Advent Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and Acts 3:19–26

HOPE

I try to be deliberate in my morning time with God. My impulse is to check my email or or listen to some news of the day. I need to consciously choose to sit quietly and listen to worship music and read the Word. Have you ever noticed that we don't capitalize the word "news" when speaking of what man has spoken, but we do capitalize the word "Word" when speaking of what God has spoken? What God says about my day will affect me so much more than what man says about my day.

I was listening to O Come O Come Emmanuel this morning. As we await the celebration of Jesus' birth, we rejoice because with Jesus we no longer live in captivity or exile.

[Old Testament] Deuteronomy 18:15-19

[Moses speaking:] 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. 16 This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ 17 Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.' "

[New Testament] Acts 3:19–26  

[The Apostle Peter speaking:] 19 "Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning. 22 Moses said:[other mss add to the fathers] The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23 And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.[Dt 18:15–19]

24 “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days. 25 You are the sons[heirs] of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.[Gn 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4] 26 God raised up his servant[other mss add Jesus] and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

CSB

Advent Readings: Numbers 24:15-17 and Revelation 22:16

HOPE

It is dark in my special spot in the house where I spend time with God each day. I light a candle, producing a dim glow. During Advent, I am waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus and His triumphant return to the world, when He will stomp out the darkness for all eternity.

The world was shrouded in darkness prior to the birth of Jesus. I recall this passage in the Old Testament. Isaiah writes:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.  Isaiah 9:2  (CSB)

We have Jesus today. We don't need to live in darkness. He is our light and salvation. Close your eyes and picture your church's Christmas Eve service, the part when the congregation holds candles. A single candle is lit in a darkened sanctuary. That candle then lights another candle, which lights another, and so on. Lit only by a congregation holding candles, the sanctuary grows brighter and brighter. Symbolically, this is how the season of Advent should progress. With each day's reading and prayer, the light in our hearts and the joy we feel anticipating the birth of our Savior shall cause our hope to grow brighter and brighter.

Numbers 24:15-17

Balaam’s Fourth Oracle

24:15 Then he proclaimed his poem:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;
16 the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God
and has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

17 I see him, but not now;
I perceive him, but not near.
A star will come from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.
He will smash the forehead of Moab
and strike down all the Shethites.

Revelation 22:16

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

CSB