Sorry, this is later than usual, the blog posting site was down this morning.
Monday, December 14 –
As we get closer to Christmas,
we get closer to the goal of reading the New Testament in a Year. I will say it again, thank you for coming
along with me on this journey. I love
the Scriptures and find in them – what John Calvin said – the Knowledge of God
for immortality and the knowledge of Ourselves for redemption. Today’s reading is from Revelation 12:7 –
17. Please come back after you have had
the chance to read the Scripture first.
This short passage in our reading is pivotal to the book of Revelation. We are half-way through the book of
Revelation and John just saw a number of historical symbols that reminded Him,
and us, that God is in control of history and He will exercise his judgment, and
as well, overcome the Fall which is marked by sin, death, and evil – the work
of Satan. The woman (12:1) and the red
dragon (12:3) remind us that the enemy of God has tried to destroy the work of
God since the Garden of Eden, but especially in the birth of Christ Jesus
(12:5). The victory of Christ is
represented in his ascension to the throne of God (12:5b). The woman is the church, protected by God
(12:6). Once again, John hears the
number 1260 days, which corresponds to the two references of forty-two months
(Rev. 11:2; 13:5). This last part is
where the “now” of the prophecy seems to jump forward to the “not yet” of the
end times. A future time of intense
tribulation will break out upon the earth as John begins to see the events that
lead to the end of time.
The great conflict that John is
witness to is happening in heaven and on earth.
The first of these occurs in heaven –
“Now war arose in heaven,
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his
angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place
for them in heaven” (12:7-8).
We see Michael, an archangel of
God, fighting the dragon – Satan. We
struggle to locate a time frame for this because it is repeated
historically. It occurred in Daniel’s
day when he was part of Israel’s captivity – first in Babylon, and then later when
Persia overthrew Babylon’s empire (Daniel 10:13, 21). It occurred in Jesus’ life when an angel
warned Joseph to take Mary and their new-born baby, Jesus, and flee to Egypt to
avoid Herod’s carnage (Matthew 2:13).
Angels came to minister to Jesus after his intense prayers in the Garden
of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). Jesus had
reminded Pilate that if he wanted to, he could summon twelve legions of angels
(Matthew 26:53). Michael is a warrior
Angel and has fought against Satan’s schemes countless of times. Satan had access to the heavens, until now –
“And the great dragon was
thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the
deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels
were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,
“Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority
of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved
not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you
who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down
to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (12:9-12).
John sees the victory of Christ
both in heaven and with believers on the earth.
In the heavens, Satan is cast out.
Satan is an accuser of those who believe. Remember in the book of Job how Satan accused
Job’s faith? (cf. Job 1:6). Jesus had
reminded Peter that Satan had desired to “sift him as wheat”, i.e., take him
apart (Luke 22:31). Jesus also reminded
us that Satan is a liar, a deceiver, and a destroyer (John 8:44). Satan is an accuser of Christians, and he
loves to undermine our confidence in God.
There
are times when we struggle to believe that we are acceptable to God. We find ourselves wondering if we have the
faith that truly believes. We see our
own sinfulness and struggle to think if we truly are redeemed. It happens to us because of the influence of
the enemy who is an accuser. What do we
do? One of my favorite stories comes
from John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”.
I have mentioned it, but if you have never read a modern translation of
it, you are missing one of Christianity’s greatest non-biblical works. The story is about a man named Christian who
seeks a life of faith in God and leaves the pagan world of destruction, setting
out to find the celestial city – it is a Pilgrim’s Progress. There’s a point in his journey where the burden
of sin rolls off his back and he feels the freedom of forgiveness. Yet, almost immediately something
happens. He comes in his journey to the
valley of Humiliation. As he walks through, Christian meets Apollyon, or Satan,
God’s great enemy we see in Revelation. Apollyon begins to accuse Christian,
reminding him that even though he no longer has the burden of sin on his back,
he is still failing God, he still does not love as he should, he still does not
obey God, therefore, how dare he claim to be a Christian. Bunyan knows this personally, and I love how he
writes Christian’s response. Christian says to Apollyon, “You don’t know the
half of it! I am far worse than that. All this is true, and much more which
thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful and
ready to forgive. But besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country,
for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them,
and have obtained pardon of my Prince.”[1]
When we feel overburdened by guilt, the regret of sin, failure of obedience, we
need to remember the accuser who seeks to burden us beyond hope. “You don’t know the half of it! I am far worse
than that” is an honest confession, but also, “Jesus, the Prince who I
serve and honor is merciful…and I have obtained pardon from my Prince.”
Again, is there a time in relation
to Satan’s ejection from heaven? Jesus
had told his disciples that after his ascension he would send to them the
“helper”, the Holy Spirit who would convict the world of sin, righteousness,
and judgment. As he explains the words,
he says of judgment – “because the ruler of this world is judged” (John
16:11). Later Paul would write – “And
you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God
made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by
canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This
he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and
authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians
2:13-15). John sees Satan ejected
from heaven, but very much an accuser on earth, which is why he hears the
ominous warning – “woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down
to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short” (12:12). Jesus had reminded his disciples that the end
times would be filled with wars and rumors of wars, kingdoms at war with each
other, false prophets who attack the faith, and lawlessness abounding (Matthew
24:4-14). Since this has been the mark
of almost every generation since Jesus, we can see that Satan is alive and well
on the planet earth! He is defeated,
much like Hitler was after D-day, but he fights on to the end.
“And when the dragon saw that
he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth
to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great
eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place
where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The
serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep
her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and
the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured
from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went
off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the
commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the
sand of the sea” (12:13-17).
The “now” and “not yet” is in
focus in this last part. Satan is
determined to destroy the Church, but God is her protector (Revelation
7:1-8). The history of the church is the
relentless attacks of Satan against the true church. Some of those attacks have come from outside,
such as occurred in the Roman persecutions; and some of those have come from
inside with Satan’s infiltration of false teachers, charlatans, tares among the
wheat. Satan has a host of evil beings
who do their work in accusations, deceitfulness, temptations, and lies. What John sees will continue on through the
end of all time.
We wonder why God does not stop
it? God’s grace is more powerful than
Satan’s deceptions. Paul’s reminder that
there are many believers who come to faith in Christ in every generation. Jesus is building his church, and hell will
not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
We rest in a faith that is made possible by grace, and when we are full
of accusation, we can say with Bunyan – “you don’t know the half of it, I am
far worse than that – except that I have a Prince, the Lord Jesus, who is merciful
and pardoned my sins”.
Peace
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