For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Christmas is coming soon. Let us remember what it is truly about, the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us strive to not be caught up in the commercialism which is what this season is about for many in our society today.

    A young person who mocks the advice given by his parents, rather than listen to it, will find themselves in a world of hurt. You know the people I am referring to, those who think their parents are completely clueless and boring. As a result they never pay attention to their parents’ warnings. While some parents are overprotective and restrictive of their children’s behaviors, they all have more experience about the dangers in this world than their children.

    The psalmist cries out to God for rescue from the wicked and the violent. We cannot expect God to rescue us from the wicked and protect us from the violent if we are also wicked and/or violent. We know that God will help the poor and those whom the wicked and violent persecute. Let us choose to be among the persecuted, not the persecutors.

    This passage is more metaphorical than many and understanding it relies on properly identifying the elements of the metaphor. I will be perfectly honest, my experience is that doing that is beyond most people. However, there are a few that are obvious. The woman described in this passage is the Jewish people. The baby she gives birth to is Jesus. The dragon, at least, is easy. The dragon is Satan, or “The Adversary”.
    One of the points we learn from this passage is that the enemies of Jews are advancing Satan’s agenda. This passage tells us that those who seek to weaken or destroy Israel are serving Satan. This does not mean that we are called to support Israel, merely that we should not work for her destruction. This passage is a good starting point to sort out many evil organizations long before the rest of their evil becomes apparent. If an organization, or ideology, spreads the idea that Jews are inherently evil, it is a tool of Satan and will, sooner or later, be revealed to be evil in many other ways.

    Zechariah starts off by reminding us that if we return to God, He will return to us. It is we who left God, not the other way around. If we accept that our suffering is a result of our sin, God will show us how to move on and leave it behind. We cannot expect God to relieve our suffering if we do not turn from our sins.
    The rest of this passage fits in well with today’s passage from Revelation. The prophet describes how God is angry with the nations which He used to punish the sins of the Jewish people. He tells us that when God chose to punish the people of Israel these nations went beyond God’s intentions in bringing harm to them. To me this says that while we may suffer as a result of our actions/sins, that does not excuse those who bring about this suffering. Just because someone deserves to suffer does not mean that we are not sinning when we inflict that suffering on them.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Zechariah also prophesied to the Jews who returned to Judah and Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile. He begins by calling the people to turn to God and to make God the focus of their lives. He warns them against making the mistake that their ancestors made when they did not listen to the prophets who called them to repentance. This introduction is followed by a vision which Zechariah saw. In the vision, Zechariah hears that God is angry with the nations He used to punish the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Those nations were given power over God’s people in order to punish them, but they used that power to do evil. God is now going to send destruction upon them to punish them for their evil.

     John describes the next part of his vision where he sees a great dragon attempt to devour the son born to the woman with a crown of twelve stars (presumably the people of Israel, with the twelve stars representing the twelve tribes and her son representing Jesus). However, the child was snatched away from the dragon as soon as it was born and carried to God and His throne. The woman fled to a place which God had prepared for her to stay safe from the dragon for a period of time. Michael and his angels waged war with the dragon. Upon defeating the dragon, Michael and his angels cast the dragon and his angels down to earth.
     Those who rely on the blood of the Lamb will be victorious over the dragon, the one who accuses them before God. Upon finding itself cast out of heaven, the dragon pursued the woman, but the woman was protected from his attacks. This led the dragon to turn his attacks against the woman’s other children, those who obediently follow God’s commands and testify to Jesus’ wonderful name.
     This passage may indicate a time to come, but it reads to me as being representative of history since the birth of Christ. Satan has been cast forth upon the earth and has declared war against those who follow Jesus. He is able to cause much suffering upon the earth, but ultimately each and every believer is able to be victorious over him by relying on Jesus’ blood and remaining faithful in testifying to their trust in Him.

     God will rescue those who trust in Him from the traps which evil people lay before them. I do not need to seek to defeat them, I need only follow God’s direction and commands and the traps they lay for me will not catch me. If I faithfully follow God’s commands, the traps that evil people set for me will fail to catch me. Those traps will instead catch those who set them. God will help those persecuted by liars and will give justice to the poor. I will praise God’s name and live in His presence, then I will not need to fear the plots of the wicked.

     Those that mock their father and despise their mother’s instruction will suffer for it. They will be unable to recognize good advice when they receive it.