“It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore.” This is the ironic opening line of Ernie Pyle’s article, entitled This Is The Way It Was, from the Normandy Beachhead after D-Day. He reported, “the wreckage was vast and startling. The awful waste and destruction of war.”[i] Ernie was a war correspondent from the start of World War II until his death by Japanese machine gun fire on April 17, 1945. Ernie went with the troops into combat, not to fight the battles but to write the stories. It’s hard to imagine accepting that job. But a war correspondent has an important role. They help us make some sense of the devastation. From limited information and in real-time they piece together the who, what, when, where and why of the war so that we might piece together some meaning out of the chaos.
Our firsthand experience of the spiritual war between good and evil puts us in the position of a war correspondent, trying to make sense of the wreckage while still in the heat of battle. Asking questions of the devastation is messy but it’s the only way to see the meaning in the devastation.
Let’s take a look at Revelation 12 and apply those “5 W’s” of the war correspondent to this spiritual war, the one the Seventh-Day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs call “The Great Controversy”.
Who?
The “who” of The Great Controversy includes all of us.
It began with Michael and his angels against the Dragon and his angels (v.7). The Dragon is clearly identified as Satan (v.9). Michael is not clearly identified. Traditionally, Adventists have understood Michael to be a name for Jesus (Jude 9, Daniel 10:13,21; 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; John 5:25-29). There is common resistance to this identification within Christianity, partially because it is taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses with the conclusion that Jesus is not divine. Adventists do believe in the divinity of Jesus and also present a reasonable Biblical argument for identifying Michael as Jesus. However, it is not necessary to identify Michael as Jesus to understand who the central figures in The Great Controversy are. Jesus is unmistakably brought into the controversy in verse 10 as the authority that throws Satan down. The conflict between Jesus and Satan is evident throughout scripture. The Bible even refers to the end–time satanic power as the “antichrist” (1 John 2:18,22,4:3), meaning “against Christ”. The Narrative of the conflict between good and evil runs through nearly every religion and worldview. The Bible gives us the names of these two forces. Good is called “Jesus”. Evil is called “Satan”.
If we want to know the “who” of the Great Controversy we can’t stop there. Remember, Michael’s angels and the Dragon’s angels got involved. This war includes the angels. Those who fell with Satan war against us (Eph. 6:12) while those who stayed with God support us in the battle (Heb. 1:14).
The Fundamental Belief begins with the words “All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan”. We, too, are included in the “who” of the Great Controversy. When Satan was defeated in heaven (v. 7) he was cast down to earth (v. 8) where he deceives the whole world (v.9). Suffering another defeat at the cross (v.11), Satan focused his great wrath (v. 12) on the church (vv. 13-16). Unable to destroy the church, he further focused his wrath on the faithful remnant in the church (v. 17). Are you tracking the narrowing focus? Initially, Satan had his sights set on ruling heaven and now he has his sights set on destroying the faithful.
The war correspondent, reporting who is involved in the battle, breaks the news that it is all of us. It’s all of heaven and all of earth. The central figures are Jesus and Satan but the way Satan attacks Jesus is by attacking those who are faithful to him. That’s who.
What?
The fundamental “what” behind the war is rejection of God. The Fundamental Belief states that it’s a controversy “regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe.” This rejection of God comes in the form of mistrust of God, misalignment with God, misrepresentation of God, or any preference we have above God.
Part of the “what” at the center of the Great Controversy is a rejection of God’s sovereignty. Revelation 12 hints at this when it reports that “there was no longer any place for them [Dragon and his angels] in heaven.” (v. 8) Actually, there was a place for them and they rejected it. Lucifer didn’t just have a place in heaven, he had an honored place. God says to him, “I placed you” (Ezekiel 28:14). He didn’t like where God placed him because it was, appropriately, under the place of God. Still he was a “model of perfection” and “perfect in beauty” (Ezekiel 28:12). He was a “guardian cherub” (vv. 14 & 16). Lucifer’s heart was proud because of his beauty (v.17) and he obsessively pursued ascendency to be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14). All the angels had a perfect place for them to occupy but when they rejected God’s sovereignty they rejected that place and there was no other place for them in heaven (v.8).
Part of the “what” at the center of the Great Controversy is a rejection of God’s truth. Revelation 12 describes Satan as the “deceiver of the whole world” (v.9). The war is fought with lies. Sin entered this earth though lies about God and man (Genesis 3:1-5). In his great effort to cause humanity to reject God Satan broadcasts that God is not loving, honest, fair, beautiful or satisfying. Rejection of truth is a victory for Satan.
Part of the “what” at the center of the Great Controversy is a rejection of God’s grace. Satan extends his lies as the “accuser of the brethren” (v.10). He wants us to feel guilt, shame, and condemnation instead of trusting God’s grace. He takes these accusations before God (v.10). He wants us to feel rejected by God so we will reject God. The accusations would be legitimate grounds of victory for Satan if it were not for the blood of the lamb (v.11). Rejection of grace is a victory for Satan.
Satan tempts us to love the world because he loses when we love God. The battle is decided when people love “not their lives even unto death” (v.11) or when they “keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (v.17).
The war correspondent, reporting what the controversy is about, breaks the news that it is about rejecting God. That’s what!
When?
The “when” of The Great Controversy is right now. At the same time it arches over the entire span of this fallen world, from the first sin to the final judgement.
We don’t know exactly when in heavenly history Lucifer rebelled. But we know it happened before the serpent appeared to tempt Eve in Genesis 3. The controversy didn’t begin in the 60’s with the hippies or in the 90’s with the internet. Every human ever born has been born into this controversy. This is all we’ve ever known.
Revelation 12 does not tell us when the controversy ends. It leaves us in the climax of the conflict. But it will end. The chaos will not last for eternity! We have to go to Revelation 20 to learn when it ends. After the second coming of Jesus there will be 1,000 years to process the controversy. Then, God will completely destroy Satan and his angels and all who have rejected God (Revelation 20:7-10). It’s a long war but soon it will end. We’ve never known anything else but soon we will.
The war correspondent, reporting when the controversy takes place, breaks the news that it’s right now. That’s when.
Where?
The “where” of The Great Controversy is everywhere and right here. The war started in heaven (v.7). There is no active combat there anymore but all of heaven is still involved as the controversy rages throughout the whole world (v.9).
The headlines of the war between Jesus and Satan fill the global news. Where is it? It’s in Afghanistan. It’s in China. It’s in America. It’s in the human trafficking operation. It’s in the abusive home. It’s in our entertainment, our taverns, our racism, our slavery. It’s in the devastation of natural disasters. It’s in the bedroom of a loved one who takes their last breath. It’s in the miscarriage. It’s in the divorce. It’s all a sad result of the controversy.
The headlines don’t just fill the global news; they fill the local ones too. It is not just a cosmic conflict, it is also very personal. It is right here. The Great Controversy is within each of us. It’s in every single thought that is either captive to Christ or raised up against God (2 Corinthians 10:5). We need the armor of God (Ephesians 6) because the attacks are personal. It’s in our temptations, our cravings, our desires, and our preferences. The individual messaging tells each of us that something other than God is more satisfying than God, that God can’t be trusted, that God is not who he says he is, that life would not be satisfying if it was fully surrendered to God.
The war correspondent, reporting where the controversy rages, breaks the news that it’s everywhere and it’s right here. That’s where.
Why?
The “why” of the Great Controversy is the big question. Why did God allow it? Why hasn’t he stopped it? Why all this suffering? The Great Controversy raises some tough questions to which the Great Controversy offers the only satisfying answers. The suffering only makes sense when we see that God loves us so much that he has granted us freedom (without which love is impossible), which risks rejection, which results in sin and suffering. The “why” of The Great Controversy is love!
Revelation 12 doesn’t tell us why but chapters 20 through 22 do. In chapter 20 we read about the future 1,000 years when God will open the books and answer every question we have about his character and his justice. The controversy that started with questions of God’s character has been allowed to play out to display the answers about God’s character. The controversy that started with a rejection of God will end with the vindication of God. All are free to reject him. All are free to choose him and to choose an eternity of love in the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21-22) where there will be no more controversy.
The war correspondent, reporting why the controversy rages, breaks the news that it’s because of love. God loves us so much that he has granted us the freedom to reject so that the possibility of eternal love might existed between God and those who freely choose him. That’s why.
The work of a war correspondent is emotionally draining. After four years full of the anxiety of war Ernie Pyle began suffering from symptoms of PTSD. He wrote, “My spirit is wobbly and my mind is confused. . . . All of a sudden, it seemed to me that if I heard one more shot or saw one more dead man, I would go off my nut.” [ii]
That’s us. We are worn thin by the “who”, “what”, “when” and “where” of The Great Controversy. Our wobbly spirits will be sustained when we remember that the “why” of The Great Controversy is love. The first four W’s help us to understand the reality of our situation. The final W is what will help us overcome it.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12:11
[i] This Is The Way It Was, Ernie Pyle, The Washington Dailey News, Friday, June 16, 1944
[ii] Farewell to Europe, September 5, 1944, Ernie’s War: The Best of Ernie Pyle’s World War II Dispatches, edited by David Nichols, pp. 357-59. Pictures courtesy of The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana