Scriptures: Isaiah 62:5, Hosea 2:14-23, John 14:1-3, Revelation 19:7-8, John 16:7-15 When God first drew Israel to himself out of Egypt, he proposed a covenant at Mount Sinai, inviting Israel to be his people as a bridegroom proposes to a bride (Jeremiah 31:32). The 10 Commandments were the marriage vows Israel agreed to, and God vowed to be their God and bless them in the land he’d promised to their ancestor, Abraham. After the giving of the law, 70 of Israel’s elders climbed the mountain to enjoy a covenant meal with God, just like a banquet follows a wedding. This giving of the law is celebrated in the Festival of…
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Day 13 – I AM the Resurrection
Scriptures: Ezekiel 37:11-14, John 11, Hosea 6:1-2, Leviticus 23:10-11, Daniel 12:1-3 The most important “I am” statement of Jesus is found in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus is both the source of the life we live in this world and the resurrection to the new life to come. In him is life. Martha and Mary, good friends of Jesus, were grieving over the death of their brother, Lazarus. They had sent word to Jesus when he was sick, but Jesus purposely delayed going to see him, saying, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be…
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Day 12 – Teacher
Scriptures: Exodus 13, Isaiah 30:20, 42:1-4, Micah 4:2, Matthew 5-7 In the last lesson we looked at how Jesus fulfilled the Passover, which is part of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, during which the Israelites were to eat only unleavened bread for 7 days. In Exodus 13, God tells us what this festival represents. “This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips” (Exodus 13:9). Revelation 13 tells us that in the last days the wicked ruler to come will insist on being worshipped, and the sign of his worship will be a…
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Day 11 – Passover Lamb
Scriptures: Micah 5:1-4, Exodus 12, John 6:51-58 King David was a shepherd boy from Bethlehem, and so the Son of David would come from Bethlehem, not only as a shepherd but as a lamb. Micah prophesied, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. 3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son” (Micah 5:2-3). Not only would Messiah come from Bethlehem, but his origins would be from ancient times because he is One with the Ancient…
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Day 10 – The Ark of God’s Covenant
Scriptures: Genesis 15:3-21, Ezekiel 16:59-63, Exodus 34:1, Matthew 26:26-28, Isaiah 59:20-21 As we continue mining the Old Testament for buried treasure, I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” When we look at the Old and New Testaments as one continuous revelation of God, the Holy Spirit reveals connections that are buried in scripture for us to find like a treasure hunt. God doesn’t speak in parables and the language of symbols to frustrate us, but…
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Day 9 – The Temple
Scriptures: John 2:13-22, John 4:1-26, Ephesians 2:14-18, Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9 Not only do the objects in the temple point to Jesus, in John 2 Jesus reveals that his body is the temple. When the religious leaders demanded a sign of Jesus’ authority he answered them, “’Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ 20 They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (John 2:19-21). Jesus was pointing the religious leaders to Zechariah 6, which we studied on Day 2, declaring that his authority…
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Day 8 – I AM the Bread from Heaven
Scriptures: Deuteronomy 8:3,18:18, John 6, Leviticus 24:8-9 In Deuteronomy 18:18 Moses tells the people God’s promise to him: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.” While God sent many prophets to Israel, none did miracles like Moses. Moses parted the water with his staff, but Jesus calmed the waves with his voice. Moses turned the water in Egypt to blood while Jesus turned water to wine. When Jesus multiplied bread to feed over 5000 people they saw his miracle as a sign that God had raised up the…
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Day 7 – I AM The Light
Scriptures: Isaiah 9:1-7, 42:1-7, John 9, Isaiah 60:19-20 Rather than come out and declare that he is the Messiah, Jesus often described himself and his kingdom in parables which are word pictures that describe a particular truth. God speaks through the language of symbols in dreams and visions because symbols can have many layers of meaning. The more we want to know, the deeper the Lord will take us in our understanding. That’s why Jesus told his disciples, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given – and you will receive even more” (Mark 4:24, NLT). The I AM statements…
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Day 6 – I AM the Door
Scriptures: John 10, Hebrews 9 In the same way that Jesus hinted his identity as the Son of David by quoting David and doing what David did, Jesus hinted at his ancient identity through the “I am” statements recorded by the Apostle John. When the religious leaders and guards came to arrest Jesus, and asked which one of them was Jesus the Nazarene, Jesus responded by using the name God told Moses to say to the Israelites when explaining God’s identity: I AM. John 18:6 tells us that when Jesus said this, they drew back and fell to the ground. When Jesus, the Word of God speaks the name of…
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Day 5 – The Suffering Servant
Scriptures: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Hebrews 10:1-14, Ephesians 2:4-6 As the Son of David, Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of David, including that of the suffering servant in Psalm 22. This psalm begins with the very words Jesus cried out on the cross at his crucifixion, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). Was Jesus forsaken by God or was he quoting this psalm to indicate that he was prophetically fulfilling it? Verse 24 answers the question of verse 1, declaring that God “has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for…
