Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
A War in Heaven
A common misconception in Christianity is that the devil was kicked out of heaven when he rebelled against God. What if I told you that just isn't true? What if I told you that the devil is still going to heaven every day today?
Let us first look at the conversation between God and the devil in the book of Job.
Job 1:6-7 (NASB)
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
The Lord asked Satan where he came from and the reply was from roaming around on earth. So clearly they are not on earth when having this conversation. They were in heaven. This is well after Adam sinned obviously, so clearly the devil was not banned from entering heaven when he rebelled against God and deceived Adam and Eve.
When Lucifer rebelled, and a third of the angels followed him, they had fallen out of God's grace, but they were not banned from heaven yet. That doesn't mean that will never happen. It only means it has not happened yet.
However, in Revelation, John was given a vision. A prophecy of a war in heaven that was yet to come. A war, if you want to call it that. That would be like saying there was a war in my house when I tossed a spider out the back door.
Revelation 12:7-10 (NASB)
7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
Satan goes to heaven day and night to accuse us before God. Likely trying to convince the Lord that we are not worth saving. That we are full of greed and other sins. He has been doing this since the days of Adam. So one needs to question. What changed? After listening to the devil accuse us before Him for thousands of years, why would God suddenly grow tired of it and kick the devil out of heaven? What would trigger this event?
Some might try to make sense of it by saying that God just finally grows tired of hearing it from the devil. I don't buy that. God is perfect. He is not going to lose His patience for no reason. There must be something that happens and changes everything. There is only one answer that makes any sense. The Rapture.
The devil will spend thousands of years going before the Lord, accusing us and trying to convince God that we simply are not worth the trouble. Then when the rapture happens, and we suddenly appear before God in heaven, Satan will then be speechless. He will have nothing more to accuse us of. We will be standing before the Lord, spotless and righteous.
With no one left on earth that the devil can accuse, God no longer has any reason to listen to Him. The Lord will command the angels to seize the devil and the angels who followed him, and cast them out of heaven. To throw them down to earth and ban them from returning.
This event will lead to the breaking of the Seven Seals
Let us first look at the conversation between God and the devil in the book of Job.
Job 1:6-7 (NASB)
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
The Lord asked Satan where he came from and the reply was from roaming around on earth. So clearly they are not on earth when having this conversation. They were in heaven. This is well after Adam sinned obviously, so clearly the devil was not banned from entering heaven when he rebelled against God and deceived Adam and Eve.
When Lucifer rebelled, and a third of the angels followed him, they had fallen out of God's grace, but they were not banned from heaven yet. That doesn't mean that will never happen. It only means it has not happened yet.
However, in Revelation, John was given a vision. A prophecy of a war in heaven that was yet to come. A war, if you want to call it that. That would be like saying there was a war in my house when I tossed a spider out the back door.
Revelation 12:7-10 (NASB)
7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
Satan goes to heaven day and night to accuse us before God. Likely trying to convince the Lord that we are not worth saving. That we are full of greed and other sins. He has been doing this since the days of Adam. So one needs to question. What changed? After listening to the devil accuse us before Him for thousands of years, why would God suddenly grow tired of it and kick the devil out of heaven? What would trigger this event?
Some might try to make sense of it by saying that God just finally grows tired of hearing it from the devil. I don't buy that. God is perfect. He is not going to lose His patience for no reason. There must be something that happens and changes everything. There is only one answer that makes any sense. The Rapture.
The devil will spend thousands of years going before the Lord, accusing us and trying to convince God that we simply are not worth the trouble. Then when the rapture happens, and we suddenly appear before God in heaven, Satan will then be speechless. He will have nothing more to accuse us of. We will be standing before the Lord, spotless and righteous.
With no one left on earth that the devil can accuse, God no longer has any reason to listen to Him. The Lord will command the angels to seize the devil and the angels who followed him, and cast them out of heaven. To throw them down to earth and ban them from returning.
This event will lead to the breaking of the Seven Seals
