“Then he [Joseph, son of Jacob] had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind,” [Genesis 37:9-11]
“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more,” [Matthew 2:16-18]
Christmas is such a wonderful holiday because it is a season of Light in the midst of deep darkness. Tradition put Christmas during the darkest days of the year –at least in the northern hemisphere (in the southern hemisphere, December marks the brightest days of the year). But for those of us who live up north, Christmas is a bright season during the darkest days.
Nearly 4000 years ago, a man by the name of Joseph had a dream. In his dream he saw the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. If you know the story of Joseph, he was humbled to the point of being a slave before he was exalted as ruler of all Egypt , then his whole family bowed in respect to him because God exalted him. The sun, moon and twelve stars are prophetically symbolic of the family of Israel (Jacob). But it is interesting how Satan tried to kill Joseph through the envy of his brothers –because Joseph was the favored son that Jacob loved the most. But it was through Joseph that the whole surrounding world was blessed with life during a time of great famine.
The woman in the vision that John saw in Revelation 12 is Israel . The woman symbolizes the whole nation of Israel because it was through her that the Messiah came. But as she was about to reveal the Messiah, Satan was ready to try and kill Him. In fact, I’m sure Satan tried many, many schemes to eliminate Jesus, but never succeeded –nor could he. Satan tried to do the same thing when Moses was born (Exodus 1) because Satan was trying to put a stop to the promises of God (Genesis 3, 15, 49). But when the prophecy of Genesis 49 was revealed, Satan did everything in his power to stop the tribe of Judah from producing the One who would eventually put an end to Satan’s lethal reign on earth.
When the Messiah comes, His Light will put an end to all darkness, and the government will be on His shoulders (Isaiah 9). Those walking in the shadows will see a Great Light. Now, nearly 2000 years after His arrival, we know the Power of the Light. We have the Light with us, even in the midst of the darkness, in the Presence of God’s Spirit. This is a sign and a promise that evil will eventually be extinguished and Light will abruptly swallow up darkness at a moment’s notice. We know that it is imminent, only a matter of time before the Light returns and puts an end to all darkness.
Within every Christmas passage that we read from Scripture, there is a promise that the King of kings will prevail because the Father has given the Son dominion over all things, because He alone has fulfilled the Father’s will perfectly and has received from the Father the inheritance of all creation. Jesus will return and rule all the nations with an iron scepter. His reign shall never come to an end, now that it was initiated almost 2000 years ago. Like David, He has been anointed, but will only ascend to the throne after God Himself has decided to deal with the current “king.” There is a king that the world would choose, and then there’s the kind of King that only God could choose –a King after God’s own heart.
Focus on the Light. Light has the incredible capacity to overwhelm darkness. Christmas lights are beautiful and all around right now, glowing brightly in the darkness, reflecting off of the freshly-fallen snow. Now imagine a day where there is no darkness –none at all, and only Light warmly embraces and penetrates everything everywhere. Say goodbye to shadows. Say goodbye to evil. Because the Light has returned –and He is now here to stay! That is our future –and it may be closer than any of us might suspect... The scepter in Jesus’ hand tells us that He is Just. His whole heart belongs to the Father. There is no corruption, no selfishness, no personal agenda –NO DARKNESS in Him. He is the only Rightful Ruler for us. His righteousness is unsurpassed. His love is perfect. And isn’t it about time we started saying continuously, in agreement with the Spirit of God, “COME!”? Come, Lord Jesus, Come. Come and overwhelm the darkness and send Satan packing. Establish Your Light here… FOREVER. Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus! And to all of you…
Merry Christmas!
George