21-23. (a) Why is that “war” in heaven nothing to scoff at unbelievingly? (b) How does John, in Revelation, chapter 12, describe the cause of this?

²¹ Do we realize that, in heaven, a war resulted from the successful birth of that Messianic kingdom that came forth from God’s heavenly organization like a newborn child from a woman? This is nothing to scoff at unbelievingly, for any war has its effects and this heavenly invisible war has had its effects on us people here on earth. The effects of that war are nothing for us to smile at, for we are painfully feeling them. This is what lends realism to the matter. The unseen heavenly cause of this was prophetically envisioned to the Christian apostle John. He gives us the following description, according to The New English Bible of 1970:

²² “She [that is, God’s heavenly organization] gave birth to a male child, who is destined to rule all nations with an iron rod. But her child was snatched up to God and his throne; . . . Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels waged war upon the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought, but they had not the strength to win, and no foothold was left them in heaven.

²³ “So the great dragon was thrown down, that serpent of old that led the whole world astray, whose name is Satan, or the Devil​—thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I [John] heard a voice in heaven proclaiming aloud: ‘This is the hour of victory for our God, the hour of his sovereignty and power, when his Christ comes to his rightful rule! For the accuser of our brothers is overthrown, who day and night accused them before our God. By the sacrifice of the Lamb they have conquered him, and by the testimony which they uttered; for they did not hold their lives too dear to lay them down. Rejoice then, you heavens and you that dwell in them! But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, knowing that his time is short!’”​—Rev. 12:5-12, NE; also The Jerusalem Bible.

24. (a) How long did that “war . . . in heaven” last? (b) Why was the outcome of that war to result in “woe” for us on land and sea?

²⁴ How long that “war . . . in heaven” between holy angels and devilish demons lasted is not stated in the record; but it is hardly likely that it lasted longer than World War I, which ended on November 11, 1918. Be that as it may, yet the more personal thing is, How did that war affect us on earth who were unaware of its occurrence in heaven? The holy heavens were called upon to rejoice over God’s victory, a divine victory, but what about us here on earth? The loud cry in heaven said: “But woe to you, earth and sea!” Why “woe” for us, whether on land or on sea? Because “the Devil has come down to you in great fury, knowing that his time is short!”​—Rev. 12:12, NE.

25, 26. (a) What questions about human affairs since the close of World War I are submitted to persons who scoff at the existence of Satan and his demon angels? (b) Finally, as to the matter of cause and effect, what question do we ask?

²⁵ Scoffers at the Bible may take this idea of Satan the Devil and his demon angels being thrown down to the vicinity of our earth as a laughing matter. But can they laugh and are they laughing at the “woe” that both earth and sea are experiencing today? No, those scoffers cannot see Satan the Devil with their natural eyes, but they have reason to know that he and his legions of demon angels are around, in our neighborhood. If they do not believe it, then let them answer why it is that the League of Nations that was organized shortly after the end of World War I did not prove to be an international organization for world peace and security. Why did it not prevent the rise of war-minded political dictators in Europe? Why did it not prevent the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the war that climaxed with the detonating of two atomic bombs with woe for the inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

²⁶ Also, Why is it that the United Nations organization, since its formation at the close of World War II in 1945, has not prevented all the wars and revolutions, territorial aggressions, and other political turmoils till the present time? Why is it that we have such frightening buildup of the great world powers for nuclear warfare? Why the money crisis? Why troubles continually between labor and capital, even between government employees and government? Why all the fanatical nationalism? Why all the racial strife and prejudices? Why the increasing of crime? Why the breakdown of morals? Why the epidemic increase of social diseases? Why the ruining of mankind’s earthly home by pollution? Why the growing shortage of food for earth’s increasing population? Why, as Jesus Christ predicted for our time, “upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken”? (Luke 21:25, 26, Revised Standard Version) For every effect there is a cause. What is the real cause of all these distressing effects?

Cause of Humanity’s Distress Nears Removal

1. According to the Bible, what is the main cause of humanity’s suffering increasing distress?

IT IS true that selfish, loveless men are not free from blame. But the main reason for humanity’s suffering increasing distress is that Satan the Devil and his demon angels have been thrown out of the holy heavens and down to our earth’s neighborhood, and these ousted devils are furious at this. They are furious because the “war . . . in heaven” resulted in divine victory, God’s victory. They are furious because God’s kingdom of his true Messiah was born in the heavens at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914, and they could not block it. They are furious because their time of confinement here is short before they are ousted even from the earth and imprisoned in an abyss from which they cannot exercise their wicked influence over all mankind.​—Rev. 20:1-3, 7.

2, 3. (a) How is the aim of Satan the Devil like the political aim of the late dictator Hitler? (b) Why is Revelation 12:13-17 quoted to show that Satan’s aim is not for the preserving of human life?

² With the late Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, the political aim was, Rule or ruin! He got that idea from the same place where earlier dictators got it, namely, from Satan the Devil. Now that Satan will shortly be unable to rule all mankind as he did during the Gentile Times and even before that, he is determined to ruin all mankind. Then, as he thinks, no humans will be left on earth over which God’s kingdom of his Messiah can rule. Suicide by humanity by nuclear war or self-pollution is no deterrent thought for Satan the Devil. His purpose toward mankind is murderous, and this is indicated in these further words of the Revelation:

³ “Now when the dragon saw that it was hurled down to the earth, it persecuted the woman that gave birth to the male child. . . . And the dragon grew wrathful at the woman, and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.”​—Rev. 12:13-17.

War at Har–Magedon

4, 5. (a) Against whom has the symbolic dragon Satan declared war, and for how long? (b) To what is he unsuspectedly leading political rulers of earth, and how is this operation of his pictured in Revelation 16:13-16?

⁴ Satan the symbolic dragon has declared war against God’s organization (as symbolized by “the woman”) down to the very end. Unsuspected by the political rulers of Christendom and heathendom, Satan “the great dragon” is leading them to destruction in a final war. Not a war between themselves with nuclear weapons and biochemical agencies, but a war against God, who is the Father of the heavenly Messianic kingdom from the womb of his “woman,” his organization. This is true, not only for the anti-God Communist bloc of nations, but also for the nations of religious Christendom. The rulers of distressed humanity are today following the war propaganda of Satan the symbolic dragon.