Tongues of fire came to rest on the disciples at Pentecost                          Photo: Fotolia adapted 

A Promise Fulfilled

Before his ascension back to heaven Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power to proclaim the Good News.

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, Jesus gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit....................You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:4-5,8)

Baptized with Holy Spirit to be Witnesses

When Jesus told the disciples they would be his witnesses, the Greek word he used was martures, which gives us our English word martyrs. They needed the power of the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus and carry out his commission to proclaim the Good News that God is in control overall, not Satan, and to demonstrate Jesus' victory over sin, death and Satan by people being saved from going to hell through forgiveness of their sins by faith in Jesus' blood, by healing the sick and suffering, and by setting the captives free from Satan's bondage.

The Good News Brings Opposition

No sooner had the disciples begun to share the news that Jesus is God's promised Messiah than opposition arose from the Jewish believers, who had Peter and John thrown in prison for teaching that Jesus is the Messiah and was responsibile for healing a beggar at the Beautiful Gate to the Temple. Soon afterwards, all hell broke loose in the form of a wave of persecution, when Stephen, who had been elected as a deacon, stood up in front of the Jewish Council and showed from a rehearsal of Jewish history how Jesus was the fulfilment of God's promise to send a Messiah, or Anointed One, as the Suffering Servant  of Isaiah 53, who would save people from God's wrath at sin. Outraged at the supposed blasphemy, Stephen was stoned to death, while a Pharisee named Saul looked on and held the cloaks of the executioners.

Persecution Spreads The Good News

The persecution that began with the stoning of Stephen scattered believers to other places like Cyrene, Cyprus and Antioch in Syria, as well as Samaria, where a revival broke out as a result of the preaching and ministry of Philip the evangelist. It roused enemy opposition in the form of a sorcerer named Simon, who appeared to be converted and was even baptized. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard of the revival in Samaria, they sent Peter and John to see what was happening and they preached in several Samaritan villages.

Persecution Spreads The Gospel

Michael and the angels fighting against the enemy    Painting by Peter Breugel the Elder, Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels

Two Pictures of Cosmic Warfare

The Apostle John's Vision   

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 

When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. Revelation 12:7-17 

It is a picture of the cosmic battle that went on when Jesus was born and has continued ever since.

Daniel's Vision of Cosmic Warfare

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia (537 BC), a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. (Daniel 10:1)

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.”  And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. 

Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” (Daniel 10:4-14)

While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
   
Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
 
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.” 

So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.​ And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.) (Daniel 10:10-11:1)

Later the angel talks about the end times and says:
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” (Daniel 12:1-4)

The Spiritual Reality Behind World Events

In these two passages we get a glimpse of the spiritual warfare underlying world events that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the Belt of Truth buckled around your waist, with the Breastplate of Righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from The Gospel of Peace (with God). In addition to all this, take up the Shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the Helmet of Salvation and the sword of the Sword of the Spirit, which is a rhema of God.

The War For World Domination

Armageddon The Final Battle

The Bible warns about the terrible Day of the LORD in the last days and the Apocalypse of God's eternal kingdom-rule on earth   Photo: Pixabay

The Birth of the Church at Pentecost