November 18 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

One picture is worth a thousand words.

This picture also sums up two thousand years of history. God's people Israel gave birth to the Messiah. All the history before the birth of Christ can be summed up in one phrase: the people cried for the birth of the Son.

When we think of the origin of Jesus, we must first recognize that he came from the womb of Israel. Theirs—that is, the people of Israel's—was the adoption (sonship); theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs were the patriarchs, and from them we can trace the human ancestry of the Messiah (Rom. 9:4-5). We know that Jesus was not only man and Israelite "as to his earthly life"; we must also say who he is "through the Spirit of holiness" (Rom. 1:3-4). As such he is "the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!" (Rom. 9:5).

The fact remains that Israel brought forth the Messiah, who is the Son and the hope of the daughter of Zion. Therefore the whole of the Old Testament can be summed up in one symbol—the pregnancy of the people of God.

The vision does more than simply summarize history, it also interprets history. God explains to us why he formed and kept this nation of Israel: because this people had to give birth to Christ.

God had this purpose in mind when he called Abraham to be the blessing of all the families of the earth. For this reason God fenced the Israelites in with laws he gave through Moses. And God maintained his promises to David in spite of wicked kings and disobedient people because his steadfast mercy was aimed at the birth of the great Son of David.

You can't ever say a meaningful word about Israel if you forget that Jesus Christ explains the existence of Israel. And the whole history of the Old Testament is properly told in one picture—birth pangs, anguish to be delivered.

REFLECTIONS

When we read the Old Testament and the history of Israel, what should we be thinking of? Why?

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.