The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

We have in this symbolic vision, then, an obedient archangel, and the holy angels, his
followers on the one hand, and the great fallen angel, Satan, and the unholy angels, his
followers on the other, represented as engaging in a conflict, a war with one another, in
which Satan, unable to hold his ground, is at length cast out of heaven, and dejected with
his angels to earth. That these holy and unholy heavenly hosts are employed as symbols of
men, is very evident from the fact that the overcomers among the "many called" ones in
the conflict are described as not loving their lives unto death, which could be said only of
men and of martyrs, not of heavenly angels. This is also seen from the fact that they are
described as overcoming in the war--not through the use of worldly weapons, but "by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." Satan and the fallen angels
symbolize unbelievers, Pagans, antagonists to Christ and His cause, who endeavor by
persecuting Christ's followers to suppress their testimony, and thus to maintain the
supremacy of the Pagan religion. The fact that Satan is represented as accusing their
brethren before God, proves that the war, on the part of Christians, was one of religion
and not for political power or supremacy. We sum up a brief outline-interpretation of the
vision in the language of another:
"The angel war, then, it is apparent . . . was symbolic of the struggle of the faithful
teachers, confessors, and martyrs of the Gospel on the one hand, to spread and give
supremacy to Christianity, and of the Pagan priests and their active abettors, the
persecuting rulers especially, on the other, to maintain the dominion of idolatry. It was not
a strife for political power, manifestly, from the means by which the victory was gained.
They overcame the dragon, not by the sword, but by the blood of the Lamb, and by their
testimony. . . . As the symbol war was one of force, analogy requires that that which it
symbolizes should be one of authority and persuasion. The victory of Michael was such a
success of the Christian army as to turn the whole current of public belief and feeling in
their favor, and produce at length a revolution in the civil government, by which, instead
as before, of accusation as apostates, they were formally recognized as true worshipers of
God, tolerated in their faith and worship, and [erroneously] inspired with the expectation
that the commencement of Christ's Millennial reign was at hand. The period of this war
was the period, therefore, of the persecutions of Diocletian, Galerius, Maxentius, Maximin,
and Licinius; and the victory, that change of public feeling wrought by the testimony and
faith of the teachers of the Gospel, and sufferings and constancy of the confessors and
martyrs that rendered persecution and Paganism itself unpopular, prompted Constantine
to espouse the cause of the Christians, and finally led to the rejection of Paganism as the
religion of the State."
Satan operating behind the scenes
Satan, who in the vision is called the old serpent, is first mentioned in connection with this
symbolic war. One object, doubtless, of mentioning this great adversary of man is to show
that it was his power operating invisibly behind the scenes. He was the author of the
purely Pagan religion, and his power had become thoroughly entrenched in the
government of Pagan Rome. The overthrow of the Pagan government is represented by
Satan and his angels being cast to the earth.