On this day after Christmas, it’s time to remind ourselves that Jesus’ birth was an invasion and Satan considered it just that.

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)

Mike Metzger of Clapham Institute writes:

…look at the first Christmas from the vantage point of heaven. It’s in Revelation 12. A woman is about to give birth. She’s tortured with pain, a reminder of God’s oracle to the woman after the fall. Her pain is exacerbated by the appearance of an enormous red dragon. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. We see this in Revelation 12, where Lucifer is crouching greedily before the woman, seeking to kill the newborn. Miraculously, the baby is carried away to safety. A headlong flight into Egypt ensues, with hosts of demons on the tail of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (c.f. Matthew 2). Foiled, the serpent scans the horizon, declaring total war on all who follow the infant child. This should give Christians pause… Mike Metzger, The Seriousness of Christmas (the entire article is worth reading)

Tim Lewis, son of lifelong friends Bruce and Elena Lewis, has written a song about this. He starts with a reference to the Normandy Invasion, D-Day, June 6, 1944. It’s worth listening to: Act of War, A Christmas Song.

I want to write more on the D-Day aspect of Jesus’ coming tomorrow.

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…And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12.13 – 17, NKJV)