David Bahn – Reflections

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NOTE: As I thought about this post after I had sent it, I realized there is something more I would like to say at the end. So here again it is with an additional thought at the end.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 16-18, Psalm 83.

Deuteronomy 18:15-18

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 

A friend and colleague retired a couple of years ago and—as planned, and as I did—didn’t really retire. He recognized that his gifts and experiences, shaped through decades of faithful ministry (not always easy, but enduring), had equipped him to continue serving. In his case, that meant helping congregations navigate transitions following the retirement of a long-tenured senior pastor. His ministry is called Always Forward Ministries.

He was determined to keep moving forward, looking ahead, and helping others do the same for the sake of God’s mission. That idea resonates with me as well. I love helping churches engage in faithful, strategic mission planning—and I carry that same focus with me as I assist congregations in calling pastors to lead them into the future.

But neither my friend nor I can claim that orientation as our own. Moses, too, ends his ministry with his eyes on the future. Standing with Israel on the edge of the Promised Land, he points them beyond himself. He speaks of a prophet yet to come: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… to him you shall listen.” This is a messianic prophecy, pointing beyond Moses to the Messiah who was still to come.

Moses had been the great mediator of the covenant, yet he makes clear that another is coming—one who will speak God’s Word with full authority. This promise is not merely about the ongoing line of prophets, but about a greater prophet still to come. The urgency is unmistakable: when he comes, you must listen to him.

The New Testament identifies that promised prophet as Jesus. Peter applies this passage directly to Christ in Acts 3:22–23, and Stephen does the same in Acts 7:37. At the Transfiguration—where Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus—the Father’s voice echoes Moses’ words: “This is my Son… listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Moses prepared the way, but Jesus is the fulfillment—the final and authoritative Word of God to his people.

And yet, even though Jesus has come—God’s final Word (cf. Hebrews 1:1–2)—we live much like Israel in the wilderness. We have been rescued, but we have not yet entered the Promised New Heaven and New Earth. Jesus himself warns that many false prophets will arise and lead many astray before that day.

Moses’ promise has been fulfilled: the prophet like him has come—and more than a prophet, he is the Son, the one to whom we must listen. In his death and resurrection he has secured forgiveness, life, and salvation, and he now speaks God’s truth and gives his grace for all. We receive these gifts not by our effort, but by faith, for Jesus has not only spoken the full and final word of God, he embodied God’s grace and truth and sacrificed himself for us and for our eternal salvation. He will come again at the end of time and receive all who are his own into his glorious everlasting kingdom – the ultimate Promised Land.

Additional Thought: So let’s do what Moses said we must, and what God himself confirmed on the mount of Transfiguration. Let’s listen to Jesus. Listen in the Hebrew sense which means listen to and do what Jesus says. Love one another. Share the gospel with the world. Repent and believe the gospel. Celebrate his Supper. Believe in him.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 16-18, Psalm 83.

Deuteronomy 18:15-18

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 

A friend and colleague retired a couple of years ago and—as planned, and as I did—didn’t really retire. He recognized that his gifts and experiences, shaped through decades of faithful ministry (not always easy, but enduring), had equipped him to continue serving. In his case, that meant helping congregations navigate transitions following the retirement of a long-tenured senior pastor. His ministry is called Always Forward Ministries.

He was determined to keep moving forward, looking ahead, and helping others do the same for the sake of God’s mission. That idea resonates with me as well. I love helping churches engage in faithful, strategic mission planning—and I carry that same focus with me as I assist congregations in calling pastors to lead them into the future.

But neither my friend nor I can claim that orientation as our own. Moses, too, ends his ministry with his eyes on the future. Standing with Israel on the edge of the Promised Land, he points them beyond himself. He speaks of a prophet yet to come: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… to him you shall listen.” This is a messianic prophecy, pointing beyond Moses to the Messiah who was still to come.

Moses had been the great mediator of the covenant, yet he makes clear that another is coming—one who will speak God’s Word with full authority. This promise is not merely about the ongoing line of prophets, but about a greater prophet still to come. The urgency is unmistakable: when he comes, you must listen to him.

The New Testament identifies that promised prophet as Jesus. Peter applies this passage directly to Christ in Acts 3:22–23, and Stephen does the same in Acts 7:37. At the Transfiguration—where Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus—the Father’s voice echoes Moses’ words: “This is my Son… listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Moses prepared the way, but Jesus is the fulfillment—the final and authoritative Word of God to his people.

And yet, even though Jesus has come—God’s final Word (cf. Hebrews 1:1–2)—we live much like Israel in the wilderness. We have been rescued, but we have not yet entered the Promised New Heaven and New Earth. Jesus himself warns that many false prophets will arise and lead many astray before that day.

Moses’ promise has been fulfilled: the prophet like him has come—and more than a prophet, he is the Son, the one to whom we must listen. In his death and resurrection he has secured forgiveness, life, and salvation, and he now speaks God’s truth and gives his grace for all. We receive these gifts not by our effort, but by faith, for Jesus has not only spoken the full and final word of God, he embodied God’s grace and truth and sacrificed himself for us and for our eternal salvation. He will come again at the end of time and receive all who are his own into his glorious everlasting kingdom – the ultimate Promised Land.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 13-18, Psalm 82.

Deuteronomy 13:1-11

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁶ “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, ⁸ you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. ⁹ But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹ And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.

Recently I watched an exposé on the collapse of Robert Schuller’s ministry and the ultimate bankruptcy and sale of his Crystal Cathedral to the Roman Catholic Dioceses of LA or Southern California. It is quite a saga – and a sad one on many counts.

The producers of that video offered a false prophet checklist to help people today from being taken in by those teachers and preachers who leverage God-talk for their own personal gain. The list is centered mostly around financial transparency, personal aggrandizement, and moral behavior, and as far as it goes it’s not too bad.

Biblically speaking, a true prophet both speaks what is true and leads people to the true God; failure in either reveals a false prophet. The New Testament adds that a true prophet points people rightly to Christ. Is the prophecy true to the revealed word of God? Do the predictions come to pass? Does the message point people rightly to Christ? These are the three critical questions we must ask if we are to avoid being misled into sin and misbelief.

In the case of the people of Israel the question of other gods was clear and obvious. The pagan religions had their gods and were unashamedly devoted to them. Moses was warning the people not to be taken in by their religious fervor or prevelance. Stay true to the LORD he was saying here. Watch to see if what they predict comes to pass he says in chapter 18.

This is so important that he attaches the death penalty to anyone who would lead them astray. And it is brutally to be carried out. That was so all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you (13:11).

Few people wish to return to such brutal justice today. Jesus himself refused to condemn a woman caught in the act of adultery, refusing to condone stoning her. And those who were the keepers of the true faith of Israel conspired to have him killed by Roman authorities for blasphemy and being essentially the worst kind of false prophet.

Jesus, however, being the embodiment of truth showed himself to be a true prophet by pointing people again and again to God’s promises and validating those promises by rising from the dead just as he said he would. That truth connected with the profound grace of God is the foundation of true religion. He is the One who is the source of covenant faithfulness – which is what the book of Deuteronomy is all about.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 1-3, Psalm 78.

Deuteronomy 3:23-29

“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ ²⁹ So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

I will be taking a few days off from posting since I will be recovering from hip replacement surgery. I’m scheduled for Wednesday March 18 at 10 AM. I hope to be back at it by Monday. In the meantime, I notice how Moses is rehearsing the history of Israel’s travels from the Red Sea to the entrance to the Promised Land.

We need to be reminded of our history – not only so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past, but also so that we recall the favor, goodness, grace, and blessings of God.

What blessings do you need to recall today? How has God been at work in your life through the years? Today is a good day to reflect on those things.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 34-36, Psalm 77.

Numbers 34:1-12

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), ³ your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. ⁴ And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. ⁵ And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

⁶ “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

⁷ “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. ⁹ Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

¹⁰ “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. ¹² And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

The LORD described the borders of the Promised Land to Moses in Numbers 34. See below for an interpretation of that outline. I am intrigued when I compare it to the borders of modern-day Israel. But I have no desire to make any political comment or connection in that regard.

I want to talk about traffic! We’ll come back to Israel’s borders then and now.

Years ago the street on which St. John Lutheran Church is located was being expanded from a tree-covered two lane road to a divided four lane thoroughfare. It was disruptive to traffic and frustrating to many of our members. The quiet lane was soon to become a busy traffic artery. Our peaceful lane would be transformed to a noisy traffic-congested road. It’s true: bigger roads don’t really solve traffic issues; they just invite more traffic! But I digress.

I shared with our members how the Apostle Paul spoke of the movement and placement of people groups and peoples throughout the ages. He spoke of how God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). It was God’s providential determination where people lived and when they occupied the land.

I will admit to the frustration of traffic congestion, expanded streets and highways only serving to bring more people, cars, trucks and motorcycles to our neighborhoods. But then I recall the rest of what Paul said. He spoke of places and boundaries God has set so “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”

The placement of Israel’s boundaries and borders was not just about their right to the land or God’s command to take the land. It was to fulfill a promise that God had given Abraham years earlier, that he would give Abraham’s descendants the land, so that they would be a blessing to others. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,” God had promised.

The placement of Israel – and nations and tribes, churches and individuals down through the ages – was and is so that the grace and truth of God and his ways might be known, and people might be brought into a living relationship with him.

You nor I live where we do when we do by accident. God’s has placed us where we are here and now so that we may honor him and declare his glory among the nations. We and Abraham, Moses, and all God’s people throughout the ages are where we are so that we may be a blessing to those around us.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 31-33, Psalm 76.

Numbers 31:1-6

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” ³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. ⁴ You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵ So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

In Numbers 31, God commands Israel to go to war against the Midianites. Their destruction is to be decisive and total. This will not be a distant or clinical act of war. It will be brutally up-close and personal. Such passages are difficult for us to comprehend. And in the context of the current Middle East conflicts, few of us want to talk about war, much less read about the brutal treatment of women and children recorded here.

The command concerning Midian in Numbers 31 is one of the most troubling passages in the Old Testament. Yet the biblical narrative gives important background that helps explain why the judgment appears so severe.

The immediate context is the episode at Baal Peor in Numbers 25, where Midianite women enticed Israel into sexual immorality and the worship of Baal. The text tells us this was done through the counsel of Balaam (Numbers 31:16). The result was a devastating plague that killed 24,000 Israelites. In the biblical narrative, the attack on Midian is therefore presented as divine judgment for a deliberate attempt to destroy Israel spiritually, not merely a military conflict.

The command itself is described as the Lord’s “vengeance for Israel” (Numbers 31:3). In the Old Testament, such commands are rare and tied to specific moments in Israel’s history. Israel was not given a standing command to destroy other nations indiscriminately.

Passages like this tempt us to place God in the dock, as C. S. Lewis famously put it. We put God on trial for actions we deem troubling or unjust. That is a dangerous posture to take. And even when we struggle with such texts, we must not ignore the far more frequent testimony of Scripture concerning God’s mercy and kindness.

The Old Testament repeatedly describes the Lord as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (ḥesed). This refrain—especially from Exodus 34:6–7—became something of a creedal description of God’s character and echoes throughout Israel’s Scriptures, even as God also maintains his righteous judgment against evil.

Should you want to see how often the Old Testament bears witness to God’s mercy and steadfast love, consider these passages:

Exodus 34:6–7; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 23:6; Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103:8–13; Psalm 136:1–26; Isaiah 54:10; Lamentations 3:22–23; Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:18–19.

Yet the fullest revelation of both God’s justice and his mercy is seen in Jesus. On the cross, God did not ignore the judgment sin deserves; he took it upon himself. And there we see most clearly the God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love toward us.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 28-30, Psalm 75.

Numbers 28:1-8

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’ ³ And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. ⁴ The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; ⁵ also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil. ⁶ It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ⁷ Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord. ⁸ The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Numbers 28–30 establishes a structured pattern of worship for Israel — daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly offerings — reminding the people that their relationship with God touched every part of their calendar and life.

There were Daily offerings

• Two lambs every day — one in the morning and one in the evening
• Offered with grain and drink offerings

Weekly offering (Sabbath)

• Two additional lambs offered on the Sabbath

Monthly offering (New Moon)

• Bulls, a ram, lambs, grain offerings, and a goat for a sin offering

Festival offerings

• Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
• Feast of Trumpets
• Day of Atonement
• Feast of Tabernacles

In the biblical system:

• sacrifice comes from God’s command
• it is limited and regulated
• it ultimately points beyond itself

The New Testament interprets the entire system as preparing for Christ. Hebrews says: “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

The Lamanai Archeological Site pictured above was also a place of sacrifice for the Mayan people. But the sacrifices differed in one major way: they were made to feed their gods, to sustain them and the cosmos. The sacrifices outlined in these chapters were not meant to sustain God, but to maintain the covenant relationship between God and his people. They reminded Israel again and again that sin is serious, that forgiveness requires sacrifice, and that life with God touches every day of life.

But even these sacrifices were never the final answer. They pointed forward to something greater. As the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The endless rhythm of offerings — morning and evening, Sabbath and festival — prepared God’s people for the day when one perfect sacrifice would finally be offered.

That sacrifice was Jesus. He did not come to offer another lamb, but to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And because of his once-for-all sacrifice, we no longer bring bulls and goats to the altar. Instead, we live every day — morning and evening, week by week, season by season — in gratitude and faith toward the One who has done what no sacrifice before him could ever accomplish.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 19-21, Psalm 72.

Numbers 20:2, 6-12

Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. … ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, ⁷ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” ⁹ And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. ¹² And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

No, Moses! Don’t do it! Don’t strike the rock. I know you are tired and frustrated. I know the people you have been leading day after day wear you down. They grumble against God, criticize you, and make your life miserable. I know you have carefully written down the decrees of the LORD. You have recorded every statute and rule. You have overseen the building of the Tabernacle according to the proper specifications. You have done everything you were supposed to do.

Now the people are thirsty. They need water. God has told you to speak to the rock. Speak — not strike — Moses. Don’t hit the rock!

But Moses does strike the rock, and he will suffer the consequences. He will not enter the Promised Land. He has heard the reports — including those of Joshua and Caleb. The land is flowing with milk and honey. Its inhabitants are large and foreboding, but Israel will prevail. They will conquer the land. They will enter it. But Moses will not experience it.

I wonder if it broke Moses’ heart. I wonder how disappointed he was. I wonder how deeply this saddened him.

There may be a hint in the New Testament as to why striking the rock was so consequential. After all, it seems like such a small thing — two strikes against a rock — yet it disqualifies Moses from entering the land.

I do not want to push the point too far, but Paul writes that Israel “all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). In the wilderness the rock was struck so that water might flow and the people might live. In the fullness of time Christ himself would be struck – pierced on the cross – for our sins. He is the living water that flows for the salvation of the world.

What are the consequences of sin? Humanly speaking, there are always consequences. Sin leaves its mark in this life. But the full weight of sin’s consequences was laid on Jesus. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. Through his death we are forgiven and redeemed. And by his grace we will enter the Promised Land — the life of the world to come.