Alfred Persson
Member
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.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.-(Rev 12:7-14 KJV)
Satan accuses the brethren in the presence of God day and night in heaven; therefore, this isn't a limited aerial skirmish as in in Dan. 10:20. As the serpent drove the woman into the wilderness for 3.5 years, and this is before the Beast rises up at mid-week (Rev. 11:2-3, 7; 13:5-7; 14:9-16), this war was over at the beginning of the end time week.
Although Satan accuses in the presence of God, God has saved the brethren by grace before the world began (Eph. 2:5-10; 2 Tim. 1:9) therefore He cannot be Satan's audience. Rather, just as Satan tried to prove to the heavenly council (Job 1:6-11) God was wrong about Job and therefore not omniscient (Isa. 41:22, 26; 45:21)---(Then He is not God according to God's own criteria and lacks the moral authority to set the rules, and must permit Satan live wherever and however he wills)----so here he accuses the brethren of being wrongly elected unto salvation. Just as Job proved Satan wrong, so do the martyrs prove him wrong by the "blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:12).
The context implies σωτηρία in Rev. 12:10 should be rendered "victory (cp. Rev. 7:10; 12:10; 19:1; Septuagint: 1 Sam. 14:45; 2 Sam. 19:2; 2 Kgs. 5:1). Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Electronic Ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now have come God's victory, power and kingship, and the authority of his Messiah; because the Accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before God, has been thrown out!(Rev 12:10 CJB)
Satan's argument, beyond any possible doubt, is empirically wrong. It was time Satan be driven out, which Michael and his angels are happy to do. Knowing his time is short, furious Satan lashes out against those who in effect were the final nail in his proverbial coffin.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.(Eze 28:13-15 KJV)
Satan meditated upon his motive for serving God, and found selfishness, not love. Convinced this was true for all, he bet everything he could prove God erred expecting free will creatures would share life with Him in Holiness for true love's sake. Much as a thief believes everyone is a thief, so Satan believed selfish motive was at the root of every charitable deed.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.(Eze 28:16-17 KJV)
As the church is called out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4), it follows it be the desert "wilderness" (ἔρημος Rev 17:3) where the church is protected and nourished for the beginning half of the last eschatological week. Babylon the Great's fall into spiritism is an abomination that causes her desolation into a "wilderness" (Jer. 25:12; 51:26; Rev. 18:2ff). Hence she is "spiritually called" a "wilderness" just as Jerusalem is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Rev. 11:8) for acts God would soon do, or because they were alike. Then, Babylon is like the wilderness of Sin (ἔρημοςΣιν):
because ye transgressed my commandment in the wilderness of Sin, when the congregation resisted and refused to sanctify me; ye sanctified me not at the water before them. This is the water of Strife in Cades in the wilderness of Sin.(Num 27:14 LXE)
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