JAC Online - The Journal of Aggressive Christianity

Violent Night, Deadly Night
by Major Richard Munn

“There was war in heaven.” (Rev. 12:7)

If you need a good laugh this Christmas season watch the British TV comedy series from the 1970's - “Fawlty Towers.” It stars none other than John Cleese - from Monty Python fame - as a much maligned and uptight Bed and Breakfast manager in a seaside resort town.

The essence of each story line is the mayhem behind the scenes in the running of a hotel - chaos that the guests suspect, but, can’t see. Behind the suave and sophisticated demeanor of the manager in his attempts to portray a civil establishment, lies confusion, disarray anarchy and tumult.

Having had quite some experience in food management I chuckle at similar experiences. Behind the orderly and peaceful world of the restaurant with its soft music, romantic chatter and cultured maitre de is often the land of shouting chefs and harried bus boys.

Behind the scenes, ah, a good metaphor! Revelation 12 unveils the curtain - literally, that’s what ‘revelation’ means - unveils the curtain behind the scenes of the Christmas story. If one Christmas story is Luke and the shepherds, and the second is Matthew and the magi, then this is the ‘third Christmas story.’

Behind the calm and serenity of ‘Silent night, holy night,’ is the carnage of all out warfare - the pandemonium of clashing angelic forces, the howl of an enraged dragon and the roar of rushing waters.

What appears to the citizens of Bethlehem – excluding shepherds – an ordinary night with full hotels, in the arena of heaven was the mother of all wars.

I chill as I read verse 7 - “And there was war in heaven.” John gives us a glimpse behind the curtain. This is what Philip Yancey calls “a new set of holographic images” added to the familiar scene of manger and shepherds.

There are three central characters to the story - a woman, a baby and a dragon. There are three scenes - the birth of the baby, the expulsion of the dragon from heaven and the attack of the dragon on the woman.

The dragon is ‘that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan.’ The child is called one “who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter” - a description of the Messiah from Psalm 2. The retreat into the desert mirrors the family of Jesus’ flight into Egypt. It is legitimate to interpret the mother as Mary.

If I am chilled by verse 7 – I laugh with delight in verse 8 – “he was not strong enough ...”

There is Michael! I love Michael! I love him because he is so heroic. In the book of Daniel he serves as the guardian of the nation of Israel. Together with that other great angel - Gabriel - he fights for Israel. In Jude he disputes with the devil over the body of Moses. Here he is the commander of angelic forces against the forces of the dragon in the war in heaven.

I also love Michael because I feel like I have seen him – exultant over the front portals of Coventry Cathedral in England. As I stand in front of Michael I am transfixed. The sculptor imprints in my mind forever the story of Revelation chapter 12 – gigantic Michael; triumphant posture; towering strength and energy. And there, cowering at his feet in bondage and utter servitude is the hideous gargoyle of the devil - vanquished and helpless.

The message of Revelation 12 becomes a reality for me – I have victory in Christ. My sins - by God’s grace – are now hurled to the earth. For a vivid moment the curtain is unveiled and I revel afresh in the triumph of Christ in my own earthly life.

What heavenly scenes were unleashed the time you came to Christ? In that little chapel, or that Sunday school room, or that camp fire circle, or that tent meeting, or that bed side, or that retreat room, or that congress auditorium - what dragon was vanquished? What forces of darkness were hurled to the earth? What eagle’s wings did God provide for you to soar away into new life?

Behind the curtain of your humble scene - your silent night, in your little town of Bethlehem - what magnificent spiritual drama was playing? Surely we cannot even imagine. A cloud of witnesses cheering us around the track is about the only clue.

Now there is a sinister and unfinished scene in this heavenly epic. “The dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring [...] and the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.”
This is where the third Christmas story intersects with your story and mine.

The dragon is described as “that ancient serpent called the devil” - this is the serpent of Garden of Eden fame, the reptilian who brings sin into the world. The dragon is certainly a fearsome figure – “His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky.” He wreaks destruction. Though defeated he is still vicious.

In this account we see his fierce power and his murderous nature. Here is the fullness of evil in all its hideous strength. His posture – “in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born” - illustrates the consistently threatening intent of satan for all the purposes of God in history.

We who obey the commands of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus are at war with the dragon. What was true for the infant people of Israel and true for infant Christ and true for the infant church is also true for you and me - infants in Christ.

Having been driven out of heaven, having failed to devour the child, having failed to destroy the woman the last recourse of the satanic dragon is to make war against the rest of her offspring. Today he is ominously ‘standing on the shore of the sea.’

Dear JAC reader, take heart from this third Christmas story. Be assured that in our personal confrontations with the forces of darkness, that sinister presence is indisputably defeated. This is not poetic license or fancy mythology – there is a spiritual arena behind the curtains of our live that would boggle the senses, we can be sure.

Be assured that in our confrontations with evil - whether personal struggles or systemic powers or territorial spirits - it is a defeated power. Appearances to the contrary - the victory has been won in the world that matters.

The fury of battle culminated with an unseen victory that silent night in Bethlehem. Similarly, in the furor of your spiritual battle, there is unseen victory – silent for you, maybe, but raucous triumph in another world, not that far away.

Let the dragon hurling begin!