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Revelation 12:5-11 teaches: “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 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.”
We need to take an open, objective, and thorough look at this passage and let it speak for itself. We need to look at the context, identify what is happening, and then put the theological jigsaw pieces together. We need to be careful to refuse any interpretation that has been contrived of man, and foisted upon this text, to reinforce a faulty, preconceived, and prejudiced end-times viewpoint.
The context of this teaching is clearly the aftermath of Christ’s successful earthly life, His atoning death, His victorious resurrection and His glorious ascent to assume His heavenly throne. This all occurred 2000 years ago. This, according to the text, resulted in the devil’s eviction from heaven. Why? The penalty for sin had now been fully paid, the grave had been finally defeated, Satan’s grounds for accusation had been powerfully destroyed and his charge sheet against God’s people had been suitably ripped in two. Sin had lost its dominion over the believer and the devil’s condemning finger has now been broken. The accuser had lost his authority to bring charges against God’s elect before the bar of God in heaven.
A perfect human life had been lived in the form of the earthly assignment of Christ. The law had been fully met and the punishment for sin had been fully executed. Those who placed their trust in Christ and His finished work on the cross were instantly set free of the dominion, power and penalty of sin. God’s people were now free. There was no longer any condemnation for the redeemed.
Justice had been copiously served. Righteousness prevailed. Death and the grave had been suitably conquered. Christ broke open the gates of hell and liberated the redeemed dead. Christ’s accomplishments emptied Hades (Abraham's bosom) of God's elect. The spiritual barriers to entry into heaven had now been removed. Also, the lake of fire (the second death or eternal punishment) was defeated for God's people. The enemy was roundly defeated on all fronts.
One of the main effects of Satan being evicted from heaven and being spiritual bound was that the nations would be enlightened. This was a mammoth pivotal historic change for the Gentiles spiritually. This was what allowed the Gospel to expand outside of Israel borders to invade a dark Gentile world. This began the enlightening of the nations. The outside world would no longer be ignorant of the truth. It would now know about Jesus. It would know about the cross. It would know about redemption.
Satan’s control, movement and influence over the Gentiles would be seriously curtailed from now on. An emboldened Church was empowered to invade his territory and bring the good news to the heathen. And there was nothing Satan could do about that.
Christ powerfully confronted Satan's largely unchallenged, global earthly rule. The evil one’s advance, liberties and sway on earth and in heaven received a severe blow. Christ broke Satan's claim over the Gentiles and opened up a way of salvation for the heathen. The devil’s ability to deceive the nations had been decimated with the widespread evangelization of the Gentiles. No longer did they sit in complete darkness as before. There was a bright light shining throughout the nations.
Satan’s former unchallenged global position had come to an end. John declares: “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” It was now time for the Gospel to invade the Gentile (ethnos) nations. The Church was now able to overcome Satan “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” and bring the Gospel to “the whole world” that had previously sat in darkness.
From the first century to our current day the great commission has saturated the nations with the Gospel light. Countless millions have encountered the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, through the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Satan cannot in away thwart the might expanse of the Gospel. What a victorious picture of the achievements of Christ and the empowerment of the New Testament Church to evangelize the nations.
Talking about the time of Satan’s eviction, this passage notably described the devil as “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).
That was his prevailing status when he was being evicted 2000 years ago. He “deceiveth the whole world.” He had the nations enslaved in darkness believing his lies. He ruled all nations before the cross, apart from national Israel, and even then, he had most Israelis deceived with his lies.
But this is not his status today.
Since the Lord’s ascension to the throne of God, the devil’s power is hampered. Christ now sits victorious in the glory as our prophet, priest and king. Satan, who once deceived “the whole world” has lost his immense unchallenged global influence. The authority to do such being significantly curtailed by the work of Christ and the advance of the Church of Jesus Christ. Satan has no answer to the light.
From the First Advent, Satan and his minions have been placed in a spiritual prison [the abyss] and are hampered by powerful spiritual chains of restraint which curtails their movement throughout the globe and limits their influence over the nations. Like a dog on a chain, he is limited on what he can do, where he can go and who he can speak to.
Before Satan’s eviction, God was Israel's God, not the Gentiles God. Satan ruled the nations. The powerful spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles lifted the deception that kept them bound. Satan was now bound. The boot was on the other foot.
With the global expanse of the great commission, the Gentiles now are without excuse. The ignorance is gone. The veil is removed. The deception enveloping the Gentiles has been lifted. Those Gentiles who embrace the Gospel are no longer deceived. They are enlightened. The faithful from every nation on earth are brought into a personal faith in Christ, experience the joy of sins forgiven and are grafted into the Israel of God. The Gentiles are no longer ignorant. The nations are now without excuse, just like those in the Old Testament that rejected salvation.
Salvation has now come to the nations. The Church has received its baptism of fire at Pentecost. It has received its Divine mandate. The world is its parish. As a result, the Church has become a militant overcoming organism throughout the nations. The means by which God lifts deception is the preaching of the Word of God. This has now been successfully ongoing throughout the nations for 2000 years.
The Gospel has gone out to the nations throughout this new covenant period, corresponding with the parallel binding of Satan for his territory to be overrun with the truth. The millennium was ushered in by Christ’s resurrection (the first resurrection). It has seen the Gospel go out to the Gentiles (as predicted). Before the resurrection, the Gospel was restricted to one lone small nation Israel. The Gospel has liberated countless millions of Gentiles over this past 2,000 years as Satan's territory has been invaded with the truth. Village after village, town after town, city after city, nation after nation globally has encountered the light. Those that have eyes to see will see.
We need to take an open, objective, and thorough look at this passage and let it speak for itself. We need to look at the context, identify what is happening, and then put the theological jigsaw pieces together. We need to be careful to refuse any interpretation that has been contrived of man, and foisted upon this text, to reinforce a faulty, preconceived, and prejudiced end-times viewpoint.
The context of this teaching is clearly the aftermath of Christ’s successful earthly life, His atoning death, His victorious resurrection and His glorious ascent to assume His heavenly throne. This all occurred 2000 years ago. This, according to the text, resulted in the devil’s eviction from heaven. Why? The penalty for sin had now been fully paid, the grave had been finally defeated, Satan’s grounds for accusation had been powerfully destroyed and his charge sheet against God’s people had been suitably ripped in two. Sin had lost its dominion over the believer and the devil’s condemning finger has now been broken. The accuser had lost his authority to bring charges against God’s elect before the bar of God in heaven.
A perfect human life had been lived in the form of the earthly assignment of Christ. The law had been fully met and the punishment for sin had been fully executed. Those who placed their trust in Christ and His finished work on the cross were instantly set free of the dominion, power and penalty of sin. God’s people were now free. There was no longer any condemnation for the redeemed.
Justice had been copiously served. Righteousness prevailed. Death and the grave had been suitably conquered. Christ broke open the gates of hell and liberated the redeemed dead. Christ’s accomplishments emptied Hades (Abraham's bosom) of God's elect. The spiritual barriers to entry into heaven had now been removed. Also, the lake of fire (the second death or eternal punishment) was defeated for God's people. The enemy was roundly defeated on all fronts.
One of the main effects of Satan being evicted from heaven and being spiritual bound was that the nations would be enlightened. This was a mammoth pivotal historic change for the Gentiles spiritually. This was what allowed the Gospel to expand outside of Israel borders to invade a dark Gentile world. This began the enlightening of the nations. The outside world would no longer be ignorant of the truth. It would now know about Jesus. It would know about the cross. It would know about redemption.
Satan’s control, movement and influence over the Gentiles would be seriously curtailed from now on. An emboldened Church was empowered to invade his territory and bring the good news to the heathen. And there was nothing Satan could do about that.
Christ powerfully confronted Satan's largely unchallenged, global earthly rule. The evil one’s advance, liberties and sway on earth and in heaven received a severe blow. Christ broke Satan's claim over the Gentiles and opened up a way of salvation for the heathen. The devil’s ability to deceive the nations had been decimated with the widespread evangelization of the Gentiles. No longer did they sit in complete darkness as before. There was a bright light shining throughout the nations.
Satan’s former unchallenged global position had come to an end. John declares: “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” It was now time for the Gospel to invade the Gentile (ethnos) nations. The Church was now able to overcome Satan “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” and bring the Gospel to “the whole world” that had previously sat in darkness.
From the first century to our current day the great commission has saturated the nations with the Gospel light. Countless millions have encountered the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, through the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Satan cannot in away thwart the might expanse of the Gospel. What a victorious picture of the achievements of Christ and the empowerment of the New Testament Church to evangelize the nations.
Talking about the time of Satan’s eviction, this passage notably described the devil as “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).
That was his prevailing status when he was being evicted 2000 years ago. He “deceiveth the whole world.” He had the nations enslaved in darkness believing his lies. He ruled all nations before the cross, apart from national Israel, and even then, he had most Israelis deceived with his lies.
But this is not his status today.
Since the Lord’s ascension to the throne of God, the devil’s power is hampered. Christ now sits victorious in the glory as our prophet, priest and king. Satan, who once deceived “the whole world” has lost his immense unchallenged global influence. The authority to do such being significantly curtailed by the work of Christ and the advance of the Church of Jesus Christ. Satan has no answer to the light.
From the First Advent, Satan and his minions have been placed in a spiritual prison [the abyss] and are hampered by powerful spiritual chains of restraint which curtails their movement throughout the globe and limits their influence over the nations. Like a dog on a chain, he is limited on what he can do, where he can go and who he can speak to.
Before Satan’s eviction, God was Israel's God, not the Gentiles God. Satan ruled the nations. The powerful spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles lifted the deception that kept them bound. Satan was now bound. The boot was on the other foot.
With the global expanse of the great commission, the Gentiles now are without excuse. The ignorance is gone. The veil is removed. The deception enveloping the Gentiles has been lifted. Those Gentiles who embrace the Gospel are no longer deceived. They are enlightened. The faithful from every nation on earth are brought into a personal faith in Christ, experience the joy of sins forgiven and are grafted into the Israel of God. The Gentiles are no longer ignorant. The nations are now without excuse, just like those in the Old Testament that rejected salvation.
Salvation has now come to the nations. The Church has received its baptism of fire at Pentecost. It has received its Divine mandate. The world is its parish. As a result, the Church has become a militant overcoming organism throughout the nations. The means by which God lifts deception is the preaching of the Word of God. This has now been successfully ongoing throughout the nations for 2000 years.
The Gospel has gone out to the nations throughout this new covenant period, corresponding with the parallel binding of Satan for his territory to be overrun with the truth. The millennium was ushered in by Christ’s resurrection (the first resurrection). It has seen the Gospel go out to the Gentiles (as predicted). Before the resurrection, the Gospel was restricted to one lone small nation Israel. The Gospel has liberated countless millions of Gentiles over this past 2,000 years as Satan's territory has been invaded with the truth. Village after village, town after town, city after city, nation after nation globally has encountered the light. Those that have eyes to see will see.
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