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Writer's picturePastor Hans Fiene

Matins Devotion: July 1, 2024

Updated: Jul 1


In our reading from Joshua today, we see the Jews at war with the Gentiles. We see a war between the children of the covenant, the children of salvation, and those lost in the darkness. And in our reading from Acts, we see this war ended. We see the promise that all nations will be brought into the family of God, the promise that saints from every nation will step into the light and receive the children of the covenant as their eternal brothers. 


Here in Joshua, the people of Israel gather outside the city of Jericho, a Canaanite stronghold protected by mighty walls. And within those walls dwells a people who were living in defiance of the one true God, worshiping their idols, and refusing to turn to Him, as Rahab did. And so, with nothing but the shout from His people, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down and the city was devoted to destruction. The sons of Israel went to war with the enemies of God and blood poured through the ruins of the once proud city.


Rahab married Salmon. Together they had a son named Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. Jesse fathered David. And, in fulfillment of the promises given to His father David, Jesus Christ tore down the walls of Satan’s kingdom with His shout from the cross, with the cry “it is finished.” Jesus brought peace between the Jews and the outsiders by shedding His blood, blood that was the blood of both Jews and outsiders. And by forgiving the sins of all men in that blood, Jesus Christ gave all men the right to receive each other as brothers, to be at peace with those who had been even their bitterest enemies.


So here in Acts, as Peter and this Roman convert Cornelius stand before each other, there is no shouting. There is no war. The hour of destruction has finally ended. The hour of peace has come. Now two men separated by centuries of bloodshed and animosity are brothers. And through Christ, you have that same peace, that same family union with all who share your baptism into the triune name. Now, like Peter and Cornelius, you are at peace with all your fellow believers, no matter their birth or tribe or tongue or history. Now you are at peace because of the salvation worked by the One who is both the son of Israel and the son of Jericho.

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