I’m not sure that that is really the Message that we have here. We do understand and we do know the origin of Satan. He is a fallen angel. But, I think what we have in view here is not so much a literal war, as if Michael and his battalions and legions had a knock-down-drag-out fight with Satan and his angels, and Michael and his angels won. Rather, it is a symbolic battle, symbolic of the war that was waged by Jesus Christ on earth against Satan and his demons, and which made it impossible, then, for Satan to any longer hold men in the grip of his tyranny. So, I think what we are looking at here, again, is something that is symbolic.

There is no question that the one that is being identified, the one who is being spoken of here, is the dragon, that so-called “serpent of old”—and again, we can refer back to Genesis, chapter 3, and see that there [the serpent tempting Eve]—but he is called the Devil(that Greek word, Diabolos, means “slanderer” [an accuser, a slanderer—from diaballo, to accuse, to malign]), and he is called Satan (that carries with it the idea of “adversary” and that could be an adversary of any kind if we go back to the Hebrew word).

Again, we’re looking at Satan’s defeat. Because of what Christ has done, because of the warfare that the Son of God waged on him on the earth and was victorious—and NO, we can’t go back in history and find the historical account of some great battle that took place on a battlefield with armor and chariots and horses and all those kinds of things—because of the perfect life that Christ was able to live on this earth, He defeated Satan, the accuser, the adversary of men.

Satan has been defeated. The “final chapter” is still being written, but the outcome of that “chapter” is already known, and we have that here in the New Testament. We’re reminded of that catchy little statement that’s actually in the words of a contemporary song, “I’ve read the back of the book, and WE WIN!” The victory has already taken place. The “final chapter,” though, is still being written, and we are a part of, we are living out, that “final chapter.” Satan’s defeat is complete and final, but he is not yet destroyed. He continues to work his evil, having great wrath because he knows that he has this “short time,” [verse 12].

A Loud Voice in Heaven (verses 10-12)

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.’”

This is a song of triumph. John has been witnessing this sign, he’s seen this sign that we have described and now he hears this loud voice in heaven extolling this victory of Christ in all of its cosmic significance, if you will. Salvation is now come!

Satan not only induced men to sin, but then, He accused them of their guilt before God’s bar of justice, demanding that they receive their justice. Now, this may be a bit simplistic, but I think it is actual. We may have a difficult time picturing this, but again, I refer us back to Job, the first chapter, and this scene which is played out twice there where Satan, the serpent, the accuser, goes before God accusing one of God’s righteous. So, in this sense, Satan has induced men to sin, and then, he accuses men, demanding justice. But through the atonement of Jesus Christ, there are no longer grounds for an accusation for you and me because Jesus has taken away our sins. He has satisfied the perfect justice of God. We can stand before God pure and clean. We can stand before God sinless. We can stand before God without accusation as long as we are in the blood of Christ. That is what this represents to us here. As Paul would say, “Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?” Romans 8:33. Well, really? Who can lay a charge? Satan cannot do that any longer. By means of the blood of the Lamb we have overcome the accuser, and by means of the Word of our Testimony, which was sealed with His death and with our participating in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. [Verses 10-11: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”]

Therefore, (now, get the picture here). Therefore, all of heaven, those who dwell in the heavens, are called upon to rejoice [“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!” verse 12a]. Is this a picture of the great cloud of witnesses that the Hebrew writer speaks about in Hebrews, chapter 12 [“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God,” Hebrews 12:1-2]? Is this a picture of the angels in heaven who rejoice when one sinner repents [“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance,” Luke 15:4-7]? I think it’s all of them.

Our struggle in this life is not going unobserved, and we have “a cheering section.” We have those who are desirous…yes, each one of us share in that with one another…but have a heavenly chorus, we have a heavenly “cheering section,” if you will, who rejoiced over the victory that Christ had over the accuser, over the old serpent, but moreover, who continue to rejoice, even to this day. In effect, and I don’t want to minimize this, but they are “cheering us on” in this life. And here we see indication of that in this song of triumph.