Was There Really A War In Heaven?

For those who don’t think of themselves as much of a warrior or soldier, think again! Did you know that you fought in perhaps the greatest war in the history of mankind?

In this episode of Gospel First, join Joe Cirillo as he reveals the profound conflict that took place in the premortal existence over the souls of God's children. Gain a deeper understanding of this cosmic struggle, the motivations behind Lucifer's rebellion, and the pivotal role each of us played in supporting Jesus Christ against the adversary. Delve into the powerful tools of faith and testimony that not only ensured our victory then but also continue to empower us in our ongoing fight against evil.

Transcription:

This war was fought in the pre-mortal existence before we were ever born on earth for the very souls of all of God’s children. That is right, there was a war in heaven. We read in Revelations 12:7-9 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels,... And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, …”

Although we battled in that war, we don’t remember it because we have passed the premortal existence through the veil and into mortality. Fortunately for us, the scriptures and the prophets have helped reveal to us what took place in the War in Heaven so we can better know how to faithfully continue to fight Satan during the war for our souls on earth.

Unfortunately, some people don’t read their scriptures very carefully or often enough, and at times the events of the premortal War in Heaven are not taught or learned in church discussions quite as accurately as they should be.

So let’s take a look at what actually took place. The war in heaven was not about a choice between Jesus’ plan and Satan’s plan. It was a war over the Plan—the one and only eternal plan of God the Father. Heavenly Father wasn’t asking who here has a plan? Jesus didn’t come up with the plan—He accepted to be part of God’s plan. But Satan who in the premortal existence was originally known as Lucifer, had other ideas.

Satan, as shown in this scripture, was originally known as “Lucifer” in the premortal existence. As we see from Isaiah 14:12 “... O Lucifer, son of the morning! …”

Lucifer, means “Light Bringer” or “son of the morning”. But Satan’s desire was not to bring light to others, he wanted only the praise of others.

As we continue to read in Isaiah 14:13-14, look at what Satan wanted. “... I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will be like the most High.”

He wanted to be in charge! He wanted to take God the Father’s place! And in Moses 4:1 the Lord was conversing with Moses after Satan appeared to Moses and Moses cast Satan away. Look at what Satan demanded of our Heavenly Father! “And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul should not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.”

Satan wanted to overthrow God so he could rule on the throne in his wicked, self-serving pride. Jesus on the other hand, we read in Moses 4:2 “... Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.”

How humble and how selfless. Satan was so jealous of Jesus’ appointment by God as our Savior that he eventually threw a temper tantrum.

He did the same thing when Moses cast him out. Look at what Satan said in Moses 1:19 “...Satan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.”

And so, because our Heavenly Father rejected Satan’s self-glorifying motives, Satan began his work of spreading a great lie about what he could and would do. The problem is, he couldn’t do it. He proposed to save us all by taking away our agency (our ability to choose for ourselves) and forcing us all to heaven. Only one problem. It’s impossible. Agency as we read in Moses 7:32 “...in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency.”

Agency is a God-given gift that has and will exist forever and it cannot forcibly be taken away.

Satan’s proposal to “save everyone” was totally ridiculous because he was lying about his intentions: he only wanted to save himself and no one else. He wasn’t interested in making other people like God; he was only interested in using other people so he could become God. That is why the scriptures say that Satan “was a liar from the beginning”. He lied about having a real plan, he lied about how he could accomplish a plan, and he lied about his real intentions.

Unfortunately, as we read in Doctrine and Covenants 76:25 “And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled … was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son.

As we see, Satan used his status as “an angel of God who was in authority and persuaded other premortal spirits to rebel against God’s plan. Because of his silver-tongued lies, many followed after him. How many followed him? Abraham 3:28 tells us: ” Many followed after him.” But Revelations 12:4 gives us the exact number... third part of the stars of heaven, …”

Wow! One-third of our brothers and sisters! And when Satan rebelled against God, his name was changed, and he was called the Devil, which comes from the Hebrew word “Diabolos”, meaning slanderer. That is one reason why the scriptures in Revelations 12:10 says: “...for the accuser (that is Lucifer) of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

Now, one might think that the war was a fistfight, or that we used weapons like the sword, etc. No, we all saw through Satan’s lies and stayed faithful to God’s true plan of salvation. We used weapons that were much more powerful and real: It was faith in and a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

How do we know that? The scriptures in Revelations 12:11 teaches us; “And they (that is us) overcame him (that is Lucifer) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; …”

We have been exercising faith in Jesus Christ since before we were born. In a way, we’re not here to gain a testimony—we’re here to simply remember the one we’ve always had.

We all knew Jesus was the chosen heir of God, and that because of His character, he was perfectly capable of performing the Atonement. He was perfect in every way. With that knowledge and with our testimony of Jesus Christ, we rejected Satan’s plan to take Jesus’s place.

In Moses 4:3, God said; “...by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down.” There you have it. It was “the power of Jesus Christ [that] caused [Satan] should be cast down.”

The modern prophets have taught us: “Those who followed Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were permitted to come to the earth to experience mortality and progress toward eternal life.

The fact that we are here, born on this earth shows we stood on Heavenly Father and Jesus’ side before we were ever born.

Our testimony is a powerful weapon for ourselves and others to overcome the adversary. We have had a testimony of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father for thousands of years; we just need to remember it and develop it.

I once heard it said, that the more you share your testimony, the more it becomes yours. That, I believe, is a true statement. But the war wages on today and we need to always be on guard of that evil one.

When Satan was cast out of heaven, where do you think he went? Some say that Satan and his followers were cast to outer darkness. That is not correct. Satan and his followers were not cast out into outer darkness—not yet anyway.

Revelations 12:9 tells us “...he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Satan is on the earth today, and so are his rebellious third who followed him. The difference is that when Satan and his followers were cast out, they were denied the privilege of receiving a mortal body; this is why we can not see them.

What is interesting is that these evil spirits wanted a body so badly, that they are willing to settle for any type of body.

Some may recall in Matthew 8:29-31 where Jesus cast out evil spirits from a young man who was possessed.

“And, behold, they (the evil spirits) cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

So the devils besought him, saying, "If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.”

They wanted a body so badly that they were willing to settle for the bodies of swine. And we know what happened then, in verse 32 the swine rejected them, by running violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

Now, Satan and his followers know they have lost. They know that truth and goodness and Jesus Christ and God our Father will triumph, and that eventually Satan and his followers will be sent down to outer darkness.

Until then, Satan the father of all lies, continues to wage war on the saints who will not hearken unto the voice of God. As we read in Moses 4:4 Satan will “...deceive and to blind men, and to lead them (us) captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.”

Satan will use everything in his power to drag us down with him and be miserable like unto himself.

The war in heaven is not over. The battlefield just moved to earth. Fortunately for us, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that: “the devil has no power over us only as we permit him.”

We have so many weapons of war at our side to beat Satan again: We have Agency.

We have a mortal body.

We have the Holy Ghost to lead and guide us.

We have scriptures that teach us eternal truth.

We have living prophets to guide the way.

We have the Church to provide us with eternal ordinances.

We have priesthood power to bless our lives.

We have families to love and care for us.

We have a testimony to power our actions.

But most of all, we have Jesus Christ, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness” and who will “subdue all enemies under his feet.” The final outcome is certain: God will win, and His plan of salvation will work.

The only question is whether we, individually, will continue to follow it, and beat Satan once again. We did it once, we can and will do it again.

This concludes our lesson in this section of ACT 1. Let's move on to lesson 4 in ACT 1, which will cover “The Fall of Adam and Eve and how it impacts our lives.”

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