The Defeat Of Satan
THE DEFEAT OF SATAN
REVELATION 12:7-12
Christ’s great and final victory on the cross means forgiveness of sins and power over our accuser.
Popular Christian fantasy, basing itself on this passage, Isaiah 14:12, etc, has pictured a war in which God’s angels led by Michael threw Satan and his angels out of heaven long before the creation of humanity. There is no scriptural warrant for this, least of all in this passage. What is depicted is something within the range of events described by Revelation and affecting its readers (12:12). What is more, the defeat of Satan is merely symbolic, for the victory has been won by the conquerors within the church (12:11), so almost certainly confirming the interpretation given to the male child (12:5). Whether or not this scene has a still future application and climax, it has worked itself out throughout the history of the church. They had conquered Godward by their trust in Christ’s death, and manward by their witness. Because in both directions they had renounced trust in what they did themselves, “they loved not their lives even unto death” (12:11). This must not be understood merely as a willingness to embrace a martyr’s death, but also as a renunciation of success as the world inside and outside the church considers it.
By their victory they first of all shut the mouth of Satan (= the Accuser). As the image of Christ was formed in them (see also 2 Corinthians 3:18), they demonstrated to the world that Satan is not its ruler and that there is a greater power than his, so depriving him of his place in human esteem. No doubt there will be a great, final demonstration of this, but it is something that has had to be worked out afresh in each new generation. The church is never in greater danger than when it is acclaimed by the world, for it may allow itself to be persuaded that there is some merit in it, and that there is something it can achieve. When the church allows its task and methods to be dictated by the world, it is the subtle recognition of the wisdom of Satan, prince of this world.
Perhaps the most important lesson of this section is that we must not look on the church merely as the sphere of salvation, but as that of God’s continuing victory in Christ. The body of Christ is no mere empty metaphor but a living reality (see also Ephesians 1:22f.; 3:10; Colossians 1:24).