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Daniel 1:1-2

The War of the Worlds

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 12, 2022

The decline of Israel’s southern kingdom was slower than that of the northern kingdom which fell to Assyria in 721 BC. Judah took the fall of the northern kingdom to heart and amended her ways for a while and the southern kingdom survived for another 150 years. But they too turned away from their God and eventually experienced the same fate at the hands of the Babylonians. Before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, he humiliated her. The last few kings of Judah, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah were all forced to do homage to him before he got tired of them and wiped out the city. Nebuchadnezzar’s first move on the city involved the demeaning of Jewish worship by looting the temple. Daniel opens with that. He says, “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.”

If my bible chronology is correct (and I think it is!), the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign would have put Daniel at about 16 years of age. That means that Daniel was born around 622 BC. Josiah had become king of Judah then. He was only eight years old. He was one of the most faithful kings of either the northern or southern kingdoms. His grandfather, Manasseh, had closed the doors of the temple and had them sealed shut. Josiah had them reopened when he was only 18 years old. Inside the temple, the word of God was rediscovered, and the priests and leaders of Jerusalem began teaching the Word of God that had been lost. This brought a spiritual revival to the nation. Daniel grew up in Jerusalem under that spiritual revival. In passing, please note that the hero of this book, Daniel had an upbringing strongly influenced by the Scriptures. Daniel is the one who is going to speak for God in a pagan community. But before he could speak for God, he had to hear God. Daniel knew his scriptures well and was able to live by them and proclaim them in a world that was at war. That same war is waging.

There has always been a battle between Jerusalem and Babylon. Augustine’s book “The City of God” contrasts these two as the city of God, Jerusalem, and the city of the world, Babylon. They stand opposed to each other. Boice says recognizing this struggle “Reminds us that the struggle between Nebuchadnezzar and God, recorded in Daniel, is actually only one example of that greater struggle between the world’s way of doing things and God’s way of doing things, which has prevailed at all times and prevails today. It is this that makes Daniel a contemporary book.”[1]

[1] Boice, James Montgomery. 2003. Daniel: An Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

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Ezekiel 1:1, Psalm 137:1-6

By The Waters of Babylon

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 11, 2022

Some Bible books set the scene fairly well for you and Ezekiel is one of those books. It begins to identify the date and place, “In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.”The date tells us that Ezekiel’s vision was happening as the Southern Kingdom of Israel, Judah, was nearing its end. Babylon was about to destroy the city and the temple in 586 BC. So, scholars seem to agree that Ezekiel had his vision around July 31, 593 BC according to our calendar. Jehoiachin was the second to last king of the southern kingdom but had been taken captive to Babylon about five years earlier. He was replaced with a puppet king of Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah. Ezekiel was taken captive with him. The date is well attested to and agreed upon by most conservative scholars.

As far as the place is concerned, Stuart explains, “Verse 1, in the first person and thus spoken by Ezekiel himself, functions as an introduction to the entire book and makes two paramount points: (1) Ezekiel was among the exiles; (2) he saw revelatory visions. Virtually everything we read in this extensive book was first reported to that defeated community of expatriate Jews forcibly deported to Mesopotamia by the Babylonians, an unknown number of whom (probably a few hundred) lived where Ezekiel did at the city of Tel-Abib along the Chebar River. This river was in fact a great irrigation canal that took water from the Euphrates River at the city of Nippur and carried it in a large semicircle through the countryside until it rejoined the Euphrates downstream near the city of Uruk.”[1]

Ezekiel and his fellow Israelites were ripped away from their homes. It’s not that they didn’t have a home, they knew they had one but it had been taken away from them by their enemies. They had been uprooted. As one writer puts it, “It is having deep roots which have now been plucked up, and there you are, with roots dangling, writhing in pain, exposed to a cold and jeering world, longing to be restored to native and nurturing soil. Exile is knowing precisely where you belong, but knowing that you can’t go back.”[2] Psalm 137:1-6 expresses what that was like. It says, “By the Waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there, our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!  Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!” You might join me sometimes in feeling like a foreigner in a strange land. I find myself by my own “waters of Babylon” where I want to sit down and weep. We’re aliens and pilgrims in a world foreign to our values and far from the home, we long for. The good news for the Israelites, and for you and me, is that God speaks to His people, even in a foreign land. He used Ezekiel to speak to Israel and Ezekiel can speak to us for God if we want to hear him.

[1] Stuart, Douglas, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1989. Ezekiel. Vol. 20. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

[2] Duguid, Iain M. 1999. Ezekiel. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

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Lamentations 1:1, Jeremiah 29:11

God Does Care!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 10, 2022

There are 22 verses in the first chapter of Lamentations. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse one starts with a word that begins with an aleph. Verse two begins with a word that starts with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, bet. It goes through the whole alphabet in the 22 verses. This book was meant to be memorized. This book was one of the books recited annually by the Jewish faithful. The pain and suffering of Israel throughout the years are memorialized in this book. When Jeremiah laments Jerusalem’s fall and the temple’s destruction, he uses the picture of a childless widow. She once had everything, but now she is desolate. When you trace the history of the Jewish people, you find the climax in the prime of Solomon’s life, where the nation leads the whole world in commerce, literature, military might, and extravagant luxury. But she is empty because she turned her back on the institution that made her great, the worship of the one true God. Jeremiah writes in Lamentations 1:1, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.”

William Wetmore Story was commissioned to create a sculpture based on the description of the first verse of Lamentations. He shows her alone on her throne, despondent at the destruction around her yet regal in a way as she wears a symbol of Jewish piety on her forehead: The phylactery. There is still the look of pride holding her head up. She represents the spirit of the Jewish people even after the great catastrophes they have experienced over the years. Even as the tribes were scattered throughout the world, Israel maintained her integrity as a people wherever they went. Guest tells us, “When the Roman emperor Titus conquered Jerusalem in a.d. 70, he stamped a coin to commemorate her loss and his gain. The image on that coin was none other than the image of a widow, bowed and shrouded in grief. ‘The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!’ (v. 1). Once ‘full of people,’ she is now all alone. The husband she has lost is none other than the Lord Himself, the generous provider, the gentle protector, and the lover whose love she had never returned.”[1]

In my opinion, both of the artistic depictions of Jerusalem in her desolation fall short of the Biblical text. What we truly see is not a proud Jewess but a broken woman. She has lost her husband. Her children have been enslaved, and she sits mourning in the rubble of her life. I like the way Wright describes the scene, “Perhaps it’s because I’m a man, but few things are more emotionally moving than a woman in tears, sobbing out some desperate pain or loss. Perhaps only the tears of a seriously injured or bereaved child are more unbearable. This chapter assaults the eyes and ears of our imagination with both a weeping woman and destitute children. The Poet presents the city of Jerusalem as a woman in the deepest depths of mourning and pain.”[2] Furthermore, it looks like no one cares! This is not the case, however.  God does care, and He’s working behind the scenes. Even in light of the great suffering God has allowed to befall them, he has reminded them in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord: plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans that give you hope and a future.” No matter how dire the situation, know that God will work all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

[1] Guest, John, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1988. Jeremiah, Lamentations. Vol. 19. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

[2] Wright, Christopher J. H. 2015. The Message of Lamentations: Honest to God. Edited by Alec Motyer and Derek Tidball. The Bible Speaks Today. England: Inter-Varsity Press.

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Jeremiah 7:13-15

The Call to the Prodigal

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 9, 2022

The citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah had turned their back on God just as the children of the northern kingdom. God allowed Assyria to conquer, enslave and scatter the ten tribes of the north. The southern kingdom still existed, and God had used Jeremiah as His spokesman to bring them to repentance. But like the northern kingdom, their fate was secured by their failure to listen and act on Jeremiah’s prophecy. So God informed them that the same fate the northern kingdom (referred to as Ephraim) experienced would also be their lot. Jeremiah 7:13-15 says, “And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer. Therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.”

The Israelites had taken the ark of the covenant into battle with them as the secret weapon that would bring them victory over the Philistines. God would not be used as a good luck charm. The Philistines captured the ark. As people of God, the northern kingdom felt that their religious association with Yahweh would guarantee victory over Assyria. It did not. Now, as Dearman observes, “Taken as a whole, the prophet charges that those attending temple service love neither God nor neighbor according to the standards of the Torah. Instead, they grasp at the magical properties of the temple in hopes that God will protect the city against the enemy.”[1] Jeremiah makes it clear that God is not going to do that. Religion is not going to save them. Like the soldier under fire in the foxhole, it’s time to repent. When facing imminent danger, “The people grasped at any symbol of security, which for them was the temple. Jeremiah’s sermon, however, exposed the fallacy of their trust. Their only real security lay not in a building but in moral uprightness, faithfulness, and obedience to their God.”[2]

God had called them back many times. He repeated the call many times but to no avail. God loves people and wants none to perish. “The call of a merciful Creator who hath no pleasure in the death and destruction of His fallen creatures: and would rather they should repent and live; the call of a tender Father, who looks with compassion upon the prodigal wanderer, invites and urges him to abandon his wretchedness and want, and come back to his home of plenty, and his Father’s bosom again, and assures him of a joyous welcome if he will; the call of a Friend—that Friend that sticketh closer than a brother—even of Jesus our best friend, our elder brother.”[3]

[1] Dearman, J. Andrew. 2002. Jeremiah and Lamentations. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[2] Huey, F. B. 1993. Jeremiah, Lamentations. Vol. 16. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[3] Exell, Joseph S. 1905. The Biblical Illustrator: Jeremiah. Vol. 1. The Biblical Illustrator. New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company; Francis Griffiths.

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Isaiah 1:1

The Lord’s Salvation

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 8, 2022

Like Obadiah, Micah, and Nahum, Isaiah’s prophecy came to him in a vision. Visions from God are a matter of genuine debate today. I’ve never had one. There have been times I wish God would send me one, but that hasn’t happened. But, I’m surely not going to be the one to say, “God doesn’t use visions today.” He doesn’t use them with me. To answer whether God uses visions today or not, the Christian “God Questions” website says, “Yes! Does God give visions to people today? Possibly. Should we expect visions to be an ordinary occurrence? No. As recorded in the Bible, God spoke to people many times by means of visions. Examples are Joseph, son of Jacob; Joseph, the husband of Mary; Solomon; Isaiah; Ezekiel; Daniel; Peter; and Paul. The prophet Joel predicted an outpouring of visions, and this was confirmed by the apostle Peter in Acts chapter 2. It is important to note that the difference between a vision and a dream is that a vision is given when a person is awake while a dream is given when a person is asleep.”[1]

The book opens up with the setting of Isaiah’s vision, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” This represents the 10th through 13th King of Judah. Uzziah reigned in Judah for 52 years. Jothan reigned for 16 years, Ahaz reigned for 16 years, and Hezekiah reigned for 29 years. Wow! Isaiah shared his vision with four kings over about 113 years. Isaiah was the son of Amoz. According to rabbinic tradition, Amoz was the brother of Amaziah, king of Judah. According to Ortland, “We know that Isaiah was a married man with children. We think he was a resident of Jerusalem. But the most important thing about Isaiah is his name. His Hebrew name means ‘The Lord saves.’ This man’s very identity announces grace from beyond ourselves. We don’t like that. We want to retain control, save face, set our own terms, and pay our own way.”[2]

God sent Isaiah a vision. It’s the vision of salvation. Can we ever relieve a troubled conscience? Is there really a pardon for sin? Do the dying really live on somewhere? Is there a future state? Is there really such a thing as eternal happiness? If so, how do I attain it? Is there really any purpose or meaning to life? Does it really matter what I believe? The answers to these questions and many more cannot be discovered by staring into outer space. They cannot be answered by looking within ourselves. They cannot be answered by studying the physical elements or the working of the brain, or the programs of a government. The only way we’ll ever know the answers to those questions is if we get an answer from beyond. Job asks some questions that call for a negative reply.  Job 11:7-9 says, “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?  It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.” We’ll only know the answer to these questions if God chooses to reveal them to us. He told them to Isaiah, who gave them to us. The message of Isaiah is his name: “The Lord’s Salvation.”

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/visions-Christian.html

[2] Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr., and R. Kent Hughes. 2005. Isaiah: God Saves Sinners. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

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Matthew 1:1

Joy to the world!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 7, 2022

In Genesis 3:15, God promises Adam and Eve that he would send a man, a seed of the woman, who would deliver them from their sin. The curse of labor in delivery for the woman, hard work in the fields for the man, and animosity and strife with Satan and each other, as well as death, would be their state until the deliverer comes. Thousands of years go by, and the history of mankind is filled with these struggles; murder, strife, and war mark the entire history of mankind. The New Testament opens with the identification of Jesus as the promised deliverer. Matthew goes to great lengths to connect Jesus with the history of the human race by making the connection of Jesus with the promised seed. The first verse of the New Testament might be the title of the entire book and even the entire New Testament. It says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” The Handbook for Translators tells us, “The word Jesus is a Greek equivalent of a well-known Hebrew name. It is constructed from two Hebrew words which mean ‘Lord’ and ‘save,’ and it is probably best taken in its root meaning: ‘O Lord, save.’ In 1:21, the angel indicates to Mary the true and full significance of the name Jesus—he will save his people from their sins.”[1] This connects Jesus not only with Abraham and David but also with the promise in Genesis 3:15.

Luther’s German translation says, “This is the book of the story of Jesus Christ.” He preferred this translation because the Gospel includes not only Jesus’ connection with the past but also includes all of the words and deeds of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel. I don’t like the word “story.” It might imply that this is something other than fact. I’d rather translate it as “This is the book of the history of Jesus Christ.” The history of Jesus makes him an heir to the throne of Israel. Boice says, “Matthew’s genealogy proves that Jesus had descended from King David and was, therefore, qualified to be the Jews’ Messiah (‘Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me,’ 2 Sam. 7:16). And his reference to Abraham is a first and early suggestion that Jesus is also the one through whom the blessings of God would be given, not only to Jews but to the Gentile nations as well (‘All peoples on earth will be blessed through you,’ Gen. 12:3).”[2]

Exell gives four reasons why he believes this genealogy is significant, “The first record is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. What does this signify? 1. A man’s beginnings, a man’s ancestors, have something to do with both his character and his life. 2. Christ was the sacred heir of all the ancient world. 3. The genealogy reminds us how all the past was preparing for Jesus. 4. But more than all, the generations of Jesus Christ show us the birth of the new world, the new time, and the new institutions, which are to end in the perfect glory of the Father and the perfect blessedness of the race.”[3] Christmas is a celebration of the coming of the Messiah, Not Santa Claus. Remember, the reason for the season is to celebrate the birth of the one who would save the world. This brings such a spirit of hope to Christians that celebrating this event is always joyous. Joy to the world!

[1] Newman, Barclay Moon, and Philip C. Stine. 1992. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.

[2] Boice, James Montgomery. 2001. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

[3] Exell, Joseph S. 1952. The Biblical Illustrator: Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

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Song of Solomon 1:1

The Song of Songs!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 7, 2022

There are vast differences in the interpretation of the book of Song of Solomon. O’Donnell writes, “The ninth-century Jewish rabbi Saadia likened the Song to ‘a lock for which the key had been lost.’ The nineteenth-century German Lutheran Hebraist Franz Delitzsch wrote, ‘The Song is the most obscure book of the Old Testament. Whatever principle of interpretation one may adopt, there always remains a number of inexplicable passages.’ More recently, Marvin Pope comments, ‘[N]o composition of comparable size in world literature has provoked and inspired such a volume and variety of comment and interpretation as the biblical Song of Songs.’ Daniel Estes adds, ‘Scholars vary widely on nearly every part of its interpretation.… Virtually every verse presents challenges in text, philology, image, grammar or structure.’[1]

One thing that is certain about the book: It is a song! It’s in the title! The first verse is actually the title: “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.” It’s a love song but the interpreters aren’t in agreement as to whether it’s a human love song between a man and a woman, or is it an analogy for Christ and his bride, the church. The image of marriage is used often in the New Testament to refer to the relationship between Christ and the church. The marriage supper of the lamb is prominent in this discussion with images of the celebrations observed at weddings in the Old Testament. I would suggest that we can see Song of Solomon as both a literal song sung at wedding celebrations as well as a picture of Christ and his relationship with the Church. As a song it should be sung according to O’Donnell, “This is a God-inspired love song! So I suggest we start some new traditions. Let’s write songs about the Song. Let’s sing those songs at Christian weddings. Let’s sing them during the reception. Let’s sing them as the couple is whisked away to their honeymoon.”

A song is a poem set to music, so we should consider the various aspects of poetry when we read Song of Solomon. Poems help you see something, not just think about it. Poems help you hear things, smell things and touch things through the use of various forms of literary devices. Assonance is one of those devices. It uses similar sounds of the words to excite our senses. It’s like Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” He writes, “The silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain…” We hear the “s” sounds and can easily see the purple curtains and hear the sounds of their ruslting. The opening verse of the Song of Solomon uses assonance also. Notice the “s” sound. “The song of songs of Solomon.” Keeping the fact that the Song of Solomon is a poem accompanied by music, O’Donnell says as she begins his commentary of this book, “I’ll ask you, in a sense (and with your senses), to smell the myrrh, frankincense, and aloes, to touch the polished ivory, to taste the wine and apples, to hear the flowing streams, to see the gazelles leaping over the mountains … yes, to feel the flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.”[2]

[1] O’Donnell, Douglas Sean. 2012. The Song of Solomon: An Invitation to Intimacy. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

[2] O’Donnell, Douglas Sean. 2012. The Song of Solomon: An Invitation to Intimacy. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

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Ecclesiastes 1:1

The Meaning of Life

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 6, 2022

Now the wisest man in the world decides to share what he has learned to be the meaning of life. Some argue that since his name is never mentioned in the book Solomon is not the author. But there are too many clues in the book to accept that suggestion. The first verse introduces the writer: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Wiersbe explains the evidence for Solomon’s authorship. He writes, “Nowhere in this book did the author give his name, but the descriptions he gave of himself and his experiences would indicate that the writer was King Solomon. He called himself “son of David” and “king in Jerusalem” (1:1, 12), and he claimed to have great wealth and wisdom (2:1–11, and 1:13; see 1 Kings 4:20–34 and 10:1ff). In response to Solomon’s humble prayer, God promised him both wisdom and wealth (1 Kings 3:3–15); and He kept His promise.”[1]

Solomon calls himself “the preacher” according to the English Standard Version. The transliteration of the Hebrew word is used by other translations: “Qoheleth.” Today’s English Version translates it as “The Philosopher.” The writers of the Handbook for translators don’t like that term because it “may not be able to convey the fact that in Israel the wise man was a deeply religious person. Hence ‘sage’ or ‘wise man’ may be a better choice because it is more neutral.”[2]

Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon in his youth. Lust for a lady seems to have been its theme if you take it literally. Proverbs was written in his adult and midlife years when he struggled with finding meaning and purpose by satisfying other lusts in life. In Ecclesiastes, he looks back on his life and shares the wisdom that he has accumulated. Primarily it’s that none of the pleasures, powers, positions, or possessions can mean ultimate meaning and purpose to our lives. Many argue that the book is too pessimistic and should not be in the Bible. But reading it helps us face the true issues of life. Ryken says, “We should study Ecclesiastes to learn what will happen to us if we choose what the world tries to offer instead of what God has to give. The writer of this book had more money, enjoyed more pleasure, and possessed more human wisdom than anyone else in the world, yet everything still ended in frustration. The same will happen to us if we live for ourselves rather than for God.”[3]

[1] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1996. Be Satisfied. “Be” Commentary Series. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[2] Ogden, Graham S., and Lynell Zogbo. 1998. A Handbook on Ecclesiastes. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.

[3] Ryken, Philip Graham. 2010. Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

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