Wow! Tomorrow we’re into 2024. Time to start our Bible reading plan for the year, a continuation of what we started last year.

For a couple of years now, we’ve used The Navigators’ 5x5x5 reading plan for the New Testament: 1 chapter/day, 5 days/week. We liked the leisurely pace so much, with time to meditate on what we were reading, that June said, “Why don’t we broaden that concept to include the Old Testament?” So we did, and last year we read the Pentateuch. So this year, we’re moving into the History section:

As always, I recommend you use your time in the Word to connect with the God who wrote it: The Time with God Weekly Journal is a tool to help you do that.

The only other thing I would add is that sometimes, when we’re reading the Old Testament, there may be chapters where it’s hard to find any applicable thoughts to meditate on. (1 Chronicles 1 comes to mind!) Therefore, I keep a finger in one of the gospels and just read the next story. Others supplement with a psalm.

(If you want to read the Bible through in one year, the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan is among the most doable: 25 readings each month, each from four different places in the Bible.)

I’ll be following our plan through the History section, and some of the blogs will come from there. Join me! We’ll come across this encouragement right away:

And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. (Joshua 1.8, MSG)

I’ve written before about “An Act of War,” written by Tim Lewis, the son of longtime friends Bruce and Elena Lewis. This year, I took the time to transcribe the lyrics so you can read them with or without Tim’s excellent recording. The lyrics line up perfectly with yesterday’s excerpts of Eugene Peterson’s meditations on Revelation. I present Tim’s song without further comment:

Stanza 1

We sing about a silent night, When everything was calm and bright, And the Holy Child Was lying in the manger.

The shepherds share the angel’s joy, And come to see the baby boy And in this happy glow, We miss the danger.

For fallen priests and wrathful kings Are threatened by the light He brings Ruthless men Who claim to be divine.

For centuries they’ve killed His prophets, But now in keeping with His promise The Son of God Has stepped across the line.

Refrain

And it was an act of war, A beachhead in the night Upon earth’s darkened shores, A glimmer of the light.

As the drums of Heaven pound With the heart of the Father, That the lost ones shall be found And restored as sons and daughters.

And the kings, they draw their swords, As the ancient dragon roars, And the battle begins on a stable floor. In Bethlehem – It was an act of war!

Stanza 2

And this is how love fought to save us, Not to conquer and re-enslave us, He reaches for the hearts And not the crowns of earth.

For swords and soldiers cannot mend us, His light must kindle deep within us, So God’s own Son Lies in the arms of a peasant girl.

And who are we that He should love rebels in the graves we’ve dug? In shame we’ve turned away from Him And closed the door.

But now the very God whom we’ve defied Has sent His Son to testify That ruined hearts Are still worth fighting for!

Refrain

And it was an act of war, A beachhead in the night Upon earth’s darkened shores, A glimmer of the light.

As the drums of Heaven pound With the heart of the Father, That the lost ones shall be found And restored as sons and daughters.

And the kings, they draw their swords, As the ancient dragon roars, And the battle begins on a stable floor. In Bethlehem – It was an act of war!

Stanza 3

And as He grew, He fought the lies, Exposed the hypocrite’s disguise, And showed the mercy of the Father To the poor He taught.

Many saw His light, but they loved the darkness, His words exposing where their heart was, Yet He gave His life, a sacrifice To win the lost.

And the battle fought on Christmas Day Still rages in our world today, The light still shines –  The darkness shall not overcome.

So light your lamp, and do not fear To spread His light to captives here; We follow His example ‘Till the battle’s done!

Final Refrain

And it was an act of war, A beachhead in the night Upon earth’s darkened shores, A glimmer of the light.

As the drums of Heaven pound With the heart of the Father, That the lost ones shall be found And restored as sons and daughters.

Amazing love, how can it be That You would go to war for me, And give Your life to set me free In spite of my hostility.

Now my heart is sworn To the Savior born In Bethlehem – It was an act of war!

“Act of War” lyrics and music are copyright© 2019 by Tim Lewis. Please share this song and video, but don’t remove the copyright info.

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron… (Revelation 12.1 – 5, ESV)

We reminded ourselves yesterday of the warfare version of the Nativity story from Revelation 12.

Eugene Peterson’s meditation on Revelation, Reversed Thunder, describes the scene in his usual eloquence beginning on page 119. Here are some excerpts:

The immediate consequence of the birth is not Christmas carols but a great war spread across the heavens.

He is referring to Revelation 12.7 – 12:

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. 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!”

Peterson goes on:

This is not the nativity story we grew up with, but it is the nativity story all the same. Jesus’ birth excites more than wonder, it excites evil: Herod, Judas, Pilate. Ferocious wickedness is goaded into violence by this life. Can a swaddled infant survive the machines of terror?

…

It is St. John’s Spirit-appointed task to supplement the work of St. Matthew and St. Luke so that the nativity cannot be sentimentalized into coziness, nor domesticated into drabness, nor commercialized into worldliness…It is St. John’s genius to take Jesus in a manger, attended by shepherds and wise men and put him in the cosmos attacked by a dragon. The consequence to our faith is that we are fortified against intimidation. Our response to the nativity cannot be reduced to shutting the door against a wintry world, drinking hot chocolate and singing Christmas carols. Rather, we are ready to walk out the door with, as one Psalmist put it, high praises of God in our throats and two-edged swords in our hands. (Psalm 149.6)

If that doesn’t get your juices flowing, stay tuned. I want to share a song that says the same thing.

We’re reminding ourselves that Jesus’ coming to earth as a human being was an act of war. We wrote yesterday that the first forecast of this warfare goes all the way back to Genesis 3, where God tells the serpent (Satan):

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3.15, NKJV)

Jesus is the “seed of the woman,” and the “heel bruising” occurred at the cross where Satan won a “temporary” victory. The opening scene of Passion of the Christ ends with a powerful reminder of Genesis 3.15. (It’s a 4-minute video; please take the time to watch it.)

But before the cross was the birth, “the Christmas story,” and here it is from a warfare perspective in Revelation 12. 

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12.1 – 4, NKJV)

Remember King Herod and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ escape to Egypt?

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (Revelation 12.13, 14, NKJV)

I discovered this “back story” a few years ago, and I’m always happy to see that others discovered it too! Mike Metzger writes eloquently about this aspect of Christmas every year, including why we don’t often hear this part of the story. I recommend his article, published on December 23, 2019. 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6.12, NKJV)

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3.8, NKJV)

PS Yesterday’s blog went out formatted badly. I have since corrected it.

Our daughter, Melody, and her family are living in Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island, where she and her husband teach music in an international school. They’re blessed to attend a wonderful church, First Baptist, and with technology, we are able to tune in from time to time.

Their pastor, Steve Brady, kicked off his Advent series earlier this month with a sermon from Genesis 3…Genesis 3? Yep. That’s where the battle for the souls of humanity started and where the first promise of Jesus’ coming is given. Steve had a 7-point alliterative outline (he may have attributed it to someone else – I don’t remember) that’s too good not to share. Here’s how the story starts:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3.1 – 6, ESV)

Steve pointed out that the serpent made sure God’s word was…

• Disputed: “did God say?”
• Distorted: “neither shall we touch it” (God didn’t say not to touch it)
• Distorted: “neither shall we touch it” (God didn’t say not to touch it)
• Denied: “you won’t die”
• Defied: “so they ate the fruit”

Pastor Steve went on to say that they couldn’t hide their sin. They were…

• Discovered: hiding in the garden

Then we have the first Jesus verse in the Bible. God tells the serpent:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3.15, NKJV)

As Steve said, it’s the first promise of…

• Delivered: “just a hint…Jesus is the Seed of the woman”

I think we’ll stay on Genesis 3.15 one more day. See you tomorrow!

As we’ve just observed the Christmas Season no doubt with at least one quiet singing of “Silent Night,” we would do well to remember that it really wasn’t a “Silent Night,” as much as we enjoy that carol and others like it. Jesus’ birth was an invasion and the battle is ongoing.

I wrote about this last year, and it’s worth another reminder…

I noticed in my reading of the letters to the Seven Churches of Revelation (Revelation chapters 2 and 3) that there’s a comment element in each short letter: “the one who conquers,” ESV, or “to him who overcomes,” NKJV.

The one who conquers…

• Will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God, 2.7
• Will not be hurt by the second death, 2.11
• Will receive some of the hidden manna, 2.17
• Will receive authority over the nations, 2.26
• Will be clothed in white garments and not have his name blotted out of the book of life 3.5
• Will be a pillar in the temple of my God, 3.12
• Will sit with me on my throne, 3.21

Conquering and overcoming imply there’s a battle.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the beginning of it.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3.8, ESV)

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2.6, 7, ESV)

But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” (Galatians 4.4 – 6, MSG)

Wow. Christmas Eve already and also the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

When I wrote about peace on the Second Sunday of Advent, I mentioned that we could use a bit of peace just among ourselves. 200 denominations in the US alone! How do we get to this peace? Maybe we start with love?

Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. (John 13.34, MSG)

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (Revelation 2.4, NIV)

The fruit of the Spirit is love… (Galatians 5.22)

Inspired by Moses’ “Choose Life…Choose Obedience” theme, we’re looking at the obedience of the characters of Christmas, beginning with Zechariah and Elizabeth, followed by Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds. Today, the Wise Men.

Their story is told in its entirety in Matthew 2:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. (Matthew 2.1 – 12, ESV)

These men were likely descended from contemporaries of Daniel (see, for example, Daniel 2.48). I’ll write about them again on Epiphany in a couple of weeks, but for now let’s remind ourselves that we don’t know how many there were, and we don’t know exactly when they arrived (NOT with the shepherds on the day Jesus was born). For this series, we do know that they were obedient:

• They didn’t have the written word, but they followed the knowledge they did have at great expense and inconvenience.
• They worshipped Jesus and presented him gifts: acts of submission.
• When told not to return to Herod, “they departed to their own country by another way.”

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. (1 Corinthians 1.26, ESV) – It says, “Not MANY” not “Not ANY.”

Inspired by Moses’ “Choose Life…Choose Obedience” theme, we’re looking at the obedience of the characters of Christmas, beginning with Zechariah and Elizabeth, followed by Mary and then Joseph. Today, the shepherds.

We don’t know a thing about the shepherds except what we read in Luke 2:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them…And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2.8 – 20, ESV)

Such a great story! No one tells it better than Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Obedience? You bet. The angel says, “You will find a baby…” Only if they look!

The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste… (Luke 2.15, 16, ESV)

Then they did something not directly commanded but certainly understood as necessary: they told everyone!

Finally, they went back to work! They were at work when the angel appeared to them, and they returned to work.

Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all. (Mark 16.15, MSG)