Old Testament reading: Joshua 23-24
Today’s reading brings us to the end of Joshua’s personal leadership. I say “personal leadership” because his influence was felt long after his death as seen in Joshua 24:31, “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.” I believe Joshua had a more difficult task than did Moses. As a preacher, I am familiar with the great difficulty in following a great and beloved man. No preacher desires to be “the man after THE man.” There are always comparisons to the former man, “Brother So and So didn’t do it that way / did it better.” Can you imagine what it must have been like to have followed in the steps of Moses? Who would want to attempt to fill those shoes? Despite the bar being set so high by his predecessor, Joshua fulfilled his role with tremendous courage and faithfulness, and in so doing deserves our utmost respect and admiration.
New Testament reading: Revelation 4-7
Revelation 4 marks a change from writing specifically of and to the churches to the revelation and vision of “the things that must shortly come to pass” (1:1), and “things which must take place after this” (4:1). Appropriately, the vision begins with the authority and glory of God. Chapter 4 sets God on a heavenly throne, by implication revealing His authority as exceeding that of any heavenly king, the Caesars in particular. God’s throne is also described as being exceedingly great in glory, again in superiority of the Roman Caesars who built magnificent monuments to their vanity. While the Caesars had their sycophants to bolster their egos, the God of heaven was unceasingly praised by exalted heavenly beings. Chapter 5 continues with this heavenly scene and the authority of the Lamb. The Lamb is also worthy of heavenly praise and exaltation. Key text and thought from our reading: Revelation 7:9-17 – Making sure I have my robe washed white in the blood of the Lamb. This washing in the blood is only accomplished through obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ (cf Mark 16:15-16, Acts 22:16, Rev 1:5). Also note the express reference to “the great tribulation” in verse 14 (cf Matt 24:21).
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