June 6th marks the anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of the coast of France in 1944 under the command of future President Dwight Eisenhower. Much has been written about this unbelievable invasion by the Allied troops again the forces of Germany. While Canadian and British troops had relatively little opposition from the Axis army at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches and the Americans were successful at Utah beach, the landing at Omaha beach was a different story.
That is where history was made. More than 2000 troops were lost and by the end of the day more than 155,000 soldiers had landed on Normandy beaches. By the end of June, more than 150,000 vehicles and 850,000 soldiers had landed in France and were poised to continue their trek through Europe.
It is true that Hitler misplayed the situation. He didn’t believe that the main force of the attack would be at Normandy. And Allied air cover bombed bridges and routes that caused the Germans to have to use long detours to sent reinforcements. This resulted in a successful campaign for the Allied forces and the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. The tide had turned.
There have also been several movies written about D-Day. The most famous one, back in 1998, was “Saving Private Ryan” with Tom Hanks. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of WWII men and women who can’t even watch the movie – it hits them with its authenticity and makes it too difficult to watch.
As brutal as those battles were, Scripture recounts an even more violent encounter between the forces of good and evil. Before I went to seminary, I really didn’t have an idea of the magnitude of the war, but that quickly changed. One of my seminary professors, Dr, Clinton Branine, actually assigned me the text to write a paper about. As I look back on my studies, it was one of the greatest assignments I ever had the pleasure to work on.
You see, this war was waged between Michael and his angels against Satan and his legions of fallen angels. Most people don’t realize that Satan has access to God and to heaven. We learned that in the book of Job. But eventually, in the future, God will no longer allow Satan access to heaven. What is difficult to believe is that the apostle John saw a vision of the future in a dream that he had before writing the book of Revelation. And so, as we read Revelation, it is important to know that even though these actions are still in the future, in God’s mind, they are as good as done and we can rest assured that God’s promises will all come to pass.
Our verse for this evening highlights the battle in heaven between the angels of good and evil. John tells us, in Revelation 12:7-9, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
My encouragement this evening is that God will triumph over evil, just as the Allied forces triumphed over the forces of Hitler in WWII. The great news is that we already know the outcome of the endtimes and that we will live in peace with God throughout all eternity. My prayer this evening is that when you have battles to fight, you will trust in God and seek His help during the trying times of your life. You won’t be disappointed – and you will be assured of certain victory. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…