Luke 1:39 ^“At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Many times, when we think of John the Baptist, we picture an angry prophet condemning the Pharisees for hypocrisy, but we rarely think of John as being joyful. And yet, when Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, John leaped for joy in her womb. Elizabeth was thrilled to be pregnant! Now her shame was taken away; she was going to bear a son, and not just any little baby boy. This was the boy of whom the angel Gabriel foretold that “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:14-17, NKJV)

Zechariah was equally thrilled. Being part of a childless couple, Zechariah had heard all of the gossip. “Hmmmm, if Zechariah and Elizabeth are so righteous, why hasn’t God seen fit to give them children? They probably have some secret sin they have been hiding! Well! God knows! God sees! And God rewards the faithful!” Priests and their families are just as likely to gossip as anybody else, and over the years, Zechariah had heard it all. But now Zechariah and Elizabeth had been chosen as parents of the most important prophet since Elijah. Incredible! And even as Zechariah had to endure nine months without being able to speak, he must have rejoiced all over again every time he looked at his wife’s bulging abdomen and watched the baby move inside her.

Perhaps God has called you to do something difficult. Your family does not understand. Your neighbors gossip about you. Your colleagues at your work place think up new insults every day and mutter them as you pass by. If this is your situation, take heart and be joyful! “Where God guides, He provides,” was a favorite saying of Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. And when God guides, He also gives joy for the journey. The journey of faith is difficult, but it is not merely a matter of grimly hanging on and begging God for things. We follow a Master who laughed and cuddled little children and who joked. Mary’s Son came to give us life more abundantly, and that includes joy.

PRAYER: Father, this morning many of us are struggling. We haven’t felt joy in so long that we have almost forgotten that there is such a thing. But you are the One who gave Zechariah and Elizabeth a baby who was joyful even in the womb. You spoke the world into existence in a joyful instant. You are a good Father who rejoices in your children. This morning, we beg you, cut off our shackles of gloom and despair. Open our eyes to see the joy that you have set before us. We thank you that you are a good Father who gives good gifts. This morning, Lord, please give us joy! Amen.

Revelation 12:13 – 17 “And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. Then from the mouth of the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that had poured from the dragon’s mouth. And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.”

Michael and the other angels have banished Satan from heaven forever! The only place left for Satan is the earth and he is determined to take revenge! Satan’s first target is the woman who has given birth to the Messiah. This female figure represents both the Virgin Mary and the Church as a whole. When Jesus was on the cross, he gave the care of his mother to John, the disciple closest to him. There is nothing to indicate that Mary suffered further; God gave her sanctuary and protected her.

Now that Satan has descended to earth, he is determined to attack the Church as much as possible as a means of attacking Jesus. We humans can be part of the attack or part of the defense. Barclay observes, “When we despoil the Church of the help we might have given it, we despoil Jesus of the help we might have given him; and when we serve the Church, we serve Jesus himself.” Some church members seem to feel that they have a mission to criticize church leaders as much as possible, but who is inspiring these attacks? Certainly not Jesus!

As soon as Satan mounts this attack, God provides means of escape.

a. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The eagles’ wings represent God’s provision and protection. There are countless references throughout the Old Testament to God bearing his servants on the wings of eagles. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”

Deuteronomy 33:26-27 says, “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” As believers, we can take comfort in these promises, knowing that no matter the difficulty, God is still with us and for us! One of the Names of Jesus is Immanuel, that is “God with us.”

b. “Then from the mouth of the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that had poured from the dragon’s mouth. ” When the Woman escapes on eagles’ wings, Satan sends floods. Isaiah 43:1-2 says, “Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.”

c. When Satan sends a flood tide of evil to try to engulf the Church, the earth itself opens up and swallows the water. Not only has heaven rejected Satan, but his power over the very earth itself has been broken and now the earth is opposing him as well! It is a mistake to assume that the earth is passive. Leviticus 20:22 says, “You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.”

d. “And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.” Left with no other options, Satan now targets those believers left on the earth. This is the time when believers persevere and become even stronger in their faith.

What are the lessons from these verses? God will help his Church, but that does not mean that Christians are immune from persecution. As the end of the age approaches, persecution might even increase. Now more than ever, we must know what we believe and in Whom we have put our trust. Only faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done for us by dying for our sins will save us.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for eagles’ wings, for the everlasting arms, and for your protection! Help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives! In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Magi Visit the Messiah

Matthew 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[b]”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” No, the Magi did not show up at the same time as the shepherds, even though Nativity sets always portray things that way. But Matthew gives quite a complete account, and Matthew was a tax collector, a detail man who delighted in getting things correctly. And certainly, the portrayal of Herod is very accurate; Herod was a paranoid vicious man who killed several members of his own family to protect his power.

Talk about having faith!!! Who were the Magi? Nobody knows. Some people have speculated that they were Babylonian or Zoroastrian astrologers. An ancient text housed in the Vatican and translated in 2011 suggested that “it is clear the magi (defined in this text as those who “pray in silence”) are a group—numbering as few as 12 and as many as several score—of monk-like mystics from a far-off, mythical land called Shir, possibly China. They are descendants of Seth, the righteous third son of Adam, and the guardians of an age-old prophecy that a star of indescribable brightness would someday appear “heralding the birth of God in human form.” Whoever the Magi were, they had spent countless centuries scanning the night skies for a sign that a baby had been born who would be king of the Jews. Then when they saw the star, they began a journey that may have lasted as long as two years. “Field and fountain, moor and mountain” might sound poetic, but the reality was that these men were enduring snowstorms and avalanches, sandstorms with choking dust, and flooded rivers – all to reach the King for whom they and their fellowship had been awaiting. If they were coming from China, they may have been following a route similar to the old Silk Road – a route noted to be infested with bandits.

And yet, these brave men persisted. Why? The answer lies in the writings of King Solomon.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 New King James Version (NKJV) ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts…” The Magi sought out Jesus because they had made this the chief purpose of their lives and nothing was going to stop them short of death. They were searching for the King who would be eternal.

Christmastime can be wonderful, but it can also be incredibly stressful. Many times, we become so distracted the events, the food, the presents, that we can lose sight of the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. One of the reasons the story of the Magi is so important is that it tells of a group of men who waited for centuries for the birth of a king. And when these men saw signs that indicated that this king had been born, they left everything to find Him. God is no respecter of persons; He has put eternity into your heart just as he did for the Magi. Ask yourself this Christmas if you are seeking Emmanuel, “God with us,” or if you are spending time and energy on things that don’t really matter.

PRAYER: Father God, our hearts are heavy this Christmas. Our lives have become crazy and we feel overwhelmed by the events of this year and by the expectations of friends and families. Lord, help us to remember that nothing is more important than seeking and finding you. Help us to learn from the Magi, that when we have found You, we have found our hearts’ desire. In the matchless Name of Jesus, Emmanuel, “God with us.” Amen.

Revelation 12:10-12 “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down— he who accuses them day and night before our God. They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.”

Satan has been banned from heaven for all time and the saints are rejoicing! From the beginning of time, Satan has accused, criticized, belittled, and done everything he could to undermine God and the saints and to spoil all creation. Barclay gives this explanation: The historical background of the age in which the Revelation was written lends sharpness to this picture of Satan. This was the great age of the informer, the delator. People were constantly being arrested, tortured, killed because someone had informed against them. Tacitus, writing some years before, had said: “He who had no foe was betrayed by his friend.” That ancient world knew only too well what malevolent, cynical, venal accusers were like.

Heaven is being cleansed and the martyrs are singing praises to God! But who are these martyrs? The martyrs are those who have died rather than denying Jesus Christ. Again, Barclay gives us useful answers:

The martyrs are those who have overcome Satan.

(a) Martyrdom is itself a conquest of Satan. The martyr has proved superior to every seduction and to every threat and even to the violence of Satan. Here is a dramatic truth for life every time we choose to suffer rather than to be disloyal is the defeat of Satan.

(b) The victory of the martyrs is won through the blood of the Lamb. There are two meanings here. First, on his Cross and through his Resurrection Jesus overcame forever the worst that evil could do to him; and those who have entrusted their lives to him share in that victory. Second, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross sin is forgiven; when a man accepts in faith what Christ has done for him, his sins are wiped out. And when he is forgiven, there is nothing for which he can possibly be accused…

(c) The martyrs are victorious, because they lived the great principle of the gospel. They did not consider life more important than loyalty. “He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). This principle runs all through the gospel …. For us this is not necessarily a matter of dying for the faith but of setting loyalty to Jesus Christ before the comfortable way.

(iii) This passage finishes with the idea that Satan is cast out of heaven and has come down to earth. His power in heaven is broken, but he has still power on earth; and he rages ferociously because he knows that all that he has left is a short time upon this earth before he is finally destroyed.

If you ask any congregation, “Who wants to be blessed abundantly?” everybody will be up on their feet raising their hands and shouting. But if you then ask “How many of you are willing to be martyrs?” you aren’t going to get many takers. We all want things to be comfortable; however, the test of your loyalty to any cause is whether or not you will remain true when it begins to cost you something. In the old days, missionaries who were posted to assignments in West Africa packed their things in their coffins. WHY? Because West Africa had so much malaria and yellow fever that it was known as “The White Man’s Grave Yard.” Those missionaries took their coffins with them because they expected to die on the mission field. And many of those coffins got used within a few months of the missionaries arriving.

Knowing that their time might be short, missionaries tried to do everything they could to win souls. In Accra, Ghana, the Basel Mission only allowed its missionaries to preach in English for three Sundays. By the fourth Sunday, the Mission expected that the missionary would give a message in a local language, even if it was very short. The Basel Mission also required each missionary who came to have a trade such as masonry, carpentry, etc., and to practice that trade and teach it to the local people as they were learning local languages. In Yendi in the North, Bertha Buchwalter and others began Bible teaching and outreaches despite primitive conditions. Buchwalter herself died from black water fever, a complication of Malaria, and was buried in Yendi.

Recently Christians in Burkina Faso and Northern Nigeria have been massacred by Muslim extremists. One elderly Australian doctor kidnapped from northern Burkina Faso in January 2015 has never been heard of again. Even in America, worshipers in some states are facing severe opposition from some politicians.

How do you prepare for martyrdom? You prepare for dying for Christ by living for Christ. Each moment, you make a conscious decision that God’s will is going to rule in your life and not your own. You acknowledge that you are only made righteous by the Blood of Jesus and not by anything that you can do. And you hang on, no matter what happens. To have faith means to trust where you cannot see, to continue with what you have seen in the light when all around you is darkness.

PRAYER: Father God, the very idea of being a martyr frightens us! But right now you are calling us to live for you. Help us to follow so hard after you that if we must die rather than deny you, we will neither falter nor fail. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Hebrews 11: ”Now faith is the ^[a]substance of things hoped for, the ^[b]evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³ By faith we understand that the ^[c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

Six years ago today, my husband and I were back home in rural Illinois. That afternoon, my husband had to have dental surgery and we had stopped at a local pharmacy to fill his prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medicines. When we entered the pharmacy, a few lazy snow flakes were drifting down one by one. In the time it took to fill that prescription, a blizzard blew in! By the time we collected the drugs and came out, there was already a significant accumulation of snow and the visibility was steadily becoming worse! As a highly experienced driver who had lived in Wisconsin, Vermont, and other snowy places, I had confidence in myself; nevertheless, the twenty – mile drive back to our friends’ home where we were staying was a nightmare. As we were approaching a big right – angle curve, suddenly the Holy Spirit began screaming in my mind, “stay to the right! Stay to the right!” Moving as far to the right as I could without dropping a wheel off the pavement, I reduced my speed even further. I successfully made it past four on-coming vehicles, but suddenly a fifth car came barreling out of nowhere, striking the left front quarter of our car! The impact tore off the wheel and the fender and sent us spinning backwards into a shallow ditch. That ditch contained a number of signs as well as an LP gas pipeline connection and some ornamental fence; yet, God guided our vehicle so that we missed it all. Because we were so far to the right – hand side of the road, we were only struck a glancing blow and not hit head – on. Because we were both wearing seatbelts, our injuries were relatively minor. I tore muscles in my lower back and my husband cracked two ribs, but we could recover from these injuries as outpatients. Had the accident occurred a half mile closer to our destination, we would have shot down a steep embankment, striking trees and landing in a half – frozen stream. Our vehicle might have somersaulted. We could have died, had the accident happened at a different location. Later on, some friends asked us why God had allowed this incident to happen. We replied that we did not know but that we were willing to trust that God wanted us to remain in the U.S. an additional two months for some reason.

Faith trusts where it cannot see. By this point, Joseph and Mary are quietly living together as a couple, but they are still enduring public ridicule. It’s likely that the worst criticism may have come from the most religious people in town, those who felt that observing all the laws about dress, conduct, etc., somehow gave them a special dispensation to tear into their neighbors’ reputations. There are so many questions that will only be answered in heaven. Did Joseph and Mary try to tell their family and friends about their angelic visitors? After the first few times when those explanations were met with hooting and jeering, it’s possible that Joseph and Mary decided silent ostracism was preferable to public ridicule. Certainly, Joseph and Mary must have formed an unusually strong bond as a couple as they had to present a united front to all and sundry. And it is possible that this trying time of waiting also served to help emphatically cement their relationship. Later, God warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and the baby to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of infants. Would Mary have believed Joseph, had they not already suffered so much together?

Today you may feel stuck in a situation. Perhaps you have suffered a setback as we did in December 2013. You don’t understand why things aren’t working out for you and you are beginning to think that God plays favorites and that you are NOT one of them! But only God knows the end from the beginning. There is a slogan painted on buses and tro – tros’s here in Ghana that reads “No Condition is Permanent.” Today, God wants you to remember that tro – tro slogan. God is a good Father, and He is ordering your life. Look around you and see if there is something God has put into your situation that demands a response. Perhaps you wish to move because of a nasty neighbor. Does God want you to shower that neighbor with kindness? Perhaps you feel frustrated at work and long for a different job. Have you really prayed about it, or have you merely worried about it?

PRAYER: Father, today many of us are stuck in a time of waiting. Frankly, Lord, we don’t like where we are right now and we want changes, preferably yesterday! Lord, please help us to trust where we cannot see. We have asked you for more faith; help us to realize that faith only grows when we believe before we see results, not afterwards. Thank you that you are working things out, and that you can do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. In the matchless Name of Jesus. Amen.

Revelation 12:7- 9 “Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

In the beginning, Satan was an angel of light, one of the greatest of the angels. But Satan’s pride caused him to try to usurp God’s authority, and he and one third of the angels fell from heaven. Despite that fall, Satan continued to have access to God, accusing those such as Job who were serving God faithfully. At the same time, Satan was also seducing, deceiving, lying, and undermining all who tried to follow God. Satan tempted Jesus, convinced Judas to betray Jesus, tried to make Peter fall, and enticed Ananias and Sapphira to withhold part of the money they should have given to God. In modern times, Satan has inspired wars, genocide, bio terrorism, revolutions, and chaos. Barclay states, “Satan stands for the sleepless vigilance of evil against good.”

Jesus described Satan this way: “Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:31-32) By this statement, Jesus prophesied how Satan would be completely defeated because of Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross.

Up until now, Satan has been threatening and terrorizing and accusing, but now the hosts of heaven show up! Michael and his angels defeat Satan and throw him out of heaven forever. In the old time western movies, the good guys always wore white cowboy hats while the bad guys wore black ones. Now the good guys in the white hats have thundered in and have won! Satan and his minions are now limited to earth only. No longer can Satan ever return to heaven to accuse any of the saints as he did when he complained about Job.

One question that might bother us as we read these verses is this: Why has God waited so long? Why didn’t God defeat Satan sooner? God had the power at any point in time, so why this delay?

Divine delays can be baffling. Way back in Genesis 15:16 when God is cutting covenant with Abraham, God tells Abraham, “In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Presumably, there were still a few righteous people within the Amorites at that point; however, their worship practices were becoming steadily more degrading. Eventually, God instructed the Israelites to eliminate the Amorites, but God wanted to have mercy on as many of them as possible.

 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” Even in these last few days of the earth, God is still giving as many people as possible the opportunity to turn away from evil and to serve Him. God knows human hearts better than anybody else and God’s love is so compelling that He wants all who will to come to Him.

The message throughout the Bible is a message of God’s incredible love for sinful humanity. Each of us has a choice: will we serve the prince of this world, or will we serve the One True Living God who loves us so much that He sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins?

PRAYER: Father God, please help us to choose to follow you. Make yourself so real to everyone who reads these lines that they will see for themselves your incredible love and will turn their hearts to You. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 1:18 ^“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[g] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

The scandal had given the gossips of Nazareth something to talk about for days! They didn’t notice anything when Mary left for the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, but when she came back, it was obvious that Mary was at least six months pregnant!

“Mary? Pregnant? Oh, and I always thought Anne was such a good mother and that Mary was so virtuous!” “Huh! That Mary is really a looker! Guess Joseph just couldn’t wait!” The vicious remarks were everywhere. If Mary went to collect water, her friends tittered at her, and the old women gave her angry glances. As Joseph was working in his carpenter’s shop, his buddies who passed by made crude remarks. But things could have been far worse. Deuteronomy 22:23 – 24 ordered that if a virgin was raped in town, both she and the young man should be stoned – he for the rape and she for not crying out. But if a couple were betrothed as were Mary and Joseph, and the woman became pregnant, they were considered to have consummated the marriage early. There would be no grand celebrations, no processions through the streets with laughing, singing friends. There would be no thrilling marriage feast with lots of wine. But the couple would be treated as having already married.

This was NOT what Joseph had imagined when he became betrothed to Mary! He had been eagerly anticipating their marriage celebrations and the joys of sexual intimacy. Mary was a lovely young lady, beautiful both inside and out, and Joseph couldn’t wait to make her his wife. But not like this! Never like this! What was Joseph going to do? This question burned in his brain day and night; it was becoming difficult for him to eat, to sleep, or even to work. One night, after Joseph had been wrestling with this problem for hours, he fell into an uneasy sleep. And it was at this point that God sent an angel to reassure Joseph.

Many times, all the emphasis seems to be on Mary. But according to Matthew’s account, Joseph was a very devout and caring man, who found himself in a hard situation. Joseph had done nothing wrong; yet, he had to bear the burden of public ridicule. And anybody who has lived in a small town can tell you that a juicy story such as this one doesn’t die out within a few days or weeks. No! For years afterward, small – minded vicious people will be telling and re – telling the story, adding more gory details every time they do so. And yet, because of what the angel told Joseph, he did the difficult but honorable thing. Joseph quietly took Mary as his wife as if he, Joseph, had fathered this child. It wasn’t fair at all to Joseph, but because Joseph also had faith, he believed what the Angel had told him, and he acted accordingly.

Perhaps today you are an innocent person stuck in a situation not of your own making. Somebody you trusted has let you down, and now you don’t know what to do. If you save yourself and throw this other person under the bus, this other person may suffer terribly. And you can’t really be sure of all the facts. What should you do?

The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34) This means that God doesn’t play favorites. Many times, we may have to endure trying situations, but the same God who strengthened and encouraged Joseph so that he was able to withstand public ridicule and shelter Mary can also strengthen and encourage you.

PRAYER: Father, today many of us are stuck in bad situations that are not of our making. We have been trying to do the right thing, but now we are still facing criticism and ridicule. We don’t know what to do or which way to turn. But Lord, you are the same God who strengthened and encouraged Joseph so that he was able to care for Mary. You honored Joseph by making him the earthly father of Jesus. Lord, please give us grace and courage so that we can do the right thing, and the wisdom to know which path to take. In the mighty and precious Name of Jesus. Amen.

Revelation 12:1 – 6 “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as He was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.”

In searching for graphics to illustrate these verses, I encountered a PDF presentation from Almaden Neighborhood Church (almadenchurch.org) entitled “The Christmas You Didn’t See.” Today’s devotional draws heavily from that presentation.

The question that has troubled Christians ever since Revelation was first written is this: Who is the Woman? This is one of those visions that works on several different levels:

1. These verses give a behind the scenes look at the spiritual battle surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, i.e., “The Christmas You Didn’t See.” First of all, remember that God chose Mary to bear Jesus. To the villagers in Nazareth, Mary was just another teenager, but God saw her differently. Song of Solomon 6:10 says, “Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?” That was how God saw Mary. The ancient Babylonians visualized their goddesses as being crowned with the signs of the zodiac, and John was probably familiar with that picture. Why couldn’t God activate that mental picture as well to emphasize unearthly beauty? When God touches a life, nothing is ever the same again. Mary was so filled with the Holy Spirit that when she met her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s baby leaped in her womb and was filled with the Holy Spirit from that point onward.

 2. The huge red dragon is Satan. The horns and the crowns indicate complete power over the kingdoms of this world. Satan is the Author of evil and will use any one willing to pursue their own interests instead of God’s. When Satan fell from heaven, one third of the angels followed him and fell to earth as well, as indicated by the sweeping of one third of the stars from the sky to earth.

3. Satan did everything he could to attack Mary and to kill Jesus. It’s entirely possible that Satan had poisonous snakes, robbers, and other agents stationed along the road to Bethlehem to try and stop Mary and Joseph. And had Mary and Joseph stayed in one of the inns in Bethlehem, something terrible might have happened to them; however, God covered Mary and Joseph with His hand and protected them. God led them to a cave used by shepherds as a stable, the last place in which anyone might look for them. There are many instances throughout Christian history where God has blinded prison guards or soldiers or police to save believers. Inspired by Satan, Herod tried to get information about Jesus and when he couldn’t he massacred all the baby boys below the age of two years just to make certain that the Messiah would not escape…. but God warned Joseph in a dream and he and Mary and Jesus escaped in the middle of the night! (Had the Holy Family been in a bigger town, they could never have left in the middle of the night because the gates would have all been closed and the guards would not have allowed them to leave.)

4. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Jesus the Messiah is the One born to rule all the nations! And after Jesus was crucified and arose from the dead, He ascended into heaven.

5. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.” Here is where the second interpretation of the identity of the Woman comes into consideration. The figure of the Woman has been considered to represent Israel or the body of believers. There are many recorded instances where the Jews had to flee to the wilderness, beginning with the escape from Egypt. Jesus foretold the attack of the Romans and advised those listening to flee to the mountains. Barclay states: Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. The years immediately before that were terrible years of bloodshed and of revolution in which anyone with eyes to see and a mind to understand could forecast what was about to happen. Eusebius, the Christian historian, tells us that, before the final disaster came, the Christians in Jerusalem had been warned by a revelation given to approved men to leave Jerusalem and to cross the Jordan into Perea and to dwell there in a town called Pella (Eusebius: The Ecclesiastical History 3: 5). This is actually referred to in the account of Jesus’ words to the disciples about the last times. When they saw the last terrors coming they were to flee to the mountains (Mark 13:14); this is exactly what they did. The figure of 1,260 days is a standard figure of a time of distress, not necessarily an actual number.

Being a Christian has never been easy. In the last few decades, there have been more Christians martyred around the world than ever before. Each day brings news of fresh massacres in places such as Northern Nigeria. But the good news is this: We serve the One True Living God, who is still on the throne and who rules and reigns over all. No matter how terrible the conflict, no matter how severe the persecution, we can still trust in God. Thousands of year ago, three young Jewish captives faced a terrible fate: worship a golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar or be thrown into a fiery furnace. This was their answer: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 And when the three young me were thrown into the fire, observers saw a fourth man with them, and his appearance “looked like a son of the gods.’ When you go through persecution, Jesus shows up. You might or might not be delivered physically, but you will be delivered spiritually.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you always cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus! Thank you that Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave! Thank you that throughout history you have always been working and have never stopped! And thank you for loving us and sending Jesus as your best Gift. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Luke 1:39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Zechariah might have been struck dumb and Joseph had to be reassured by an angel in a dream, but Elizabeth and Mary had faith that God would honor his promises. Elizabeth never had an angelic vision; she just believed, and Mary, unlike Zechariah, didn’t argue with the Angel Gabriel, she believed and accepted the Will of God for her life. By this point, Elizabeth was nearly seven months pregnant, and the pregnancy was going well. Mary may have been about two or three months pregnant and eventually stayed with Elizabeth for another three months. When Mary first went to Elizabeth, her pregnancy was not yet showing. Perhaps Mary stayed so long with Elizabeth because she knew that Elizabeth was a woman of faith and that Elizabeth would believe her story of the Angel Gabriel and his prophecy.

Mary may also have been staying with Elizabeth because she was struggling to find a credible way to tell Joseph. According to the Talmud (Deuteronomy 22:23), if a woman was raped in town and did not cry out, it was assumed that she was actually a willing participant, and therefore an adulteress. If Joseph failed to believe Mary and did not protect her, Mary could be killed by stoning. An angelic visitation? A divine impregnation? Who would be foolish enough to believe that? No! The men of Nazareth would far more readily believe that Mary was a slut! “Who knew? And we always thought that Anne was a good lady who could control her daughter. Mary pregnant? The very last person we would have suspected! Well, these young women these days think they can get away with misbehaving. We’ll show everybody in the community that Nazareth is not that kind of place!” (Spoiler alert: tomorrow we are going to talk about Joseph and how God helped him save Mary from this horrible fate.)

The Angel Gabriel had promised Zechariah that his son John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. When the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth, He also filled her baby as well. The bond between a pregnant mother and the infant inside her womb is incredibly strong. And infants respond to prenatal influences and to their mothers’ emotional states. Many devout parents pray over their children in the womb, laying hands on the baby before he or she is ever born. What a wonderful thing, to know from the womb that you are loved and wanted! (But if you are reading this and are pregnant and are depressed, do not punish yourself. God is greater than your depression, and He can protect your unborn baby. My mother was chronically ill and had had four miscarriages in three years before she got pregnant with me. Mom was still grieving the death of her beloved grandfather at the time I was born. God healed Mom and protected me. God can do the same thing for you and your baby.)

PRAYER: Father, today we pray for all pregnant mothers, as well as for those who hope to become pregnant. We pray for protection for mother, for baby, and for everyone in their families. We also pray for expectant mothers and fathers who feel overwhelmed and who are worried that they won’t be able to care for their babies properly. Grant all of these people your Holy Spirit peace, so that they will know that you are truly King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that you love them and care for them and will always be with them. In the matchless Name of Jesus. Amen.

Revelation 11:15 – 19 “Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.”

How can we picture this scene? Our imaginations might not stretch far enough. Perhaps the best “picture” of this scene is the verses from Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” from his Messiah oratorio. With the blast of the seventh and last trumpet, we realize that every thing that has gone before was merely a prelude. Here now is the fulfillment of Scripture. What will happen from now on?

1. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” Finally, after years of struggle, suffering, and spiritual and physical warfare, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is taking His Kingdom. All of heaven is celebrating this victory over the forces of evil and darkness! The morning has come and all darkness has had to flee, never to gain a victory again! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

2. “The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” Time after time, God has sent His prophets, time after time, believers have witnessed and died, time after time, God has shown signs in the heavens and the earth. God has given the human race every possible opportunity to turn and worship Him. If there are any left at this point who are not worshiping the One True Living God, it is by their own choice. God does not SEND people to hell; they CHOOSE to go there.

3. Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.” From the time of the first temple for which God gave Moses instructions, God made it clear that the earthly temples were only a foreshadowing of the heavenly one. Barclay explains it this way: In Revelation 11:19 we come back, as it were, to the present. There is a vision of the heavenly Temple opened and of the Ark of the Covenant. Two things are involved in this vision.

(i) The Ark of the Covenant was in the Holy of Holies, the inside of which no ordinary person had ever seen, and into which even the High Priest went only on the Day of Atonement. This must mean that now the glory of God is going to be fully displayed.

(ii) The reference to the Ark of the Covenant is as a reminder of God’s special covenant with his people. Originally that covenant had been with the people Israel; but the new covenant is with all of every nation who love and believe in Jesus.

Barclay concludes: Whatever the terror to come, God will not be false to his promises. This is a picture of the coming of the full glory of God, a terrifying threat to his enemies but an uplifting promise to the people of his covenant.

PRAYER: Father God, help all who read this devotional to realize that you love them beyond all measure and that is why you sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Lord, help us to truly love you and to follow hard after you all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.