Derek Prince - War in Heaven: Gods Epic Battle with Evil

WAR
IN
HEAVEN

GODS EPIC BATTLE WITH EVIL

DEREK PRINCE

2003 by Derek Prince Ministries International

Published by Chosen Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.chosenbooks.com

E-book edition created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-1080-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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F or more than two years, while working on this book, I have experienced an ongoing battle against many forms of sickness and infirmity. Some of the enemies I have encountered have been two forms of cancer, polymyalgia rheumatica, double pneumonia, congestive heart failure, eye surgery, two hours of surgery on my scalp, a gallstone attack.

At one point in time, I was delirious for more than a week due to an infection. Twice I had the experience of going to bed in one place and waking up in a hospital bed in another place.

Through all this, I have been continuously upheld by the love and the prayers of thousands of Christians in many parts of the globe. I never knew there was so much love available to me!

To all you who have prayed, I now gratefully dedicate this book.

But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57

CONTENTS

I t is obvious that life is full of conflict and war. Why is this so? Does Scripture give us any explanation for the cause?

Although the Bible tells us everything we need to know for our spiritual benefit, it leaves many questions open to interpretation. On some of the issues we will discuss in this book, issues on which scholars have advanced numerous interpretations, Scripture does not provide us with sufficient evidence to speak with certainty.

The answers and impressions I bring you are the result of study, meditation, prayer and practical experience. I certainly do not claim to have answered all the questions that arise. There is no limit to such questions! But we should never allow the things we do not understand to obscure for us the areas of truth in which God has provided clear understanding.

What we know for certain is that, confronted with the rebellion of Adam and Eve, God set in motion a secret plan conceived in eternity. Historically this plan was unfolded in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through what He accomplished on the cross, we are enabled to have a special relationship with God.

All heaven is waiting for the full manifestation of His victory.

WHAT IS
YOUR PICTURE
OF HEAVEN?

W hat is your view of heaven? Do you believe that there is such a place? If so, is it a place of ethereal light and music with choirs worshiping God in settings of awe-inspiring beauty and elaborate architecture? Do you envisage dazzling displays of gold and silver with an array of innumerable precious stones? Doubtless this is true in a measure, but it is not the complete picture.

Perhaps you see heaven as the inner surface of a vast, concave dome that stretches out over the whole earth. As the edge of the dome approaches the horizon, it sometimes gives the impression that it will fall short. But it never does! It always covers the earth beneath it.

Almost all of earths inhabitants have some impression of heaven. As we contemplate the vast possibilities, we need to bear in mind that various terms are used to describe heaven. There is the single noun, heaven, which emphasizes its overall unity; other expressions apparently refer to its different aspects or parts. For instance, the terms heavenlies or heavenly places suggest a number of different locations all combined under the heading heaven. These places may be given over at various times to different beings and different activities.

In 2 Corinthians 12:24 Paul writes:

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knowssuch a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knowshow he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful [or not possible] for a man to utter.

This passage indicates that there are altogether three heavens, one immediately above the other. The topmost is what Paul describes as the third heaven. It is the location of Paradise and the place of Gods personal dwelling, the most sacred place in the universe. It is passages such as this one that give us the concept often associated with heavenpurity or holiness. The words spoken there are so sacred that they may not be repeated outside.

Paradeisos (paradise) is the Greek word for a garden. It describes Gods garden in heaven. Paradise is the ultimate destination of all sinners who have truly repented and who have persevered in the life of faith. On the cross, Jesus promised the penitent thief that the two of them would be together that day in Paradise: And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43, emphasis added).

The book of Revelation introduces us to an area referred to as the mid-heaven or the midst of heaven. To my understanding, this describes some kind of large expanse with different types of beings coming and going. The following verses describe various powerful beings who make proclamations from the mid-heaven.

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven [literally, mid-heaven], saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!

8:13

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven [literally, mid-heaven], having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earthto every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

14:6

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven [literally, mid-heaven], Come and gather together for the supper of the great God.

19:17

The Greek word used for the mid-heaven is mesouranema, which means precisely that, the mid-heaven. This could be the second heaven.

We might assume, finally, that the visible heaventhe heaven that is visible to our natural eyesightis the first heaven. All earths inhabitants are familiar to some degree with this heaven.