Revelations 22:12-21

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Read Revelations 22:12-21 Verses for meditation: Revelations 22:12-13, 16, 20-21 ESV: 12 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Reflect How does it feel to be reading the very last few verses of the bible? What do the proclamations, the last few of them, say about Christ? Come, Lord Jesus! Does this really express our desire? How does the greatest book end, and on what note? But is this really the end? Relate With mixed feelings, I'm writing this last devotion based on the final ten verses of the greatest book, the bible. What a journe...
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Genesis 29 to 31/Psalm 19

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READ: Genesis 29-31/ Psalm 19

Verse chosen for meditation 

"Go back to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you." (Genesis 31:3)


REFLECT

Jacob had met God in a dream with the ladder and he arrived at his grandfather Abraham’s hometown to find a wife. 

Like his father who went before him, Jacob found the woman he wanted to marry at a well (Genesis 29:9). Her name was Rachel. Jacob agreed to work for Rachel’s father, Laban, 7 years in exchange for her hand in marriage (Genesis 29:18). 

Thus, began a series of tricks and deceit between Jacob and Laban. Laban deceived Jacob into accidentally marrying Rachel’s older sister, Leah. Jacob must work 7 more years to be allowed to marry Rachel as well. 

This created a rivalry between Leah and Rachel that resulted in them each trying to have children with Jacob (Genesis 30:1).  Through this outrageous rivalry, Jacob had 12 sons, which God would turn into the 12 tribes of Israel. 

But the trickery continued over livestock. Through more trickery between Laban and Jacob, Jacob ended up with the bigger and healthier flock (Genesis 30:43). But it was not Jacob’s tactics that made him rich; rather, it was God (Genesis 32:10). 

Finally, Jacob and his family left and made their way back to the land where God met him in the dream. 

What are we to make of the web of deceit? Why would the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel came about through such morally dicey means? It is to show us something incredibly important about who God is and how He works. God keeps his promises. That’s who He is. 

He promised that Abraham’s family would become a great nation, and here we have the beginnings of it. No matter what happens in the world or how messed up we make it, God will accomplish His plans. God repurposes evil intention and shows mercy to people who don’t deserve it (Genesis 50:19).

RELATE

Where is the gospel in this? It is fully seen in the cross of Jesus. 

For there has never been a more dastardly trick played than the betrayal, arrest, false trial, and innocent murder of Jesus (Mark 14:56). But through these horrid acts, God accomplished everything He promised to Jacob. 

The cross shows us that no matter how wicked and dark things get, God brings about His good and perfect will. If He can bring the world’s greatest good out of the corrupt murder of His innocent son, He can bring good out of anything (2 Corinthians 4:14). 

Moreover, the grandest and best trick ever played was the gospel event itself. Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 2:8 that if people knew who Jesus was, they would not have crucified him. Furthermore, if the evil spiritual forces knew what would happen by killing this man Jesus, they wouldn’t have gone through with it either. The trick of the gospel is the greatest reversal of all time. Evil thought it would beat Jesus by killing Him, but it ended up being their own defeat. 

REST

I pray that the Holy Spirit would help us see the God who can work through anything to accomplish His plan, and that you would see Jesus as the one who subverts and conquers sin by His cross through the ultimate trick against death itself by His resurrection.


Tan Tee Khoon

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