The Unholy Trinity

How Satan Wages War Against The Church

Photo by Lukas Hron on Unsplash

We are now entering the section in Revelation where we see more fully this “Unholy Trinity.” Unable to create anything himself, our enemy can only imitate and corrupt.

Satan, the dragon, acts as a counterfeit version of God the Father, who gives authority to the beasts and seeks universal worship.

The Antichrist, the beast from the sea, is a political and military ruler empowered by Satan who mimics the death and resurrection of Christ and demands the allegiance of the nations.

And the False Prophet, the beast from the earth, counterfeits the Holy Spirit. His primary objective is to draw attention not to himself but to the Antichrist, and he uses false miracles to deceive humanity.

Satan (dragon) → counterfeit God the Father

Antichrist (beast of the sea) → counterfeit God the Son

False Prophet (beast of the earth) → counterfeit God the Spirit

Together, they form the apex of opposition to God’s Kingdom.

With this in mind, we come to Revelation 12:7-17, where we get a glimpse into the angelic war which is brought about by Christ’s victory and exaltation. Though Jesus has conquered through His birth, death, and resurrection, the dragon continues on in his effort to afflict and destroy the church.

A war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.

In the Old Testament, the archangel Michael is called the “chief prince” and defender of God’s people. Michael and his angels’ victory over the dragon which leads to Satan’s expulsion from heaven is interpreted in two ways:

• View 1: It symbolizes the triumph of Jesus’ cross over the forces of darkness

• View 2: It refers to the original banishment of Satan and his demons from heaven

Those who hold a futurist view of Revelation believe that Satan’s being “thrown down to the earth” suggests a period of intensified demonic activity on earth during the great tribulation prior to Christ’s Second Coming.

Regardless of how we view this passage, we now see a glorious result in that believers, who maintained their testimony even unto death, are now free from the accuser’s (Satan’s) vicious lies and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Multiple commentators point out that the word “devil” in Greek and “Satan” in Hebrew are both associated with a legal opponent, or an accuser. Satan is “the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before our God.” But now he is thrown down, and the brothers stand before God as conquerors in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. The beast may have struck them first with bodily death, but they who will live forever with God will have the last laugh, as the enemy draws ever nearer to his own eternal destruction.

The natural response to such news is worship:

“Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them!”

But there is also a warning:

“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 other words, though victory is certain, our enemy grows increasingly desperate. Think about a sporting event where your opponent is losing by double digit margins. What’s your greatest concern for the final period or quarter? Cheap shots. Sucker punches. Knowing they can’t win, they simply wish to inflict as much damage as possible in the time that remains.

Christ’s work inaugurated “the kingdom of our God,” and therefore Satan’s time is short. The demonic fervor against God’s people throughout the New Testament all stems from the enemy’s desperate, frustrated rage.

If you recall a few days ago, we discussed the woman who fled into the wilderness and was cared for by God for 1,260 days, representing the church beset by many trials and tribulations, but all under God’s careful and watchful eye. Verses 13-17 expands upon this part of the vision with rich imagery alluding to an exodus similar to that of Israel coming out of Egypt.

This woman, the church, receives God’s special protection and deliverance. She is given “two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness.” This is a direct reference to Exodus 19:4, which says, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.” Like God’s provision of manna for Israel, the woman here also receives divine nourishment during this period of persecution and trouble (a time, and times, and half a time, also expressed as 1,260 days, or 3.5 years, symbolizing a period in which the church stands firm amid intense persecution from the outside world).

Unsuccessful in his attempts to destroy Christ, our great enemy now launches widespread attacks on His people, pouring water out of his mouth to sweep her away with a flood, an image of Satan’s greatest weapons, false teaching and deception, which is exactly how he first deceived Eve in the Garden. Throughout the Psalms, the symbol of floodwaters is used to describe persecutors, and in Old Testament prophetic literature (specifically Isaiah and Jeremiah), attacking armies.

The parallels to the first exodus are many. Great waters, God delivering His people into the wilderness and providing both protection and provision, and armies ruthlessly attacking the church. And just as He did for Israel in the Red Sea, God destroys and swallows up the church’s enemies.

Growing more and more furious, the dragon makes further war on the woman’s offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. His weapon of choice is the “beast,” the subject of the next chapter.

I really like what Joel Beeke writes about this chapter in his Reformation Heritage Study Bible:

Christians fight in an invisible war against Satan. The church’s enemy aims at nothing less than its total destruction and condemnation. Therefore Christians must be vigilant and prepared to suffer. They must cling to Jesus Christ and His shed blood as the only solution to the guilt of their sins. They must never let go of their gospel witness but trust that God will use the persecutions they face to glorify Himself and build His church.

Why is this so important?