The Great Cosmic War

At the end of the age, Satan and his minions will launch an all-out cosmic war against the saints, the followers of the Lamb.

The Book of Revelation portrays the ongoing Cosmic War between the “Dragon” and the “Lamb.” It is being waged on the Earth as the servants of Satan seek to destroy the followers of Jesus. Its conclusion will affect the entire Cosmos. Following Christ’s final victory over his enemies, life will be changed forever throughout the Universe.

The term “war” is singular in each relevant passage in Revelation, and the noun form of the Greek word represented by the English term is accompanied by a definite article or “the.” It is “THE war.” Both the Greek noun and its related verb are applied to the same final event consistently by the Book.

[Toy Soldiers - Photo by Nicola Nuttall on Unsplash]

Much of the language that describes this war is derived from the Book of Daniel, especially the account in Chapter 7 of the war against the “saints” by the “Little Horn” with the “mouth speaking great things”:

• “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most-High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” – (Daniel 7:21-22).

For example, after the “Two Witnesses” completed their “testimony” in Chapter 11 of Revelation, the “Beast” ascended from the “Abyss,” and “Waged war with them, overcame, and killed them.” The “Two Witnesses” are identified as “Two lampstands,” and elsewhere “lampstands” represent churches. The description is a graphic representation of attacks against the Church – (Revelation 1:20, 11:7).

The same war is described in Chapter 12. John saw war raging in the heavens. The “Dragon” was defeated and expelled. Now, he is consigned to the Earth, where he works to destroy the “Woman clothed with the sun.” However, his murderous plan against her was thwarted, so he launched his “war” against the “Seed of the Woman”:

• “The Dragon was enraged with the Woman and departed to make war with the rest of her seed, those who keep the commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17).

The followers of the “Lamb” are the victims of the Dragon’s assault. The vision of Chapter 12 ends with Satan standing on the seashore summoning his “seed” from the Sea to execute his “war,” namely, the “Beast from the Sea” and the “Beast from the Earth,” the “False Prophet.”

John saw the first “Beast ascending from the Sea” in Chapter 13 of Revelation, an image parallel to the Beast’s previously described “ascent from the Abyss.” It has the political authority of the “Dragon,” which it uses to “wage war against the saints and overcome them,” once more echoing the text of Daniel 7:21.

BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

This same “war” is depicted when an angel empties the Sixth Bowl of Wrath “on the great river, Euphrates.” The riverbed is dried so the “kings of the east” and their invading armies can cross the Euphrates. The intended target of their invasion is not identified, though the passage does indicate their intention to confront God – (Revelation 16:12-16).

Demons are released from the mouths of the “Dragon,” the “Beast,” and the “False Prophet.” These unclean spirits orchestrate the “gathering” of the “kings” for “the war of the Great Day of God, the Almighty” at the place called ‘Armageddon’, where their army is then destroyed.

In Chapter 17, the “Ten Horns” of the “Beast” represent “ten kings” who give their political authority to the “Beast” so it can “wage war against the Lamb.” However, the “Lamb” overcomes them, “for he is Lord of lords and King of kings.” This passage anticipates the victory of the “Rider on the White Horse” and his “army” in Chapter 19, and on the Rider’s thigh is the designation, “King of kings and Lord of lords.

The resulting battle is described in Chapter 19 of Revelation with language from the Book of Ezekiel that applied originally to the army of “Gog and Magog.” Just as the “Kings of the Earth” are “gathered together” at Armageddon for their destruction, so the “Beast and the Kings of the Earth and their armies” are “gathered together to make war” against the Rider on the White Horse. This is the same battle as the one that occurred when the angel emptied the Sixth Bowl of Wrath – (Revelation 16:12-16, 19:10-21).

The passage in Chapter 19 does not describe the actual battle, only its aftermath when the “Beast” and “False Prophet” are thrown alive into the “Lake of Fire,” and the rest of their force is destroyed by the “sword of him that sat upon the horse.”

Finally, in Chapter 20, Satan is released from the “Abyss,” an event conceptually parallel to the “ascents” of the “Beast” from the “Abyss” and the “Sea.” The Devil “gathered” the nations “from the four corners of the Earth to the war, Gog and Magog.” The link to Ezekiel’s vision of “Gog and Magog” is now made explicit – (Revelation 20:1-10).

The narrative describes this force as “ascending over the breadth of the Earth to surround the camp of the Saints.” The extent of this final assault is global, the last attempt by Satan to destroy the Saints. As before, no description of the battle itself is provided. It simply states that “fire came down out of heaven and devoured them.” Their destruction is followed by the judgment before the “Great White Throne.”

The verbal parallels in Chapter 20 with the preceding passages are clear. This is the same “war” portrayed in Chapters 16 and 19, only here, its victims are identified as the “Saints,” the same group persecuted by the “Beast from the Sea” – (Revelation 13:7).

The use of language from Daniel and Ezekiel to describe the “war,” the verbal and conceptual links (e.g., ascent/release from the “Abyss”), and the identity of the victims of the Dragon, all demonstrate that the same Cosmic War, singular, is in view in each passage.

Before the end of the age, Satan will launch his final great assault against the “Saints,” those who have the Testimony of Jesus. It will be his last-ditch effort to destroy the people of the “Lamb,” the only way he can wage war effectively against Jesus. The Lamb will be victorious, and his triumph will mean not just the victory of the Church, but also the redemption of Creation itself, the arrival of the New Creation:

• “And I saw the new heavens and new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and the sea was no more.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Final Hour - (The Book of Revelation moves from the Death of Jesus to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous)

• Gathering His Elect - (The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected for judgment and cast from his presence)

• The Day of the Lord - (Jesus will arrive to gather his people to himself on the Day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ)

• Two Missing Events - (Two events must occur before the Day of the Lord comes, the Apostasy and the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness)