Star Wars - the Original

‘Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels’ (Rev 12.7).

Like a good mystery novel the Bible contains different threads that weave through the story until they are finally pulled together at the end. This happens in the Book of Revelation. As the story unfolds we see different events that legitimately raise questions about the nature of God? Is He really a god of love as the Bible claims or is He a demonic, vengeful despot guilty of genocide and other atrocities as some claim?

While it is not my intention to answer those questions in any detail in this piece I would like to take a brief look at one of the themes woven into the plot of Scripture - the conflict between Michael and the dragon and their respective followers.

The dragon is identified in Rev 12:9 as ‘the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan …’ We are introduced to him in Genesis 3 as the one who led first Eve, and through her Adam, to sin. Consequently the serpent is cursed. In pronouncing the curse God says to Satan ‘From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel’ (Gen 3:15).

Other than Genesis 3 Satan, the serpent or the Devil, hardly rates a mention in the Old Testament.  He appears in 1 Chronicles 21:1 where he is said to have tempted David to complete a census of Israel and again in the first 2 chapters of Job where he is called ‘Satan the Accuser’ (1:6), a name repeated in the New Testament Book Revelation 12:10. In the Old Testament God generally is seen as the instigator of both good and bad. So the conflict foreseen in Genesis 3 is not readily apparent in the Old Testament. It is, however, there.

In Revelation 13 we are introduced to two beasts. The first looks like a leopard with a ‘bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth’ (v.2). The second appears like a lamb but speaks as a dragon (v.11). To the first beast the dragon gives ‘his own power and throne and great authority’ (v.2). In turn, the second beast exercises ‘all the authority of the first beast’ (v.12). Through these two beasts all earth’s people worship, or give honour, to the dragon, or Satan.

It is against this background chapter 14 portrays 3 angels crying out to the people of the world. The first calls on people to worship God as the Creator, the second announces the fall of Babylon, and the third warns of the consequences of worshiping the beast or of loyalty to him.

Of Babylon the angel says ‘Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality’ (v.8). One of the great cities of antiquity, Babylon had been nothing but a pile of ruins for well over a century and probably forgotten by most people when these words were penned, so the reference cannot be to the literal city. It is clearly symbolic, warning of something the city represents.

Babylon is first mentioned in Genesis 10 and 11.  After the Flood earth’s inhabitants planned to ‘build a great city ... with a tower’ reaching to ‘the sky’ in the Babylon area. Rather than spread out and fill the earth as God had commanded in Genesis 9:1 this was a move to keep the people together. The other, and perhaps stronger motive, was pride - ‘This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world’ (11:1-9). Jeremiah later describes Babylon as a ‘land of arrogance’ (Jer. 50:32).

Around 587 or 586 BC Jerusalem fell to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar and most of its elites were taken captive to Babylon. One of these was the young man Daniel, the authour of the Book bearing his name. The Book records a number of dreams, the first that of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2. Starting with Nebuchadnezzar the dream foresees the rise and fall of successive kingdoms culminating with the establishment of God’s Kingdom on Earth.

In his interpretation of the dream Daniel says, ‘Your Majesty, you are a king over many kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold, (Dan 2:37,38).

Note the similarity to Genesis 1:26. ‘Then God said, "Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life -- the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals."'

Human beings, created in the image of God, were given the authority to rule over the earth. When Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan they surrendered that authority to him. Hence Jesus could refer to  ‘Satan, the ruler of this world’ (John 12:31)

In chapter 7 Daniel is shown the future in a dream. It expands on Nebuchadnezzar’s in chapter 2 with further detail provided in chapter 8. Babylon’s rule passes to Medo-Persia and then Greece. After Greece comes a ‘fourth world power that will rule the earth. It will be different from all the others. It will devour the whole world, trampling and crushing everything in its path’ (Dan 7:23). As we read on we see a ruler arises from this power to war against God and His people. This power continues until God sits in judgment on the Earth and hands ‘the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven … to the holy people’, that is, the people of God (v. 27).

Compare the words of Daniel 7:23 with those of Revelation 13:7. ‘And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.’ This beast, as we have seen earlier, gets its authority from Satan, the real ‘ruler of this world’ (John 12:31).

In Revelation 18 another angel appears, again proclaiming the fall of Babylon (v.2). This is followed by a call to  ‘Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her’ (v.4).

The pronouncements in Revelation 14 and 18 reflect the language of Jeremiah 50 & 51. Jeremiah foretells the fall and utter destruction of Babylon. ‘Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!  Don’t get trapped in her punishment!’ warns Jeremiah (51:6. See also 50:8).

One final comparison between Jeremiah and Revelation. God, in Jer 51:25 says of Babylon, ‘Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth! I am your enemy’. In Revelation 11:18 the twenty-four elders who sit on thrones in front of God praise Him, saying ‘It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.’

‘Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels’ (Rev 12.7). The Old Testament is silent on this. In fact, as seen above, the Old Testament is almost silent on Satan. Yet the rebellion in Heaven must have taken place before Adam and Eve sinned. Looking back through the light of Revelation we see this battle working out in the conflicts of the Old Testament, in the rise and fall of arrogant, oppressive nations.

It is these nations that oppress and destroy as they work out principles that are diametrically opposed to those of God. The spirit behind them is much older than Babylon. We are told that the pre-flood world ‘had become corrupt and was filled with violence’ (Gen 6:11). While it says God was the destroying agent (Gen 6:13) I wonder.

I look to the history of Israel where God was said to bring either good or bad. Within the culture of the day nations worshiped their national gods. Wars between nations were understood as wars between the gods of those nations. This is seen in different places in the Old Testament and was obviously the understanding of some of its writers. It follows that God would communicate in a way the first hearers of His messages would understand.

It is only in the New Testament, and the Gospels in particular, that we begin to see the conflict between Christ and Satan. We see, for example, in the account of the Temptation in the Wilderness the issue is about worship and authority. In Luke 4:5-7 we read:

Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

There is a place where Jesus says we reap what we sow. Hosea says in 8:7, ‘They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind.’ In Rev. 11:18 it is we, the people of earth, that have brought its destruction.  So if God does not change, as He says in Malachi 3:6, it would seem that He intervenes in human history to save those of us who seek after Him from the destruction rebellion brings on the earth. So what of the flood, or other disasters such as Sodom and Gomorrah? Destruction by God, or intervention to save the faithful few from human caused or natural disaster?

Bible Quoted: New Living Translation