September 16: TO MAKE WAR (part 1)

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17

The King James translation uses the word wroth to describe Satan’s fury. He had failed in every attempt to prevent the Messiah from being born. He had failed to trip Him up, and maintaining a perfect, sinless life, the Lord Jesus rendered Himself the all-sufficient, ultimate and complete sacrifice for the sin of mankind. Having failed to destroy Christ, followed by failure to sweep away His true church, the dragon is absolutely filled with fury.

This rage is directed toward the woman. Since the cross, there has been a church who, by God’s grace, remained faithful to her Savior. Though she was in hiding, clothed in sackcloth, during the Dark Ages, she clung to the written Word, The Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12), that marvelous double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16), fulfilling these words penned by John the Revelator: “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Revelation 11:3)

The phrase he went indicates a hiatus for strategizing, to gear up for the final battle in the cosmic war between good and evil. The visible church of the Middle Ages seemed to suffer defeat after the pope was forcefully removed from the Vatican in 1798. Satan’s multi-faceted strategy since that time has been for his “front man” to make a comeback, a return. Beginning with Genesis 1:1, an all-out attack was launched against the Bible. Any who endeavors to declare allegiance to the word of God will be discredited, while he who is bent on evil shall return and show regard for those who forsake the covenant (Daniel 11:30).

The war between good and evil, which began before our earth was created, is cosmic in scale. There are supernatural elements on both sides, which becomes increasingly evident as the plot progresses on its current battlefield: the earth. The angel of rebellion has been ousted from God’s heavenly city; from there, he had not found a dwelling place in any of the other worlds. He occupied a usurped office as the ruler of this world after tricking our first parents. But, from that very day, our LORD has been faithful to fallen man. He left the “ninety-nine” (Matthew 18:12-13) to pursue us. And He does not keep us in ignorance of His rescue plan.

In gearing up for the final battle, the dragon is determined to gain a victory over all in the last-day church who identify with the woman of Revelation 12. They are her offspring. Last-day events are therefore Satan’s final attempt to destroy Christ’s followers and prevent the accomplishment of His purpose in the world. Still, every individual is in possession of the power to choose sides. In the final battle of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, the woman is on the front line.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. Joel 3:14