Author: Norm

SCRIPTURE: Joshua 5:1-12 OBSERVATION: Circumcision was the symbol of their special calling as ambassadors for God bringing His blessing to the world (Genesis 12:1-2). While in Egypt they had been uncircumcised, and were not living as God called them. This ceremony renews their special calling and purpose. The Passover represents God’s care and protection as they seek…

OOPS, somehow I repeated the readings from Dec 30 and Dec 31. Oh well, enjoy reading Joshua 4 for a second time. SCRIPTURE: Joshua 4:10-24 OBSERVATION: 1. The ark (the symbol of “God with us”) is at the center of this story. Where it goes, the people go. Where it goes, the waters part. When it leaves, the waters…

OOPS, somehow I repeated the readings from Dec 30 and Dec 31. Oh well, enjoy reading Joshua 4 for a second time. SCRIPTURE: Joshua 4:1-9 OBSERVATION: The Lord has Joshua set up a memorial, a space to remember what the Lord has done, and to share that message with others. This is an evangelistic testimony, a personal experience intended…

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 17:1-18 OBSERVATION: The great prostitute seems to be an all-powerful nation (Rome, the great city that rules all the earth)) guilty of horrific crimes and immoralities. For a time she controls the beast, but eventually (by God’s design) the beast defeats her. Keeping in mind that the original recipients did not know HOW this…

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 16:12-21 OBSERVATION: The plagues lead up to the final judgment at armageddon (har megiddo, the hill or valley of megiddo where many decisive battles were fought), symbolizing the last great battle. The date for this final, decisive moment between the Lord and His followers, and Satan and his followers in unknown, but it is…

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 16:1-11 OBSERVATION: At first we might think that God is cruel, inflicting this kind of torture on helpless, innocent victims. But the passage reveals that people were living wild, rebellious and cruel lives, and refused to repent no matter how many times God’s warned them through prophets. God is not inflicting cruelty, He is…

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 15:1-8 OBSERVATION: An allusion to the judgment of the plagues against Pharoah (Exodus 7-11), God’s people standing beside the sea of judgment singing the song of Moses, like Israel after God destroyed Pharoah and his army by the Red Sea (Exodus 14). The final judgment will also be God’s way of finally rescuing His people from…

Feel free to leave your comments. My comments are coming soon! SCRIPTURE: Revelation 14:14-20 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: PRAYER:

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 14:1-13 OBSERVATION: The 144,000 represent the fullness of the OT and NT believers (12 tribes x 10 x 12 apostles x 10, x 10), the number 10 representing fullness. They sing a song through all their trials that others cannot figure out, and they learn it from Jesus, whom they follow “wherever He goes”. The…

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 13:11-18 OBSERVATION: This vision symbolically portrays the increasing power of Rome in John’s day, but also describes how in the final days the governments will enforce loyalty, denying those who refuse to “worship” their power access to the basics of life (those without number cannot buy or sell). In John’s day people had to…