Helps on Revelation 12 and associated Prophecy
The War in Heaven
David does an excellent job of presenting The War in Heaven. We pray this message will further your understanding of God's word and equip you to better serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If you would like more information about Columbus Bible Church, visit our website at: https://www.columbusbiblechurch.org/ Do you know for sure you are going to heaven? Youtube Video Source https://youtu.be/dpaQFv_4P-4. David Reid presents a dissertation on Revelations 12 and associated prophecies. He also has a PDF of more slides https://storage1.snappages.site/75QP7C/assets/files/Cosmic-Power-Shift.pdf for this and upcoming Videos. Enjoy theses slide and the blessing from studying Relation.
Revelation 1:3
“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”
I used Grok to summarize the video below 1min 24 sec..
Main idea
Scripture describes a real conflict between Michael and the elect angels and Satan and the fallen angels. Satan does not lose all access at once; he is demoted in stages until he is cast into the lake of fire. The teaching walks that timeline and ties it to Daniel’s 70th week, Revelation 12, and eternity.
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1. The two sides (Revelation 12)
Key verses
Revelation 12:7–9 — “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. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan… he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Revelation 12:3–4 — “…his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth…”
(Stars = angels; cf. the star that guides the wise men.)
On Michael vs. Gabriel
• Only Michael is called the archangel / chief prince of Israel.
• Gabriel is repeatedly called an angel, not an archangel:
Luke 1:19 — “I am Gabriel…”
Luke 1:26 — “…the angel Gabriel was sent from God…”
Scale of the host
Revelation 5:11 — “…ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (≈ 100M+ around the throne; a minimum, not necessarily the full host).
Hebrews 12:22 — “…an innumerable company of angels.”
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2. When do the fallen angels leave heaven?
Reid’s view:
1. Sin/fall of Satan and his angels — early (before Genesis 3).
2. Expulsion from heaven — mid-70th week of Daniel (Revelation 12 war).
So fallen angels may operate in the heavens for ages, then are permanently cast to earth when Michael wins.
Revelation 12:8 — “…neither was their place found any more in heaven.”
Timing markers in the same chapter:
Revelation 12:6 — woman in the wilderness 1,260 days (3½ years; 360-day prophetic years).
Man-child who will “rule all nations with a rod of iron” (Rev 12:5) — messianic rule.
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3. Prophetic timeline: rapture → gap → 70th week
Outline used in the message:
1. Dispensation of grace ends with the rapture.
2. Prophetic gap (years, not days) after the rapture.
3. 70th week of Daniel begins (covenant with the “prince”).
4. Mid-week: war in heaven; Satan cast to earth.
5. End of week / Second Coming: Satan bound.
6. Millennium → little season → lake of fire.
Daniel’s 70 weeks
Daniel 9:24–27 — 70 weeks determined for Israel; 69 weeks to Messiah; remaining one week yet future; “he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week…”
Daniel 11:21–22 — the “vile person” / “prince of the covenant” (antichrist figure).
Why a multi-year gap after the rapture?
Daniel 11:1–4 is treated as past history (Persia, Greece/Alexander). From ~11:5 onward (kings of north/south, wars, years of intrigue), much is argued as still future and must occur before the man of sin in 11:21. So the 70th week does not start the day after the rapture.
Also cited:
Matthew 24 — “This generation shall not pass…” (compared with the 40-year wilderness generation) as showing a meaningful but limited prophetic window in the prophecy program.
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4. Origin of the conflict: pride
Reid rejects a fall “between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2,” because:
Genesis 1 (end) — God sees all He made as “very good.”
Fall is before the serpent appears:
Genesis 3:1 — the serpent is already opposed to God.
Isaiah 14 — Lucifer’s “I will”s
Isaiah 14:12–14 —
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…
For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…
I will be like the most High.”
Also:
Isaiah 14:4 — proverb against the “king of Babylon” (applied ultimately to Satan/Lucifer).
Isaiah 14:9–11 — hell stirred to meet him; pomp brought down; “Art thou also become weak as we?”
Isaiah 14:12 — he “which didst weaken the nations.”
Ezekiel 28 — the anointed cherub
Ezekiel 28:12–17 (paraphrased in the teaching) — covering cherub, beauty, corruption through pride; cast from the mountain of God / stones of fire.
Heavenly government structure:
Colossians 1:16 — Christ created all things “that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.”
Layers of authority in the heavens (compared to federal/state/local government).
Present spiritual conflict:
Ephesians 6:12 — “…spiritual wickedness in high places.”
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5. Stages of the cosmic power shift (Satan’s demotion)
Key texts for stages 2–5
Revelation 12:12 — “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth… for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
Revelation 20:2–3 — “…bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit… that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
Revelation 20:7–10 — loosed, deceives the nations, surrounds Jerusalem; fire from God; “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone… and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
Point on the millennium: Even under Christ’s perfect rule (rod of iron), many only comply outwardly. When Satan is loosed, he deceives again, exposing latent hatred of Christ—not a change in Satan’s character (still a liar).
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6. Judgment and the gospel note
• Annihilationism rejected: the beast and false prophet are still in the lake of fire when Satan is cast there (Rev 20:10).
• Great White Throne: full accounting of sin, not a few “big” sins.
Matthew 12:36 — “…every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
Romans 2 — treasuring up wrath (longer life without salvation → more judgment).
Closing prayer emphasizes the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.
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One-sentence takeaway
The “cosmic power shift” is Scripture’s map of Satan losing rank step by step—from heavenly privilege, to restricted operation, to earth, to the pit, to eternal fire—while God still uses the end of that story to expose both the devil’s lies and the human heart, and to vindicate Christ’s final rule.
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Note: This is a mid-Acts dispensational reading (Columbus Bible Church / David Reid). The session ends about halfway through the prepared material; more was planned for a later study.