For today, One Year Bible Online links here. We are approaching the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. Let us seek to serve God in all that we do in the New Year.
The writer calls on us to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. If we want our society to prosper we must speak up for the poor and the helpless. We must seek to ensure that they receive justice. Any society which does not ensure that those who cannot speak for themselves receive justice will find itself in decline.
This psalm calls on everyone and everything to praise God. Not for any particular reason except that God is our creator. Reading this psalm brings to mind one of my favorite songs. I know that song as Hymn 606 because it was number 606 in the Mennonite Hymnal I grew up with. I would encourage anyone who is unfamiliar with this hymn to search for “Mennonite Hymn number 606” on Youtube and watch a few different videos of it. Being part of a group singing that song in four part harmony, even if not very well, can lift your spirit in much the manner intended by this psalm.
Next in John’s vision Satan is bound for a thousand years. During that thousand years Satan is unable to deceive the people of the world. During that thousand years those who had died for resisting the beast were raised from the dead and ruled over the earth. When the thousand years comes to an end Satan will be released. He will immediately proceed to deceive the people of the world once more. He will gather the nations to make war on God’s people but the vast army will be struck down by fire.
This battle will be followed by the coming of God’s judgement on the living and the dead. Everyone will be judged according to what they have done. Anyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death. What strikes me as I read this is that a casual reading seems to indicate that some will avoid the lake of fire because they lived exemplary lives. However, only those whose name is written in the Book of Life will avoid the lake of fire. It is not spelled out here, but elsewhere in the New Testament it is made clear that we do not earn our way into the Book of Life by our good behavior. Rather, we exhibit good behavior because our name is written in the Book of Life.
Zechariah’s prophecy here resembles part of John’s vision in the book of Revelation, but it is not quite the same. If this prophecy is referring to the same events as the similar prophecy in Revelation there are enough differences that it is clear there is a different lesson here for us. In this vision we learn that Israel’s enemies will strike Jerusalem and defeat its armies taking many captive. Yet as soon as that has happened God will enter the battle on Israel’s behalf. His first act will be to provide them with a miraculous path to flee the destruction.
God will come and rule over the world and no one will worship any other gods. A plague will come upon those who refuse to worship God and nations which do not worship Him will experience famine. As I read this passage it reminds me to redouble my prayers for my friends who do not yet know the Lord. Zechariah tells us that the day will come when everyone will realize who God truly is and worship His name. The suffering experienced by those few who refuse to worship Him will be obvious to all.