The War Rages

Dannah Gresh: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth describes the war between Satan and God like a chess match. She says, "The moment Adam and Eve ate that fruit that God had said, 'Don’t eat,' they sided with Satan against God . . .

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: . . . and they became enemies of God. At that point we can imagine Satan saying, “Checkmate!” But God said, as it were, “The game’s not over. The King still has another move!”

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Lies Women Believe, for May 29, 2025. I’m Dannah Gresh.

This month we’ve spent some time reflecting on how the Revive Our Hearts portion of God’s river has grown over the years. One tributary has been the True Woman movement. God has used the True Woman conference in the lives of many women since the first one in 2008. Here’s Nancy giving the closing message at our most recent True Woman conference.

Nancy: Well, as we prepare to leave this place and head home . . . Some of you, by the way, are thinking, “I think I’d just like to stay here because I haven’t had to cook any meals. I haven’t had to clean up any messes. I haven’t had to chauffeur kids anywhere. I haven’t had to listen to the blaring TV in another room. This is, like, next to heaven! Could we just stay here? (laughter)

Well, I can tell you that in an hour, this place will be being torn down, and they will not let us stay here! It’s kind of like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration: “Lord, this is amazing! Could we just stay here? Can we just make some tents and camp here . . . forever?!” 

God gives us these beautiful moments on the mountaintop to see and to experience and to taste—to get a foretaste of the glories of heaven. But He doesn’t intend we should stay here, yet. He’s sending us home. He’s sending us back into some hard places, some difficult places, some dark places.

Many in this room are going back (you know you are) into some challenging situations. Maybe there’s conflict going on in your workplace, in your marriage, with your children—other relationships—maybe in your church.

We heard about a group coming from a church that has just been through a horrific split. It’s painful! And you’re going back to that, circumstances over which you have no control. For some, you’re going to face a battle just around the corner that you had no idea was coming. But I want you to leave ready to face whatever is coming with biblical perspective and hope! 

So, let’s open our Bibles. Turn to Revelation chapter 12. We have in this passage, as in much of Revelation, an apocalyptic vision given to the apostle John. It describes for us a cosmic battle that is taking place in the unseen sphere, “the heavenlies,” as it’s sometimes called in the Scripture. But it’s a battle that’s being enacted here on earth.

In this chapter (I’m going to read most of it) we have three primary characters. I’m going to tell who they are so you can be looking for them. In verse 1, there’s a pregnant woman. Now, remember, this is apocalyptic, this is symbolic imagery. There’s a pregnant woman, and her offspring, and depending on your translation, it may say, “her seed.” Now, most Bible scholars agree that this woman is symbolic of the nation of Israel, though with application of all the covenant community, the people of God. So, we have the woman in verse 1.

In verse 3 we have a great dragon and his angels. And then in verse 5, we have a Son—a Son born to the woman—along with His heavenly army.

So, watch for these characters as I read through this passage and see how they interact with each other. Revelation 12:1, this is the Word of the Lord.

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns.

Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.

She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there for 1,260 days.

Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, [does someone want to say “hallelujah!” there?] and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.

So the great dragon was thrown out [and here we find out who that great dragon is] the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, [he deceives the whole world, he accuses the believers] who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. [And] They conquered him . . .

Who conquered him? The brothers and sisters, the believers. They conquered him, this great fiery red dragon . . .

. . . by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. (vv. 1–11)

Let me just pause there for a moment. How did they conquer this fierce enemy? By being willing to die! The devil thought that killing God’s people would be his greatest victory, but what the devil didn’t know is that death actually turned out to be God’s greatest weapon in forever defeating the devil!

Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short. When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male child. . . .

So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus. (vv. 12–13, 17)

The Word of the Lord.

Now, in this passage we see war in two spheres: we see war going on in heaven, in verse 7, between the dragon and his angels and the angelic armies of God. And then in verse 13 and following, we see war going on, on earth between the dragon—the devil, Satan—and against the woman and her seed, the chosen people of God.

That’s who her offspring are, verse 17, “those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.” That’s us! There’s a war going on here on earth! Did you know that? There are eight references to war in the book of Revelation. We’re reading about the final drama in the longest lasting war in the history of civilization. The Bible tells us how this conflict began, how it will end, and where we fit in.

So, who is this dragon, this ancient serpent, this devil who wreaks such havoc on the earth? And, by the way, the enemy is not a political party, the enemy is not a politician, the enemy is not your husband, the enemy is not your boss, the enemy is not the media, the enemy is not lawmakers who are making evil laws. The enemy who is engaging in this war is the devil himself! And how did he come to be? I want to start there.

Well, Scripture tells us in the very first book of the Bible, “In the beginning God . . .” God! The Sovereign God, the Creator God, the Center of the universe, the One to whom all glory belongs, He made His creatures. He created angels in heaven and man and woman on earth. Why? For worship—to reflect His glory, to give glory back to Him.

And one of those creatures God created, to give glory to God for worship, was an angel. We read about this angel in Isaiah chapter 14, verse 12. In some translations it will say this angel was named Lucifer. Other translations will say that word is “lightbearer.” Lucifer means “shining one,” “morning star,” “brightness.” Lucifer, one of the chief, exalted angels in heaven was created to reflect the light and the glory of God!

But then we read about Lucifer, this light bearer. It wasn’t his light, it was the glory of God! Like the moon, he had no light of his own. He was created to reflect the light and the glory of God. And he rebelled. 

We read about this rebellion in a couple of different passages; you may want to just jot down the references. I’m going to just touch on them, there’s a lot more to study on these. But in Ezekiel 28, verse 14, this angel, Lucifer is called “an anointed guardian cherub.” We learn from this that he had direct access to the throne of God in heaven. He had a high, appointed role.

Some commentators believe that the language here suggests that he was a leader of worship in heaven. He was a worship leader! He was made to worship God, but he wanted worship for himself. He wanted to share the glory of God. He was guilty of the sin of arrogance, of pride. 

We’re never more like Satan than when we’re proud, when we take glory to ourselves that rightly belongs only to God. We read a little bit more about his fall in Isaiah 14 (I just referenced). In the immediate context, this is a prophecy about the king of Babylon. 

But when Jesus talked about this verse in the New Testament, He used this verse to speak of Satan’s fall, and we’ve just read about this passage in Revelation chapter 12. So the king of Babylon was a human depiction of this ultimate cosmic enemy, the devil.

In Isaiah 14:13 and 14, we see the self-exaltation of Lucifer. He said in his heart, “‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will set up my throne above the stars of God. . . . I will ascend above the highest clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Now, when we exalt ourselves to be our own gods, we can be sure of one thing: God will bring us down. That’s exactly what happened to the devil. Verses 15 to 17 of Isaiah 14 talk, not about his exaltation, but of his destruction, his demotion, his doom.

 

Verse 15: “But you will be brought down to Sheol into the deepest regions of the Pit.” And we learn in Revelation 12 that one-third of the holy angels—once holy angels, the now-rebellious angels—chose to join Lucifer, “light-bearer, shining one,” in his darkness and his rebellion. And Satan and those angels became the relentless enemy of God.

So now we have one reigning King of heaven and one would-be king. The kingdom of Satan is characterized by darkness, evil, rebellion, chaos, death, despair, deception, and hatred. Does it sound like I just read the morning news? You see, when you read those things and you want to rant, remember who’s behind it!

But the kingdom of God is characterized by light, righteousness, submission, order, life, hope, truth, and love! And that’s the kingdom that we, as the people of God, are intended to showcase, to spotlight, down here in this world.

Satan is always at war against God and His people. He’s determined to this day to dethrone the Most High God and to occupy God’s place as the supreme ruler of the universe. There’s a painting that once hung in the Louvre Museum in Paris (it’s now privately owned).

It depicts two players seated in a chess match. One, who is supposed to be the, devil looks confident and smug. His opponent looks downcast, because he thinks he’s just lost the match. The popular name for this painting is Checkmate. Now, if you know something about chess, you know that each player has a king. And the object of the game is to back your opponent’s king into a position where he can’t make another move! And at that point the winner calls out, “Checkmate!”

That means, “No more moves, no more plays, the game’s over. You lost!” The story is told of a chess grandmaster who visited the Museum, and he stopped to look at this painting. He stared at it long and hard, pondering. Then he said, “Wait! The game’s not over! The king still has one more move!” The man who thought he had lost was actually winning!

Time and time again, Satan thinks that he’s backed you or me into a corner and he declares, “Checkmate! You’re a loser! I’ve got you now!” He does the same thing to God. Remember, he’s arrogant, he’s foolish. But each time he does that, we see that the game’s not over. The King still has one more move!

Let me just walk with you through several examples of this kind of attack/counterattack in Scripture, and then in the history of the Church, going back to the Garden of Eden.

Having been cast out of heaven, Satan, who was angry at God, attacked God’s cherished creatures. Remember, when Satan comes after God’s people, we’re not really the ones he wants. We don’t matter enough to be important to him. When he gets us, he believes he gets at God. That’s his enemy. 

So, the devil—the serpent—tempted Adam and Eve to be their own rulers. His goal was not to disprove God’s existence or to turn them into atheists. His goal was to persuade them to be their own rulers, to bow down to and worship another god.

The moment Adam and Eve ate that fruit that God had said, “Don’t eat,” they sided with Satan against God, and they became enemies of God. At that point we can imagine Satan shaking his fist at God and saying, “Checkmate!”

But God said, as if it were, “The game’s not over. The King still has another move!”

You see, the fall of man and man’s rebellion against God did not catch God off-guard. He didn’t have to call any emergency meetings in heaven. He already, from before the foundation of the earth, had a plan in place.

 

In Genesis 3:15 we have the first telling of the gospel, the good news for fallen rebellious sinners. Satan had said to God, “I will!” Adam and Eve had said, “I will!” But God said, in the face of their rebellion “I will! I will redeem you from your fallenness.”

God said to the serpent that there would be enmity, hostility, between the serpent—Satan—and the woman. He said, “between your seed and her seed, your offspring and her offspring.” He promised that there would be long-term war, hostility, Satan versus the woman and her seed, the human race.

But this reference to the Seed of the woman, the offspring of the woman, also points to a promised Savior who would be born of a woman. God said there in the Garden that the devil would be able to do damage to the woman and her Seed. 

He said, “You will bruise the heel of her Seed.” Now, a wound to your achilles or your heel, that can be super painful, but it’s not fatal. And then He says that in the end the devil would lose. He says,

But in the end, her Seed (make that a capital “S,” because He’s talking about the Savior) will bruise your head.

The Seed of the woman would inflict a fatal wound on the devil. The final outcome is not and never has been in doubt. The offspring of the woman will crush and destroy the serpent forever!

Now, Satan heard God’s promise, but he refused to concede the battle. He was blinded by his pride and hatred of God. He was determined to keep striking back with the vain hope that he might yet thwart God’s plan.

God had said to Satan that Satan would be crushed, his head would be bruised by the Offspring—or the Seed of the woman—Someone born through the birth process. So Satan set out to destroy the Promised Seed, not just the human race, but the promised Savior who would be sent to earth to be born of a woman. 

Satan’s ultimate goal, remember, was to destroy God and get worship for himself, and so we are in a battle! It’s a battle for worship. In fact, in the book of Revelation there are eleven references to the worship of God and there are ten references to the worship of the dragon—or the Beast, who is Satan—there’s this battle for worship.

Now, the victory is already determined, it’s assured. But God, in His Sovereignty, chooses to let Satan “win” some battles. And ultimately, in ways that only God could devise and design, even those apparent wins for Satan end up bringing greater glory to God!

Satan cannot thwart God’s plan. He lashes out. He does damage. But every time Satan strikes, God comes back and shows who is really Ruler! And remember, too, that Satan doesn’t come out in ways we can see him or talk to him or recognize him.

But here’s what he does: he works through human beings to accomplish his purposes. He inspires, he motivates, he drives, he uses men to achieve his purposes of opposing God. But when men oppose God, remember who is the power behind their opposing God. It is the devil himself.

And so, see how this plays out: Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. And Satan’s plan, knowing that there would be a Seed born of the woman who would crush his head, Satan’s plan was to kill anyone who looked like He might be the promised Redeemer.

So Satan thought, perhaps that Abel—who was a man of faith—was the promised Seed of the woman. So, he got Cain to kill his brother Abel. Scripture tells us in 1 John 3 that Cain belonged to the evil one. Satan was behind this action.

At this point we can imagine Satan (not literally, but) saying, “Checkmate!”

And we can imagine God saying, “Not so fast! The game’s not over! The King still has one more move!”

And so, God sends to Adam and Eve another son. Seth’s name means “compensation”—a replacement for Abel, so that the godly Seed of faith would continue. And through Seth’s line would come the promised Seed of the woman, who would redeem the world!

Dannah: Oh, it is so powerful to remember that King Jesus is completely in charge of history, even though the devil is trying to thwart God's plans. That's Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth with part one of a message from True Woman '22. She'll be back with more tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts.

The True Woman movement is one of the ways we've seen the Lord at work over the years. The entire Spanish language ministry of Revive Our Hearts was born at the first True Woman conference, and countless lives have been affected. The life-giving river of God is flowing deeper and stronger, and we are so thankful to be a part of it.

We need your help too. The end of May is just around the corner, and we need to close in on our May need of $810,000. You can see the up-to-date details at ReviveOurHearts.com.

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Nancy shares more about the attack and counter-attack we see throughout history in the Scriptures. You won't want to miss it. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the CSB

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