Bible in 90, Day 63: Lions and Fires and Prayers, oh my!

Daniel 1-8

image courtesy of memoossa at stock.xchng

So today we covered about a month’s worth of Sunday school lessons.  We read about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing the king’s choice food so as not to defile themselves.  We saw Daniel interpreting dreams for Nebuchadnezzar.  We held our breath as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were throw into the fiery furnace.  Daniel had a sleep-over with some lions because he had prayed to God even though it was against the law.  We scratched our heads as the hand appeared and wrote on the wall.

What did that look like anyway?

What’s interesting to see is the confidence and boldness in these four Hebrew men throughout these various ordeals.  To refuse the king’s food was to take a serious risk of seeming defiant.  I’m sure that disobedient refugees were not treated well by the royal court.  Daniel made a bold claim that he could interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and had he not made good on his claim we know he would have died for it.  The penalty for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s allegiance to the Lord and refusal to bow before the image Nebuchadnezzar had made was brutal, yet they survived.

Perhaps my favorite moment of brash on the part of Daniel is in chapter 5 when he responds to Belshazzar’s questions about his reputation and ability to interpret the handwriting on the wall.  Belshazzar promises Daniel a robe, a gold chain, and a position of high political power in the land if he can interpret the writing.  Daniel’s response is quite forthcoming: You can keep your stuff!  But I will tell you the meaning of the words.

Um… Daniel… that’s the king

This was not the first king Daniel had ever tangled with.  He’d had dealings with Nebuchadnezzar, as we read earlier, and possibly two other kings whose reigns were fairly short.  Belshazzar was also not the last king he would deal with on not-so-friendly terms.  However, Daniel knew that his true King was more powerful than any earthly king.  In truth, the Lord was the source of the authority and power these kings had attained.

We don’t have to fear people either.  If we are in Christ, then we are children of the King of the universe.  No earthly power holds any real sway over us.  What’s the worst they can do to us?  Kill us?  That didn’t seem to bother Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They figured that God could save them from the flames of the furnace, but even if He didn’t, they wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know that they would not worship anything or anyone but God, even if it meant death.  We should serve Christ regardless of the consequences, knowing that either God will save us from the consequences, or that the consequences are not enough to keep us from being faithful to our King.

Let’s remember the example of these Hebrew men who were surrounded by a pagan culture.  Let’s not fear man, but rather, let’s fear God.  For man can only kill the body, but God can kill both the body and the soul (Matthew 10:28).  Let’s honor God, trusting Him to either deliver us from the fire, or to deliver us through the fire into His presence.

originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 56: Don’t name your kid Uriah

Jeremiah 24-33

*image courtesy of kirsche222 at stock.xchng

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  When the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”

~ Matthew 13:3-9

Jeremiah 26 tells a couple of interesting stories.  In 7:12, God commanded Jeremiah to go to Shiloh to see what He had done to that place because of the wickedness of the people.  It’s apparent from these comments that something bad had happened, and archaeological evidence tells us that the town was destroyed by the Philistines around 1050B.C.  Shiloh was the first dwelling place of the Tabernacle, along with the Ark of the Covenant.  The Israelites set up a graven image of  that Micah had made (Judges 17, 18:31), and so God destroyed that place.  In chapter 26, God commands Jeremiah to go to the Temple and preach a message that God would destroy Jerusalem like He had destroyed Shiloh, and for the same reasons.

This didn’t go over well.

The prophets and priests surrounded him and brought him up on charges of treason and demanded he be killed.  But the people and the officials sided with Jeremiah, saying that he had spoken in the name of the Lord.  Some of the elders reminded everyone of a time when the prophet Micah spoke a similar message (Micah 3:12).  In that case, King Hezekiah listened to his words and received them as God’s words, heeded them, repented, and avoided the disaster God would have brought had there been no repentance.

This is contrasted by an editorial comment by Jeremiah with the story of Uriah, son of Shemaiah.  Uriah prophesied not long before Jeremiah, also during the reign of King Jehoiakim.  He had the same message that Jeremiah and Micah had, but Jehoiakim threatened him, had him chased down, and killed him.  Same kind of prophet, same message, different results.  It’s interesting to note that another Uriah was killed even while faithfully serving God and having done no wrong (2 Samuel 11).

Don’t ever name your kid Uriah, it just won’t go well for him.

These little stories remind me of the Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).  The same message is delivered to four different kinds of people, and with four different kinds of result.  The prophets & priests, as well as King Jehoiakim, heard a message that Jerusalem was doomed if they did not repent.  They didn’t like this.  They reject the Word of God, and do not accept it, much like the path in the parable.  The people, officials, & elders, as well as King Hezekiah heard a message that Jerusalem was doomed if they did not repent.  They didn’t like this, so they accepted the Word of God, repented resulting in blessing, much like the good soil in the parable.

Let’s always remember that when we are faithfully serving Christ, and we are rejected and hated by men that it is we who are being rejected.  Each hearer has to choose to accept or reject the Word of God.  If we proclaim the Word faithfully, and sow the seed as it truly is, the results are up to God and the hearers.  Let’s also remember that we have a choice every time we hear the Word proclaimed.  Many of us would never be the path, rejecting the Word as no truth at all.  We may, however, be the rocky soil.  When things get hard, the Word finds no root in our hearts and comes to nothing.  When obeying the Scripture isn’t easy, will we be good soil, or rocky?  Let’s choose to accept the Word, obey it, repent if necessary, and receive God’s blessing instead of His wrath.

*originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 26: Who ya gonna call?

1 Kings 16 – 2 Kings 4

*image courtesy of jazza at www.sxc.hu

On everyone’s short list of baby names, I’m sure, is the name of today’s hero: Jehoshaphat.  Aside from having a snazzy name, and apparently being known for his jumping abilities, Jehoshaphat had a remarkable characteristic that reveals itself in today’s passage.

Particularly in 1 Kings 22 and 2 Kings 3, Jehoshaphat shows his dependence on God.  In both these situations, Jehoshaphat finds himself allied with the king of Israel (Ahab and Joram, respectively) in a military situation that requires some guidance.  In the first instance, the question is whether or not the two kings should go to war against Aram.  In the second, the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom find themselves in the predicament of having run out of water in the midst of the desert.  In both situations, Jehoshaphat’s natural tendency is the same:

Let’s ask the Lord!

Whether it was seeking wisdom (yes!  three days in a row!  sweet!), or seeking provision, Jehoshaphat went to God.  He asks virtually the same question both times, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord that we might inquire of?”  He also affirms this sentiment further.  In 2 Kings 3, when told that Elisha is nearby, he says “The word of the Lord is with him.”  In 1 Kings 22, he mildly rebukes Ahab for not accepting the message from God through Micaiah just because he doesn’t like it.  Jehoshaphat valued the wisdom of God even when it wasn’t convenient for him.

Let us be the same!  When faced with a decision, let us always first think of asking God.  When faced with a need or some threat, let us always first think to go to God with our need.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we don’t even have to go through a prophet!  We have a new and living way into the presence of God, and because of this Way (that is, Jesus), we can enter His presence boldly (Hebrews 10:19-23).  If we ask anything in His Name and according to His will, He will answer us (John 14:14; 1 John 5:14).  So let us enter boldly, not on our own worth but Christ’s, and seek God.  We will find Him when we seek Him with all our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13)!

Bible in 90, Day 25: Stupid kids!

1 Kings 7-16

*image courtesy of jan-willem at www.sxc.hu

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!”

How many times do we ignore this as kids?  How many times do we ignore it now?  We always think we know better.  And the younger we are, the more we think we know!

This was certainly true of Rehoboam.  Even though he was forty-one years old when he became king, he made a bone-headed move, typical of a man half his age (1 Kings 12).  He had just become king, and the people came to him seeking a bit of relief from the hard labor his father, King Solomon, had put them under.  Here was a great chance for the new king to gain favor in the sight of his people.  He consulted the elders, the men who had been Solomon’s advisers.  They counseled him to answer them favorably and so gain their allegiance.  He then made the mistake of rejecting this counsel and sought the advice of his friends.

Stupid move.

These were the guys he had grown up with.  These men were obviously not diplomats, or wise elders.  These were the guys he goofed off with all his young life.  They were not statesmen, they were not kings or king-makers, they weren’t even all that godly if we look at their response (check out the way some translations render 12:10! if memory serves me correctly, this is the gist of what they were saying! pretty crude).  These were the rough and tumble guys that had grown up as Rehoboam’s chums.  Not exactly the best place to go for godly counsel.  They give him terrible advice, and he follows it!  It goes quite badly for him, as you’ll remember, and ends up splitting the kingdom.

Thanks buddies!

One of the great ironies of all this is that, as we discussed yesterday, Solomon spent a lot of ink trying to teach his son to get wisdom (Proverbs 4:5, 7; 16:16; 23:23).  Obviously this pleading fell on deaf ears.  Perhaps this is why Solomon spent so much time reminding his son to get wisdom.  Perhaps he saw his foolishness early on in Rehoboam’s childhood.

But we do the same, don’t we?  We go to our friends “for advice” and really all we hope for is to hear what we have already decided to do.  Instead of seeking out those who have true wisdom, we go to those we know think like we do.  We may even read the Bible, but we bring our preconceived notions to it and read our desires into it instead of looking into the perfect law and letting it change our lives (James 1:22-25).

Instead, as we discussed yesterday, we should ask God for wisdom (James 1:5).  In addition, we should seek the counsel of godly people.  We younger folk need to be reminded that those older and more experienced than us have a wisdom we cannot yet even understand, a wisdom that comes from living life.  This is not to say that all older people are wise and all younger people are fools (1 Timothy 4:12).  Notice that we should seek the counsel of godly people.

Let us not be like foolish Rehoboam.  Let us seek wisdom from God and from those whom God has already gifted with wisdom through a long life of faithfulness to Him.  And then, by all means, let us heed this wisdom and not reject it!

• Sorry about yesterday’s post everyone!  I’m out of town for school this week and my wi-fi connection had a bad case of the hiccups last night.  I wrote the article for yesterday, pressed “Publish” and the only thing that made it was the title and the tags!  I’m going to go back and re-do it when I get back home and get a hardline connection again.

Bible in 90, Day 24: Wisdom

2 Samuel 22 – 1 Kings 7

*image courtesy of

God asks you what you want.

Pleading with Rehoboam to get wisdom

James 1:5

Bible in 90, Day 16: Sampling the provisions

Joshua 1-14

*image courtesy of sveini at www.sxc.hu

Well we’re into some exciting stuff now aren’t we?!  Flooding rivers drying up, cities crumbling, battles, executions, there’s all kinds of stuff going on!  In the midst of it all is a story that has always intrigued me.  In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites hear about what God had done through Israel.  Instead of rallying together for war like the other nations did, they decided to try and make peace.  But they made peace through a deception.  The Gibeonites sent a delegation dressed and loaded as though they had traveled from a far land to make a treaty with Israel.  The extent of their deception is remarkable, including their clothes, gear, and even their food rations!

And Israel fell for it.