Christmas Meets Star Wars: 4th Day of Advent, Day 5

Week 4 Day 5: Revelation 12:1-10

Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth.

Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born.

She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days.

Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. (NLT)

At this point, you probably think that I’ve made a wrong turn in my Bible. This doesn’t sound like the Christmas story at all. This sounds more like a Frank Peretti novel.

The book of Revelation was written at an important time for the Church. At the end of the First century A.D., the Church was suffering great persecution. For a new movement of God, they experienced tremendous hardship and feared for their lives. In the middle of this situation, God gave John a Revelation on the Isle of Patmos.

Revelation portrays a cosmic battle of good and evil, just like other apocalyptic literature of the day. The Church needed a powerful story. The Church needed to know that good would overcome evil, because at that time the opposite seemed true.

Some preachers have made entire careers out of what the Book of Revelation means and when everything is going to happen. I’m not sure that is the purpose of the book. But, we can know two things for certain: The end will come, and Good will win. That’s all I really need to know.

Now, what about the Christmas story? Go back and read this Revelation story again. I think you’ll see what Jesus’ coming stirred up.



Copyright © 2009 by Allen White

All Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.