Read Proverbs 12:15-28
Read Exodus 15
After Israel is rescued, they naturally worship the Lord. They sing praises to him. No doubt there was some spontaneous singing and praise. No doubt some carefully composed or compiled songs that would be saved for posterity. More than for posterity...the Song of Moses is preserved for carefully instruction of the next generation.
You see, Moses praises the Lord for the rescue, but he also prophesies future victories. I'm sure that Edom and Canaan had not yet heard about the rescue (they didn't have Google News back then), yet Moses says that they are still as a stone, and that dread has fallen upon them. Moses is inspired by the Spirit of God to predict Israel's future possession of the land.
God had promised. God had begun to fulfill in this rescue from Egypt. God would continue to make good on his promise. And Moses is confident of that.
But Israel does not yet quite enjoy the complete fulfillment of the Promised Land. They are rescued from slavery, yet they are thirsty. They cry out to God. God provides drinking water for them. Tomorrow we will see that they get hungry. We will see God miraculously provide again.
But their situation is very similar to ours right now. God has promised us a Heavenly home. We have been rescued from the slavery of sin and death by our Savior Jesus. Yet we still have (much smaller) struggles and worries. It seems almost silly for Israel to panic over water though God had just miraculously rescued them from Egypt. But for them the problem was very real and deadly. So too, some day we will look back on our worry and fear and see that it looks silly, for Jesus has rescued us from slavery! Yet for us now these problems are very real and deadly.
Thanks be to God that he is patient with us. He hears our cries. He provides. Let us not grumble against him, but cry out to him in faith. He hears. He cares. He rescues.
Thanks be to God!
Pray:
Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? you stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You have led in Your steadfast love the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode (Ex. 15:11-13)
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
Soli Deo Gloria!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Crossing the Red Sea
Read Proverbs 12:1-14
Read Exodus 14
And so they passed through the Red Sea. Many skeptics shrug this off as untrue, legendary lore. Some Christians believe what it says here, but will say that God used natural causes to part the waters. I say, what's the point of that? Sure, God could have used some sort of incredible "natural" phenomenon to make the wind blow with enough force in the right spot to separate the waters so they could pass through - I suppose. But when we accept all the other miraculous events in this account, why would we waste time and energy trying to postulate God's methods? Let's rejoice in the miraculous salvation! A miraculous pillar of fire and cloud to lead them, and even to protect them from the Egyptians! Chariot wheels becoming wobbly and falling off! The "wall" of water on the left and on the right, and dry ground underneath! Then, when Israel is safe, the walls come crashing in on the Egyptians! God is a mighty, powerful God. He rescues them from slavery and oppression. He rescues them from death. He leads them safely through peril and disaster. He makes them a new people, a people led and taught by him. He makes them mighty before the nations of the earth. He leads them to the Promised Land, a land of abundance and ample provision. Amazing!
And even more amazing is that this history is ours. This real, true, actual (and miraculous) event is a type that points forward to the greater rescue from spiritual death. Jesus has rescued from sin, from the devil, and from hell. We have an exodus from the kingdom of the devil to the kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lutheran Study Bible comments on Israel's passage through the Red Sea: "Israel is powerless to make this drastic change on its own, but God intervenes to provide the way. We need this kind of drastic change in our own life or we are doomed to slavery in sin and death. God has intervened for us in Baptism (1 Cor. 10:1-2), saving us from our old slavery in sin and bringing us into the new freedom of the Gospel" (TLSB p. 120).
I deserved to be overtaken by this slavery to sin and death. I deserved to be drowned in the Red Sea. And I was powerless to prevent any of that from happening. But my Christ came and fought for me, saved me, died for me. Thanks be to God!
Ask Yourself:
Do I rejoice in God's miraculous salvation?
What sin tries to enslave me still? What does God's miraculous rescue of Israel say to me in my situation?
Who in my life needs rescue from the slavery of sin? What can I do to help them?
Pray:
Pray from your heart today. Thank God for the salvation you have in Christ. Thank him for the freedom from sin and death that he has won for you. Ask him to help you reach out to the people around you (especially anyone you identified as you examined yourself with the questions above). Ask him to make you a bold witness, and a bearer of Good News.
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
Soli Deo Gloria!
Read Exodus 14
And so they passed through the Red Sea. Many skeptics shrug this off as untrue, legendary lore. Some Christians believe what it says here, but will say that God used natural causes to part the waters. I say, what's the point of that? Sure, God could have used some sort of incredible "natural" phenomenon to make the wind blow with enough force in the right spot to separate the waters so they could pass through - I suppose. But when we accept all the other miraculous events in this account, why would we waste time and energy trying to postulate God's methods? Let's rejoice in the miraculous salvation! A miraculous pillar of fire and cloud to lead them, and even to protect them from the Egyptians! Chariot wheels becoming wobbly and falling off! The "wall" of water on the left and on the right, and dry ground underneath! Then, when Israel is safe, the walls come crashing in on the Egyptians! God is a mighty, powerful God. He rescues them from slavery and oppression. He rescues them from death. He leads them safely through peril and disaster. He makes them a new people, a people led and taught by him. He makes them mighty before the nations of the earth. He leads them to the Promised Land, a land of abundance and ample provision. Amazing!
And even more amazing is that this history is ours. This real, true, actual (and miraculous) event is a type that points forward to the greater rescue from spiritual death. Jesus has rescued from sin, from the devil, and from hell. We have an exodus from the kingdom of the devil to the kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lutheran Study Bible comments on Israel's passage through the Red Sea: "Israel is powerless to make this drastic change on its own, but God intervenes to provide the way. We need this kind of drastic change in our own life or we are doomed to slavery in sin and death. God has intervened for us in Baptism (1 Cor. 10:1-2), saving us from our old slavery in sin and bringing us into the new freedom of the Gospel" (TLSB p. 120).
I deserved to be overtaken by this slavery to sin and death. I deserved to be drowned in the Red Sea. And I was powerless to prevent any of that from happening. But my Christ came and fought for me, saved me, died for me. Thanks be to God!
Ask Yourself:
Do I rejoice in God's miraculous salvation?
What sin tries to enslave me still? What does God's miraculous rescue of Israel say to me in my situation?
Who in my life needs rescue from the slavery of sin? What can I do to help them?
Pray:
Pray from your heart today. Thank God for the salvation you have in Christ. Thank him for the freedom from sin and death that he has won for you. Ask him to help you reach out to the people around you (especially anyone you identified as you examined yourself with the questions above). Ask him to make you a bold witness, and a bearer of Good News.
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
Soli Deo Gloria!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Passover
Read Proverbs 11:1-16
Read Exodus 12
Today we hear about God's rescue of Israel through the Passover. This Passover, we know, pointed forward to Jesus Christ. Israel's history is our history. We also have rescue from the slavery of sin, death, and the devil through Jesus, the Passover Lamb. Is it coincidence that Jesus was crucified on the feast of the Passover? Is it coincidence that the lamb was supposed to be male and unblemished? Is it coincidence that the lamb's blood smeared on the door posts meant that the angel of death passed by? Is it coincidence that we who are covered with the blood of Jesus are rescued from death?
Coincidence? NO WAY! Thanks be to God for this incredible plan of salvation.
Some words of a hymn facilitate our meditation today, and also serve as our closing prayer.
Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heav'nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.
My faith would lay its hand
On that dear head of Thine,
While as a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.
My soul looks back to see
The burden Thou didst bear
When hanging on the cursed tree;
I know my guilt was there.
Believing, we rejoice
To see the curse remove;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice
And sing His bleeding love.
(LSB 431, Public Domain)
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
Read Exodus 12
Today we hear about God's rescue of Israel through the Passover. This Passover, we know, pointed forward to Jesus Christ. Israel's history is our history. We also have rescue from the slavery of sin, death, and the devil through Jesus, the Passover Lamb. Is it coincidence that Jesus was crucified on the feast of the Passover? Is it coincidence that the lamb was supposed to be male and unblemished? Is it coincidence that the lamb's blood smeared on the door posts meant that the angel of death passed by? Is it coincidence that we who are covered with the blood of Jesus are rescued from death?
Coincidence? NO WAY! Thanks be to God for this incredible plan of salvation.
Some words of a hymn facilitate our meditation today, and also serve as our closing prayer.
Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heav'nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.
My faith would lay its hand
On that dear head of Thine,
While as a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.
My soul looks back to see
The burden Thou didst bear
When hanging on the cursed tree;
I know my guilt was there.
Believing, we rejoice
To see the curse remove;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice
And sing His bleeding love.
(LSB 431, Public Domain)
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A Baby Boy
Today is Christmas Eve, of course. Today we have a poem for our meditation. I'm assuming that we will be part of worship today and/or tomorrow, so I will not have a post tomorrow or on the 26th. But if you have a Christmas Meditation you would like to share (poem, devotional thought, etc.) feel free to tack it onto this post.
Blessings on your Christmas celebration. It is a most wonderful day!
A Baby Boy
Tired mother, labor done,
Doting husband, faithful one,
See what joy the Newborn brings,
Joseph smiles, Mary sings.
See her touch His tiny nose
Kiss His fingers, count His toes.
That God became a baby boy
Fills my heart with love and joy.
Oh, let me kiss my Savior too!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Blessings on your Christmas celebration. It is a most wonderful day!
A Baby Boy
Tired mother, labor done,
Doting husband, faithful one,
See what joy the Newborn brings,
Joseph smiles, Mary sings.
See her touch His tiny nose
Kiss His fingers, count His toes.
That God became a baby boy
Fills my heart with love and joy.
Oh, let me kiss my Savior too!
Night sky opens, piercing light,
Glorious angels shining bright,
Hear what news compels the choir
Glowing pure in holy fire,
The herald tells of God's good grace,
Peace to all the sinful race.
A Savior now a baby boy
Will fill the world with Gospel joy.
Oh, let me tell the Good News too!
Winded shepherds, staring eyes,
Full of wonder, great surprise,
Pausing now at wooden bed
Bending knee, bowing head,
These lambs are gathered in His fold
Then run and praise the One foretold.
The Shepherd now a baby boy
Will die and rise to give sheep joy.
Oh, let me sing his praises too!
- Rev. Jonathan Gruen
Soli Deo Gloria!
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