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Verse:“Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” —Revelation 12:12
As the name suggests, a story that has been hinted at throughout the Bible is now revealed as the central story in the book of Revelation.
A cosmic war that invaded Earth precipitated the broken relationships between human beings and their Creator and has continued to cause destruction, disaster, and fear across human history. As retold symbolically in Revelation 12, this conflict reached its height with the incarnation of Jesus, at which time the decisive battle was won.
But evil and its agents were not yet destroyed, and suffering, confusion, and fear continue to be part of the reality we live within.
This revelation gives us an important insight into the often-asked questions about a good God and terrible suffering. “The blame for human suffering does not lie at the throne of God; rather it issues from the rebellion and activity of Satan and his angels and depraved humanity.”* As we saw soon after Creation, there is an evil personality that works to cause and spread pain and fear in our world, that works to destroy human relationships and God’s good creation. One further insight: the intensity of Satan’s attacks, the evil and fear he can promulgate in the world, seem somewhat proportionate to the approaching end of his influence.
The more he seems to be winning, the closer he is to final defeat.
Among the devil’s favorite tools, fear can seem so powerful, but it has already been proved futile. It is always only temporary, and it is doomed to be destroyed.
* Frank B. Holbrook, “The Great Controversy,” in Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, ed. Raoul Dederen (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald®, 2000), 996.