Revelation 12:4 And his tail
drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and
the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to
devour her child as soon as it was born. 5
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a
rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Satan led the third part of the stars of heaven, which we have
established as angels, and they were cast to earth. This is perhaps history and
whether or not it is worthy of discussion. Evidence shows us that Satan’s
rebellion began a long time ago.
Several times in Revelation, as
through the rest of the Bible, there is mention of a third of something. We
have already seen in Genesis how the Bible can equate the number of stars in
the universe with grains of sand on the sea to denote a huge uncountable
number. So, a third seems to represent, not an exact number, but a significant
minority. While the number three is often associated with the trinity of God
the Father, Christ the Word, and the Holy Ghost it also, as with a third, can
represent God’s sovereignty and absolute power over every event, most notably
in many cases of prophecy judgment itself.
From Noah’s three sons to Mary
staying with Elizabeth for three months to a third part in Revelation we see
three and a third closely linked to God’s plan, to what He has ordained. There
are patterns of three in the Bible, for instance Hosea 2:22. While commentators
have their own opinions of why three is so prominent my view is that it is
linked throughout as a symbol of God’s sovereignty and of His involvement in
the details. When we see three or a third we should then think of the
sovereignty of God. One commentator I read said that three in the Bible was
God’s fingerprint leaving no doubt or confusion about who was in charge.
As the Holy Ghost gave inspiration
to the writers of the Old Testament they wove a description of Satan into their
descriptions of human kings and even beasts. Here, Ezekiel starts out and ends
up talking about the king of Tyre, who was the very powerful ruler of that city
and Phoenicia, whose merchant navy traveled the world, including rounding
Africa, working tin mines in Cornwall in England, and perhaps even reaching
what are today called the Americas. But, in the description a key is given that
could only apply to Satan.
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in
Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius,
topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the
emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy
pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast
walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day
that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
In addition, Satan, the adversary,
also known as Lucifer, had his motivations exposed early on. In speaking to the
king of Babylon, Isaiah gives us this;
Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: 14
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down
to hell, to the sides of the pit.
One would think that the reference in Isaiah
can be linked to these verses in Revelation 12 and that at least some of these
verses by virtue of Christ’s statement in Luke 10:18 are historical events of
Christ’s time and the ascension of the Roman Empire around Christ’s birth.
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