"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven...." Revelation 12:7-8.

We are all familiar with the popular concept that a large part of the world has of the dragon, better known as Satan. Primarily that he was originally created the most beautiful angel of them all, and this gorgeous, winged creature was the conductor of heaven's choir. While in heaven, his name is said to have been Lucifer. He was supposedly one of three archangels who persuaded one third of the other angels to join him in waging war against God. It was after this ill-planned scheme had failed that he was cast out of heaven with the angels he had mustered for the attempted coup d'état. His name then changed to Satan and his angels became demons, so the narrative goes.

However, Young's Literal Translation of the Bible says in John 8:44 that "He was a manslayer from the beginning, and in the truth he hath not stood, because there is no truth in him." The Rotherham version has it as: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and in the truth he stood not; because the truth was not in him." And the Phillips translation has it this way: "He always was a murderer, and has never dealt with the truth, since the truth will have nothing to do with him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks in character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

(For more concerning these thoughts, see: "Michael And The Dragon" #212.09 and THE LUCIFER QUESTION, free upon request.)

As it is with everything else contained in the book of Revelation , the first verse plainly states that this war in heaven was to be a future event. No where in the book can we gather evidence that it took place sometime before Adam and Eve were placed in the garden of Eden. To be reminded for the umpteenth time, once again, in reference to the book of Revelation, the entirety of it, every point and declaration are: things which must COME TO PASS (future tense); and he signified it all in signs and symbols by his angel unto his servant John. (Revelation 1:1). This "War in Heaven," is one of those things that the angel said must/would be COMING TO PASS. Therefore, the word of the angel declaring: "and there was war in heaven," was not reminding us of an ancient historical event before man ever graced, or disgraced the earth, but of something that would come to pass in the FUTURE! Please hear it again—that which must COME TO PASS!

We will not go over additional points about this war in heaven as being in the future rather than thousands of years ago. And enough has been written by us alone to know that it takes place within each member of the body of Christ as well as in His body as a whole. In addition to the war taking place within individuals, it touches other factions; such as, religion, hierarchies, governments, economics, social powers of the world, and so on. Frankly, when there is a life and death struggle in anyone's life, or between nations, religious powers, or most anything, first, there is war in the heavens, in unseen spiritual dimensions. For example, the all-out war we see our Congress has waged against the president was on the spiritual plane before we saw the shameful blood shed on the floor of the once hallowed halls of Representatives and of Justice for all, so called.

Jesus spoke of such a war in Matthew 24, and we pray that what we see in D.C. is not the same for our nation as it was with Jerusalem, utter destruction. I pray that we are headed for blessings rather than severe judgment. It could go either way, depending on what is necessary. If it is to be as it was for Jerusalem, it will be the end of our world, not the vaporizing of our planet, of course, but the end of our world as we know it.

Looking back again, Jesus said of Jerusalem, "the end of the/their world" would be coming! He also said, that generation would live to see it, and they did. In A.D. 70 they witnessed the end of that present day world. They saw the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Jews' priesthood. They all fell from their lofty heaven to never rise again to such a high status. However, before that generation saw it come to pass, the war had already initiated in the ramparts of the heavens, and Rome's official Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, tells us about it. From his report, some amazing warnings took place shortly before the heel of Titus dealt its crushing blow. In one of the accounts He states that several phenomenal portents appeared:

"Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year.

"Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright daytime; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.

"At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was made of one entire stone, and was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again.

"This also appeared to the vulgar (common) to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.

"Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius [Jyar], a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.

"Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, 'Let us remove hence.'" (The Works of Josephus: The War of the Jews, Book 6, Chapter 5, Section 3).

And a little more from the historian that the most horrific scene, one that left even the hardest of men reeling, involved that of a young mother roasting her infant son. Josephus wrote that when several starving men smelled the roasting flesh, they rushed upon the woman and demanded to see the food she was hiding. She replied:

"This is mine own son, and what has been done was mine own doing! Come, eat of this food; for I have eaten of it myself! Do not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman, or more compassionate than a mother; but if you be so scrupulous, and do abominate this my sacrifice, as I have eaten the one half, let the rest be reserved for me also.' After which those men went out trembling, being never so much affrighted at any thing as they were at this, and with some difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother. Upon which the whole city was full of this horrid action immediately; and while every body laid this miserable case before their own eyes, they trembled, as if this unheard of action had been done by themselves." – End quote (Book 6, Chapter 3, Section 4, https://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/war-6.htm).

Josephus' account is part of the great tribulation record that Jesus said would come at the end of the age to end their world, and many saw it taking place in the heavens before it was materially seen in Jerusalem.

Jesus was the end of everything they had known, first in the heavens and then the earth. It is the same with Religious, Political, Economical, and Social Babylon today, and as it was then, so it is today. They did not fully understand what this thorn in their sides would ultimately bring upon them. With the authority by which He spoke, the miracles He did, and the following He had, It was obvious to them that he was no ordinary man and was more than a sly magician. He was a real threat to their kingdom, and they did everything in their devilish power to stop Him. Eventually, they did—so it seemed! It truly appeared that they had succeeded with their plans having been carried out when He was accused and then crucified. However, had they known what lay ahead, they would have done everything in their power to have shielded him from death; for His death sealed their fate. But praise God, it also was the beginning of salvation for all mankind. His death released Him from the human shell to finish what His Father had sent for Him to do; namely, to bring an end to the old wherein death reigned upon all and establish the beginning of the New wherein His life would reign over all.

They thought by killing the Master’s Son their world, their kingdom, their gain would never end, (Mark 12:6-11); but it did the opposite as Jesus had forewarned, and it came upon them fairly soon afterwards, which was before that generation would pass away (Matthew 24:34). He not only put the axe to the base of their tree of the knowledge of good and evil; he pulled it out by the roots. Their unbending rule, their rituals, and sacrifices (the very center of the Jews' life) passed away with a great noise of war. All their "good" works passed away, as the gold in their heavens and temple melted with fervent heat. (2 Peter 3:10).

Jerusalem was totally destroyed as Jesus had predicted. Not one stone was left unturned or upon another. It is said that it ran into the cracks between the stones that made up the floor, and soldiers tore them apart to get the gold that had melted. Titus and his army did an excellent work in fulfilling those prophetic words. Ah! The world, that is, the world of the Jews, came to an utter end as they lost their war in heaven.

The cups of the high priest, the scribes and Pharisees were overflowing with pomp and pride while inside the protective walls of their kingdom. Who could imagine it could ever be destroyed? Those whose father was the devil, according to Jesus, could not have visioned such a thing. Even so, Jesus ended their kingdom once and for all with his last heartbeat on the altar of the cross, along with his final breath, and His immortal words—IT IS FINISHED! Jesus was the end of a world, and it caused all the tribes of the earth (the twelve tribes of Israel) to moan. (Matthew. 24:30).

And please remember, He was not speaking of all the ethnic groups and nations of the world, not by any means. There are other scriptures that deal with the rest of the world, such as the ones that speak of the gentiles, the heathen, the inhabitants of the world, and the nations, but not so with Matthew 24. That chapter is specific to the twelve tribes of Israel. The word, tribe or tribes (shêbet), is never used in the Bible except in regard to Israel. The Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Hivites, Horites, and other ites were not called tribes.

It would also be beneficial to note that when the word, earth, is used in the scriptures, it is not in reference to the entire planet. It is translated hundreds of times from the Hebrew, erets, and we have found that almost always, if not always, speaks of a single country or a specific piece of land, such as, "...the land (erets) of Israel, 1 Samuel 13:19, and get thee out of thy country (erets), Genesis 12:1. It is the same with world. It does not mean the planet we call Earth. We can find a good example of this these two verses:

"And the locusts went up over all the land (erets) of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt....For they covered the face of the WHOLE earth (erets), so that the land (erets) was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through ALL the land (erets) of Egypt." Exodus 10:14-15.

The word, World, In the New Testament is translated most often from the Greek word aion, which means an eon, an age. Sometimes it comes from, kosmos, and means an orderly arrangement, a decoration, such as a nation or a religious system.

"The End of the World" has captivated people’s minds for ages, and hopefully a small amount of light from these few words today will help to reveal what the scriptures actually say about it. Of the two verses found in the Old Testament, it seem clear, at least to me, that one of them speaks of the entire earth, yet neither is the same as it is used in the New Testament:

"Their line is gone out through all the earth (erets), and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun." Psalm 19:4. (World: têbêl, the earth...by extension the globe; by implication its inhabitants; specifically a particular land, as Babylonia or Palestine.)

The other, not so much:

"Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world (erets), Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him." Isaiah 62:11. "Say to the daughter of Zion" confines it to a particular area of land that is relevant to her.

The end of the world is used five times in the New Testament. And it helps a great deal to look at that phrase from the Greek, especially when reading it in context:

The word, end, in all five verses comes from sunteleia (entire completion, consummation), and this form of the word is only used in those instances. World is translated from both aion, which is an age, and kosmos, an orderly arrangement, a decoration. This is one of those verses where the phrase is found: "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world (kosmos): but now once in the end (sunteleia of the world (aion/age) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" Hebrews 9:26.

We will take a moment and see what this verse is saying in regards to when it speaks of the sin that Jesus put away by His sacrifice. Sin, as most Bible students know it simply means to miss the mark. Being aware of this, and knowing what the writer of Hebrews was indicating, namely, that men of the old world (the old order of the law), had missed the mark. The very existence of the Law set the stage for them to be in a continual act of missing the mark. Without the Spirit, the best they could do was to go through the motions of godliness. The carnal mind could do nothing but put on and appearance of godliness; but it was impossible for them to hit that coveted mark. Only by God's indwelling nature could that be done.

Therefore, Jesus graciously laid down His life to end that futile kosmos, man's arrangement in the world, wherein sin abounded. He appeared in order put away that sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and not only did He do away with the sin of man’s religion, His sacrifice was designed to put away every sin of everyone in every age and in every world! however, it had to initially begin at the top, with Him, before it could finally end at the bottom, in us.

"For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world (aion/age) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26

It is evident that when Jesus died on the cross, not all sin was done away with; but the decree had been made from the throne. We can also note that when He laid down His life, the worlds of all the nations of the planet did not come to an end. However, almost two thousand years ago, at the end in that age, there was an utter end to that religious world of the Law. That arrangement of natural Israel, of that age, dissolved and passed away with a great noise. Thunders uttered their sound of war throughout the heavens which descended into the earth with a mighty wave of bloodshed, the loss of countless lives, and utter destruction.

It should be easily seen that Jesus brought the age of law to an end when He said, "It is finished;" but it had not yet been carried out for that end to be seen. And for many who base their beliefs on "end-time" eschatology, it is not so easily seen; for they overlook that it ended when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. Yet, the works of His death reaches farther greater depths and heights than 70 A.D. It compasses all the ages, past, present, and future.

Due to Israel having been void of the Holy Spirit, and with hardened hearts, the Law was written, as it were, upon stones. The Law of course, was holy; but their hearts were not. The Law that lay in the ark of the covenant also lay in the heart of Jesus, whose heart was holy. Jesus was the holy manifestation of the Temple and of the Law. He fulfilled every jot and tittle of both. And when He was killed, His Holy Temple was destroyed, along with the Law that was written upon His Heart.

 "But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets..." Zech 7:11-12

Due to the hardness of their hearts, Israel could not fulfill the Law; but Jesus fulfilled it with righteousness. He and the Law were one and easily entreated. And being one, they could, therefore, be raised together. When He ascended, the Law ascended and became a living law for every heart. And that is where He has written it in us, in the same place it was written in Him—not on tablets of stone but in our hearts! That is why we can fulfill it as He did. It is our nature to do so.

While suspended between heaven and earth, let us notice the two thieves which were hanging on either side of Him. One thief was good, while one was evil. In a figure, the tree of good and evil died that day with the Law in their midst. All three—the good, the evil, and Jesus the Holy Law—were smitten together. They were stricken, they were crucified, and they died. It was time for the new Tree to grow in the earth—the Tree of Life with righteous leaves budding from its branches for the healing of the nations. But we did not see much evidence of it until 70 A.D. when God’s hellfire was turned upon the city, the Temple, and the people.

That which began on the three crosses was seen coming to fulfillment on that horrifying day. The horror of the crosses was laid out for the entire world to see and to remember throughout the ages. The end of that world was to never be forgotten, and the manifestation of that hill’s death-cry has been heard till this day. And it will continue to the end of the world/age. There will be no peace until the law of religion’s spirit, the tree of the good of man, and the evil of man, is forever dead. This goes also for that good and evil tree of man's politics is dead. We can believe otherwise; but the dispensation of this world will end when the hour arrives at its appointed time. The War in the Heavens and the Earth will continue until it brings this world to its utter end, and surely, this generation will live to see it!