Scriptures: Zechariah 2:10-11, Isaiah 33:22-24, Isaiah 65:17-25, Micah 4:3-4, Revelation 20, Isaiah 9:6-7 David records his vision of Jesus, the coming King who is God in Psalm 68:24-26, “Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. 25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels. 26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel. 27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah’s princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.” The glory of the coming King is also the restoration of the glory…
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Day 23 – The Shepherd Who Judges the Sheep
Scriptures: Ezekiel 34:11-23, Matthew 25:31-46, Joel 3:2, Matthew 10:40-42 In previous lessons we looked at how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid down his life for his sheep to bring more into his flock, and then the sheep of Israel were scattered. Today we’re going to look at the future activities of the Good Shepherd that will be fulfilled in Jesus’ second coming. First, he will regather the scattered sheep of Israel. “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were…
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Day 22 – The Fountain of Living Water
Scriptures: John 7:37-39, Isaiah 12:3, Zechariah 12:10, 13:1, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Zechariah 14 In the last two lessons we learned how Jesus fulfills the first two fall festivals, the Festival of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. Today we look at the final fall festival God commanded the Jews to observe forever, the Festival of Shelters (also called Festival of Tabernacles, Booths, or Sukkot in Hebrew) which will be celebrated by the whole world when Jesus returns. In Leviticus 23 God commanded the Jews to live in special three-sided shelters for seven days to commemorate their time in the wilderness when they lived in temporary shelters while…
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Day 21 – The Scapegoat Who Removes Sin
Scriptures: Zechariah 3, Leviticus 16, Colossians 2:12-15, Revelation 12:7-11 Zechariah 3 records a vision that gives us a window into the spiritual realm. “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’ 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ’See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on…
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Day 20 – The One Who Regathers the 12 Tribes
Scriptures: Ezekiel 37:21-27, Isaiah 11:11-16, Isaiah 14:1-2, Joel 2, Revelation 10:6-7; 11:15-18 One of the activities of the Shepherd of Israel is to gather them from the ends of the earth in the last days. “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 24 My servant David will be king over them, and they…
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Day 19 – The Lord of Heaven’s Armies
Scriptures: Daniel 2, Isaiah 14, 24, Habakkuk 3, Revelation 12, 17, 19 One of the Old Testament names of Jesus is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He is described in Isaiah 24 as the one who comes in the last days to rid the heavens and the earth of evil. “The earth staggers like a drunk. It trembles like a tent in a storm. It falls and will not rise again, for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy. 21 In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens and the proud rulers of the nations on earth. 22 They will be rounded up and put in prison. They will…
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Day 18 – The King of Kings
Scriptures: 2 Samuel 5:1-3, Hosea 3:4-5, Romans 11, Isaiah 59, Zechariah 9 We’ve been learning how Jesus’ experiences mirrored David’s, for the Scriptures refer to the coming King of Israel as David, so today we will delve into how David assumed the throne. This piece of the puzzle helps us understand our present situation as we wait for Jesus to assume his throne in Jerusalem. David was anointed king by the prophet Samuel while King Saul was still ruling, and he lived in exile most of that time. David was crowned king of the tribe of Judah after Saul’s death, then seven years later became king of all Israel. Saul’s…
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Day 17 – The Son of Man
Scriptures: Daniel 7:13-14, Acts 1:9-11, Matthew 16:27, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 The title that Jesus used most to refer to himself was Son of Man. He is fully human, like us. In Matthew 26:24 Jesus says, “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.” Jesus came to fulfill all prophecy written about the Son of Man, the human anointed by God. Jesus said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). Why did Jesus, the Son of Man, have to…
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Day 16 – I AM the Good Shepherd
Scriptures: Ezekiel 34, Zechariah 9:14-16, 10:2-3, 13:7-9, Micah 5, Psalm 23, John 10 When Jesus says in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd,” it is perhaps the clearest statement declaring his identity as the Messiah. The Old Testament is filled with God’s complaints against the “bad shepherds” – the religious leaders who were abusing the people – and promises that God will send a good shepherd. In Ezekiel 34 God says, “I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and…
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Day 15 – The Cornerstone and Rock
Scriptures: Daniel 2, Psalm 118:21-24, Isaiah 28:16-17, 33:5-6, Matthew 7 In Daniel 2, Daniel interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream and tells him that the rock he saw is a kingdom God will set up when he sends the rock that was not cut by human hands. This rock will destroy and replace all the nations represented in the statue that have ruled the earth since the time God sent Judah into captivity until now. “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to…
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Day 14 – The Bridegroom
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…
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Day 4 – Son of David
Scriptures: Jeremiah 30:4-11, Acts 2:25-35, Luke 24:44, Psalm 16:10, 34:19, 41:9, Matthew 1. God promised King David that he would always have a descendent upon the throne over God’s covenant people. Matthew 1 gives us the genealogy of Jesus, confirming he’s a descendant of King David. We established in a previous lesson that this forever king comes from the stump of Jesse, King David’s father, implying that the Anointed One (Messiah) would be not only a descendant of David but a new David. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah of the final restoration of Israel at the end of the age, saying, “They will serve the Lord their God and David their king,…
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Day 3 – The Anointed One
Scriptures: Isaiah 11, 61, Zechariah 4, Acts 10:38, 2 Corinthians 5:20 Christ is not the last name of Jesus Christ, it is the Greek word for “Anointed One,” which in Hebrew is Messiah. So when we say Jesus Christ, we’re talking about Jesus, the Anointed One, the Messiah of the Jews. To be anointed is to have olive oil poured out or smeared on your head. In the Old Testament, the priests and temple objects were anointed with oil, as were kings. Being anointed with oil symbolized being chosen by God and set apart for a specific assignment. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit who is needed to accomplish…
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Day 2 – The Branch
Scriptures: Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 33:14-18, Zechariah 3:8-9, 6:9-13, Hebrews 7 Isaiah 11 describes the righteous ruler who will be anointed with the Holy Spirit to rule Israel and bring peace to the earth as the Branch. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). The Branch comes from the stump of Jesse, King David’s father. Not only is Jesus descended from King David, as we see in Matthew 1, but he is an entirely new branch that precedes David because he comes from the stump of David’s father, Jesse. What does that mean? In scripture, cutting down a tree is a…
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Day 1 – The Living Word
Scriptures: John 1:1-18, John 5:19-40, John 17:1-8, 20-26 This is the first in a series of devotions designed to draw you closer to Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy during the season of Advent, but can be used anytime as an “Emmaus Encounter with Jesus.” It was on the road to Emmaus that Jesus revealed how he fulfilled the law, writings of the prophets, and the psalms. I encourage you to read the scriptures passages before each post so you can make the connections yourself by simply clicking on each reference which will take you to that passage. Each devotional ends with a worship response because the goal…
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Lesson 3: How God Creates a New Thing
In lesson 2 we learned that at the end of the Festival of Shelters, the Torah scroll is rolled back to the beginning, to Genesis 1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the story of creation, we see the pattern for how God creates. When God made a nation for himself, Israel, he followed the same pattern. When Christ comes again, he will establish his kingdom from Israel and restore the world to God’s original plan. God is always creating something new. The Bible not only tells us about the earth’s beginning and Israel’s beginning, but our new beginning in Christ. God is Light and…
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Lesson 2: God is Our Shelter and Provider
In lesson one we learned about how Jesus fulfilled Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as a sacrifice for our sin so that our sins could be removed from us. We all have turned away from God to go our own way, so God sent his Son, born of a virgin, to redeem us and give us a new beginning with him. Because God’s only Son voluntarily paid the penalty for our sin on the cross, our sin is nailed to the cross and our old self dies as we repent of sin and receive God’s forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus. We are then reborn by the Holy…
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Lesson 1: How God Gives Us A New Beginning
The Bible makes an astounding promise: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Contrary to the American dream, we don’t work hard to get this new life through our own effort. It is a gift from God. Why would he give us a new life as a new person? Because he loves us so much that he’s willing to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, which is to make ourselves righteous in his sight.…
