>>Spiritual
Warfare
By Mark S Watson
http://www.markswatson.com/spiritwar.html
Posted March 27 2005
What is spiritual warfare and
what does it mean to the end time Christian? This is a look at this
issue however, rather than going about this in the traditional
fashion by quoting the Apostle Paul’s very important verses in
Ephesians and dissecting it as hundreds have already done, I will
look at this issue from a somewhat different and 'panoramic' way.
Spiritual warfare is simply put, a war between
the forces of God and the forces of rebellion, led by one of God’s
most trusted created angelic beings, whose name was Lucifer but is,
since his fall, more correctly called Satan. Satan is derived from
the Hebrew word meaning opponent.[1].
Satan’s main job as it related to mankind is to accuse God's people.
However, his name in the Greek ‘Devil’ means accuser or slanderer.
That is, whenever God’s children stumble and fall, or sin against
God, Satan goes and accuses the Christian before God’s throne.
However, sometimes there need not be any sin at all for Satan to
accuse one of God’s servants.
The very first time he is
mentioned in scripture (by this name) is in 1st Chronicles and he
appears as a ‘tempter’, one who provoke David to number Israel. This
thing greatly displeased God and God responded in most negative
fashion. Form this point onwards in scripture, we see a pattern
develop with Satan, man and God. Satan tempts, Man sins, and God
punishes.
This pattern is repeated
throughout the Old and New Testaments and each time this occurs in
scripture we see the overall purpose to Satan’s accusations. It is
to get him in hot water with God and to thwart God’s plans and
blessings for his people. This is the pattern over and over again in
the scriptures. Satan, being a created being is very much a finite
and limited spiritual entity, but one far superior in intellect,
strength, cunning and even determination than man. Satan is
relentless in his pursuit of his goal to thwart God’s purposes and
rule the all things under his cruel and evil rulership. What men
must understand about Satan that will help him to deal with his
wiles are these two important things.
1) His pride and arrogance
makes him think he can really be like God.
2) He has an intense jealousy
and hatred for mankind because of the great love and plan of
salvation that has been offered to man and not to fallen angles.
Each is a very important issue with Satan and
his kingdom and the second reason bears a little closer scrutiny. It
must be understood that God is very merciful, yet he is far less so
with presumptuous sin. These angles who rebelled against God may
have figured that God was ‘soft’ and really would provide a way for
them to be eventually avoid an eternity in torment in the lake of
fire, as he eventually provided a way of salvation for mankind. The
entire incident with the fallen angels known as Nephilim is one that
is very revealing. First of all this incident happened after the
Lucifer’s rebellion against God (Genesis 3:1-6; Genesis 6:1-7) and
the incident regarding the
Son’s of God (see
Article.)
These angles knew of God’s anger at
rebellion, yet chose to go down and sleep with human women anyway.
Here Satan’s warfare against God and man took on an entirely
different and dangerous dimension. Satan’s plan was to destroy the
purity of the race of men so that God could not save men because the
promise of a future redeemer was for the son’s of adam (hebrew -
benay adam), not the son’s of God (hebrew - benay elohim). This was
a serious threat to God’s plan and Satan wants very much to make God
out to be a liar. Thus, here spiritual warfare took on far more of a
meaning than just a single individual sinning or even wars and
rumors of wars. This was an entirely new dimension to spiritual
warfare that man had little control over.
Indeed, much of this warfare is
beyond mans ability to see and influence except through prayer and
even then, only as God’s Spirit gives revelation into the spiritual
world. This is a war and in any war there are casualties on both
sides. However in this war, Man has a very special protection from
his redeemer. An interesting passage of scripture shows how God
protects his people and how a great spiritual army rides with those
who do God’s will.
And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray
thee, open his eyes, that he may see.
And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man;
and he saw: and, behold, the mountain
[was] full of
horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came
down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this
people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with
blindness according to the word of Elisha.
(2Ki 6:17-18)
This is a fascinating piece of
scripture God had an army of spiritual ‘military hardware’ around
Elisha and he could not be harmed.
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about
them that fear him, and delivereth them.
(Psa 34:7)
Yet there are times that God,
for his own purpose allows that protection to be removed from his
people.
Another interesting piece of
scripture can be found in Job.
And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou
considered my servant Job, that
[there is] none like him in the earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth
evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for
nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house,
and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work
of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put
forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse
thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he
hath [is]
in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan
went forth from the presence of the LORD.
(Job 1:8-12)
Here Satan is accusing Job and is complaining
to God that Job is so well protected that Satan can’t get to him and
that if Job as a run of bad luck, he would curse God. God then
allows Satan to test his servant Job. Now the entire time this is
happening, Job is clueless as to what just transpired in Heaven and
the conversation the LORD had with Satan. All he knows is that
suddenly his life is turned upside down and things just keep getting
worse. Here we see that Satan had access to the throne room and
God’s divine ‘council chamber’. Weather or not Satan still has this
kind of access to Heaven and God is a matter of some debate (see
John 12:31).
It appears that he has been cast out but the
actual timing of it and full effect of this comes in Revelation
12:9. On this point scholars debate but most agree that this event
has already transpired[2].
Yet the real issue here is that Satan still has a kingdom of evil
and still is most desperate to thwart the plans of God for mankind
in the hopes that this might in some fashion prevent his ultimate
fate. Thus, Satan is still most active in the affairs of men in
government and in the spiritual realm.
And you [hath
he quickened], who were dead in
trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
(Eph 2:1-5)
In this passage of scripture we
notice several things. Paul is tying up several important themes.
First that there is a spirit that is working in the ‘Children of
Disobedience’ (lost man). That spirit is the Prince of the power of
the air (Satan). And this power is aimed at those Children of God
who have received the gift of salvation that is not available to
fallen angels. Indeed they seem to be most curious and desirous to
know of God’s plan for mankind’s salvation.
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now
reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels
desire to look into. (1Pe 1:12)
To the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly [places]
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
(Eph 3:10)
God has a purpose not just with
man in his plan for salvation but to demonstrate to all creation
including and especially to the heavenly host, God’s wisdom mercy
and judgment. This is also one of the reasons that war transpired in
the spiritual realm. Man is a principle ‘actor’ ( if I may use this
metaphor) in God’s celestial play. However, while a theater is make
believe, this battle is real and the consequences for serving the
wrong side are so horrible that is beyond human comprehension.
The Bible is full of passages
that deal with many aspects of this battle. The Angelic, the Moral,
the Political and yes what we in our finite minds would call, the
weird.
One aspect of this battle has been covered to
some degree in an article called
Occult Government.
This article was rather brief and covered just one very important
aspect of a demonic assault on mankind. It showed how secrecy,
spiritual darkness and power come together in high finance and in
the US Government. Using the occult, obfuscation, propaganda it
successfully keeps many Christians from believing that they too
could be deceived by individuals who are deeply involved in the
Occult and hold positions of influence in government, education and
even in Church.
This deceit is
exactly as Jesus said it would be,
so deceptive that if one is not taking extreme care in their walk
with Christ they will be fooled into the Devil's kingdom, never
knowing that this has happened. People need to become
three-dimensional thinkers, in other word not just keep their minds
on what is seen and heard but must also consider what can neither be
seen or heard, those things in the spiritual realm.
However, the scriptures make
some very strong admonitions as to how we go about this. There are
many, many forbidden methods of interacting with the spiritual
world. These admonitions are going by the way-side in modern
American society. These forbidden methods are Crystal-Ball gazing,
astrology, tarot cards, necromancy, numerology, witchcraft, and
other forms of occultism. Why are these things forbidden? The answer
is simple. When one uses any of these methods for contacting or
interacting with the spirit world, one is contacting the enemies of
the Living God.
In short, they are using
communication devices (mediums) that are linking them up with fallen
angels whose hatred for mankind and hatred for God are beyond human
comprehension. Thus, when someone calls up the ‘dead’ in a séance or
goes to a necromancer for the same thing we find that not only are
they not taking to who they think they are. They are talking to what
can only be called spiritual impersonators whose only job is to
deceive the hearer into believing these spirits and acting upon what
they hear. In reality they are talking to the Devil and his army of
deceivers. Spirits beings (both good and evil) are everywhere and
evil spirits know exactly what someone has done in their life and
can recite it to someone who is unaware of the true source of the
this spiritual connection.
Thus, many who realize that
there is a real supernatural connection, run out and believe that
they spoke with a departed loved one when in reality these evil
spirits are laughing their proverbial ‘hind-ends’ off at peoples
naiveté. Yet they can manipulate people into doing things that they
would not ordinary do. Let us remember that Hillary Clinton believed
that she spoke with the departed spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Dabbling in the occult is very popular in today’s pop culture, as
are eastern religions and mysticism.
Pop culture icons such as
Madonna and Britney Spears are reportedly involved in these arts.
Famous actors and actresses are involved in them as well. Thus, we
see how easily it is for others, especially the young and
impressionable to think it is ‘OK’ to dabble in what are commonly
called the ‘black arts. This trend will only continue to the point
that God will have to move in and Judge the Earth for colluding with
his enemies.
And the rest of the men which were not killed
by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that
they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and
silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see,
nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of
their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their
thefts. (Rev 9:20-21)
So we can see from this passage
that mankind even when he is being punished for his crimes of devil
worship, idol worship and sorcery, which this passage seems to imply
will increase, he will only continue in his sins and collude with
the Satan, not only against God but against themselves. What utter
folly!
The Devil really does not have
that must power over man, except as man gives it to him or God
allows. The Devils main tool is deceit, that is in getting someone
to believe something that is not true, when in fact it is (or
vice-versa) in order to get him to act in a way that is contrary to
God and the individuals own best interests. Once a person opens a
door to the kingdom of darkness he has given opportunity to evil
spirits to influence his or her life in ways they are completely
unaware. This is a key method for the Devil to unleash his arsenal
in his spiritual war against God and man.
What does this spiritual warfare
mean to the Christian, in these very last days? In every aspect of
ones life one can expect to be assaulted in with every kind of
temptation. This does not simply include the items mentioned above.
There is occult television, you know, necromancers and TV shows that
deal in these dark themes. There is sexually explicit entertainment,
and even now, one cannot go through a shopping mall without seeing
nearly naked women plastered about the shopping centers walls. Sex
(illicit) is a powerful weapon in the Devils arsenal, and he will
use it. It must be remembered here that God is not against Sex. He
created it! It is just that God created it to be used in a very
specific arrangement.
That arrangement is called
marriage. Would a man drive his car into his living room? Would a
person go to the bathroom on the sofa? Each of these things and
activities has their proper place. A car should be driven on the
road not driven in the house where it would destroy the furnishings
and quite possible injure or kill the homes inhabitants. No sane
person uses the bathroom on the living room sofa, such an activity
should transpire in the toilet. The point here is that there is a
proper place for these things and there is nothing wrong with cars
or going to the bathroom in the proper place. The place for sex in
in marriage. This is the only place for it. But the devil, desiring
that men should rebel against God’s commandments, tells men
otherwise.
Offensive Warfare
This is an area that will gain
a Christian many enemies, most notably in the Church. You see once
you really begin to attack the kingdom of darkness all of those who
are under the authority and influence of this kingdom will come
against you with all of the fury of Hell.
But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils
through the prince of the devils.
Mat 9:34
The Pharisees
were the religious establishment of
Christ’s day and they
saw the power of God and accused Christ of being in collusion with
the Devil, because he was casting out devils. Thus, we see that
Satan was actually using the religious establishment to attack
Christ’s ministry of exorcism by calling him, in short, a minister
of the Devil. It is no different today. Those who embark on this
most important spiritual activity of offensive spiritual military
operations, will suffer counter attacks from many both inside and
outside of the Church.
Yet Christ commanded his
disciples to do these things
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the
dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. -
Mat 10:8
Yet how many Churches to you
see engaging in any of these activities? These are offensive
spiritual operations we as Christians are to engage in. There is an
entirely different world out there and the kingdom of darkness is
far more influential and powerful than the average American Church
going pew-warmer is aware. There are devils with enormous power
Howbeit
this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
(Mat 17:21)
And they had a king over them,
[which is]
the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue
[is]
Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath
[his]
name Apollyon.
(Rev 9:11)
From this verse we
can see that some angels rule over other spiritual beings and thus
have more power. They are not all the same nor do they have the same
strength, power or freedom to roam the earth.
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a
voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four
angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the
four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day,
and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the
number of the army of the horsemen
[were] two hundred thousand
thousand: and I heard the number of them.
(Rev 9:13-16)
And they had a king over them,
[which is]
the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue
[is]
Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath
[his]
name Apollyon.
(Rev 9:11)
There are different
kinds of Angels. There are Sepahims and Cherubims. From the
scripture we know that Lucifer was a Cherubim. Other pre-New
Testament Literature says that there are yet more types of angles
but the Bible itself is silent on this.
Indeed he was an
anointed Cherub that covered. This we learn from Ezekiel.
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say
unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of
God; every precious stone
was
thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the
onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle,
and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was
prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou
art
the anointed cherub that
covereth;
and I have set thee
so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and
down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou
wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till
iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they
have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:
therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God:
and I will destroy thee,
O covering
cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up
because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of
thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee
before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy
sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of
thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of
thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know
thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a
terror, and never
shalt
thou be
any more.
(Eze 28:12-19)
Here we see his original
office, as a Cherub at the very mountain of God. But notice these
other verses carefully (see chart below). Each has a face and they
appear to be facing in four basic directions. Yet in Ezekiel 28
there is clearly another cherub that is not listed in Ezekiel
Chapter One, Chapter 10 or even in Revelation Chapter 4. Yet we
notice he is a cherub and has a specific office on the mountain of
God and was in the Garden Of Eden. This is the Covering Cherub,
the one who is a master of Commerce, merchandise traffic and
violence. He is not listed in these verses (indeed no covering
Cherub is present).
|
And
they
had
the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and
they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings
were
joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went
every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces,
they four had the face of a
man, and the face of a
lion, on the right side: and they
four had the face of an ox
on the left side; they four also
had the face of an eagle.
Thus
were
their faces: and their wings
were
stretched upward; two
wings
of every one
were
joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
(Eze 1:8-11)
|
And every one had four faces: the first face
was
the face of a cherub,
and the second face
was
the face of a man,
and the third the face of a
lion, and the fourth the face of an
eagle.
And the cherubims were lifted up. This
is
the living creature that I saw by the river
of
Chebar.
(Eze 10:14-15)
|
And before the throne
there
was
a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the
throne, and round about the throne,
were
four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast
was
like a lion,
and the second beast like a
calf, and the third beast had a
face as a man,
and the fourth beast
was
like a flying eagle.
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about
him;
and
they
were
full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is
to come.
(Rev 4:6-8)
|
I do not want to digress here,
but I do believe that understanding who are enemies are in the
spiritual realm will give us understanding in fighting them. This is
why I bring these matters up in this fashion. There are deep
spiritual truths in the Bible if we dig for them and cease reading
the same 'Jesus Loves Me' verses over and over again.
Knowing that there is an order and
hierarchy in Satan's kingdom helps us to understand why it is harder
to bring down some spiritual strongholds than others. When we go on
the offensive against the kingdom of darkness we can go into it with
our eyes open and know exactly who we are dealing with. Some of
these entities are extremely powerful and should never be
taken lightly.
One of the most important ways of
attacking the spirits of darkness is to cast out devils in the name
of Jesus Christ and by the power of his resurrection and to pull
down spiritual strongholds through concerted and fervent prayer.
These strongholds control governments, corporations, guilds, entire
industries that influence mankind. Prayer is a key tool in bringing
down or at the very least, weakening these strongholds over men.
Demonic forces use various tools against man.
But he is very limited in what he
can do until men open the door to evil spirits. We as Christians
must understand that Satan’s main task is to gain control of men’s
minds and thinking patterns. Remember this, in essence the war is
over, and the Devil lost, he lost when Christ Jesus rose from the
dead! The Devil is only being used by God to give man the clear and
consistent choice between good and evil. If God wanted to, he could
bring every man woman and child who is alive today and speak to each
personally, show them heaven, its beauty, and splendor and offer
them the gift of salvation. He has not chosen to do this because God
wants people who love
righteousness and truth,
not just pleasure and the avoidance of suffering.
Thus, each and
every man on earth must choose in
his own mind to love truth and righteousness if he is to walk with
God and see life eternal.
It is a matter of choice for man and we must choose willingly and
wholeheartedly to serve God. God does not want those who love evil
and hate good in heaven, they would just mess things up all over
again.
The earth, in this respect, is
a sort of ‘proving ground’ for mankind.
The Mind And Unseen Strongholds
Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him,
which is the head of all principality and power:
(Col
2:8-10)
The worlds ideas and
philosophies are designed to lead men away from the truth of Christ
and his bodily resurrection. Man does not know that he has been
redeemed and that the price has been paid already. It is the Devils
job to keep men from discovering this and he will go to every length
to keep men from believing the gospel, which signifies the doom of
the kingdom of darkness and those who are in it.
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of
the way, nailing it to his cross;
[And] having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:14-15
Thees powers are already defeated!
Thus, when we pray against strongholds over certain institutions,
(the courts, the media and entertainment, the government), we can
begin to see things begin to happen in these areas. I can remember
praying almost daily (as many others I personally know have), that
God would begin to free some of the people in prison that were
innocent of the crimes for which they were serving sentences. Many
prayers were sent up for over two years. Finally, a spate of cases
were being reviewed because DNA evidence could prove many people
innocent.
Thousands of cases have been
reviewed and many people have been released. In some cases it was
clear that witnesses had lied on the stand and that the DA’s knew
the accused were innocent but continued to prosecute them anyway.
Even now I have been praying that these insane drug laws are
repealed so that those who are put in jail for minor infractions are
not spending more time in jail than those who commit murder (as is
the case in many instances) while the big banks that launder the
money are immune to serious prosecution.
These may seem like little things
and not important in the over all scheme of the eternal plan of
God’s Salvation, but God is concerned about all injustice, he is
concerned about those falsely accused and set up. Do not let any
narrow minded, self proclaimed ‘holy-roller’ tell you that God does
not care about those people and their situations. He is deeply
concerned and will act if you and I bring these matters before his
throne in the prayer of faith. Here is where many so called
Christians err significantly in supporting candidates and political
parties that are supposedly 'tough on crime' for the poor, indigent
and non-whites, but couldn't care less about being tough on crime
with white-collar crime (where is Ken Lay of Enron fame today?).
This is the very kind of love of injustice that God eventually
judged and rejected Israel for. Reader beware!
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that
we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat,
making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the
balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the
needy for a pair of shoes;
[yea], and sell the refuse of
the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely
I will never forget any of their works. (Amo 8:5-7)
God is very, concerned about
injustice in America and because of this, the Devil wants to make
sure injustice grows and grows to such a point that God must act
against us. Unfortunately, like the Pharisees of old, the religious
establishment, and many conservative Christians are a key tool
(witting and unwitting) in Satan's arsenal.
Defensive Warfare
This is the area that has been
covered in so many books that I will not go into it other than to
say this.
Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand
against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high
[places].
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand.
Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints;
(Eph 6:10-18a)
What is listed here are
essentially defensive weapons to be used by the believer. Here the
believer is not attacking but standing against the wiles of the
Devil. When the Devil goes on the offensive, as he will surely do,
these are the things you MUST do to STAND.
________________
Brothers and sisters, many books
could be written on this subject and have been. Many have written on
this from many different aspects and perspectives. Many of you will
not like the way I have dealt with this issue. All I can tell you is
that these issues are important and those of you who do not think
that you are in a war need to ensure that YOU really have been born
again and are known of Christ (as opposed to just thinking that you
know him). Those of you who wanted a more thorough work or even a
book sized article must consider a few things.
Click Here
By,
Mark S Watson
An interesting sermon on
casting out demons.
Click Here
[1]
H7854
שׂטן
śâṭân
saw-tawn'
From H7853;
an opponent; especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch
enemy of good: - adversary, Satan, withstand.
[2] I am not so certain that this is the
case. It appears that just after the events of revelation Chapter 12
and the devil is cast on earth we can immediately see the results of
this in Revelation Chapter 13 where the beast rises out of the sea
and the mark of the beast is instituted. This and the fact that he
is only given a ‘short time’ to do his dirty work after he is cast
out leads me to question this generally held theological assumption
(Rev 12:9)
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