Nes Ammim, Alpha and Omega

Monday and Tuesday, December 20 and 21, 2010
Devotions: Ps 61, 62, 66, 67, 112, 115-117; Isa 11:1-16; Rev 20:1-10; 21:1-8; Jn 5:30-47; Lk 1:5-25

Lord, hear my plea for Your help; I cry out to You when I am losing ground. Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I, and let me abide in Your presence forever. I wait for You in silence, for omy salvation is from Your alone. God is my only refuge. Let us trust in Him at all times. God is a refuge for us all. Power belongs to God alone; You requite us according to our labors. Let us note what God has done, for we will sing and celebrate when we focus on His accomplishments. He is terrible and awesome, yet loving and gentle. Bless our God, all you people! God has tested and tried us, and He is refining us, burning away our dross, our sin and licentiousness. Blessed is the God Who accepts my prayers! God be gracious to us,and let all the ends of the earth fear Him! The righteous will never be shaken; our hearts are steady, and we can trust in our mighty God. Blessed is His name forever, to all the ends of creation. There is none like You, YHWH our God. You raise up the poor, and exalt the widow and the orphan; you make the barren woman sing with joy as the mother of miracle children. Hallelu Yah!

A shoot will come forth from Jesse's stump. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and might; the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will judge with superhuman understanding, and utmost justice. He is girded with righteousness and faithfulness. There will be peace and unity over all the earth as He reigns. He will stand as Nes Ammim—a Banner for the Nations. God will gather His people from across the earth, bringing the Diaspora home, and unity and peace will put forth their hand against Edom and Moab and the Ammonites. God will bring His people home, and send the pagans away.

John saw an angel coming down from heaven, with the keys to the Abyss and a great chain. He seized and chained the ancient serpent, the Devil, Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into the Abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him. He will not deceive the nations for that millennium. After that, he will be loosed for a little while. John saw thrones and the chosen judges seated on them. And he saw the souls o fthose beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for God's word; they had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received the mark of the beast. These martyrs came to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years—the first resurrection. Blessed are all who share in this resurrection. The rest of the dead did not come to life again until after the millennium. But the blessed are priests of God and of the Messiah, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years! When that thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed and come forth to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog, and to gather them for a great battle. Their hosts number 200,000,000. And they marched over the earth and encamped against Jerusalem; but heavenly fire came down and consumed them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and false prophet were, to be tormented day and night forever. John watched the Great White Throne judgment, and the second death, when Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire, with anyone not named in the book of life. Then John saw a new heaven and a new earth—and the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband. A great voice spoke: 'Behold, the dwelling of God is with mortals. He will dwell with them and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear, and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor pain—for former things have passed away.' And the One Who sat on the throne declared, 'Behold, I Am making all things new.' And He told John, 'Write this, for these words are true and can be trusted: It is done! I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty, I will give from the fountain of the waters of life without payment. All who conquer will have this heritage, and I will be their God and they will be My children. But the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolateers, and all liars will be cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, the second and final death!'

Jesus had told His human opponents, 'I can do nothing on My own authority. I judge and rightly, because I seek only the will of Him Who sent Me. I need not testify concerning Myself; there is One Who bears witness to Me, and I know that testimony is true. You know that John the Baptist likewise testified to the truth. I say this so that you may be saved. I don't need John's testimony but he was a burning, shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice in his light for a time. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John; the works the Father has enabled Me to do bear Me witness, that the Father has sent Me; and He Himself, the Father, has borne witness to Me. You have never seen His form or heard His voice, and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe in Him Whom the Father has sent. You search the scriptures to find eternal life; and they bear witness concerning Me. Yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have the life you seek. I do not receive glory from mortals. And I know that you don't have God's love within you. I have come in My Father's name and you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you receive him. How can you believe, you who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one true God? Don't think that I will accuse you before the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you have set your hope. If you truly believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you don't believe Moses' writings, how will you believe My words?'

During the reign of Herod the Great of Judea, a priest named Zechariah served in the division of Abijah. He had a Levite wife named Elizabeth. Both were righteous before God; they kept all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But Elizabeth was barren, and they had no children; and now both were advanced in years. In the normal rotation of service, Zechariah's division came on duty at God's temple; and according to the priestly custom, by lot it fell to Zechariah to enter the temple of YHWH to burn incense. The whole multitude of Jewish worshipers were praying outside at that hour. And an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah; the angel stood at the right side of the altar of incense. This sight alarmed Zechariah, but the angel said, 'Don't be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayers has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness; many will rejoice at John's birth; for he will be great before the Lord. And he will drink no wine or strong drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel back to YHWH their God; and he will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.'

Zechariah responded, 'How will I know this is true? For I am an old man, and my wife too is advanced in years.' The angel said to him, 'I am Gabriel, and I stand in the presence of God; I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this wonderful news. Now look: you will be mute and unable to speak until the day that all these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will certainly come to pass in their time.' Now, the people were waiting all this time, and they wondered about Zechariah's delay inside the temple. When he came out, he could not speak, and they realized that he had seen a vision while in the temple. He made signs to them, and remained dumb. When Zechariah's time of service was ended, he returned hom. And thereafter, Elizabeth conceived. For five months, she hid herself, saying, 'Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among mortals.'