“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

The good ol’ days, that’s what people call them. Days past which were, in myriad ways, better than today. People were friendlier, the moral compass of society wasn’t as far off as it is now, and things generally went better. Compared to the good ol’ days, today is anything but good. Now, you read and hear of wars and turmoil, the political climate of the country is ever more divisive, and it’s harder today to get by than it was mere decades ago. “Those were the good ol’ days; things are getting worse.”

Yet, “there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9c) Today is no worse off than yesterday. The moral compass of society spins just as it spun decades and centuries ago. People get along, or they don’t; they agree, or they don’t. Getting by is hard at times and easier at other times, just as it always has been.

Still, there was a time when things were better than they are today. There were, relatively speaking, good ol’ days. Now, I’m not talking about the time in Paradise before Adam and Eve were expelled—those were certainly good days; very good days, in fact. No, the days I speak of were following that, bad days to be sure by comparison, but better than the days following an event, the time of which is impossible to nail down.

“War broke out in heaven.” That’s what was revealed to John the Apostle. Exiled on Patmos, John is given a vision of judgment and salvation, and part of that vision is war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against Satan and his angels. Michael prevailed, and Satan was cast out of heaven with his angels. No longer is there is place found for them in the divine council. No longer can the devil bring accusations against you to the Father.

No, One now stands in the place where the devil accused you, and there He pleads for you, not against you. It is He who shed His blood for you, Jesus, the very Paschal Lamb of God, and by His blood did Michael and his angels prevail against Satan and his angels, and by the Word of His testimony.

That’s why Jesus declared to the 70 returning, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” These 70 had declared the testimony of the Son of God to people throughout the region. They proclaimed the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name and by His blood—the same message which He now pleads on your behalf in the divine council. “Even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” Of course they are, they are defeated by the blood of the Lamb. Satan falls like lightning from heaven; Jesus’ blood and Word are proclaimed, and Satan is defeated.

So, the days and times are harder now, since Satan’s expulsion. He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (cf. 1 Peter 5:8) He’s angry, because he knows his time is short. So, John writes as the loud voice proclaims, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth.” The days before this war were most certainly the good ol’ days.

Just whom does Satan devour? Those who are not sober and vigilant, as St. Peter put it. Lions chase after prey they know they can take down: the very young, the very old, the infirm—those who are weak in one way or another. So it is with that lion the devil, the serpent, who goes after you to weaken you and get you in his snare. Luther wrote,

[T]he new life...must suffer much opposition. For the devil is such a furious enemy that when he sees that we oppose him and attack the old man, and that he cannot topple us over by force, he prowls and moves about on all sides, tries all devices, and does not desist, until he finally wearies us, so that we either renounce our faith or yield hands and feet and become listless or impatient. (Large Catechism V.25-26)

Therefore, Peter implores you to be sober and vigilant. Watch for the snares of the devil, and resist him. You can; after all Michael defeated Him by the blood of the Lamb, and you are covered in that same blood.

“Baptismatus sum!” Luther is purported to have written as he was holed up in Wittenberg. There, feeling the assaults of the devil, Luther wrote that phrase over and over and over again—on the walls, on the floor, and on the ceiling. “I am baptized!” It’s a phrase that sends the devil running, because it tells the devil exactly what he doesn’t want to hear: that you are covered in the blood of the Lamb, the same blood that lost him the war in heaven.

Of course, Luther also wrote of farting in the devil’s face:

I am of a different mind ten times in the course of a day. But I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away. When he tempts me with silly sins I say, “Devil, yesterday I broke wind too. Have you written it down on your list?”...I remind myself of the forgiveness of sin and of Christ...

The talk of flatulence is comic, but the point Luther makes is that the devil’s attacks serve as a reminder of the forgiveness of sins in Christ, by the blood of the Lamb. And the devil flees at the sight of Jesus’ blood.

So, sure, the devil rages, but he is already defeated. Jesus hung on the cross and died, the propitiation for your sins, and by His blood He pleads your case before His Father. There, Jesus declared the reign of the devil over. He may prowl around like a lion and trap you in his snares, but he is defeated—his head is crushed, he no longer has dominion over you, but his time is short. Therefore, he prowls, and he prowls for you.

But for you fights the valiant One. Jesus pleads your case because you are baptized and covered by His propitiatory blood. You may fall to the devil’s snares. You confess as much every week, bringing to mind all of your sins and iniquities. But you have been claimed—bought with a price—therefore, you do not stand condemned before the Father.

[W]ar broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

You do not stand condemned because your accuser no longer has an audience in the divine council. Where he once stood the Son of God, Jesus, now stands and pleads your case for His sake. There, Jesus says of you, “I shed my blood for this one, he is atoned for, bought back from death to life, a fellow son of the Father, forgiven for all of their sins.”