Translation
Then I heard a great voice in heaven saying,
“Now have come
the salvation
and power
and kingdom
of our GOD and
the authority of His CHRIST
because He has thrown
down the accuser of our brothers, the one who constantly accuses them day and night, before the throne
Go to footnote numberof our GOD.
Paraphrase
Then I heard a great many voices in heaven saying together,
“The following things have been brought into full view and we now see them fully revealed:
The redemptive activity, the demonstrations of power, and the exercising of governance by THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS whom we serve, along with THE SPIRIT-ANOINTED SAVIOR as his co-regent, to whom He has granted authority. This has become evident because He has thrown down the accuser of our brothers, the one who constantly accuses them, day and night, before the one who can punish them, that is THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS whom we serve.
Footnotes
1
A “Throne” is a picture of authority, but authority is visible only when it is used. The accuser brings accusations against God’s children trying to get God to use His power to punish us for our sinful acts. While God does punish sin, He is loving and full of Grace; He will not be enticed to punish at Satan’s discretion. God alone will determine the when and how of any punishment.
“He Has Thrown Down the Accuser of Our Brothers”
Verses 7-9 remind us of the time prior to Adam and Eve’s fall into sin when Satan and his followers were thrown out of heaven. That mental image is correct and is the desired image here. However, from the second half of verse 10 we learn that is not the entire picture; there is another layer. Satan has been able to go regularly to the throne room of God and bring accusations against God’s followers—that is how open God is. We see that scenario played out in the story of Job. However, there comes a time when God says, “enough!” and Satan is cast out of heaven and not allowed to continue his accusations against that believer.
I favor the viewpoint that this is done on an individual scale, for each individual believer, rather than us all waiting for the time God will stop such accusations against all of us collectively. I favor it because it fits better with the theme of Revelation, which is the encouragement of believers who are facing persecution or strong opposition. We have seen His salvation and power and rule more fully revealed because He has taken action to stop Satan’s accusations against each of us. That means God sees our character, He trusts our heart, and He does not believe any of those accusations. Satan is always trying to convince God that we deserve judgment, but we need not worry about Satan’s accusations effecting any change in how God sees us. Rather we can have confidence that, if Satan crosses a line in making accusations against us, God will say “Enough!” This is evidence that God places more emphasis on reconciliation than on punishment.
The fact that Satan’s primary activities are to accuse and deceive should be an encouragement to us in one specific way—it means that Satan cannot directly do anything to us, so he has to resort to indirect tactics. If we are close to God, He will help us see through the enemy’s attempts at deceit.