Desertide 6

Of Providence Westminster Confession of Faith 5, Larger Catechism 18-20, Shorter Catechism 11-12 OT: Genesis 31-36 NT: Revelation 1-9 Psalms 35-40

This week’s Old Testament readings in Genesis describe Jacob’s flight from Laban and return to the land which God had promised his grandfather Abraham. Covenantally, this reflects God’s fulfillment of the vow Jacob made when he fled his home for Haran, that if God would care for him and bring him home safely then Yahweh would be his God (Gen. 28:21). Jacob’s covenant with Laban and his reconciliation with Esau secures his position in the land of Promise. The rape of Jacob’s daughter Dinah and the subsequent retaliation of his sons Simeon and Levi raises his concern that this position would be jeopardized, but that does not turn out to be the case. The genealogy of Esau in chapter 36 marks the shift in focus from the Jacob account to the Joseph account.

The New Testament readings begin the Book of Revelation. An outline of Revelation is as follows:

I. Prologue and Doxology (1:1-8)

II. “In the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (1:9-3:22)

III. “In Spirit” in Heaven” (4:3)

            A.  The Seal Sequence:  The Signs of the Times (4:1-8:1)

                  B.  The Trumpet Sequence:  Judgments of Warning (8:2-11:14)

                        C.  Announcement of the Kingdom of Christ (11:15-19)

                  D.  The Underlying Reality of Spiritual Warfare (12:1-15:4)

            E.  The Bowl Sequence:  Final Judgment Rendered (15:5-16:21)

IV. “In the Spirit into a Wilderness” (17:3)

      The End of the Age:  Doom of the Harlot & the Lamb’s Wedding (17:1-21:8)

V. “In the Spirit to a Great and High Mountain” (21:10)

      God united with His People (21:9-22:5)

VI. Conclusion and Final Instructions (22:6-21)

The Psalms continue the Psalms of David.