Breathtaking Discovery   

     The Sabbath over, Mary goes to the tomb with spices. The stone is already rolled away. She panics. Brings back Peter and John.

     They see strips of linen and the burial cloth. They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. 

     The disciples leave, but Mary remains, crying. She sees two angels, seated in the tomb. They ask, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away!" 

     Mary turns around and sees someone. Repeating the angels' question, the man adds, Who is it you are looking for? She begins asking for his help, when Jesus decides the suspense has lasted long enough.  

     Mary. 

     "Rabboni!" (Teacher), she cries out in Aramaic. 

     Jesus tells her to go tell my brothers. 

     That evening, the disciples are still not sure about Mary's report: "I have seen the Lord." They huddle with doors locked for fear of the Jews.

     Jesus appears, Peace be with you. 

     He shows them his injured hands and side (though he is now in his resurrected form). As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. 

     The disciples are overjoyed.

     He will remain on earth for 40 days, preparing his followers to carry the gospel - the good news - to the world. 

     One morning eight disciples have caught no fish, all night in their boat. Someone on shore calls out to them, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." 

     There were so many fish they couldn't haul in the net. "It is the Lord!" John exclaims. Exuberant Peter jumps off the boat and swims to shore. 

Tomorrow: the objective

They Cancel Him   

     You know how Jesus was drawing people to himself by teaching and healing them. 

     Pharisees and Sadducees were losing their grip, built on man-made rules which they called "the law." 

     Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. - John 11:47-48

     Only the governor of the Roman province could order an execution. Plotters who apparently believed the miracles still convinced Pontius Pilate ... who "found no basis for a charge" ... to satisfy them ... in the night ... when most people were in their homes ... sleeping. 

Jesus forgave them...

     ...while he was nailed to the cross. There will be a miracle. 

     In A.D. 70, the Romans came and took away both the place and nation. Cancelled, until 1948.     

     God himself has done some cancelling - of wickedness. Remember the flood? Sodom and Gomorrah? On the night of the Passover he cancelled the first born of all Egypt, including cattle.

     He cancelled Jericho with another miracle. 

     Before "cancel culture" was a thing, Saul tried to kill David. Elijah cancelled the prophets of Baal. Jezebel tried to cancel Elijah. 

     People, in effect, cancelled themselves by their sins and evil ways. Some cancelled their own sons and daughters - 2 Kings chapter 17. 

     Assyrians and Babylonians cancelled the divided kingdoms.

Tomorrow: "I have seen the Lord."

 

...believe the miracles

that you may 

know and understand...

Jesus, in John 10:38

Monday: He forgives them

   Coming Soon: the Counselor

     Jesus knows his time in the flesh is a matter of hours. He has much to share with his disciples at supper. - John chapters 13-17

     What is he about to reveal will concern believers' relationship with the Father from the day of Pentecost until the end of time. 

     If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor, to be with you forever...the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him.

      But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 

     The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

     If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. You do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 

     Now I am going to him who sent me. It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you. 

     When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 

     I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. 

Monday: cancel culture strikes

 The Last Straw  

     Lazarus, friend of Jesus and brother of Mary and Martha, is very sick. A mere man would have rushed to his bedside.

     But Jesus says, This sickness...is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it. - John 11:4. He stayed where he was two more days. 

     Finally, he tells his disciples, Let us go back to Judea. "But Rabbi," they persist, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you." 

     Jesus: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but  I am going there to wake him up. Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. Vv. 11, 14 

     Thomas says to the others, "Let us go also, that we may die with him." 

     They arrive. Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Jews had come to comfort Mary and Martha.  

     Jesus tells Martha, Your brother will rise again. She answers, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

     I am the resurrection and the life, he says. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. 

     Martha hurried to tell Mary, "The Teacher is here." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved. 

     Jesus wept. v. 35

     At the tomb, Jesus orders, Take away the stone.

     He looks up and prays, Father, I thank you that you have heard me...I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. 

     In a loud voice, he called, Lazarus, come out!  

     Lazarus came out, wrapped in stripes of linen. Many of the Jews who had come to comfort Mary put their faith in Jesus. 

     Chief priests and Pharisees call a meeting. "What are we accomplishing?"

Tomorrow: Little do they know

A Mere Man? 

     During the Feast of Dedication, Jesus is walking in Solomon's Colonnade. The Jews surround him, asking, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." - John 10:24

     Jesus answers, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me.

     After an extended explanation, Jesus claims, I and the Father are one. Again, the Jews pick up stones. 

     Jesus wants to know which of the "great miracles from the Father" cause them to want to stone him. We're not stoning you for any of these...but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.     - v.33 

He performs many miracles. But he is a "mere man."

     Jesus again refers to Scripture, and asks them to believe the miracles, to know and understand. Their response is to seize him, but he escapes. 

Tomorrow: The Last Straw

Violating Customs

     Surprised Samaritans were hearing and believing, as Jesus spent two days in their (forbidden) territory. 

     Next, disabled people visit a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. They hope to be healed when the water miraculously stirs briefly. The opportunity is short, and an invalid (for 38 years) has no one to help him quickly into the water. 

     John writes, in chapter 5, Jesus arrives and asks the man, "Do you want to get well?" What could go wrong? Oh. It's the Sabbath. Jesus tells him to Pick up your mat and walk.

     Soon, religious authorities say to the man, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." The man doesn't know who healed him. 

     Later at the temple, Jesus finds him and says, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 

     He tells the Jews it was Jesus who made him well. 

     Now Jesus is really in trouble. Not only did he "work" on the Sabbath, but he was calling God his Father, making himself equal with God. 

     He explains his relationship with the Father, and how he seeks "not to please myself but him who sent me." 

     Then, Do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses...for he wrote about me. Ouch! 

     Jesus performed other miracles and taught about himself, "the bread of life." He also said, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you. 

     At that "hard teaching," many of his followers deserted him. Jesus added, The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 

     Pharisees are infuriated. 

Tomorrow: A confrontation

Bring Your Husband   

     Jesus and his disciples were passing through Samaria. They stopped in Sychar, where Jesus sat down by Jacob's well. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus asked her for a drink.

     She said, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan. How can you ask me for a drink? 

     Jesus said, in effect, "If you knew who I am, you would have asked and I would have given you living water." 

     She responded, "Where can you get living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob?" He answered: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. - John 4:13

     Then Jesus said, Go, call your husband and come back. 

     "I have no husband," she replied. You are right, he said. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. 

     "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 

A Time Is Coming

     Jesus: You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in sprit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.

     Woman: "I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 

     Jesus: I who speak to you am he. 

     She left her water jar and rushed into town. Jesus stayed for two days, and many Samaritans believed that this man, "really is the Savior of the world." 

Tomorrow: He violates customs

 A Word About Monday's Chapter 

We pause today from miracles

to preview Monday's surprise.

     Remember who God touched the night of the newborn king of the Jews. It wasn't Caesar, Herod, Roman soldiers or Pharisees. 

     His angels appeared in the night sky and announced God's gift to mankind. They spoke to shepherds, probably the lowest "class" of people in the land. Okay, that was miraculous.

     Weeks or even months later, God still wasn't speaking to Caesar, Herod, Roman soldiers or Pharisees. He informed Magi (wise men) from the east about the child. He even provided a "star" to guide them. Okay, that too was miraculous. AAA maps hadn't been invented. 

     Herod finally learned about this "king," - not from God - but from the Magi who inquired of his whereabouts. 

     This Monday - the disciple John's report of Jesus, of Jewish birth, meeting a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. She is living a sinful life. Jews are not supposed to converse with Samaritans, an intermixed people. Jesus shouldn't even be in Samaria. 

     He doesn't address Caesar, Herod, Roman soldiers or Pharisees. 

     He tells this ordinary woman about living water, and how God seeks "true worshipers, those who worship the Father in spirit and truth." 

     Then he responds to her next comment with a stunning revelation. 

     Times are changing. 

            Jimmy

The Word Became Flesh 

     Of the 12 original disciples, all Jewish men, no thought of being otherwise, Peter, James and John seemed closest to their "teacher." 

     Peter was exuberant. John was the thinker.

     John's close relationship with Jesus resulted in a gospel revealing more fully the mystery of Jesus' personhood: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. - John 1:1-2

     This fisherman/disciple saw him crucified, and knew him after his resurrection. He wrote of creation, life, light, grace, truth and spiritual birth. John wrote, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. - John 1:14 

     While some or most disciples were martyred, God saved John until old age, when he experienced and recorded a Revelation of miracles - yet to occur in our distant future. 

The Transfiguration     

     Peter, James and John were on a mountain with Jesus when a most unusual miracle surprised them. Moses and Elijah appeared. Jesus' face "shone like the sun." His clothes, "white as light." 

     Of course, exuberant Peter offered to build "three shelters" for them. 

     Then a bright cloud enveloped them and a voice said, This is my Son whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. - Matthew 17:1-8

     (Similar to the introduction of his Son after his baptism.)

     The three disciples were terrified and fell face down. Jesus, now alone, touched them, ordering them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. 

     Elijah (he who was taken up without normal human death) may return: I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. - Malachi 4:5-6 

This weekend: preparation for Monday

The Temptations

     Jesus followed the Spirit into the desert to fast 40 days and 40 nights. Then the devil came to tempt the one Person who can defeat him. He knew who Jesus was... "If you are the Son of God," he began. 

     Jesus countered each temptation with Scripture from Moses (Deuteronomy). Then, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' 

     Angels came and attended him.

     Satan and the Son of God have met. The battle for souls is on! 

The Calling

     Jesus began calling disciples, Come, follow me. It's a call he continues to make throughout the world. 

     He spoke to a large crowd, referring to the laws. But he went beyond written rules, defining the principles of righteousness he wanted to see in their hearts. Especially love.  

     He didn't guarantee safety or worldly friendship. His followers would not be "of this world." He called the righteous "blessed," with the hope of "great reward in heaven." 

     Matthew chapters 5-7 contain unparalleled insights for Godly living.

The Miracles 

     Jesus healed a man with skin disease. He healed a Roman centurion's paralyzed servant, sight unseen. When the word spread, people brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits.  

     When his disciples feared drowning, he calmed the storm on the lake. He healed a paralytic, a woman who simply touched his "garment," and the blind and the mute. He brought a dead girl back to life.  

     Incredible miracles during the exodus did not result in changed hearts. Maybe the more advanced people of Judah will respond better. 

Tomorrow: Came Moses and Elijah

 This Is My Son 

     Three decades earlier, Gabriel the archangel had told Mary, a virgin, the power of the Most High would "overshadow" her, so her "child would be called the Son of God." 

     Mary had traveled to visit Elizabeth, and miracles occurred. Both women were "with child." Baby John, son of a Jewish priest, was about six months along. The two in utero in the same house were destined to meet.  

     The meeting occurred when "blameless" John was in the Jordan River, in the Desert of Judea, baptizing those who confessed their sins. He said, This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight paths for him.' 

     Pharisees and Sadducees arrived to see what John was up to. He was harsh with them: Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you, that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 

     John will pay for those remarks.

     I baptize you with water for repentance, John continued. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 

     The "one" arrived from Galilee to be baptized by John, who responded, I need to be baptized by you. Jesus replied, Let it be so; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. 

     When Jesus went up out of the water, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. A voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. 

     So, Gabriel was right. 

Tomorrow: Let the miracles begin

Who Knew?   

     People of Bethlehem may not have expected the crowning glory of this birth. Israel's leaders knew prophecies. Messiah, yes! Born human......? 

     Centuries earlier, God told his prophet Isaiah, in Jerusalem, that there would be a virgin with child. He will be called Immanuel (Hebrew), meaning God with us. v. 7:14. 

     Micah, Isaiah's contemporary, living in a farming area, also heard from God: But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times (eternity). - v. 5:2 

Let's back up, nine months

     Miracles abound. A priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had no children, and were along in years. While Zechariah was on duty in the temple, an angel visited him - that's 1 - explaining that they would have a special son, to be named John - that's 2. When old Zechariah questioned this possibility, the angel silenced his speech - that's 3.

     Later, after Gabriel finished informing Mary, she hurried off to Judea, to visit Elizabeth, her relative. At Mary's greeting, the baby "leaped" in Elizabeth's womb - that's 4 - and she was filled with the Holy Spirit - that's 5. Then Mary prophesies - that's 6. 

     A few months later, old Elizabeth gives birth. Her neighbors and relatives share her joy. They expect the boy to be named after his father. Mother says no. It will be John. 

     They ask Zechariah. He takes a tablet and writes, "His name is John." Immediately his tongue is loosed - that's 7, and he prophesies - that's 8.

Tomorrow: Father introduces Son

The Little Town 

     Morning broke over the little town in Judea, as it always does...an ordinary town...nothing special. Travelers at the Inn awoke and began their day. But this was unlike any other morning. 

     During the night, overjoyed shepherds left their duties and hurried into the little town. It was a miracle! They had seen a miracle! Did they wake people up? 

     An angel! An angel in the sky told them, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born; he is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:13-14 

     Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God...

     Shepherds might have gushed to the people..."We found them with the animals...in the stable behind the inn. The newborn baby was there! We saw him!" 

     All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said. - v. 2:18

     This was a divine moment in history. Everything that has ever happened occurred before - B.C. - or after - A.D. - this birth. It had to occur in Bethlehem, for Joseph (though not directly involved) was of the line of David. 

     Jesus entered his creation, as Old Testament prophets said he would. Nothing is impossible with God.

Footnote: A decree of Caesar Augustus forced Joseph and Mary to travel at the worst time. Gabriel had told Mary she was "highly favored." Gabriel had told Daniel, who had been overwhelmed with terror, that he was "highly esteemed." 

If an angel says you are highly favored or highly esteemed, beware! 

Tomorrow: God with us

 

We're Just Getting Started

Monday: Where do we go from here?

 

If God Can...  

     Three more prophets followed Daniel. Malachi was the last of that era. 

     Through Zechariah, God called on the people to, "Return to me." The Lord added, I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. - vv. 1:14-15  

     Zechariah also had visions: a woman in a basket, a man with a measuring line...and more. He "saw" Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 

     He "heard" the angel's report: The Lord Almighty says, 'I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.' - v. 3:8 

Miracles Teach Us

     Let's recap: Creation, the flood, Moses, miracles in Egypt, the escape, bitter water made sweet, manna, Mr. Sinai, conquest of Canaan, Jericho, Gideon's victory, Elijah's flaming chariot, David and Goliath, Naaman's leprosy, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, his translation and back, the lions' den, the Lord's rebuke of the "guardian cherub," banished to earth, and more. 

     If God can do all that, a virgin with child might be his easiest miracle of all. Didn't he create sperm and eggs? 

     When Mary questioned Gabriel, "How will this be?" he answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. - Luke 1:35

 Monday: The Divine Divide

 

Angels vs. Demons

     Miracles can be delayed by war in the heavens. 

     While Daniel serves in the kingdom, now called Persia, for three weeks he has avoided choice food, and he used no lotions at all. Imagine that, ladies. 

     He was standing on the bank of the Tigris River when he saw a "man wearing a belt of gold, his body like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, arms and legs like gleaming bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude." 

     The men with him didn't see the vision, but in terror they hid themselves. 

     A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, 'consider carefully...for I have been sent to you.' - Daniel 10:10-11 

     The angel had just been freed from 21 days of struggle with the prince of Persia. This delayed his mission to Daniel, now weak and can hardly breathe. 

     He said, 'Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth.' 

     In chapters 11 and 12, the angel describes in great detail the devilment that will occur over the next 500-plus years. Historians have identified the trouble makers, names like Antiochus, Ptolemy, Seleucus and, of course, Alexander the Great. 

     A "contemptible person" turned out to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes, ruling in 175-164 B.C., a Greek who despised the Jews, although some sided with him. He placed an "abomination" on the temple altar, prefiguring another abomination to happen in the last days. Judas Maccabeus led a resistance that wore down Antiochus. 

     After all this, Daniel is told to go your way, because the words are sealed up until the time of the end. - Daniel 12:9. Full understanding would come only at the end of the tribulation. 

Tomorrow: If God can...

Two Prophecies; Which is Right?   

     It's a little confusing. 

     After 69 'sevens,' 483 years, the clock stops and the Anointed One will be "cut off, and will have nothing," Gabriel informs Daniel.  

     Almost 200 years earlier, God had already told Isaiah: 

     By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people, he was stricken. - Isaiah 53:8. 

     Six chapters later, this same Isaiah heard God's brighter message: 

     The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins. My Spirit...and my words will not depart from your mouth...from this time on and forever. - Isaiah 59:20-21 

     "Forever" doesn't rhyme with "cut off." Which is it?  

     And what about the remaining seven years? Let's deal with that later, after another flood of miracles. But if you are "dying" to know, Gabriel describes that "seven' in Daniel chapter 9. 

Tomorrow: Angel overwhelms Daniel

     

 

     

Prophets Reveal Future  

     We hesitate to call sacred Scripture "hide and seek," but God revealed his plans in a hide and seek manner through the prophets. Important information often appears in a chapter and verse where least expected. 

     While Daniel served in Babylon, God was also speaking to Jeremiah back in ruined Judah. 

     'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers ... because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord. 

     No longer will a man teach his neighbor ... saying 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me... For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. - Jeremiah 31:1-2, 4 

     I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and rebuild them as they were before. I will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth. - Jeremiah 33:7-8 

     Judah was rebuilt, and destroyed again, A.D. 70, by Romans. Modern Israel - remarkable as it is - does not "bring God renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth." The promises in Jeremiah 33 are yet to be realized. 

     Meanwhile, God had words for another contemporary, Ezekiel:

     I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will bring them back into their own land. There will be one king over them and they will never again be two nations or divided into two kingdoms. I will save them... I will cleanse them. They will be my people and I will be their God. - Ezekiel 37:21-23       

     (This may have begun in 1948, but the best is yet to come.) 

Tomorrow: The Redeemer...cut off? 

 Must Be Important   

God Sends Gabriel 

     We want life on our terms. From grade school on, I looked forward to my eventual release from the prison of classrooms. 

     Today, I want my prayers answered yesterday. Sovereign God rules, and our lifetimes flow along his timetable. 

     Daniel has been in a foreign land, although privileged, for several years. He learns from his contemporary, Jeremiah, that captivity will last 70 years. He is so shocked (?) that he fasts, and puts on sackcloth and ashes - as troubled folks did in those days. 

     Daniel knew better than to approach God with pride or self-importance. In chapter 9:18, he prays, We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 

     While Daniel petitioned God - confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel - the archangel Gabriel "came to" him in some miraculous manner.

     Daniel, I have come to give you insight and understanding. ...for you are highly esteemed. Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression <- this age; future age -> to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 

     (Not 490 years as we would say it, but 70 units of seven years)

     This was Gabriel's first of several visits to men, all events that would change the course of history to fulfill God's will. He tells Daniel the final seven years will occur separately, at a distant time. 

     Some academics think the first year might have been 457 B.C., when Ezra began rebuilding the city, decades after Daniel's time. 

Tomorrow: Jeremiah and Ezekiel with more insights

 

This coming week:

Gabriel turns the page

on human history

 Wellspring of Evil   

     Before we continue with (Daniel) miracles next week, we need to check in with Ezekiel.  

     Evil has vexed humanity since the serpent deceived Eve, and Adam failed to accept responsibility. It has plagued every nation in history, including ancient Israel, the folks God chose to reveal him to the world. 

     Jewish prophet Ezekiel is a captive in Babylonia, like Daniel. Unlike Daniel, he is occupied with The word of the Lord for all nations, words that repeatedly come to him from above. 

     In chapter 28, A Prophecy Against the King of Tyre, Ezekiel receives a word unlike any other. The king is judged severely; then in similar words...

This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned  you. Your mountings were made of gold on the day you were created.

You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 

You were blameless in your ways...till wickedness was found in you. Through your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 

Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted  your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth;          I made a spectacle of you before kings. 

~

     The Lord through Ezekiel reveals his rebuke of Lucifer, now called Satan. He was the unseen ruler of Tyre, and is the god of this world. Lucifer and a third of the (rebellious) angels were cast to earth. 

     That's a lot of demons, who despise you and me, made in God's image. God informs Lucifer he will come to a "horrible end." Also, see Isaiah chapter 14.

 Monday: Daniel prays; Gabriel answers   

         

 Feeding the Cats  

     Exile Daniel, now under Darius, maybe the fourth king he has served in Babylon, has been promoted. He is one of only three administrators over the entire Medo-Persian empire. Better yet, Darius had planned to set Daniel the Jew over the whole kingdom! 

     This was too much for native elites, who sabotaged the deal. They knew a way to trick the unsuspecting king into executing Daniel, who didn't have a lawyer. 

     Darius fell for it, and against his will had to watch his trusted servant thrown into a den of lions. His last words to Daniel: "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you." 

     God had a miracle in mind, once again to demonstrate to people that he is Most Holy God with power unknown to mankind. 

     The king couldn't enjoy entertainment, or even sleep that night. The next morning, he rushed to the den and called out, "Daniel, servant of the living God..." 

     Daniel replied, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and he shut the mouths of the lions..." 

     Overjoyed, Darius rounded up the conspirators, their wives and children, and ordered them thrown to the lions, whose mouths opened wide. Poor kids. 

     It may seem like Daniel experienced a miracle every other day. But he lived in Babylon for decades, and we assume most of his days were normal. This era in Babylonia was a turning point in biblical history and prophecy.   

     Daniel dreams of four beasts (chapter 7), similar to Nebuchadnezzar's dream of future empires. This vision included truth beyond his time, later seen in Revelation chapters 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 20. 

     He also wrote of seeing visions of the "Ancient of Days" and the antichrist. Continued next week. 

Tomorrow: Ezekiel 28 - before the beginning! 

     

 Writing on the Wall    

     We remember when people discussing an issue might refer to "the writing on the wall." There is a source for that.

     Nebuchadnezzar had died after a reign of 44 years (including seven years living as an animal.) Belshazzar, his son, was one of the sorry kings presiding among 22 years of the declining empire. 

     Remember when Babylonians carried off Jewish temple articles and placed them in their temple, and God didn't react? 

     One night, Belshazzar gave a banquet for a thousand nobles, their wives and concubines. As they drank wine from the goblets (taken from Jerusalem), they praised their various gods. 

     Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall. The king's ... face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. Some miracle.  

     He called for his wise men - the fellows who couldn't interpret dreams - and they struck out once more. Ah. The queen. She told her terrified husband, Don't be alarmed! There is a man ... who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. Call for Daniel and he will tell you what the writing means.

     Daniel spoke of the king's father, and how God humbled him for seven years. 

     But you, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. *  Therefore, he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. This is what these words mean:

     God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. 

     That night, the king was slain, and Darius the Mede (the arms of silver) took over the empire. 

* All our lives and ways are in God's hand, whether we know it or not. 

Tomorrow: Good guy Daniel fed to lions 

     

The King, Full of Himself   

     Even if we see a miracle, we tend to see it on our terms, not through God's eyes. Nebuchadnezzar was no exception.

     He was so thrilled to know the unseen God gave him dominion, power, might and glory, that he ordered an image of gold 90 feet high. He decreed that everyone must worship this idol when the music begins.

     Astrologers saw an opportunity to get rid of privileged Jews, of whom they were jealous. They told the king that Daniel's three friends refused to worship his image, which made the king furious. (Daniel may have been out of town?) 

     He had a furnace so overheated the soldiers who threw the three men into it - themselves died. Hey! The king sees four men walking around in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. 

     He calls them to come out of the furnace. The fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched and there was no smell of fire on them. 

     The king still doesn't understand the one true God, yet he threatens to cut into pieces anyone who says anything against the God of these three men. And he promotes them. But his ego remains high.

     Later, the king was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the due of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

     After seven times (years) his sanity was restored. He wrote, "Then I praised the Most High. I honored and glorified him who lives forever." 

     Do we glorify God as the king finally did?

     We wouldn't mind seeing Vladimir Putin driven away in like manner.  But Nebuchadnezzar has already told the world about the Most High God.

Tomorrow: A hand without a body

Wise Men, no;  God, yes 

     World events, or the absence of normal events, can be amazing. Extraordinary. But natural.

     Only a divine agency - see Genesis 3:5 - can do the supernatural in our natural world. 

     The Lord has performed miracles since the first day: Let there be light. He parted the sea, took Elijah alive into heaven, and made the sun stand still (or paused the earth's rotation?) 

     In the book of Daniel, God gives the king a nightmare. When Nebuchadnezzar awakes, he remembers it in great detail. (Can we do that?) He is so distressed, he's ready to cut his wise men to pieces unless they can interpret. 

     Daniel prays. God reveals the dream. Daniel tells the king, There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Then he interprets. 

     The sleeping king had seen an enormous statue. The head was gold; its arms, silver; its belly and thighs bronze; its legs iron, and feet were partly iron and partly baked clay. 

     Then a rock struck the statue and everything broke into tiny pieces which a wind swept away. 

     Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold. The feet are partly strong, partly brittle. The mixture of people will not be united. 

     The rock is the kingdom of God, which will crush all kingdoms of man  and endure forever. Daniel finishes, The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. 

     Nebuchadnezzar is so overwhelmed, he falls prostrate before Daniel. And he gives him a promotion. 

     [The kingdoms in order: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, which morphed into all successor nations ... the iron and clay. Guess what, friends: We live in the age of feet and toes.] 

Tomorrow: Worship the image, or burn