September 29 in the Christian Calendar is St. Michael and All Angels Day. It marks the beginning of the academic year in the United Kingdom with Michaelmas Term. It will always be a special day for me because on that day in 1967 I was ordained to the Christian ministry in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
St. Michael is portrayed in Scripture (Daniel 10:13,21; 12:1; Jude 9 and Revelation 12:7) as confronting and battling Satan.
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. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down. They triumphed over 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.’ (Revelation 12:7-12)
What is really going on in the world? It is a war with Satan, and all that is evil, played out on earth and in heaven. By understanding the nature of this war we can comprehend what is going on in the world, why there is so much conflict and suffering, and what is the relevance of Jesus and us to it.
Why is there so much conflict and suffering in the world? There is war in heaven, as there is on earth. Jesus testified that Satan is defeated whenever the gospel is proclaimed, “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.” (Luke 10:18,19) Satan is overcome by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus (“by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony”). Evil can only be defeated by spiritual means. Military means, police means, political means, social means, financial means may be necessary in the short term, but only angelic and divine means can be ultimately effective. We have to put on the full armor of God, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
Satan may be defeated, but he is still dangerous. This is why human history is the story of the conflict between good and evil, between those who seek to follow the moral law of God and love Jesus, and those who oppose the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God, and the authority of his Christ. There is a malignant power, a cancerous disease, that seeks to lead the whole world astray. It takes many different forms at various stages of history. Denial of the reality of its existence does not eliminate its effects on the minds and lives of all people through false religions, philosophies, ideologies, cultures and world views. Why do people do terrible things? Why is there so much cruelty and violence, selfishness and abuse, corruption and greed, indifference and immorality? People are led astray by Satan and allow him to enter into them. They join the dark side of life.
The graphic imagery of John’s vision is meant to grab our attention to this interpretation of human history. Why is so much world history about wars and battles between people, tribes and nations? Why is so much national politics about party divisions, competing ideas of justice, equality and liberty, class warfare, racial stereotypes, struggles for power, and personal animosity? Why is so much family history about conflict, estrangement, divorce, and emotional pain? Why do we hurt each other when we say that all we want is love and peace? Why is so much personal history about the struggle between our past and our present, our lower nature and our spiritual nature, our ideals and our realities, our desires and our addictions, our obsessions and our freedom? Revelation says that there is a war going on and we must sign up on one side or the other: Christ or Satan, the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness. We cannot be neutral in this world’s fight.
Life and strength of all Thy servants,
Brightness of the Father’s light;
Men with Angels, earth with Heaven,
In Thy praise their songs unite.
Thousand thousand warrior princes
In Thine Angel army stand;
Flames the victor Cross before them,
Grasp’d in Michael’s dauntless hand.
Hurling back from Heav’n the rebels
With the lifting of his sword,
In the might of God he tramples
On the Dragon’s head abhorr’d.
Lord of Angels, Christ, we pray Thee,
Bit them aid us in our strife,
Chase away the hosts of evil,
Till we reach the land of life.
(Hymns A & M 616)
Visit us, O Lord, and drive far from us all the snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell with us to preserve us in peace; and let your blessing be upon us always; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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