Our Bible Reading of the Day is Joshua 5:13–6:27. Confident in their wall, the people of Jericho shut themselves up inside the city. Following God’s unusual battle plan, Joshua gathers the priests, trumpets, ark of the covenant, and people. Six days they march once around the city, then seven times on the seventh day, giving a shout at the conclusion of the last circuit. The city walls come tumbling down, and the Israelites wipe out the citizens and livestock while plundering precious metals for the tabernacle. Yet Rahab and her family are spared. Christ, the greater Joshua, though He has the power to judge us for our sins also has the power to save. By the cross, He has forgiven God’s children their sins and has promised us deliverance from eternal death.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Joshua 2. As they prepare to enter the Promised Land, Joshua sends two spies to explore Jericho. Rahab, a prostitute, first hides the spies from the authorities, and later she helps them escape out her window in the city wall. Because of her faithfulness, the spies promise to spare Rahab and her family when the Israelites come to occupy the city. God saved His spies in Jericho through the unlikely and unexpected Rahab. God has saved us, His people today, through the unexpected and undeserved sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Numbers 13:1–2, 25–14:24. Moses chooses one man from each of the twelve tribes and sends them to spy on the land God has promised. The spies report a land of great plenty but occupied by mighty, fearsome people. Despite Caleb and Joshua’s pleas to seize the land promised to them, the people rebel. Moses pleads for mercy, and God promises to care for His people. At the same time, He condemns the Israelites to forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Of all the adults, only Joshua and Caleb will live to enter the Promised Land.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Exodus 25:1–19; 40:1–8, 34–38. Moses begins the process of building a portable house for the Lord by gathering offerings from the Israelites. God provides detailed instruction for the creation of the ark of the covenant as well as the other fixtures of the tabernacle. When the tabernacle is finally assembled, the glory of the Lord descends on the tabernacle in the form of a cloud. As long as the presence remains, the people remain in that place.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Exodus 31:18–32:35. Atop Mount Sinai, Moses receives the Law from God. Meanwhile, the Israelites grow impatient and convince Aaron to create a golden idol. When God sends Moses down from the mountain, Moses sees the people’s wan-ton worship and smashes the stone tablets. The people are punished for their idolatry. Moses returns to Sinai to plead God’s mercy for the people. Moses interceded for God’s people at Sinai. Jesus interceded for all people on the cross, bearing the punishment for our sins.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Exodus 17:1-7. Having moved their camp from the wilderness of Sin to Rephidim, the Israelites face a new challenge—no water. Despite His daily food supply, the people doubt God’s ability to provide water for them and their livestock. Moses cries out to the Lord, who instructs him to strike the rock with his staff. Moses does so and water pours out, providing all that the people need. God provided life for His people in the wilderness through the water from the rock. He provides eternal life for us through Christ, the Rock of our salvation.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Exodus 16. The Israelites arrive in the wilderness with no food, grumbling against Moses and Aaron. God keeps His promise to provide for His people as He daily sends manna (bread) and quail (meat) from heaven for them to gather. The Lord teaches His people to trust as they gather only what they need for one day. The Israelites arrive in the wilderness with no food, grumbling against Moses and Aaron. God keeps His promise to provide for His people as He daily sends manna (bread) and quail (meat) from heaven for them to gather. The Lord teaches His people to trust as they gather only what they need for one day.

Our Bible Reading of the Day is Exodus 12:1-32. God, through Moses, threatens one final plague—worse than any previously experienced. Following God’s instructions, the Israelites make careful preparations for the Passover, marking their doorposts with the blood of a lamb prepared for the feast. The final plague takes place at midnight as all the firstborn throughout Egypt die. The Egyptians hand over their valuables, hastening the Israelites away.Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, was slain for our sins. By His blood, we are protected from the eternal wrath of God and promised the gift of eternal life.

The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. While Christmas has focused on the incarnation of our Lord … that is, on God becoming flesh … the season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revelation of God in that same flesh of Christ. The Lord Himself has entered our darkness and rises upon us with the brightness of His true light (Is. 60:1–2). He does so chiefly by His Word of the Gospel, which He causes to be preached within His Church on earth … not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles (Eph. 3:8–10). As the Magi were guided by the promises of Holy Scripture to find and worship the Christ Child with His mother in the house (Matt. 2:5–11), so does He call disciples from all nations by the preaching of His Word to find and worship Him within His Church (Is. 60:3–6). With gold, they confess His royalty; with incense, His deity; and with myrrh, His priestly sacrifice (Matt. 2:11).

Advent is the season of holy anticipation. Christ arrives in three ways: He came in humility at Bethlehem, He comes now in Word and Sacrament, and He will come again in glory. Each week we live in eager expectation, moved to sing with the shepherds and the saints: Behold your King’s arrival, rich with grace on grace! Today, THE KING WHO CAME IN HUMILITY: The Child of Bethlehem comes in lowliness yet carries heaven’s majesty. The shepherds’ astonishment and haste mirror our anticipation of grace fulfilled in flesh.