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Scott's Reference Library
Revelation 12:7 through Revelation 12:12 (NIV)
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong
enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled
down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world
astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 7-11
The attempts of the dragon proved unsuccessful against the church, and fatal to
his own interests. The seat of this war was in heaven; in the church of Christ,
the kingdom of heaven on earth. The parties were Christ, the great Angel of the
covenant, and his faithful followers; and Satan and his instruments. The
strength of the church is in having the Lord Jesus for the Captain of their
salvation. Pagan idolatry, which was the worship of devils, was cast out of the
empire by the spreading of Christianity. The salvation and strength of the
church, are only to be ascribed to the King and Head of the church. The
conquered enemy hates the presence of God, yet he is willing to appear there, to
accuse the people of God. Let us take heed that we give him no cause to accuse
us; and that, when we have sinned, we go before the Lord, condemn ourselves, and
commit our cause to Christ as our Advocate. The servants of God overcame Satan
by the blood of the Lamb, as the cause. By the word of their testimony: the
powerful preaching of the gospel is mighty, through God, to pull down strong
holds. By their courage and patience in sufferings: they loved not their lives
so well but they could lay them down in Christ’s cause. These were the warriors
and the weapons by which Christianity overthrew the power of pagan idolatry; and
if Christians had continued to fight with these weapons, and such as these,
their victories would have been more numerous and glorious, and the effects more
lasting. The redeemed overcame by a simple reliance on the blood of Christ, as
the only ground of their hopes. In this we must be like them. We must not blend
any thing else with this.
VERSES 12-17
The church and all her friends might well be called to praise God for
deliverance from pagan persecution, though other troubles awaited her. The
wilderness is a desolate place, and full of serpents and scorpions,
uncomfortable and destitute of provisions; yet a place of safety, as well as
where one might be alone. But being thus retired could not protect the woman.
The flood of water is explained by many to mean the invasions of barbarians, by
which the western empire was overwhelmed; for the heathen encouraged their
attacks, in the hope of destroying Christianity. But ungodly men, for their
worldly interests, protected the church amidst these tumults, and the overthrow
of the empire did not help the cause of idolatry. Or, this may be meant of a
flood of error, by which the church of God was in danger of being overwhelmed
and carried away. The devil, defeated in his designs upon the church, turns his
rage against persons and places. Being faithful to God and Christ, in doctrine,
worship, and practice, exposes to the rage of Satan; and will do so till the
last enemy shall be destroyed.