Dan. 11:1–19
11:1 “And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood to strengthen him and to provide protection for him.) 2Now I will tell you the truth.
“Three more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth king will be unusually rich, more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. 3Then a powerful king will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases. 4Shortly after his rise to power, his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky—but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.
5“Then the king of the south and one of his subordinates will grow strong. His subordinate will resist him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. 6After some years have passed, they will form an alliance. Then the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, nor will he continue in his strength. She, together with the one who brought her, her child, and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time.
7“There will arise in his place one from her family line who will come against their army and will enter the stronghold of the king of the north and will move against them successfully. 8He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from the king of the north. 9Then the king of the north will advance against the empire of the king of the south, but will withdraw to his own land. 10His sons will wage war, mustering a large army that will advance like an overflowing river and carrying the battle all the way to the enemy’s fortress.
11“Then the king of the south will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north, who will also muster a large army, but that army will be delivered into his hand. 12When the army is taken away, the king of the south will become arrogant. He will be responsible for the death of thousands and thousands of people, but he will not continue to prevail. 13For the king of the north will again muster an army, one larger than before. At the end of some years he will advance with a huge army and enormous supplies.
14“In those times many will oppose the king of the south. Those who are violent among your own people will rise up in confirmation of the vision, but they will falter. 15Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. They will have no strength to prevail. 16The one advancing against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to stand before him. He will prevail in the beautiful land, and its annihilation will be within his power. 17His intention will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. He will give the king of the south a daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage. 18Then he will turn his attention to the coastal regions and will capture many of them. But a commander will bring his shameful conduct to a halt; in addition, he will make him pay for his shameful conduct. 19He will then turn his attention to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, not to be found again. (NET Bible)
Ps. 119:89–96
119:89 ל (Lamed)
O Lord, your instructions endure;
they stand secure in heaven.
90You demonstrate your faithfulness to all generations.
You established the earth and it stood firm.
91Today they stand firm by your decrees,
for all things are your servants.
92If I had not found encouragement in your law,
I would have died in my sorrow.
93I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have revived me.
94I belong to you. Deliver me!
For I seek your precepts.
95The wicked prepare to kill me,
yet I concentrate on your rules.
96I realize that everything has its limits,
but your commands are beyond full comprehension.
(NET Bible)1 John 2:15–27
2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
18Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.
20Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. 23Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life. 26These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
(NET Bible)It was self-evident to Luther that the evangelists gave consideration to the plan according to which they would relate the history of Jesus and, with that in mind, selected and arranged their materials accordingly, abbreviating here and expanding there. In the Church Postil Luther says in the Sermon for the Twenty- fifth Sunday after Trinity (St. Matt. 24:15-28): “In this chapter is described the conclu-sion and end of both kingdoms, that of Judah and that of the whole world. But the two evangelists, Matthew and Mark, mingle the two and do not keep the order that has been preserved in Luke, for they are concerned only about telling and repeating the words without troubling themselves as to the order in which the words were spoken.” “So understand that Matthew here weaves together and combines the end of the Jewish nation and of the world, mixes them into one dish. But if you wish to understand it you must separate it and apply the parts to their respective ends.” (60–61)
–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures
This daily Bible reading guide, Reading the Word of God, was conceived and prepared as a result of the ongoing discussions between representatives of three church bodies: Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The following individuals have represented their church bodies and approved this introduction and the reading guide: LCC: President Robert Bugbee; NALC: Bishop John Bradosky, Revs. Mark Chavez, James Nestingen, and David Wendel; LCMS: Revs. Albert Collver, Joel Lehenbauer, John Pless, and Larry Vogel.