…and his article that can be found here Is the Great Controversy zOver Gods Character True? posted on September 10th 2011…which is in turn a response to this article The Great Controversy: Living in a Worldview of Deception printed in the April/May/June 2011 Issue of Proclamation Magazine . Both articles make for intelligent reading and I recommend reading both for nothing than being a completest, I recommend reading them before you read the first part of my rebuttal to Dr. Tim Jennings of Come Let Us Reason.
Today I will be tackling Part One of Dr. Jennings article What Evidence is there for the Great Controversy in Scripture?
In the very beginning of this section he goes to the book of Revelation and claims that war in heaven as the one around which he’s choosing to base his argument for the Great Controversy being in the scriptures.
Initial Exploration
Very well, let’s look at the verse he chose and find if there’s a war there.
(Rev 12:7 [HCSB])
Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought,
As we can see there is a war in heaven, and as I’m about to reveal by putting things in context that is about the only thing that we can say is correct in Dr. Jennings use of the passage.
Adding Context
Let’s put the verse in a little more context by adding verse 8.
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.
In case you were wondering Michael the Archangel is in fact none other than Michael the Archangel and he leads heavens armies against the dragon (Satan) and his angels. However Satan and his angels fail in the battle and no place is found for them in heaven any longer.
Adding Even More Context
Well that’s certainly interesting isn’t it. I could imply something here but I won’t, I’ll just add even more context.
9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil [f] and Satan, [g] the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not love their lives in the face of death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the earth and the sea,
for the Devil has come down to you with great fury,
because he knows he has a short time.
Here the Devil (Satan) and his angels have been banished to earth since there is no place for them in heaven. Why do you think this is? I’ll put forth an answer later.
The Devil now has no access at all to heaven, he has no way to return before the throne to ask for permission to bring temptation on Christians. Therefore Dr. Jennings cannot use this war in heaven as the war that started any kind of Controversy- in fact this war marks the end of controversy in heaven.
Adding Further Context
Lets add a few more verses to finalize the context and make things perfectly clear. First let’s add a couple of verses before verse 7.
1 A great sign [a] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony to give birth. 3 Then another sign [b] appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. [c] 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. 5 But she gave birth to a Son—a male who is going to shepherd [d] all nations with an iron scepter —and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there [e] for 1,260 days.
Who is the woman? The woman is Israel.
Satan being cast out of heaven and taking 1/3 of the angels with him is implied. But a war is NOT implied, it is in fact implied that Satan himself hurled this 1/3 of the heavenly host to earth.
Who is the child that the woman is about to give birth to? Jesus Christ.
Who specifically kept an eye on the Nation of Israel for this child intending to kill him? Satan.
However Jesus was born, lived under the Law to redeem us from the Law, was crucified, dead and buried and on the 3rd day he rose again to become our only way to Heaven.
When His work was complete Jesus was caught up to heaven and the throne.
The rest of this entire chapter if read in a logical and consistent manner can only be held as future events.
In the near future Israel will as a nation have to flee to the wilderness where they will be kept safe and secure by God for 1260 days.
In the future Satan and his angels will mount one war in heaven, be soundly defeated by Michael the Archangel and the Armies of Heaven, and they will be banished from heaven forever.
A Final Dollop of Context
So once again this war, the only war listed in heaven takes place in the middle of Revelation and is thus a future event.
13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was fed for a time, times, and half a time. [h] 15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away in a torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman: the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and left to wage war against the rest of her offspring [i] —those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony about Jesus. 18 He [j] stood on the sand of the sea.
Now Satan knows that he no longer has access to heaven he gets exceedingly angry and persecutes…the woman.
Who did we find the woman signified? The nation of Israel. Not the Church- nor the Adventist Church.
She is carried to a place prepared for her and protected for 1,260 days.
God supernaturally protects the Nation of Israel at this location.
Satan angered by this goes after those who are converted to Christ during this period.
Oh But We’re not Done Yet
You see I never truly broke down a section of those verses. However let me ask only two of what could be many questions prefacing this segment.
1: Doesn’t Satan have to ask God the Father for permission to tempt any Christian believer?
2: If the answer to the first question is yes, and after all we’ve discovered thus far in this breakdown of Revelation 12, what does this imply about our location during and after the only war in heaven mentioned in the Bible?
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not love their lives in the face of death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
The voice in heaven states that the time of the Power of the Messiah has come and that Satan (the accuser) of OUR BROTHERS has been thrown out, the one who accuses them night and day.
The voice in heaven claims we are his brothers…because we were (are at the moment) the one he (Satan) accused (currently accuses) night and day.
This voice in heaven goes on to say that WE overcame him (Satan) by the Blood (New Covenant of His Death on the Cross and his Resurrection) and the words of OUR TESTIMONY of how He (Christ) Saved, Changed, Redeemed us!
For we gave up on self made plans (the effort to save ourselves) we gave up our lives (as we faced spiritual death) to gain Eternal Life (a reborn Spirit)through Him!
Therefore all the Heavens rejoice…and you (US) who live in them!
Our position is simple God took the wrath of believers on the cross, at conversion our spirit was reborn and we were sealed by the Holy Spirit. Since we are not destined for the wrath of God, and since we’ve passed from death to life, and the time of testing is designed for those sold out to the earth (earth dwellers) and we’ve sold out to Christ- then Christ calls us home to be with Him- BEFORE his wrath is poured out on the Earth- when the first seal is opened in the Book of Revelation.
The first seal is opened in Chapter 6, that means God calls His Bride home before Chapter 6- in fact it happens in Chapter 4.
Where is the Bride of Christ in Revelation 12 at the time of this war in heaven? In heaven.
Why then is Satan banished from heaven never to return? There is no reason for him to have access to heaven since he can no longer ask for permission to tempt Christians since they’re no longer on the earth!
That should in all honesty be enough to refute the entirety of Dr. Jennings’ first point, however I’ll look at the other sub-points he makes under the war in heaven section. I’m sorry if these answers seem rather short or trite but in all honesty I don’t see any conceivable reason to make them long.
What kind of war is this?
Even if it is a war of words as Dr. Jennings claims which is possible, it’s not an opening salvo by Lucifer on his first departure but a final volley by Satan who has already lost a conflict that he never had a chance with anyway.
Is Satan the father of lies?
Yes.
The central focus of Satan’s lies is…
Pride. Wanting to be like God. In fact the greatest lie of Satan is the lie that we can save ourselves, we are in essence god of ourselves.
1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden ’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die. ’ “
4 ”No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 ”In fact, God knows that when [a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, [b] knowing good and evil.”
The Agenda of this war in heaven for Satan…
To figure out where all the Christians went and why he can’t come before the throne and ask to tempt them anymore.
Conclusion
This war in Revelation 12 is not about anything starting let alone a controversy great or small it’s about Satan’s final banishment to earth and about how the Bride of Christ is totally and completely safe from Satan’s attacks FOREVER at the time of this war.
If this war had indeed happened by this time we as Christians would not even be here…and we certainly could not be under attack by Satan through permission of God the Father.
Using this war as the basis for the START of any kind of controversy is a diabolical twisting of scripture and Dr. Jennings should be ashamed of himself.
Next time I’ll break down part two of his argument for the Great Controversy Does the Great Controversy Diminish the Divinity of Christ?
to be honest I’d think that was a no brainer…but until next time…I’ll continue to contend for the faith once given for the Saints! (Jude v.3)
U.A.
