Readings for today: Revelation 12-13, Psalms 44
The twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation gives us a different view of the Christmas story. A different taken on human history. A different understanding of the war that is taking place all around us every single day. In this chapter, John is given a vision. A pregnant woman clothed with the sun, moon, and stars. A great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. A male child who is born to rule the nations. Now we know we are moving into allegorical territory because John tells us as much. What he’s witnessing here is a sign. A symbol of what’s taken place since before the foundations of the world.
Contrary to popular belief, the Christmas story didn’t begin in a stable in Bethlehem. It actually began in the Garden of Eden when God put enmity between the woman and the serpent, promising in Genesis 3:15 that her child would crush the serpent’s head. And ever since that day, Satan, identified in Revelation 12:9 as the “great dragon” and the “ancient serpent”, has been trying to prevent the fulfillment of God’s promise by attacking the offspring of Eve. He incited Cain to kill Abel, Pharaoh to kill all the male Hebrew children, Saul to attempt to kill David, Haman to plot genocide against the Jewish people in the Book of Esther, and, of course, Herod to kill all the infants in and around Bethlehem in an effort to kill Jesus. It seems clear both from the Bible and human history that Satan particularly focuses his fury on Israel. God’s chosen people.
Israel is the woman in labor because she is the one who will give birth to the Messiah. She is God’s chosen instrument to bring the Messiah into the world. He will be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. He will be the Lion of Judah. He will inherit the throne of His ancestor David. He will be called Son of God and Son of Man and Son of the Most High. He will be known as Immanuel, God with us. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He is the true offspring of Eve, born to crush the serpent’s head in final victory. And just in case you’re still not sure who this child is, his name shall be called Jesus, the One born to save His people from their sins. He alone will rule with a rod of iron according to Psalm 2:9 so there can be no doubt about the identity of this child.
But what about the dragon? John clearly identifies him in Revelation 12:9 as the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. Thirteen times in Revelation, Satan is described as a dragon. The seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns recalls the fourth beast from the prophetic dreams of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. The stars that were swept to the earth by his tail are those angels who rebelled against God along with him and his goal from the beginning of time has been to derail the will of God. Disrupt the plan of God. Destroy the people of God. How else can you reasonably explain the persecuted history of the Jewish people? How else can you rationally justify the rampant antisemitism that exists throughout the world today and throughout human history? Why is it that they have been singled out for attack time and again, in nation after nation, culminating in the Final Solution of the Nazis? Why do so many around the world today make all kinds of excuses and justify all kinds of terrorism against the Jews, even in the face of the horrific events of October 7th? I believe the answer is clear. Behind it all lurks the great dragon, doing everything he can to destroy those whom God loves. So the veil clouding John’s sight has been lifted. The political and social and moral struggles we engage in here on earth, the battles between good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice, are not just physical but spiritual in nature. Our battle is ultimately not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And thank God Jesus won the victory. God has made a mockery of what Satan believed to be his greatest triumph. Just when the great dragon thought he had finally devoured the child of the woman, God snatched that child from his grasp. Raised him from the dead. Caught him up to heaven. Seated Him on His throne. Gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth and the name that is above every name.
Are you ever tempted to look at the world around you and think that Satan has the upper hand? Do you ever question deep down in your heart if Satan might know how to fight the battles of this world better than God? Do Kingdom principles like turn the other check, bless those who persecute you, love your enemies, preach Christ and Him crucified, choose the weak things of this world, deny yourself, pick up a cross, and follow Jesus seem like losing strategies to you? Naive? Foolish? Too weak to meet the demands of this particular cultural and political moment? Well, if you’ve learned anything from the readings this year, you know that’s exactly how God works. He chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. He chooses the weak things of this world to defeat the strong. He makes the cross a throne. He makes the crown of thorns, a crown of victory. By His stripes we are healed. By His wounds we are made whole. By His death, He reconciles the world to Himself. By taking judgment on Himself, He bought us peace. Through His miraculous resurrection, we are given the gift of eternal life.
Friends, at Calvary, God takes what Satan believes to be is his greatest triumph and turns it into his utter defeat. Drives him from heaven. Throws him down to earth where he is no longer allowed to accuse us before God. Think about that for a moment! There is no one left in heaven to accuse you! No one left in heaven to condemn you! No one left in heaven to attack you! There is only Jesus who lives to intercede for you. There is only Jesus who promises to save to the uttermost those who draw near to Him. There is only Jesus, our great and faithful high priest, who passed through the heavens, to sympathize with us in our weakness, to be tempted in every way just as we are, and who offers Himself in our place. Merry Christmas!
Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 14-16, Psalms 45