Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 4
Revelation 12:7-17
Last week we studied the beginning of John’s first vision in the set of seven visions, beginning in chapter 12. We easily identified the dragon as the devil, because in tonight’s reading that much is spelled out for us by the Holy Spirit. He’s called the ancient serpent, the one who has been tempting, deceiving, and accusing mankind since the Garden of Eden. He’s called the Devil and Satan, because he opposes God and His Church and accuses sinners in God’s heavenly courtroom. That dragon was pictured last week trying to destroy the male Child, Jesus, when He was born. But he failed.
The first part of our reading this evening focuses on that failure of the devil. It’s depicted as a war in heaven. People have seen this war as something that happened in the beginning, when the devil first rebelled against God and he and his angels were cast out of heaven, but that doesn’t fit the context. No, this war is in connection with Christ’s victory over the devil. Not His final victory at the end of the world, but one that comes before that.
We’re told that Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
We’ve talked about Michael before in Bible class. He’s mentioned by the prophet Daniel as the great prince who stands watch over the people of God. Daniel says that Michael will “stand up” in the last days, and that when he does, a time of great tribulation will follow, after which the people of God will be saved once and for all. That’s why many see this Michael in the book of Revelation as representing Christ Himself. But whether he represents Christ or serves as the chief angel under Christ, it doesn’t matter, really. The point is, God’s side wins this crucial victory over the devil’s side. As a result of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, combined with the preaching of the Gospel that went out afterward, the devil is no longer able to accuse before God those who belong to Christ, those who have been baptized in His name and who trust in Him as their Savior.
And so John hears a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Now, remember, this isn’t the end of the world yet. The coming of this salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ—it’s already come! Heaven rejoices in the atonement Christ made for sin, and in the success of the Gospel that applies that atonement to sinners as it brings them to faith—faith that leads believers to be ready to give up their earthly lives in order to hold onto the heavenly life Christ has purchased for us. That’s what it means when it says, They did not love their lives to the death. They did not love their earthly lives so much that they shrank back from death when faithfulness to Christ required it of them. That is part of Christ’s victory, too! That is part of the devil’s defeat! That he hasn’t been able to turn believers away from God! That he hasn’t been able to separate them from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus! Those who make it all the way through this life clinging to faith, with the help God provides in His Word and Sacraments, have won the fight with the devil!
But the fight isn’t over yet for those who still live on the earth. That was the last part of what the loud voice said. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Since the devil couldn’t win against Christ or against those believers who have already departed this life, he turns his attention toward those who are still vulnerable, to those who are part of this Church Militant, to you and me and the rest of the Christian Church on earth. His time is “short,” relatively speaking. He knows that he won’t be allowed to persecute Christians forever. Either we’ll make it safely to the end of our own personal races, or Christ will come to put an end to all the devil’s attacks. I am coming soon, Jesus says. In that sense, the devil’s time is “short.”
Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 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.
Remember from last week, we identified this woman as a symbol of the Church. The devil persecutes her, but she’s given eagle’s wings to fly to that place in the wilderness that God has prepared for her to be nourished for that same time period that is 42 months or 1,260 days or a time, times, and half a time, that is, 3-1/2 years, basically the duration of the New Testament period. The true Church doesn’t look glorious on this earth. It looks like fleeing into the wilderness and hiding in the desert. The serpent, the devil, can’t attack the Church directly, so he “spews water from his mouth like a flood” to get at her. That flood can be false doctrine. It can be societal pressure. It can be governmental oppression. It can be hardships of many kinds. We probably can be too specific about how the earth helps the woman by swallowing up the flood from the dragon’s mouth. It’s enough to say that every time the devil has tried to overwhelm the Christian Church on earth, something has stopped the flood from drowning her and carrying her away. But still the devil tries and continues to wage war with believers, with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
It’s nothing new, is it?, this vision of Michael and the angels defeating Satan, and then Satan taking out his anger on the Church. It’s the same old story, but told in fantastic pictures. It should remind you to rejoice in Christ’s victory and in the victory of all those who have entered the Church Triumphant. It should remind you to be vigilant, watchful, conscious of the devil’s rage against the true Church, and of how threatened and imperiled and destitute the true Church appears in this world. To be a Christian is not a matter of feeling comfortable in the world or having fun at church. A war has been fought over you—and won! —by Christ and His holy angels. And now a war still rages against you, as long as you remain in this world, as long as you belong to Christ, as long as you are among those who keep the commandments of God and hold onto the testimony of Jesus Christ. Understand the Church on earth in this way. Understand your role as one who is fleeing from the devil, and yet not in fear, but in anticipation of the victory that awaits after the time of fleeing is done. Amen.
