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God bless! Mike
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Today we wrap up the book of Hosea! It's been a great read for me this year. It has been a good look at how the prophets of the Old Testament were warning Israel & Judah over and over again of their sins - sins that multiplied as we read in today's readings - and there was no repentance. Things just got worse. This did make me think today - if we continue to sin and sin and things get worse and worse in our lives and how we are adversely affecting other people's lives around us, is maybe the most compassionate thing for God to do - for us and others - to stop us from our path of destruction? My thought here in today's readings is that God is a compassionate God. Yes, he's throwing out some tough stuff in what he's saying - and will be doing - but for the end goal of getting people from stopping their sinful ways and harming themselves and others. Today, we are fortunate, compared to the Old Testament days, that we have Jesus Christ as a mediator for our sins between us and God - and not just a mediator - but a Healer. Jesus can heal us from our sinful desires and ways. So, while I do see God as being compassionate in the Old Testament & I am so thankful for his great compassion of sending his son Jesus to the earth for us. Without a doubt, God is good.
Hosea chapter 10 verse 12 I loved today: "Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.'" Beautiful verse! Are you planting good seeds of righteousness in your life? What would good seeds of righteousness be? Is it possible that faith in Jesus is a seed of righteousness that you should plant - and that would indeed harvest a crop of God's love in your life? To plant these seeds of righteousness, you may need to plow up some hard ground in your heart and you may need to seek God like never before. Do you think this plowing is worth it? Will you plow so that God may come into your life and shower righteousness upon you?
In Hosea chapter 11 verses 8 & 9 we read this about God's compassion: ""Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not punish you as much as my burning anger tells me to. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy." I absolutely love these verses. Do you believe that God will not give up on you? Do you believe that God's heart overflows with compassion for you? Do you believe that God is the one and only Holy and Living God, who is indeed involved in every single moment of your life? Do you believe God is closer than the air you breathe? (Thanks to the musician David Wilcox for this last question. I love that thought - God is closer than the air we breathe!)
Hosea 12 verse 6 has a phrase I love - "So now, come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God." Always live in confident dependence on God. Wow. My prayer for each of us is that we would indeed always live in confident dependence on God...
The book of Hosea ends with a phenomenal verse - chapter 14 verse 9: "Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way." This verse reminds me of the beauty of studying the Bible! The Bible gives us wisdom - and also we need wisdom to understand the Bible's teaching. But, the beauty is that the more we study the Bible, the more we gain wisdom, and the more that wisdom allows us to truly understand what we're reading in the Bible! It's a never-ending circle of elevation in our study of the Bible - we'll never fully "get it" all this side of heaven. But the more we study the Bible, the more I believe we'll be able to truly understand it and put it into practice. Do you believe this to be true? Have you found over time that studying the Bible becomes more and more interesting and you gain more and more insights and understandings? This verse above I think also has a warning if we don't surrender our lives to Jesus, dive into God's Word, and put it into practice in our lives. There is the very real risk of stumbling and falling along the way... Let us not stumble!
Worship Video: Today’s readings remind me of the song “O Come All Ye Faithful” sung here by Passion Music:
Comments from you: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Today we get 4 chapters of Hosea, with pretty much a continuation of prophesying by God via Hosea on what's going to happen to Israel due to her unfaithfulness and many sins. Hosea chapter 6's first 2 verses start things off on what seem like a hopeful note. However, commentaries suggest that this was a very shallow pledge by Israel: "Come, let us return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence." Even if this is a shallow pledge from Israel, I do really like verse 3 too: "Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him!" Are we pressing on in our lives to know God? Are we returning to God? Are we seeking to continually live in His presence?
God's reply to all of this in verse 6 is fantastic: "I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that's more important than burnt offerings." Are there times in our lives where we try to bring "sacrifices" of prayer or pledges of repentance or works, when really what we should be bringing to God is mercy for others and just simply the desire to know God? Do our "acts" of repentance sometimes get in the way of our actual love relationship with God?
Chapter 7 Verse 16 stood out to me today as well: "They look everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High." If we are hurting, sad, tired, do we look to things other than God? Do we look to "quick fixes" from things of this world that are not healthy for us? Do these "quick fixes" really fix the problem? Are we looking everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High? Will we look only for the Most High - God?
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of the Charlie Hall song "Marvelous Light:"
Comments from you: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Hosea chapters 4 & 5 are classic prophesying! If you ever think of a prophet in the Old Testament going around and stirring things up in the land - think of these 2 chapters... If you're just checking out this website and today's readings, I realize that they will sound very harsh on the surface. However, context from Jeremiah & Ezekiel & 2 Kings will help catch you up on why God is not happy here. Essentially the northern kingdom of Israel is worshiping Baal, an idol/false god, and not God himself. And the immorality in the land is skyrocketing. God's reaction here is actually a compassionate reaction - he is trying to reverse the immorality and bring people back to him in repentance. Below is an image of Hosea prophesying by the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna from the year 1308:
Verses 1 & 2 in chapter 4 set the stage for these 2 chapters: "Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel! The LORD has filed a lawsuit against you, saying: "There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You curse and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another." See any violations of the Ten Commandments in these 2 verses?
Verse 18 really stood out to me today: "Their love for shame is greater than their love for honor." Is it possible in our world today that there are people who love shame more than they love honor? It is possible that this happens in our lives at times? Will we pursue love of honor in our lives, leaving behind anything that might look like love of shame?
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of Darlene Zschech's awesome worship song "Shout to the Lord:"
Comments from you: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Alright, today is a big day! We start The Book of the Twelve, or the Minor Prophets. Basically, this means we are in the last 12 books now of the Old Testament, and all of them are pretty short books by various prophets. These 12 prophets were contemporaries of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and their books parallel these three books. These 12 aren't called "minor" prophets in that they were "lesser" than others - but, they are called "minor" because their books are shorter. The first prophet of The Book of the Twelve we start today is Hosea. Hosea prophesied in about 750 B.C. in the northern kingdom of Israel - which was rare. Most of the prophets were in the southern kingdom of Judah. Hosea lived during the final / last days of the northern kingdom, which ended in 722 B.C. Below is an image of Hosea with the five kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Jeroboam, and with his wife, Gomer, from a 14th century illuminated Bible:
~ Hosea ~ Author: Hosea Date: Eighth century B.C. Content: The book of Hosea consists of two unequal parts, the first containing Hosea’s life (chapters 1-3) and the second containing Hosea’s messages (chapters 4-14). Hosea was a prophet to the northern Kingdom of Israel prior to its fall in 722 B.C., and his ministry spanned some forty years. He was a contemporary of Amos, Isaiah, and Micah. Hosea’s unhappy marriage life depicted symbolically the state of affairs in his nation. Just as his wife left home for a life of prostitution, so Israel had left God to seek after false gods. But as Hosea continued to love his wife and finally brought her home again, so God continued to love Israel and promised to restore her someday. Theme: Two things stand in marked contrast in the book of Hosea: the love of God and the waywardness of Israel. God is depicted as faithful, caring, forgiving, kind, and loving. God’s unfailing love is the theme of the book. Israel is seen as faithless, straying, sinful, rebellious, and wanton. She is characterized by ignorance of what God requires and total lack of desire to please God. However, just as Hosea’s love triumphed in the end, so will God’s love work a miracle of transformation in Israel. (Above commentary is from Tyndale Publishers “The One Year Bible Companion” p. 15) A wonderful commentary on the book of Hosea by Hampton Keathley IV is at this link. Below is an image for the traditional tomb of the prophet Hosea near the Jordanian mountain called Jabel Osha (Osha is Arabic for Hosea):
Hosea chapter 1 certainly stands out right away - with God commanding Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer. The purpose of this relationship is to parallel Israel's unfaithfulness to God. You'll note that the names of the children born to Gomer get progressively worse for the people of Israel - 1. Jezreel, or "God scatters" 2. Lo-ruhamah--`Not loved'- 3. Verse 9 provides the worse name that could be bestowed to symbolize God's relationship with Israel: "And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-ammi--`Not my people'--for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God." Ouch.... This is about as bad as it can get for Israel. Below is an image of Hosea, Gomer and their 3 children:
Fortunately, we see redemption in verse 10: "Yet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashore--too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, `You are not my people,' it will be said, `You are children of the living God.'" Whew! This applies to most of us reading this as well - Gentiles. This is the beginning of the mission to the Gentiles after the time of Jesus. Do you we believe we are part of this promise? That we are parts of the sands of the seashore? That we are children of the living God?
Chapter 2 is a powerful "legal case" against Israel and her unfaithfulness to God. Verse 8 stood out to me in this chapter today: "She doesn't realize that it was I who gave her everything she has--the grain, the wine, the olive oil. Even the gold and silver she used in worshiping the god Baal were gifts from me!" Do we realize that everything we have comes from God? Everything? Do we misuse any of these gifts from God in our life in ways that would not be pleasing to God? Could God bring a "legal case" or "lawsuit" against us today for misusing his gifts to us?
Chapter 3 brings us redemption again for Israel. Verse 5 I believe applies to us today - we who are in the last days (all the days after the life of Jesus) - "But afterward the people will return to the LORD their God and to David's descendant, their king. They will come trembling in awe to the LORD, and they will receive his good gifts in the last days." Have you returned to Jesus? Jesus who is from the line of David? Is Jesus your king? Are you receiving God's good gifts through your awe and faith in God through Jesus?
Worship Video: Today's readings and this Christmas season reminded me of this powerful song by Becky Kelley called "Where's the Line to see Jesus?"
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Today we finish the book of Daniel! What an amazing read this book has been for me this year. I have been blessed by it. I hope you have too. It is always interesting to dive into prophecies and angels and such. I have to admit that I don't think about these types of things too often in my day to day life. However, I know they are real. And as I read the book of Daniel I am reminded of God's amazing story and where it is ultimately leading. Below is an image of Satan being bound by Michael the archangel, from the John Brown Bible circa 1816:
In Daniel chapter 11 verse 36 onwards we are looking at verses prophesying about the anti-christ and end times. The verses just prior to 36, in yesterday's readings, referred to Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C., but we are looking at the future here in today's verses in chapter 11. To get some more context on these verses today, check out 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and Revelation 13:5-8. A portion of verse 36 does stand out to me today: "For what has been determined will surely take place." Do you believe these prophecies in Daniel have been determined? Do you believe they will surely take place?
Daniel chapter 12 is called "The Time of the End" or "The End Times" in many Bible descriptors. However, over at bible.org Bob Deffinbaugh calls this chapter "The Hope of Heaven". I like that! Here's an excerpt from Bob's essay: "Daniel 12 is the crowning chapter of this prophecy, as well as its conclusion. It takes the believer to the high-water mark of Christian hope—the assurance of the resurrection of the dead. Let us listen and learn, and gain hope and comfort." Check out Mr. Deffinbaugh's full essay on Daniel chapter 12 at this link.
Verse 2 stands out in Daniel chapter 12: "Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt." This is one of the first clear mentions of a resurrection in the Old Testament. The phrase "everlasting life" appears only here in the Old Testament! Pretty fascinating. Seems like this chapter is in some ways bridging Old Testament / Old Covenant theology to New Testament / New Covenant. Do you believe that after death some will rise to everlasting life? And some to everlasting contempt? Below is the famous fresco titled "The Last Judgment" by Michelangelo, which is at the Sistine Chapel in Rome:
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of the Third Day song "You Are Mine:"
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Daniel chapter 11 today is phenomenal when you realize that these prophecies were made in 537 B.C. and covered events for about 300 or so more years following that date. Essentially, we are getting a history lesson in this chapter - in advance of the history unfolding! This chapter really made me realize how "in control" God really is of everything. Which is actually very comforting for me, and hopefully is for you. I look at it this way - if God knows what is going to be transpiring hundreds of years in advance - if not thousands and millions of years in advance - why are we worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow? :) Or why are we fretting over what happened yesterday? A quote I heard many years ago and occasionally bubbles back up into my mind is this: "Let go. And Let God." Let go, and let God. Meaning - let go of your worries and fears about yesterday or tomorrow and let God take the reins. He's got the reins anyway... so why fret & fuss over our worries and fears? Somehow the sweep of this prophecy seemed to make me realize that we often worry too much about really insignificant stuff...
There is a lot going on in this chapter - I'll point out a couple of highlights. Verse 3 & 4 discuss Alexander the Great (336 - 323 B.C.): "Then a mighty king will rise to power who will rule a vast kingdom and accomplish everything he sets out to do. But at the height of his power, his kingdom will be broken apart and divided into four parts." Many of the remaining verses then dive into kings of the line of Ptolemy in the south kingdom, or Egypt , and kings of the line of Seleucus/Anttiochus in the north kingdom, or Syria. Verse 31 covers 168 B.C. when an altar to the pagan god Zeus Olympius is set up in the Temple in Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes: "His army will take over the Temple fortress, polluting the sanctuary, putting a stop to the daily sacrifices, and setting up the sacrilegious object that causes desecration." Tell you what - there is so much going on in this chapter, I recommend jumping over to bible.org at this link to read up more on what's happening. It really is fascinating stuff. Below is a coin from 175 to 164 B.C. with Antiochus Epiphanes image upon it:
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of the song “Crown Him" sung here by Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman:
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Daniel chapter 9 today has an amazing prayer from Daniel! Confess your sins, be humble, praise God and petition for others. What a prayer. If you liked Daniel's prayer in today's readings as much as I did, here are two more that I think you'll appreciate - one from Ezra at this link - and one from Nehemiah at this link. (okay, this is completely a geeky Bible thing here - but I just noticed that all 3 of these amazing prayers are in chapter 9 of their respective books! :) So, if you are forgetting how to pray and feel like you need some inspiration, just remember: Daniel 9, Ezra 9, and Nehemiah 9!)
I'll just highlight the opening verses of Daniel's prayer in verses 4 & 5: ""O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and keep your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations." What a great way to open in prayer - praise God and then confess your sins. Do you believe that God is indeed a great and awesome God? That God always fulfills his promises of unfailing love to those who love him and keep his commands? Have we sinned? Have we rebelled? Have we scorned God's commands?
The remainder of chapter 9 and into chapter 10 are fascinating as Daniel interacts with angels, including Gabriel - and we hear about Michael the Archangel and his work. If you are interested in learning more about "angelology" - yes, a real word apparently - check out this link on angelology at bible.org.
Chapter 10 verses 12 & 13 are worth considering: ""Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way." This is encouraging to me that our prayers are heard in heaven. What is maybe discouraging is that our answers or help needed for our prayers can be blocked by fallen angels / demons, as we see in these verses. The spirit prince of Persia being a demon of some sort blocking the angel from getting to Daniel to answer his prayer. A good book that I would recommend to dive more into what this spiritual realm and the spiritual battles between angels might be like is "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti. It is a powerful read.
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Cinderella:"
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Daniel chapter 8 is quite a chapter! I'm not 100% sure how to post up on this chapter - so I went over to bible.org to see what they had to say and I came across this paragraph over there - "Daniel chapter 8 is a preacher’s nightmare. Even noted scholars hesitate to be dogmatic in their interpretation of this chapter. Daniel himself has not the foggiest notion of the vision’s meaning, even after the angel Gabriel has interpreted the vision for him." I think I better just link over to what bible.org has to say about this chapter today. This is in the blog world what one would call a punt! :)
The closing verse 27 of chapter 8 certainly stands out to me today: "Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it." Do you think you'd be physically exhausted & sick if you saw a vision like Daniel saw in this chapter?
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of Addison Road's song "Hope Now:"
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
We are definitely in the midst of some amazing readings today! The book of Daniel is continuing to challenge and inspire me. I hope you are having a similar experience!
Daniel chapter 6 today is probably more famous than chapter 5's writing on the wall! Today Daniel goes into the lion's den... Several things, as always, are going on in this chapter. One big note is that Daniel is about 80 years old at the time of this chapter. He's not a young man. And yet he is running laps around the other kingdom administrators with his work - and for this he is honored more and more by the king. And others are getting jealous of this old man Daniel. They realize the only way to trip him up is on his religion. And - by appealing to the king's pride with a law that makes people worship the king only. Interesting thing that pride... seems an easy sin for us humans to fall into..? Well, then the old man Daniel gets tossed into the pit of lions - and comes out alive through the grace of God. And the king realizes he was duped by the admins and tosses them & their families into the pit of lions. But enough of my Cliff Notes here... let's check out a few verses... (below is a painting of "Daniel in the Lion's Den" by Peter Paul Rubens, circa 1615)
Verse 4 makes me reflect on my life and the way I live it: "Then the other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs, but they couldn't find anything to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible." How are we in handling our affairs? Our job, our tempers, our finances, our time? Are we faithful in all of these areas? Honest? Always responsible?
Verse 10 helps us look at how we should act when challenging circumstances come into our lives: "But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God." Daniel continued to worship God as he always had in the midst of bad news of the new law. He didn't blink. He didn't flinch. He didn't take a break from God. He kept worshiping. How do we act when bad news comes into our lives? Do we sulk? Do we decide to avoid God for a while? Or do we continue to worship God as we have always - giving thanks to God? Even in the midst of severe challenges, will we still give thanks to God for who He is?
Verse 20 is a wonderful verse from the mouth of the remorseful King Darius: “When he got there, he called out in anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you worship continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”” First of all - I love the term “the living God”. Do you believe that God is indeed a living God? Not a stoic God who just sets up the universe and then lets it run on its own - but a God who is in the midst of every single one of our experiences - good and bad? A living God? A God who is with us on the mountain tops - and in the lion's den? Do you believe God is indeed a living God? Do you worship the living God continually? Like Daniel, are you a servant of the Living God? Do you want to be a servant of the Living God? The Living God that will send His angels to protect you from even lions in their den?
Worship Video: Today's readings reminds me of MercyMe's song, "Beautiful:"
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Daniel chapter 5 is the famous "the writing is on the wall" chapter! It is not a good sign to see writing appear on the wall in this way... This chapter is of huge importance to the Babylonian dynasty - because this chapter is the very last day of Babylon the empire. The next day everything goes to the Persians & Medes and Cyrus will be taking over the roost. Daniel chapter 5 verse 1 starts us out today with: "A number of years later.." This chapter takes place in 539 B.C., whereas chapter 4 with Nebuchadnezzar took place before his death in 562 B.C. So, at least 23 years have past between chapter 4 & 5 - and several leaders of Babylon have passed by, leaving Belshazzar, who has 1 day more...
Verses 1 through 4 in the chapter unfortunately describe an orgy taking place, utilizing gold and silver cups taken from the Temple in Jerusalem decades earlier by Nebuchadnezzar. Unwisely, Belshazzar and the crew toast false idols with these sacred cups of God - at which point immediately the hand begins writing on the wall, and verse 6 tells us this about Belshazzar - "Such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him." Think he had reason to be scared like this? Why?
As Daniel is called in to interpret the writing, verse 17 stands out as Daniel tells Belshazzar: "Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means." Daniel is obviously quite bold and dismissive of Belshazzar here - he does not defer to Belshazzar being the king, and the seemingly right thing to do would be to immediately say you'd appreciate the gifts. Daniel simply says - keep 'em! (though, later he's still bestowed with them) Bold... A righteous boldness, yes? Plus, you've got to think that Daniel's seen a lot in Babylon in his time and he's ready to cut to the chase and just interpret the writing. He doesn't need earthly gifts or honor... What about us in our lives today? Do we seek earthly gifts and honor for ourselves? Should we? Can we learn from Daniel's boldness and focus on what truly matters in this life? (note that an older Daniel is in the middle of this image below from the 1816 John Brown Bible, with a strange looking Belshazzar sitting to the right)
Before interpreting the dream Daniel gives Belshazzar an old fashioned lecture which culminates in verse 22 as he speaks of Nebuchadnezzar being humbled by God: ""You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself." Basically, Daniel is saying - you should have known better. You knew better. You saw Nebuchadnezzar's mistakes. You did not learn. Are we like this sometimes in our lives today? Shouldn't we know better...? Below is an artist's take on Belshazzar's final feast -
Verse 27 is worth reflecting upon! "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." (NIV). Very interesting to think about a godly scale. A scale that maybe looks at how we invest our time, money, love, life, worship? Are we investing in things that are eternal? Obviously, through the opening verses Belshazzar was simply investing his life into himself, his lusts and his desires. And hence, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN was written on the wall... Pretty amazing to think that the great kingdom of Babylon went down like this in one chapter... God clearly is a kingdom-maker and a kingdom-taker!
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of Rebecca St. James’ song "Kingdom Come:"
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
