Woe to the Earth Because of the Devil Revelation 12:12

John the apostle wrote, “ 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 deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”, and in chapter twelve and verse twelve of Revelation John wrote, “woe to the inhabitants of the earth” where we read:

Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you 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 knows that he has but a short time.

The verse reads, “Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!” John began with the word, “therefore” which means “through, by means of and because of this” “rejoice” or “be glad, be delighted and make joyful and merry”, “you heavens” which means “the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings”, “and you that dwell” or “and the being who live, abide and reside” “in them” which means “within the heavens” “Woe” which means “alas and is a primary exclamation of grief” “to the inhabitants” which means “the people whether male or female who occupy and abide” “of the earth” or the “pertaining to the arable land, territory, country and region” “and of the sea” which refers to “pertaining to the large bodies of waters”. John wrote how the “creatures” in “heaven” should be “exceeding glad and make merry”, but “woe” be to the people who are living upon the “earth”.

The verse continues, “for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.” John added the words, “for” which means “because and since” “the devil” or “the one prone to slander and accuse falsely” “is come down” or “has descended and fallen”, “unto you” which refers to “toward the people on the earth”, “having” or “holding, owning and possessing” “great wrath” which means “large, huge and abundant anger, indignation, passion and inflaming fierceness”, “because” or “since, consequently and on account that” “he knows” which means “the devil perceives, notices, discerns and discovers” “he has but a short time” or “the devil holds, owns and possesses a small and brief measure of opportune and seasonable time”. John exhorted the people of the earth to have “woe” because “the devil” knew he only had a “brief time to work” and was “fiercely angry” in doing so.

When we think through John's words in this verse, we see two different groups and their reactions to the “devil's” placement and location. “Heavenly” beings were exhorted to “rejoice”, and “woe” was pronounce upon the “inhabitants” of the earth because of “the devil's” relocation. “Satan” was “cast out” of “heaven” and thrown down to “the earth” at this time, and this caused those in “heaven” to celebrate, but those on earth who were to face this “fiercely angry devil” were met with great “woe”. God desires to have a relationship with people through His Son Jesus which avoids the “angry devil” and his plan for the earth, and only those who refuse His offer of “salvation” through His Son Jesus shall experience these things. May all who read understand this, when “the devil” is “cast down” to the earth, all hell will break loose, and those who are alive shall suffer greatly under his onslaught.

Next time John concludes, “rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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