June 29th, 2011
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Victory Assured

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Opening Prayer

Lord, I can be so easily intimidated. The past and the future can unsettle me. Grant me faith and hope today.

Read REVELATION 12:1-17

[1] A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. [2] She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. [3] Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. [4] His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. [5] She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. [6] The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. [7] And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. [8] But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. [9] The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. [10] Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “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, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. [11] They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. [12] Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” [13] When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. [14] The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. [15] Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. [16] But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. [17] Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“God of the church, enable us to be worthy examples of the people for whom Christ died, and in whom Christ lives” (Welton Gaddy).

Think Further

This is a great picture, with layers of meaning. Three central characters are the woman, her child and the dragon. The dragon is identified as Satan and the man-child is Jesus. As for the woman, she represents God’s people, Israel, who preserved the promise down through the generations, and then the Church thereafter. In this chapter we go behind the scenes, for though the Caesars may strut the stage, they are only the front for those forces that oppose God, and are in the control of Satan. But the child of promise will be preserved. You could say that vs. 1-4 describe the Old Testament age, v. 5 the life of Christ, and v. 6 the centuries since.

The scene shifts, and now we see the same period portrayed as a war in heaven. There is a hint of the original fall of Satan and his angels for aspiring to take God’s role. In another age, this also describes the decisive victory that Christ won on the cross, demonstrated by his resurrection, so it is also a verdict on the eventual outcome of this cosmic struggle. The outcome is not in doubt. That is not to say that the route will be easy—far from it. Knowing he will be defeated makes the devil more dangerous because he can afford to take risks in his desire to cause as much damage as possible and bring down as many as he can with him.

Here the Church, the bride of Christ, is also seen as his mother, for this is the community in which Christ is found. Yet knowing that Satan is a defeated foe gives courage to those engaged in world evangelization. How extraordinary that the weak Church with all its inconsistencies and contradictions ends up on the winning side!

Apply

What comfort, hope or other help do you receive from knowing that Satan is defeated? Thank God for that and pray for those you know struggling with his attack right now.

Closing prayer

Lord, I pray for myself, my church, and the Church. May we wear the apron of a servant, showing the difference You make in us. Reform Your church, beginning with me.

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