Revelation 15: The Song of Moses

Today’s reading is Revelation 15.

A Song Beside the SEa

Perhaps we can be forgiven for assuming the glassy sea mixed with fire was a large body of water. After all, in Revelation 15:1, we read about plagues. Then in Revelation 15:3, we discover the victorious redeemed are singing the song of Moses. This sounds precisely like what happened in Exodus 15 following the victory of God’s people at the Red Sea.

No doubt, John’s original audience was supposed to recall that event. Clearly, there are verbal connections even if the seas are different. The original audience was to remember a time when God’s people had been enslaved. It was to remember a time when God delivered His people through the power of plagues. It was to remember a time when God’s people were tested and refined beside a sea. And it was to remember the song that memorialized the victory of God.

When the beast had risen from the sea on Revelation 13, the worshipers of the dragon and the beast asked, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:4, ESV). In the song of Moses beside the sea, they answered, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them” (ESV).

That song of Moses ends with praise essentially mirrored by the picture we find in Revelation 15:

You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever (Exodus 15:17-18, ESV).

This reference back to the incredible deliverance from and victory over Egypt, would be a powerful reminder for those who needed to hold fast to do so. If they wanted to be planted on Mt. Zion, singing at the Lord’s sanctuary, dwelling in the Lord’s house, they needed to hang on. Victory is on its way!

Another Song of Moses

However, there was another song of Moses. Listen to some of its early lines and compare to the song found in Revelation 15:3-4.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he (Deuteronomy 32:3-4, ESV).

When we remember this song of Moses, which the early readers would surely have recalled just by mentioning “the song of Moses,” but then especially by these verbal connections, we uncover another powerful message. Moses’s song in Deuteronomy 32 was a song of warning. In Deuteronomy 32:46, Moses said to Israel, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law” (ESV). This is the same sentiment we find in Revelation 22:18-19.

In Moses’s song, Israel was warned against turning to idols, following strange gods, sacrificing to demons, compromising with the nations. If Israel fell to these sins, they would face plagues and pestilence. God would even send the teeth of beasts against them.

In Moses’s song, God had the people sing, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me” (Deuteronomy 32:39, ESV). In the song on Mt. Zion, they sing, “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy” (Revelation 15:4, ESV).

Remember, the apocalypse is a letter written to the seven churches of Asia. Five of them were called to repent. Why? Because they were compromising with their cities and their cities’ idols. When the apocalypse was read among the churches, they would read/sing this song of Moses and the Lamb. They would be warned as Moses warned Israel so much earlier. Don’t compromise! If you have, Repent!

Both Songs at Once

The amazing kaleidoscope that is Revelation brings both these ancient songs of Moses to our minds at once. The Revelation 14 song is double-edged sword, if you will. With the one side, it cuts away at the enemies of God and His sealed people. It provides comfort for the redeemed of the earth as they endure testing, knowing the sword of the Lord’s mouth will cut off the enemies and leave the faithful victorious.

However, it cuts God’s fallen, unfaithful, rebellious people who follow false prophets and prophetesses, eating the sacrifices given to demons, sleeping in the idols’ temples, following the king of the cities. Though they “go to church” every week, the Lord knows those who are really His and those who have donned the seal of the false prophet. He will cut away those who try to keep one foot in the temple, but another out in the city.

That was true in the first century. It is true today. Let us bring both feet solidly into the temple of the Lord. Though we are tested by fire, let us remain steadfast and gain the crown of life God has promised to those who love Him.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 15.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 15 admonish you?

John 3: You Must Be Born Again

Today’s reading is John 3.

In Genesis 1:1-2, the earth was born. “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The earth was born by Spirit and water. In Genesis 7, creation was undone. Man and beast were wiped from the face of the earth. The waters above and the waters below collapsed in on each other. Water covered the land. The earth became formless, void, and uninhabitable. However, the earth was born again when “God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Genesis 8:1, ESV). The word for “wind” here is the same word as “Spirit” in Genesis 1:2. The earth was reborn through water and Spirit. In Exodus 14, the nation of Israel was born as they walked on dry land through the Red Sea. “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground” (Exodus 14:21-22, ESV). With talk of waters being divided and dry land appearing, the Holy Spirit is purposefully reminding us of creation. Once again, the word translated “wind” is the same as “Spirit” in Genesis 1. In other words, Israel is created, that is, born as a nation through water and Spirit.

Recognizing how God has consistently worked in Creation, recreation, and His nation, are we really surprised when Jesus explains being “born again” as “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”? (John 3:5, ESV). God has always worked birth and rebirth through water and Spirit. Not one or the other, but both. When Nicodemus still doesn’t get it, Jesus asks, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” (John 3:10, ESV). That is, a teacher of Israel should have been able to look at how God always worked and understood when Jesus anchored His teaching in that repeated working of God. But Nicodemus didn’t get it.

Today, many teachers of Christians and churches are like Nicodemus. Though they are teachers, though they have studied Scripture, though they have read the text, they miss the story. This is how God works. This is how God works birth and rebirth–through water and Spirit.

Perhaps it is shocking that water is included. After all, surely the Spirit can do whatever He wants. And He does. But in birth and rebirth, He works in connection with water. He always has. But let us recognize the Spirit is included. Born again by water is no mere ritual or symbol. Something actual takes place; something spiritual takes place.

Therefore, on the day Christ’s church is established in Acts 2, Peter responds to those desperate for forgiveness, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38, ESV). That is, be born of water and Spirit. On the one hand, be warned, if you walked through a baptismal initiation rite, but it did not produce a new life, growing and transforming by the Spirit of God, don’t assume your initiation rite was Biblical baptism. On the other hand, if you simply decided to try to clean your life up, but you didn’t start by submitting to God’s baptismal process for rebirth, don’t assume your new behavior is the work of the Spirit. We are born not simply of water. Nor are we born simply by Spirit. We are born by water and Spirit. And unless you were born by water and Spirit, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.

Have you been born of water and Spirit? Have you been born again? If not, can we help you? Please, reach out to us. Click the contact button at the top of the page and let us know how we can help.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 3.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does John 3 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 71: Who is Like God?

Today’s reading is Psalm 71.

What a question. “O God, who is like you?”

The psalmist asked the question back in Psalm 35:10, “All my bones shall say, ‘O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?'” (ESV). But perhaps more to the point, Moses and the Israelites asked this question after crossing the Red Sea: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11, ESV).

The psalmist repeatedly expresses in Psalm 71:14-19 God has done amazing things. Though he doesn’t list them here in the psalm, he explains he could praise for his whole life because he doesn’t even know the number of God’s great and righteous acts. However, we’ve already hinted at one act he may have in mind.

When Moses was an old man (apologies to all my 80-year-old friends), he led Israel through the Red Sea. After the victory, they sang the song mentioned above. But notice some verbal connections between that song and this one. In Exodus 15:5, Moses’s song declared while Israel was delivered and passed through the Sea, Pharaoh’s army was not so blessed. Rather, “The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone” (ESV). I find it frustrating that the verbal connection is between “floods” in the ESV of Exodus 15:5 and “depths” of Psalm 71:20. But there it is. Further, in Exodus 15:12, the song went on to say, “You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them” (ESV). The psalmist claimed God would revive him and raise him up “from the depths of the earth” (Psalm 71:20). When Moses asked who is like God, the contrast was obvious. Israel had walked through the depths of the earth and come out on the other side. Pharaoh’s army, however, went into the depths of the earth and did not revive, nor was brought up again.

Our psalmist anchors his hope in the Exodus and the Red Sea crossing. Just like Moses and Israel did after they were brought up again, the psalmist declares he will sing praises to the Holy One of Israel (see Psalm 71:22-24). How shameful for Israel as an entire family and nation to be enslaved to Egypt. How far they had fallen into shame from the time of Joseph’s glory and honor. Yet, though they had seen troubles and calamities, God brought them through the Red Sea and set them in His promised land on the other side of that victory with glory and honor again. The psalmist in his old age remembers God’s great works and knows he too will be brought out on the other side victorious. May we hang on to the same hope no matter what calamities and troubles we face.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 71.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 71 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Psalm 59: Watch and Sing

Today’s reading is Psalm 59.

Psalm 59 divides into two stanzas with similar refrains. Notice how vss. 8-10 and vss. 16-17 sound so alike. This structure accentuates a progression. In vss. 1-7, David calls on God in the face of turmoil. Bloodthirsty men attack. According to human wisdom, hope wanes. He begs God to wake up and do something. He declares faith in vs. 8 and then says, “O my Strength, I will watch for you.” Then in vss. 11-15, David describes the wickedness of the enemies. Then in vs. 17 says, “O my Strength, I will sing praises to you.” In the first stanza’s refrain, David watches for God’s coming victory. By the refrain of the second stanza, the victory has come and David sings praise. David moves from watching to singing.

I can’t help but think of an ancient precedent for such a structure. When Israel fled Egypt, but were taken by way of the Red Sea, Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to hunt them down in the wilderness. When Israel discovered they were hemmed in with the wilderness on one side, the Red Sea on another, and Pharaoh’s army on the final side, they demanded to know why Moses led them out of Egypt to begin with.

Moses responded in Exodus 14:13-14:

Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

Moses called Israel to watch for salvation from God, to wait on God’s impending vengeance. Further, God did so to inform Egypt “I am the LORD.” As David sang, the ends of the earth must know Yahweh is God everywhere.

When the waters parted, Israel walked through on dry ground. Egypt’s army followed, but God brought the Sea down upon them. As Israel witnessed the bodies of Egyptian soldiers and horses wash up on shore, they sang praise.

I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation…

David sang to God as “My Strength.” When Israel saw God’s victory, they did the same.

Understand this. We have two times in our lives. Sometimes we watch. While living in the interim between God making His promise and God keeping His promise, we watch. We wait. We keep our eyes and hopes on God. Sometimes we rejoice. Having seen the victory of God, we sing praise and declare God’s strength and steadfast love. Watch for God, He will always lead us to singing.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 59.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What in Psalm 59 prompts or improves your trust in God?

You Have Come to the Heavenly Jerusalem

Today’s reading is Hebrews 12.

After their “baptism” in the Red Sea, Israel came to Mt. Sinai. They were told not to touch it. They saw blazing fire and also darkness, gloom, and a tempest. They heard the trumpets blow and the voice of God utter the 10 Commandments. They begged to never hear the voice of God again. Even Moses trembled in fear.

However, when these Hebrews had come to Jesus, they had come to a different mountain. They had come to Mount Zion. More than that, they had come to the city of the living God. But wait, he isn’t talking about a geo-political land mass in the Middle East. He says they had come to the “heavenly Jerusalem.” Remember what “heavenly” signifies in Hebrews. The priests under the Law served a copy and shadow of “heavenly things” (8:5). But Jesus is actually at the “right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (8:1). The copies of the heavenly things were purified with animal sacrifices, but the true “heavenly things” themselves were purified by Jesus’s sacrifice, a better sacrifice (9:23). Grasp what we need to see here. The geographical area we call Jerusalem and geological land feature we call Mt. Zion are also copies of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the city of the living God. They are not the real thing; they point to and foreshadow the real thing. As geographical Mt. Zion surpasses geographical Mt. Sinai and as the temple surpasses the tabernacle, the heavenly Jerusalem and Mt. Zion surpass both of the copies preceding them. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Further, can we not see this is the heavenly city God has prepared for which Abraham was looking. It is the city whose builder and designer is God. It is the better, heavenly country (11:16). And in this city we have come to the assembly or church of the firstborn who are in enrolled in heaven.

I understand, of course, in eternity and in the resurrection, this city will have a more marvelous form and ultimate realization. This is one of those “already but not yet” kind of things. We who are enrolled in heaven are in the heavenly city even now, but of course we look forward to its eternal fulfillment. But we are there. The promises were never truly about the land in the Middle East. They were always about the heavenly reality God was forming. And we are now in it. We have come to it.

Why would we go back to the copies? Why would we go back to earthly Jerusalem, earthly Mt. Zion? We have come to the very presence of God, brought their by the mediation of Jesus the Son which makes the presence of God not a frightening place from which to run and hide, but a magnificent presence to seek and to draw near.

Praise the Lord!

Have you come to Christ’s church? Have you come to the heavenly Mt. Zion and Jerusalem? Can we help you? If so, let us know in the comments below.

Tomorrow’s reading is Hebrews 12.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. How can we be in the heavenly city but also looking forward to God’s heavenly city at the same time?
3. What do you think would cause some people during this time in which we are in the heavenly city, but not quite experiencing it as the heavenly city to abandon it and pursue what is earthly?
4. What advice would you give to us to help us stay true to Jesus the mediator of this new covenant and king of this heavenly Jerusalem, His church?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

Greater than Moses and Joshua

Today’s reading is Matthew 14.

Jesus is greater than Jonah. He is greater than Solomon. He is greater than the temple itself. Yesterday, we discovered He is greater than Elijah and Elisha. He is the greatest of all prophets. However, Matthew isn’t done with his case.

We move right from one wonder to another. He goes from feeding 5000 people with five loaves and two fish, to walking on the water like it was dry land. We all know about this miracle. In fact, it has made its way into popular parlance. When people want to point out someone isn’t perfect they will say, “He can’t walk on water.” Or if someone idolizes someone else, she will say, “She thinks that woman walks on water.” They may not even know where that phrase comes from.

Regrettably, we are so used to this story, it probably doesn’t even call to mind the Old Testament stories it builds upon. Do you remember when Moses lifted his rod, the waters of the Red Sea parted, and Israel walked through on dry land in Exodus 14? Do you remember when Joshua asked the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to step into the Jordan, and it dried up so Israel could walk through on dry ground in Joshua 3-4? Do you remember when Elijah struck the Jordan with his cloak and the waters dried up so he and Elisha could walk across and how Elisha immediately did the same thing to re-cross in 2 Kings 2?

What is Matthew’s point? Look at these law-givers, leaders, and prophets. They did amazing things. They could part the water and walk through on dry ground. But look at Jesus. He doesn’t even need to part the water. He doesn’t need to reveal the ground. He can walk on water as if it is dry ground. Do you see the point? Jesus, our King and Savior is greater not only than Elijah and Elisha; He is greater than even Moses and Joshua. He is the prophet. He is the priest. He is the king. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

What an amazing King we serve! Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 14.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. What stories do you know about Moses? How is Jesus greater than Moses?
3. What stories do you know about Joshua? How is Jesus greater than Joshua?
4. If Jesus is greater than Moses and Joshua, how should we deal with Him?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?