Female Bravery and the Mission of God

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Jen Wilkin: Well, good morning. How is everyone today? All right, glad to see you. My name is Jen Wilkin. I am so happy to be with you. Today I’m excited about what we’re going to talk about. But before we get started, I do just want to let you know that this breakout session is sponsored by LifeWay women, and we’re grateful for their generous support to help make the session possible. You can learn more about LifeWay women, [email protected]. I have been spending the last several years in the book of Exodus for various reasons. And it is out of the time that I have spent there that this session began to develop. Because I don’t know about you. But there are different times in my life where I have heard a family story that I hadn’t heard before, that impacted the way that I viewed my family experience as a whole. Have you had that experience, maybe it was like learning how your parents met, and married, or maybe it was hearing about your own birth narrative for the first time. But there are stories that in families we tell often in their stories that sometimes fall to the side that later surface and become very meaningful to us.

And the story that I have found to share with you today in in Exodus is one that is often not told, if you have seen any movies that have been made of the Exodus account, and the story of Moses, they usually pick up after Moses is born or at the birth of Moses. And so if we’re not careful, or if we aren’t spending a lot of time in the Scriptures, we might think that that’s where the story begins. But the story of Exodus actually begins with an extraordinary tale of female bravery that I think can help us understand the story of the Bible as a whole. Because the longer that I have spent looking at this story, the more I have seen how it traces not just from the beginning of Exodus, but actually from the beginning of Genesis, all the way to the end of the story. So if you would turn with me to Exodus chapter two.

We’re gonna go a lot of places this morning, but we’re going to start here. Exodus chapter two, we find the story of Israel after having been in Egypt for 400 years. You know, if you’re familiar with the story of Genesis, that Jacobs family went into Egypt during the famine, and then they take up residence there, and they become herds people, and they live there for many years. But as they multiply and grow more numerous, they become a threat, as we’re gonna see here, and they become subjugated to the Egyptian pharaoh. So starting in verse eight, it says, Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them less, they multiply, and if war breaks out, they join our enemies, and fight against us, and escape from the land. So I want you to notice here, the way that Pharaoh is described, it says, Come, let us deal shrewdly with them. Hold that word in your head, because it’s going to be important.

So then we see that Pharaohs solution to the problem of the fruitfulness and multiplication that has happened among the children of God is to subject them to hard labor. They’re made to work as slaves, they build cities for Pharaoh to store all of his wealth in and they themselves sink deeper and deeper into servitude, and to poverty. And then we find the story, the story that is rarely told, starting in verse 15. And it says, Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named shiphrah, and the other Pooja, when you serve as a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, you shall kill him.

But if it is a daughter, she shall live that the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, why have you done this and let the male children live? And the midwives said to Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women for their vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them, those babies are just popping out before we can get here. So God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. This is a fascinating story to me for several reasons. One is that it reveals to us that the midwives in Egypt were apparently women who did not have children of their own.

Now, we don’t assume that there were only two midwives responsible for the birth of all of the Hebrew children, we would assume rather that these women were probably the head of a guild of midwives who were sent to represent them before Pharaoh. But notice how it is that Pharaoh operates with the women. He says when you see the child on the birth stool, if it is a male child, you should kill it. And what commentators will tell you is what is implied here is he’s telling these women in a time where children die, often, in the process of childbirth, make it look like an accident. Because imagine if the Hebrew women knew that the midwives were putting to death, the male children, they would not trust them at the birth stool. And so Pharaoh has commanded them to practice deceit on their own women.

But what do they do? instead? They practice deceit on him. They say we can’t get there quickly enough. These babies just keep flying out before we get here. Why? They say this because they fear God more than they fear Pharaoh. They feared God more than they fear Pharaoh, and they do so at great personal risk to themselves. These women are underdogs in every sense of the word, societal Lee as women, they’re not viewed as fully human. Not only that, but they are slaves.

Not only that, but they are foreigners. And they stand before Pharaoh and they shake their fist. And often in the commentaries, you will find a lot of concern about the fact that they do not tell the truth to Pharaoh as though this is a breaking of Do you know which command it is? There’s a little pop quiz, the ninth command. But what do we see here? I think we see something that is far more significant going on. Because as I began to study this story, I began to realize or remember that there were actually a lot of stories of women who employed deceit to defeat an enemy of Israel. You’ve got rehab. You’ve got Well, I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

But there are others as well. Jail. Remember her she defeats Cicero by luring her luring him into her tent, giving him more milk like here, take a nap, Kapow. Female bravery, women as underdog, standing up to the forces of evil. And so it was about a year ago that I came across an article Jonathan Lehman had written, he actually had quoted me and I started to see it showing up on Twitter and I got super nervous because I didn’t know he had quoted me and I thought, Oh, dear Lord, what did he say that I said, and I went out there to read the article and came across what has been just an absolute gem for me to help make sense of this story that’s rarely told.

He referred to Stephen Dexter’s book dominion and dynasty in which Dempster explores the theme of woman against the beast, as it portrayed is portrayed throughout the scriptures. And as I dug into this idea a little bit more, I began to refine it with the help of others to see that there’s actually a theme that is more specific than that. And it is the theme of woman against the serpent. And to understand that theme, we have to go back to the original story about woman against the serpent.

So if you would turn with me to Genesis, chapter three, this is a familiar story to you, it probably doesn’t need a lot of building out for you to orient yourself to where we are in the text, because we are at the beginning, God has created the man and the woman and place them in the garden and things are very good until that serpent shows up. And look at verse one of chapter three, what does it say? It says, Now the serpent was more crafty than any other creature. If you were to look at different translations, here are some of the other words you would find. Now the serpent was more subtle. Now the serpent was more cunning. Now the serpent was more shrewd.

Who else have we heard, is shrewd. And so as the serpent deals shrewdly with the woman, what does he say? He tells her that she should choose her own way. She should follow her own will, and this is appealing to the woman. And so she eats the fruit. She gives it to Adam, and sin begins to do what sin will do for the rest of human existence. Be fruitful, and multiply. But we hear God speak to the man and the woman and the serpent in the wake of this great disaster.

And he says in verse 13, then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate. Hang on to that. Lord, God said to the serpent, because you have done this curse that are you, above all livestock, and above all beasts of the field, on your belly, you should go and does she shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and two The woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, he or her offspring shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

God promises that he will place enmity between the woman and the serpent, that she who was initially drawn to his lies will now war against him for the purpose of delivering the one who will crush his head. And what’s fascinating to me is after we hear God speak to the serpent, and the man and the woman, telling them what life is going to look like now that things are broken, it’s pretty bleak. We can all agree on that right? All of the travail that is now going to be a part of human existence.

The man and the woman who were created to co labor with one another will now act in competition to one another, they will seek to rule each other, instead of seeking to rule and subdue, and have dominion as they were designed to do. But in the wake of this terrible prophecy that is spoken, what is it that sticks in Adam’s head? That’s what’s interesting to me. And we see what it is that has registered in his head. In the next statement that is made about him in verse 20. He called the woman Eve, life giver. What did he hear and all of those dire words, this one, she’s going to give birth to the one who will deliver us.

And then they’re cast out of a garden. And the next story that we come upon in Genesis in chapter four, is in the story of Adam and Eve giving birth to their first child. Verse four, verse one of chapter four. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. JM voice was so helpful to me in his commentary and studying this passage. He tells us that the sense of what she says when she says, I have gotten a man is this. Here he is. This is heartbreaking. You and I, who are familiar with the entire story of redemptive history know that it will be 1000s of years before the serpent crusher is delivered of the woman. But Eve does not know that. And her expectation is, this is him.

But we also know the rest of this story that she has not given birth to the deliver but has in fact, given birth to the one who will be the first to shed the blood of another image bearer. Here he is. And for centuries, Hebrew women, on the birthing stool, would have wondered, is this him? Is this him? Is this him?

Sarah at the miraculous birth of Isaac, Rebecca at the miraculous birth of Jacob, Jakob Ed, in the story that we were in just moments ago. Hebrew women for centuries, in the time of the kings, in a time of the captivity, in the return, in the 400 years of silence, is this the one? So look back at Exodus chapter two, again, because I want you to see something that’s going on here. You may actually be familiar with the later portion where Moses is at the burning bush. And he says to God, how is anyone going to believe that I’m actually who I say I am? And you’re who you say, like, What am I supposed to go to these people with?

Actually, I’ll just read it to you Exodus four, one through five, it says, Then Moses answered the Lord, but the whole day Israel will not believe me or listen to my voice, or they will say, The Lord did not appear to you. And the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? And he said, a staff. And the Lord said, throw it on the ground. So we threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, put out your hand and catch it by the tail. So he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.

And the Lord said that they may believe that the Lord the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you. Have you ever wondered why this scene plays out? Why, what is the significance of this because we’re told that this is the sign that he gives when he goes to Israel, and it’s the sign that he gives when he stands before Pharaoh. Well, a staff represented authority, right? But why a serpent? Because in the Egyptian culture, the balloon Was that wadjet the matron goddess was a protector of Pharaoh. She was also the protector of women in childbirth. And do you know what she was symbolized by?A Cobra?

Have you ever seen the headdress that the pharaoh wore? What’s right in the center of it? That would be wadjet, the protector of Pharaoh and the protector of women in childbirth. And it is before that embodiment. The two Hebrew midwives stand, woman against the serpent. And they lie. Why do they lie? Because they take the very weapons of the deceiver in the garden, and they turn them against him, for the purpose of preserving the righteous line. Women Against the serpent, the serpent is more subtle, more crafty, more cunning, more shrewd, Pharaoh himself more subtle, crafty, cunning, and shrewd. In fact, we learn that the serpent that we see in the Old Testament prophecies and in the Psalms, are you familiar with the Leviathan, the great sea serpent, is intended to conjure for the original audience memories of Pharaoh himself. That’s fascinating to me.

And so throughout the scriptures, we see this begin to unfold. And all of these women all of these years in the face of the serpent asking at the birthing stool, is this the one Is this the one Is this the one but don’t miss it in the story of the Hebrew midwives, we see them looking at the birthing stool and saying, not on our watch. And it is because these women are faithful in the face of the serpent that we know Moses name at all. And who is it that wrote the narrative in the first place?

It’s Moses, telling his own birth narrative, dignifying the place and the role of these women in the story. But why is it at the beginning of the book of Exodus? Have you ever given any thought to that? and Why are there two midwives? Why not just one? I think there are a couple of reasons I think there are two midwives because the Lord is kind to us when we must endure a very scary thing, and he provides someone to go along with us.

Which is significant, because someone else later in the story is also going to stand before Pharaoh and does not want to go alone and is given someone to go with him. Moses has given Aaron to go stand before the one who wears the Cobra on his head. And what will Moses and Aaron do, they will serve as midwives delivering the nation of Israel, through doorways of blood and water, where they will be sent into the wilderness for a time and they will receive protection. The other reason I believe there are two of them is because of the theme we see throughout Scripture of two witnesses being the number required to establish the guilt of the one who will receive the judgment of God.

So before Moses and Aaron stand as two witnesses before Pharaoh and the judgment of the plagues descends, these two women, underdogs powerless stand before Him. And they fear yawei more than they fear Him, establishing his guilt, witnessing his plans of deception and his subsequent murder of the male children in an attempt to extinguish the one who would crush the head of the serpent. Before Israel is delivered by a man in flowing robes with a mighty staff, and a fierce AI. Israel is quite literally delivered by two humble women. No doubt with flowing tears and no sign of authority whatsoever. I will put enmity between you and the woman. But if you were paying attention to the way that I described the deliverance of Israel, you may have thought that sounds familiar to me. And I told you that this is a story that stretches from Genesis to Revelation. So if you have your Bible, go to Revelation chapter 12.

If you don’t have your Bible, I hope it’s just because you woke up this morning and haven’t had your coffee yet. In Genesis chapter 12, you know, it’s funny, my church is doing a sermon series on revelation right now. And it occurs to me that one of the reasons that revelation is such a conundrum to so many of us is because we have not spent significant time in the Old Testament, specifically in the books of Genesis and Exodus. So it’s been really fun for me to walk through it with our church and see some of these themes emerge.

But look, what happens here in chapter 12, says in a great sign appeared in heaven in verse one and a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head, a crown of 12 stars. Now, that’s a significant description for the woman. And if you’re familiar with the story of Genesis and the dream that Joseph has, he has a very similar dream that we understand to be a prophecy about the nation of Israel, the 12, sons of Jacob. It says in verse two, she was pregnant and was crying out and birth pains and the agony of giving birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven, behold a great red dragon with seven heads and 10 horns, and on his head seven Daya dams, his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child, he might devour it. And she gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God and which she is to be nourished for 12 160 days. skip down to verse 13, says, and when the dragon saw that Satan had been thrown down to the earth, He pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child, but the woman was given the two wings of the great Eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time.

And times and half the time, the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with a flood, but the earth came to the help of the woman and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth, then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus, and he stood on the sand of the sea. Now, if you are paying attention, you’re probably reading this and thinking, Oh, this child, that sounds a lot like the birth narrative of Jesus.

And in fact, it does. This is one of those sections in Revelation that has layers of one of those sections, probably the whole book has layers to it, layers of interpretation that we would put on it certainly sounds like a descriptor of Mary, and her experience. If you know the way that the birth narrative of Jesus is told, we are told that Herod steps into the role of the serpent, putting to death the male children in an attempt to do away with the baby who was born in Bethlehem, but they flee somewhat ironically to Egypt for safety.

And they stay there until the serpent is no more after which time they return. Think about Mary after 1000s of years of Hebrew women saying is this him? Is this him? Is this him? And an angel comes to her and says, This is it. And what’s a little ironic to me there is that she doesn’t even she’s not pregnant yet. So she hasn’t even had the opportunity to ask the question. Is this he? Before she can even anticipate that it might be him? The announcement comes to her. Can you even imagine the shock that must have hit her on that moment? A, you’re gonna have a baby and you’re not married? And two, it’s the Messiah. That was a joke and to come on guys. And how does Mary respond? Remember the words of Eve, or the actions of Eve?

Who says let it be to me according to my will. And we hear the redemptive story, in the words of Mary. Let it be to me, according to your the firstborn of he was a life taker, but the firstborn of Mary will give life and life to the full. The serpent crusher comes, he lives the perfect life. He dies, it appears that the serpent has one, but he has caught up to God. So this account in Revelation is certainly a picture of the Nativity of Jesus. But it’s also pointed Back to the story of Israel, also a birth narrative. Do you know the Hebrew word for Egypt? Is Ms rain? Do you know what it means? The narrow place, the place of pressing in.

And God says to Moses, I will deliver my people from the place of pressing in into a broad land. How often have we used the term deliver without attaching it to this most basic metaphor that we all understand? How often have we spoken about being born again, without recognizing how prevalent these birth narratives are in the scriptures. And so Moses and Aaron function as midwives standing at the seashore, when the dragon opens his mouth and sends waters toward them, it’s a weird way of saying in Revelation, it says that water like a river comes out of the mouth of the dragon, that great serpent, to destroy the child. Water like a river is the way that the Old Testament speaks of vast armies.

And so we have a metaphor for the army of Pharaoh pursuing them to the edge of the sea. But then what happens? Verse 16, Revelation 12 says, but the earth came to the help of the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. If you’re thinking I’m a genius, right now for interpreting revelation with no problems, just know that I am giving you things that have Gk Beals, shorter commentary on the book of Revelation. But there is a third level translation for what’s happening here a third level interpretation of what’s going on in this portion of the text. And it is important for us to see and Bill tells us that this is also a picture of the church that is currently in the wilderness, currently awaiting the return of the serpent Crusher, and what is happening while she is in the wilderness. Well, we see it here at the end of this passage in verse 17.

It says, that the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Who is that that’s us. That’s the church awaiting the return of Christ, at which point, the dragon that great serpent will once and forever be thrown down. And the final enemy will be conquered.

God protects the women who put themselves in opposition to the serpent. If you take a close look at the genealogy of Jesus, you find a list of women who God protects and just such this way. You know the story of Judah and Tamar, right? It’s that one everybody wants to preach on Sunday, except no one does. What’s going on there? Tamar is a lying prostitute, right? Or is she, a strong female deliver? a midwife of sorts? Who uses the serpent’s tool of deception against the one who has withheld what was rightly hers. Judah withholds the rights of leveret marriage from Tamar. And so Tamar does what underdogs do, she resorts to use the weapons available to her to contend for what is right? She employs the weapons of the serpent against him. And see she secures the rights of the firstborn for her children. And the we judged her hoarsely What does Judy himself say of her? She’s more righteous than I am. What about rehab is another line prostitute for you in the book of Joshua.

Well, we look at her in the genealogy and we look at TMR. And we say, Well, I mean, yeah, they’re in there to show us that God uses terrible people, even in the birth line of Jesus, except that that’s not what Judas said about Tamar. And that’s actually not what the Scriptures report about rehab. And also if you’ve paid attention to the names of the men that are in the genealogy, there are some super dirty dogs in there. The reason that women are in the genealogy of Christ is because the women in the genealogy of Christ, with the exception of Mary, are all non Jews.

This is how we introduce the idea of the bringing in of the Gentiles, into the family of God by including the names of women in the genes. genealogy of Jesus. So rehab, she shakes her fist at the serpent who is the king of Jericho. She lies to his face at great risk to herself, and that she not only preserves the two spies, the two witnesses who have come to bear witness to the great sin of the people of Canaan, but she also preserves the righteous line, because it is going to come through her. Then we have Ruth fiercely commits herself to Naomi placing her life on the line to serve the chosen line to save the chosen line from extinction.

Facing starvation, no air. Effective Baroness is a widow. She goes to glean in the fields of a foreign land at great risks who herself. She shakes her fist at the serpent who would steal offspring and inheritance from Naomi whom she loves. And what does Naomi say of her, you are better to me than seven sons.

Yet, as with Tamar and rehab, Ruth herself is often questioned as being an immoral woman for the way she throws herself at the feet of Boaz. Not only that, but often the story turns out to be almost more about Boaz and about Ruth, depending on who is telling it. But she too, is a midwife. She too, delivers the nation in a very tangible way. And she too, is part of the line that points to the serpent Crusher. How about Bathsheba, Bathsheba, who isn’t actually named in the genealogy of Matthew, she’s simply referred to as the wife of Uriah.

And this is a tough one for us. Because as in the story of Judah, in the story of Bathsheba, the one who takes on the image of the serpent is actually someone who is a man of great renown, in our faith. But David, when he commits adultery against Bathsheba becomes the one who has come to kill, steal and destroy for that, for that portion of the story. Which is why his redemption, his repentance makes his story so magnificent. That he would be the man upon whom God sets his favor, after an event like that is miraculous. And we need that story.

Because we ourselves will kill, steal and destroy in various ways during our life, when we lose sight of the image of Christ, and once again, are tempted to conform to the image of the serpent. What does Bathsheba do? She comes to David, and she contends for the rights of her child. You have many wives. But this is the child who sits on a throne. And then to marry humble and lowly. Let it be unto me, as you have said, and here’s the thing that I think we sometimes miss.

This image of woman against the serpent is one that the church today should learn from and pay attention to, because it’s the metaphor for us. See, I actually love the hymn onward Christian soldiers. And you hear a lot of times in Christian circles, militant language with regard to the church. But the predominant metaphor for the New Testament church is not of soldiers marching to war. It is of an underdog woman, seeking to stand up in the face of evil and preserve the righteous line. seeking for the fruitfulness and multiplication of a great commission to come to its fullness so that at just the right time, the one who came once will come again and put an end to the serpent once and for all.

The New Testament Church is an underdog, subversive, represented in female terms, and she is in battle with the dragon that great serpent, if you think about the words of First Peter 513. It’s just a little tiny phrase in there that we sometimes don’t pay a lot of attention to right at the end it says she who is in Babylon sends her greetings. And who is it referring to? That’s coded language, right? It’s saying the church that is in Rome sends her greetings to the church that this letter has come to or the churches that this letter has come to. She Who is in Babylon? sends her greetings. Friends, we are she who is in Babylon?

Why not just write this in his epistle? Why does he use coded language? Because he knows that if the letter falls into the wrong hands, it could be endangered and seen as something that might be a threat to the Roman government. You see, Peter understands. We’re the underdog. We’re the quiet subversives existing in Babylon, looking for every opportunity that we have to fight with the weapons we have to make war on the serpent.

In fact, if you pay attention to the New Testament epistles, you find that the instructions that are given to the church fall along these lines, as far as as possible with you live at peace with all people, submit yourselves to governing authorities, you find ways to exist in a larger culture in counter cultural ways that push forward the good news of the gospel, preserve the elect, and bring about the great commission as it is intended to come about. And yet too often, the modern church wants to see itself as a militant overlord that will charge in and overthrow existing power structures. And we are in this not so different from those in the days of Jesus.

His own disciples at first, likely so disappointed to learn in the Sermon on the Mount that he was not there to overturn and topple governments and human authorities, but was instead there to tell them that the one who is blessed is the one who is poor in spirit, the one who mourns over sin, who is meek, who hungers and thirst for righteousness. Who is merciful and pure in heart and peacemaking. And what’s that last beatitude? Oh, that’s right. He was persecuted.

The church is a vulnerable female underdog, who fights subversively for the beauty of the gospel, and the one who came to bring it? How can we do this? In practical terms, we should be at no loss to know how has the public school system grown hostile to the things of God? Well, the curriculum may be antichrist. But the peer mentor who sits at the lunch table can be quietly Christian. is a country close to missionaries? What if a business professional just immigrated and quietly took up residence and spread the good news? Is it deception? Or is it using the tools of the serpent against him? We have to fear God more than the pharaohs of our day, we have to stare down the Cobra and say not on my watch. It might look like inviting our last neighbors over for dinner and praying for an opening to share the good news.

We have to fear God more than kancil culture we have to train up children in a faith that is ridiculed and rejected and maligned. We guard the inheritance that has come to us we shake our fist in the face of the serpent.

Think about how Christians have done this historically, many of you are familiar with the story of Corrie 10 boom. What does she do? She practices deception for the purpose of preserving life. The mission of the church has always been this to be she who is in Babylon. awaiting the day when Babylon that great prostitute will come to an end. And what will happen, the New Jerusalem will descend like a bride. And until that time, we live subversively quiet lives of obedience, submitting to authorities as long as what authorities have asked us is godly and right and good for the greater good. We strive to live at peace with all men.

We strive to nurture the church all the while plotting and awaiting the serpent’s final demise. And so we are the inheritors of the midwife’s charge. We stand witnessed to the evil of Babylon and we shake our fist and say, No, we will wage war one of the most important places says we can wage war as we lead these quiet lives of obedience is to wage war against the sin that still comes against us in our own hearts, submitting ourselves again to be conformed to the image not of the serpent, but of the sun, the serpent crusher himself. And may it be said, of the church who is in Babylon, that she was as shrewd as the serpent and yet as innocent as a dove.

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the model of female bravery that is contained for us in your scriptures. We ask Lord that as the church we would embrace the calling, to stand in opposition to the serpent at every turn, to fight with the good weapons that you have given us. The Sword of Truth, the shield of faith. Lord, we stand on your words to us in Scripture. And we trust that fully and finally, the serpent will be thrown down. We pray, Lord, that You would empower us by grace and your spirit to do our part, in the great drama that unfolds. Our part may be small, we may not hold the upper hand in any visible way during our lifetime. But we know that there is a greater truth of operating. And we ask that you would give us the courage necessary to stand before the serpent and say, Not on my watch. Give us shrewdness, Lord, give us wisdom. And Grant has purity of heart that we might see you. And we ask all these things, in the name of the one who crushes the head of the serpent Amen.