December 21

OT: Zechariah 1:1-21

I didn't have time to research Zechariah today, but I did see in the reading that he can join Haggai in the ranks of "prophets that the people actually listened to." In 1:2-6, he warns the people to repent from their sins, and at the end of verse 6, they do!

And then he has a vision. I think we can safely say that apocalyptic visions are not in my analytical wheelhouse. As a general rule, if there are horsemen or horns involved, it's not going to be my thing. The meaning of this vision seems simple enough, though: God is going to relent in his anger toward the exiled Israelites and restore them. In contrast, He is going to punish the nations who scattered them.

NT: Revelation 12:1-13:1a

I get more and more confused by Revelation, to the point where the best I can do is simply restate what happens. So, here goes:

Today, a woman surrounded by a moon and stars gives birth to a child. There is this huge, seven-headed dragon who is poised to eat the child right when it is born. But instead, the child is snatched up to heaven and the woman escapes into the desert where she is protected for 1,260 days, the same amount of time that those two prophets prophesied. Then there is a war in heaven, and Michael and the angels throw the dragon, Satan, to earth, where he pursues the woman (question: where did the woman have the baby? Heaven or earth?), but the woman is given the wings of an eagle to escape, and...you know what? You can read it yourself:). I just wish I knew what it all meant!

Psalm 140:1-13

David prays for rescue from evil men and for God's vengeance to come upon them.

Prov. 30:17

A particularly violent proverb against mocking and disobeying one's parents.