I was reminded during today's reading of a question that was asked to me by a student one time about what happens to people when they die. Do they go directly to heaven if they were believers, or is there a period of waiting? In 12:2, Daniel refers to a resurrection that includes both the righteousness and the unrighteous, and it would be easy to draw the ... [Continue Reading]
Because of God ‘ s great mercy (Daniel 7-9)
Once Daniel realizes that the seventy years of Israel's captivity is nearing its end, he spends a good amount of time confessing his own sins as well as his nation's sins and pleading with God for forgiveness. His words are very poignant in 9:18b, "For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great ... [Continue Reading]
The writing ‘ s on the wall (Daniel 4-6)
The story of King Belshazzar in Daniel 5 is, in my mind, one of the funniest stories of the Old Testament. I'm not sure why I find it so comedic, but there's something very amusing to me about the whole thing. Belshazzar (King Nebuchadnezzar's son) hosted a party with his lords, his wives, and his concubines. Someone at the party had the ... [Continue Reading]
Doing the right thing (Daniel 1-3)
I really resonate with the stories from the first three chapters in Daniel (in fact, I taught on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to our students in this sermon). The reality is that Daniel and his friends all understood the concept that when we see as God sees we will do as God says. Even when placed in the intense training camp of the Babylonians Daniel saw ... [Continue Reading]
The day of the Lord (Joel)
Joel refers often to the day of the Lord. According to Joel, it is a day that will be full of darkness and gloom. Fire will devour before the people. People will be in anguish - the earth will quake, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon will be darkened as well as the stars. The day of the Lord is great and awesome, and Joel asks, "who can endure it?" ... [Continue Reading]
Face down (Ezekiel 42-44)
I think it's interesting that in the two times Ezekiel records seeing the glory of the Lord fill the temple, each time he falls on his face. What he is displaying is an act of reverence that is often not present in the contemporary church. When confronted with the glory of the Lord, Ezekiel realized his status and fell down immediately. He ... [Continue Reading]
A fresh start (Ezekiel 40-41)
In chapter 40, Ezekiel is given a vision for the new temple that is to be built for Israel. Ultimately what Ezekiel was seeing was a fresh start for the nation. God was not through with them; they would be restored. Thank goodness, by the way, for fresh starts. Those of us in a relationship with Jesus Christ have experienced that "fresh ... [Continue Reading]
Who is Gog? (Ezekiel 38-39)
In today's reading I found myself asking, "who is Gog?" I scoured the chapter before to see if there was any mention of him, and I finally turned to The New Bible Commentary to get some information. What I found was pretty interesting, and I thought it was worthwhile to post here. I hope you appreciate this background info the way I ... [Continue Reading]
Dry Bones (Ezekiel 36-37)
Reading this took me back to my childhood days of VBS and singing the song that said, "them bones, them bones they gonna walk around..." This striking picture of the dead coming back to life was indicative of God's plan for His people. If we're honest with ourselves, though, isn't that what God does for us? He takes our emptiness ... [Continue Reading]
A watchman (Ezekiel 33-35)
God gives us a great picture of the role of a prophet: he is to be a watchman. What was a watchman in the ancient Near East? He was the one who stood on guard at the most strategic point of the city and was on the lookout for impending danger. When a potential threat approached, the watchman's responsibility was to report the danger by word of ... [Continue Reading]
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