I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today I read the end of the book of Daniel. In it Daniel recounts the last parts of his final vision. He tells us of a king who will claim to be greater than every god that mankind has ever worshiped, blaspheming even against the God of gods. This king will honor those who submit to him, giving them gifts of great wealth and appointing them to positions of power. He will conquer many and accumulate great wealth. At the height of his power he will hear news that will alarm him and he will set out with his armies, but when the time established for him by God has run its course he will come to his end and no one will come to his aid. While I believe that this prophecy applies to a particular historical ruler (probably Antiochus Epiphanes), I believe that it also tells us the fate of anyone who comes to believe that he is answerable to no one. As time goes on they will do ever more evil, until the day that God has determined for their end. When that day comes they will discover that they have no friends and none will mourn their demise.
John tells us not to believe everyone who claims to speak by the Holy Spirit. If someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge that Jesus came in a real body, or any of the other truths about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the antichrist. After this short side topic on how to recognize false prophets John returns to his primary theme of the importance of loving one another. Anyone who loves is a child of God, but anyone who does not love does not know God. God showed us what real love was by sending His Son to die so that we might have eternal life. Since God loved us that much, we should love one another. No one has seen God, but if we love one another then God lives in us and people can see God through us. God is love. Therefore if God lives in us our love will grow and become more perfect. As God’s love becomes perfected in us we will have less and less fear because perfect love expels fear. If we are afraid it shows that we have not yet fully experienced God’s perfect love. We love (God, our fellow believers, those in the world around us) because God first loved us. If someone claims to love God, but does not show love for a fellow Christian, they are a liar. If we do not love those who we can see, how can we claim to love God, who we cannot see? After all God has commanded that those who love Him must also love their fellow believers. Love is not optional and it is not just an emotion. Love changes the way we behave. If we have love for our fellow believers, we will take action to show that love.
Let us turn our eyes to God, watching Him at all times for His approval. While the proud may scoff and the arrogant have contempt for us, we will seek the approval of God. We will seek to do that which gives Him pleasure. We look to God for His mercy.
When those who hold power are godly, people rejoice. But when those in power are wicked, people suffer. A just ruler brings stability to his nation, one who demands bribes will bring about its destruction.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
In today’s passage the angel that was described in yesterday’s passage gives Daniel a detailed account of what is going to happen over the next period of time, describing the rise and fall of the world powers that will dominate in the area around Israel. It is this passage more than any other that leads many Biblical scholars to say that Daniel was written in the second century BC. They claim that it is clear that this was written after these things happened. There are other reasons why people believe that the book of Daniel was written in the second century BC, but in my experience the main one is that they do not believe that anyone could have written such a detailed account of events before they happened. A review of the other arguments for the late date for Daniel reveals that they do not stand up on their own. I believe that it is absolutely possible that someone writing in the sixth century BC could have had such detailed accounting of what was going to happen in the future revealed to them by God. I am not dogmatically committed to the book of Daniel having been written in the sixth century BC, but that is my default belief based on the claims made in the text. It will require a stronger argument than any I have yet seen to convince me otherwise.
When people consistently do what is right, it is evidence that they are righteous. On the other hand when people make a practice of sinning, it is evidence that they have not been born into God’s family. If I do not live righteously and do not love my fellow believers, I do not belong to God. If I am truly a child of God, I cannot keep on sinning. This does not mean that I will not sin because just in the previous chapter John told us told us that if we do sin, we have an intercessor with the Father. In the chapter before that he told us that if we say that we are without sin, we are fooling ourselves.
We should one another and not follow the example of Cain, who killed his brother. Cain killed Abel because Abel was doing what was righteous while Cain was doing what was evil. From this we learn to expect that the world will hate us if we live righteous lives. I need to love my brothers (and sisters) in Christ. It is not enough to say that I love them, I must also take action to show that I love them. If my actions show that I love and obey God, I can have confidence before God. But even if I feel guilty, I can trust that God is greater than my feelings and knows my actions. That knowledge can help me to no longer feel guilty and come before God with confidence. When our actions reflect our love for each other, we will receive from God what we ask for, because we will be asking for things for others. To illustrate this, if my car breaks down and I ask God for a new car, I may not get a new car. But if I was driving my sickly neighbor to their doctors’ appointments every week and my care breaks down and I ask God for a means to get them to the doctors, I will get it (that still doesn’t mean I will get a new car, although it might, it just means that I will find the means to get my neighbor to their doctors). When we seek the means to do God’s will God will provide us with it.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us gather together with God’s people to worship and fellowship.” Let us gather before the Lord to give Him thanks and praise His name. I will pray for the peace of Jerusalem because then God will be glorified. There will come a day when there will be peace in Jerusalem, then all the world will know that God is great and mighty beyond measure.
This is the first Sunday of Advent. This morning our pastor used Isaiah 2:1-5 as his scripture passage. However, he really started from Isaiah chapter 1. In chapter one, Isaiah talks about how God is fed up with the people of Israel’s sinful ways. Isaiah tells them that their religious rituals are sinful and false. Their leaders did not defend the cause of orphans nor fight for the rights of widows. The hands of the people were covered with the blood of innocents. Their leaders took bribes and looked for payoffs. They were a sinful people. Those who sought to follow God were few and they were oppressed. I do not want to go too far with this, but as I look around me I see the same thing today. Rather than seeking to do what is righteous, seeking to help the orphan, the widow and the needy, people strive to gather wealth so that they can spend it on their own pleasure. People are on the look out for what they can get for themselves.
Isaiah told them that God was going to act. He was going to send out His Spirit upon the world and lift up His Holy Place. People would turn to God and desire to worship Him. We are waiting for God to teach us His ways so that we can walk in His paths. The day is coming when God will judge the nations and people will turn weapons of war into tools of prosperity, nations will not go to war any longer. What a glorious day that will be. Isaiah was looking forward to the day that Jesus would come, but this prophecy looks forward even further to when Jesus returns.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ this year, we remember the prophecies that God gave of His coming, but we also look forward to His return. As we are waiting for God to act, for Christ to return, we are told to act. We are to give up our evil ways and learn to do good instead. We are to seek justice and help the oppressed. We need to turn from our sins and obey God. Let us be an example to those around us of what God is bringing. How will people learn of the joy in worshiping God if we do not show them? We are waiting for God to act, but God is asking us to show the world what it means to live in the belief that He is going to act. Jesus has come and taught us His ways. Now we must walk in His paths. We are waiting for God to act, but now is the time for us to act, now is the time for us to show that we believe. We say that we love one another. If we love one another, then when we see someone in need we will give from our plenty (or perhaps like the widow with two mites, even more than from our plenty) to help.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Daniel was reading the scripture when he read Jeremiah’s prophecy and realized the time for Jerusalem to be abandoned was almost complete. He began to fast and pray. He acknowledges that God’s judgment on the people of Israel and Jerusalem was just and righteous. Daniel confessed his own sins and those of his people. He then prayed for God to restore Jerusalem, not for the sake of the people of Israel or because of their righteousness, but in order to glorify God’s name. Daniel did not request this on the basis of either himself or the people of Israel deserving it, but on the basis of God’s mercy.
Daniel records that the angel Gabriel came to him with a message. The message is very cryptic, containing references to seventy sevens and sixty-two sevens. The passage does not tell us if those “sevens” are days, weeks, months, years, or some other unit. What it does tell us is that the Anointed One will come after Jerusalem is restored. The Anointed One will die without seeming to accomplish anything. Then a ruler will arise who will destroy Jerusalem and the Temple again. This is a clear prophecy of the first century to me. Jesus was born and lived His life. He died without seeming to accomplish anything. A generation after His death (more or less) a Roman emperor attacked and destroyed Jerusalem, including the Temple.
John writes that we are in the end times. We have heard that “the Antichrist” is coming in the end times. John tells us that there is not one antichrist, but rather many and they are already among us. There are those who have gone out from the Church and preach against it. John tells us that if they belonged to God’s Church, they would not have gone from it. This is a difficult statement because not all Church splits (even ones that create new denominations) involve people who deny the true Christian message. Fortunately, John tells us how to recognize when someone has gone beyond just a personality conflict run amuck to the point of being an antichrist.
John tells us that he did not write to us because we do not know the truth but rather because we know the difference between truth and lies. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (Anointed One) is a liar. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is a liar. If you deny the Son, you will not have the Father. Anyone who falls into any of these categories, falls into all of them and is an antichrist. We have received the Holy Spirit who will teach us what is true. We need to remain in fellowship with Christ the Son and by doing so we will be in fellowship with God the Father. It is not written here, but I believe it is consistent with John’s writing here. Any religious group that has “scripture” which supersedes what is written in the Bible has left the Body of Christ.
I can look to the mountains, but that is not where my help comes from, my help comes from the Lord. He watches over me and will not let me stumble or fall. God does not slumber or sleep. He watches by day and by night. There is never a time when He is not watching over me to protect me from danger. He watches me when I am at home and when I am away, when I am in one place and when I travel. This is both a blessing and a warning. It is a blessing because it means that God is always there to keep me from harm. It is a warning because it means that God is always there to see when I do what I ought not do. Of course, that second part can be a blessing as well because I will be happier if I never do what I ought not do.
Those who give to the poor will have plenty, those who try to pretend that the poor do not exist will be cursed. Oh Lord help me to find the time and resources to help the poor. Show me how to change my life so that I have more to help those with greater need than myself.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Daniel describes yet another vision that he had. In this vision he saw a ram with two horns, one longer than the other. The ram butted everything out of its way in all directions. Then a goat with a single horn appeared in the west. The goat charged the ram and broke off both its horns then trampled it on the ground. The goat became very powerful, but at the height of its power its horn was broken off and four horns emerged to replace it. Each of the four horns pointed to a different compass point. At this point the metaphor of the vision becomes confused (as often happens in dreams). A small horn came out of one of the four horns and extended towards the land of Israel. The power of the small horn extended up to heaven where it challenged the authority of the Commander of heaven’s armies by cancelling the daily sacrifices and defiling the Temple.
In the dream someone who looked like a man approached Daniel and a voice called out that Gabriel should explain the vision to him. When Gabriel approached Daniel, Daniel was so frightened that he fainted. Gabriel roused Daniel with a touch and explained the vision to him. The ram represented the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (what we know today as the Persian Empire). The goat represented the kingdom of Greece. The single horn represented Alexander the Great (something we can tell looking back that is not explicitly stated in the explanation) who died at the height of his power. He was replaced by four generals who each took over part of his empire (one in each direction from the land of Israel). Shortly before the four Hellenistic kingdoms were conquered by Rome one of those kingdoms was ruled by a king (Antiochus Epiphanes) who attempted to put an end to traditional Jewish worship and who rededicated the Temple to the worship of Zeus. Daniel is told that this king will be brought down, but not by human power. Antiochus Epiphanes was successful in battle against the Parthian Empire (revitalized Persian Empire) who had invaded his territory. However, after his initial successes and before he could consolidate them he died suddenly of disease. There are many who see more to this vision than that obvious interpretation since at the end of the explanation Gabriel tells Daniel to keep the vision a secret. I am satisfied with the interpretation of this prophecy being about the fall of the Persian Empire to Alexander the Great and the eventual fall of the Seleucid (Antiochus Epiphanes was a member of the Seleucid dynasty) dynasty. I am willing to consider additional meanings for this prophecy considering that in the explanation Gabriel says that it refers to the very end of time.
John wrote this letter so that we might not sin, but he told us that even if we do sin we have an advocate who will plead our case before the Father. IF we know and love God we will follow His commands. Someone who does not follow God’s commands does not know or love God. If I wish to be viewed as living in God I must live as Jesus did.
John tells us that the command to love one another is not a new command. Yet it is new because Jesus showed us what it means to truly live this command. If I claims to be living in the light in fellowship with God, yet harbor animosity towards a fellow believer, I am in fact living in darkness and am not experiencing the light of God. If I love my fellow believers then I am living in the light and I will not cause anyone to stumble. John tells us not to love the things of this world. I strive to love serving God more than I crave physical pleasure, more than I take pride in my accomplishments or my possessions. All of those things will fade away and be of no real consequence. I know that only what I do that pleases God and serves His will has real meaning, but I still find myself chasing after those other things.
If we cry out to the Lord when we face trouble, He will hear our prayer and answer us. He will rescue us from among liars and deceitful people, but we must be careful not to be one of those. I will seek peace, even when I live among those who are seeking war and violence.
Greed is the source of conflict, we fight because we want what others have. Trusting in your own insight is a sure route to trouble. Ask others for their advice and you will soon learn wisdom.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Daniel recounted a vision he had during the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon. In the dream he saw four beasts rise up out of a great sea. He gives a description of each of the beasts. The fourth beast has the most detailed description. It is described as starting out with ten horns. Then a small additional horn arises and three of the original ten horns are ripped out to make room for it. The small horn had human eyes and a mouth and it boasted of its great might. The fourth beast was killed and burned with fire while the other three beast had their power taken from them but lived on for a time. Then Daniel saw someone like a “son of man” come from heaven who was given sovereignty over all of the earth and a kingdom that would last forever.
Daniel’s vision was explained to him. He was told that the four beasts were four kingdoms that would rise to power on the earth, but in the end the Kingdom of God would displace them and last to eternity. To this point it appears to be a vision recounting the same future as the one from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that first brought Daniel to prominence. However, the explanation of the fourth kingdom contains additional information. It tells us that a ruler would arise over the fourth kingdom who would defy God and attempt to change the religious practices of the people of God. As with many apocalyptic prophecies there are many interpretations of this prophecy. On the face of it, it appears to me to be a prophecy about something different from that of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. At least elements of it refer to the four kingdoms that Alexander the Great’s empire split into upon his death. I, also, believe that there are other times and places where this prophecy will apply. The rise of the boastful ruler who attempts to co-opt rituals and behaviors designed to worship God into worship of himself and pillars of his power base is a common theme throughout history. History, also, shows us that such rulers repeatedly use the power they so gather to bring horror upon those they rule over. These rulers generally come to a destructive end. There is more to be taken from this passage, but for today I come away with the knowledge that rulers will arise who think that they can displace God. They will persecute any who do acknowledge any god higher than themselves. Yet, ultimately God will bring them down in a way that shows that He is in control of history.
Today I begin the book of 1 John. The author begins by declaring that he had seen and touched Jesus in the flesh. He is telling what he has actually seen and heard. Jesus is the Word of life and life itself. If we listen to and follow the words contained within this book, we will have fellowship with the author and with God. If we are attentive to these teachings we will share the joy that the author experienced.
God is light, if we live in spiritual darkness we do not have fellowship with God. If we practice the truth of God’s word, spiritual darkness will be driven out of our lives, just as bringing light into a room drives out the darkness. I need to work at shining God’s light into all the corners of my life to drive out sin. The author tells us that if we claim to be without sin, we are liars and we are calling God a liar. However, if we admit to our sins and strive to turn from them God will forgive us and cleanse us from wickedness. I strive to make sure that those around me do not get the impression that I think I am without sin, or better than them.
The very essence of the words of God is truth. God’s rules are based on essential truth about humans and the world. Those who choose to ignore His words and behave wickedly are traveling into great danger because they are moving away from that which is truthful and essential. If we love doing what God desires and walk in the path of His commands we will not stumble and God will come to our rescue when trouble threatens. When I wander away from the Lord’s will and stumble into trouble, I will cry out to Him and He will guide me back to His path’s and out of trouble. I love the final verse of today’s psalm:
I have wandered away like a lost sheep;
come and find me
That sums up so much of my life and God’s faithfulness in coming to find me when I have cried out to Him.
Woodpeckers Once More
In the long run those around you will be happier if you give them honest criticism than if you flatter them. Someone who is willing to steal from their parents will be equally willing to murder if they think they can get away with it.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Once Darius had conquered Babylon he divided his kingdom into 120 provinces and appointed a governor over each province. He then appointed Daniel and two others as something akin to an Inspector General to audit how the governors exercised their authority. Because Daniel was effective at this job, the king made plans to give him authority over the entire kingdom. The other officials and administrators began looking for ways to diminish Daniel’s influence. They were unable to find fault (at least what the king would have considered fault) with anything about the way Daniel carried out his official duties. Since they could not find anything wrong with the way he did his job, they decided to attack Daniel on the basis of his religion. But they could not attack him directly, so they went to King Darius and told him how wonderful he was. They recommended that he pass a law that for thirty days, no one could pray to anyone but him on pain of being thrown into a den of lions and told him that they supported it unanimously (they failed to tell him that they obtained that unanimity by not inviting anyone who might have disagreed). King Darius was convinced by their flattery. I don’t know about you, but this is sounding familiar. Time and again I see prominent figures attacked for their beliefs when those beliefs have little to do with the job those people do (except possibly making them better at it).
What was Daniel’s response to this new law? It was to continue worshiping in the manner that he had always done. He changed nothing. He did not even attempt to be more secretive about his actions. The other officials went to his house and caught him violating the new law. They brought him before Darius and demanded that the king enforce the law. King Darius immediately realized what had happened and began looking for a loophole that would allow him to let Daniel off. The officials insisted that the king enforce the law and because he could find no loophole he gave the order for Daniel’s arrest. Just before having him placed in the den of lions the king told Daniel that he hoped that the God Daniel served would rescue him.
The king spent the night in fasting and refused to sleep. In the morning he went to the lions’ den and called out for Daniel. Daniel answered the king and told him that God had kept the lions from harming him. The king ordered Daniel brought forth from the den. The king then ordered that those who had been behind the plot against Daniel be arrested and thrown into the lions’ den. The lions immediately attacked and ate them, demonstrating that Daniel’s safety was not the result of the lions not being aggressive against humans or not hungry.
In this passage Peter addresses the issue of the Lord’s return. First he tells us that some will scoff. The scoffers will question why Jesus has not yet returned and suggest that this is because He is not coming back. Peter reminds us that God destroyed the Earth once already with a flood and that He is going to destroy it a second, and final, time with fire. We must not forget that time does not mean the same thing to God as it does to us. God does not perceive time the way that we do. A thousand years looks no different than a day to God. I believe that what Peter is saying here can be compared to talking about a map. On a map of a state, there is no distinction between an inch and a thousand feet, both are too small to be separated out. When I tell you that two places are close together, if you do not know the scale of the map I am using, you will not be able to judge just how far apart they are. For example, to someone in California, Washington, DC and New York City are close to each other, but to someone in Baltimore, MD they are quite a distance apart. So Peter is telling us that Jesus is not being slow in returning, it is just that we do not understand the scale on which He is measuring time.
God is not being slow in bringing about the judgment. He is being patient. He wishes to give everyone an opportunity to repent. He wants to give us time to reach out to our friends and neighbors and perhaps convince them to turn from sin to following Him. However, the day of Jesus return will come without additional warning. Since everything in this world is going to be destroyed, we should live our live accordingly. Let us live recognizing that the material things of this world are temporary and thus willingly sacrifice them in order to accumulate honors that are eternal. I will strive to live a peaceful life that is pure and blameless before God. In the meantime, I will use the time that God has given me to attempt to convince others to turn from their sins, praying that the Holy Spirit will move in their lives and show them God’s path.
God’s instructions are wonderful and following them gives me joy. They are straightforward and uncomplicated such as even those who are not very bright can understand what God wants from them. I am saddened by those who choose to ignore God’s instructions, both for the grief they inflict on others and for that which they inflict on themselves. God’s commands lay out the path to joy, happiness and fulfillment. They are trustworthy and thoroughly tested. We may not understand why God calls for us to behave as He does, but we can have confidence that it is the best path for us to follow. I will continue to pray to God that He give me the strength and courage to do as He commands.
It is never good to show favoritism, yet there are people who will do wrong for the pettiest of rewards. Attempting to get rich quick is a sure route to poverty. The timing on this second could not be more perfect for me. I am reading it (and writing this) while there is lots of buzz over the size of the PowerBall Lottery prize. Many have chosen to buy tickets in the hope of getting rich quick.
I am going to try various ways to improve my blog. The last couple of days I was asking for people from particular countries to respond to my blog. I chose countries that I had been receiving hits from for the previous couple of days. Interestingly, no one visited my blog from the country I chose each day. So, I am going to discontinue that idea. I will be trying different things. If my changes make any difference to you, please let me know what you think (good or bad).
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today’s passage is where the phrase “the writing on the wall” comes from. The story begins by telling us that King Belshazzar, one of Nebuchadnezzar’s successors, was throwing a feast for some of his nobles. As part of this feast, he thought it would be a great idea to use cups taken from the temple in Jerusalem to drink in celebration of their various idols. In the middle of their celebration and worship of these gods a hand appeared and began to write on the wall. King Belshazzar became frightened and immediately summoned his various magicians and fortune tellers. He offered them a great reward if they could tell him what the writing meant. None of them could read the writing let alone tell him what it meant.
The king and the nobles were badly shaken by the failure of these wise men to interpret the writing. When the queen mother heard of the uproar, she hurried to the banquet and instructed the king to summon Daniel, recounting how Daniel had demonstrated great ability under Nebuchadnezzar. King Belshazzar followed he advice and summoned Daniel. When Daniel arrives the king offered him great riches for solving the mystery. Daniel declined the king’s offer but answered the mystery anyway. Daniel told the king that he, the king, knew of Nebuchadnezzar being humbled before the Lord, but chose to defy the Lord by drinking to idols with cups taken from the Lord’s Temple. The writing was a message that God had chosen to end King Belshazzar’s reign. That very night Darius the Mede conquered Babylon and killed Belshazzar.
This is a very telling story. King Belshazzar and his nobles are busy partying while the city which they are in charge of is under siege. On top of that they chose to ignore the evidence of God’s power that had been evident in the reign of the king’s predecessor. I have a sense that they used the implements from the Temple in Jerusalem at the feast as a deliberate defiance against an ethos of moral behavior and self-sacrifice. The king and his nobles saw no reason they should refrain from obtaining their own pleasure even though their city was under attack and some of their fellow citizens were suffering.
Peter writes that just as there were false prophets in Israel there will be false teachers among the Church. These false teachers will make up clever lies to get a hold of other people’s money. Peter writes that God will bring judgment upon these false teachers just has He has brought judgment upon sinners in the past. He tells us that we have the example of Lot to show us that God can and will rescue the godly out from the middle of such sinners. God is especially harsh on those who indulge twisted sexual desires and defy authority. These false teachers indulge in evil pleasures and lure people into sin. They will attempt to build up a reputation for godliness among the Church while plotting to take advantage of those whom they have fooled. They scoff at the idea of supernatural powers while indulging in evil pleasures. They claim that the freedom of Christ is the freedom to engage in licentious behavior, rather than recognizing that such behavior enslaves those who partake in it. There is a reason that our society has added sexual addiction to the list of addictions that people need treatment to escape. All sins are addictive, we are to accept the freedom of Christ and resist being re-enslaved to sin (become addicted to once more).
We should be wary of false teachers. Peter here gives us several methods for recognizing them. The first is their obsession with gaining other people’s money. Preachers who spend an inordinate amount of their time asking others to give to their ministry, especially when that ministry is situated in such a manner so as to make it difficult for those giving to receive an account of how the money is actually spent. In addition, they are constantly talking about their powerful ministry and perhaps the power they have over supernatural beings. Finally, they often indulge in sexual sins and do not make much effort to hide such behavior from their followers. We see this again and again in accounts of big name preachers (and some not so big name ones as well) who have brought discredit on Christianity, from Jim Jones to Jim Baker to many others. The story often comes out about how they have indulged themselves sexually with persons other than their wives.
O Lord do not let me have divided loyalties. Let me desire to follow your commands, not seek after worldly pleasures. Help me to focus on keeping your commands and serving You. Give me a love for serving You that dwarfs my desire for wealth. Teach me to seek how I may better serve you in all that I do. Show me the actions You wish me to take and the wisdom to understand why that is the course I should follow.
A hard worker will have sufficient to supply their needs and a trustworthy person will be rewarded. On the other hand those who seek to get rich quick and fantastical schemes to profit without effort will end in poverty.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me. I am striving to improve these devotionals, so from time to time I am going to take note of countries from which I have seen a significant number of visitors and ask how those from that country think I can improve my blog. Today I have chosen Hong Kong. If you live in Hong Kong and are visiting my site today, please tell me why you visited my site and how I could improve it. Thank you.
Today’s passage is about another dream that Nebuchadnezzar had that was interpreted by Daniel. When Nebuchadnezzar woke from his dream he summoned all of the wise men and magicians of his realm and described his dream to them requesting that they interpret it for him. None of them could give him an answer except for Daniel. Daniel was hesitant to interpret the dream for Nebuchadnezzar but the king insisted that Daniel tell him the meaning.
The dream was of a large tree that soared high into the heavens such that it could be seen from the entire earth. A messenger came down from heaven and ordered that the tree be cut down and that “he” live as an animal for seven “periods of time.” Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he, Nebuchadnezzar, was the tree and that he would lose his power and his mental capacity and would live as an animal for seven periods of time (the passage never specifies if this is days, months, years or some other unit of time).
The passage tells us that twelve months later, Nebuchadnezzar was on his palace roof looking out over the city of Babylon and musing on what a wonderful and powerful ruler he was when a voice spoke from heaven and he lost his mind and was driven from human company. He lived as a beast for seven periods of time. At the end of that time, he looked up to heaven and praised God. His exile ended when he recognized that God was the final arbiter of who will have power and who will be powerless, that no human effort can change the course that God has chosen. Upon recognizing these facts, Nebuchadnezzar was restored to power in his kingdom.
I begin reading Peter’s second letter (the second of the two that we still have, I am sure that he wrote many others over the course of his life and ministry that have not been preserved). He starts off with a wish/blessing for us, but it is a conditional blessing. He expresses his desire that God give us ever increasing grace and peace, but he tells us that this will only happen as we grow in our knowledge of God and Christ.
Peter writes that God has given us everything we need to live a godly life as a result of our coming to know Him through Jesus. In light of this fact we should make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Peter then tells us how to go about that. The starting point is faith. Then we add moral excellence, followed by knowledge. As we increase in knowledge, we need to exercise self-control. We need to exercise self-control with patient endurance. Patient endurance should be supplemented with godliness. We should add brotherly affection to our godliness and then extend brotherly affection to love for everyone. It is a progression and it all fits together. We cannot skip over parts of it and say, “Well, I have love for everyone, so I don’t need knowledge (or moral excellence, or self-control).” In addition, it is not enough to have knowledge and not love for everyone. On the other hand, it is a progression. We are not going to have moral excellence until we have faith. We are not going to grow in knowledge until we exhibit the moral excellence that we know (and so on). The more we grow in this progression, the more that God can use us to serve His purposes. If we fail to develop according to this process it indicates that we are short-sighted, or completely blind to God’s plans in this world.
Peter reminds us that his knowledge is not that of clever stories, but of someone who actually witnessed the events of the Gospel. He goes on to tell us that the prophesies in Scripture do not derive from human understanding or initiative. The Scriptures came about when the Holy Spirit moved the prophets to convey a message from God.
The path to knowledge and wisdom is following God’s commands. If we study God’s commands AND follow them we will be wiser than our enemies. There are two pieces to this. First, following God’s commands will give us greater wisdom than those who do not follow God’s commands. Second, we will not be enemies of those who also follow God’s commands since it is a violation of God’s commands to be at odds with those who are following God’s commands. If we are faithful in following God’s commands we will be wiser than our elders who fail to do so. As we follow the Lord’s commands, we will find doing so as rewarding as we find honey to be sweet when we eat it.
As we study God’s word and follow His instructions we will find that we do not trip over obstacles we did not see coming. We are able to prepare for troubles before they come upon us and navigate around them. We do not need to stumble in the dark with no way to plan for future events. IF we follow the commands of the Lord we will discover that we are prepared for what happens. The path He will lay out for us will take us around obstacles and troubles.
Those who do evil will be hounded by enemies that exist only in their minds (although they may have real enemies as well) until the day they die. Those that are innocent will be rescued from harm as if a hand is held over them (because One is), while destruction will come without warning to those who are crooked and evil. When I read this proverb I envision an innocent walking out in front of a bus which slams on its brakes and stops just short of hitting them. Meanwhile the evil person who has been plotting to harm them is walking along behind and gets run over by the speeding car that swerves to avoid the suddenly stopped bus.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me. I am striving to improve these devotionals, so from time to time I am going to take note of countries from which I have seen a significant number of visitors and ask how those from that country think I can improve my blog. Today I have chosen the Philippines. If you live in the Philippines and are visiting my site today, please tell me what you would like me to do differently with my site, and if you visit it regularly let me know why. Thank you.
Daniel described King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him and then told him what it meant. Daniel first tells Nebuchadnezzar that no man could reveal the king’s secret. However, there is a God in heaven that can reveal any secret. This God has revealed the king’s secret to Daniel. Daniel describes the dream as of a giant statue made of mixed materials. The head was of gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze, its legs were iron and its feet were mixed iron and clay. In the dream, a rock was then cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. The rock struck the statue and crushed it into small pieces. The wind rose up and blew the bits away. The rock then grew into a mountain that filled the whole earth.
Daniel then explains the meaning of the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. The gold head was Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. Each of the different metals represented the empires that one after another succeeded Nebuchadnezzar’s. The mixed iron and clay represents and empire that will be two kingdoms that form alliances with each other through intermarriage. The two kingdoms will not hold together just as iron and clay do not mix. The rock represents a kingdom set up by God that will crush all the other kingdoms into nothingness and endure forever. Traditional interpretation is that the silver kingdom was that of the Persians which succeeded the Babylonian Empire, the bronze was the empire of Alexander the Great and the iron was the Roman Empire (with the iron and clay feet being after Constantine established Constantinople separating the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western parts). The rock represents the rise of God’s Kingdom with the coming of Christ. After Daniel reveals the dream and its interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar appointed him to a high office. At Daniel’s request, Nebuchadnezzar also appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to high office.
Some time after this, Nebuchadnezzar built a giant statue and ordered all of the kingdom officials to gather for the dedication of the statue. Nebuchadnezzar then ordered that all of the people bow down and worship the statue when they heard the sounds of the musical instruments. Those who refused to bow down would be thrown into a blazing furnace. When the horns and other musical instruments sounded all of the people bowed down except for some of the Jews. Some of the court musicians made Nebuchadnezzar aware that Daniel’s three friends, Meshach, Sadrach and Abednego did not worship the gods of Babylon and had refused to bow down and worship the statue. Nebuchadnezzar was infuriated. He had the three brought before him and offered them one more chance to worship the statue. He asked them what god would rescue them from his power when he had them thrown into the furnace. They replied that they had no need to defend themselves to him and that the God that they served was able to rescue them from his power. They further said that even if God did not rescue them from his power, they would not serve his gods nor worship the statue he had built.
Nebuchadnezzar was so furious at this response that he ordered the furnace stoked up even hotter. He then ordered them tied up and thrown into the furnace fully dressed. The fire was so hot that it killed the soldiers who threw the three into the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar suddenly cried out that instead of three bound men lying in the furnace, he saw four men unbound walking around in the fire unharmed. Nebuchadnezzar approached the furnace as close as he could and called for Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego to come out of the furnace. When the three emerged, those nearby observed that not only was not a single hair on their heads was singed but they did not even smell of smoke.
I think that the response of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego is a model for us today when we pray for divine intervention. They declared that they knew that God was capable of rescuing them from Nebuchadnezzar’s power, but they recognized that He might not do so. They declared that they would be faithful to God even if he did not grant their petition. We should have faith that God is capable of granting that which we are asking of Him, but that even if it is His will to not do so, we will continue to faithfully serve Him and we will NOT give our loyalty to other gods in His place.
Peter tells us that the end of the world is coming soon, so we should be disciplined in our prayers. In addition he tells us to show deep love for one another and demonstrate hospitality. Before I began this daily devotional blog I had been aware of the Bible’s instruction for us to be hospitable but I had never realized how much emphasis it placed on exhibiting hospitality. In this passage, Peter goes on to tell us that each of us has been given a spiritual gift from God. We are to use whatever gifts we have been given to serve one another. We need to use all of the energy and strength that God has supplied us with in the exercise of our spiritual gifts. By doing this we will bring glory to God in everything we do.
We should not be surprised that we suffer for being Christians. We should be joyful when we suffer and receive insults for being Christians for it is a sign that God’s Spirit is resting upon us. We should not suffer for doing wrong. However, when we suffer for being faithful to God we should praise God for the honor of suffering in His name.
Peter wrote that the elders should care for the congregation willingly, not for what they can get out of it, but because they are eager to serve God. The elders should not lord it over those who have been entrusted to their care. Instead they should lead them by setting a good example. Younger men should accept the authority of the elders and all in the Church should serve one another with humility. We must stand firm against the devil and be alert against his attempts to lead us astray. Our fellow Christians throughout the world are experiencing trials for their faith just as we are.
Even when my life is filled troubles and strains and I am being persecuted for following the Lord I will look to the Lord for rescue. I know that in His time He will provide me relief. I will not abandon His commands because I know that He loves me with unfailing love. The Lord’s commands are eternal and will withstand the test of time. I will not forget the Lord’s commands because they are the path by which He gives me life and joy. Even though my enemies may lay in wait and plot against me, I will not be distracted from following God’s commands.
I have just written to above in positive affirmation as if I do these things as a matter of course, when these are merely my statements of what I wish to do as God gives me the strength to do so.
A wicked ruler is as much of a danger to the poor as any wild predator. A ruler who oppresses those over whom he rules is demonstrating a lack of wisdom, while a ruler who fights corruption will lead a long life.
