<p>13:7 <em>And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation</em>- The concept of the court of Heaven is a major key to understanding the book of Revelation. Events on earth are described in terms of their connection with the Angelic system in Heaven which has arranged them. &ldquo;The accuser of our brethren&rdquo; being cast out of Heaven (Rev. 12:10) would therefore refer to how in the court of Heaven, an Angel represents the system who accused the brethren on earth. This isn&rsquo;t to say that the Angel representing the accuser is sinful. &ldquo;It was given unto&rdquo; the beast to have power to persecute the saints, just as the Lord had perceived that His persecutors only had the power that was &ldquo;given&rdquo; unto them thereby associating the saints&rsquo; final time of trial in the last days with the Lord&rsquo;s sufferings. But the power was &ldquo;given&rdquo; by the Angels in the court of Heaven, empowering people on earth to carry out what they permit.</p><p>The overcoming of the saints a term appropriate to both natural Israel and the true Christians of the last days is spoken of in the murder of the two witnesses in chapter 11. They did not love their lives unto death (12:11); these are the &quot;saints&quot; who are overcome by the beast in Dan. 7:25. Many will be slain, although some will be miraculously preserved by being snatched away, or even literally up into the sky (see on 11:12 and 12:5).</p><p>The tribes, peoples etc. who give him authority are primarily those in the area of his provenance over the earth / land promised to Abraham, upon whom Babylon sits (17:15). But it is out of these very tribes, peoples etc. that some will convert to Christ, and they are singled out for especial notice and praise because of this (5:9); for it is they to whom the Gospel is preached in the very last days (14:6).</p>