The Empire's War

The language of war is used metaphorically to describe the persecution of the saints by the Beast and the Dragon. The Book of Revelation uses ‘war’ and related terms to illustrate Satan’s attacks on the followers of Jesus. Little interest in conventional or nuclear war between nations and conventional armies is found in the Book. Instead, the Devil works tirelessly to annihilate the Church before his allotted time expires.

To prosecute his war while time remains, Satan uses deception, compromise, and persecution. The target of his hostility is the Church of Jesus Christ.

References to a future ‘war’ waged by the Dragon against the saints – always in the singular number - employ the Greek verb ‘polemeō’ or its noun form, ‘polemos’. Both words are applied to the cosmic battle described in Chapter 12:

• “And there was war [‘polemos’] in heaven: Michael and his angels waged war [‘polemeō’] with the dragon, and the dragon waged war [‘polemeō’] and his angels” – (Revelation 12:7-8).

[Church ruins - Photo by Luc Constantin on Unsplash]

Expelled from heaven, Satan launches his great ‘war’ on the followers of Jesus. This conflict is waged between the Dragon and the Lamb through their respective earthly followers. Humanity is divided between those men who follow the Lamb and those who swear fealty to the Dragon:

• “And the Dragon became enraged with the woman and departed to make war upon the rest of her seed, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17. Verbal allusion to Daniel 7:21).

• “And they rendered homage to the Dragon because he gave his authority to the Beast <…> And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” – (Revelation 13:4, 7. Verbal allusion to Daniel 7:21).

This ‘war’ manifests in the daily lives of believers as they struggle against the deceivers and deceptions that attack the church from within. This includes the “false apostles,” the “Nicolaitans,” the proponents of the “teachings of Balaam,” and the “prophetess Jezebel,” she who promotes the so-called “deep things of Satan” – (Revelation 2:2, 2:6, 2:14-15, 2:20).

The Church also endures persecution from outsiders, and the time is coming when the Devil will assemble all his forces in one final push to annihilate the people of God.

• “I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and that you hold fast my name, and did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” – (Revelation 2:13).

• “And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony that they held” – (Revelation 6:9).

• “And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be loosed out of his prison, and he will come forth to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war [‘polemos’], the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they ascended over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down out of heaven and consumed them.  And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” – (Revelation 20:7-10).

The struggles of the Seven Churches of Asia described in chapters 2 and 3 provide a microcosmic picture of the cosmic war that is waged wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, a conflict that will culminate in a final global ‘war’ against the saints before the end of the age.

Satan has targeted the Body of Christ for apostasy and destruction since it was founded. Jesus and his true Apostles warned of this very thing. For example:

• “For there will arise false anointed ones and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect” – (Matthew 24:24).

• “But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons” – (1 Timothy 4:1).

THE BEAST

The Beast first appears in Chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation when he rises from the Abyss to kill the Two Witnesses. However, the Beast is not released from the Abyss to attack the Witnesses until they complete their prophetic witness:

• “And when they have finished their testimony, the Beast that ascends out of the Abyss will make war [‘polemos’] with them, and overcome them, and kill them” - (Revelation 11:7. Verbal allusion to Daniel 7:21).

The Two Witnesses are not individual men but “two lampstands,” and in Revelation, lampstands represent churches. The ‘war’ against the Witnesses is a graphic representation of the persecution of the Church by the Beast - (Revelation 1:19-20).

The Beast may succeed in killing the Two Witnesses, but it will be a hollow victory, one that will be overturned by the intervention of God when the Seventh Trumpet is heard - (Revelation 11:15-19).

In Chapter 12, Satan is defeated and expelled from heaven.  Enraged, he descends to the Earth to make war on the Woman and her “seed”; that is, the overcoming saints who remain faithful in their witness. They are the men and women who have “the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17).

Chapter 12 concludes with Satan standing on the seashore summoning his own ‘seed’ from the sea to prosecute his ‘war’ on the saints, beginning with the Beast from the Sea - (Revelation 12:17-13:1).

John sees the first Beast as it is “rising out of the Sea,” an image parallel to that of the Beast ascending out of the Abyss. The same ‘war’ against the people of the Lamb is in view in chapters 11, 12, and 13. In the Greek text, it is even called “the war,” singular and definite. This is not one among many wars, but ‘the war’ between Satan and the Lamb, and the conflict is transhistorical.

Rather than resist the Beast, the Inhabitants of the Earth are awed by its irresistible power - “Who is like the Beast and who can make war with it?” No resistance is given to this creature by any nation. The Inhabitants of the Earth are the worshipful subjects of the Beast - (Revelation 13:1-4).

After receiving the authority of the Dragon, the Beast launches his campaign against the saints, and it “overcomes them,” which means they are slain. However, the Beast is unable to begin his ‘war’ on the Church until he is authorized to do so, and only within the limits allowed by God – (“It was given to the Beast…” - Revelation 13:7-10).

The three primary references to this ‘war’ allude to the same passage of the Book of Daniel that originally described the attack on the saints by the pagan king described as “the little horn” (Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:7). This provides a verbal link between these three passages in Revelation:

• (Daniel 7:21) - “I continued looking when this horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until that the Ancient of Days came, and justice was granted to the saints of the Highest, and the time arrived that the saints should possess the kingdom.”

Elsewhere in Revelation, the term ‘saints’ refers to men who follow the Lamb, and in Chapter 14, they are identified as the men “who have the faith of Jesus.” They are recognizable by their attachment to Jesus, their perseverance, and their witness or “testimony” for him - (Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4, 11:18, 13:7-10, 14:12, 16:6, 17:6, 18:20-24, 19:8, 20:6-9).

This ‘war’ results in the persecution, imprisonment, and death of the saints:

• “I, John, your brother and fellow participant with you in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, I was on the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 1:9).

• “Fear not the things that you are going to suffer. Behold, the Devil is going to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried. And you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” – (Revelation 2:10).

• “If anyone is for captivity, into captivity he goes. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he is slain” – (Revelation 13:10).

• “And I saw the woman drunk from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus” – (Revelation 17:6).

The “battle” scenes of the Book of Revelation are not descriptions of actual military conflicts between nations. They illustrate the assaults of Satan and his servants against the people of the Lamb. The cosmic war waged in heaven manifests on earth in the daily lives of disciples as they struggle with false teachers, false prophets, deception, and persecution.

The Dragon is waging an existential war upon the Church. Either he or the saints will be destroyed. There can be no compromise or negotiated peace.

From the start, persecution and deception have been common in the life of the Church. The visions of Revelation expose the true source of persecution and the power behind the many deceivers who infiltrate the churches of Jesus Christ. The Book does foresee a final assault upon the Church by Satan before the Day of Judgment.

In the meantime, the Devil does everything in his power to destroy the saints through persecution, deception, compromise, apathy, and martyrdom. His war is against the sacrificial Lamb, and he wages it by attacking the Church, the men and women who have “the faith and the testimony of Jesus.”

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and allusions to Old Testament passages]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Great Cosmic War - (At the end of the age, Satan will launch a total war against the saints, the followers of the Lamb)

• The Dragon's Empire - (To identify the Antichrist, we must first understand what the relevant biblical passages say about him, his methods, and his goals)

• The Great Conspiracy - (The conspiracy by the Earth’s kings to unseat the Messiah is applied in the New Testament to the plot to destroy Jesus – Psalm 2:1-6)

• La Guerre du Dragon - (Le langage de la guerre est utilisé métaphoriquement pour décrire la persécution des saints par la Bête et le Dragon)