Revelation Day 33 - The Enemy's Fall

DAY 33
The Enemy’s Fall
Revelation 12:7-12
 
Who exactly is the devil?

The Bible never gives Satan a proper origin story. Everyone knows Superman’s origin: sent by rocket from the doomed planet, Krypton, to Earth, raised to be a superhero with powers far beyond those of mortal men. We never get a clear origin story like that for Satan. We get hints here and there like those in Rev. 12.

Satan is a fallen spiritual being who resists God and tries to lead us away from God. John says in Rev. 12:9 that the devil was “hurled down…to the earth.” Satan is not God’s equal. God - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is unique among everything in existence. But since God made everything and made it good, we can also infer that God created Satan as a good angel, maybe even the highest angel ever. Tradition says Satan rebelled against God because of pride. In that way, he fell away from God.

When does Satan fall? I keep saying this but it’s tricky to put Revelation in chronological sequence because John’s visions don’t move through time in a straight line. Revelation isn’t a calendar! V.7 does describes a “war in heaven” between Satan’s angels and the archangel Michael’s angels. But careful Christian thinkers disagree whether this is talking about Satan’s removal from heaven long ago or about something in the future. Either way, Satan and his lieutenants are thrown out and locked out from God’s presence. Rev. 20:10 also says that, at some point, Satan will be forever locked away from causing more trouble.

Can Satan and his demons repent and be forgiven? We’re speculating at this point, but careful Christian thinkers of the past have mostly said, “No, Satan freely and irrevocably chose to oppose God.”

The key thing for us to know is that Satan is a fallen spiritual being who tries to make others fall, too. The devil wants to trip us up with lies. He’s a dangerous enemy but a defeated enemy - and that’s good news! Nowhere in Revelation is there any doubt who wins the battle between good and evil. Satan’s downfall is certain because he’s already fallen. Hallelujah! Thanks be to God for our victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

REFLECT
Does thinking about the devil, or demons, every scare you? How should we respond to our spiritual enemy?

PRAY
Lord Jesus, Satan has no authority over me or any of your people. His accusations are lies and slander. You promise that we can triumph over him by the blood of the Lamb and our testimony. Protect me from the enemy. Let my life be a testimony to your truth. Amen.