ALONE WITH GOD------

 Was The Devil Ever In Heaven?

    In Isaiah 14:12 it speaks of Lucifer falling from heaven, etc., and makes mention of his being "cut down to the ground" who DIDST weaken the nations. To begin in the middle of a thought always does violence to the thought and causes one to miss the proper meaning. The thought here of which this 12th verse is only a part begins with the 4th verse of this chapter and continues through the 23rd verse. This puts the 12th verse down in the middle of the thought. The 4th verse says, "That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say,…" This makes it clear that the remarks made here refer to the king of Babylon and to no other. The thoughts concerning the proverb against the king of Babylon are continuous from this 4th verse through the 23rd verse. I request anyone who does not agree with this interpretation of this Scripture to show where the line of thought changes and the remarks are directed to another person other than the king of Babylon. The 4th verse introduces the proverb against the king of Babylon and continues through the succeeding verses to tell of his violent acts in the earth against other nations and peoples for which the judgments of God are pronounced upon him and in the 22nd verse he mentions judgments against Babylon which show clearly that that subject is still under consideration.

Now, let us take a direct look at this 12th verse which mentions Lucifer who is said to have fallen from heaven as being cut down to the ground who DIDST weaken the nations. This, then, was some judgment upon him for something he had done before this came to pass. Could it then refer to the devil? Could he have weakened the nations while he was still in heaven and then later been cast out of heaven for having weakened the nations? Could he have done any evil work in the earth while he was still a pure angel in heaven? Of course not! But, on the other hand, the king of Babylon did do these things and became so exalted in his heart that he said he had done all these things with his own hand. The Babylonish Kingdom was the first universal kingdom that history records, and her king subdued and weakened and brought under subjection all other nations. Hence the reference to him who DIDST weaken the nations.

The 4th chapter of Daniel, verses 12 and 13, will throw much light on this 14th chapter of Isaiah. In verses 10 to16 is given a vision that Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, had. Let us read it: "Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; the beast of the field had shade under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; He cried aloud, and said thus, 'Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: Let his heart be changed from man's and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.' " In the 19th verse Daniel begins to interpret his vision to him and refers to the tree, etc., and in the 22nd verse he says, "It is thou, O king, that art grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth."

This corresponds exactly with the 13th verse of the 14th chapter of Isaiah, which reads: "For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God," etc. Nebuchadnezzar was proud in heart and said the same thing in different words in the 30th verse of the 4th chapter of Daniel after he had subjected all the kingdoms of the world to himself. Listen to him: "The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of MY power, and for the honour of MY majesty."

In Daniel 4:25 Daniel proclaims unto the king what is the decree of the most high concerning him. "That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will."

In Daniel 4:31-33 we find that this judgment actually came on Nebuchednezzar and just how serious it was because that in his heart he was lifted up with pride and exalted himself in his heart even unto heaven to the exclusion of the God of heaven and did not acknowledge Him but said he had dome all this with HIS OWN HAND, etc. Thus he fell from heaven (the exalted position he held and attributed this unto himself in his heart) and was cut down to the earth and humiliated beyond any other man that we have any record of.

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 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 to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

Please bear in mind that all of this was done and said in connection with the disciples of Christ and their work. Therefore this could not refer to the devil being cast out of the eternal heaven where God dwells because he did not just at this time show up in the earth. He showed up in the Garden of Eden in the form of the serpent. He came along in Job's time and was operating all along from Adam and Eve's time on down.

These disciples of the Lord had been out on a mission for Him and they had been able through His Name to cast devils out of people's hearts who were possessed with them. It is in this connection that Jesus made this statement. Satan had taken a very exalted place and had dared to intrude into the hearts of men which had been made for God only. Through the power of Christ and His gospel he was defeated and dethroned and cast out of his exalted place in human hearts and cast down from the high esteem in which he had been held by those whom he had deceived and possessed.

Heaven is a term which may be and often is used to denote an exalted position or high place as well as to denote the habitation of God and the habitation of God and the eternal dwelling place of the saints. Take, for instance, the statement of Jesus in Luke 10:15, "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven," etc. We know that that city of Capernaum never actually go up to heaven, but Jesus referred to their pride and being lifted up in heart and mind and pronounced judgment upon them for it.

The Bible refers to the third heaven. This was an experience related by the apostle Paul in the 12th chapter of 2 Corinthians, verses 1- 4. In verse 2 he refers to one being caught up to the third heaven. Then in verse 4 he says, "How that he was caught up to paradise." This identifies the third heaven with paradise, and that is not yet the place of God's abode, because in Luke 23:43 Jesus said to the penitent thief who was crucified with him, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Jesus, then, went into paradise on the day of His death. But after His resurrection the third day following, He said to Mary in John 20:17, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." He had been to paradise, but had not been to His Father at that time.

Now the Bible speaks explicitly of three heavens and from the foregoing conclusion it seems there must be yet at least a fourth heaven which is the abode of God.

1. there is the aerial heaven that surrounds this earth in which are the clouds as well as the sun, moon, and stars, etc. This is what is referred to in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

2. Then there is the ecclesiastical or spiritual heaven referred to in Eph. 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" There are several other references in the Scriptures to these spiritual or church heavens.

3. The third heaven or paradise is referred to in 2 Cor. 12:1-

4. To understand this properly furnishes us the key to the proper interpretation to many Scriptures which would be very confusing in connection with other Scriptures if we do not understand this point and think that every time the term "heaven" is used in the Bible it refers only to the abode of God.

Revelation 12th Chapter

This chapter deals with two wonders which appeared in heaven-one a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars and ready to be delivered of a child; the other a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and a tail which drew the third part of the stars of heaven-and also with the war in heaven.

Now, there are some things mentioned here which make it very clear that the "heaven" referred to here is not the heaven which is the eternal abode of God, and that it has no reference to the devil being cast out of this heaven. In the first place, this dragon was in the same place where the woman was; for it is said that he stood before the woman to devour her child as soon as it was born-verse 4. This woman was in pain-verse 2. Do we suppose we shall be enduring hardships, trials, persecutions, and suffering pain in heaven? I do not.

Then it says in verse 5 that she brought forth a child and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Could she be in heaven where God is, and still her child be caught UP to God and His throne? Is God still on up above heaven somewhere so that the child would be caught UP above heaven to Him? I say, No! Verse 6 says the woman fled into the wilderness. Is there any wilderness in heaven where God is? The Bible does not describe it that way, but rather as a place of exquisite beauty, richness, grandeur, glory, light, etc. Verse 11 says, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death."

This makes it perfectly clear what kind of a war it was (spiritual) and where it was by the weapons which were used. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. But the blood of the Lamb (Christ) was not shed in heaven. It was shed on the earth. Again it was the blood of the Lamb through which they overcame, therefore this could not possibly refer to the devil being cast out of God's heaven because the blood of the Lamb was not shed for thousands of years after the devil is known to have been working in this earth. Therefore, if we were to concede that the devil were ever in heaven and cast out, we would have to exclude this Scripture as any proof of it because they could not have used the blood of the Lamb as a weapon against him way back there when it had not been shed.

It is also said that they overcame him by the word of their testimony. But it is here in this world that God's people testify to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then it is said that they loved not their lives unto death. Heaven is a spirit world. God is a spirit. John 4:24. "And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels sprits." Heb. 1:7. We see then that God is a spirit and His angels who dwell with Him in heaven are spirits and we know that spirits cannot die. But this is talking about people who could die, and, in fact, many of them did die.

Verse13 says, "And when the dragon saw that he was cast out unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." Now, there is nothing at all mentioned in the entire chapter about the woman being cast out of heaven to the earth. Then how could the dragon persecute her after he was cast out into the earth if she were still in heaven? Remember, the dragon was in the same heaven where the woman was. Then if he could be cast out of heaven to the earth and still have access to the woman to persecute her and her still in heaven, we would be making heaven a very uncomfortable place to be. Let us hope that God is able to provide a better defense and security for His children that that.

The fact is, all of this took place right here in the earth and the term "heaven" refers to the ecclesiastical, spiritual, or religious heaven, which is among the people right here on earth. Further, to substantiate any such argument that this chapter refers to the devil being cast out of heaven, one would have to prove that the devil had such a physical form as a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a tail long enough to draw stars out of heaven. This cannot be done, because we have no knowledge of the devil having any kind of physical form any more than we do of God having a physical form, but we do have knowledge that both of them are spirits.

Again in Rev. 13:2 we see that the dragon gave his power and seat and authority over to another, a beast which arose up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, etc. Now, if this dragon is the devil himself, I would like to know when and where the devil ever gave his power and seat over to another and to whom. The fact is that this dragon was not the devil himself, but both the dragon of Rev. 12 and the beast of Rev. 13 were agents, instruments, or systems (religious systems) through which the devil operated and carried on his work.

But some may object by saying that the Scripture does say it was the devil (Rev. 12:9). This verse says, "And the great DRAGON was cast out, that old serpent CALLED the devil, and Satan…" It says here the dragon was CALLED the devil and Satan. It could properly be called the devil because it was the principal system through which the devil was operating at that time. It was a devil-dominated system of religion. Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:20, "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils…" We see then that the devil actually had a system of religion and at least some worshippers who sacrificed to him. Therefore he is spoken of here, or rather his religious system through which he was operating, is spoken of as being in heaven (ecclesiastical or religious heaven) because that in the hearts of the Gentile idol worshippers whom he had deceived, he was exalted to the place of God and worshipped and sacrificed to, instead of the true God.

Now we have brought forth several clear points here showing what 'this' is not. But we would not be fair to the inquirer after truth to just tell him what it was not and leave him hanging out in mid-air, not knowing just what is meant by these things. So we shall now bring forth the truth that is taught in the 12th chapter of Revelation in connection with other Scriptures. Now, if we just forget the first wonder that appeared in heaven in the first verse of this chapter (the woman clothed with the sun, etc.) and only consider the second wonder which is spoken of in verse 3 (the great red dragon) we shall, no doubt, be thrown off the proper course of thought and stray from the truth. But we find that this woman is mentioned throughout the entire chapter as the object of the dragon's wrath and persecution. Therefore we cannot leave her out of the picture at all, and to carry her along in connection with the activities of the dragon will help us to understand just what is being taught here and where and when it all took place.

The language here is highly symbolical as it is throughout the entire book of Revelation. With these thoughts in mind, we will first establish the identity of the woman referred to in the first verse. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." This woman was in a very exalted place, and the brightest luminaries of heaven were assembled around her. This is a picture of the New Testament church which was built by Christ Himself (Matt. 16:18) in all of her pristine glory and splendor.

But perhaps you may require other Scriptures in connection with this to justify this interpretation of this Scripture. We shall give them. Rev. 19:7, 8, says, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." Here we see the Lamb (Christ) has a wife and that her splendid apparel is the righteousness of SAINTS, which compose the church on earth. Rev. 21:9, 10 make it even clearer. "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." The following verses then proceed to give a detailed description of this city in highly symbolical language. This Scripture does not only tell us that the Lamb has a wife, but also tells us who she is-"That great city, the holy Jerusalem."

Turning to Hebrews 12:22, 23 we find a further identification of this city. "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and CHURCH of the Firstborn,…" This definitely identifies the city of God (heavenly Jerusalem) as the CHURCH of the Firstborn. There it is definitely established from these Scriptures that the wife of the Lamb (Christ) is His church and therefore she is symbolized by a woman in this exalted position.

This is further taught in the Scriptures by plain comparison in Eph. 5:25-32. And again in 2 Cor. 11:2 Paul is speaking to the CHURCH at Corinth and says, "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." This refers to the bond and spiritual relationship between saved people and Christ, the heavenly bridegroom of their souls. Rom. 7:4 is another Scripture along this line. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." But so much for that. We could go on multiplying texts at considerable length along this line, but it is not necessary. Surely it must be clear to everyone that the New Testament church which Jesus built is His bride and is properly represented by a pure woman such as is pictured in Revelation 12. The sun is the brightest luminary of heaven. Then it would properly symbolize the brightest luminary of the spiritual heaven, which is the SUN of Righteousness, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. This woman is said to be clothed with the sun, and surely the divine virtues and graces of the Son of God is the apparel and adornment of the Church of God in the earth. She puts on the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom. 13:14. She puts on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. Col. 3:10. She is arrayed in fine linen, the righteousness of saints. Rev. 19:8. She is changed into the same image or likeness of Christ by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3:18. Oh, what is the glorious and high situation of those who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, which compose His church in the earth!

Revelation Chapter 12

A crown of twelve stars was upon this woman's head. She was exalted and crowned a queen. Her husband was the King of kings and Lord of lords (Christ) and she is exalted to the position of queen, reigning by His side through His power over all the powers of evil and Satan right here in the earth. In the Scriptures "star" is used to symbolize ministers or spiritual rulers or luminaries. Let us look at Rev. 1:20, "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches." Then in the 2nd chapter of Revelation, the messages to the seven churches begin and we note in verses 1, 8, 12, and 18, and in chapter 3, verses 1, 7, and 14 that the message to each individual church is addressed to the angel of that church. That would mean the minister or overseer there in that congregation. Perhaps the twelve stars in the woman's crown refer to the twelve apostles of Christ who were her first ministers and were co-workers with Christ Himself in establishing her in truth in the earth.

The moon was under her feet. The moon has no light of its own, but reflects the light of the sun. This is a proper symbolizing of the law and prophet age above which the church had just risen to receive the grace and truth which was brought by Christ Himself. The law with its various rituals and sacrifices and mode of worship typified Christ and the prophets prophesied of Him. In reality, all the light that the law and prophet age had was that which was reflected upon it by the Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, who was to come.

This woman (the church) was travailing in birth and pained to be delivered of a child. This properly symbolized the earnestness and zeal with which the early church labored and sacrificed all to win souls for Christ. And she brought forth a man child. This man child properly represents the multitude of souls who were brought to Christ, born again, in the early church. There were about three thousand in one day on the day of Pentecost, and soon afterward we read of five thousand, etc.

Some may question how a man child could represent such a multitude, but this is no mystery when we understand what the saving grace of God does for people and that those who are saved are of "one heart and one soul" (Act 4:32), and that the whole church is the "Body of Christ" (Eph. 1:22, 23, Col. 1:18), and there is "ONE BODY" (Eph. 4:6, 1 Cor. 12:13, Rom. 12:5). Further in Eph. 2:13-15 we find that the entire multitude of saved people composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have been brought together in Christ are referred to as "ONE NEW MAN." Now at this point when the woman was bringing forth this man child (multitudes of believers) the dragon appears and goes into action. He stood before the woman to devour her child as soon as it was born. So now we will turn our attention to the dragon, the second wonder mentioned in Rev. 12, and identify him in the Scriptures.

First, he is described as having seven heads and ten horns. Would we expect to see such a literal, physical monster as this? Certainly not! Then we know that he symbolizes something and the Scripture will help us in finding out what. In the Bible HORN stands as a symbol of power and authority. They stand for the same here in connection with the dragon. The head would more properly symbolize the ruler or system through which this power or authority was executed. The Scriptures make this perfectly plain concerning this dragon of Rev. 12 and the beast of Rev. 13 which had the same identical marks as the dragon-seven heads and ten horns.

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