The Woman and the Dragon
Revelation 12:1-17
The Woman and the Dragon
Revelation 12:1-17
Main Idea: Though Satan wages war on God’s people, we have victory in Christ who has defeated the dragon.
I. The Son: Ruling & Reigning (12:1-6)
John sees two signs in heaven:
Sign #1 (12:1-2): A woman, clothed with the splendor of the sun, with the moon under her feet, and 12 stars in her crown, about to give birth. This woman represents the people of God, waiting in labor pains for the promised Messiah (Micah 4:10; Isa. 26:17-18, 54:1; Gal. 4:26).
Sign #2 (12:3, 9): A great red dragon, with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems; this dragon is identified as “that ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” He is the animating force behind all wicked rulers who set themselves against the Lord and his anointed (Pharaoh - Ezek. 32:2; Nebuchadnezzar - Jer. 51:34-35, Herod - Matt. 2:13-18, etc).
In a revolting picture, this dragon is prepared to devour the son who is to be born (Gen. 3:15). “[Satan] Satan “takes the rage he had against Jesus in particular and directs it toward babies in general… the demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy the “least of these” they’re destroying a picture of Jesus himself, of the child delivered by the woman who crushes their head.” ~ Russell Moore, Adopted for Life
This son is the Messiah who is to ‘rule all the nations with a rod of iron’ (Ps. 2:7-9). Despite this violent opposition, he is safely born and “caught up to God and to his throne,” a summary of Christ’s incarnation through his ascension.
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. Ferocious wickedness is goaded to violence by this life… The nativity cannot be sentimentalized into coziness, nor domesticated into drabness, nor commercialized into worldliness… The splendors of creation and the agonies of redemption combine in this event, this center where God in Christ invades existence with redeeming life and decisively defeats evil. It is John’s genius to take Jesus in a manger attended by shepherds and wisemen 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 carols. Rather, we are ready to walk out the door with, as one psalm puts it, high praises of God in our throats and two-edged swords in our hands (Ps. 149:6).
~ Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder
II. The Dragon: Defeated & Defanged (12:7-12)
John then sees another “angle” from heaven of the defeat of the dragon by the Son. As Jesus accomplishes redemption through his crucifixion and resurrection, Satan is thrown down to earth from heaven.
John 12:31: Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
Colossians 2:14–15: …by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
As a consequence of Satan’s removal from heaven, he is no longer able to make accusation against the people of God (cf. Job 1; Zech. 3). Though he once had a case against a guilty people, there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
While heaven is to rejoice over the victory of the Lamb and the removal of the dragon, those on the earth face his “great wrath, because he knows his time is short” (12:12). 1 Peter 5:8-9a: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith
III. The Church: Persecuted & Protected (12:13-17)
Cast from heaven and defeated by the Son, the dragon now turns his wrath on earth toward the “woman” - the Church. He “pursues” God’s people by the means of persecution (Acts 7:52, 9:4, 22:4), deception, and seduction (cf. Rev. 13).
Despite the Dragon’s pursuit, the Lord protects the woman, like “eagles’ wings” (Ex. 19:4; Isa. 40:31) to the wilderness. She is nourished in this place for “times, time, and half a time,” which equals 42 months (Rev. 11:2, 13:5), 1,260 days (Rev. 11:3, 12:6), and 3.5 years: “in between” of the number of perfection. This is a period describing the “time in-between” Christ’s first coming and second coming.
Conclusion: How do we conquer the dragon? (12:11) By…
The blood of the Lamb
The word of our testimony
Enduring suffering unto death (Mk. 8:35)
The message of Revelation to them and to you and me is this: Yes, doing battle against the devil may mean that you lose a lot in this life. You might lose your reputation, your friends, your job. You might even lose your life. But to live and die in the Lord will turn out for your blessing. To live your days on this earth all out for Christ, no matter what assault the devil sends your way, is true victory, not defeat. You won’t regret it. Your life won’t be over. You will awake to find yourself among the many who have laid down their lives for the gospel before you. Jesus himself will comfort and reward you.
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
The Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:1-10
The Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:1-10
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ is an invitation to courageous hope in place of fear.
I. The Eyewitnesses (28:1-4)
The disciples are noticeably absent from the tomb on Sunday morning. Even though Jesus directly told them three times that he would be raised (Matt. 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19), they did not have the ability to comprehend and they are hiding in fear.
We owe it to these first Christian disciples to do our very best to understand the utter hopelessness of their situation after the crucifixion. They had invested their whole lives in what appeared to be a diabolical joke. They had seen their beloved Master scourged almost to death, dragged through the streets, nailed to a cross and abandoned to suffer public agony in the face of the obscene mockery of everybody in Jerusalem. Once they had basked in the reflected status of a celebrity who had been mobbed by large crowds; now he had been judged a nonperson, fit only for the most degrading and sadistic death that the human mind was capable of devising. If there had been any solidarity among his followers, it had vanished; not one person had dared to come forward in the Master’s defense… there was nothing left. The Messiah was supposed to usher in the kingdom of God; for these disciples who had staked their lives on Jesus being that Messiah, it cannot be stated too strongly: there was no hope.
~ Fleming Rutledge, “Beyond Possibility” in The Undoing of Death
Those who were at the tomb include:
Mary Magdalene & the “other Mary,” coming to anoint Jesus’ body for burial (cf. Mk. 16:1)
An angel, accompanied by an earthquake, who rolls back the stone; the symbol of death is now merely a seat for this warrior-messenger of God (cf. 1 Cor. 15:25-26)
Roman guards placed there by Pilate (27:62-66); though they were supposed to be guarding a dead man’s tomb, they themselves “become like dead men”
II. The Empty Tomb (28:5-7)
The resurrection of Christ was powerful (28:6a): “he is risen…” (cf. Acts 2:24; Jn. 10:17-18; Rev. 1:17-18)
The resurrection of Christ was planned (28:6b): “... as he said.” (1 Cor. 15:3-4)
The resurrection of Christ is personal (28:6c): “Come, see the place where he lay.”
The resurrection of Christ was purposeful (28:7): “Go quickly and tell…”
III. The Experience of Easter (28:8-10)
As the women depart from the tomb they are full of “fear” mixed with “great joy” (lit. ‘mega’ joy). Suddenly, Jesus meets them on their way and these women become the first people to encounter the risen Christ. They grab hold of his feet, pierced for their forgiveness and for our forgiveness, in worship.
If Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead, we can fear not because:
Death has been defeated (Isa. 25:8)
Our sins have been forgiven (Rom. 4:24-25; Heb. 2:11b)
Everything sad will come untrue
1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
The Curtain, The Tomb, The Centurion
Matthew 27:51-54
The Curtain, The Tomb, The Centurion
Matthew 27:51-54
Main Idea: Jesus truly is the Son of God.
I. The Curtain (27:51a)
Matthew 27:51a: And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Hebrews 10:19-23: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Through his death, Jesus welcomes us behind the curtain.
II. The Tombs (27:51b-53)
Matthew 27:51b–53: And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Jesus’ death brings life.
Ezekiel 37:1-5, 10-13: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live… So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, “…And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
Jesus came to make dead people alive through his death.
III. The Centurion (27:54)
Matthew 27:54: 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 truly is the Son of God because he welcomes Centurions, people least likely to believe in him, to become adopted children of God through his death.
The Meal
Matthew 26:17-30
The Meal
Matthew 26:17-30
Main Idea: The Lord’s Supper reminds us of Jesus’ substitutionary and sacrificial death until he returns.
I. The Shadow of Passover (26:17-19)
Surrounding Jesus’ final meal with his disciples is the observance of Passover. This was the high point of the Jewish calendar, as Passover was the most significant of their feasts and festivals in remembrance of God’s great deliverance of his people from slavery.
Exodus 12:14: This day [Passover] shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever.
As the Israelites observed Passover in Jerusalem annually, each component of the meal was infused with symbolism and significance:
Unleavened bread (to remember their hasty exit from Egypt)
Bitter herbs (to remember their time of bitterness)
Cup of salt water (to remember their tears in Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea)
4 cups of wine (to remember the four promises of Exodus 6:6-7)
A lamb (to remember their deliverance by the blood)
II. The Sorrow of Sin (26:20-25)
In this intimate setting, Jesus prepares his disciples for his impending betrayal. Though this was in the sovereign plan of God (“as it is written of him”), it does not lessen the responsibility of this sinful action by Judas. The response of the other disciples (“Is it I, Lord?”) shows a humble awareness of their own capacity to sin, and established the need for this meal in the first place.
Matthew 26:31: Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
It is essential to keep together these two complementary ways of looking at the cross. On the human level, Judas gave him up to the priests, who gave him up to Pilate, who gave him up to the soldiers, who crucified him. But on the divine level, the Father gave him up, and he gave himself up, to die for us. As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both, “I did it, my sins sent him there,” and “He did it, his love took him there.
~ John Stott, The Cross of Christ
III. The Substance of Christ (26:26-30)
As Jesus presides over the Passover meal, he breaks from the script and the story to insert himself: “this is my body… this is my blood of the covenant.” As the fulfillment of Passover, Jesus presents his impending death and crucifixion as:
Sacrificial (cf. John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:7b; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
Substitutionary
The concept of substitution may be said to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties that belong to man alone.
~ John Stott, The Cross of Christ
1 Corinthians 11:26: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
[The Lord’s Supper] is a happy remembrance. Our remembrance of Christ is chastened with repentance, but it is also perfumed with faith. The Lord’s Supper is no funeral meal, but a festival; it is not a fast, but a feast. My happiest moments are spent with the King at his table, when his banner over me is love. The death of Christ is a well-spring of solemn joy
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Blood Shed for Many”
Don't Shoot the Messenger!
Malachi
Don’t shoot the messenger!
malachi
Main Idea: God loves us and calls us to trust his promises and worship him with all of life.
I. Remember God’s Love (Malachi 1:2-5)
Mal. 1:2–5: “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.
Rom. 8:35, 38–39: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
II. Honoring God’s Name (Malachi 1:6-3:18)
Mal. 1:6: A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
1. Honor God in Worship (1:6-2:6)
Your sacrifices are blemished (1:7-11)
Your attitude is apathetic (1:12-13)
You have fallen short of your glorious purpose (1:14)
You approach God with irreverence (2:1-4)
You have been unfaithful in your teaching (2:5-9)
We become what we worship.
2. Honor God in Relationships (2:10-16)
Mal. 2:10–16: Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god…You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
We worship in our relationships.
3. Honor God with Your Wealth (3:6-12)
Mal. 3:6–12: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
We worship with our wallet.
III. Trust God’s Promises (Malachi 4:1-6)
Mal. 4:1-6: For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.
The prophets cry out from the wilderness, and Jesus Christ answers.
Clothing, Cleansing, and Commissioning
Zechariah
Clothing, Cleansing, and Commissioning
zechariah
Main Idea: Christ has clothed us in righteousness, cleansed us from sin, and commissioned us as royal priests.
I. Dirty Clothes (3:1-3)
The prophet Zechariah is given a vision of a heavenly courtroom scene, where Joshua (the high priest) stands before the Lord, with “Satan” (lit. ‘the accuser’ or ‘the adversary’) standing ready to accuse (cf. Rev. 12:9-10; Job 1-2).
Satan does not even need to make a case against Joshua, however, because he is “clothed with filthy garments” (cf. Isa. 28:8; 64:6; Deut. 23:13). Since the high priest was to be the representative of the people before a holy and righteous God, Joshua is clearly unfit for this work, meaning the people also stand condemned.
Joshua, representing Jerusalem and God’s people, is compared to a “brand (stick) plucked from the fire.” Though they had returned to the land from the purifying fires of exile, they needed to return in their hearts to the Lord (cf. 1:3-6). Their return from exile was the beginning of a gracious “rebuke” against the accuser.
II. Righteous Robes (3:4-5)
Before the accuser begins his attack, the “angel of the Lord” orders that Joshua’s filthy garments be removed, a powerful picture of the promise: “I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments” (cf. Isa. 61:10; Lk. 15:22; Rev. 7:9, 14; 19:8). His external cleansing is a symbol of his internal cleansing from sin.
This “angel of the Lord” is likely the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus, who “lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25) on behalf of God’s people:
Romans 8:33-34: Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
1 John 2:1: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
It is before Christ that sin is to be confessed. Confess it anywhere else, your sorrow is not repentance but remorse… Remorse is repentance made out of sight of Jesus; true repentance is sorrow of sin in the presence of Christ. Foul and filthy as you are, there is but one voice which can speak you clean. Go not away from that voice. There is but one hand which can touch you and make you pure; stand where that hand is close to you, and still, filthy as your garments are, shun not the face of your best, your only friend.
~ Charles Spurgeon, “Zechariah’s Vision of Joshua the High Priest”
III. Royal Priests (3:6-10)
As Joshua and his “friends” (priests) are (re)commissioned to serve as priests they were a “sign” (3:8) of greater realities God would bring about:
The temple would be restored, signifying Yahweh’s commitment to his promises and his people (cf. 4:10)
The Lord would send his servant, “the Branch” (cf. Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:14-26), a messianic, royal, Davidic figure.
The “iniquity of the land” will be removed in a “single day” (cf. Lev. 16; Zech. 12:10; 13:1)
Hebrews 10:1–4, 11-14: For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins… And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
In that “day” (of the Lord) after all of this is accomplished, the priests will “invite his neighbor” to come into a renewed land of peace (1 Ki. 4:25; Mic. 4:4). Zechariah will later prophesy that these “neighbors” are the nations themselves coming to the New Jerusalem on the Day of the Lord (2:11; 8:20-23, 14:16).
Zechariah’s vision of Joshua is a small picture of the greater experience of all God’s people; by faith, we have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, cleansed from sin by Christ’s finished work, and commissioned as a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9) in Christ’s coming Kingdom, inviting others to share in the blessings of salvation.
So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!
~ Martin Luther
Four Days, Three Months, and Four Oracles
Haggai
Four Days, Three Months, and Four Oracles
Haggai
Main Idea: The Lord’s past faithfulness brings present comfort in His future promises.
I. Stirred to Faithfulness (1:1-15)
It was not a remarkable year in terms of the secular history of the time, but it was a spiritual watershed in the history of God’s people and the unfolding of the divine plan of redemption. God sent the prophet to stir up the community in Jerusalem to new obedience, and his ministry was blessed with revival. The record of those months is a memorial to God’s grace and a challenge to the obedience of subsequent generations.
~ John l. Mackey, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: God’s Restored People
1 Peter 2:4 - 5: As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
II. Strength for the Work (2:1 - 5)
The work of building God’s kingdom can often seem “as nothing” in our eyes. Periods of difficult and apparently unfruitful ministry might cause those with long memories to hark back to the “glory days” of old, de-energizing ministry in the present.
~ ESV Expository Commentary
III. Security for the Future (2:6 - 9)
Ezra 6:6–10: Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 2:18–22: So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Ephesians 2:13–22: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
From Judgement to Joy
Zephaniah
From Judgement to JOy
zephaniah
Main Idea: Seek the Lord and rejoice in His salvation.
I. The Warning: Judgment of the Lord
As in several of the other Minor Prophets, the expression that is frequently used to describe this time of God’s punishment on the sins of the people is the “Day of the Lord”. Zephaniah, more than any other of the Minor Prophets, uses this expression - 14x in chapter 1 alone (sometimes “on that day” or “a day.”)
Zephaniah 1:14-15: The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
the mighty man cries aloud there.
A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
The scope of this “day” of judgment can be understood by imagining four concentric, geographical circles:
Jerusalem (at the center; 1:10)
Judah (1:4, 14)
The nations surrounding Judah (2:4-15; Philistia, Moab and Ammon, Cush, and Assyria)
On all people (1:2-3, 18)
2 Peter 3:7–10: But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
II. The Command: Seek the Lord
Zephaniah 2:1-3: Gather together, yes, gather,
O shameless nation,
before the decree takes effect
—before the day passes away like chaff—
before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
The call to repentance in Zephaniah is in three movements:
The call to Judah (2:1-2): seek the Lord before the day of judgment comes
The call to repentance (2:3a): seek the Lord, seek righteousness, and seek humility
The result of repentance (2:3b): hidden on the day of the Lord
III. The Promise: The Joy of the Lord (3:14-20)
Not only are the warnings of judgment an incentive to seek the Lord, but a second incentive is given: a glorious vision of the future for those that do trust in God, for those who “seek refuge in the name of the Lord” (3:12). The Day of the Lord has “two parts” - it is not only a time of God’s punishment, it is also a time of God’s salvation.
With the shadows of judgment looming, Zephaniah’s greatest motivation for patiently pursuing God comes in his glorious vision of future hope that is held out for all who persevere in faith. Growing out of the fires of judgment will come a new creation that will include transformed worshipers from the nations of the world (Zeph. 3:8–10). And with God’s wrath now satisfied, having been poured out on the sinners or on the Substitute, the implications of this renewal are glorious for the faithful remnant of Judah.
~ Jason DeRouchie, We Are Made for Praise
This salvation is totally from God (3:18-20 - 8x ‘I will’), which is the reason to “rejoice and exult with all your heart” (3:14), because “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save” (3:17).
The safety and happiness of knowing God as ever-loving and ever-present will satisfy the deepest, most desperate longings in your soul. When you meet this God and know more and more of him, you won’t have to tell your heart to rejoice. It will be full and overflowing. Joy is the spontaneous song of the saved, the never-ending condition of the acquitted.
~Marshall Segal, “A Dream Come True in Corporate Worship”
Remarkably, this passage is not only about our joy in the Lord, but it is also about the Lord’s joy in us!
Zeph. 3:14: Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.Zeph. 3:17: He [the Lord] will rejoice over you with gladness; for he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Living by Faith
Habakkuk
Living by Faith
Habakkuk
Main Idea: As we experience the burdens of life, we are to wait on the Lord with a patient faith.
I. The Language of Lament (1:1-17)
The ‘oracle’ (lit. ‘burden’) felt and seen by Habakkuk drives him to ‘complain’ to God in a prayer of lament. As he cries out to the Lord “how long” and “why” he feels that God is silent (1:2a), distant (1:2b), and indifferent (1:3) while “justice is perverted” in Judah (1:4). The prophet is wrestling with why the wicked are going unpunished in his midst.
God answers Habakkuk (1:5-11) in an unexpected way that will cause “wonder” and “astonishment.” The Lord will raise up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to bring his righteous judgements to bear on Judah (cf. Jer. 5:14-17; 25:9). He emphasizes the pride, viciousness, violence, and quickness in which Babylon will bring this about.
This raises a second complaint & lament from Habakkuk (1:12-17), as the prophet wrestles with what he knows to be theologically true about God (1:12-13a) while expressing the disorientation he experiences with this response. He affirms God’s character, while questioning his actions. How could the Lord use such a wicked nation like Babylon to punish a less wicked nation like Judah?
To cry is human, but to lament is Christian… Belief in God’s mercy, redemption, and sovereignty create lament. Without hope in God’s deliverance and the conviction that he is all-powerful, there would be no reason to lament when pain invaded our lives… Lament is rooted in what we believe. It is a prayer loaded with theology. Christians affirm that the world is broken, God is powerful, and he will be faithful. Lament stands in the gap between pain and promise... To learn how to lament, we must resolve to talk to God and to keep praying.
~ Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
II. The Life of Faith (2:1-20)
Chapter 2 reveals that the life of faith is marked by two realities:
1. Patience (2:1-3)
After his complaint has been lodged to the Lord, Habakkuk takes up his ‘stand’ at the “watchtower,” waiting for a response from God. The Lord instructs him to “write down” this vision, which will come in its “appointed time.” “If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (2:3b; cf 2 Pet. 3:8-9).
You cannot judge God by your calendar. God may appear to be slow, but he never forgets his promises. He may seem to be working slowly or even to be forgetting his promises, but when his promises come true (and they will come true), they always burst the banks of what you imagined… God’s grace virtually never operates on our time frame, on a schedule we consider reasonable. He does not follow our agendas or schedules. God seems to forget his promises, but he comes through in ways we can’t imagine before it happens.
~ Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas
2. Humility (2:4-5)
The pride of Babylon (2:4a, 5) is set against the humility of the righteous who live by faith (2:4b; cf. Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:27-28). The Lord here is inviting Habakkuk to “lay down the melancholy burden of assumed omniscience” (Tim Keller), and instead embrace the mystery of dependent faith.
Habakkuk does not know why God is doing what he is doing with the Babylonians. He only knows that God is doing it… The mystery of faith is borne in prayer and suffering. It is embraced in both, because God may take his follower to extraordinary depths of pain and confusion. The whys and hows of human experience in God's world are often never answered. And sometimes, Habakkuk teaches, when God does answer, it raises even more questions. But this little poem teaches how humans are deeply formed, from the inside out, in the mystery of faith. Our questions call out for response. But finally, the word that God offers is extraordinarily a word of rest and peace, even if it means our suffering and a "day of distress." Habakkuk calls its readers to abandon themselves to divine providence. God is not safe, but he is good. He is the King.
~ Heath Thomas & Craig Bartholomew, The Minor Prophets
III. Longing for the Day (3:1-19)
After the Lord’s response to the prophet’s lament, Habakkuk responds with a prayer-psalm (cf. Ps. 7). Throughout this prayer, the prophet is recalling the mighty visitations of the Lord to his people in dire circumstances, where “in wrath he remembered mercy” (3:2). His remembrance of past grace gives birth to future hope.
The Temptation
Matthew 4:1-11
The Temptation
matthew 4:1-11
I. The Challenge of Identity: Provide For Yourself (4:1-4)
II. The Craving of Validation: Prove Yourself (4:5-7)
III. The Contest of Futures: Promote Yourself (4:8-11)