There was/is going to be a war in heaven. I'm never really sure when it comes to putting time on anything that involves non-temporal beings. Isaiah message was to Babylon, but we know that Babylon is refered to in Revelations too though it does no longer exist, as a great city. But it also could mean more than the once great city. Some believe that the verses refers to both Satan and the king Nebuchadnezzar. One thing is sure: the statements are of pride. These verses are called the five "I Will"s. Now lets go to the war.

• REVELATION 12:7-9 "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

Where did he go? To the earth.

• REVELATION 12:10-12 "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

His time is short. But it's about how much damage can he do in the time he has. The book of Job is probably the oldest book in the bible and there Satan "accuses" Job, saying that the only reason he was good and upright was because God had protected him and blessed the work of his hands. Basically saying that Job was a "fair-weather friend" to God and that he would curse God if it was all taken from him.

• JOB 1:6-12 "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the Lord, 'From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.' Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.' 'Does Job fear God for nothing?' Satan replied. 'Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out you hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.' The Lord said to Satan, 'Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.' Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord."

These things were done to Job and this was his response:

• JOB 1:20-22 "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."

Again Satan was to accuse Job before the Lord:

• JOB 2:1-7 "On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him. And the Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the Lord, 'From roaming the earth and going back and forth in it.' Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." 'Skin for skin!' Satan replied. 'A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.' The Lord said to Satan, 'Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.' So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head."

Job's response was still to defend God:

• JOB 2:8-10 "Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, 'Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!' He replied, 'You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?' In all this, Job did not sin in what he said."

Satan is there, he will try to bring into sin and shame, and brake the connection with God. Job was able to be strong, though at the end he did begin to question God's motives. We have Jesus, he did not. Jesus reunites us with God, gives us the Holy Spirit to live within us and communicate with our spirit, telling us the best way to go. Job is described as "blameless", I am not, unless I am cleansed by the blood of Christ. It is only because of this gift that I can be blameless before God.

I'm going copy out some verses in which Satan is mentioned, he will be called by other names but it is him. There are over 30 references in the new testament, I have but a few here.

• JOHN 12:30-32 "Jesus said, 'This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgement on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.'"

• JOHN 14:29-31 "I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is comming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me."

• EPHESIANS 2:1-3 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."

• CORINTHIANS 4:3-4 "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
  
  
• MATTHEW 4:1-11 "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. 'If you are the Son of God,' he said, 'throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in thier hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' Jesus answered him, 'It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' Again the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.' Jesus said to him, 'Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.' Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him."
  
  

• LUKE 10:18-20 "He replied, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'"

Here Jesus says He "saw" Satan fall, using the past tense. Jesus is God, God is not temporal, God sees past, present, and future as now. You see why I said that I have trouble with placing time on events in heaven? Could be that Satan was already kicked out of heaven in the days of Adam and Eve, he was in the garden. But in Job he comes into the presense of God, but says when asked that he has been roaming the earth, going back and forth in it.

• MATTHEW 12:24-28 "But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, 'It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.' Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." (also see Luke 11:14-20)

• 1PETER 5:6-9 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

• 2TIMOTHY 2:24-26 "And the Lord's servant must not quarel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."

• 2CORINTHIANS 2:10-11 "If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven-if there was anything to forgive-I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes."

• JAMES 4:7-8 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

• HEBREWS 2:14-18 "Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."

We are to be watchful of the devil, he is always working to bring us away from our contact with God. I see it as a voice that tells me things like, "God is not listening to me" or "I'm not worth His compassion". The Word tells me that I am worthy, my contact with other Christians shows me that I am worthy of their company though my thoughts may tell me otherwise. The greater my involvement with God and the things that God has put before me, the greater my understanding of my worth to Him, and the less that voice is able to be heard. This may not be the popular belief with many Christians but I know that the devil is real and trying to do as much harm as he can before his time is up. The best weapon the devil has is when a person does not know he is there.

Now we come to the end for the devil. His time has ended as we will read.

• REVELATION 20:1-10 "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seizes the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth-Gog and Magog-to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched accross the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But the fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

We know that the devil's days are numbered, but so does he. I'm sure he is working overtime doing what he can to prevent people from coming to God; Making those that seek God feel as if they are unworthy of being saved; And doing what ever he can to harm those that have found their way to God. I feel safe from his attacks as long as I stay with God and turn over my troubles and fears to Him. He has been my Strength, and He would never let me down. All good things come from God. I trust in Him, I have faith in salvation promised, and I will see my Lord one day. I am very thankful for the Love that God gives me, I will work on being closer to Him all the days of my life. The Spirit that lives inside of me talks to me and to God, keeping the lines of communication open at all times. I pray that I can be of use to my Lord while here on earth.

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