The greatest war in history began in an invisible yet parallel dimension long before any human walked the earth. The aggressor who began, and who continues the hostilities, is an exceptionally gifted and intelligent individual. He has dedicated himself fulltime to executing his war with the goal of ruling TWO universes as a god!
The leader of the "rebel forces" in this great war, who seeks to destroy God and everything he stands for, is Satan the devil. He has already launched one massive offensive with three other titanic battles to be carried out in the near future. This article discusses the first and greatest battle in the war, which pitted him and a huge demonic army directly against God's throne.
The objectives of war
The devil's main objectives in his war against righteousness were twofold. First, he needed to set up his own kingdom of deceived angels that he could lead into battle. Then, after God was removed as King of the universe, he would set himself up as the new ruler over all things and immediately demand he be worshipped (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, see also 2Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 13).
Satan's first goal was accomplished by leveraging the authority he received (Isaiah 14:13) and credibility as a covering cherub (Ezekiel 28:14). He successfully convinced one third of all the angels (Revelation 12:4) that God was mistreating and lying to them (the same lies he told to Eve, Genesis 3:1 - 5). He argued that they were knowingly being kept from reaching their full potential and that rebellion and war were the only solutions. His lies were so good that he was soon ready to launch a massive assault on God's throne with the greatest evil army in history.
The devil, who witnessed God's omnipotent power firsthand, did not believe his war forces had enough combined raw power to overcome their Creator. He did believe, however, that his perfect love and humility was his greatest weakness.
He calculated that the Eternal would choose not to oppose a unified group of angels coming toward him. Satan was sure that his enemy's character would compel him not to fight a great war but rather abdicate his throne.
An unexpected surprise!
Satan was no doubt surprised when, as he approached the throne of glory, God gave no indication he would relinquish his rule to a bunch of sinners. Our Creator, as if to underscore his perfect mastery of the situation, allowed the evil attacking army to come close to him. He then cast them back down to the earth with all the speed and suddenness of a bolt of lightning (Luke 10:18)!
The devil's vanity and his misunderstanding of perfect love would lead to what will ultimately become his greatest war defeat. He clearly made the mistake of thinking God's generosity and selfless love meant that he would give to others whatever they wanted in spite of the consequences.