7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. Andthe dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”Revelation 12:7-12The Humiliation of SatanIn our reading from the Book of Revelation, we’re given a fascinating insight into the supernatural realm. We are told of a war between Michael and his angels and one ‘who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world’ (Rev. 12:9).Michael and his angels prevailed over Satan and Satan was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him.What is going on here? The Church Fathers seem to agree that this is referring to a primal moment in the history of God’s creation. The epic poem, Paradise Lost by John Milton, speaks of a time before the creation of our world during which Satan, the prince of the angels, led a rebellion against God which ended in failure and with the expulsion of Satan and his angels from God’s domain.The Church Fathers and modern scholarship seem to agree that Milton’s vision – although compelling and deeply spiritual – is not quite right. The biblical witness appears to tell us not of a supernatural rebellion that happened before the creation of our world but of one that happened after the creation of our world and which is still deeply intertwined with the events of human history.What all agree on is the motivation of Satan and his angels. Although Satan in his original glory clearly was given great authority by God perhaps even dominion over part of the earth, this was not enough for him. One Church Father notes that ‘Satan exalted himself against God, that is, he lifted up a stiff and insolent neck to him and devised an apostasy’ (Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse).Thus pride was the original sin of Satan and the angels that followed him. And from this we see that pride is at the root of all sin because all sin involves our rejection of God and of his authority over our lives and over this world. All sin involves our attempt to put ourselves and not God at the centre of reality and to have our will be done over the will of God.Because Satan attempted to exalt himself to the highest place, it was fitting that he was cast down to the earth along with his angels. This speaks to the spiritual reality which is repeated in various different ways in Scripture: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ (Proverbs 3:34). Or, as our Lord Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Christ knew whereof he spoke because he had seen this humiliation of the proud occur in the heavenly realm.We see also a great insight into spiritual and psychological reality in our text from Revelation: “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Rev. 12:12). We see in this passage the wounded pride of a most exalted spiritual being, one who has fallen from the very highest place in heaven and is now a castaway. What is Satan’s reaction to God’s just punishment? Wrath and anger.We observe also something of Satan’s diabolical activity: he is called a deceiver and an accuser and this, again, speaks to a deep reality. Have you ever noticed the attraction when we are tempted to sin and the desolation that follows when we give in? Satan deceives us into being attracted to sin and then, after we have succumbed, we are immediately accused and made to feel worthless and less than nothing. This is the demonic strategy for the destruction of the saints: temptation, followed by sin, followed by accusation and condemnation.The Devil is proud and wrathful. And in his wounded and angry pride, he prowls around the earth like a roaring lion, seeking to devour and destroy the saints, seeking to lure us into the same sins of pride and rebellion and then to desolate by accusation.The Righteousness of Michael and the AngelsWe are told in our Scripture not that God cast Satan down from heaven but that Michael and his angels fought against him, defeated him, and cast him out. One of the Church Fathers says about this: ‘It is probably that the holy angels, together with their chief leader, Michael, could not tolerate the pride of the devil and … threw him out of any association they had with him, since they found in him a lack of righteousness’ (Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse).There were many angels, including the Archangel Michael, who refused to join in the rebellion of Satan. In humility and obedience they stuck to the task and dominion that God had given them and so, when they were confronted with the arrogance of Satan, they fought and expelled him from their midst.We see in Archangel Michael and the holy angels therefore a pattern of godly humility, service, and obedience. The answer to the question, ‘Who are the angels and what do they do?’ is that the angels are supernatural creatures of God who are assigned tasks to complete and who worship their creator. In that sense, they are a pattern for us to follow.We are granted some insight into this supernatural reality in Scripture. In our New Testament reading from the book of Hebrews, we are told of the angels, that they are ‘ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation’ (Hebrews 1:14). They are thus God’s servants sent by him to help us. Indeed, the Greek word angelos literally means ‘sent one’ or ‘messenger’. In other words, they do not bear their own agenda in pride but they bear the message of God and they obey him in his commands.In addition to this supernatural service, the other relevant Scriptural reality that discloses itself to us is that of the worship of angels. In Hebrews chapter one, the argument of St Paul is that Jesus Christ is superior to the angels since he is not just a messenger of God but the very imprint of the nature of God himself. Indeed, God says about Jesus Christ, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’ (Hebrews 1:6, quoting Deut. 32:43).Another great Scriptural passage which shows us something of this reality is Isaiah chapter six:In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.3 And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!”4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.The angels give glory and honour to God and to Jesus Christ because they recognise that, even though they are supernatural, glorious, and powerful creatures, they are still inferior to the one who gave them being in the first place, to the one who sustains them in existence through his mighty power. They are thus exalted continually, not in their own pride, but through their heavenly worship.Imitate the AngelsThe lesson for us today is clear: we have a choice placed before us. In many ways, this choice is the central drama of all human existence. Will we worship God and praise him for all the many benefits he continually gives us? Will we displace our own ego and our desire to be the centre of all things and instead give him the preeminent place? Will we obey him in the tasks that he gives us to do and thus imitate the great Archangel Michael?Or will we rebel like Satan? Will the blessing and the dominion and the authority that God has given us prove to be insufficient for our insatiable pride and will we demand more from him? Will we harden our hearts and close our ears to his gentle calling and instead stiffen our necks and exalt ourselves in pride to the place of the Most High?This drama is being played out all over the world: in the cabinet rooms and conference centres of national governments and the World Economic Forum all the way down to the hidden terrain of the human heart – of your heart and mine.Friends, let us shun temptation of pride and join in the worship of heaven – in this place and in our lives day-to-day. And, as we are renewed in a moment through the blessed sacrament of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ, let us repent of our egotism, our hardheartedness, our disobedience, and let us renew our resolve to worship and serve him always in the greatness of humility.Amen.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com
