September 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Those who overcame the beast stand beside the sea of glass and fire, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

The Bible's themes of liberation flow together into one picture and one song. The first exodus with Moses and the second exodus through Christ are now set to one tune. The redeemed of the old and the new covenants praise God in the same words: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations."

To our ears there may be a difference between the song of Moses and the song of those who are redeemed by Christ, the Lamb of God. When God made his people free by leading them through the Red Sea, the people sang, "The lord is a warrior, the lord is his name" (Ex. 15:3). Once Jesus paid the price for our freedom, we began to sing, "For God so loved the world... Love is his name."

Yet we are singing to the same God, the God who works salvation because he loves and executes judgment because he is righteous.

And it is the same enemy who must be crushed: the anger of Pharaoh and the fury of the beast reveal the cruelty of our deadly enemy, Satan. The gratitude of the saved must therefore be shown in lives that are ever more devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. But the same kind of devotion is to be shown in hatred for the beast and all it stands for.

The God who works salvation is the same God throughout history. The enemy that needs to be defeated is the same enemy. And the song of all the redeemed becomes one chorus, for all must pass through the water and all must be baptized with fire. The saving experiences of God's people are symbolized by the flood, the Red Sea, and our own baptism. They are all acts of judgment and salvation.

Therefore when all the battles have been fought, God's people will forever praise the might of Israel's Warrior and plumb the depths of the love of God.

REFLECTIONS

Praise God using the "song of Moses and of the Lamb" found in Revelation 15:3-4.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.