Devotions from December 2024

Passage Read: Revelation 21-22 Meditation Verses: 22:11-12 There is no plea to repent. There are just these things reported. People are to be given access to this revelation, and decide for themselves where they want to be. Jesus is returning and will set up His…

Passage Read: Genesis 1-4 Meditation Verses: 4:5-7 It was God who disdained Cain's offering, not Abel. Cain's problem was with God, and God graciously came to him to draw his attention. Cain had not necessarily done anything wrong at this point, he'd just offered a…

Passage Read: Genesis 5-8 Meditation Verses: 8:14-16 Noah was on the ark a year and ten days. The Lord commanded him to enter the ark, and as much as Noah did to check and see if it was safe to leave the ark, he waited…

Passage Read: Genesis 9-12 Meditation Verses: 9:26-27 Not only is this a curse to reveal the future condemnation of Canaan, but also a foretelling of the future of all peoples. Japheth is the oldest and should be most prominent according to normal custom, but Noah…

Passage Read: Genesis 13-16 Meditation Verses: 15:4-8 The Lord promised to give the land of Canaan and more to Abram's descendants. But Abram pointed out that the Lord had given him no children, so how could he inherit the land? Then the Lord promised to…

Passage Read: Genesis 17-20 Meditation Verses: 18:20-21 The Lord is judge of all the earth. If He has spoken to other peoples to warn them or rebuke them or teach them, we don't really know. He chose Abraham and his descendants to be witnesses on…

Passage Read: Genesis 21-24 Meditation Verse: 22:21 This hasn't stood out to me before, but Aram descends from Abraham's own brother. A people who will become an enemy and a snare to Israel is one of their own relatives. Moab, Ammon, Edom and the Ishmaelites,…

Passage Read: Genesis 25-28 Meditation Verses: 27:12-14 Jacob protested, but ultimately submitted to his mother and her plan to deceive his father. Did he just need her offer of taking the curse upon herself? Was he just so obedient? Or did he want the blessing…

Passage Read: Genesis 29-32 Meditation Verses: 31:38-42 Jacob agreed to each price that Laban set for him. At first, he offered to work seven years for Laban's daughter Rachel, but Laban cheated him. Jacob endured the deception and accepted Laban's offer of a second seven…

Passage Read: Genesis 33-36 Meditation Verses: 33:3-4 The response of these two brothers is interesting. Jacob left twenty years earlier, fleeing because Esau was consoling himself with the thought of killing Jacob after his father died. Turns out, his father lived quite a long time,…

Passage Read: Genesis 37-40 Meditation Verse: 40:1 The way the story about Judah, his sons and Tamar is inserted between Joseph's sale into Egypt and his imprisonment suggest that a very long time passed for Joseph in Egypt. Joseph had no idea what God intended…

Passage Read: Genesis 41-44 Meditation Verse: 42:16 How have I never seen this? Joseph remembers his dreams as a youth and realizes how close he is to fulfilling the first dream, only Benjamin is missing. So this whole ruse is to see that first dream…

Passage Read: Genesis 44-48 Meditation Verses: 45:5-8 Joseph had already pieced together that he had been sent ahead of his family to Egypt for their preservation, so he wasn't bitter at all, despite more than twelve years of servitude and imprisonment. Most people today would…

Passage Read: Genesis 49 - Exodus 2 Meditation Verse: Exodus 1:22 Pharaoh wanted the male babies of the Israelites killed, but the Hebrew midwives wouldn't do it. So he ordered all the Egyptians, that if they discovered a male child, they were to throw him…

Passage Read: Exodus 3-6 Meditation Verse: 5:17 How often do faith and trust in the Lord result in harder times rather than blessing? For the Israelites, this should have been a time of joy and celebration because the Lord had come to free them! And…

Passage Read: Exodus 7-10 Meditation Verse: 8:19 Up until this point, the magicians could replicate God's miracles. God did this on purpose, so that Pharaoh would have confidence to resist the Lord, to harden his heart against fearing the Lord. But now Pharaoh had sufficient…

Passage Read: Exodus 11-14 Meditation Verse: 14:31 How could there be any other response but to fear the Lord and believe in Him and in Moses? Who has ever seen the ocean open a pathway across it and walked through it? But somehow, it doesn't…

Passage Read: Exodus 15-18 Meditation Verses: 16:4-5 The Lord knows the heart, yet He wants to show what's in our hearts, whether we will follow His instructions or not. He wants us to display for all the world to see, whether we are those who…

Passage Read: Exodus 19-22 Meditation Verses: 19:5-6 God intended for the Israelites to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation among all the nations of the world. Though all the earth is the Lord's, Israel was to be His special people who knew…

Passage Read: Exodus 23-26 Meditation Verses: 23:24-26 There was to be no preservation of ancient artifacts, no protection of cultural artifacts. There was nothing of value in these sacred places or sacred stones; the Israelites were to demolish them and wipe them from memory. Today…

Passage Read: Exodus 27-30 Meditation Verse: 29:21 The priest's garments were to pass from father to son, and each time a new priest was anointed, he would inherit garments that belonged to his predecessor. So the garments would bear the blood and oil of the…

Passage Read: Exodus 31-34 Meditation Verse: 34:21 It's interesting that God makes a point of mentioning the two busiest times of the year for farmers. Even during plowing and harvesting, all God's people are to rest one day a week. No excuses. No matter how…

Passage Read: Exodus 35-38 Meditation Verses: 36:1-2 It seems like all the people who contributed to the tabernacle and all its equipment gave willingly and without compulsion. But the craftsmen, both named and unnamed, were summoned to the project. Did they have a choice or…

Passage Read: Exodus 39 - Leviticus 2 Meditation Verses: Leviticus 1:11-13 This aspect of the priest's job sounds pretty gruesome. They're not unlike a butcher, except they're only cutting the offering into smaller parts for burning, not carving it up to sell as meat. Killing,…

Passage Read: Leviticus 3-6 Meditation Verse: 5:4 Anyone who thoughtlessly swears any oath, whether good or evil, is guilty of sin and must offer a sacrifice. It did not matter if he was aware of it or not. As soon as he is made aware,…

Passage Read: Leviticus 7-10 Meditation Verse: 10:3 Those who represent the Lord, those who draw nearest to Him, must hold closest to His Word and ways. He is holy and His holiness will be on display to those who draw nearest to Him, but that…

Passage Read: Leviticus 11-14 Meditation Verse: 14:34-35 It's interesting that God takes responsibility for the mark of leprosy in the house. What about in clothing or on a person? The Lord is sovereign over all and does control or oversee all that happens in the…

Passage Read: Leviticus 15-18 Meditation Verse: 18:25 The wickedness of the people defiles their land, and when God punishes the land, it tries to get rid of the things that actually brought sin upon it. The land didn't sin, so why would God punish it?…

Passage Read: Leviticus 19-22 Meditation Verses: 19:17-18 It is hatred to not rebuke your neighbor frankly and clearly, and it's a sharing in his guilt. It can also be like seeking revenge against them or bearing a grudge against them. These two sets of commands…

Passage Read: Leviticus 23-26 Meditation Verses: 24:12-14 At the time of this incident, they had at least the ten commandments and had been warned against taking the name of the Lord in vain. Perhaps much more of the Law had been given at this point,…

Passage Read: Leviticus 27 - Numbers 3 Meditation Verse: Numbers 3:9 All the firstborn males in Israel belonged to the Lord, that meant they were supposed to be dedicated to His service. That was to be their vocation, though since it wasn't all-consuming work and…