Reading 1 – Deu 19

This chapter contains:

an order to separate three cities of refuge in the land of Canaan, for the man who killed someone unawares to flee to, but to which those who were guilty of purposeful murder were to have no benefit (vv 1-13; cp Num 35:6-34), a law against removing landmarks (Deu 19:14; cp Deu 27:17; Pro 22:28; 23:10); and laws concerning witnesses in legal cases, that there should be more than one, that is, two or three (Deu 19:15; cp Mat 18:16; Joh 8:17; 2Co 13:1), and that a false witness, on conviction, should be punished (Deu 19:16-21; cp Exo 23:1-7; Mark 14:55-59).

Reading 2 – Ecc 11:6

“Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle” (Ecc 11:6).

“The evening of life has also its calls. Life is so short that a morning of manhood’s vigour, and an evening of decay, make the whole of it. To some it seems long, but a four-pence is a great sum of money to a poor man. Life is so brief that no man can afford to lose a day. It has been well said that if a great king should bring us a great heap of gold, and bid us take as much as we could count in a day, we should make a long day of it; we should begin early in the morning, and in the evening we should not withhold our hand… Age may instruct the young, cheer the faint, and encourage the desponding; if eventide has less of vigorous heat, it should have more of calm wisdom, therefore in the evening I will not withhold my hand” (CH Spurgeon).

Reading 3 – Acts 10:5

“Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter” (Acts 10:5).

The first prospective convert from among the Gentiles calls on Peter (or Simon son of JONAH: Mat 16:17) at JOPPA, the very place where the original Jonah had boarded a ship to run away from his call (Jon 1:3). This “son of Jonah”, though, does not ignore the call, and so the sign of Jonah (Mat 12:39-41) is finally and completely fulfilled in the repentance of the Gentiles.