The Dragon's War

Satan attacks the Lamb by persecuting his followers, the saints who have the Testimony of Jesus.

The Book of Revelation provides a graphic picture of the cosmic battle raging between Jesus and the Devil, the “Slain Lamb” and the “Great Red Dragon.” The stakes are high. The battlefield is the Church, the “assemblies” of Jesus Christ. Satan has no hope of victory if he fails to destroy the Church, and he knows this; therefore, his resources are focused on accomplishing that goal.

While the Devil uses persecution and poverty to afflict the Church, his weapon of choice is deception, and he uses deceivers such as the “false apostles” of Ephesus and the “doctrines of Balaam” to spread deceit and dissension among the “saints.”

[Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash]

The “saints” overcome the “Dragon,” not by resorting to revolution, violence, or political action, but by the “blood of the Lamb and the Word of their Testimony.” As Christ’s “kingdom of priests,” they mediate the light of his Gospel to the nations - (Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6, 12:11. Also, 1 Peter 2:5-10).

Humanity’s only hope is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Church’s sole mission is to proclaim its message to all men. Thus, Satan and his agents work tirelessly to dilute, twist, divert, discredit, and otherwise stop this Good News from reaching the nations and all peoples of the Earth.

In popular preaching, Satan’s earthly agent, the “Beast from the Sea,” becomes a global political leader who wages conventional and even nuclear war against nation-states that resist his will, especially the modern state of Israel. However, this interpretation ignores the plain words of the Book.

In Chapter 12, for example, Satan as the “Dragon” wages “war” against the “Seed of the Woman” identified as the men “who have the Testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17). The chapter concludes with the “Dragon” standing on the seashore summoning his “seed” to prosecute his war against the “saints” – (Revelation 12:17, 13:1-10).

The Dragon’s first child is the monstrous “Beast from the Sea.” It wages “war against the saints,” and the passage does not sugarcoat the Beast’s intention to destroy the Church:

• “It was granted to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And there was granted to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation <…> If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goes. If any man is to be killed with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” – (Revelation 13:10).

Whether “overcome” means the Beast kills the “saints” or causes their apostasy makes little difference. The goal is to destroy God’s People and derail the preaching of the Gospel, and Revelation leaves us in doubt as to the identity of the “saints.” They are those “who have the faith of Jesus” and the “Testimony of Jesus,” the men redeemed by the Lamb from every “tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation” – (Revelation 5:9-10, 12:17, 7:9-17, 13:1-10, 14:10-12).

THE DRAGON’S VICTIMS

The targets of Satan’s “war” are the men and women who follow Jesus, those who remain faithful and “overcome” the “Dragon.” This company includes the “overcomers” of the “Seven Assemblies of Asia” and the “martyrs” under the Altar who have been “slain for their Testimony” who were seen when the Fifth Seal was broken – (Revelation 3:21, 6:9-11, 12:11).

This conflict will continue until the complete company of martyrs has been gathered. The picture painted in Revelation is far larger than just the saints and congregations that will be persecuted during History’s final years. It began long ago with the “Seven Assemblies of Asia,” and it continues to this day.

Whether the “Beast” also wages war against other nations is not stated though all the “Inhabitants of the Earth” give their allegiance to this creature. But if “all” the nations submit to him, what would be the point of conducting military campaigns against them? They are not the enemies of the “Beast,” but accomplices of Satan’s crimes against the People of God.

In Chapter 11, the same language is used to describe the “war” by the “Beast from the Abyss” against the “Two Witnesses.” They are identified as “Two Lampstands,” and in Revelation, lampstands symbolize churches. They represent churches locked in mortal combat with the “Beast” as they persevere in the “Testimony of Jesus.” The “Beast from the Abyss” is not allowed to kill the Two Witnesses until “they have finished their testimony” – (Revelation 1:20, 11:4-7).

The language of “war” is borrowed from Daniel’s vision of the “Little Horn” that “made war against the saints and overcame them.” This clause is the verbal link between these passages in Revelation, making it clear that the same “war,” singular, is in view in each case - (Daniel 7:21, Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:7-10).

Thus, the Book of Revelation makes a clear and repeated point. Are we listening? Satan is waging a never-ending campaign to destroy the Church, and before the end, he will launch his last attempt to annihilate the people of God, namely, those who have the “Testimony of Jesus” and follow the “Lamb wherever he goes.”

This makes perfect sense from the Book’s perspective. The “Dragon” failed to destroy the messianic “Son” who was taken to his “Father’s throne,” after which he was “expelled from heaven” and lost his prosecutorial power. The One “destined to shepherd the nations” was beyond Satan’s reach, so the Devil did the next best thing – He declared “war” on the followers of the “Lamb,” those with the “Testimony of Jesus.”

The letters to the “Seven Churches of Asia” in chapters 2 and 3 provide examples of how Satan conducts his war: deception (“false apostles, Nicolaitans, teachings of Balaam, Jezebel”), economic deprivation, persecution, and occasionally slaying especially troublesome believers such as “Antipas, my Faithful Witness” - (Revelation 1:9, 2:12-17).

Whatever the “Dragon” and the “Beast from the Sea” may do to the nations of the Earth, Satan’s purpose remains fixed on destroying the “saints” and derailing their mission. At the very end, Satan is released from the “Abyss” to gather the nations “from the four corners of the Earth” and thus launch his final assault to annihilate the “camp of the saints” – (Revelation 20:7-10).

The Devil employs the political systems, commerce, and religious institutions of this world to achieve this end. The targets of his war are the faithful followers of the “Lamb,” especially those who remain steadfast in their “Testimony” for Jesus.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Final Antichrist - (The Spirit of the Antichrist is raising up deceivers in the Church, but a final Master Deceiver will appear at the end of the age)

• The Antichrist Spirit - (The Spirit of the Antichrist works to destroy the church from within through deception propagated by false teachers and false prophets – 1 John 2:18-22)

• The Beast Goes to War - (The Book of Revelation uses war and related terms to illustrate Satan’s attacks against the followers of the Lamb)

• La Guerre du Dragon -  (Satan attaque l'Agneau en persécutant ses disciples, les saints qui ont le témoignage de Jésus)