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.

    Despite the way modern science has learned to explain three of the things mentioned in the article (eagle’s flight, snake slithering, ship’s on water) they are still amazing to watch and hard to understand. When I see a bird in flight, I know the science of how it does it, but I can not say that I truly understand it. The writer says that he does not understand a man’s love for a woman. I cannot completely agree, what I find hard to understand is why my wife loves me.

    Verses three and four make statements that we should follow. I ask God to take control of my lips and control what I say. We are reminded that it is easy to drift towards wickedness little by little. First we justify some small wrong on the basis of a greater good, but if we follow that path, soon we justify ever greater wrong. If we share in the spoils of wicked behavior with the wicked, we are complicit in their evil. In addition, if we do so, we are likely to soon take an active part in their wickedness. Let us not fall into that trap. Rather let us pray constantly that the wicked will repent of their ways and turn to God.

    John’s vision continues with two beasts, one out of the sea and one out of the land. The first beast was given power by the dragon, Satan. He rose to rule over all of the earth and everyone whose name is not written in the book of life worshiped him. As a result, God’s people will endure persecution and must remain faithful in the face of such persecution. The second beast rose up and exercised the authority of the first beast. The second beast forced all people to worship the first beast. In addition, the second beast performed wonders to promote the worship of the first beast and to punish those who refused to do so.
    Over the years I have seen these two beasts interpreted as being either individual men or as particular nations. I think that this prophecy is a little of both. I think it likely that these “beasts” will manifest as the governments of nations, but that they will reach their fulfillment with particular men who come to rule those governments. In some ways one of the important points to remember is that all governments seek, over time, to become objects of worship. We must reject such worship and remain faithful to God.

    Zechariah prophesied that some day such a large number of people would live in Jerusalem that many of them would live outside the city walls. Is that not the situation which exists today? Israel’s enemies should take note of the rest of this prophesy. Zechariah also prophesied that God Himself would defend the people of Jerusalem. God promised that He would crush those who brought harm against His people.

     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.

     As Zechariah’s vision continued he saw a man on his way to measure Jerusalem. Zechariah was told that someday Jerusalem would be so full of people and livestock that people would live outside of the walls. In that day, God Himself would be a wall around the city protecting it from attack. God was going to come and live among His people and many people would come to join themselves to the Lord. That day has come to pass. We are now living in a day when God lives among His people and any who are willing to come to Him may join themselves to the people of God. God has sent His Branch to take away our sins so that we may invite our neighbors to sit peacefully with us in service to God.

     John’s vision continued. He saw a great beast rise up out of the sea. The dragon, which is the devil, gave the beast its power and authority. This beast appeared to have a fatal wound, yet the wound healed. As a result of the wound and its healing, the whole world marveled and gave their allegiance to the beast. The people of the world worshiped the beast and the dragon, convinced that no one could stand against the beast. The beast spoke blasphemies against God, slandering God, His dwelling, and those who dwell in heaven. The beast was given authority to rule over every possible group of people on the earth. He made war against God’s holy people. The people of the world worshiped the beast, that is, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life. God’s people endured persecution patiently without losing faith.
     Then John saw a second beast come up out of the earth. He exercised all of the authority of the first beast and required all of the earth and its people to worship the first beast. He performed many miracles in the name of the first beast and deceived all of the people who belonged to this world. He ordered a statue of the first beast built and he gave the statue the semblance of life so that it could speak. The statue commanded that everyone who would not worship it must die. Then the second beast required everyone to receive a mark on their hand or on their forehead. Without such a mark, no one could buy or sell anything. The mark was either the name of the beast, or the number representing its name. John then tells us that the number of the beast is the number of man, that it is 6 repeated three times. Everything I have seen says that the number six represented imperfection, while the number three represents holiness. This leads me to conclude that John was saying that the number of the beast represented worshiping imperfection.
     I am not sure what all of the symbolism in this passage means. However, there are a few things which I do understand. There will rise up those whom the world will worship in place of God. These leaders will persecute those who continue to worship God rather than these “beasts”. Despite the obvious imperfections and failures of these rulers, the people of this world will consider them to be worthy of worship. At some point, these “beasts” will exert authority over all forms of economic activity and will deny those who do not worship them access to any form of economic activity, even to the buying and selling of food.

     This psalm is definitely one to make my prayer today. I ask God that He take control of what I say so that all the words out of my mouth will bring honor to His name. I pray that He not allow me to drift towards wickedness, becoming enamored of the things which the wicked consider sweet. I will not complain when the godly rebuke me, because they do so out of love, desiring to turn me from the path of destruction. I will not refuse such correction. I will call on God to thwart the plans of the wicked.

     The writer of this proverb tells us that he is amazed by three things and a fourth that he does not truly understand. He is amazed by and does not understand an eagle in the sky, a snake moving across rocks, a ship moving through the ocean, and a man with a woman. I know how these things work and I have experienced being with a woman (my wife), yet I do not truly understand why they feel the way they do.
     Then the writer makes a comment which often takes us by surprise. I was raised to think of adulterous men as the ones who sought out sexual relations with no meaning, leaving the women they so treated hurt and broken. The proverb writer reminds us that adulterous women do the same thing to men. Neither gender is immune to the hurt and suffering that results from sexual relations with one who takes part in the activity and then moves on.