September 6: WAR OF WORDS
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought. Revelation 12:7
The Greek word polemia, translated war, is the word from which we get our modern word politics. Ideas can be very divisive, and obviously the ideas propagated by the dragon went directly against those of Michael.
We already have a firm identity of the dragon, so let us identify Michael. The most recent text is found in Jude 9: Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (see also Zechariah 3:2). The Greek archaggelos means chief of the angels. Michael is the Commander-in-chief of the angels. He rules over them.
Paul speaks of His second coming in reassuring believers of the coming resurrection of their loved ones who died in Christ: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Our archenemy has a deep resentment over the idea of forgiven sinners being resurrected. We know that Moses had a special resurrection at some point before the transfiguration (Mark 9:4-5). It is the voice of Michael the archangel that awakened Moses. And His voice will awaken the rest of His sleeping ones from the dead on the Day of His return.
There are three mentions of Michael in Daniel. In Daniel 10:12-13, the angel Gabriel, after a delayed response to Daniel’s prayer, explained: “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” The rendering “one of the chief princes” by translators is unfortunate, as the Hebrew word for one also means first as in the top of the hierarchy. Michael is first in preeminence. In Daniel 8:11, He is referred to as the Prince of the host. We also love to call Him our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Gabriel added, near the end of that conversation with Daniel, that he must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince…)
In Hebrew, the name Michael means Who Is Like God. Our understanding of the Bible is greatly enlarged by understanding the meaning of names. Soon, a Day is coming when Michael shall stand up. At that moment, the pronouncement of Revelation 22:11 will go into effect. The world’s greatest tribulation will be triggered, as Jesus stated in Matthew 24:21-22. When He comes, He will bring all the holy angels with Him (25:31) and there will be silence in heaven for about half an hour (Revelation 8:1).
At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. Daniel 12:1