Old Testament reading: Psalm 105-106
Both Psalms are great reminders of the history of Israel. Of note today is Psalm 105:42-45, which summarizes why God gave the land of Canaan to Israel. First, it was a fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham nearly five centuries earlier. Second, it was done that Israel “might observe His statutes and keep His laws.” If you recall, this is where the problem began with Pharaoh. Moses requested that Pharaoh allow Israel to go into the wilderness to keep a feast unto the Lord (Ex 5:1). After Pharaoh’s rejection of his request, Moses asked for just a few days to go into the wilderness “and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword” (v 3). The rest, as they say, is history. In like fashion, God has brought us out of the world (Egypt) into our own land of promise (the church) for the express same purpose, that we might serve him with reverence and godly fear (Heb 12:28). Let us remember that land from which we have been delivered (cf Col 1:13) that we might attain greater heights of love and deeper appreciation for “Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev 1:5).
New Testament reading: Acts 11-12
“And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26). God’s new people who had yet to be created in Psalm 102 get their new name, just like God promised in Isaiah 62:2. This is a marvelous thing to behold. Through Isaiah, God declared that when the Gentiles saw the righteousness of God, then God’s people would be called by a new name. Moreover, God Himself would give the name. In yesterday’s New Testament reading, we saw the gospel revealed and preached to the Gentiles for the very first time (Acts 10:34-48). Now all men, both Jew and Gentile, have become recipients of the gospel, and the Lord keeps His promise to give his people one new name by which they may all be identified and united: CHRISTIANS. This is the only name we are authorized to wear; it is the only name God ever gave to members of the church of Christ. O that all men who claim to follow Jesus would be satisfied to wear nothing more than the name given by the Lord!
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