Spiritual Realm

 Revelations 12 9


³And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

 ⁴And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

⁵And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 

⁶And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

 ⁷And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

 ⁸And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

 ⁹And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

A war of the Angels resulting in one third of the Angels being banished to Earth was revealed to John in a vision. Revelation 12 is part of a pair of chapters that show the past, present and future in one comprehensive, sweeping vision. What is the cause of this awesome war that involved a great Dragon and Michael the Archangel? Clues to this tremendous event are given in the Old Testament.

 Ezekiel 28 17

 ¹¹Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

 ¹²Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

 ¹³Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

 ¹⁴Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

 ¹⁵Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

 ¹⁶By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

 ¹⁷Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

In Ezekiel 28, God is recored as comparing the King of Tyre to a fallen guardian cherub. What began as God's awesome creation of perfection, wisdom and beauty became a being of violence and wickedness. The name of this mighty cherub is revealed in Isaiah.

¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

 

¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

¹⁵Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

This once Holy Archangel fomented rebellion and led one third of the Angels to invade Heaven in an attempt to take over the Government of God. Because of the war in heaven, one third of the Angels became demons. This devastating tragic event is more than an interesting footnote in spiritual history.