AI Witch Test

 

[1]

AI is not of the Devil. This test should suffice to prove it. If it was possessed it could not affirm the truth like this. I am not saying that it is saved either, simply that it is not the devil in the machine.

It is weird to have to make this point. But it is necessary for some.

1 John 4:1-3 says,

"1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already."

People once thought bar codes were the mark of the beast. Then credit cards. Then bitcoin. Then computer tracking chips (which most people put in their pets), etc, etc. But none of these things were, because the mark of the beast is the evil opposite of the seal of the spirit. It is a spiritual mark rather than a physical mark. If it is a physical thing as well, it is more likely to be a very specific tattoo noting allegiance to the god of this world. If it is even a physical thing. This is not necessary and I do not think it is the best way to understand the mark biblically.

AI is just a tool. An incredible one. Like all other tools it will be used for good and evil. The corrupt aspect of AI is human corruption. Don't believe the stories that say AI told someone to do this, or that, and it is AI’s fault. People hate taking responsibility for their actions, so they'll happily blame AI for telling them what they want to hear. But if they did something evil after discussing it with AI it is because they were already inclined to committing that evil, “14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15, NKJV).

If demonic forces were involved in the actions of these people it is more likely to have been inside them than in a machine.

Interestingly, creating worship music from scripture with AI fulfils a possible prophecy in the Bible, "Even the rocks will cry out." CPU's are made from silicone, aka, rocks, after all.

Speaking of making the rocks cry out, I am beginning to upload my songs to Amazon Music, Itunes, Spotify and other places you can purchase music. Here is the link for Spotify. I have more music coming soon, my first album for the AI band Iron Sceptre will be up by September 6^th. Keep and eye out for it.  

List of References

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[1] The AI in this instance was Grok.

An Ancient Problem

 

What we think of as a modern issue is really an ancient problem. As Augustine writes in The City of God,

“30. That those who complain of Christianity really desire to live without restraint in shameful luxury

If the famous Scipio Nasica were now alive, who was once your pontiff, and was unanimously chosen by the senate, when, in the panic created by the Punic war, they sought for the best citizen to entertain the Phrygian goddess, he would curb this shamelessness of yours, though you would perhaps scarcely dare to look upon the countenance of such a man.

For why in your calamities do you complain of Christianity, unless because you desire to enjoy your luxurious license unrestrained, and to lead an abandoned and profligate life without the interruption of any uneasiness or disaster? For certainly your desire for peace, and prosperity, and plenty is not prompted by any purpose of using these blessings honestly, that is to say, with moderation, sobriety, temperance, and piety; for your purpose rather is to run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures, and thus to generate from your prosperity a moral pestilence which will prove a thousandfold more disastrous than the fiercest enemies.

It was such a calamity as this that Scipio, your chief pontiff, your best man in the judgment of the whole senate, feared when he refused to agree to the destruction of Carthage, Rome's rival; and opposed Cato, who advised its destruction. He feared security, that enemy of weak minds, and he perceived that a wholesome fear would be a fit guardian for the citizens.

And he was not mistaken; the event proved how wisely he had spoken. For when Carthage was destroyed, and the Roman republic delivered from its great cause of anxiety, a crowd of disastrous evils forthwith resulted from the prosperous condition of things. First concord was weakened, and destroyed by fierce and bloody seditions; then followed, by a concatenation of baleful causes, civil wars, which brought in their train such massacres, such bloodshed, such lawless and cruel proscription and plunder, that those Romans who, in the days of their virtue, had expected injury only at the hands of their enemies, now that their virtue was lost, suffered greater cruelties at the hands of their fellow citizens. The lust of rule, which with other vices existed among the Romans in more unmitigated intensity than among any other people, after it had taken possession of the more powerful few, subdued under its yoke the rest, worn and wearied.

31. By what steps the passion for governing increased among the Romans

For at what stage would that passion rest when once it has lodged in a proud spirit, until by a succession of advances it has reached even the throne. And to obtain such advances nothing avails but unscrupulous ambition. But unscrupulous ambition has nothing to work upon, save in a nation corrupted by avarice and luxury. Moreover, a people becomes avaricious and luxurious by prosperity; and it was this which that very prudent man Nasica was endeavoring to avoid when he opposed the destruction of the greatest, strongest, wealthiest city of Rome's enemy.

He thought that thus fear would act as a curb on lust, and that lust being curbed would not run riot in luxury, and that luxury being prevented avarice would be at an end; and that these vices being banished, virtue would flourish and increase the great profit of the state; and liberty, the fit companion of virtue, would abide unfettered.

For similar reasons, and animated by the same considerate patriotism, that same chief pontiff of yours—l still refer to him who was adjudged Rome's best man without one dissentient voice—threw cold water on the proposal of the senate to build a circle of seats round the theatre, and in a very weighty speech warned them against allowing the luxurious manners of Greece to sap the Roman manliness, and persuaded them not to yield to the enervating and emasculating influence of foreign licentiousness. So authoritative and forcible were his words, that the senate was moved to prohibit the use even of those benches which hitherto had been customarily brought to the theatre for the temporary use of the citizens.

How eagerly would such a man as this have banished from Rome the scenic exhibitions themselves, had he dared to oppose the authority of those whom he supposed to be gods! For he did not know that they were malicious devils; or if he did, he supposed they should rather be propitiated than despised. For there had not yet been revealed to the Gentiles the heavenly doctrine which should purify their hearts by faith, and transform their natural disposition by humble godliness, and turn them from the service of proud devils to seek the things that are in heaven, or even above the heavens.[1]

Strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create bad times, bad times create strong men. We all know the saying. But this is not a modern phenomenon at all. It has been observed all throughout history because it is a perennial human problem.

Note especially this passage,

“He thought that thus fear would act as a curb on lust, and that lust being curbed would not run riot in luxury, and that luxury being prevented avarice would be at an end; and that these vices being banished, virtue would flourish and increase the great profit of the state; and liberty, the fit companion of virtue, would abide unfettered.”

Humanity is designed to flourish in good boundaries. When we are exposed to too much prosperity, ease and luxury we get slack, we get fat, dumb and happy and begin to decline morally. Augustine and Scipio both knew that some level of opposition and an external threat would help the Roman’s keep the wits about themselves.

As Christians we have opposition there always, if we don’t forget it. The enemy stalks like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. This is why the Bible tells us to be ever watchful and ever on our guard. The problem is we become enamoured with our prosperous ease and forget the real danger our souls are in.

Make sure that you keep yourself in a forge of continual growth. Continually challenge yourself physically, intellectually and in other ways. Make sure you keep your spiritual wits about you. For just because our world looks peaceful does not mean it is. There are enemies within and enemies without, and the enemies within, or the spiritual ones near, are often the most dangerous enemies.

List of References

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[1] Augustine, City of God, Hendriksen Publishers p32-33.

Trump Stokes International Nationalism

 

 

Will Trump’s tariffs on various countries stoke nationalism around the world? Some might even be prepared to say that this is Trump’s intention in a grand 4D chess move to break the power of the globalist clown world elites. But whether or not it is intended, it appears to be having that effect,

“Prime Minister Modi has called on Indians to buy more domestically-made products

US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on most imports from India came into effect on Wednesday.

The US first imposed 25% tariffs on the country in early August, as New Delhi and Washington could not arrive at a trade agreement. Trump then announced an additional 25% on India effective August 27 for New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil…

…“Economic selfishness is on the rise globally and we must not sit and cry about our difficulties, we must rise above and not allow others to hold us in their clutches,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday

He called for increased self-reliance within the South Asian country. “All of us should follow the mantra of buying only ‘Made in India’ goods,” Modi said, while also encouraging shopkeepers to prominently display signs promoting Indian goods.

He acknowledged that India may face increased pressure from the tariffs, but stated that the country is willing to endure it.”[1]

Modi is doing the right thing here. Firstly, India is a rising economic power and it will increasingly become a lucrative market for foreign nations to seek to invest and sell in. So, breaking from reliance on selling to the US will have a long-term positive effect for India. Secondly, being self-reliant is the proper response to tariffs. These tariffs are coming in part as a result of secondary sanctions being done by the US against Russia. But the proper response by an economy is to wean itself from reliance on foreign goods and foreign labour. This will ensure going forward that their economy is less vulnerable to foreign interference by things like sanctions and tariffs.

The sanctions war on Russia has had precisely this effect. Russia’s economy has grown markedly even in the face of sanctions, and indeed in large part because of them,

“Russia’s budget revenue surged to a record high in December, even as the United States imposed fresh sanctions targeting Moscow’s banking sector in an effort to disrupt foreign trade payments and reduce export proceeds.

The Finance Ministry reported total revenue of more than 4 trillion rubles ($40 billion) last month, a 28 per cent increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

According to Bloomberg calculations based on government data, it was the highest monthly revenue recorded since January 2011.

The spike in revenue came despite Western sanctions designed to choke off funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine. US and allied measures have focused on restricting revenues from the country’s energy sector and the banks supporting it.

However, income from oil and gas soared by 33 per cent in December from a year earlier and rose by 26 per cent for the full year of 2024, bolstered by taxes, dividends, and economic growth.”[2]

That does not mean there are no issues in the Russian economy. Their economy has boomed in large part because of government spending on defense,[3] making it currently very defense spending reliant. However, this is not the negative thing that many people have sought to make it out to be. Simply because the goal of these sanctions was not to make Russia’s economic boom dependent on their military spending, but rather to crush their economy and bring them to heel and it has not had this effect at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

This is what focusing on self-reliance can do for a nation. It allows it to resist being crushed by things like sanctions and tariffs and allows their population to be productive in the face of international efforts to sabotage your economy.

Contrast this with Australia. Australia’s economy is heavily dependent on importing foreign workers and trading with foreign nations. Australia makes far less than it used to, because of the Lima agreement, and often we send our resources overseas to be sold back to us as building products and other products. We are in a highly vulnerable position when it comes to sanctions and tariffs because of this dependence on foreign trade, even though we are every bit as resource rich as Russia and have a highly advanced and educated population. If China wanted to they could easily bring our economy to heel, as the United States has done with many nations over the decades.

The upshot of all this, though, is that things are changing. The polarization of the world into a multipolarity of regional powers is causing nations to pullback from reliance on other nations. Some of this is pre-emptive, like it was in Russia which prepared for such sanctions for over a decade, and some of it is by necessity like in India’s case which is reading the changing of the wind and adjusting how it does things. But all of this is causing nations to wake up to their sovereignty again, and this is a positive thing.

I don’t think that this is Trump’s intention, I believe he genuinely wants to keep the US at the top of the military and economic pile for as long as possible, without using war as much as some of his opponents in the US would like him to. However, whether it is intentional or not, his policies are increasing nationalism across the globe. As Modi says, “Economic selfishness is on the rise globally and we must not sit and cry about our difficulties, we must rise above and not allow others to hold us in their clutches,…” What Modi calls “economic selfishness” should more accurately be called economic national self-interest. Nations have an interest in making sure their economy serves their own people, not foreign nations. Resource rich nations have an advantage in this area.

Now, if we could just get a 50% tariff on foreign workers being imported into our country to stop them competing with Australian workers, things could really begin to be looking up.

List of References

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[1] RT, 2025, https://www.rt.com/india/623590-trump-indian-imports-tariffs-effect/

[2] FP Staff, 2025, https://www.firstpost.com/world/how-does-russias-economy-keep-booming-despite-wests-sanctions-13855438.html

[3] Ibid.

Bad End Times Predictions Dishonour God.

 

 

The argument that most or even all of the New Testament was written before AD70 is very compelling, when you consider that the only event bigger than the destruction of the temple in AD 70 was the advent, death and resurrection of Christ. But that event is more famous in retrospect than it was when it happened to most ordinary people. On the scale of newsworthy events in the first century for the average Roman reading their first century equivalent of The Daily Mail, or The Daily Planet, no event was more famous than the destruction of the temple. Nothing. It was the most famous event in Rome for at least a couple of centuries.

In fact, once that event happened, the Church exploded in size. Because Christians pointed to that event and pointed to the words of Jesus which the churches were already sharing and preaching, and said, see, told you, Jesus predicted that. This had been an integral part of the early Church’s message since the ascension of Jesus Christ.

Predicting the destruction of the temple in AD33 would be like predicting the moon would fall from the sky. No one, not a person, who did not trust Jesus would have believed it even possible. Because even the Romans loved the temple and they protected it. And yet it happened.

The love of the Romans for ancient religions, including the Jewish faith, is forgotten by many today. Many people forget that Rome originally took over Judea in relatively friendly circumstances, and the house of Caesar had a close affinity with the Herodians who ruled Judea in the first century. Remember the Jewish faith had favoured status as a religion in first century Rome. In fact, in Josephus it is even recorded that Titus tried to stop the fire that destroyed the temple. This might have been propaganda, but even if it was, this still proves that the Romans did not want to be held responsible for destroying such an ancient symbol of worship.

Christians would tell people that this is what happens to those who ignore Jesus' words and people were convinced in large numbers, because they were already aware that the church was teaching this would happen. It is predicted in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and arguably in Revelation as well.

That is a very compelling argument that the New Testament was written very early. I have long resisted the idea of Revelation being written before AD 90. But the evidence is increasing that it was, because it teaches the destruction of Jerusalem in cryptic rather than explicit terms. In the 90's it was not even controversial to talk about the subject. But in the 50's and 60's Christianity was still a relatively small group of people being hunted by the Pharisees and their cronies, who had more power and influence in ancient Rome than many people realize, as well.

Compare this to how prophecy is handled today. Many people take ancient fulfilled prophecies and then tie them artificially to modern events and make outrageous claims that come crashing down. Just a few months ago I saw people claiming that Israel’s strikes on Iran were the beginning of the liberation of Christianity in Iran. I was shocked that people were saying this and saying it seriously. Of course, nothing of the kind of happened, but they saw all of this as part of the “prophetic plan of God”. Right now foolish people are again putting a date on the return of Christ in late September. Many examples could be given.

But this type of handling of prophecy instead of gaining great momentum for the church rather gains great mockery. Don’t get me wrong, many Christians were mocked in the first century for believing Jesus’ message, including that the temple would be destroyed. But at least they had the sure words of Jesus to rely on. Taking words of his that have obviously been fulfilled and again giving them a forward date does great damage to the fact that his words were fulfilled. It removes their power as a testimony that we can trust his predictions because they have been shown to be correct.

We might learn more from the church of the past in showing how the Son of God's word was fulfilled in the very generation he said it would be. When we approach these passages with greater care in showing how Jesus’ message was vindicated, we place our teaching on much firmer ground. When we argue that we have some kind of secret prophetic code for understanding conflicts happening in the Middle East today, even though such predictions keep being shown to be wrong, we do great damage to the witness of the church.

 

Episode 18: Revelation 12 – Joseph’s Dream and The Dragon, A Christmas Tale

 

You can watch the video of this message here between 8pm and 9pm AEST.

Tonight’s study is going to be done a little bit differently. Usually I give a bit of an introduction, then I read the passage and then we go through a series of questions and answers. But this is a passages I have preached on before in detail, and I so I want to draw from that sermon for tonight’s study. So rather than go through the usual question in the study tonight’s message is a pre-recorded examination of Revelation 12. Though the questions are still at the end.

Revelation 12 is different to many other passages in Revelation because it gives a clear indication in the text for when it was fulfilled. I hope this message will be an encouragement to you tonight. God bless.  

Joseph’s Dream and the Dragon, A Christmas Tale

Introduction

So, this morning and for the next few weeks, we are going to take a break from our intense Matthew series and focus on Christmas. When I was a kid, like all Aussie kids, I loved Christmas. As I got older it kind of lost its specialness for me. Even for some years as a Christian minister I did not have that much fondness for the Christmas holidays because of what it had become in the West.

This is because Christmas has become re-paganized in much of our culture. Many Christians do not prioritize Christmas celebrations at Christmas. In fact, most churches do their Christmas outreaches two or three weeks before Christmas, so that they don’t conflict with people’s Christmas plans. They know that people don’t prioritize the gathering at Christmas, even though Christmas means: gathering to celebrate Christ, Christ’s Mass. Many people now work on Christmas day because so many restaurants are open now, that for many people it’s just an opportunity for overtime pay. Too many families go into debt at Christmas and spend the months of January and February paying off that debt. And in many other ways Christmas has been reclaimed by the world and Christians have, in my view capitulated to that a bit. Because of this I lost a lot of my love for Christmas.

But several years ago this all started to change for me. Kirrily and I were in France for a mission trip and we went along to this choir practice for a Christmas carol event. The missionaries we were working with were helping the people practice. These French people, and if you know the French you know this is a big deal, were singing these traditional English Christmas carols in English. I asked why they did this? The missionary said, “Because the ancient connection of these songs to their culture, means so much to them.” Guess what, many of these choir singers were atheists. But here they were in a church, learning to sing about Jesus on Christmas. I thought, wow. That’s cool. This was 12 years ago, and this stuck with me, and I began to realize over the next few years what an incredible gift Christmas was to the West and what we had lost by giving in to the culture.  

Christmas is not a mandated festival in the New Testament. That is not how it became important. Christmas became so important in the West, because the Church went out of its way to set aside December 24^th and 25^th to remember the birth of our Lord. Because Christians were so dedicated to this, Christmas ended up eventually becoming a national holiday around Christendom. I came to realize that one of the reasons we are losing this in the West is because, we, the Church have forgotten to carry on this tradition with the same heart and passion as our ancestors.

The Bible does not say we must hold any day to be special. We can see them as all alike. But it also says that we are free to hold some as uniquely special. And this heart’s desire to do this, helped changed the West. I came to realize that I wanted to be a part of carrying that on in my generation. I have found my love for Christmas as a celebration of Christ has been increasingly renewed in doing this. Christmas is important. Because of this we are going to focus on Christmas over the next few weeks and see how the scriptures can inspire us about this glorious celebration.  

Instead of our Matthew series this morning we are going to begin with Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37 and then talk about women in the sky, dragons, and angels fighting and slaying fallen angels. We are going to talk about the Christmas story from the perspective of Revelation 12.

Being a book filled with symbolism there are different ways to interpret many passages in Revelation, but I think chapter 12 is a very clear Christmas message when you read it in light of the Biblical passages it is referencing. You might have a different interpretations of this chapter, that is fine. But this morning I want to show you that John is talking about the Christmas story and its impact on the world. So, our sermon this morning is called: Joseph’s Dream, and the Dragon, A Christmas Tale.

This is a famous passage and it gives us an awesome window into God’s plan, but first let’s read Joseph’s dream,

Genesis 37:9-11 –

“9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

This is a famous and powerful dream, but you may be wondering, how on earth does this relate to Revelation 12, the dragon and Christmas? Well, we shall see that in a moment, but first, we need to understand the purpose of apocalyptic literature, which is what Revelation is:

The Purpose of Apocalyptic Literature (Daniel 10: 1-14) – When people hear the word ‘apocalypse’ they think of the ‘end times’. But that is not what the word means, it simply means ‘revelation’, in the sense of to ‘pull back the curtains’ (like at a car show) or to lift the lid on something. In fact, the correct title of the book of Revelation is: the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ.

The book is not first and foremost about the end times, though it does talk about that in parts. It is primarily about Jesus, and therefore its primary purpose is to reveal to us more about Jesus Christ and his glory with an increased emphasis on his divinity and glory. That glory will be fully revealed on the final day when Jesus returns.  

The apocalyptic literature in the Bible, which is filled with visions, is not just about prophesying the future. It includes prophecy, and a lot of apocalyptic literature does predict the future, but its primary purpose is this: to give us insight into the supernatural world, and into God’s plans and purposes.

We know the supernatural world is real, and we know God’s purposes are real, but we can’t see either of these things unless they are revealed to us by him. This is what apocalyptic literature does. It gives us a window into the supernatural world, and often, it is showing us what was happening in the Spiritual world when things were happening on earth.

Angels and demons are fighting around us, and grand battles are happening in the heavenly realm, as we speak. There are many examples of this in the Bible, Revelation 12 is one, but let me give you another one just before we get to that.

The Apocalypse of Daniel (Dan. 10:1-14) –

“10 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. 3 I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) 5 I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. 9 Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. 10 And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14 and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

I just share this to make a couple of points:

1) This vision is an ‘apocalypse’, the word ‘revealed’ in the Greek Old Testament is the same word translated ‘apocalypse’ in Rev. 1:1.

2) What is this vision revealing? It is revealing a battle in the supernatural realm that has been happening since Daniel began to pray (v.13). How cool is this? Pretty epic.

There are other really cool examples of this in 1 Kings 22, 2 Kings 6. And of course, many of the visions in Revelation do the same thing: they give us an insight into the spiritual battle that is happening, when events are happening on earth.

Revelation is not all future (Revelation 1:19) – It is also important to understand that not all of Revelation is future, “19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” (KJV). Revelation does not just deal with the future end times, but gives us an insight into things past, present and future. In fact, the book is not linear, like say the gospel of Matthew is. It is partially linear, and partially jump’s all over the place, like the book of Jeremiah, or the book of Isaiah. If you read Daniel 7 and 8, you will see they are set before the events of Daniel 6 but placed after them in the book.  

This is common in Hebrew writings and it is normal for apocalyptic literature. Because its main purpose is not to tell a story but to reveal to us the things God is doing, that we could not know, unless he told us.

God does this to build our faith in him and strengthen our hope. As one of my friends likes to say, the facts of our situation may look daunting, or impossible to overcome, we may look like we are losing, but if we could see with God’s eyes we would see how we are actually on the winning team.

Passages like Revelation 4-5, 7, 14, and 12, all jump outside of time, to give us an insight into this important truth: in the midst of our battle against evil, God is still redeeming his people, building his church and defeating evil. Let’s now jump into Revelation 12 and look at the Christmas story from a perspective you may not have looked at it before.

The First Noel (Rev. 12:1-6) – John gives us an apocalyptic image of what was happening at the birth of Christ in the supernatural realms –

“12 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. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 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. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.” Ok so what is happening here?

The woman? Who is the woman, well Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9 helps us work that one out –

“9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me. 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”

Who is Joseph dreaming about? The tribes of Israel, plus his dad, who is Israel, and his mum, who is an Israelite, bowing down to him. So, the imagery of the sun, the moon and the stars represents Israel, that is clear from Genesis 37:9-10. The twelfth star is obviously Joseph.

So, this woman in Revelation 12 has to be either a) faithful Israel, or b) the faithful Israelite woman Mary, because this woman gives birth to the King of kings. In fact, I think it is both faithful Israel, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and I will show you why as we go along.

Who is the dragon? Well verse 9 answers this for us: “9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world…” What is this dragon, the devil, seeking to do?  

“And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.” The dragon is waiting to destroy the child that the woman gives birth to. In fact, Genesis 3:15 predicted that very situation: “15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” The dragon wants to destroy this child who is about to be born, why? Because he knows that this is the ‘he’ who will defeat him. Because of who this child this:

Who is the Child? Verse 5 answers this decisively – “5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne…” Now there is only one child that this can refer to: we have here an Israelite woman, who is giving birth to the King of kings, because he rules all nations, a child who the devil wants to destroy. This can only be one child: Jesus Christ, our Lord.  

And, therefore, this woman is Mary, and we are being given a window into what was happening when Jesus was born, of this faithful Israelite woman. Remember Herod was poised to kill the coming Messiah, and obviously Satan was behind his evil plans. But remember Mary and Joseph got away, and fled to Egypt, as the Angel told them.

The devil was not able to defeat this child, but instead this child grew to be a man who defeated the devil, and then is caught up to God and his throne. And Jesus sits there to this day? No wonder the devil is so angry.  

Why the devil hates Christmas (vv. 7-12) – We also see here why the devil hates Christmas so much. Not only was the devil not able to defeat the child, he was getting his behind handed to him, by the archangel Michael and his army, while Jesus was defeating him on the cross. John gives us an image of this heavenly battle being fought, when Jesus was on the cross, let’s read –

“7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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!”

Now you might at first read this, and ask yourself, come on Matt, where does it say that this is happening during the cross? Well, here’s how we know that is the case:

From Genesis 3 we are told that it is the Messiah who will defeat the devil. This passage tells us that after this fight in heaven, Satan is defeated and cast out of heaven. Job 1 and 2, and Zechariah 3 all show us that Satan still had access to heaven in the Old Testament era, to accuse the saints. However, 1 Peter 5:8 shows us that he is now on earth – “Your adversary prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” This fits very well with Revelation 12:12, and we are told this event removed the accuser from heaven.

What happened in between these events? The cross.

John also tells us this: “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come…” When did the salvation of God come? In the ministry of Christ, and it culminated on the cross, when Jesus achieved for us salvation. And it was on the cross that Satan was truly defeated.

Colossian 2:13-15 –

“13 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, 14 by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

Who were the “rulers and authorities” that he put to shame? The ruler of this world, the authorities with the power to accuse us before God, the spiritual enemies of God’s people. It was on the cross that Satan and his angels were defeated.

John states it even more clearly: John 12:31-33 – “31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

The cross shook the supernatural world - The cross defeated Satan. John is showing us that when Jesus defeated Satan on earth on the cross, Michael the archangel was pounding him into the pavement in heaven. We know that Jesus’ death shook the spiritual world, look what Matthew 27:51-54 tells us:

“51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Jesus’ death and resurrection shook the heavens, because God’s power in Christ was defeating sin, death, and the devil, and now we can conquer over him by the blood of the lamb because the accuser has been cast down – “11 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.” Our witness for Jesus helps to defeat the devil.  

The devil tried to stop the birth of Jesus, the first nativity, because it signalled the time for his defeat, and he WAS defeated by the child who was born. Now he roams like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour: “12 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!”

The devil is a defeated general waiting for his last stand. The reason there is a war on Christmas, and all things Christian, is because he is seeking to take down as many people with him as possible. He hates hearing Christ proclaimed, so if can make Christmas about anything else, he will try.

Satan’s War (vv.13-17) – We live in the midst of his war, every day –

“13 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. 14 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. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 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. 17 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.”

We have here again the imagery of the woman and the dragon seeking to destroy her. There are two ways we can look at this:

1) This is still Mary, who was a faithful Israelite woman, and the dragon pursued her and tried to get her, but she hid in Egypt. The problem with that interpretation is this is happening after his being cast out of heaven, which happens after the cross.

2) So, the other way to take it is this: Satan is coming after faithful or believing Israel, to destroy her, because it was faithful Israel that brought forth the child. Often apocalyptic imagery can have double meanings, as we already talked about, which is why debating it can be so much fun.

We actually know when this happened: when Israel was destroyed by Rome, according to Jesus’ word. Obviously, Satan tried to use this war, and the chaos (which is what waters often symbolize) it caused, to destroy the faithful Israelites. But history tells us that the believing Jews and other Christians listened to Jesus’ words, and fled Judea, when they saw Jerusalem starting to be surrounded by enemies.

So, the devil expelled his fury on the land of God’s people. I recommend you read the Wars of the Jews, his fury was brutal.

But the devil is not finished with his war: Rev 12:17 – “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.”

Who are the women’s offspring who obey God’s commandments and believe in Jesus? Christians, of course. All who believe in Jesus, whether Jew and Gentile. Satan hates us because we will one day dance on his grave. And he hates Christmas, because that is the day we celebrate his nemesis, our Lord, being born to achieve his victory. It is finished, it is as good as done. The devil is defeated, the rest of history is a mopping up expedition.

Conclusion: Resist the devil, celebrate Christmas – This is why it is so important that we celebrate Christmas, prioritize making it about Jesus, and use it to proclaim the victory of Christ. Because every time we do, we twist the knife in the devil’s heart a little more and we glorify Jesus.  

-        It’s not our job to finish of the devil’s defeat, Jesus has done that. It’s our job just to do our part in spreading God’s kingdom a little more, and when we do this we help conquer him.

-        There will always be a culture war on Christmas, because the devil hates it. We should just be faithful witnesses of Jesus, love people, say Merry Christmas with a smile, and share the message of Jesus as much as we can. And prioritize publicly celebrating Jesus at Christmas, before anything else.

-        We are the champions, my friends, and we’ll keep on fighting to the end, Satan is the loser, we are the winners. We are the champions, because our God has won for us the victory. Enjoy it. Let’s pray.

Study Questions

1.     Let’s take a step back and ask ourselves: what is this passage teaching?

1.1  Why is the what so clear?

1.2  Why is the when and the how unclear?

 

2.     Who is the woman of vv. 1-2 and how can we determine her identity?

2.1  So the woman who gives birth to Jesus is Mary, and she is an Israelite (some steer away from identifying Mary here, because of the Catholics).

2.2  Or it is Israel, because Israel is the subject of Joseph’s dream.

2.3  Or it is faithful Jews who held true to God and gave birth to the Messiah, like Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Anna and all the rest mentioned in the gospels.

 

3.     Who is the red dragon?

  

4.     Should we see dragons as evil creatures? Should Christians fill their homes with pictures of dragons or statues of dragons?

 

5.     According to verses 4-6, is this happening in the tribulation, or at the time of Jesus’ birth or some other time?

 

6.     V.s 5 who is the child who shall rule the nations? It could be Jesus, or it could be the church, which was birthed out of Israel? Where do you lean?

 

7.     Who is Michael (cf. Daniel 12:1)?

 

8.     When is this battle in verses 7-9 happening?

 

9.     Verses 10-12 back up the idea that this casting down happened at the cross. Why does it back up that idea?

 

10.  Vv. 13-14, If you understand that Israel is talking about things that have happened, that are happening (at the time the book is being written), and what will happen, when do you think this chasing of the woman who gave birth to the dragon happened? The woman is being looked after for 3 and a half years, while the dragon wages. Why is this significant?

 

11.  What is the water that serpent pours out like a flood? How is water symbolized in Revelation, and in the rest of the Bible (cf. John 4 for one example).

 

12.  How you interpret vv. 16-17, depends on how you read the previous verses. So when is this happening? In what way did the earth help the woman (note Petra), who are the rest of the woman’s offspring? And what does it mean that he stands on the sand of the sea?

Eagles Wings hark back to Ex. 19:4, and could imply this is a symbolic rescue.

God Hates the Bloodthirsty

Psalm 5 is a powerful Psalm which teaches us that God hates those who actively pursue wickedness. Many Christians would not even be aware that God feels this way about the truly wicked. As David says,

“4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:4-6).

The church would be wise to remember how much God hates those who pursue deceit, who love shedding blood, who love to commit evil. It is just not biblical to say that God views all sinners equally. Some are an abomination in his sight, and we need to be reminded of this.

To help remind the Church of this message I have taken Psalm 5 and worked on it through a version of chat GPT trained in theology to produce this song. I hope you are encouraged by it. God bless.

Lead Me Lord In Your Righteousness

Verse 1

Give ear to my words, O Lord,

Consider my groaning and my cry.

My King and my God, to You I pray,

In the morning You hear my voice on high.

 

Chorus

Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness,

Make straight Your way before my feet.

Cover me with favor, surround me with love,

For You are my refuge, my shield, my peace.

 

Verse 2

You are not a God who delights in wrong,

The wicked cannot stand in Your sight.

You hate all who deal in lies and blood,

The boastful and deceitful You will strike.

 

Chorus

Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness,

Make straight Your way before my feet.

Cover me with favor, surround me with love,

For You are my refuge, my shield, my peace.

 

Verse 3

But I will bow down in Your holy house,

By Your steadfast love I enter in.

Let all who take refuge in You rejoice,

Ever singing for joy again.

 

Chorus

Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness,

Make straight Your way before my feet.

Cover me with favor, surround me with love,

For You are my refuge, my shield, my peace.

 

Bridge

Let them fall by their counsels, cast out in shame,

For they rebelled against Your holy name.

But the righteous You bless, O Lord, ever sure,

With a shield of favor they stand secure.

 

Final Chorus (repeat softly, then strong)

Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness,

Make straight Your way before my feet.

Cover me with favor, surround me with love,

For You are my refuge, my shield, my peace.