was born in the heart of Lucifer. He was cast out of Heaven and the angels he led
astray are now in chains awaiting the judgment. In Ephesians 1:3 and 2:6 Paul tells us that we believers sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Positionally we
are dead and our lives are hid with Christ in God (Colossians
3:3). Positionally we are members of His body now, and He
sits at the right hand of God; so we sit with
Jesus in heavenly places, in the
third Heaven. Besides the saints, there
are others in the heavenlies (Ephesians 3:10),
and there is a battle raging now against wicked spirits in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
In Revelation 12 we find that
the time will come when Satan will be evicted
from the heavenlies for good, never to re-enter - and will be
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:1-3, 20). The title,
“The prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), will be lost to him forever.
Michael and his angels defeat the dragon and his angels. The dragon and his
angels are cast out of Heaven.
The dragon is called “the old
serpent, the devil, Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” When the dragon is
cast out, a loud voice from Heaven cries, “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which has accused them before our God
day and night!” Imagine that! Satan spends every moment of day and night accusing God’s children
before God’s face. In Job 1, when the
sons of God appeared on a certain day, Satan walked right
up with them; and when God asked
Satan where he had been, he
replied that he had been on earth walking up and down, accusing the brethren.
But his days of operation are numbered and one
day the Lord Jesus will stop his
slanderous accusations against the children of God.
.jpg)
Here in chapter 12 we have
the account of the beginning of the greatest
battle ever fought in the atmosphere above
us - Michael and his angels against the devil and his
angels; but praise God, Satan will be defeated, cast down, and finally placed in the
eternal prison of the damned. Since the day Lucifer was cast out of
Heaven and at that moment became the devil - the deceiver - he has
been the archenemy of the Lord God and of God’s people. (Read
Job 1:6,7; Zechariah 3:1,2; Matthew 4:4-11; Ephesians 6:11; I Peter 5:8.) The
heavens as well as the earth must be cleared of
all evil, demons, and sin - and of the curse (Romans 8:22). All
creation suffers because of sin. All creation is out of joint, off balance, and must be set
straight.
The method by which the earth
and the regions above the earth will be
purified is stated in Colossians 1:20 and Hebrews 9:22. the Blood
of Jesus Christ is the answer. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Without the Blood of Jesus
there is no redemption. How complete - how far-reaching - how powerful - how pure and sinless is the Blood of
the Lamb! “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
Many who are looking to the
heavens for signs, will agree that the signs are plentiful. Fire has been seen falling from the sky. The weather is changing, storms are rising
and the earth is quaking. There are signs in the moon and men are preparing underground doomsday shelters. Revelation 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: Thunder and
lightening storms are now a common occurrence. Flooding and fires are raging throughout the land. There are wars and rumors of wars. Are these the signs of an angry God? Is this the prelude to an all out war?
Before we leave the
discussion of the dragon, let me give you the
names of the dragon as listed in verse 9:
1. “The great dragon” -so
termed because of his remorseless cruelty.
2. “The old serpent”: This
reminds us of his first and successful attempt
to effect the ruin of Adam and
Eve (Genesis 3). Subtlety, craft and deep cunning are characteristic features
of Satan from the beginning of
his history in connection with the human race.
3. “The devil” - a personal name. The devil is a historical
person, not a spirit.
4. “Satan”: The two former titles (serpent and dragon) are descriptive of character.
“Devil” and “Satan” refer to the dragon as a person.
.jpg) |
| A symbolic repersatation of the Devil |
The symbology used in this narrative is used to paint a bleak mental picture of the deadly and forceful nature of God's sin cleansing process, but the worst is yet to come.
Next
The Jewish Remnant
No comments:
Post a Comment