READING FOR DECEMBER 18, 2025: ISAIAH 7, REVELATION 12, PSALM 125 ISAIAH 7 Read this chapter and reading guide when well rested. It’s complicated, at least to this writer, and relates to the historical events recorded in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28. Verse 1 states that Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the king of Israel (also known as Samaria or Ephraim) attacked Jerusalem, but could not conquer it. Verses 2-17 describe the divine judgments that caused the political and military actions found in the accounts of 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles. That’s what make the Bible more compelling than other history books or the current news. It reveals the more meaningful reality unavailable to us otherwise.
When the threat arose, the people of Jerusalem were terrified. God dispatched the Prophet Isaiah to calm down King Ahaz of Judah. He confirmed that the two kings would attack and attempt to install a puppet king in Judah (not in the line of David). God said this final result would not happen, although we know from the other two biblical accounts, lots of damage and havoc to Judah not mentioned here did occur. God told Ahaz that Ephraim (the northern kingdom) as a people would cease to exist within 65 years. He also said that King Ahaz also would cease to exist if he failed to believe God. The other accounts confirm he didn’t believe God totally.
God graciously told Ahaz to ask for a sign to validate that this would happen. Ahaz responded that he would not put the Lord to the test. This sounds good and is a command from Deut. 6:16, which Jesus also quoted when tempted by Satan (Matt. 4:7). But it was a bad response when God told Ahaz to ask for a sign. As with Satan’s dialogue with Jesus in the wilderness, spouting off scripture has no value if it is ripped from its context inappropriately. ALWAYS CONSIDER CONTEXT, both the original text and the situation to which it’s applied.
Isaiah stepped in and said the Lord would give him a sign anyway. He said a young girl (which could also be translated as “virgin”) would conceive and give birth to a boy called Immanuel (which means God with us). He said before the boy develops a moral conscious the lands of Aram and Ephraim/Israel/Samaria would be abandoned. As we march toward Christmas, we might recognize this as the great revelation given to Joseph in Matthew 1:23 that Jesus would be the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah 7. It is obvious that Jesus was not the only fulfillment of this complete prophecy, because the abandonment of Israel and Aram happened centuries before Jesus’s birth.
Thus, this must be another example of a prophecy that has double fulfillment. It seems the immediate fulfillment occurred in the next chapter: So, I [Isaiah] approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; or before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria’” (Isa 8:3-4). Thus, the young girl in Isaiah 8 was not a virgin, but Mary the mother of Jesus certainly was. Chapter 7 ends describing bad days ahead for Judah that the Lord will bring upon them.
REVELATION 12: Chapter 12 depicts the battle between a woman and a dragon. Most scholars believe the woman is Mary and the child mentioned in verse 13 is Jesus. The identity of the dragon is clearly stated as the devil or Satan. (12:9) There are several things we can glean about Satan from this chapter and knowing them will enable us to stand against his attacks.
Satan is a Real Being. This should be obvious to anyone who reads the Bible, for both the Old and New Testament speak about Satan. Unfortunately, many people (even some Christians) don’t believe Satan exists.
READING FOR DECEMBER 18, 2025 CONTINUED: REVELATION 12, PSALM 126
In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis makes this comment about the reality of Satan, “There are two equal and
opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
Satan Rebelled Against God. This rebellion is depicted in 12:7. Satan was created as a good and beautiful angel named Lucifer, but pride entered his mind. We can’t understand how this happened, but from within, by an act of the will, Lucifer chose to exalt himself rather than God. He led other angels in his rebellion. Some suggest that 12:4 means that 1/3 of the angels joined him in his rebellion. The angels who joined him are what we now call demons.
Satan is Not All Powerful. Revelation 12:8 says Satan was “not powerful enough” to stand against Michael and he was cast out of heaven and hurled to the earth. Satan has limited power and is not powerful enough to stand against the power of God that is present in God’s people. “…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Jesus said, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy…” (Luke 10:19)
Satan Wars Against God’s People. Revelation 12:9 says Satan attempts to “lead the whole world astray.” Verse 17 says he makes war against those who obey God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. This means us. We have an enemy who wants to destroy us. Peter says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Fortunately, God has given us everything we need to stand against his attacks and to extinguish all his flaming arrows. (Read about the Armor of God in Eph. 6:10-18).
Satan Will Not Win. Revelation 12:12 says Satan’s time is short. God has already decreed that the day will come when Satan will be judged. We will read about this judgment and Satan’s final destiny in Revelation 20. His defeat was secured when Jesus died on the cross. Revelation 12:11 makes it clear that Satan is overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Paul declares this in Colossians 2:15, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
PSALM 125 The Psalmist says those who trust in God are like Mount Zion in the sense that they cannot be shaken; the eternal God protects them forever. The word “Zion” is first mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:7: “David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.” This city of David was eventually named Jerusalem, site of the Temple and God’s special presence. Although we reside in Yorktown, as Christians we are really citizens of that heavenly Zion: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels” (Heb. 12:33). The Psalmist looks for the day when the wicked no longer threaten Jerusalem. Revelation 21:27 tells us the wicked can never even enter the heavenly Zion: “Nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Hence, the major question in life is do we and our family have our names written in the Lamb’s book of life by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior?
