"And there was given unto him" (Rev. 13:5)
I didn't like it when the preacher said the beast actually gives good gifts. But then he explained himself that what the beast really does is "gives" bait for his purposes. When God gives, unlike the "giving" of the dragon, which may be more like "scamming", or as Judge Judy raises her eyebrows when speaking of "those pyramid profiteering schemes;" God actually endows with blessing for He is Love. This is the way God gives:
- God can AFFORD to give. He owns all in existence; He is the originator of it. He wiill be no poorer in "giving," because He can always create and "replace" anything He has released.
- God is UNSELFISH, wants our good. He's already at the very top and cannot better His own situation; can only seek the benefit of those below Him. That's not true of anyone under the Creator; no matter how well-meaning they are; they have to have a drop of self-improvement; it's only the Creator Who has the right to say "it doesn't get better than this."
- God has the WISDOM to know how to do it. Didn't even know how to write about this one. The adage "too much of a good thing" or the oft-seen humble, well-intentioned and hard-working person developing into a proud, powerful person who forgets friends, family, and former values when given too much is so sad. This kind of tragedy can happen to the once consecrated young man in the pulpit when success is handed him too early in his ministry.
- God LOVES. This one, I will take a lifetime struggling to understand, yet I will die not fully comprehending. God gives because He loves. He gave His only begotten Son in the covenant for our souls because He couldn't bear the thought of our being lost to the enemy's kilns. The dragon "gave" because he was looking for fuel, for something to toss into his flames and stoke the fires of his own greatness proclaimed by the bottomless pit. God somehow wants to make into His beloved sons that which the dragon displayed as fit for only ashes. "Give them back to Me," He says to the dragon, "and I will breathe into them love and life, paint them with incredible beauty, forever call them my Own."
- The kind of God my God is? He gave not only:
- to the Son (sign of a good Father, yes?);
- to the angel host who worshiped and served Him (good Sovereign);
- to created beings like myself who would repent and turn to Him (harder to comprehend); but even
- to the dragon himself (Gotta be kidding!!!) But that's today's verse...
DRAGON...fly
