Revelation 12:10-12

10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But 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."




12:10-11 - In response to the previous part of the vision, John hears a call to
worship from a loud voice in heaven. The assembly is told to praise God
for His incredible work in defeating the Dragon. The voice pronounces
four results of God’s victory: salvation has come, power has come, the
kingdom of our God has come, and the authority of Christ has come.
The Kingdom has come and Christ has been given dominion over the
earth because the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before
our God day and night, has been hurled down. Don’t miss the point
here. The greatest battle in all of history has already been fought and won
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Dragon has been defeated and we also learn
that the martyrs did not die in vain. They overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They were victorious
because they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death .
These first century heroes understood that in this age the person who
loves his life would lose it, but the one who would hate his life would keep
it in the ‘age to come’ (John 12:25). The victory over the Dragon was
won through the blood of the Lamb. This demonstrates that this is not
some future battle at the end of the world. The victory was won in the
middle of history by the event in history, the death and resurrection of
Jesus. Satan had been left powerless (Heb. 2:14-15), and so, Paul could
assure the believers in Rome that "The God of peace will soon crush Satan
under your feet" (Romans 16:20). The illegitimate ruler of the world was
defeated by the coming of the true ruler, Jesus Christ.

12:12 - The voice continues to exhort the congregation to rejoice, you
heavens and you who dwell (or literally tabernacle) in them! Who is it
that dwells in heaven? John has already told us that the Church’s worship
takes place before the heavenly throne of God (Rev. 4:4-11; 5:8-14;
7:9-17). Believers in Christ are seated in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6),
where we have our true citizenship (Phil. 3:20). Those who dwell in the
heavens and rejoice are the members of the Church. We have followed
Christ in His ascension (Eph. 1:20-22; 2:6) and have become His Temple
(cf. 7:15; 13:6).

Christ’s defeat of the Dragon does not mean that he has been annihilated.
In fact, like an injured and cornered animal, he fights all the harder. The
voice says 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. The seventh trumpet has sounded and now the third woe has
arrived. The domain of the Dragon is now the land and the sea but he has
lost forever the right to have dominion over the world. This is why John
sees two great beasts. The Beast from the sea is symbolic of the pagan
nations (this will be seen clearly in 13:1-2). The second Beast is from the
land, which represents apostate Israel. Thus, the voice is prophesying that
both Israel and the Empire of Rome will become the pawns of Satan in his
frenzied attempt to hold on to the remains of his domain. He is filled with
fury , knowing that his time is short to bring about the destruction of the
Church while it is still connected to old Israel. Satan first tried to stir up
the land and sea to destroy the Church, and then provoked them to war
against each other in an attempt to crush the young Church between them.
Satan knows that his time is short but thinks that perhaps he can destroy
the fledgling Church before she can take full root.