Caesar Wages War

The Book of Revelation uses the terminology of war to illustrate Satan’s persecution of the Church by his earthly agents. It shows no interest in conventional or nuclear warfare between nations. The “Dragon” strives to destroy the “saints” before his allotted “short season” ends, and he employs deception and persecution to accomplish this purpose.

The Book’s first audience would have perceived references to the imperial rulers sent by Rome to govern the province of Asia in its visions. However, the Roman Empire did not exhaust the application of the Book’s visions. It was the “sixth” of the seven kingdoms represented by the “seven heads” of the Beast, the “seven mountains” on which Babylon sat. Rome was the World Empire of John’s time - (“the one is” – Revelation 17:10), but it was neither its first nor its last embodiment.

[Photo by Elisabeth Arnold on Unsplash]

The Book’s references to “war” employ the Greek verb polemeō and its noun form, polemos. When the noun is used, it is always singular and accompanied by a definite article. It is THE war. The noun and the verb are applied to the cosmic battle described in Chapter 12 - “War (polemos) arose in heaven” – (Revelation 12:1-17).

This war manifests in the daily lives of believers as they struggle with deceivers within the church, and when they endure persecution from outside sources. This has been the story of the saints over the last twenty centuries. Empires come and go but the Church remains. Meanwhile, the war between Jesus and Satan rages unabated.

The “Beast” first appeared as it was “ascending from the Abyss” to destroy the “Two Witnesses.” Its ascent resulted in the deaths of the “Two Witnesses,” but not before they “completed” their prophetic “Testimony.” The “Witnesses” were not two individuals but “lampstands.” In the Book, “lampstands” represent churches. The “war” against the “Witnesses” portrayed the persecution of the Church by the “Beast from the Abyss.”

The death of the “Two Witnesses” was a hollow victory. It was overturned when God raised them from the dead and the Seventh Trumpet was sounded - (Revelation 1:20, 11:15-19).

THE DRAGON

Satan was defeated and cast out of heaven.  Enraged, and knowing his time was growing short, he lashed out by “making war” on those “who keep the commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus,” namely, the saints. The same reality was in view as in Chapter 11.

As before, Satan waged “war” on the followers of the “Lamb,” the Woman’s “seed.” At the end of the chapter, the “Dragon” was found on the seashore summoning his “seed” from the sea to carry out his attack on the “seed of the woman,” the “Beast from the Sea” - (Revelation 12:12-17, 13:1).

Next, John saw the “Beast ascending from the Sea.” This image paralleled that of the “Beast ascending from the Abyss.” Rather than resist the “Beast,” the “Inhabitants of the Earth” were overawed by its irresistible power - “Who is like the Beast and who can make war with it?” There was no need to start wars against other nations - (Revelation 13:1-4).

The “Beast” launched its “military campaign” against the “saints.” It “overcame and slayed them.” However, it could only do so when and within the limits authorized by the “Lamb” – (“It was given to the Beast…” - Revelation 13:7).

The same term used for “war” in Chapters 11 and 12 is employed in Chapter 13 to describe the “war” of the Beast against the Church. All three passages allude to the same verse in the Book of Daniel that described the attack on the “saints” by the “Little Horn” of Daniel’s fourth kingdom:

• (Daniel 7:21) - “I continued looking when this horn made war with the holy ones and prevailed against them: until that the Ancient of Days came, and justice was granted to the holy ones of the Highest, and the time arrived that the holy ones should possess the kingdom.”

Just as the “Beast from the Abyss” attacked the “Two Witnesses,” so likewise the “Beast from the Sea” made war on “the saints.” In both visions, the same “war,” singular, is in view. Whether the “Beast” also conducted military campaigns against other nations or conventional armies is not the concern of Revelation. The focus is on Satan’s effort to destroy the followers of the “Lamb” - (Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4, 11:18, 13:7-10, 14:12, 16:6, 17:6, 18:20-24, 19:8, 20:6-9).

This “war” resulted in the “captivity” and death of the “saints.” The violent assault is described in Revelation as the “perseverance and the faith of the saints” - (Compare - Revelation 1:9, 2:2-3, 2:19, 3:10, 14:12).

The battle scenes of the visions are not literal descriptions of warfare between nation-states, but instead of the persecution of the Church by Satan and his earthly minions.

The cosmic battles in the heavens manifest in the daily lives of believers as they struggle with false teachers, false prophets, deception, and persecution. The visions of Revelation expose the source behind the Church’s suffering and the true perpetrators of her persecution.

The Book begins with the old Roman Empire but does not end with it. It foresees a final assault by Satan against the Church before the Day of Judgment. This great final war will cause the “Lamb” to intervene directly by destroying his enemies and delivering his people into the city of “New Jerusalem.”

After the “war,” the only political reality that will remain will be the Kingdom of God (“The kingdom of the world became the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and he will reign forever”). Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet will all be cast into the “Lake of Fire.” All perceived satanic victories will prove fleeting in the end, and every persecuting effort by the Devil will become another nail in his coffin.

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RELATED POSTS:

• The Recurring Empire - (Babylon is both a historical kingdom and the symbol of the repeated rise of the World Empire)

• 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)

• Religion and Economics - (The False Prophet mimics the Lamb and uses economic control and religious propaganda to advance the Beast’s sovereignty)