When does the kingdom come to power?

In Revelation chapter 12 Christ is viewed as “Michael” fighting against the dragon and its angels. However, in Revelation chapter 19 he is seen as “King of kings,” striking the nations and shepherding them with an iron rod. In this scene, he rides in warfare not only with the faithful angels, but also with the holy ones. So it appears that Christ becomes King after the war that broke out in heaven, but immediately preceding Armageddon. Unlike this scenario, e-watchman says that “the ouster of Satan and the demons takes place after Jesus is given his kingdom.” (See e-watchman mailbag, dated April 14, 2006) Is it not apparent that the kingdom is given to Christ and the holy ones after the war in heaven and Satan’s ouster, but before the Armageddon war?


The 12th chapter of Revelation depicts a symbolic woman giving birth to a male child who is to rule the nations. Obviously the birth of the child symbolizes the birth of God’s kingdom. And, indeed, immediately after the child is born it is “caught away to God and to his throne.” The fact that the child is caught away to God’s throne indicates that the child is an heir of the kingdom. It is immediately after the birth of the royal child that war breaks out in heaven between Jehovah’s angels and the demons. Revelation 12:10 confirms for us that the war in heaven was a result of Christ’s kingdom coming to power.

After the Devil is hurled down to earth he then goes off to wage war against the holy ones for 42 months. Eventually all the holy ones will be killed, which is why the entire body of chosen ones (144,000) is with Christ in heaven to smash the nations at the climatic battle of Armageddon. (See essay: Will Christianity Survive the End of the World?)

When is the Devil thrown down from heaven?

I have always been of the impression that Satan and his demons would be forcefully ejected from the heavens at the beginning of the last days. Is this correct? If not, when does this occur? I have been reading and re-reading Revelation 7:1-17 and it appears that it is possible that this is actually the first piece of "business" once the kingdom has been established in the heavens following the "martyrdom" of the holy ones.

The reason I have drawn this conclusion is some wording in this chapter of God's Word. Chapter 12 verses 8-9 describe the battle and its outcome. Verse 10 announces the actual coming to power of the kingdom and verse 11 tells us who defeats the Devil and his demons. It says "And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. This seems to imply that this battle happens after Satan has dispatched of the remnant of the "holy ones" on earth and after they have been resurrected to the heavens. Is this correct? And if not, could you please explain?

If I am correct in my assumption above who are the "remaining ones of her seed" that the dragon goes off to wage war with in verse 17? I look forward to your answer.


The ouster of Satan and the demons takes place after Jesus is given his kingdom. However, the 12th chapter of Revelation reveals that there are actually two separate war campaigns that immediately follow the establishment of the kingdom. First, Satan and his demons wage a furious but losing battle against Michael and his angels and are subsequently thrown down from heaven to the lower regions of our earthly sphere. Once confined to the earthly realm the demons then go off to wage war with the remaining sons of the kingdom – that is the second phase of the war.

As for the duration of the war against the holy ones, the 11th and 12th chapters of Revelation, as well as the 7th chapter of Daniel, indicate that God allows a specific period of three and one half years for holy ones to be persecuted and eventually martyred. That period of time is designated as the “time of the end.”

Of course, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the war in heaven has taken place already; however, e-watchman presents numerous reasons why that cannot be the case.

How does the king of the north prove to be sucessful?

E-watchman points out that the king of the north becomes a virtual squatter in the earthly realm of the land of decoration by dispatching the anointed remnant in death so that he has no rival. At this point in time, what is the position of the other sheep, which are also part of the one flock under the one shepherd, Christ Jesus? If they are on earth at this juncture and they will go on to inherit the earth, how does e-watchman explain that the king of the north becomes a virtual squatter of the land, having no more earthly rivals? So in the case of the other sheep, how does the king of the north proves to be successful?

The thing to keep in mind is that during the time of the end, when Christ Jesus moves to assert his kingship, something quite extraordinary is going to take place. What is that? The chosen ones who are destined to emerge from the refining and smelting furnace of Jehovah’s discipline during the time of the end will not be as they are now. When the holy ones are given the kingdom a fundamental and profound change will occur. What is that? They will become kings in the fullest sense. This is the phenomenon Paul wrote about in the 8th chapter of Romans regarding the "revealing of the sons of God."

Thus, in the context of the ongoing rivalry between the king of the north and the king of the south, Christ and the holy ones actually become a rival kingdom. And in the wake of the eventual subjugation of the king of the south, God’s kingdom will then present itself as an unanticipated impediment to the king of the north.

In terms of the great crowd, they will merely be subjects of Christ and the holy ones, whereas the real power will lie with Christ and his ruling body of chosen ones. And because the great crowd will be subservient to Christ’s brothers then, in their absence they will be as though subdued. Thus the king of the north is temporarily succesful in destroying his rival kingdom when he brings the holy ones to ruin, as Daniel says in regards to the king of fierce countenance.

The 27th chapter of Isaiah appears to speak of the situation, and which is the subject of the essay Will Christianity Survive the End of the World?

Kings "over" the earth or "on" the earth?

Could you please explain why most other Bible translations of Revelation 5:9,10 say that a kingdom of priests shall be ruling on the earth whereas the New World Translations says that they are to rule as kings over the earth. I have done a bit of research and found that a lot of the different Bibles have a different translation about this, which makes it hard to help a student to understand that the 144,000 are going to rule over the earth as kings and priests and not on the earth, which is what other Bible translations have said.

The problem a passage like Revelation 5:9-10 presents is wholly artificial. Thus, when approaching a seeming discrepancy in translations we should try to avoid the tendency to make an issue of minor wording differences. True enough, minor differences in wording can affect the meaning dramatically. John 1:1 is a classic example. But should a doctrine as important as the relationship of God and Christ, for example, be determined on the basis of a translator’s use of an indefinite article or lack of one? Our understanding of the Scriptures, particularly as regards crucial Bible doctrines, should not be based upon one letter, word or verse. Our goal as Bible teachers is to enable others to see the big picture – otherwise known as “the truth.” Focusing on prepositions is counter-productive.

So, when approaching questions that may arise due to minor textual variations, unless there is clear cut proof that one translation is grammatically incorrect, it is best to set that particular verse aside and look elsewhere in the Scriptures to verify the intent of the verse in question. In this case we would have to find an answer to the question: Will the kingdom of God rule from heaven over the earth, or will it rule on the earth?

By considering what the entire Bible teaches on that topic rather than one verse we will assist others to attain a much deeper knowledge of the truth and help them to learn how to solve these kinds of problems.