Welcome back to our series on Revelation chapter 12. In the last post, we began our study of a war that breaks out in heaven between the archangel Michael and Satan. The result of the war is that Satan lost the battle and was cast down into the earth. In this post, we’re going to look at what happens when Satan is on the earth. Let’s get into this!

Revelation Chapter 12

Tenth in an Eleven-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

The Result of the Dragon Losing the War With God

Rev. 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters 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.

John tells us that when he saw Satan lose his place in the heavens over earth, he then heard a loud voice in heaven proclaim, “Now is come salvation, and strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” The voice is proclaiming the end of one kingdom and the beginning of another. Satan’s rule over the kingdom of men had come to an end. And now the beginning of the kingdom of God and the power of His Christ would rule over the kingdom of men. Satan will no longer be the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). This war in heaven where Satan loses his place in the heavens and is cast down to earth happens when the seventh trumpet is sounded.

Let’s go back and look again at the proclamation of the voices in heaven when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Then the 24 elders proclaimed, “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned” (Rev. 11:15–17). The voices proclaimed that the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

Now we know that was achieved when Michael went to war with Satan and kicked him out of the unseen realm. Now we know what all the praise and rejoicing in heaven was about! Now we know why the residents of heaven rejoiced at the sounding of the seventh trumpet and why all the inhabitants of earth would be devastated.

Satan Cast Down to the Earth

Let’s again look at the last part of verse 10 through verse 12: “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. 11 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. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters 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.” (Rev. 12:10–12).

The loud voice speaking in heaven said, “the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” The accuser of the brethren is now cast down, defeated, and is now dwelling among mankind on the earth. Verse 11 tells us how those who are faithful to God overcome Satan: “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.” There are three things with which believers overcome the accuser: 1) the blood of Jesus, 2) the word of their testimony, and 3) that they loved not their lives unto death, meaning they will refuse to recant their testimony in Christ under the threat of death.

Then in verse 12, we see the good/bad scenario that takes place as a result of Satan being cast out of heaven: “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters 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.” To the beings that dwell in heaven, it’s time for them to rejoice. Now that Satan has been defeated, it’s celebration time! There’s a lot of praise going on in heaven. Then it says, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you….” Alas, for those who live on the earth, it’s a time of woe. What is a woe? It’s sorrow. It’s grief. It’s tragedy. It’s pain and misfortune.

The rest of verse 12 says “…for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” No one loses a battle and takes it well. Satan just lost the battle of the ages. The bottom dropped out on his entire existence. As a result, he finds himself cast down to earth. Yes, of course, he’s full of great wrath. On top of suffering defeat, he knows he only has a short time left before he is imprisoned. The time he has left is the last half of Daniel’s 70^th week—three and one-half years. Then he will be tossed into the pit. (Rev. 20:1–3)

Satan losing his battle in the heavens above earth and being cast down to earth is only one part of a two-part process in which Satan’s rule comes to an end. He is first deposed in the unseen realm, and then he is deposed in the seen realm on earth in the kingdom of men. The first part of the process is completed when Satan is thrown out of the heavenly unseen realm and cast down to earth. The last part of the process is when he is defeated at the battle of Armageddon.

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