Satan, according to Bible prophecy, plans spectacular displays of fireworks and other supernatural pyrotechnics for the Tribulation—the last seven years before Christ’s Second Coming. Those phenomena will, again, according to God’s Word, take place in the atmosphere above earth and in space. We are given that forewarning in the following Scripture:
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do” (Rev. 13:13-14).
Jesus made it clear that the phenomena that will come at the end of days will be fearsome to behold:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Luke 21: 25- 26).
There is coming a second great war in the heavenlies, and it will make H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds fiction look tame by comparison. The resulting devastation and carnage will literally cause the hearts of earth dwellers of the Tribulation era to explode with adrenalin-pumped fear. However, and strangely perhaps, from our mortal perspective, Lucifer, now named Satan and called “the devil,” continues to be given access to God’s throne, of which he was once a guardian. He is now an accuser of believers in Jesus Christ.
The first war of all creation—not just a war of mortal worlds, or of galaxies—took place when Lucifer and the angels who joined him in rebellion against the Most High were cast out of God’s realm. That is, they were no longer a part of God’s kingdom, but now were forever lost, outside of God’s eternal kingdom. We know that Lucifer, the fallen one, came before God to ask to be allowed to torment and test the great man of God, Job. We know that he asked the Lord to”sift” or put the apostle Peter to a similar torturous testing. Satan will be allowed to come before the throne of God until a certain point. We learn this in the following:
“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” (Rev. 12:10).
And, this Scripture brings us to the most fierce part of human history for the Tribulation earth-dwellers. It will be the second great war of the Creation –the war of two worlds, eternally apart in their intents and purposes. Satan and his fallen angelic armies are to be removed from the very presence of God and confined to planet Earth.
Now that isn’t such good prophetic news for flesh and blood earthdwellers of that future time of apocalypse. The prophecy tells us:
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:9).
Jesus said, of that time: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke10:18).
John the prophet and apostle was given the words to encourage believers, and forewarn unbelievers down through the centuries:
“Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12).
The great apostle Peter forewarned of this rage Satan has for all of God’s human creation, and for believers in particular: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5: 8).
God has placed so much in His Word to warn about this adversary and his legions, the devil and his minions, that the evil that has been in all the cosmos since that first great war in heaven must saturate every aspect of existence. But, we who name the name of Jesus Christ can take comfort. We are on the other side—the other spiritual dimension of this cataclysmic collision of supernatural worlds.
It is true that we who are flesh and blood must exist side by side with that dimension, because we live in a third dimension –one we perceive to be reality, but which is really existence that is no more than a vapor, in terms of God’s eternal economy. But, we are not left without defense against our horrific enemies that comprise Satan’s evil forces.
God tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 that not only CAN we stand against Satan and his evil, but that it is our duty to do so. He promises to provide armor to fight the good fight. But, we are required to put it on. And, it is not a defensive, but an offensive strategy the Lord demands. Our defense, you see, IS our offense: the cross of the Lord Jesus!
The war of the worlds has never come to armistice since Satan first rebelled. It won’t stop until Christ ends it at Armageddon (Rev. 19:11). The war is heating up, as anyone with spiritual discernment from the Bible’s perspective can understand. Our hourly, even minute-by-minute, news reports tell us that earth’s great volcano is building to an explosive eruption.
Todd and I get calls from the world’s news media, whose reporters want to know what’s up. While they are likely just looking for some answers from us that might “entertain” their viewers, listeners, or readers, I detect trepidation in their tone and questioning when we have gone over things of prophecy and news of the world for a few minutes. They walk away thinking, I can instinctively tell, their eyes turned downward in deeper thought than when they came to us. “Is this old guy crazy like we thought coming in, or does he have the truth, and we are the ones in trouble?”
I get the distinct sense that the journalists who interview us go away wondering if there is the world of spiritual battle, unseen by those who have had pounded into their heads that if you can’t see, hear, touch, or smell it, it doesn’t exist.
The answer is, my journalist friends—YES! There is a supernatural world. It is not the supernatural world as perceived existing by Hollywood producers, or those who believe in ghosts of departed human beings inhabiting the plane just outside physical existence. This is the end-time topic I’ve attempted to address to some extent in my just-released novel, The Rapture Dialogues: Dark Dimension.
Without turning this into an ad, or commercial, the story involves the UFOs –the shiny disks that people over the millennia have reported, and have reported, particularly in these closing days of human history. The subtitle is, in my perhaps not so humble view—perfect as a descriptive. “Dark Dimension.” We’ve seen –if you did your Bible reading where suggested—that we struggle against this dark dimension. This is the world with which all of creation is in conflict. The collision of the worlds isn’t coming. It’s already here.
While the media of news and entertainment sorts look to extraterrestrial sources for these “visitors” many people claim to have been abducted by, probed by, or impregnated by, the general of these forces –which are absolutely real, according to Ephesians, Chapter 6, grins his evil grin and seethes his loathing through clinched teeth of supernatural hatred that rages within him.
The physical plane is beginning to reflect that loathing for all of God’s creation, while the devil turns up the heat. We are seeing this begin to manifest itself, I believe, in the great increase in sightings of the UFOs, and strange goings-on in matters assigned by those who don’t know the truth, to stigmata, ghostly hauntings, or other phenomena intruding into our dimension of existence. At the same time, the astrophysical elements surrounding our small planet –including our own sun—seem to be increasingly affected. One story of late presents interesting fodder for speculation of where it might fit within Jesus’ forewarnings of “signs in the sun, stars, and moon.”
“Sun-spawned cosmic storms that can play havoc with earthly power grids and orbiting satellites could be 50 percent stronger in the next 11-year solar cycle than in the last one, scientists said on Monday…”This prediction of an active solar cycle suggests we’re potentially looking at more communications disruptions, more satellite failures, possible disruptions of electrical grids and blackouts, more dangerous conditions for astronauts,” said Richard Behnke of the Upper Atmosphere Research Section at the National Science Foundation” (“Sun’s next 11-year cycle could be 50 pct stronger,” Mon., Mar 6, by Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters).
Another indicator that things are changing from stellar business as usual is reflected in a fascinating story about the planet that absorbed the tremendous impact by the Shoemaker-Levy comet a couple of decades ago:
The Great Red Spot that has dominated the planet Jupiter’s cloud tops for hundreds of years now has a companion. The gas giant is growing another red spot, which US space agency (Nasa) astronomers have nicknamed ‘Red Jr.’ Both red spots are actually raging storms in Jupiter’s cloud layer, but scientists don’t yet know how they get their characteristic brick color…Dr Glenn Orton, an astronomer at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies storms on Jupiter and other giant planets, said: “This is convincing. We’ve been monitoring Jupiter for years to see if Oval BA would turn red – and it finally seems to be happening.” (BBC News, 7 March, 2006).
To be sure, these “signs in the heavens” are likely not the signs Jesus prophesied for the Great Tribulation. The very atmosphere of the planet, and space, itself, will be ablaze with incendiary activity at that time. The sun will go dark, but the heat will intensify, indicating it will likely be a partial nova. The war of the spiritual worlds will begin to turn one-sided, while god’s great wrath pours upon a planet full of rebels against Him.
Coming back to this side of the Tribulation, we see the battle strategies in action by the other side of the spiritual warfare. The dark side, as the Star Wars creator would have it. But, it isn’t fiction we are dealing with. It is real warfare—more real and more horrific in scope than any warfare the people of earth have ever endured. Jesus said:
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).
Satan is observably ratcheting up his invasion plans. It looks to me that it is a three-pronged war-blueprint instrument he will use, much like the trident the devil is erroneously said in some quarters to have as part of his red union suit. First, he is stirring the ethnic and religious strife among peoples of most every part of the planet; second, he is manipulating the Babylonian system of government and economy, moving it –as the Lord allows—toward one world; third–and this is the assault that is about to begin in earnest, I believe—he is beginning to set up for the “strong delusion” of 2 Thessalonians 2:8-13.
I believe that the planet is seeing and will soon experience much greater manifestations of supernatural interventions into the affairs of mortal men. This, based upon Genesis 6: 1-3, and Jesus’ words of Luke 17: 26-29. Though the outcome is already known to all who read and truly study Bible prophecy, getting to the end of that conflict will be a painful and deadly journey for those left behind. The two spiritual worlds are about to collide in a mighty explosion of end-of-days decimation.
That’s why it’s so important that we, as God’s royal ambassadors, do all we can to bring peace to individual souls, before we are recalled to our heavenly home, which Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has prepared for us (John 14:1-3).