First century, A time of intense spiritual warfare

The First Century, a time of intense spiritual warfare. The Messiah came! Messiah! The light was manifest in darkness, and the light was victorious over the darkness. Glory to the holy lamb of God, king and Lord of heaven and earth.

There was war in heaven in Jesus' time. This truth was made very clear. You don't hear much about it, but I cannot imagine one denying it after hearing Jesus' words. Jesus spoke of it, and it is spoken of in Revelation.

Jesus had sent out seventy disciples with authority over unclean spirits, the seventy returned to Jesus in awe, having been victorious over devils all over Judea. Notice how Jesus said to them: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven". This was of course happening right then, as Jesus, the Apostles, and even as the seventy were casting out unclean spirits all over Judea...


Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Remember the countless times Jesus himself was casting out unclean spirits, legions, all throughout the Roman Empire? I don't need to list all those times. This was a major blow to the house of Satan, and to his works. As this spiritual war was happening, at that very time, Jesus said he seen Satan fall as lightning.

What Jesus said in Matthew 11:12-13 and Luke 10:17-20 is exactly what was spoken of in symbolic form in Revelation 12: 7-9. There was war in heaven in Jesus' time, all three scripture examples above reveal this very clearly. Satan did not live there, he tried to take it by force, but he lost. He was cast down to earth having a short time.


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, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12:12-13 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

This war in heaven did indeed occur in the lifetime of Christ. With the "man child" being caught up to God, and to his throne, that is, taken into his special, powerful, and immediate protection, there was war in heaven. Christianity has been from its infancy under the special care of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus himself spoke of this war in heaven as having begun in the days of John the Baptist, and as continuing even then as Jesus spoke these words...


Matthew 11:12-15 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

I hope you have noticed how the book of Revelation really is a complete testimony of Jesus Christ presented in vivid symbolic form. This great Testimony of Jesus Christ is presented in symbol form relating to events, [a] that John had seen, [b] things that were happening right then, and [c] things that were to be thereafter . John was instructed:


Revelation 1:19 Write the things which [a] thou hast seen, and [b] the things which are, and the [c] things which shall be hereafter...

And the things that were to come were to "shortly come to pass". Yes, even things that were happening in the lifetime of Jesus are described. For instance Rev. Chapter 12 covers the time Christ was born, and how the devil was wrought in anger and sought to crush Christianity in its birth to prevent the growth and continuance of it in the world, at the very birth of Christianity in the first century, and great care was taken for this child. It also describes how at that time there was war in heaven, how the devil lost the war, and was cast unto the earth, flamed, knowing he had but a short time.

Satan knew he had a "short time", and as revealed in Revelation, the things that were to happen thereafter were to "shortly came to pass" , even within that same generation that witnessed the light, as Jesus revealed saying "this generation will not pass until all things which are written are to be fulfilled". Jesus was speaking of the wrath of God coming quickly, saying "these are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written".

The wrath of God was to fall like a stone on the enemies of God, and Satan was enemy number one. The wrath of God was near in Jesus time, as the power and spirit of Elijah was manifest within the one we call John the Baptist. He was not the light, he was sent from God to witness the light, he was Elijah coming before the great and awesome day of the Lord, as was written, and the devil knew it, that's why there was war in heaven from the days John the Baptist began to preach, because the devil knew he had a short time, he knew was about to be chained, restrained.

This was a major reason the Word of God was manifest in the flesh, that through death he might destroy the devil. He did not fail. He holds the keys of hell and death, not the devil. He is king of heaven, AND earth, not the devil. He is king of kings, and Lord of Lords.


Hebrews 2:14-16 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

JESUS came with a sword. He came to announce the wrath of God to come, to bind the strongman, and to take away the sins of the world. Jesus spoke of this in parable, how a strongman is bound, and By the work of Christ and his disciples, the strongman's house was plundered. Jesus came saying "Repent!", "These are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written", "Now is the judgment of this world", saying all this in the first century, saying "This generation will not pass until all these things be fulfilled".

The first century was a time of intense spiritual warfare, the Messiah came, messiah! The disciples of Christ knew they were in the last days, fighting a war, a spiritual war...


Heb 1:1-2 God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds

Eph 6:11-12 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Rom 13:11-12 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

So Jesus seen Satan fall from heaven, in Revelation it was revealed Satan had a short time when he fell, Jesus was cleaning house, and years later we see the Apostles are still fighting this spiritual war. So you might ask when was the devil "chained" then?

Satan was enemy number one, Christ and his messengers had been fighting against the powers of darkness for quite some time. The messengers and sons of the devil were also fighting Christ and Christians, they were workers of the temple in Jerusalem. Workers of the temple! The leaven of the Pharisees, the works, system, and whole house of the religious system was an enemy of Christ. Jesus had promised to put the whole house behind him, saying "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate". The crime was the blood of all the prophets.

So first the house of Satan was cleansed, crushed, then the house of the corrupt religious system was cleansed, crushed. This had to be done, the putting away of the temple in Jerusalem. Just as the veil of the Temple was torn when Jesus died on the cross, a sign of symbolic nature, the putting away of the Temple, and it's works was of symbolic nature, no more animal sacrifices and such.

It was then, with the house of the temple, the workers and works of the temple, the house of Satan, his workers and works, with all his enemy's behind him that Christ could shout his Victory over his enemy's. By 70 AD, this was done. The whole house was made desolate, just as Jesus said. Put away. The devil and his works was crushed as the temple was crushed. With that old way put away, the old system and works, the child could grow.

It was then, Satan, with his plans crushed, his house gone, let out a howl and was restrained. The child would grow. The child was safe. The old temple was put away and the child had a new temple. A temple not made by the hands of men, but the hand of God. Satan had his hands tied, no way in, no way to stop it. Restrained.

It would be a thousand years before Satan would be released, and could deceive the nations again. That's another story. See "Identifying Gog and Magog". But let me make it short and just say, I do believe he found a way. Clever way to. This time he wanted revenge, he wanted to war with Christ, and his seed. The way he chose to do this was much the same as times past, through lies, deception, through religion.

Say it with me, please...

I pledge allegiance... to the God...of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.... And to the kingdom... for which Christ stands... all nations... under God...invincible... with liberty and justice for all. AMEN

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