Christ Church

Grace & Peace: Revelation 79

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 12:13-17

Remember the theme of this entire book. God is in the process of divorcing the Old Jerusalem and preparing a bride for His Son in the New Jerusalem. This passage should be understood in the context of the build up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

The dragon, identified as Satan earlier, and also described in this same passage as a serpent, is furious with the woman who gave birth to the “man child.” The faithful remnant of Israel had brought forth the Messiah, and when the devil was thrown down to earth, he persecuted the Judean church. They had been prepared for this by the Lord’s solemn warning.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24:15–16).

When the armies of Rome come, you are to go. And this is precisely what the Judean church did—seeking refuge in Pella in 66 A.D. She is there protected for three and a half years (a time, times, and half a time). A flood of wrath comes, but the earth absorbs it—as unbelieving Jewry absorbed the wrath that missed the Christians.

All of this is Exodus imagery—the believers who escaped from the demolition of Jerusalem were spared in just the same way that the Jews were delivered from Pharaoh. “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself” (Ex. 19:4; cf. Dt.32:11-12). God took them out of Egypt on the wings of an eagle, and He brought these faithful Christians out of Judea on the wings of an eagle also. This also helps to identify the corrupt establishment in Jerusalem with Egypt itself. They had become the enemies of God. We saw this identification of Jerusalem with Egypt in the previous chapter, and here it continues. “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8).

The dragon continued in its fury. Not able to kill the woman, he turns to make war on the remainder of her offspring (in this case, it is likely we are talking about the Gentile church). These are plainly identified as believers—they keep the commandments of God, and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

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Bible Challenge #15

Becky Pliego on

Dear sisters,

¡Hola, hola! Isn’t it wonderful to know that we are actually “preparing Jesus room” in our hearts every day as we come to His Word? Isn’t it wonderful to know that no matter which devotional book we have chosen to read this Advent season, we are not missing out reading the best Book to read this season? Isn’t it wonderful to know that every time we come to the Word, we come to the living Word of God that never returns void? Isn’t it wonderful that when we open the Word of God, Immanuel is truly with us? This is truly a wonderful season!

This week we will finish the first book of Samuel and start the second. We will also read Psalms 34, 54, 57, 13, 20, 21, 51, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Yes! It is not a mistake! We will be all over the Psalms because I tried -as much as possible- to pair the Psalms that David wrote when he was going through different circumstances. For example, on Friday we will read 2 Samuel 12 and in that chapter we come across the time when Nathan the Prophet rebukes David for the grievous sin he committed with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. And then in Psalm 51, we read the psalm that David wrote to confess his own sin. We continue reading the same day and come to chapter 15, and we find the tragic story of Absalom’s conspiracy against his own father, King David, and so we read Psalm 3 (again), a Psalm David wrote when he was fleeing from his own son.

1st and 2nd Samuel were originally one book, and I encourage you to read the story and use your imagination to follow along. Let the story captivate you. It is a real page-turner, Friends. And as you read, be careful how you read yourself into the story. Dare to see yourself, maybe as a woman who is being enslaved by envy -like Saul was. Maybe you are not seeking the Lord’s direction for all the affairs of your life, like Saul and at one point David didn’t.  Remember that David couldn’t see himself in the story when Nathan confronted him for his sin. David’s sin had blinded him to his own sin.  Pray to God and let the Holy Spirit show you the areas in which His Word needs to cleanse you, and repent and believe. Embrace God’s forgiveness and sing for joy.

We will be reading many Psalms and oh, what a gift they are to us! When we don’t know what or how to pray, the Psalms give us words of praise, words of mourning, words of hope, words of agony…words to pray. So let’s be praying this week. Praying much. Sisters, we have read Leviticus, we have read Hebrews, we can understand this exhortation from Paul even better now, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 3:16) So, yes, let’s come before Him in the name of Jesus and pray.

Bonhoeffer wrote in a little book something that I would love to share with you today, “If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ. We must ask how we can understand the Psalms as God’s Word, and then we shall be able to pray them. It does not depend, therefore, on whether the Psalms express adequately that which we feel at a given moment in our heart. If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. If we were dependent entirely on ourselves, we would probably pray only the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. But God wants it otherwise. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.” (Psalms: the Prayer Book of the Bible).

May the Lord bless you as you come to His Word, may your mouth sing His praises, and your heart burst in gladness as you draw near to Him.

I hope to “see” you next Monday in our weekly Webinar at 10:00 AM PST.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 78

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”
Revelation 12:7-12

And there was war in Heaven. In the preceding verses, the woman who was to give birth had to flee from the dragon into the wilderness. I take vv. 7ff as a flashback, showing how that earlier circumstance had come about. The dragon had been in the heavenly places, but had now been thrown down. Having been thrown down, he continued his career of malice, pursuing the woman.

The reason this happened was that Michael the archangel (Jude 9) and his angels fought against the dragon (v. 7). Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels, and as a result, there was no place remaining in Heaven for the dragon (v. 8). In the next verse, the dragon is identified—the old serpent, or the devil, or Satan, the deceiver of the entire world (v. 9). He was cast down to earth, and all of his angels together with him. This plainly identifies the devil of the New Testament with the serpent in the Garden.

Taking all of Scripture together, we learn that this “casting down” happened in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). This is why the next verse declares that “now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ” (v. 10). When the defender of sinners was vindicated on earth in the resurrection, the accuser of sinners was deposed in the heavens.

The meaning of the devil being cast down is that he is no longer able to accuse the brethren before God, as he would do both day and night. The accusing and prosecutorial nature of the devil is seen plainly in the Old Testament (Job 1-2; Zech. 3). And this ended in the cross. “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15).

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14–15).

The resurrection of Jesus was the death of accusation in the heavenly places. The accusations in the presence of God are received no longer. This does not mean that the accusations have vanished, but they have been cast down to earth. And this means—if we are paying attention to the gospel message—we should embrace on earth what has been accomplished in Heaven. That is how we pray, is it not? We want to have God’s will done on earth as it has been done in Heaven.

So the faithful believers on earth have both a shield and a sword. They defend themselves, and they go out as overcomers. The shield is the blood of the Lamb (v. 11), able to withstand every accusation that an exiled devil can throw at them. Elsewhere in Scripture the shield is faith (Eph. 6:16), which means the flaming darts that the devil throws must be fiery doubts—given their heat by means of accusation. The fact that the devil has no more audience in Heaven with this kind of thing does not mean he never gains an audience here. But he can only do so by means of a lie.

The sword of the faithful believers is their word of witness and testimony, coupled with their willingness to die (v. 11). We are to defend ourselves from accusation by means of the blood of Christ, and we are to conquer the world by means of our testimony to the blood of Christ.

The call is given to the heavens, along with those who dwell there—rejoice that the devil is banished. There is a concurrent woe for the inhabitants of the earth and sea (v. 12). The devil has been thrown down, and is furious, and he knows he has a very short time to stamp out the infant church.

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Bible Challenge #14

Becky Pliego on

Dear sisters,

¡Hola, hola! And hello, December! This month is going to be a happy, busy month! We all know that, right?  This means that we must be ready to anticipate some temptations that normally come along with busy times like these, you know? Like quitting our Bible reading because, well …”we will be super busy.” So be on your guard, Friends. Put on and wear well the habit of being in the Word; make sure the straps are well tied around your waist just like the apron you wear in the kitchen. Plan ahead. Don’t put it off for later, for after the party and the shopping and the cooking and the concert. Let the Word be your joy and strength this season. May the coming of His Word be your food, your very life. Hear it, sing it, pray it, let it be in your mouth. Christ came to us so that we can come to Him. So come! Let every heart prepare Him room!

This week we will read the book of Ruth, Song of Solomon, 1 Samuel 1-20, Psalms 8, 10, 150, and 50 (NOTE: I made a mistake and assigned the reading of Psalm 50 on Saturday, December 9, when I should have assigned Psalm 59 that day. You can change that on your plan and then go to April 14 and change it to Psalm 50).

After reading Judges, especially the last chapters, we will find the book of Ruth so incredibly comforting. And it should be that way, like the gospel: the bad news before the good news. The book of Ruth is a gospel-saturated story that blows my mind every time I read it. It starts saying,  “In the days when the Judges ruled there was famine in the land…” And now we know exactly what that means. We know exactly how the days when the Judges ruled looked. We know how terrible it all was, how everyone was doing what seemed right in their own eyes. The land was barren, like the people of God in those days, like Naomi (Mara), like Ruth the Gentile. But God was about to turn the story of two women, and a nation, and you and I, into something beautiful. Redemption, I dare say, is the name of this story. I hope you can watch Monday’s webinar in which we will talk more about how clearly we can see the Gospel in this book.

Song of Solomon is a love poem between a married couple. And we know that  just as the Redemptive story in Genesis started in the Garden with a marriage, so the story ends with another marriage in another garden:  Jesus, the groom will be married to His bride, the church forever.

I pray that you will read the Psalms and see in them the prayers that can become your very own prayers. May we learn to pray as we read the Word, and pray the Word as we do our chores, Sisters, only by God’s grace.

Let our prayer this week be, “Thank you, Father because you are indeed mindful of me and care for me. This is too wonderful to comprehend! How you saved me! Open my eyes so that I may have eternal assurance of your love for me.” Amen.

I hope you can join us for the Webinar this coming Monday at 10:00 am PST (link below). It is always a joy to know that you are there, listening. Thank you.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Ladies Christ Church Ladies Fellowship.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 77

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”
Revelation 12:1-6

So a great sign or portent appears in the heavens. She represents the faithful remnant of Israel, she who was to give birth to the Christ, but who did so in travail and pain (Is. 26:17-21). We know she is Israel because of the dream given to Joseph—“And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me” (Gen. 37:9)—Joseph himself would have been the twelfth star. And there is clearly some sort of astrological significance to the fact that the woman (Virgo?) has the moon under her feet, the sun in her midriff, and a crown of stars on her head.

A second wonder appeared in the heavens. This was a great red dragon, identified as the devil or Satan a few verses down (v. 9). This dragon had the combined characteristics of all the beasts in Daniel’s vision, showing how each pagan empire was simply Satan in a new guise. This was no less true of Satan’s Roman period, during which he sought to devour the Child Christ through the agency of Herod the Great. The seven heads here also identifies him with the beast of Rome that appears in the next chapter.

Apparently Satan had drawn a third of the angels into his rebellion against God, dragging them down to earth with him. His intent was to devour the Christ as soon as he was born, but the attempt was unsuccessful. In this passage, the narrative jumps from Christ’s birth to His ascension. The fact that this child is Christ is confirmed by the fact that the child was destined to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. This was prophesied of the Messiah in the Old Testament (Ps. 2: 9), and is applied to Christ later in Revelation (Rev. 19:15), and to His shared rule with His saints earlier (Rev. 2:27). There is no reason to change the identification here.

Having given birth to the Messiah, faithful Israel fled to the wilderness where she was nourished and provided for by God for three and a half years.

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