Read To Me Daily Semester 4Sample

AMOS 9:
In Amos 7 we heard how the priest of Israel’s pagan shrine, Amaziah, told Amos to go away, and Amaziah even tried to get king Jeroboam the 2nd to move against Amos. 

There were sad words at the end of chapter 8, which indeed happened during the 400 year inter-testamental period:

Amo.  8:11 NLT “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign LORD,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the LORD.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border
searching for the word of the LORD,
but they will not find it.

ISAIAH 49a:
In Isaiah 48 God said,

Is. 48:3 Long ago I told you what was going to happen.
Then suddenly I took action, (past tense)
and all my predictions came true.

Such words may be hard to understand. There is a trait of some prophetic writings where the past tense is used instead of the future tense. Since Cyrus had not yet come, this section may well have meant in Isaiah’s time “suddenly I will take action.” Remember that all times are alike to God, and it is natural for Him to speak of future things (from our perspective) as already happening (in the present or past from HIS perspective). We see this trait also in Revelation.

REVELATION 2a:
The first chapter of Revelation ended with Jesus’ explanation of what John saw:

Rev. 1:20 NLT This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The word ‘angel’ in Greek can also mean ‘messenger’. It could be that the angel for each church is the pastor, but at this time, churches did not have just one pastor. So this can be translated as the messenger (probably one of the elders) to whom the Lord gave the responsibility of conveying His message.

We now come to a very special section of Revelation: the letters to the seven churches in Asia. Some have tried to see church ages in these letters. But it is better to see them as representative of churches of all ages. Each letter has the same form. First there is a highlighting of one of the characteristics of Jesus as seen in chapter 1. Then Jesus shows that He sees and knows each church intimately. He gives whatever rebuke or commendation that is deserved. Then the Lord exhorts each church appropriately according to their condition. Finally there is a repeated warning, and a special promise appropriate to each church.

Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, again we praise You and give You glory for your sovereign plan that determined the time for the kingdom of Babylon, and for the rule of Cyrus, and for the rule of Satan on earth, and the end of that rule. No other god can be compared to You. And our God, how we praise You for this book of Revelation, revealing your plan for what “must soon take place.” No other religious system on earth contains such amazing prophecies that have been able to guide generations all the way from the Old Testament times to the present day. As You said in Isaiah, had You not given such amazing prophecies, people would give credit to their idols for performing miracles. We see now that it was your will that all generations of believers in Christ should feel that Jesus’ return is “soon.” And do we ever feel that now! Help us to see this clear message in the book of Revelation: You, our God, and Christ Jesus, are awesome. John was such a close disciple of Jesus, yet when he saw You, Lord, he fell at your feet as though dead. So we also would fall at your feet today. We praise You as the one who died and now You are alive forever more, and You hold the authority over death and the world of the dead. Live in us today.