Ezekiel
Ezekiel 5:9 - Abominations or Obedience
Ezekiel 9:4 - Groaning and Praising
Ezekiel 18:32 - Turn and Live
Ezekiel 20:12 - A Sign (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
Ezekiel 21:17 - When God Claps His Hands
Ezekiel 34:11 - Search and Seek
****Ezekiel 34:18 - A Good Steward
Ezekiel 36:26 - A Stony Heart?
Ezekiel 44:23 - Teaching - and Sometimes Using Words
Ezekiel 48:35 - The LORD is There (Holy Day Lesson - Feast of Tabernacles)
Daniel
Daniel 1:17 - Gifts from God
Daniel 3:17 - Mighty to Save
Daniel 6:22 - In the Lions' Den
Daniel 11:35 - Stumble
Daniel 12:3 - Wise or Foolish
Abominations or Obedience
And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Ezekiel 5:9
Recently a friend sent me a child-rearing idea. You start with a bag of candy, the kids, and the time in the car. Every time they misbehave, you throw a piece of candy out of the car. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s only one in a long list of ideas generated to get kids to behave.
My second grade teacher liked to put a small circle in chalk on the chalkboard. When you misbehaved in class, you had to put your nose in that circle. The circle was small enough that you really couldn’t move, but worst of all, your back was to the class, so you really didn’t know who was watching you and making fun of your punishment.
My older brother’s fifth grade teacher had a box of ABC gum. If you were caught chewing gum in his class, you had to put your piece into the box and choose another piece to chew. Somehow things were a little different 41 years ago.
Child-rearing ideas, disciplinary actions, usually share a trait: the parent (or teacher) will tell the child what the punishment for their bad behavior will be. God does the same thing. God tells His people what their consequences will be if they continue to sin. Think about the major and minor prophets in the Bible. Do you know who was the most ancient of these prophets to Judah? It was Joel! And he prophesied during Joash’s reign! Joash’s reign was before Uzziah, Hezekiah, and Josiah! Joel prophesied during the 9th century. Judah was taken into captivity to Babylon in the 6th century! Think about Joel. Some of his prophesies apply not just to the fall of Jerusalem, but are fulfilled in a larger sense at the Day of the Lord, what we today call the end times.
Deuteronomy 28 tells the blessings for obedience (vs. 1-14) and the curses for disobedience (vs. 15-68). The curses talk about things not going well, diseases, pestilence, wild animal attacks, blight, mildew, drought, insanity, oppression, and famine. In verse 52, God warns that they will be besieged by the enemy and the resulting famine will be so severe that eventually mothers and fathers will eat their own children. That’s unthinkable! We don’t want to think about things getting so bad that we’d eat pork or other unclean meats. That’s against God’s dietary laws after all. But to think that things would get so bad that we’d even consider eating our own children is so terrible, we don’t even let our minds consider it for a moment. And yet, it’s recorded in Deuteronomy 28 as one of the curses for disobedience. And it’s recorded again in Ezekiel 5:9-10: And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
When you stop to consider God’s warning for disobedience, what the consequences are going to be, they are heart-wrenching. You’ll lose your country. You’ll lose all of your possession. You’ll lose your freedom. You’ll lose your family. And things will get so bad, you may even eat your own family members.
This is bad.
Still, think about why it’s recorded for us to read. Think about why Mr. Deal told his fifth graders what would happen if they chewed gum in his class. Think about why Mrs. Douglas warned the class about putting their nose in the circle on the chalkboard. Think about why a parent would throw a piece of candy out the car window. You’re told ahead of time so that you will change your behavior. You won’t do the thing that will cause the consequence. Mr. Deal never forced someone to chew gum out of his ABC box who hadn’t broken his gum rule. Mrs. Douglas never put someone’s nose into the circle on the chalkboard who wasn’t misbehaving. Parents don’t just throw candy out the window for the animals along the road to eat.
Similarly, God’s consequences happen because of your sins, your iniquity, your abominations. You can choose not to go that direction, to do those things that are displeasing to God, to break His laws.
Perhaps you are concerned that you’re not going to make the right choices. That’s likely God working in your life, calling you to a deeper relationship with Him. If you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then perhaps it’s God calling you to repentance, acceptance of Jesus, and baptism. If you already have made that commitment, then perhaps it’s a call to a deeper relationship with God, one in which you are letting the Holy Spirit lead you into better choices. Because, make no mistake, God does not make idle threats. God punishes those who transgress His laws. God will not look the other way, accept all your excuses, give you a “bye.” God will, because He is righteous and just, He will punish all evil doers.
Don’t you think it’s time to consider your ways, to ask God for His help in changing your life around, to walk worthy of the calling you have receive? I know I want to be counted worthy to escape the tribulation that will come upon the whole world (Luke 21:36). What about you?
Groaning and Praising
and the LORD said to him, ‘Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.’ Ezekiel 9:4
When you stop to think of all the blessings that God has given us, don’t forget to think of the personal gifts He has blessed you with - those things that make you uniquely you. Consider also the blessings around us: color, flavors, fragrances. As you praise God for each of these, remember to thank Him for opening our eyes, for drawing us to Him and giving us knowledge of His ways. We are constantly learning - and that desire to learn more and more about God is another blessing from Him.
When I was a child, a favorite uncle used to call me “Cynthia Darn.” My middle name was “Dawn” and he enjoyed the twist on my name to tease me. Since I liked him so much, I endured happily the teasing and encorporated the word into my own usage. Much to my surprise, a sermon sometime later informed me that “darn” was a derivation of “damn” and not good to use, if one wanted to please God. That caught my attention, and I listened closely to the whole litany of words which could and could not be used. “Gosh” and “gee” were derivations from “Jesus” as was “Jumping Jehosaphat.” They were not good. So I was very careful not to use any of those words, to let my “yes” be “yes” and my “no” be “no.”
Now it so happened that one of my friends used “Oh my God” a lot in her conversation. I noticed that was not on the list of forbidden words. So I blissfully began using it in my conversation as well.
Praise God, I had a great first grade teacher, Mrs. Ward, who promptly called my parents and told them about what I’d been saying. I was a mortified little 5 year-old! I couldn’t believe that I’d so blatantly broken the third commandment! But I truly didn’t understand.
The point is: we are all learning. As we continue to live in this world, we hopefully will continue to grow towards Jesus Christ and become more like Him. As we learn what things are pleasing and godly, we also learn what things are not. The things which are unholy and ungodly cause us to sigh and groan. We don’t like them, much like Mrs. Ward didn’t like me using God’s name in vain.
So when we sigh and groan over the things that are done around us, who knows? Who cares? Well, God does. Ezekiel 9:4 specifically mentions an instance when God tells a man to put a mark on God’s people - the ones who are sighing and groaning over the terrible things done in Jerusalem. It’s interesting: that word “mark” can mean “mark,” but it can also mean “signature,” kind of like what happens when you are finishing a work of art. You put your signature on it to show that it belongs to you. God will put a mark on those people who sigh and groan over ungodly behaviors, attitudes and words. Malachi 3:16-17 says that these people will be God’s treasured possession.
God created us and ordained that we should praise Him. Part of praising Him is the positive proclamation of how great He is. But also part of praising Him is groaning and sighing over the things that are ungodly.
I don’t know that I’d ever thought about praising and groaning in the same breath. How about you?
Turn, and Live
For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 18:32
There’s an old joke: Three men were standing with signs alongside a busy road. The pastor’s sign read, “Repent! The end is near.” The priest’s sign read, “Turn around before it’s too late.” The rabbi’s sign read, “Turn, and live.” As the first car drove by, the driver leaned out his window and yelled, “Leave us alone, you religious nuts.” As he sped around the corner, the three men heard a squeal of tires and a splash. The pastor looked at the other two and said, “Maybe we should have just told him the bridge was out.”
What makes the joke so ironic is that, if the three men had held signs which talked specifically about the bridge, the motorist probably would have chosen another route. But because people expect religious leaders to warn them about their lifestyle choices, that God’s wrath is coming because of those choices, and because they don’t want to be told they are in danger of judgment and serious repercussions, they ignore the warning. People will stop if told the bridge is out, but won’t stop if told God’s wrath will hit them in exactly the same place.
God sent His prophets to warn His people for centuries! And those warnings have been preserved for our benefit today. But someone will say that they don’t apply to us, that they are Old Testament. Their reasoning is that today we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, so we don’t have to obey God’s laws anymore. Really?! So God felt that His laws were so important that He sent Israel into exile and Judah into captivity, and He sent His Son to die because the people were transgressing them, but now we don’t have to live by them anymore? So murder was wrong in the Old Testament, but we can kill people today and the blood of Christ will cover that? I don’t think so.
So someone might say that we just have to do the best we can and God understands when we fall short. Okay, so if I have a problem with taking things that aren’t mine - something that other people would call theft - it’s okay if I slip a necklace worth hundreds of dollars into my pocket. Well, no. The jewelry store owner wouldn’t agree that I’d done the best I could and so he’d just let me keep the necklace without paying for it. That’s ludicrous.
What about cleaning your room? Your mom tells you to go do it. You go upstairs and get distracted by a toy that you find under your bed that you haven’t seen for months. When she calls you down for supper, she asks if you’ve cleaned your room. You look at her with guilty eyes and say that you forgot. How well is that going to fly? Does she just pat you on the head and say, “Well, I know you tried. So we’ll just consider it done”? Of course not! Not only is the room not clean, you disobeyed her. That’s not acceptable!
The reality is that God is very patient with us. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. He very much wants people who will seek Him with all of their hearts. So He did send His Son that we would no longer be slaves to sin, caught by our carnal nature so that we could not please Him. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to choose the godly choice. But we still have to choose it.
1 Peter 4:17 says, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
In Revelation 2 and 3, John recorded what Jesus told him to write to the angels of the churches. In each case, He said, “I know your deeds.” To those who were disobedient, he told them to repent, to turn, to change their behavior, to overcome.
It matters a great deal what you do. God really does care whether you obey Him, follow His commandments, seek His ways for your life! If you’re having trouble doing that in a certain area, pray and ask for help. Ask first for forgiveness for disobeying Him. Then ask Him to provide the strength and conviction to do what is right. Then make the tough choices. There’s a reckoning coming just ahead - and it’s more than just the bridge being out.
A Sign
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12
We have so many signs in our world! They serve to help us get to where we're going. If we didn't have signs, we could easily get lost. But sometimes signs are specifically for us. For instance, the manager of a baseball team gives a special sign to his team so they will know what he wants them to do. If the other team knew what the sign meant, they'd have some advance warning about what was coming. The baseball signs are specifically for that team.
That's the interesting thing about Ezekiel 20:12. It says the Sabbaths are a sign between God and His people - specifically for His people so they will know that God sanctifies them. The sign is for God's people as a comfort, as an encouragement, as a sign that God is working in their lives. It is confirmation that God, who began a good work in us, is going to carry it on to the day of completion when Jesus returns.
So what is the sign? It's the observance of the Sabbath - both the weekly Sabbath and the Sabbatical year. When God's people observe the Sabbaths, it is a sign between God and them that they truly are His people, that God has them in the palm of His hand, and that God is always with them. What an encouragement! It's a specific encouragement to God's people - not to the world. The world may notice that God's people observe the Sabbath, but they don't recognize it as a sign.
The sign to the world that we are the people of God is from John 13:35: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. But you can't have the love of God to show to people unless you belong to God. And you know you belong to God if you have the sign He gave to you: His Sabbaths.
Happy Sabbath!
When God Claps His Hands
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 21:17
Why do you clap your hands? Sometimes it’s to show appreciation for a performance. Sometimes it’s an expression of great joy! Sometimes it’s to get someone’s attention.
Isaiah 55:12 talks about the trees clapping their hands. But trees don’t have hands. This is an analogy of God’s people expressing great joy!
In Psalm 47:1, the people are told to clap their hands, to shout to God with the voice of triumph. The word that is translated “clap” in this verse is translated “blow” when it’s talking about sounding the trumpet, as in Numbers 10. So this kind of clap is to make a sound.
In Numbers 24:10, Balak is so disgusted at Balaam for not cursing the Israelites that he strikes his hands together. This kind of clapping happens as an expression of derision or indignation or punishment.
But none of these is why God claps his hands in Ezekiel 21:17. Here the word “clap” is translated “smite” in the KJV. It means “to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, or kill.” This is not clapping you hands when you’re playing around; this is clapping your hands with the intent of hurting someone.
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 21:17
Earlier in the same chapter, God tells Ezekiel, “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them . . .” (Ezekiel 21:14). What Ezekiel is doing is warning the people with the clapping of his hands. He’s letting them know that serious judgment is coming. He claps his hands and brings the sword down three times. It is a call for judgment to begin. Then God says that He also will clap His hands.
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 21:17
The definition of the word “clap” and the context of the word both indicate that a time came for Jerusalem when God had had enough of their rebellion, their idolatry, their violence, and their perverseness. He sent Babylon to slaughter and take captives. And yet, as you read through Ezekiel, you get the sense that God isn’t just talking to Jerusalem. He is talking to us, to those of us living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ. He has almost had enough of our rebellion, our idolatry, our violence, and our perverseness. He’s going to clap His hands. It will be the sound of the start of His judgment on the earth. He’s going to open up the bowls of wrath. He’s going to bring the sword on that great and terrible Day of the Lord.
And his fury will be satisfied. There will be no more rebellion, no more sin, no more violence, and no more pain.
The time is just before us. As we watch world events unfold, as we see the terrible decisions that are made by our governmental leaders, we wonder if our iniquity is full yet - if God had had enough.
Now is the time to seek Him. Now is the time to make sure that you have a relationship with the great God of the universe. Now is the time to repent and turn from doing your own thing. God will clap His hands. But afterwards, the trees of the field, God’s people, will clap their hands for joy because sin and every evil thing is gone.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ll ever think about clapping my hands the same way again.
Search and Seek
For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. Ezekiel 34:11
Kids love to play hide and seek. My dogs love searching to see what they can find. Jennifer loves seeking for rocks with holes in them. But looking for a potential treasure is different from searching for something that you’ve misplaced. If you’ve ever lost something important, you know how desperately you search, almost panic-stricken, to find it. I did that with a set of keys once. I searched all through my apartment, looking in places I knew they couldn’t possibly be, but I looked anyway because I’d looked everywhere else.
Ezekiel 34:11 talks about a time when God searches for His sheep. For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out (Ezekiel 34:11). The word “Lord” is the Hebrew “Adonai.” GOD is the masculine, proper noun form of Jehovah.
We’re familiar with the idea of God being a shepherd. The most familiar of the Psalms begins with “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). In John 10:14, Jesus states, “I am the good shepherd,” and in verse 27, He says, “My sheep hear my voice.” In Isaiah 40:11, we find: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
There’s a wonderful picture here of God taking care of His people. That’s how the NIV renders Ezekiel 34:11: For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.
In verse 16, God describes how He will care for the sheep that He gathers. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
But why does God have to search for His sheep and seek them out? They are lost. Why are they lost? Because the shepherd who were given the job of caring for the sheep have not done a good job. They’ve taken advantage of the sheep. They’ve used the sheep for their own benefit, not for the good of the sheep. But we’re not really taking about sheep, are we? We’re talking about the religious leaders who know what is right, but they take advantage of their leadership role to get power or prestige or riches - and the people suffer. They are not exhorted and encouraged to follow God. They are not led in a Godly way.
We know that the Pharisees were so bad, they did such a poor job of being good shepherds for God’s people, that Jesus called them a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33) and hypocrites (Matthew 23:13, 23, 25, 27, 29). Even today, if someone calls you a Pharisee, it’s not a compliment.
So there’s a lesson here for us. We need to be careful about who we listen to. We may like what a Bible teacher says, but we need to check it out to make sure they are accurate. We have a distinct advantage today because we all have our own copy of the Bible. We can read the verses for ourselves. But we still have to listen with careful ears. Think about what is being said. Don’t just believe it because someone you like said it. Don’t disregard it just because you don’t particularly like the way they said it. Listen carefully. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV).
And really, the best option is to keep in mind that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. We are not really looking to a person to lead us; people are fallible and make mistakes. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, to listen to His voice. Reading your Bible daily and praying every day helps you to keep your eyes on Him.
Every day I take my three dogs for a walk. My two black labs wander and search for things all over the place, often out of my sight. My puppy vigorously searches too, but he stays so close that I when I’m ready to go inside, I don’t have to seek for him; he’s right there. That’s where we need to be - so close to Jesus Christ that He doesn’t need to go searching for us at the end of the day.
A Good Steward
Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; Ezekiel 34:18
Materials: a small jar of water, a gallon jug of water, cups; jar of buttons; bag of candy
When my kids were little and the blueberry bushes were likewise small, we’d get a few blueberries every year. When we’d go out to pick, the kids were insistent that I equally divide the blueberries between everyone in the family. So I’d get out containers and carefully count out all the blueberries. Each person might get 10 or 20, but it was always just a small mouthful. Now, we pick about a quart every other day for a couple of months. When the kids pick blueberries with me now, I let them eat as many as they want straight off the bush.
When there is a very little amount of something, we are very careful to use it wisely. But when there is an abundance of something, we tend to be less careful with how we use it. If I have a small jar of water (or buttons or candy) to split between all of the people in the room, I’m going to be very careful not to spill even a single drop. If there’s lots of water, we tend to not care if some spills or everyone gets different amounts.
But God cares.
Think about when Jesus fed the 5000 with two fish and five loaves, there were 12 basketfuls left over. Jesus told them to pick up what was left. “When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted’ ” (John 6:12). It was just bread. They’d started with 5 loaves. Would it have mattered if there were pieces left over? We might not have thought so, but it mattered to Jesus.
So how does this work in your life? One very concrete example happens every day. We are blessed by God with an abundance of food - at home and at potluck at church. Take what you want to eat. Eat as much as you want. But don’t take more than you’re going to eat. You can always go back and get more. If, however, you put a bunch on your plate and you don’t eat it, it just gets thrown into the trash. You might pass it off that it’s just food and we have a lot - that it doesn’t matter. But it matters to God (Ezekiel 34:18; John 6:12).
But maybe God is talking about more than bread and pasture. Maybe it’s a message of comfort that God knows those who are His and He will not miss a single one of us when He gathers His people. (Deuteronomy 30:3; Matthew 24:31)
A Stony Heart
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
What are stones good for? What can you use them for? They make good buildings, fences, roads, bridge supports, mountains. But stones are not very good at absorbing water. They don’t respond well animals looking for a place to hide. They don’t make very good pillows - even if Jacob tried. And stones don’t make very good hearts.
Well, duh! I knew that already! Nobody has a heart of stone - unless we’re talking about some of the idols that the pagan nations worshipped. So what in the world is this verse talking about? What does a stony heart look like? Well, just like a stone is not good at absorbing water, a stony heart is one that doesn’t let God in. That’s the heart which God is going to replace in the person who is not willing to submit their will, their desires, and their very lives to God’s will and God’s desire for their lives.
Let me remind you that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. You can’t rely on your own evaluation of whether your heart is stony or not. You have to rely on the Bible, on the Holy Spirit to convict you, prayer, and fellow believers to have the love and courage to tell you where you’re not letting God into your life! If you don’t spend time seeking God, it’s easy to think you’re an o.k. person. After all, you’ve never murdered anyone. You are generous and good. But the problem is, God doesn’t judge you with a balance scale. He judges you based on the relationship you have with Him. If you don’t have the Son, you don’t have anything! To put it in other terms, if you don’t have the Son, you still have a stony heart.
How’s your heart?
Teaching - And Sometimes Using Words
They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. Ezekiel 44:23
My birthday is in November. So when Mom tried to enroll me in kindergarten when I was 4, almost 5, she was told to keep me home for another year because I wasn’t old enough. I was so disappointed. So when my older brother, Bob, came home from school with his second grade homework, I was all over that. He had to teach me his spelling lesson. He had to show me what he was doing in math. I think that I did most of his first spelling lesson without him because I was so excited at being able to do real school work. I loved school.
I loved school so much, we played school! We’d take turns being the teacher. My older brother Bob taught me how to do long division years before I learned how to do it at school! We loved it!
So, that’s makes me wonder about this verse. Who’s doing the teaching? Well, let’s look at a similar verse. Earlier we looked at Leviticus 10:10. There the priests were given the task of teaching the people to tell the difference between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. And it’s the same thing in Ezekiel 44:23. It is the sons of Zadok who are given the task of teaching the people the difference between the holy and the common, and how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
Why Zadok? Well, he became a priest during the reign of King David. And throughout the chaos and turmoil of David’s son trying to wrest the kingdom from him and the uncertainty about who would be king after him, Zadok remained faithful to King David and to King Solomon. It’s interesting because no other priestly line is so commended by God like Zadok was.
So what does that have to do with us today? Well, look at 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” This is talking about us! We are that royal priesthood. We are among those priests who are to teach the people, someday, to distinguish between the holy and common, clean and unclean.
So we are learning today the difference now so that we can teach others in the millenium. And you already have started. What can you name that is holy? God. The Bible. The Sabbath. You’ve already begun to understand the difference between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. And as you live your life to demonstrate that awareness, you are making an impression on the people around you.
Remember when I told you about doing Bob’s spelling lesson? Well, three years later, I ws sitting in second grade, with the same teacher he had had, looking at that same lesson. I remembered it. I remembered all of those answers that Bob had taught me three years earlier. It can be the same for you: someone may very well come up to you in the millenium and tell you that they remember you obeying God’s law. They may be farther along in learning to distinguish between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean because of what they learned from you today.
It’s something to think about. And while you're thinking about it, think about the admonition to teach with all means possible, and, if necessary, use words.
The LORD is There
The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.” Ezekiel 48:35
Kids get homesick. It doesn’t matter whether it’s summer camp or visiting relatives. It doesn’t matter whether they’re eighteen months or eighteen years. There’s something built within us that wants to be home. We want to be where we belong.
But it’s really more than just being in a certain place. It’s being with the family you love. From the time that babies are aware enough to realize that they’re separate from mom, they start feeling anxiety if mom isn’t in sight. Even when we’re older, if mom isn’t in the house, we feel very acutely that something is missing. My family laughs about it, but the reality is that our new puppy follows me around. He wants to be where I am. If I’m folding clothes upstairs, he’s under the bed with just his head poking out to watch me. If I’m doing dishes, he’s in the kitchen. If I’m in the living room, he’s lying behind my chair. He just wants to be where I am.
I wonder how long it will be before Pepper grows out of this phase. Perhaps he’ll gradually decide that I’m not really doing anything that interesting and quit following me around. After all, that’s kind of what happens with kids. They get older and get less and less dependent upon mom.
And yet . . . there’s still something about being home, about being where you belong, that resonates with all of us. We go on vacation. It could be the most beautiful place on earth. We could spend lots of time and money getting there, and yet, we don’t really belong there. It’s still beautiful, but we’re left feeling like something is missing. We can visit, but it’s not home.
This feeling of searching for something, of not being satisfied, has been around for a very long time. Since the place is not sufficient to satisfy what we want, we try different activities. Some people try to satisfy themselves with every pleasure imaginable: chocolate, television, reading, sky diving, walking, gardening, Mine Craft - whatever it is that you do that gives you pleasure. But it’s never enough. It doesn’t satisfy the longing for very long for something, or someone. Real Christians believe that God is the answer to the longing that we feel.
Augustine, who lived in the later half of the fourth century, said: “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Pascal (1623-1662) put it this way, “There is a godshaped vacuum in the heart of every man, and only God can fill it.” Here’s the idea: God has made us to want Him and we are not satisfied until we find Him. It makes me think of Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When we find Christ, we find rest; we are settled and satisfied.
So with all of that in mind, here’s Ezekiel 48:35: The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.” This is the only place in the Bible this name is found - Jehovah Shammah - the LORD is There. I don’t know if this is meant to be an actual, physical city, or if this is a spiritual concept. But the result is the same: there will be a place where God is. This city will be in the midst of the inheritance of His people. I believe this is the place where God’s people will want to be. We will want to be there because that’s where God is. That’s where we’ll finally feel like we’re home.
Gifts From God
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Daniel 1:17
Have you ever thought about the gift(s) that God has given you? I know a little girl who is a natural with horses. I know a young lady who has a great eye for color and the ability to make incredibly even crochet stitches. I know a young man who has been a kid magnet since he was little. I know another young man who has a knack for figuring out how things work.
When I was little, I wanted very much to learn to play the piano. I wanted, someday, to play for hymns at the Feast of Tabernacles. Later, when I was in high school and working at a steak house, they hired me to play the piano during the evening one day a week to bring in more patrons. As for me, I couldn’t believe they were actually paying me to play the piano. It just doesn’t get any better than that!! Because I felt that way, many people asked why I didn’t get my teaching degree in music. But I didn’t want my music to be my job. I wanted to be able to use music to praise God, to be my way of relaxing and getting my priorities straight again.
Francis Havergal had an incredible gift from God: a fantastic voice, and, coming from a wealthy family, she had a lot of options open to her. She decided, rather, to sing only for the glory of God. We sing her hymn today, “Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated to Thee.” Not only did she use her vocal talents for the glory of God in traveling revivals, she also gave away most of her wealth to help the less fortunate. She used her God-given gifts for the glory of God.
I couldn’t help thinking of Francis Havergal when I read Daniel 1:17: As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. God blessed Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, and Daniel with learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. We know that Hananiah, Azariah, and Meshael demonstrated that wisdom in not bowing down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol regardless of the consequences, but we don’t know how they used the learning and skill in all literature. We are, however, told that they rose to promient positions of authority in Babylon. Similarly, we know Daniel used his understanding of dreams and visions to interpret dreams for both Nebucadnezzar and Belshazzar.
These four youths used their gifts in glory to God, and I believe Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael are commended for their faith in Hebrews 11 in the phrases - “quenched the power of the fire” and Daniel in “stopped the mouths of lions.”
These young men used their God-given gifts, in faith, to glorify God - regardless of the situation in which they found themselves. They didn’t bow to the pressure of living in captivity in Babylon. They didn’t despair and give up because Jerusalem had fallen. They didn’t quit serving God because life was so different. In fact, they continued to seek God, to worship only Him, even when it was against the law to do so.
It wasn’t easy for these four youths to persevere. They were seriously tested in their faith. But they stood firm and they were rewarded. That’s why the results of their faithfulness are recorded in Hebrews 11:32-35a: Because of their faith in God, they “through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection”.
But there were other faithful, who remained faithful, even when the outcome wasn’t so rosy in this life. The rest of the list in Hebrews 11 isn’t as easy to embrace: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:35b-40).
There are a couple of lessons here for us. First, God gave you a gift, a talent, to use. Do you know what your gift is? Secondly, are you using it for God? Even when it’s hard to do the right thing, are you glorifying God with your life, with your talent? Do you seek to please God only when it’s easy and convenient? Or do you seek to please Him with your heart, soul, mind, and spirit? Are you willing to remain faithful even if you don’t see the reward in this life?
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), seek to serve Him with all of who they are and what they have - even when it’s very hard, even if it means you have to suffer. Here’s the challenge: Resolve to serve God with all of who your are and all of what you have. Like Francis Havergal, like Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, and Daniel, live your life totally dedicated to serving the One who gave you life. That’s wisdom and understanding. And that’s your reasonable worship of the One who gave you your gift in the first place.
Mighty To Save
If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. Daniel 3:17
When I was a kid, we lived in Casper, Wyoming. In those days, Casper didn’t use salt on the city streets. They’d plow, but oftentimes the streets would be snow- and ice-packed most of the winter. So many people would put chains on the tires of their cars. As the main thoroughfares were more traveled, sometimes the asphalt would start to peek through. When that happened, Mom would take the side streets to work because otherwise she’d have to take the chains off the car. There was no sense in doing that: winter wasn’t over; she was going to need them again soon. One day, she was driving to work on the side streets. As she came down the hill, she saw a pick-up coming on a cross street. She knew there was no way she would avoid being hit. She couldn’t stop on the slick streets. He couldn’t stop. So she closed her eyes . . . and when she opened them again, both of them were on the other side of the intersection. Somehow, there hadn’t been a collision.
I love that story, but it’s just one story that I could share with you about how something unexplainable happened. Mom believes it was God. Could she prove it? No. But she believes it nonetheless.
I could tell you about Ken and Dan and a serpentine engine belt. I could tell you about a close encounter with a train coming home from work late one night. I could tell you about Buster stumbling and how I suddenly found myself looking up at a 2000-lb. gelding - who wondered why I was on the ground with his front hooves against my side.
There is no doubt in my mind that our God is mighty to save. This particular story about Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael is one of my favorites. King Nebuchadnezzar had constructed a golden idol. He was requiring everyone to bow down and worship the idol when they heard the music playing. Certain Chaldeans brought it to Nebuchadnezzar’s attention that Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were not obeying his decree. When the king brought them before him, he told them to obey or he would throw them into the furnace. Their response demonstrates so much faith in our great God! “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).
These three young men were determined to obey God. It didn’t matter if they faced death. They had resolved to obey God no matter what.
It’s a great example for us. We are faced with choices every day. Should we tell a little lie so someone doesn’t get mad at us? Should I yell at my brother because he’s bothering me? Should I be disrespectful to my mom because she just doesn’t understand that I have things to do and I’ll do what she wants later? It’s not just kids who find excuses for disobeying God, for not following His ways. People take God’s name in vain - both when they misuse God’s name and when they claim to be a Christian but don’t act as a Christian should. People break the fourth commandment - they work on the Sabbath because they feel like they have to make enough money to live. People break the sixth commandment when they are so angry at someone else that they feel like they hate that person; they want something really bad to happen to them.
It’s easy to talk about keeping God’s commandments. It’s a lot harder to actually do it - and to bring every thought into submission to Jesus Christ. And we have lots of excuses to explain why we do what we do. But these three young men didn’t waver. In the face of death, they steadfastly refused to break God’s commandments. The part that I especially love is that they proclaimed God’s ability to save them - but their obedience didn’t depend upon whether God saved them or not. They chose to obey God at all costs.
Are we like these three young men? Are we willing to do the hard things, to take the heat (so to speak) for our decisions, to resolve to obey God no matter what? It’s not a matter of not knowing that God can save us. We have experienced His mighty hand. It’s a matter of whether we will do the right thing whether He demonstrates His might or not. Are we willing to serve Him, to glorify Him, to honor Him with our very lives? Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael did.
In The Lions’ Den
My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm. Daniel 6:22
What kind of man was Daniel?
He was a man of integrity, doing what was right regardless of who was watching (Daniel 1:8; 6:10). Daniel refused to eat the king’s delicacies. Daniel also continued to pray to God, as had been his habit, despite the law of the land to the contrary.
He was a man of compassion (Daniel 2:12; 2:24). When Nebuchadnezzar sought to kill the wise men, magicians, and enchanters, Daniel didn’t ask that just he and his friends be spared, he asked that none of the wise men be killed.
He was a man of humility, not taking honor and glory when it wasn’t his (Daniel 2:27-30). When Nebuchadnezzar wanted his dream revealed and interpreted, Daniel made it very clear that it was God who revealed the mystery and made it known to Daniel.
Daniel wasn’t interested in what he could get short-term; he was interested in serving God first. When Belshazzar wanted Daniel to interpret the handwriting on the wall and offered to give Daniel wealth and make him the third co-ruler in the kingdom, Daniel refused (Daniel 5:17). He said, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.”
Daniel was greatly beloved by God (Daniel 9:23).
In our human reasoning, we think about who Daniel was, what his character was like, and we assume that we “get it,” we understand why God sent the angel to shut the lions’ mouths. And maybe God did shut the lions’ mouths because Daniel was blameless before Him.
But then we’d be making the same mistake Job’s three friends made. We’d be guilty of thinking that the righteous are always rescued: good things happen to the godly; and the wicked are always punished: bad things happen to you if you don’t follow God’s laws. In a sense, this is true. There is coming a day when we will all stand before the judgment seat of God and give an account of our lives to Him - all our deeds and every idle word (Matthew 12:36, 1 Peter 4:17, Revelation 20:12). Yes, it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we will be given salvation and eternal life. But we demonstrate that we have been saved by what we do (Romans 6:15; James 1-22-25; James 2:18-19; Hebrews 4:11; Matthew 12:33).
Nevertheless, in this life, the godly don’t always prosper, and the wicked don’t always fail to prosper. God doesn’t, at this time, always punish the wicked and bless His servants as we might expect (Psalm 73; Matthew 5:45).
Think again about the kind of man Daniel was: humble, compassionate, a man of honor and integrity, wise and gentle, a man greatly beloved by God.
There was another man who was greatly beloved by God - Jesus, the Son of God (Matthew 3:17). He was humble and compassionate, a man of honor and integrity, wise and gentle. And yet, God the Father didn’t rescue Him from the cross, from the excruciating pain or the shame. There was a purpose being fulfilled which involved suffering and death.
Somehow we have to get our minds wrapped around the fact that this life is not the goal. This life is a training ground for what is to come. What a sad thing to focus on being blessed in this life and then miss out on God’s kingdom! We can’t live our lives thinking that if something good happens to us then God must be pleased with us. Similarly, we can’t live our lives thinking that if something bad happens, we must not be in God’s will. God’s given us the Bible. We know what pleases Him. We have been given His laws to live by - not because keeping God’s laws will save us. No! We keep God’s laws because we love Him (1 John 5:3), because we trust Him, because we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Because we believe that Jesus’ blood has bought us (1 Corinthians 7:23), that we belong to Him, we live to obey His commandments because we are His. It’s our reasonable act of worship (Romans 12:1)!
Living a godly life, according to God’s laws, means that regardless of what happens, we do what is right. We keep God’s commandments as they are written in the Bible - because that’s what God’s people do - regardless of whether or not God rescues us from the lions’ den.
Stumble
“and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.” Daniel 11:35
When I was little, it seems like I tripped over cracks in the sidewalk. There were times that both knees, both elbows and the ends of both big toes had bandages and scabs on them. I remember my older brother Bob telling me that I needed to eat more carrots; there had to be something wrong with my eyes.
Stumbling is not fun. Falling over toys on the floor. Falling up the stairs. Tripping over branches in the path. Stumbling over the dog curled up next to your chair. Tripping over shoes left in the middle of the floor. Stumbling is not fun.
But that’s not the kind of stumbling this verse is talking about. Two verses earlier, these wise people referred to in verse 35 are going to stumble “by the sword and flame, captivity and plunder.” Those who know God and who are teaching others about Him are going to be persecuted. It won’t be the kind of persecution that some of us have experienced where people make fun of us or don’t want to have anything to do with us. This is persecution that ends in imprisonment, torture, or death.
But there’s something else in this verse that gives us hope. Why will we be persecuted? This verse says so that we will be “refined, purified, and made white.” This is the same language we find in 1 Peter 1:7 - our faith will be tested as by fire so to result in praise, glory, and honor to God. It’s also found in Titus 2:14 - “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession . . .” We are going to be purified: made pure, cleanse, polished, separated unto God. We are going to be refined: separated from all impurities, tested, proved, tried, examined. We are going to be made white. This sounds very similar to Revelation 7:14: “. . . . They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb? “These are they who have come out of great tribulation.” The language in Daniel and the language in Revelation are remarkable similar and seem to be talking about the same group of people - a group of people who belong to God and who are persecuted for their faith in Him.
That sounds bad. And it is bad. But there’s more encouragement for us in this verse. Daniel 11:35 ends with “. . . for it still awaits the appointed time.” It’s very clear that what is going to happen in the future is not going to happen by chance. It’s not just world events spinning to an unknown, unforeseeable conclusion. Rather, God has appointed the time of the end. He knows. He knows how things will unfold. He knows what the outcome will be. He knows who belongs to Him. And He knows how to refine, purify, and make His people white. He is preparing for Himself a people.
So, the next time you stumble over your own feet or trip over the cat, remind yourself that there’s more stumbling in your future, if you’re wise, if you are among those who have understanding, those who know God. But that stumbling has a purpose - for your good. And in the end, your robes will be made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Wise or Foolish
And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Daniel 12:3
Ron has a saying taped to his study wall, something like this: Age and wisdom don’t necessary go together; sometimes age shows up all by itself. We laugh, but, in reality, we humans do some incredibly foolish things. Why, just today, I thought it’d be a good idea to grind up the Burning Bush Habaneros that I’d finished dehydrating without protective goggles and a face mask. I was okay until I started sneezing and I decided to blow my nose. The force of blowing my nose caused a particle or two to waft into my eye. I’m here to tell you that burning bush habaneros are hot and do not produce a good result when they come into contact with eyes. It was one of my more recent foolish actions, but alas, not my only one. I’m fairly good at doing things which are foolish.
I could have said stupid, unwise, or short-sighted, but I chose “foolish” as the antonym for “wise” because that’s how Jesus phrased these opposites on more than one occasion. There are the 10 virgins of Matthew 25 - five were foolish and five were wise. Then there’s the wise man of Matthew 7 who built his house on the rock compared to the foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are likewise full of the contrast between wise and foolish.
A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back (Proverbs 29:11).
The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him (Eccles. 10:12).
And then there are those who think they are wise. Proverbs 26:12 says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Romans 1:21-22 states there are those who knew God, but “they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.”
This foolishness is not the stupid, careless, short-sighted, thoughtless foolishness that afflicts us all at times. This foolishness is the arrogant, prideful, self-seeking and self-serving foolishness which says that the person knows better than God. This foolish person does not give God the glory and honor and thanks that is God’s due. It is God who made this world and everything in it. It is foolish to pat yourself on the back for being so wise. The wisdom that we may have is a gift from God and falls far short of His wisdom.
It is foolish to talk too much. It is foolish to be out of control, to not have control of your emotions. And while it might be short-sighted to build your house on the sand, Jesus was actually using that illustration to show how foolish it is to hear God’s word and to ignore it - to know what God’s word says and do what you want to do anyway. Similarly, it is foolish not to prepare for Jesus’ coming. And yes, it is foolish to be so arrogant that you think you can fool around with burning bush habaneros without some sort of protective gear.
I don’t want to be foolish. I want to seek God and live according to His ways. His ways work - and they should because God is the One who designed this world. He’s the Master Building. Don’t you think His instruction manual is the one we should follow?
Part of His instruction manual, the Bible, tells us that we need to be a light to those around us (Matthew 5:14-16) that they may see our good deeds and give glory to the Father. We need to be ready to give an account for why we believe to anyone who would ask (1 Peter 3:15). We must live such godly lives that even if people around us revile us, they will give God the glory when Jesus returns (1 Peter 2:12).
Living a godly life shows wisdom because it shows your fear of the Lord (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10). But living a godly life also can be used by God to impact the people around you (Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15). Living for Jesus, being an ambassador for God, that’s worth living for!! And Daniel says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3
Let’s be wise. Let’s live our lives in service to the One who made us and has given us all things. Let’s be done with foolishness!
Ezekiel 5:9 - Abominations or Obedience
Ezekiel 9:4 - Groaning and Praising
Ezekiel 18:32 - Turn and Live
Ezekiel 20:12 - A Sign (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
Ezekiel 21:17 - When God Claps His Hands
Ezekiel 34:11 - Search and Seek
****Ezekiel 34:18 - A Good Steward
Ezekiel 36:26 - A Stony Heart?
Ezekiel 44:23 - Teaching - and Sometimes Using Words
Ezekiel 48:35 - The LORD is There (Holy Day Lesson - Feast of Tabernacles)
Daniel
Daniel 1:17 - Gifts from God
Daniel 3:17 - Mighty to Save
Daniel 6:22 - In the Lions' Den
Daniel 11:35 - Stumble
Daniel 12:3 - Wise or Foolish
Abominations or Obedience
And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Ezekiel 5:9
Recently a friend sent me a child-rearing idea. You start with a bag of candy, the kids, and the time in the car. Every time they misbehave, you throw a piece of candy out of the car. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s only one in a long list of ideas generated to get kids to behave.
My second grade teacher liked to put a small circle in chalk on the chalkboard. When you misbehaved in class, you had to put your nose in that circle. The circle was small enough that you really couldn’t move, but worst of all, your back was to the class, so you really didn’t know who was watching you and making fun of your punishment.
My older brother’s fifth grade teacher had a box of ABC gum. If you were caught chewing gum in his class, you had to put your piece into the box and choose another piece to chew. Somehow things were a little different 41 years ago.
Child-rearing ideas, disciplinary actions, usually share a trait: the parent (or teacher) will tell the child what the punishment for their bad behavior will be. God does the same thing. God tells His people what their consequences will be if they continue to sin. Think about the major and minor prophets in the Bible. Do you know who was the most ancient of these prophets to Judah? It was Joel! And he prophesied during Joash’s reign! Joash’s reign was before Uzziah, Hezekiah, and Josiah! Joel prophesied during the 9th century. Judah was taken into captivity to Babylon in the 6th century! Think about Joel. Some of his prophesies apply not just to the fall of Jerusalem, but are fulfilled in a larger sense at the Day of the Lord, what we today call the end times.
Deuteronomy 28 tells the blessings for obedience (vs. 1-14) and the curses for disobedience (vs. 15-68). The curses talk about things not going well, diseases, pestilence, wild animal attacks, blight, mildew, drought, insanity, oppression, and famine. In verse 52, God warns that they will be besieged by the enemy and the resulting famine will be so severe that eventually mothers and fathers will eat their own children. That’s unthinkable! We don’t want to think about things getting so bad that we’d eat pork or other unclean meats. That’s against God’s dietary laws after all. But to think that things would get so bad that we’d even consider eating our own children is so terrible, we don’t even let our minds consider it for a moment. And yet, it’s recorded in Deuteronomy 28 as one of the curses for disobedience. And it’s recorded again in Ezekiel 5:9-10: And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
When you stop to consider God’s warning for disobedience, what the consequences are going to be, they are heart-wrenching. You’ll lose your country. You’ll lose all of your possession. You’ll lose your freedom. You’ll lose your family. And things will get so bad, you may even eat your own family members.
This is bad.
Still, think about why it’s recorded for us to read. Think about why Mr. Deal told his fifth graders what would happen if they chewed gum in his class. Think about why Mrs. Douglas warned the class about putting their nose in the circle on the chalkboard. Think about why a parent would throw a piece of candy out the car window. You’re told ahead of time so that you will change your behavior. You won’t do the thing that will cause the consequence. Mr. Deal never forced someone to chew gum out of his ABC box who hadn’t broken his gum rule. Mrs. Douglas never put someone’s nose into the circle on the chalkboard who wasn’t misbehaving. Parents don’t just throw candy out the window for the animals along the road to eat.
Similarly, God’s consequences happen because of your sins, your iniquity, your abominations. You can choose not to go that direction, to do those things that are displeasing to God, to break His laws.
Perhaps you are concerned that you’re not going to make the right choices. That’s likely God working in your life, calling you to a deeper relationship with Him. If you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then perhaps it’s God calling you to repentance, acceptance of Jesus, and baptism. If you already have made that commitment, then perhaps it’s a call to a deeper relationship with God, one in which you are letting the Holy Spirit lead you into better choices. Because, make no mistake, God does not make idle threats. God punishes those who transgress His laws. God will not look the other way, accept all your excuses, give you a “bye.” God will, because He is righteous and just, He will punish all evil doers.
Don’t you think it’s time to consider your ways, to ask God for His help in changing your life around, to walk worthy of the calling you have receive? I know I want to be counted worthy to escape the tribulation that will come upon the whole world (Luke 21:36). What about you?
Groaning and Praising
and the LORD said to him, ‘Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.’ Ezekiel 9:4
When you stop to think of all the blessings that God has given us, don’t forget to think of the personal gifts He has blessed you with - those things that make you uniquely you. Consider also the blessings around us: color, flavors, fragrances. As you praise God for each of these, remember to thank Him for opening our eyes, for drawing us to Him and giving us knowledge of His ways. We are constantly learning - and that desire to learn more and more about God is another blessing from Him.
When I was a child, a favorite uncle used to call me “Cynthia Darn.” My middle name was “Dawn” and he enjoyed the twist on my name to tease me. Since I liked him so much, I endured happily the teasing and encorporated the word into my own usage. Much to my surprise, a sermon sometime later informed me that “darn” was a derivation of “damn” and not good to use, if one wanted to please God. That caught my attention, and I listened closely to the whole litany of words which could and could not be used. “Gosh” and “gee” were derivations from “Jesus” as was “Jumping Jehosaphat.” They were not good. So I was very careful not to use any of those words, to let my “yes” be “yes” and my “no” be “no.”
Now it so happened that one of my friends used “Oh my God” a lot in her conversation. I noticed that was not on the list of forbidden words. So I blissfully began using it in my conversation as well.
Praise God, I had a great first grade teacher, Mrs. Ward, who promptly called my parents and told them about what I’d been saying. I was a mortified little 5 year-old! I couldn’t believe that I’d so blatantly broken the third commandment! But I truly didn’t understand.
The point is: we are all learning. As we continue to live in this world, we hopefully will continue to grow towards Jesus Christ and become more like Him. As we learn what things are pleasing and godly, we also learn what things are not. The things which are unholy and ungodly cause us to sigh and groan. We don’t like them, much like Mrs. Ward didn’t like me using God’s name in vain.
So when we sigh and groan over the things that are done around us, who knows? Who cares? Well, God does. Ezekiel 9:4 specifically mentions an instance when God tells a man to put a mark on God’s people - the ones who are sighing and groaning over the terrible things done in Jerusalem. It’s interesting: that word “mark” can mean “mark,” but it can also mean “signature,” kind of like what happens when you are finishing a work of art. You put your signature on it to show that it belongs to you. God will put a mark on those people who sigh and groan over ungodly behaviors, attitudes and words. Malachi 3:16-17 says that these people will be God’s treasured possession.
God created us and ordained that we should praise Him. Part of praising Him is the positive proclamation of how great He is. But also part of praising Him is groaning and sighing over the things that are ungodly.
I don’t know that I’d ever thought about praising and groaning in the same breath. How about you?
Turn, and Live
For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 18:32
There’s an old joke: Three men were standing with signs alongside a busy road. The pastor’s sign read, “Repent! The end is near.” The priest’s sign read, “Turn around before it’s too late.” The rabbi’s sign read, “Turn, and live.” As the first car drove by, the driver leaned out his window and yelled, “Leave us alone, you religious nuts.” As he sped around the corner, the three men heard a squeal of tires and a splash. The pastor looked at the other two and said, “Maybe we should have just told him the bridge was out.”
What makes the joke so ironic is that, if the three men had held signs which talked specifically about the bridge, the motorist probably would have chosen another route. But because people expect religious leaders to warn them about their lifestyle choices, that God’s wrath is coming because of those choices, and because they don’t want to be told they are in danger of judgment and serious repercussions, they ignore the warning. People will stop if told the bridge is out, but won’t stop if told God’s wrath will hit them in exactly the same place.
God sent His prophets to warn His people for centuries! And those warnings have been preserved for our benefit today. But someone will say that they don’t apply to us, that they are Old Testament. Their reasoning is that today we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, so we don’t have to obey God’s laws anymore. Really?! So God felt that His laws were so important that He sent Israel into exile and Judah into captivity, and He sent His Son to die because the people were transgressing them, but now we don’t have to live by them anymore? So murder was wrong in the Old Testament, but we can kill people today and the blood of Christ will cover that? I don’t think so.
So someone might say that we just have to do the best we can and God understands when we fall short. Okay, so if I have a problem with taking things that aren’t mine - something that other people would call theft - it’s okay if I slip a necklace worth hundreds of dollars into my pocket. Well, no. The jewelry store owner wouldn’t agree that I’d done the best I could and so he’d just let me keep the necklace without paying for it. That’s ludicrous.
What about cleaning your room? Your mom tells you to go do it. You go upstairs and get distracted by a toy that you find under your bed that you haven’t seen for months. When she calls you down for supper, she asks if you’ve cleaned your room. You look at her with guilty eyes and say that you forgot. How well is that going to fly? Does she just pat you on the head and say, “Well, I know you tried. So we’ll just consider it done”? Of course not! Not only is the room not clean, you disobeyed her. That’s not acceptable!
The reality is that God is very patient with us. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. He very much wants people who will seek Him with all of their hearts. So He did send His Son that we would no longer be slaves to sin, caught by our carnal nature so that we could not please Him. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to choose the godly choice. But we still have to choose it.
1 Peter 4:17 says, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
In Revelation 2 and 3, John recorded what Jesus told him to write to the angels of the churches. In each case, He said, “I know your deeds.” To those who were disobedient, he told them to repent, to turn, to change their behavior, to overcome.
It matters a great deal what you do. God really does care whether you obey Him, follow His commandments, seek His ways for your life! If you’re having trouble doing that in a certain area, pray and ask for help. Ask first for forgiveness for disobeying Him. Then ask Him to provide the strength and conviction to do what is right. Then make the tough choices. There’s a reckoning coming just ahead - and it’s more than just the bridge being out.
A Sign
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12
We have so many signs in our world! They serve to help us get to where we're going. If we didn't have signs, we could easily get lost. But sometimes signs are specifically for us. For instance, the manager of a baseball team gives a special sign to his team so they will know what he wants them to do. If the other team knew what the sign meant, they'd have some advance warning about what was coming. The baseball signs are specifically for that team.
That's the interesting thing about Ezekiel 20:12. It says the Sabbaths are a sign between God and His people - specifically for His people so they will know that God sanctifies them. The sign is for God's people as a comfort, as an encouragement, as a sign that God is working in their lives. It is confirmation that God, who began a good work in us, is going to carry it on to the day of completion when Jesus returns.
So what is the sign? It's the observance of the Sabbath - both the weekly Sabbath and the Sabbatical year. When God's people observe the Sabbaths, it is a sign between God and them that they truly are His people, that God has them in the palm of His hand, and that God is always with them. What an encouragement! It's a specific encouragement to God's people - not to the world. The world may notice that God's people observe the Sabbath, but they don't recognize it as a sign.
The sign to the world that we are the people of God is from John 13:35: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. But you can't have the love of God to show to people unless you belong to God. And you know you belong to God if you have the sign He gave to you: His Sabbaths.
Happy Sabbath!
When God Claps His Hands
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 21:17
Why do you clap your hands? Sometimes it’s to show appreciation for a performance. Sometimes it’s an expression of great joy! Sometimes it’s to get someone’s attention.
Isaiah 55:12 talks about the trees clapping their hands. But trees don’t have hands. This is an analogy of God’s people expressing great joy!
In Psalm 47:1, the people are told to clap their hands, to shout to God with the voice of triumph. The word that is translated “clap” in this verse is translated “blow” when it’s talking about sounding the trumpet, as in Numbers 10. So this kind of clap is to make a sound.
In Numbers 24:10, Balak is so disgusted at Balaam for not cursing the Israelites that he strikes his hands together. This kind of clapping happens as an expression of derision or indignation or punishment.
But none of these is why God claps his hands in Ezekiel 21:17. Here the word “clap” is translated “smite” in the KJV. It means “to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, or kill.” This is not clapping you hands when you’re playing around; this is clapping your hands with the intent of hurting someone.
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 21:17
Earlier in the same chapter, God tells Ezekiel, “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them . . .” (Ezekiel 21:14). What Ezekiel is doing is warning the people with the clapping of his hands. He’s letting them know that serious judgment is coming. He claps his hands and brings the sword down three times. It is a call for judgment to begin. Then God says that He also will clap His hands.
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken. Ezekiel 21:17
The definition of the word “clap” and the context of the word both indicate that a time came for Jerusalem when God had had enough of their rebellion, their idolatry, their violence, and their perverseness. He sent Babylon to slaughter and take captives. And yet, as you read through Ezekiel, you get the sense that God isn’t just talking to Jerusalem. He is talking to us, to those of us living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ. He has almost had enough of our rebellion, our idolatry, our violence, and our perverseness. He’s going to clap His hands. It will be the sound of the start of His judgment on the earth. He’s going to open up the bowls of wrath. He’s going to bring the sword on that great and terrible Day of the Lord.
And his fury will be satisfied. There will be no more rebellion, no more sin, no more violence, and no more pain.
The time is just before us. As we watch world events unfold, as we see the terrible decisions that are made by our governmental leaders, we wonder if our iniquity is full yet - if God had had enough.
Now is the time to seek Him. Now is the time to make sure that you have a relationship with the great God of the universe. Now is the time to repent and turn from doing your own thing. God will clap His hands. But afterwards, the trees of the field, God’s people, will clap their hands for joy because sin and every evil thing is gone.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ll ever think about clapping my hands the same way again.
Search and Seek
For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. Ezekiel 34:11
Kids love to play hide and seek. My dogs love searching to see what they can find. Jennifer loves seeking for rocks with holes in them. But looking for a potential treasure is different from searching for something that you’ve misplaced. If you’ve ever lost something important, you know how desperately you search, almost panic-stricken, to find it. I did that with a set of keys once. I searched all through my apartment, looking in places I knew they couldn’t possibly be, but I looked anyway because I’d looked everywhere else.
Ezekiel 34:11 talks about a time when God searches for His sheep. For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out (Ezekiel 34:11). The word “Lord” is the Hebrew “Adonai.” GOD is the masculine, proper noun form of Jehovah.
We’re familiar with the idea of God being a shepherd. The most familiar of the Psalms begins with “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). In John 10:14, Jesus states, “I am the good shepherd,” and in verse 27, He says, “My sheep hear my voice.” In Isaiah 40:11, we find: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
There’s a wonderful picture here of God taking care of His people. That’s how the NIV renders Ezekiel 34:11: For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.
In verse 16, God describes how He will care for the sheep that He gathers. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
But why does God have to search for His sheep and seek them out? They are lost. Why are they lost? Because the shepherd who were given the job of caring for the sheep have not done a good job. They’ve taken advantage of the sheep. They’ve used the sheep for their own benefit, not for the good of the sheep. But we’re not really taking about sheep, are we? We’re talking about the religious leaders who know what is right, but they take advantage of their leadership role to get power or prestige or riches - and the people suffer. They are not exhorted and encouraged to follow God. They are not led in a Godly way.
We know that the Pharisees were so bad, they did such a poor job of being good shepherds for God’s people, that Jesus called them a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33) and hypocrites (Matthew 23:13, 23, 25, 27, 29). Even today, if someone calls you a Pharisee, it’s not a compliment.
So there’s a lesson here for us. We need to be careful about who we listen to. We may like what a Bible teacher says, but we need to check it out to make sure they are accurate. We have a distinct advantage today because we all have our own copy of the Bible. We can read the verses for ourselves. But we still have to listen with careful ears. Think about what is being said. Don’t just believe it because someone you like said it. Don’t disregard it just because you don’t particularly like the way they said it. Listen carefully. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV).
And really, the best option is to keep in mind that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. We are not really looking to a person to lead us; people are fallible and make mistakes. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, to listen to His voice. Reading your Bible daily and praying every day helps you to keep your eyes on Him.
Every day I take my three dogs for a walk. My two black labs wander and search for things all over the place, often out of my sight. My puppy vigorously searches too, but he stays so close that I when I’m ready to go inside, I don’t have to seek for him; he’s right there. That’s where we need to be - so close to Jesus Christ that He doesn’t need to go searching for us at the end of the day.
A Good Steward
Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; Ezekiel 34:18
Materials: a small jar of water, a gallon jug of water, cups; jar of buttons; bag of candy
When my kids were little and the blueberry bushes were likewise small, we’d get a few blueberries every year. When we’d go out to pick, the kids were insistent that I equally divide the blueberries between everyone in the family. So I’d get out containers and carefully count out all the blueberries. Each person might get 10 or 20, but it was always just a small mouthful. Now, we pick about a quart every other day for a couple of months. When the kids pick blueberries with me now, I let them eat as many as they want straight off the bush.
When there is a very little amount of something, we are very careful to use it wisely. But when there is an abundance of something, we tend to be less careful with how we use it. If I have a small jar of water (or buttons or candy) to split between all of the people in the room, I’m going to be very careful not to spill even a single drop. If there’s lots of water, we tend to not care if some spills or everyone gets different amounts.
But God cares.
Think about when Jesus fed the 5000 with two fish and five loaves, there were 12 basketfuls left over. Jesus told them to pick up what was left. “When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted’ ” (John 6:12). It was just bread. They’d started with 5 loaves. Would it have mattered if there were pieces left over? We might not have thought so, but it mattered to Jesus.
So how does this work in your life? One very concrete example happens every day. We are blessed by God with an abundance of food - at home and at potluck at church. Take what you want to eat. Eat as much as you want. But don’t take more than you’re going to eat. You can always go back and get more. If, however, you put a bunch on your plate and you don’t eat it, it just gets thrown into the trash. You might pass it off that it’s just food and we have a lot - that it doesn’t matter. But it matters to God (Ezekiel 34:18; John 6:12).
But maybe God is talking about more than bread and pasture. Maybe it’s a message of comfort that God knows those who are His and He will not miss a single one of us when He gathers His people. (Deuteronomy 30:3; Matthew 24:31)
A Stony Heart
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
What are stones good for? What can you use them for? They make good buildings, fences, roads, bridge supports, mountains. But stones are not very good at absorbing water. They don’t respond well animals looking for a place to hide. They don’t make very good pillows - even if Jacob tried. And stones don’t make very good hearts.
Well, duh! I knew that already! Nobody has a heart of stone - unless we’re talking about some of the idols that the pagan nations worshipped. So what in the world is this verse talking about? What does a stony heart look like? Well, just like a stone is not good at absorbing water, a stony heart is one that doesn’t let God in. That’s the heart which God is going to replace in the person who is not willing to submit their will, their desires, and their very lives to God’s will and God’s desire for their lives.
Let me remind you that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. You can’t rely on your own evaluation of whether your heart is stony or not. You have to rely on the Bible, on the Holy Spirit to convict you, prayer, and fellow believers to have the love and courage to tell you where you’re not letting God into your life! If you don’t spend time seeking God, it’s easy to think you’re an o.k. person. After all, you’ve never murdered anyone. You are generous and good. But the problem is, God doesn’t judge you with a balance scale. He judges you based on the relationship you have with Him. If you don’t have the Son, you don’t have anything! To put it in other terms, if you don’t have the Son, you still have a stony heart.
How’s your heart?
Teaching - And Sometimes Using Words
They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. Ezekiel 44:23
My birthday is in November. So when Mom tried to enroll me in kindergarten when I was 4, almost 5, she was told to keep me home for another year because I wasn’t old enough. I was so disappointed. So when my older brother, Bob, came home from school with his second grade homework, I was all over that. He had to teach me his spelling lesson. He had to show me what he was doing in math. I think that I did most of his first spelling lesson without him because I was so excited at being able to do real school work. I loved school.
I loved school so much, we played school! We’d take turns being the teacher. My older brother Bob taught me how to do long division years before I learned how to do it at school! We loved it!
So, that’s makes me wonder about this verse. Who’s doing the teaching? Well, let’s look at a similar verse. Earlier we looked at Leviticus 10:10. There the priests were given the task of teaching the people to tell the difference between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. And it’s the same thing in Ezekiel 44:23. It is the sons of Zadok who are given the task of teaching the people the difference between the holy and the common, and how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
Why Zadok? Well, he became a priest during the reign of King David. And throughout the chaos and turmoil of David’s son trying to wrest the kingdom from him and the uncertainty about who would be king after him, Zadok remained faithful to King David and to King Solomon. It’s interesting because no other priestly line is so commended by God like Zadok was.
So what does that have to do with us today? Well, look at 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” This is talking about us! We are that royal priesthood. We are among those priests who are to teach the people, someday, to distinguish between the holy and common, clean and unclean.
So we are learning today the difference now so that we can teach others in the millenium. And you already have started. What can you name that is holy? God. The Bible. The Sabbath. You’ve already begun to understand the difference between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. And as you live your life to demonstrate that awareness, you are making an impression on the people around you.
Remember when I told you about doing Bob’s spelling lesson? Well, three years later, I ws sitting in second grade, with the same teacher he had had, looking at that same lesson. I remembered it. I remembered all of those answers that Bob had taught me three years earlier. It can be the same for you: someone may very well come up to you in the millenium and tell you that they remember you obeying God’s law. They may be farther along in learning to distinguish between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean because of what they learned from you today.
It’s something to think about. And while you're thinking about it, think about the admonition to teach with all means possible, and, if necessary, use words.
The LORD is There
The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.” Ezekiel 48:35
Kids get homesick. It doesn’t matter whether it’s summer camp or visiting relatives. It doesn’t matter whether they’re eighteen months or eighteen years. There’s something built within us that wants to be home. We want to be where we belong.
But it’s really more than just being in a certain place. It’s being with the family you love. From the time that babies are aware enough to realize that they’re separate from mom, they start feeling anxiety if mom isn’t in sight. Even when we’re older, if mom isn’t in the house, we feel very acutely that something is missing. My family laughs about it, but the reality is that our new puppy follows me around. He wants to be where I am. If I’m folding clothes upstairs, he’s under the bed with just his head poking out to watch me. If I’m doing dishes, he’s in the kitchen. If I’m in the living room, he’s lying behind my chair. He just wants to be where I am.
I wonder how long it will be before Pepper grows out of this phase. Perhaps he’ll gradually decide that I’m not really doing anything that interesting and quit following me around. After all, that’s kind of what happens with kids. They get older and get less and less dependent upon mom.
And yet . . . there’s still something about being home, about being where you belong, that resonates with all of us. We go on vacation. It could be the most beautiful place on earth. We could spend lots of time and money getting there, and yet, we don’t really belong there. It’s still beautiful, but we’re left feeling like something is missing. We can visit, but it’s not home.
This feeling of searching for something, of not being satisfied, has been around for a very long time. Since the place is not sufficient to satisfy what we want, we try different activities. Some people try to satisfy themselves with every pleasure imaginable: chocolate, television, reading, sky diving, walking, gardening, Mine Craft - whatever it is that you do that gives you pleasure. But it’s never enough. It doesn’t satisfy the longing for very long for something, or someone. Real Christians believe that God is the answer to the longing that we feel.
Augustine, who lived in the later half of the fourth century, said: “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Pascal (1623-1662) put it this way, “There is a godshaped vacuum in the heart of every man, and only God can fill it.” Here’s the idea: God has made us to want Him and we are not satisfied until we find Him. It makes me think of Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When we find Christ, we find rest; we are settled and satisfied.
So with all of that in mind, here’s Ezekiel 48:35: The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.” This is the only place in the Bible this name is found - Jehovah Shammah - the LORD is There. I don’t know if this is meant to be an actual, physical city, or if this is a spiritual concept. But the result is the same: there will be a place where God is. This city will be in the midst of the inheritance of His people. I believe this is the place where God’s people will want to be. We will want to be there because that’s where God is. That’s where we’ll finally feel like we’re home.
Gifts From God
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Daniel 1:17
Have you ever thought about the gift(s) that God has given you? I know a little girl who is a natural with horses. I know a young lady who has a great eye for color and the ability to make incredibly even crochet stitches. I know a young man who has been a kid magnet since he was little. I know another young man who has a knack for figuring out how things work.
When I was little, I wanted very much to learn to play the piano. I wanted, someday, to play for hymns at the Feast of Tabernacles. Later, when I was in high school and working at a steak house, they hired me to play the piano during the evening one day a week to bring in more patrons. As for me, I couldn’t believe they were actually paying me to play the piano. It just doesn’t get any better than that!! Because I felt that way, many people asked why I didn’t get my teaching degree in music. But I didn’t want my music to be my job. I wanted to be able to use music to praise God, to be my way of relaxing and getting my priorities straight again.
Francis Havergal had an incredible gift from God: a fantastic voice, and, coming from a wealthy family, she had a lot of options open to her. She decided, rather, to sing only for the glory of God. We sing her hymn today, “Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated to Thee.” Not only did she use her vocal talents for the glory of God in traveling revivals, she also gave away most of her wealth to help the less fortunate. She used her God-given gifts for the glory of God.
I couldn’t help thinking of Francis Havergal when I read Daniel 1:17: As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. God blessed Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, and Daniel with learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. We know that Hananiah, Azariah, and Meshael demonstrated that wisdom in not bowing down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol regardless of the consequences, but we don’t know how they used the learning and skill in all literature. We are, however, told that they rose to promient positions of authority in Babylon. Similarly, we know Daniel used his understanding of dreams and visions to interpret dreams for both Nebucadnezzar and Belshazzar.
These four youths used their gifts in glory to God, and I believe Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael are commended for their faith in Hebrews 11 in the phrases - “quenched the power of the fire” and Daniel in “stopped the mouths of lions.”
These young men used their God-given gifts, in faith, to glorify God - regardless of the situation in which they found themselves. They didn’t bow to the pressure of living in captivity in Babylon. They didn’t despair and give up because Jerusalem had fallen. They didn’t quit serving God because life was so different. In fact, they continued to seek God, to worship only Him, even when it was against the law to do so.
It wasn’t easy for these four youths to persevere. They were seriously tested in their faith. But they stood firm and they were rewarded. That’s why the results of their faithfulness are recorded in Hebrews 11:32-35a: Because of their faith in God, they “through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection”.
But there were other faithful, who remained faithful, even when the outcome wasn’t so rosy in this life. The rest of the list in Hebrews 11 isn’t as easy to embrace: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:35b-40).
There are a couple of lessons here for us. First, God gave you a gift, a talent, to use. Do you know what your gift is? Secondly, are you using it for God? Even when it’s hard to do the right thing, are you glorifying God with your life, with your talent? Do you seek to please God only when it’s easy and convenient? Or do you seek to please Him with your heart, soul, mind, and spirit? Are you willing to remain faithful even if you don’t see the reward in this life?
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), seek to serve Him with all of who they are and what they have - even when it’s very hard, even if it means you have to suffer. Here’s the challenge: Resolve to serve God with all of who your are and all of what you have. Like Francis Havergal, like Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, and Daniel, live your life totally dedicated to serving the One who gave you life. That’s wisdom and understanding. And that’s your reasonable worship of the One who gave you your gift in the first place.
Mighty To Save
If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. Daniel 3:17
When I was a kid, we lived in Casper, Wyoming. In those days, Casper didn’t use salt on the city streets. They’d plow, but oftentimes the streets would be snow- and ice-packed most of the winter. So many people would put chains on the tires of their cars. As the main thoroughfares were more traveled, sometimes the asphalt would start to peek through. When that happened, Mom would take the side streets to work because otherwise she’d have to take the chains off the car. There was no sense in doing that: winter wasn’t over; she was going to need them again soon. One day, she was driving to work on the side streets. As she came down the hill, she saw a pick-up coming on a cross street. She knew there was no way she would avoid being hit. She couldn’t stop on the slick streets. He couldn’t stop. So she closed her eyes . . . and when she opened them again, both of them were on the other side of the intersection. Somehow, there hadn’t been a collision.
I love that story, but it’s just one story that I could share with you about how something unexplainable happened. Mom believes it was God. Could she prove it? No. But she believes it nonetheless.
I could tell you about Ken and Dan and a serpentine engine belt. I could tell you about a close encounter with a train coming home from work late one night. I could tell you about Buster stumbling and how I suddenly found myself looking up at a 2000-lb. gelding - who wondered why I was on the ground with his front hooves against my side.
There is no doubt in my mind that our God is mighty to save. This particular story about Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael is one of my favorites. King Nebuchadnezzar had constructed a golden idol. He was requiring everyone to bow down and worship the idol when they heard the music playing. Certain Chaldeans brought it to Nebuchadnezzar’s attention that Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were not obeying his decree. When the king brought them before him, he told them to obey or he would throw them into the furnace. Their response demonstrates so much faith in our great God! “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).
These three young men were determined to obey God. It didn’t matter if they faced death. They had resolved to obey God no matter what.
It’s a great example for us. We are faced with choices every day. Should we tell a little lie so someone doesn’t get mad at us? Should I yell at my brother because he’s bothering me? Should I be disrespectful to my mom because she just doesn’t understand that I have things to do and I’ll do what she wants later? It’s not just kids who find excuses for disobeying God, for not following His ways. People take God’s name in vain - both when they misuse God’s name and when they claim to be a Christian but don’t act as a Christian should. People break the fourth commandment - they work on the Sabbath because they feel like they have to make enough money to live. People break the sixth commandment when they are so angry at someone else that they feel like they hate that person; they want something really bad to happen to them.
It’s easy to talk about keeping God’s commandments. It’s a lot harder to actually do it - and to bring every thought into submission to Jesus Christ. And we have lots of excuses to explain why we do what we do. But these three young men didn’t waver. In the face of death, they steadfastly refused to break God’s commandments. The part that I especially love is that they proclaimed God’s ability to save them - but their obedience didn’t depend upon whether God saved them or not. They chose to obey God at all costs.
Are we like these three young men? Are we willing to do the hard things, to take the heat (so to speak) for our decisions, to resolve to obey God no matter what? It’s not a matter of not knowing that God can save us. We have experienced His mighty hand. It’s a matter of whether we will do the right thing whether He demonstrates His might or not. Are we willing to serve Him, to glorify Him, to honor Him with our very lives? Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael did.
In The Lions’ Den
My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm. Daniel 6:22
What kind of man was Daniel?
He was a man of integrity, doing what was right regardless of who was watching (Daniel 1:8; 6:10). Daniel refused to eat the king’s delicacies. Daniel also continued to pray to God, as had been his habit, despite the law of the land to the contrary.
He was a man of compassion (Daniel 2:12; 2:24). When Nebuchadnezzar sought to kill the wise men, magicians, and enchanters, Daniel didn’t ask that just he and his friends be spared, he asked that none of the wise men be killed.
He was a man of humility, not taking honor and glory when it wasn’t his (Daniel 2:27-30). When Nebuchadnezzar wanted his dream revealed and interpreted, Daniel made it very clear that it was God who revealed the mystery and made it known to Daniel.
Daniel wasn’t interested in what he could get short-term; he was interested in serving God first. When Belshazzar wanted Daniel to interpret the handwriting on the wall and offered to give Daniel wealth and make him the third co-ruler in the kingdom, Daniel refused (Daniel 5:17). He said, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.”
Daniel was greatly beloved by God (Daniel 9:23).
In our human reasoning, we think about who Daniel was, what his character was like, and we assume that we “get it,” we understand why God sent the angel to shut the lions’ mouths. And maybe God did shut the lions’ mouths because Daniel was blameless before Him.
But then we’d be making the same mistake Job’s three friends made. We’d be guilty of thinking that the righteous are always rescued: good things happen to the godly; and the wicked are always punished: bad things happen to you if you don’t follow God’s laws. In a sense, this is true. There is coming a day when we will all stand before the judgment seat of God and give an account of our lives to Him - all our deeds and every idle word (Matthew 12:36, 1 Peter 4:17, Revelation 20:12). Yes, it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we will be given salvation and eternal life. But we demonstrate that we have been saved by what we do (Romans 6:15; James 1-22-25; James 2:18-19; Hebrews 4:11; Matthew 12:33).
Nevertheless, in this life, the godly don’t always prosper, and the wicked don’t always fail to prosper. God doesn’t, at this time, always punish the wicked and bless His servants as we might expect (Psalm 73; Matthew 5:45).
Think again about the kind of man Daniel was: humble, compassionate, a man of honor and integrity, wise and gentle, a man greatly beloved by God.
There was another man who was greatly beloved by God - Jesus, the Son of God (Matthew 3:17). He was humble and compassionate, a man of honor and integrity, wise and gentle. And yet, God the Father didn’t rescue Him from the cross, from the excruciating pain or the shame. There was a purpose being fulfilled which involved suffering and death.
Somehow we have to get our minds wrapped around the fact that this life is not the goal. This life is a training ground for what is to come. What a sad thing to focus on being blessed in this life and then miss out on God’s kingdom! We can’t live our lives thinking that if something good happens to us then God must be pleased with us. Similarly, we can’t live our lives thinking that if something bad happens, we must not be in God’s will. God’s given us the Bible. We know what pleases Him. We have been given His laws to live by - not because keeping God’s laws will save us. No! We keep God’s laws because we love Him (1 John 5:3), because we trust Him, because we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Because we believe that Jesus’ blood has bought us (1 Corinthians 7:23), that we belong to Him, we live to obey His commandments because we are His. It’s our reasonable act of worship (Romans 12:1)!
Living a godly life, according to God’s laws, means that regardless of what happens, we do what is right. We keep God’s commandments as they are written in the Bible - because that’s what God’s people do - regardless of whether or not God rescues us from the lions’ den.
Stumble
“and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.” Daniel 11:35
When I was little, it seems like I tripped over cracks in the sidewalk. There were times that both knees, both elbows and the ends of both big toes had bandages and scabs on them. I remember my older brother Bob telling me that I needed to eat more carrots; there had to be something wrong with my eyes.
Stumbling is not fun. Falling over toys on the floor. Falling up the stairs. Tripping over branches in the path. Stumbling over the dog curled up next to your chair. Tripping over shoes left in the middle of the floor. Stumbling is not fun.
But that’s not the kind of stumbling this verse is talking about. Two verses earlier, these wise people referred to in verse 35 are going to stumble “by the sword and flame, captivity and plunder.” Those who know God and who are teaching others about Him are going to be persecuted. It won’t be the kind of persecution that some of us have experienced where people make fun of us or don’t want to have anything to do with us. This is persecution that ends in imprisonment, torture, or death.
But there’s something else in this verse that gives us hope. Why will we be persecuted? This verse says so that we will be “refined, purified, and made white.” This is the same language we find in 1 Peter 1:7 - our faith will be tested as by fire so to result in praise, glory, and honor to God. It’s also found in Titus 2:14 - “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession . . .” We are going to be purified: made pure, cleanse, polished, separated unto God. We are going to be refined: separated from all impurities, tested, proved, tried, examined. We are going to be made white. This sounds very similar to Revelation 7:14: “. . . . They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb? “These are they who have come out of great tribulation.” The language in Daniel and the language in Revelation are remarkable similar and seem to be talking about the same group of people - a group of people who belong to God and who are persecuted for their faith in Him.
That sounds bad. And it is bad. But there’s more encouragement for us in this verse. Daniel 11:35 ends with “. . . for it still awaits the appointed time.” It’s very clear that what is going to happen in the future is not going to happen by chance. It’s not just world events spinning to an unknown, unforeseeable conclusion. Rather, God has appointed the time of the end. He knows. He knows how things will unfold. He knows what the outcome will be. He knows who belongs to Him. And He knows how to refine, purify, and make His people white. He is preparing for Himself a people.
So, the next time you stumble over your own feet or trip over the cat, remind yourself that there’s more stumbling in your future, if you’re wise, if you are among those who have understanding, those who know God. But that stumbling has a purpose - for your good. And in the end, your robes will be made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Wise or Foolish
And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Daniel 12:3
Ron has a saying taped to his study wall, something like this: Age and wisdom don’t necessary go together; sometimes age shows up all by itself. We laugh, but, in reality, we humans do some incredibly foolish things. Why, just today, I thought it’d be a good idea to grind up the Burning Bush Habaneros that I’d finished dehydrating without protective goggles and a face mask. I was okay until I started sneezing and I decided to blow my nose. The force of blowing my nose caused a particle or two to waft into my eye. I’m here to tell you that burning bush habaneros are hot and do not produce a good result when they come into contact with eyes. It was one of my more recent foolish actions, but alas, not my only one. I’m fairly good at doing things which are foolish.
I could have said stupid, unwise, or short-sighted, but I chose “foolish” as the antonym for “wise” because that’s how Jesus phrased these opposites on more than one occasion. There are the 10 virgins of Matthew 25 - five were foolish and five were wise. Then there’s the wise man of Matthew 7 who built his house on the rock compared to the foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are likewise full of the contrast between wise and foolish.
A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back (Proverbs 29:11).
The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him (Eccles. 10:12).
And then there are those who think they are wise. Proverbs 26:12 says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Romans 1:21-22 states there are those who knew God, but “they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.”
This foolishness is not the stupid, careless, short-sighted, thoughtless foolishness that afflicts us all at times. This foolishness is the arrogant, prideful, self-seeking and self-serving foolishness which says that the person knows better than God. This foolish person does not give God the glory and honor and thanks that is God’s due. It is God who made this world and everything in it. It is foolish to pat yourself on the back for being so wise. The wisdom that we may have is a gift from God and falls far short of His wisdom.
It is foolish to talk too much. It is foolish to be out of control, to not have control of your emotions. And while it might be short-sighted to build your house on the sand, Jesus was actually using that illustration to show how foolish it is to hear God’s word and to ignore it - to know what God’s word says and do what you want to do anyway. Similarly, it is foolish not to prepare for Jesus’ coming. And yes, it is foolish to be so arrogant that you think you can fool around with burning bush habaneros without some sort of protective gear.
I don’t want to be foolish. I want to seek God and live according to His ways. His ways work - and they should because God is the One who designed this world. He’s the Master Building. Don’t you think His instruction manual is the one we should follow?
Part of His instruction manual, the Bible, tells us that we need to be a light to those around us (Matthew 5:14-16) that they may see our good deeds and give glory to the Father. We need to be ready to give an account for why we believe to anyone who would ask (1 Peter 3:15). We must live such godly lives that even if people around us revile us, they will give God the glory when Jesus returns (1 Peter 2:12).
Living a godly life shows wisdom because it shows your fear of the Lord (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10). But living a godly life also can be used by God to impact the people around you (Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15). Living for Jesus, being an ambassador for God, that’s worth living for!! And Daniel says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3
Let’s be wise. Let’s live our lives in service to the One who made us and has given us all things. Let’s be done with foolishness!