He knows that his time is short
Thu, 21 December, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
In his vision, John sees Satan thrown out of heaven, and he sees this as a confirmation of the salvation won for God’s people.
What do we learn from this?
Satan, the accuser of the God’s people, no longer can bring charges against them. He does not have access to come before God like we see him doing in the book of Job. He can not make accusations against us.
This great victory comes about as Satan is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Because of the work of Jesus Christ, Satan can no longer bring charges against God’s people. They are in right standing with God. All the charges that would have stood against them are now null and void. Therefore, Satan has been defeated, and he is thrown out.
But there are consequences. Satan is thrown out of heaven, but that means that now he comes to vent his wrath against God’s people on earth. He will try to cause as much trouble as he can in the time remaining. But he has lost the battle and his doom is already sealed. He has failed in stopping the salvation of God’s people, and all he can do now is to stir things up as much as possible before he is thrown into the pit for eternity.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The blood of the Lamb wins the crucial victory that defeats Satan. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He bore the sins of all His people. These sins have all been punished on Jesus Christ on the cross. And His perfect righteousness is credited to His people. So everyone who comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ is in perfect standing with God. Satan can’t bring a charge. Justice has been satisfied, and God has declared them to be perfectly righteous, because of the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf.
