The First Conflict
The greatest battle that ever took place happened where no one would have expected. In fact, if it wasn't for the
written record found in God's Word, I wouldn't believe it myself. "And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found
for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole earth, and his angels were cast out with him", Revelation 12:7-9. This great conflict, begun
in Heaven, has been raging ever since. This being, known as Satan, is still warring against Christ. Only now
the battle is confined to earth.
Lets take a deeper look into this war in Heaven. As we shall soon see, many prophecies have dual meanings. Often,
it is because they were written for more than one audience. Regardless of the reason, it is important that we properly
interpret these meanings with as little speculation as possible. After all, our goal is to find out what the Bible
really says. Our only safety is in a "thus sayeth the Lord". My hope is that you will settle for nothing
less.
As we read before, Michael and His angels warred against Satan and His angels. After this great battle, Satan and his
angels were cast out of Heaven. According to verse 4, one third of the angels of Heaven were cast out with him.
Imagine one third (over 1.5 Billion people) of the world's population being forced to leave the planet. Wow!
So what lead to Satan being thrown out of Heaven? Opening our Bibles to Ezekiel 28:11-19 we find a prophecy about Tyre.
While this prophecy deals with the port city of Tyrus, verses 11-19 especially describe the character and
actions that lead to Satan's downfall. He is described as being "the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect
in beauty", "in Eden, the garden of God", "the anointed cherub who covers", "perfect
in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you", Ezekiel 28:12-15. He had it all. He was
handsome and intelligent. He was the covering cherub, the highest position of authority next to God. He had
it all but refused to be content. Because of his unsurpassed beauty, he began to think of himself as god. His pride and
vanity finally caught up with him and he was cast out of "the holy mountain of God".
Reading a parallel passage found in Isaiah, we can see more clearly the connection between Ezekiel and Revelation.
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened
the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God'
", Isaiah 14:12,13. Sound anything like what we read in Ezekiel. If you continue to read, you will see even more
similarities between the two passages.
Going back to Ezekiel, we read in more detail the change in character that lead to this great angel's downfall. "By
the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I case you as a profane
thing Out of the mountain of God", Ezekiel 28:16. The very thing that led to the downfall of Lucifer (Satan) is at the
heart of the fall of man. This battle rages in the heart of every person that walks this earth. It is up to each of us as
individuals to decide who will reign in our hearts. Will it be God or me? God's way or my way? It was Satan who first chose
to set himself above God's will and all who choose their own path are following his lead.
The war that took place in Heaven was a battle of the minds. It was about authority and position. It was about power.
Who was the rightful ruler of Heaven? Where did Lucifer fit into the rank? Why was it that he was challenging the authority
of God? How did humanity get involved in this war? We will discuss these questions and many more in our quest to understand
the Books of Daniel and Revelation.
Written by Jason P Knarr
Continued in Jesus, the Big Deal
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