Spiritual Warfare - Overcoming Our Accuser

This blog is about the seventh chapter in the Bible study, Spiritual Warfare, written by Jack Kuhatschek.

Revelation 12:7-12

1. “Describe everything you can about the war that is fought in verses 7-9.” Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought back. He wasn’t strong enough, so they lost their place in heaven. He and his angels were hurled down to the earth.
2. “Notice the different titles used for Satan in verse 9. What can you learn about him and his tactics against you from each of these descriptions?” He is called the ancient serpent, which refers to Eve’s temptation in the garden. This shows that Satan plans to tempt us. He is also called the one who leads the whole world astray, which plainly shows his intentions to lead us astray.
3. “Verse 10 begins with a triumphant declaration of Satan’s defeat. What words or phrases in verse 10 emphasize God’s strength in contrast to Satan’s?” The phrase “authority of his Christ” is the one that sticks out the most to me. It shows that God has power over Satan.
4. “On the one hand, the devil is described as ‘the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night’ (v. 10). But in the next breath he is described as the one who ‘has been hurled down’ from heaven. How does ‘the blood of the Lamb’ overcome all of the devil’s accusations against us (v. 11)?” When Jesus died on the cross, we were forgiven of our sins. The “blood of the Lamb” washed away our sins and made us new. If our sins are washed away, they are gone, which means the devil’s accusations won’t hold. God’s love and forgiveness is bigger than any accusations against us.
5. “When you have felt assaulted by guilt or shame, how has it helped to realize that Christ’s blood was shed for you?” I used to be really hard on myself about everything. I always felt guilt and shame for things, even if they weren’t my fault. I have learned to accept God’s forgiveness and move on, though. I learned that when I spend my time feeling guilty and unworthy, I am wasting time that God wants me to do something else with. God forgave me, so who am I to say that I’m not forgiven? It may sound like the easy way out, but nothing about just moving on has been easy for me. I just know that God wants something better for me than guilt and shame.
6. “A second key to overcoming Satan is our ‘testimony’ (v. 11). How can sharing our faith with others—even in the face of opposition—enable us to overcome the devil?” When we share our testimony with others, we are not just telling them about an experience we had. We are also reminding ourselves of all the great things God has done. We are eyewitnesses to what God has done in our lives, and no one can deny that. We overcome Satan by sharing with others what God has done because in many cases, we bring more people into God’s family. Even when the people we share with aren’t receiving what we’ve said, we are reminded of our own testimony. I’m a lot more likely to be touched by something I wrote a long time ago than by something someone I’ve never met or hardly know has written. When I read my own words about the things God has done, I go back to that feeling I had when it first happened and my faith is constantly renewed. This is a great weapon against any attack of the devil.
7. “Verse 11 implies that if we love our lives too much, then we will be hesitant to testify about Christ in the face of opposition or threats. Why would this be true?” If we love our lives too much, we wouldn’t share about things that people would kill us for. In many cases, this means even our faith in God. In some lands, talking about Christ is punishable by death. Even in the United States, there are some people who will kill those that are Christians. I think there’s more to it, though. If we love our lives the way they are, we may be afraid of changes in our lives that could be brought on by testifying to Christ’s love in the face of opposition or threats. We may not day, but our situation may change and become unpleasant. We may lose friends, lose a job, or lose our freedom. Those are all parts of our lives that we tend to love too much. We need to love God above all else so we aren’t afraid to testify to what He has done in our lives.
8. “When Christians are martyred for their faith, it appears to the world that they have been defeated rather than victorious. (The same was true of the death of Jesus.) Yet how can their apparent defeat be seen as an ultimate victory?” Death may be the physical end of one person’s journey, but there is more. That person will be with God in heaven, and the work God started in them on earth isn’t finished. Sometimes the death of one person is just the beginning of a wonderful ministry on earth. When Jim Elliot and his friends were killed in Ecuador by the Auca tribe, it opened up the opportunity for the wives of the men to reach the tribe years later. If God can use our lives for His glory, surely He can use our deaths.
9. “Verse 12 concludes by saying that the devil ‘is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.’ Why should this statement keep us from being complacent about our struggle with Satan?” The closer we get to God, the more Satan is going to attack. As long as we are growing closer to God, Satan will be adding more power to his attacks against us. He has many demons at his disposal. In his fury, he will attack anyone that follows Christ. If we become complacent about our struggle with Satan, we will put our guard down and give Satan that foothold.
10. “How can John’s vision of the war in heaven encourage you in the midst of the spiritual battles you face?” Satan already lost in heaven and his time is short here. He loses. When we are on God’s side, we are on the winning side of this war. God equips us with the power to defeat the devil, and we will.