Year Two, February 1-29

 

 Year Two, February 1-29

Year Two, February 1

Whoever Hates Reproof Will Die1

When Josiah died the people crowned the king’s second son, Jehoahaz. He was the very opposite of his godly father.

  

2 Kings 23:31-33

31aJehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 32And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents (about four tons) of silver and a talent (about 75 pounds) of gold.

This young king appears to have been very warlike and aggressive. He provoked his neighbors around him and that soon led to Pharaoh Neco taking away his crown. The prophet Ezekiel described Jehoahaz:

  

Ezekiel 19:1-4

1And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2and say:

What was your mother? A lioness!

Among lions she crouched;

in the midst of young lions

she reared her cubs.

3 And she brought up one of her cubs;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men.

4 The nations heard about him;

he was caught in their pit,

and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah warned Jehoahaz, but he would not listen. After Jehoahaz had been carried away as a prisoner, Jeremiah went to the new king, Jehoiakim, with a message about himself and Jehoahaz.

  

Jeremiah 22:1-5; 7-12

1Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O King of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. (This was a remarkable promise because the Jewish kingdom was reduced to almost nothing. It hardly seemed possible that they would ever recover. It also gave them one more opportunity to repent and have the Lord deliver them from the doom with of which he had threatened them for a long time.) 5But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.’” (The choice was set before them: Life or death? We have a choice set before us today: Heaven or hell?)

7 “‘I will prepare destroyers against you,

each with his weapons,

and they shall cut down your choicest cedars

and cast them into the fire.

8“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?” 9And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

Those who refuse to repent will be made examples of God’s wrath and reminders of his justice. Oh, may this never happen to us!

10 Weep not for him who is dead,

nor grieve for him,

but weep bitterly for him who goes away,

for he shall return no more

to see his native land.

11For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum (Jehoahaz) the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12but in the place where they have carried him captive there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.” (Three months of his sin had been more than enough. He would never return, even though the people adored him. The career of some sinners ends very quickly.)

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¹ Proverbs 15:10

Year Two, February 2

GOD, the Lord, Is My Strength1

The prophet Habakkuk’s ministry most likely included the short time that Jehoahaz was king of Judah. Today we will read his prayer.

  

Habakkuk 3:2-19

2 O LORD, I have heard the report of you,

and your work, O LORD, do I fear.

In the midst of the years revive it;

in the midst of the years make it known;

in wrath remember mercy.

This prayer is also appropriate for the Church of God today. May the Lord graciously hear it. The prophet describes the Lord’s appearance to his people at Sinai and the way in which he brought them to the promised land through the Jordan River, while he overwhelmed their enemies. Recalling these events strengthened Habakkuk’s confidence that the Lord would appear again to deliver his people.

3 God came from Teman,

and the Holy One from Mount Paran.

His splendor covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise.     Selah

4 His brightness was like the light;

rays flashed from his hand;

and there he veiled his power.

The prophet describes the splendor or glory of the Lord. However, God must cover his full power and glory because a frail human being cannot bear it. His brightness, like the sun, cannot be viewed directly. Rays flashing from his hand are like the sunbeams. His power must always be veiled or partially covered. It has been well said that even the clearest revelation of God is mostly hidden and not fully understood. If the face of Moses needed a veil before people could look on it,2 how much more does the glory of the Lord?

5 Before him went pestilence,

and plague followed at his heels.

This was to destroy the Canaanites and make room for Israel.

6 He stood and measured the earth;

he looked and shook the nations;

then the eternal mountains were scattered;

the everlasting hills sank low.

His were the everlasting ways.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;

the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Until this time these nations could not be conquered. But they could not stand before the Lord. They trembled before his power.

8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?

Was your anger against the rivers,

or your indignation against the sea,

when you rode on your horses,

on your chariot of salvation?

9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,

calling for many arrows.     Selah

God’s bow was taken from its case and used for war, just as he had sworn to his chosen people.

You split the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw you and writhed;

the raging waters swept on;

the deep gave forth its voice;

it lifted its hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their place

at the light of your arrows as they sped,

at the flash of your glittering spear.

12 You marched through the earth in fury;

you threshed the nations in anger.

13 You went out for the salvation of your people,

for the salvation of your anointed.

You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,

laying him bare from thigh to neck.     Selah

His blows of vengeance were deadly. He struck the nations like the executioner’s axe cuts through the neck and takes off the head.

14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,

who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,

rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.

15 You trampled the sea with your horses,

the surging of mighty waters.

16 I hear, and my body trembles;

my lips quiver at the sound;

rottenness enters into my bones;

my legs tremble beneath me. 

Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble

to come upon people who invade us.

All godly people have trembled like this at the sight of God, but faith has given them peace. The closing verses should lead us to worship!

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer’s;

he makes me tread on my high places.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

Even if war and famine should take away all of his comforts, the prophet still finds joy enough in his God. He will leap with joy like a deer on the hills. If worse comes to worst, he will continue to be at peace with and glorify the Lord. May this same complete trust in the Lord rule in all our hearts!

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¹ Habakkuk 3:19

² The shining face of Moses is described in Exodus 34:29-35.

Year Two, February 3

Do Not Rob the Poor1

We now find another of Josiah’s sons on the throne, but he was no better than his brother. Alas, poor Judah!

  

2 Kings 23:34-37

34And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

36aJehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 37And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

Ezekiel describes Jehoiakim’s character and reign in a parable. Jehoahaz was the first lion cub. Then he was destroyed and the nation found another one in Jehoiakim.

  

Ezekiel 19:5-9

5 When she saw that she waited in vain,

that her hope was lost,

she took another of her cubs

and made him a young lion.

6 He prowled among the lions;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men,

7 and seized their widows.

He laid waste their cities,

and the land was appalled and all who were in it

at the sound of his roaring.

Jehoiakim evidently went about stealing from the poor nations around him. He was a lawless adventurer, living by the sword.

8 Then the nations set against him

from provinces on every side;

they spread their net over him;

he was taken in their pit.

9 With hooks they put him in a cage

and brought him to the king of Babylon;

they brought him into custody,

that his voice should no more be heard

on the mountains of Israel.

  

2 Kings 24:1-4

1In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. (Judah was situated between the two great kingdoms of Babylon and Egypt. They both wanted to have Judah under their control as a way of protecting their borders from each other. After three years under the rule of Babylon, Jehoiakim was probably tempted by promises the Egyptian king made to him if he would join his side. This caused Nebuchadnezzar to order other nations under his rule to attack Judah. God was at work against his sinning people.) 2And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. (Jehoiakim and his people approved the sin of Manasseh and the wrath of God that had been building up fell on them.)

Jehoiakim was a tyrant. He forced his subjects to build a palace for him and did not pay them for their work. It was luxurious and he filled it with what he looted from his neighboring nations. Jeremiah bravely rebuked him.

  

Jeremiah 22:13-19

13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,

and his upper rooms by injustice,

who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing

and does not give him his wages,

14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house

with spacious upper rooms,’

who cuts out windows for it,

paneling it with cedar

and painting it with vermilion.

15 Do you think you are a king

because you compete in cedar?

Did not your father eat and drink

and do justice and righteousness?

Then it was well with him.

16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;

then it was well.

Is not this to know me?

declares the LORD.

17 But you have eyes and heart

only for your dishonest gain,

for shedding innocent blood,

and for practicing oppression and violence.”

18Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

“They shall not lament for him, saying,

‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’

They shall not lament for him saying,

‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’

19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,

dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”

No one mourned for this tyrannical king. His place in history is one of shame and disgrace. His body was left to rot like it was a dead donkey. No one cared enough to even throw a handful of dirt over his despised remains. The poor should be paid fair wages for their labor and the rich and mighty should never dare to wrong them. God is their avenger. Woe to those who crush the needy!

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¹ Proverbs 22:22

Year Two, February 4

Be Imitators of God, As Beloved Children1

Jeremiah 35:1-3; 5-19

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2“Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” (The Rechabites were descendants of Jethro. They maintained a separate existence as a nation by continuing their practice of traveling from place to place and living only in tents.) 3So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites.

5Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”

12Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the LORD. 14The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. 15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.”

The logic is very strong. If the sons of Jonadab obeyed their father so exactly and continuously, how great was the sin of Judah in refusing to obey her God!

18But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”

The Rev. Joseph Wolf, missionary in the East, writes: “On my arrival in Mesopotamia [present-day Iraq], some Jews that I saw there directed me to one of the ancient Rechabites. He stood before me, wild like an Arab, holding the bridle of his horse, in his hand. I showed him the Bible in Hebrew and Arabic, which he was much rejoiced to see, as he could read both languages, but had no knowledge of the New Testament. I proclaimed to him the good news of salvation and made him a present of the Hebrew and Arabic Bibles and Testaments. I then asked him, ‘Whose descendant are you?’ ‘Mousa,’ said he, boisterously, ‘is my name, and I will show you who were my ancestors;’ at which he immediately began to read from the fifth to the eleventh verse of Jeremiah 35. ‘Where do you reside’? said I. ‘At Mesha, now called, Mecca, in the deserts around those places. We drink no wine, and plant no vineyard, and sow no seed; and live in tents, as Jonadab our father commanded us. Hobab was our father too. Come to us, and you will find us sixty-thousand in number; and you see thus the prophecy has been fulfilled. “ herefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”’ and saying this, Mousa the Rechabite mounted his horse and fled away, and left behind a host of evidence in favor of sacred writ.”2

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¹ Ephesians 5:1

² Almost certainly Joseph Wolff (1795-1862) from his work “Travels and Adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff.”

Year Two, February 5

With Great Compassion I Will Gather You1

Let us now read that famous prophecy of Jeremiah where a period of seventy years was prophesied as the time of the captivity in Babylon.

  

Jeremiah 25:1-14

1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3b“I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened.” (It is a great grief to a pastor when his dedicated work is ignored and people continue to turn a deaf ear to his heartfelt pleas. This also makes their sin even worse, because each time they reject these warnings, they add a new degree of sinfulness to their transgressions. Are any of our household resisting this voice of God and sinning against light and knowledge? If so, may the Lord turn them by his grace.)

4“You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, (When parents, teachers, brothers, and sisters have spoken to us, and we remain hardened, we have much to answer for.) 5saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. (Wrong doing always hurts those who are guilty of it. Every person who sins is their own enemy)

8“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.”

The Medes and other nations from the north were in partnership with Babylon. Their ferocious destructiveness turned Judea into a desert and made its cities heaps of ruins.

10“Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. (The houses that remained standing were uninhabited. There was no sound of millstones grinding in the morning in preparation of the early meal and in the evening no lamp was lit at the end of a day of labor. Destruction reigned supreme.) 11This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

Judah must be captive for seventy years, the exact amount of the Sabbaths of the 490 years from the reign of Saul to the captivity. This was a most righteous punishment for violating the Lord’s Sabbaths. God’s judgments are fair and according to his rules, but his mercy has no limits. Babylon’s judgment came more terribly than to Judah. This agrees with the spirit of the apostle Peter’s words, “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?” Judah rose again, but Babylon never. The Lord struck his chosen nation severely with his rod, but he destroyed Babylon with it. Lord, when you do discipline us, deal with us as you would with family members and not as outsiders and enemies.

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¹ Isaiah 54:7

Year Two, February 6

I the LORD Search the Heart1

Jeremiah continued to plead with the people and mourn for their hardness of heart during those evil days. Let us hear him speak.

  

Jeremiah 17:1-17

1“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, 2while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3on the mountains in the open country. (They were as eager to follow after idols as if their inclination to idolatry had been carved into them with an iron pen never to be erased. They were as satisfied with their idol worship as if it were a law inscribed on their altars with a diamond point pen. The tablet of a person’s heart should have God’s holy law written on it, but instead we find all kinds of evil.2) Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

5 Thus says the LORD

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.”

The Jews were prone to trust in Egypt to protect them from Babylon. Trusting in others for protection is idolatry. If that is what we are doing, then we are guilty of the sin of idolatry, even if we do not have an image set up in our home. The dreary broom trees3 of the desert are more desirable than people who trust in others.

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose trust is the LORD.

8 He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Trials will come, just as heat and drought come to every tree. But faith places the believer above circumstances and makes them always flourish.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

10 “I the LORD search the heart 

and test the mind,

to give every man according to his ways,

according to the fruit of his deeds.”

11 Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,

so is he who gets riches but not by justice;

in the midst of his days they will leave him,

and at his end he will be a fool.

Jehoiakim and other oppressors gathered riches that belonged to others, but they were not allowed to keep and enjoy them.

12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning

is the place of our sanctuary.

Jeremiah condemned the high places that were used for the sin of idolatry, but his soul rejoices in the glorious high place of everlasting love. To that holy high place let us go every day.

13 O LORD, the hope of Israel,

all who forsake you shall be put to shame;

those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,

for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;

save me, and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise.

I praise you for mercies in the past. Oh be gracious to me now in this time of need!

15 Behold, they say to me,

“Where is the word of the LORD?

Let it come!”

In taunting mockery the Jews challenged the prophet’s message. They defied the Lord to fulfill his threats. This made Jeremiah a man of sorrows.4

16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,

nor have I desired the day of sickness.

You know what came out of my lips;

it was before your face.

Jeremiah foretold their destruction, but not because he wanted it to happen. When ministers preach about hell, unthinking people call them harsh, but it would be far greater harshness if they allowed people to live in false peace and die without being warned.

17 Be not a terror to me;

you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

The unkindness of Jeremiah’s hearers hurt him, because he had a very tender heart. But he was more afraid that God would leave him. It is not likely that so good a Master would desert his faithful servants, and yet when we are severely attacked, serious doubts will invade our thoughts. Lord, increase our faith.

  

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¹ Jeremiah 17:10

² Proverbs 7:1-3, “My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;…keep my commandments and live;…write them on the tablet of your heart.” 

³ See illustration

⁴ In calling Jeremiah “a man of sorrows,” Spurgeon was comparing him to Jesus Christ of whom Isaiah said, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3)

Year Two, February 7

Whether You Eat or Drink…Do All to the Glory of God1

Daniel 1:1-16

1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. (Having men of intelligence near at hand was a sensible way for this king to add to the splendor and influence of the Chaldean court. He had probably chosen young men from the noble families of other conquered nations and now he did the same with the captives brought from Judah.)

5The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. (They were to be developed physically and intellectually until their personal beauty and mental ability made them ready to serve the king.) 6Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel (whose name means “judge of God”) he called Belteshazzar (or Bel’s favorite [Bel was a Babylonian god]), Hananiah he called Shadrach (or young friend of the king), Mishael he called Meshach (which probably means the lamb), and Azariah he called Abednego (or servant of Nebo [the Babylonian god of wisdom and writing]).

Some people care very little about what their name means, while others are greatly influenced by it. In any event, these holy youths did not allow their new names to change their faith. Their names were changed, but not their natures.

8But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

The king’s diet included food that Hebrews were forbidden to eat and his wine had most likely been blessed by the false gods of Babylon. Therefore Daniel attempted to avoid dishonoring his God.

9And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12“Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.

15At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. (Their self-controlled living had promoted rather than injured their health. The Lord whom they so carefully obeyed, saw to it that they would not suffer for honoring him. Their example has been confirmed in hundreds of cases. Our duty is to do the right thing and leave the outcome to the Lord.) 16So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. (Daniel and his friends gained their point after courteously requesting the favor and submitting cheerfully to the officer’s test. This might not have happened if they had been rude and disrespectful. Gentleness wins where roughness would utterly fail. The decision and wisdom shown by these four young men are an example to all of us.)

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¹ 1 Corinthians 10:31

Year Two, February 8

He Knows What Is in the Darkness1

Daniel 2:1-9; 12-24

1In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O King, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.”

He argued correctly. People who could really foretell things to come by interpreting a dream could also tell the dream itself. If they failed to do so, they were self-condemned as shameful impostors, for whom no sentence could be too severe. The Chaldeans pleaded their inability and the unreasonableness of the king’s request, but they were unsuccessful.

12Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

17Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. (Prayer to the all-knowing One was the right decision. God gave Daniel the key to open the mystery of the king’s dream. In our worst predicaments let us pray.) 19Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

to whom belong wisdom and might.

21 He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

22 he reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him.

23 To you, O God of my fathers,

I give thanks and praise,

for you have given me wisdom and might

and have now made known to me what we asked of you,

for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Prayer went before and praise follows after. Prayer brings the blessing and praise acknowledges it. Let us never fail to praise the Lord for mercies received.

24Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

Faith, assured that her prayer was heard, acted with courage. Daniel was not afraid of failure, because he knew his faith was in the Lord. May the same faith be in us.

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¹ Daniel 2:22

Year Two, February 9

There Is a God in Heaven Who Reveals Mysteries1

God gave Daniel Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation and he now went into the king’s presence.

  

Daniel 2:26-45; 48

26The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

31“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of (pottery) clay. 34As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. (The first great empire was the Babylonian or Assyrian-Chaldean. It was a majestic empire in a cruel and oppressive way.) 39Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, (This was the empire of the Medes and Persians that ruled from about 600 to 300 B.C.) and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. (Indicating the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great.) 40And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. (Here we have the Roman Empire predicted.)

41“And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. (The Roman empire was a mixture of many nations and was governed unevenly. In due time it fell to pieces.)

44“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, (This fifth kingdom is none other than the divine empire of King Jesus, that will bring all things under his control.) 45just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

48Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. (So the Lord was honored among the heathen and the poor despised Jews gained a friend in the royal court.)

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¹ Daniel 2:28

Year Two, February 10

Do Not Despise Prophecies1

We must now leave Daniel at Babylon and return to the wicked king Jehoiakim and the prophet Jeremiah at Jerusalem. Jeremiah, at the command of God, wrote all his prophecies in a book, giving the king and people yet another chance to repent. The patience of the Lord is great. “The LORD waits to be gracious.”2

  

Jeremiah 36:5-6; 8; 21-31

5And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the LORD, 6so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD’s house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities.

When good people cannot do the work of God personally, they are glad to call in others. We should be glad for anything we can do for the Lord. If we cannot preach like Jeremiah, we can read like Baruch, and if we can, we must be sure to do so.

8And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house. (Baruch’s reading in the temple attracted the attention of the scribes and nobles. After they had heard him read the scroll in private, they brought it to the king.)

21bAnd Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot.

As Jehudi read the scroll, the king cut off the portion, and scornfully burned it piece by piece.

24Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. (Compare the difference between this wicked defiance of King Jehoiakim and the tenderness of King Josiah when he received the book of the Lord.3) 25Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. (God took kindly notice of those who were of a better spirit, but their protests only added fuel to the king’s sin.) 26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

If we help good people, as Baruch did Jeremiah, we must expect to suffer with them. But we will also share heaven’s protecting care with them. Pay attention to the stubbornness of Jehoiakim. He will not repent and becomes a persecutor of his best friends.

27Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah; 28“Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the LORD, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night.’”

No family member followed Jehoiakim as king except his son Jehoiachin, whose three months’ reign was counted as nothing. This wicked king had treated the prophetic scroll with contempt and therefore his dead body was treated with similar disrespect. The second scroll had more threats in it than the first. Sinners multiply their miseries when they add to their sins.

31“‘And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’” (The king did not gain anything by burning the scroll. All the warnings in it remained. A person who hates the Bible for threatening the wicked with eternal punishment cannot extinguish the flames of hell by raging against the book. They would act far more wisely if they would escape from the wrath to come by repentance and faith.)

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¹ 1 Thessalonians 5:20

² Isaiah 30:18

³ The story of Josiah and the Book of the Law is found in 2 Kings 22:8 through 23:25. (See Year Two, January 28 and Year Two, January 27.)

Year Two, February 11

The Way of the Wicked Will Perish1

2 Kings 24:6-9; 11-12

6So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

8aJehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 9And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

11And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. (That is to say, the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiachin saw how completely useless it would be to try to hold out against this powerful Babylonian. He probably hoped that he would be restored as prince under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. However, Judah’s friendship with Babylon’s enemy, Egypt, was more than Nebuchadnezzar could tolerate. He took both the king and most of the population of Jerusalem as prisoners to Babylon. This was the second and much greater captivity. All this had been foreseen and told about by the prophet Jeremiah, but the king and people had refused to listen to him. Those who will not pay attention to God’s warnings must perish without hope. The messenger of the Lord had spoken clearly and from the heart. They had no excuse for ignoring his pleadings.)

  

Jeremiah 22:21-30

21 “I spoke to you in your prosperity,

but you said, ‘I will not listen.’

This has been your way from your youth,

that you have not obeyed my voice.

22 [The wind will sweep away all your shepherds,]2

and your lovers shall go into captivity;

then you will be ashamed and confounded

because of all your evil.”

Like a hot dry wind, the Chaldeans would shrivel up everything in their path. Not only pastures, but the shepherds (or pastors) that the Lord gave to Israel would also be destroyed. Judah’s helpers would all desert her. The hope of the wicked is gone like dew from the grass when the summer’s sun burns overhead.

23 “O inhabitant of Lebanon,

nested among the cedars,

how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,

pain as of a woman in labor!”

The king’s cedar palace could not protect him. He may have been elegant and splendid on his throne, but this did not make the invader show him or his people any respect or mercy.

24“As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,

a vessel no one cares for?

The people idolized Jehoiakim’s son Coniah, but God broke down his power and pride. He became like a worthless piece of broken pottery.

Why are he and his children hurled and cast

into a land that they do not know?

29 O land, land, land,

hear the word of the LORD!

30 Thus says the LORD:

“Write this man down as childless,

a man who shall not succeed in his days,

for none of his offspring shall succeed

in sitting on the throne of David

and ruling again in Judah.”

This was the sad doom of a grandson of holy Josiah. He and his father had destroyed the prophetic scroll and now his sin and his father’s sin resulted in their names being removed from the honorable list of Josiah’s ancestors. May none of our household provoke the Lord. May a godly parents be followed by godly children, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

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¹ Psalm 1:6

² Verse 22a from New American Standard Version. ESV reads, “The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds.” 

Year Two, February 12

In the Days of Famine They Will Have Abundance1

After Jehoiakim’s son had been removed by King Nebuchadnezzar, another son of Josiah came to the throne.

  

Jeremiah 37:1-8; 11-21

1Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. (Amazing foolishness! They refused to see, even though the judgments of God stared them in the face.)

3King Zedekiah sent…to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God.” (He wanted Jeremiah’s prayers, but not his sermons. The ungodly people of our days are much the same! Zedekiah had broken his solemn oath to the Babylonian king, so it was no wonder that he was afraid of his anger. On top of that, the people had followed the idolatrous practices of these heathen during the eleven-year reign of Zedekiah and that had been a great offense against the Lord.) 4Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

6Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7“Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. 8And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall capture it and burn it with fire.’”

11Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people. (Jeremiah intended to travel here and there to warn the people that Jerusalem was unsafe to live in.) 13When he was at the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah…seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

They were willing to make prisons out of their private homes, but they had no room for the worship of the Lord.

16When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” (Good Jeremiah spoke boldly to the king. We should always be brave when doing the Lord’s work.) 18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20Now hear, please, O my lord the king: let my humble plea come before you and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.”

21So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Thus was the promise fulfilled, “In the days of famine they will have abundance.” God takes care so that those who serve him well will not starve.

Though troubles assail us, and dangers affright,

Though friends should all fail us and foes all unite,

Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,

The promise assures us, “The Lord will provide.”

When Satan assails us to stop up our path,

And courage all fails us, we triumph by faith.

He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,

This heart cheering promise, “The Lord will provide.”2

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¹ Psalm 37:19 (New American Standard Version. Also after verse 21.)

² John Newton (1779)

Year Two, February 13

Have Brotherly Love and a Tender Heart1

Jeremiah 38:4-18; 24; 28

While Jeremiah was in the court of the guard, he continued to warn and advise the people for their own their good, by instructing them to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. Because of this, the officials complained about him to the king saying, 4“Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm. 5King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.”

Poor indecisive Zedekiah! He had no mind of his own and was no more than a tool in the hands of the officials. Many fall into great sin because they lack the ability to make mature decisions. They do wrong because they do not have the courage to say, “No.”

6So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. (What a disgusting place! Truly, many holy people have entered the kingdom “through many tribulations.”2)

7When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate— 8Ebed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king, 9“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” (A Gentile was gentler than a Jew. A foreigner had a more tender heart than an Israelite.) 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take three men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” (The easily led king changed his mind in an instant.) 11So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes.

Good deeds should be done tenderly. The bare ropes would have hurt the prophet who was by now skin and bones. Ebed-melech was thoughtful for his comfort.

12Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

14King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “as the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

This was said in private, because the timid prince was afraid of his officials. What a miserable, cowardly spirit he had. The courage of the prophet stands out in magnificent contrast.

17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.”

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. (Let us never tremble and be afraid of wicked people. Moral courage can be gained by praying to God. Timid spirits should ask for courage daily. The lack of it may prove their ruin. A soldier of Jesus should never be a coward.)

28And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

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¹ From 1 Peter 3:8

² Acts 14:22

Year Two, February 14

He Has Made With Me an Everlasting Covenant, Ordered in All Things and Secure1

Even in those gloomy days, the Lord did not leave the faithful few to live without hope. He gave them a promise of brighter days.

  

Jeremiah 31:1-9; 31-37

1“At that time (that is, when Christ rules2), declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

2 Thus says the LORD:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,”

The Lord continually refers to his previous loving kindnesses to assure his people that he is still ready to deliver them.

3 “the LORD appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

Think long and deeply on this last sentence.

4 “Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.”

Victory will again awaken the songs of “all the women” and the sound of tambourines like it did long ago at the Red Sea.3

5 “Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the LORD our God.’”

7 For thus says the LORD:

“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

‘O LORD, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

9 With weeping they shall come,

and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for I am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.”

When God awakens sinners to their true standing before him, they approach him in sadness. But their path to God is a safe and straight one. It leads them to the full joy of being adopted by God into his family.

31“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD”

In the old covenant something was left to be done by the individual and therefore it failed. The new covenant is built on grace alone. It is the only one that will save a sinful people.

33“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The message of the covenant of grace is found in, “I will,” and “they shall.” There are no “ifs” or “buts” in it. It is made up of absolute promises on God’s part and cannot be placed in danger by the acts of humans. It is sure and certain. Notice how strongly God focuses our attention on the reliability of his promises in the following verses.

35 Thus says the LORD,

who gives the sun for light by day

and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the LORD of hosts is his name:

36 “If this fixed order departs

from before me, declares the LORD,

then shall the offspring of Israel cease

from being a nation before me forever.”

37 Thus says the LORD:

“If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done

         declares the LORD.”
  

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¹ 2 Samuel 23:5

² Spurgeon’s comment is, “Namely, in the latter days.” In his Treasury of David commentary on Psalm 47:1, he writes, “All people will be ruled by the Lord in the latter days, and all will exult in that rule; were they wise they would submit to it now, and rejoice to do so; yea, they would clap their hands in rapture at the thought.”

³ Exodus 15:20, “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.”

Year Two, February 15

See the Vile Abominations That They Are Committing Here1

During the reign of Zedekiah, the prophet Ezekiel was on the banks of the Chebar with the exiles who had been carried away in the day of Jehoiachin.2 Let us read one of his prophetic visions.

  

Ezekiel 8

1bAs I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. 3He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

This image was probably Astarte the Phoenician queen of heaven or the Syrian goddess Venus. Idolaters have usually had some favorite female idol. The Roman Catholic Church has followed closely in their path with their images of Mary.

4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.

5Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. 6And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? (To set up the image of an immoral goddess in the temple itself was enough to move the Lord to withdraw his glorious presence from the temple forever. Are there not also sins in us that might lead the Holy Spirit to depart from us?) But you will see still greater abominations.”

7And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. (They practiced the shameful worship of the Egyptians who bowed down to repulsive animals and insects.) 11And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

These seventy elders represented the whole nation of Israel that was involved in despicable superstitious practices.

13He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

14Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. (Tammuz was an immoral god of the Babylonians. These women were celebrating a very wicked festival held in his honor. It is too wicked to be described.3 It is terrible when evil is made a part of religion. The Roman Catholic practice of Confession {to a priest} leads to much the same results.) 15Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.”

16And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. (These men may have been the leaders of the groups of priests who rotated ministering in the temple for a week at a time. Whoever they were, they had become sun worshipers! This was the worst sin of them all.) 17Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose. 18Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Infuriating sins like these demanded punishment. We cannot make idols for ourselves without storing up trouble for a future time. Flee idolatry.

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¹ Ezekiel 8:9

² Ezekiel 1:1

³ Ephesians 5:11-12, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.”

Year Two, February 16

In Wrath Remember Mercy1

In our last reading, God sent his messenger to show Ezekiel the sin of Jerusalem. In this reading, the prophet is shown the punishment these sins would bring upon this city.

  

Ezekiel 9

1Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” (God has messengers of vengeance and they are fully armed to carry out his terrible purpose. What would become of us if he were to send them forth at this moment?) 2And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, (Two destroyers were enough for Sodom, but Jerusalem must have six, one at each gate.) and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. (He came with the six, but was not one of them. He wore the clothes of the priest to give some hope that mercy might also be present. Who is this but our Prophet and Priest, the Lord Jesus?) And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. (To protect it and avenge the wrongs it had endured.)

3Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4And 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.” (Our great High Priest keeps the book of life and protects his own. No evil will touch them. Our Great Shepherd is the best qualified person to watch over his sheep, because he “knows who are his.”2 The pen of mercy keeps a careful record and stands superior to the sword of vengeance. Repentance3 is the special mark of grace on the foreheads of those who truly love the Lord. Those who sigh and groan because of sin will live.)

5And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” (Dreadful words, “Begin at my sanctuary.” If the house of God is the starting point of judgment, what will become of the ungodly and the wicked? Yet see how safe those are whom grace has set apart! Their deliverer goes before the destroyer and saves his own.) So they began with the elders who were before the house. 7Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. 8And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

What gratitude must have filled the prophet’s heart when he saw that he was not destroyed! But he was not selfish. He immediately began to pray for the people. Do we follow his good example?

9Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ 10As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

Sin may become so persistent that intercession4 is powerless, because the cup of God’s anger has been filled.

11And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.” (See how faithful Christ is. Is he instructed to protect the righteous remnant? He has done so and declares, “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”5)

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¹ Habakkuk 3:2

² 2 Timothy 2:19

³ repent, repentance - The act or feeling of remorse, regret, sorrow or shame that results in a change of heart or purpose.

⁴ intercession - a prayer or intervention for the benefit of others.

⁵ John 18:9

Year Two, February 17

His Heart Is Firm, Trusting in the LORD1

The judgment of God hung over Jerusalem for a long time, as if the Lord was unwilling to strike the final blow. During that time Jeremiah prophesied that after the city had been destroyed the people would return someday. He bought a piece of land to prove he believed what he preached.

  

Jeremiah 32:1-15

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5And he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the LORD. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”

6Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: 7Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ (This was a hopeless request. Who would want to own a piece of land in a country devastated by war and occupied by the enemy? Who would even think it was worth accepting as a gift?) 8Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. (Therefore, he wasted no time in buying the land. This made the people see that Jeremiah believed what he preached. We are not only required to believe in God’s promises, but also to act on them. It is not every man who would give up good money for land that he could not use or even travel to during a destructive war. No one would do such a thing unless he believed that better days were coming when the land would return to its former value.)

9“And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch…in the presence of witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.”

The sale was done honestly and with great attention to detail. It was not a phony purchase and neither was Jeremiah’s faith. It is recorded in Roman history, that when Hannibal’s army was approaching Rome, a field where the enemy was camping was bought in the full belief that Roman valor would overcome Hannibal’s military force. Surely we have far more reason to risk everything on the word of God and prove our faith by our actions.

13“I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, 14‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’”

Jeremiah’s purchase would be talked about in all directions and would be more convincing than any sermon. If we act in determined confidence in our faithful God, our actions will go a long way in awakening and converting those around us.

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¹ Psalm 112:7

Year Two, February 18

He Delights in Steadfast Love1

Although Jeremiah had obeyed the word of the Lord and declared his faith without hesitation, he was still troubled by what was happening. Therefore he turned to the comforting exercise of prayer.

  

Jeremiah 32:16-17; 24-30; 36-44

16“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying: 17‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.’” (Then he continued by mentioning the Lord’s mighty acts in Egypt and Canaan. At last he came to what was testing his faith the most; the presence of the Chaldeans and their siege works that were threatening the city. He pleaded with the Lord and said,)

24“‘Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’” (This is the way to pray. State the trouble— “Behold, the siege mounds” and plead the promise. The Lord will make the mystery clear and turn darkness into light.)

26The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? 28Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.”

Judgment was threatened, but after a while mercy would come to the front again and it would come in a most marvelous way.

36“Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.”

These are words of love and belong as much to every child of God as to restored Israel. There is only one everlasting covenant and all believers have an interest in it. The people of God are favored with new natures that lead them toward God and holiness. This is the certain result of being born again and is a blessing that words cannot fully describe.  If it were possible to fall away and perish even after conversion, we would have no assurance. But if the Lord declares “They may not turn from me,” our final perseverance2 is certain.

41“I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

42“For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah’s prayer brought him a cheering answer. He was a man of sorrows, but he had more than enough reasons to also be thankful.

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¹ Micah 7:18

² final perseverance - The doctrine or teaching “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). God the Father “predestined us for adoption…through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:5). Those whom God adopts into his family are his children forever. He will deal with them as children, but he will never disown them.

Year Two, February 19

The Almighty Will Be Your Gold1

Jeremiah 39:1; 4-18

1In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. (In a very short time they forced their way through the outer wall and began to attack the inner fortifications.)

4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward the Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence on him. (The weak-minded and vicious king now had convincing evidence of the truthfulness of Jeremiah words. No doubt, he was greatly tormented as he remembered how many warnings he had despised.) 6The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.

To see his children slain and his friends put to death by hundreds must have been worse than death, especially to a coward like Zedekiah.

7He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon.

He had shut his eyes to the light and now God shuts him up in darkness forever. Zedekiah had chosen to be a slave of sin and now he must wear the chains of misery. God has effective ways of punishing those who rebel against him.

8The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12“Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.”

The mighty leader showed great kindness to the poor prophet. No doubt he had heard who he was and how he had advised the people to surrender. Jeremiah was clearly a messenger of God and that was the secret of his caring treatment.

13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris,2 Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag,3 and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he lived among the people.

15The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16“Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian,4 ‘thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.’” (He had been kind to a prophet and therefore he received a prophet’s reward. In addition, he had put his trust in the Lord and therefore the saving mark was placed on him.5 If we cannot be prophets or ministers, let us be their friends, and the friends of Jesus, and we will share in their salvation.)

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¹ Job 22:25

² Rab-saris - possibly “Chief of the Officers”

³ Rab-mag - some think this was the “Chief of the Maji” (wise men); others “Chief of the Physicians” or “Chief of the Prophets”

⁴ Ebed-melech was the person who rescued Jeremiah from the cistern. See Jeremiah 38:7-13, and also Year Two, February 13 of this devotional.

⁵ See Year Two, February 16. Ezekiel 9:4, “And the LORD said [to the man with a writing case], ‘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.’”

Year Two, February 20

The Kingdom Shall Be the LORD’s1

A short time after Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jerusalem, the Edomites (who were the descendants of Esau, the firstborn son of Isaac) were also overthrown. The prophet Obadiah foretold this. We have time to read almost his entire little book.

  

Obadiah 1-12; 15-19; 21

1The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:

We have heard a report from the LORD,

and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”

2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

you shall be utterly despised.

Boasting usually ends with the boaster being despised.

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,

in your lofty dwelling,

who say in your heart,

“Who will bring me down to the ground?”

4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,

though your nest is set among the stars,

from there I will bring you down
   declares the LORD.

Pride is followed by destruction.2 Neither God nor others can stand it.

5 If thieves came to you,

if plunderers came by night—

how you have been destroyed!—

would they not steal only enough for themselves?

If grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

But nothing would be left. There would be complete destruction.

6 How Esau has been pillaged,

his treasures sought out!

7 All your allies have driven you to your border;

those at peace with you have deceived you;

they have prevailed against you;

those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—

you have no understanding.

8 Will I not on that day, declares the LORD,

destroy the wise men out of Edom

and understanding out of Mount Esau?

9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,3

so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,

shame shall cover you,

and you shall be cut off forever.

11 On the day that you stood aloof,

on the day that strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother

in the day of his misfortune;

do not rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their ruin;

do no boast

in the day of distress.

If we are hard on others when they are in distress, it will be sure to come home to us. “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”4 This is especially the case if we rejoice over the sorrows of God’s people.

15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.

As you have done, it shall be done to you;

your deeds shall return on your own head.

16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,

so all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and swallow,

and shall be as though they had never been.

The Edomites drank in celebration of the overthrow of Judah, but their partying turned to bewilderment. Distress was about to visit them too!

17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,

and it shall be holy,

and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire

and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau stubble;

they shall burn them and consume them,

and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,

         for the LORD has spoken.

Israel must live, but Edom must die. Those who God elects to life will survive, but their enemies will perish. Happy are those who are the true children of God.

19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,

and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;

they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,

and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion

to rule Mount Esau,

and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.

A sweet ending. It is the inspired answer to our prayer, “Your kingdom come.”5

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¹ Obadiah 1:21

² Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

³ Teman was located in southern Edom.

⁴ Matthew 7:2

⁵ Matthew 6:10

Year Two, February 21

Our God Whom We Serve Is Able to Deliver Us1

Daniel 3:1; 3, 7-9; 12-28; 30

1King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits (about ninety feet) and its breadth six cubits (about nine feet). He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

3Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

8Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!

12“There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

13Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If 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. 18But 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.”

19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.”

30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. (The unwavering loyalty of these three holy young men is an example we should follow. They never hesitated or tried to discuss options with the tyrant. Their hearts were anchored in God. They were confident that they had made the right decision. As a result, they conquered the proud king, triumphed over death itself, and overcame the brute force of the flames. Their reward was greater than immense wealth. Jesus walked in the intense flames with them and turned the fiery furnace into a grand palace. Let us hold tightly to the truth that is in Jesus without flinching and no evil will come near us. When it comes to God and his holy gospel, let us never debate or question. Rather, let us be bold to sacrifice even life itself if it becomes necessary. May the sons of this family be such young men as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Amen.)

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¹ Daniel 3:17

Year Two, February 22

Those Who Walk in Pride He Is Able to Humble1

The book of Daniel contains a remarkable incident in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. He dreamed a dream that made him afraid. The prophet Daniel came before the king and gave him the interpretation of the dream.

  

Daniel 4:20-30; 33-37

20“The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, 21whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. 26And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 27Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” (The proud ruler was given fair warning, but his love of sin was so great that he did not repent or change his ways. Therefore, the threatened judgment soon fell on him.)

28All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

33Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. (The king was insane. His disease is known as Lycanthropy, a miserable madness where the patient imagines himself to be changed into an animal, and acts accordingly. There are many similar cases on record. Some even exist today. We ought to bless God every day for our mental health, because if we lost it we might be no better than the beasts of the field within the hour.)

34At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;

35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,

and he does according to his will among the host of heaven

and among the inhabitants of the earth;

and none can stay his hand

or say to him, “What have you done?”

36At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. 37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Proud Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and bowed before the Lord and confessed before all that the Lord alone is God. If he was not a converted man he certainly wrote like one. Let us avoid his pride. If we have been guilty of it, then from now on let us imitate his humility.

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¹ Daniel 4:37

Year Two, February 23

I Will Establish for Them a Renowned Planting Place1

Ezekiel thirty-four opens with Ezekiel prophesying against the “shepherds of Israel.” Matthew Poole notes that these shepherds were “the rulers of the people, both political, such as kings, wise men, and princes, and also religious, like priests and prophets.”2 After complaining about the unfaithful shepherds who had scattered his people, the Lord promises to gather his chosen by his own hand.

  

Ezekiel 34:11-31

11“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.”

Because they are his own people he will not allow them to be lost. The Lord’s elect will be gathered by efficacious grace3 and brought to Jesus.

13“And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.”

Food and rest are two great necessities. We have both of these blessings in Christ Jesus.

16“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.”

There is no place in God’s covenant for proud, independent, and self-righteous people. Only judgment is reserved for them.

17“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD  Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. 18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?”

A hard, domineering spirit toward weaker brothers and sisters in Christ always brings God’s discipline.

20“Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. (Who is this but Jesus, the true David, the gentle Shepherd who tenderly cares for the weak?) 24And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.

25“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. 27And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. 30And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD. 31And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.” (This last sentence is the grandest ever spoken. Nothing more can be wished for when the Lord has once said to us, “I am your God.”)

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¹ Ezekiel 34:29 (NASB)

² From A Commentary on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole (1624-1679).

³ Efficacious Grace - Sometimes referred to as Irresistible Grace, is a theological term that refers to God’s effectively working in the lives of those he has chosen to save (the elect) so they will come to Christ in such a way as to overcome their fallen nature’s resistance to the gospel.

Year Two, February 24

Can These Bones Live?1

Ezekiel 37:1-14

1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. (The Israelites held captive in Babylon, among whom Ezekiel lived, were like dry bones. They were dead spiritually and as a nation. Their recovery seemed hopeless.) 3And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

Prophesying to dry bones seemed useless. Preaching to unregenerate sinners appears just as hopeless. It is our responsibility to do as God tells us and leave the result to him.

7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. (Preaching may awaken a person’s sense of right and wrong, but it cannot give them spiritual life until the Holy Spirit breathes on them.) 9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (The Holy Spirit accomplished this miracle easily. May the Lord bless the word of our pastor in the same way, to the salvation of thousands.)

11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

Israel would live again, even though as a nation it was politically and even morally dead. God had not given up on his people, nor forgotten his covenant. Before long he would restore their life as a nation and bring the remnant back to live in their own land.

May the Lord also cause our souls to spring into productive spiritual life.

This must have been good news to these Jewish exiles. Their sadness is described very well in:

  

Psalm 137:1-6

1 By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2 On the willows there

we hung up our lyres.

3 For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song

in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget its skill!

6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

Love for Zion had not died out with the faithful. Some Jews settled into distasteful comfort in their captor’s land, but not the spiritual ones among them. To them the land of promise was as dear as it had been to the patriarchs of old. Let us never call this Babylonian world our rest, but keep our eye toward the heavenly Jerusalem, where our place is reserved.

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¹ Ezekiel 37:3

Year Two, February 25

Everything Will Live Where the River Goes1

We will now read from one of Ezekiel’s most interesting and instructive visions.

  

Ezekiel 40:1-4

1bThe hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me to the city. 2In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. 3When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord, and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. 4And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

  

Ezekiel 47:1-12

1Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. (We see here “the river of the water of life,”2 the divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit when the gospel is preached. The river begins at the altar of sacrifice.)

3Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits (about 500 yards), and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water,  and it was waist-deep. 5Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

The power and influence of the life-giving gospel grows each day. The streams in Palestine frequently decrease as they run, but the river of grace becomes deeper and wider. The grain of mustard grows into a tree. The drops that trickled from beneath the altar deepened and widened into an overwhelming flood.

6And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.

Fruitful results come from grace. Wherever the gospel goes, blessings spring up like fruitful trees.

8And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. (The repulsive Dead Sea is almost within sight of Jerusalem. The foul waters continually increase and now cover the ruins of the doomed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a sad reminder that sin leads to death. In Ezekiel’s prophecy, the living water flowed into this horrible lake of death and made it so sweet and clear that it swarmed with fish. This a beautiful picture of the way that the worst parts of the earth are rescued by the gospel, when it comes in the power of the Spirit of God.)

9“And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. (To some the gospel does not have the aroma of life. They reject the truth and so miss its healing power. Their wills are decided on evil and they are given over to an unprincipled mindset. They may not always seem like the worst of persons; they are not found in the foul deepness of the Dead Sea, but only in the swamps and marshes. Perhaps their imagined excellence prevents them from humbly accepting the grace that brings salvation.)

12 “And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

So Ezekiel’s vision melts into that of John in the Revelation and we are made to rejoice in the ever fresh, varied, satisfying, and soul-delighting blessings of the covenant of grace. May we all drink of this water and never thirst again.

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¹ Ezekiel 47:9

² Revelation 22:1

Year Two, February 26

In Just a Little While, the Wicked Will Be No More1

Daniel 5:1-8; 13; 16-28; 30

1King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.

13Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah.”

16“But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

17Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “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. 18O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.

22“And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

24“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. 26This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28PERES,2 your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

30That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.

Condemned when in the balance weighed

My soul might well be quite afraid;

But to my Substitute I flee,

And Jesus fills the scale for me.3
  

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¹ Psalm 37:10

² ESV translators’ note: PERES is the singular of PARSIN and sounds like the Aramaic for divided and for Persia.

³ Author unknown.

Year Two, February 27

You Will Tread on the Lion1

King Belshazzar promoted Daniel to be the third ruler in the kingdom, but he was killed that very night. Darius the Mede gained the kingdom. “It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps (governors), to be throughout the whole kingdom; and over them three high officials (chief executives or prime ministers).”2 Daniel was one of the prime ministers that Darius appointed and those under him were envious and jealous of his authority.

  

Daniel 6:4-24

4Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

6Then these high official and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the (regional) governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. (This would be very flattering to the king and it was carefully worded to trap him. It would seem like a marvelous idea. For a whole month, no prayer could be made unless it was to the great Darius. How often people are snared by their own pride!) 8Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. (Little did he dream what would be the result of his action. It is wise to consider a long time before we sign any document, otherwise we may soon sign away our children’s inheritance.)

10When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. (He made no change in his worship. He refused to alter anything that might make anyone even wonder if he was undecided about what he was doing. To him life or death was not the question, but loyalty to his Lord was everything. He would not hold back in even the smallest detail in the worship of his God, and he made certain that his enemies would know that from the very start.)

11Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

14Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” (This law had been put in place to impress people with how great the king was and it was a very foolish law. Immutability3 is for God and not for humans.)

16Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. (He was far more miserable in his palace than Daniel was in the den. What a grand night the prophet must have spent. It is no wonder that he later saw visions of terrible beasts and yet felt no fear.)

19Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! (Daniel’s response was kind and courteous. He did not blame the king, but greeted him as a loyal subject would.) 22My 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.” 23Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

God can still shut lions’ mouths. Let us do the right thing no matter what the risk and the Lord will deliver us. Daniel’s God still lives. Are we prepared to be Daniels?

24And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

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¹ Psalm 91:13

² Daniel 6:1-2

³ immutable, immutability - Unchangeable. Not capable of change or needing to change. God is perfect and therefore immutable.

Year Two, February 28

He Shall…Set My Exiles Free1

Babylon had defeated Judah and now in its turn Babylon was conquered by Cyrus. This was very much for the good of the Jews, because this Persian king became their friend and supporter. Isaiah prophesied this more than 200 year earlier.2 The Lord will accomplish his plans. His timing is perfect and all things work together to achieve his purpose.

  

Ezra 1

1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”

It is delightful to hear such an acknowledgment from so great a king and to see him take up his assigned work so cheerfully. We have also received all that we have from God and should be quick to follow his instructions.

3“Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

5Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem. 6And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. (The king’s word and example caused others to show respect to the Jews. The result was that God’s people left Babylon like they had previously left Egypt, loaded with silver and gold.)  7Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. (These vessels had become the rightful property of Cyrus when he captured the city of Babylon and its temples. A generous spirit prompted him to restore them to their ancient use. God knows how to provide for his own temple. Cyrus was the one who restored the vessels, but the Lord’s hand was in it.)

9And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 1030 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Encouraged by the Persian king, a number of Jews returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiachin, who Cyrus had appointed as governor over Judah. It was a large number, but given the very favorable circumstances, there should have been even more taking advantage of this opportunity to return to their own country.

  

Ezra 2:64-65; 68-69

64The whole assembly together was 42,360, 65besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers.

68Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. 69According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics (about 950 pounds) of gold, 5,000 minas (over three tons) of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.

The Jews had brought generous hearts with them. At the sight of the holy city they laid down their voluntary offerings, so that the Lord’s house might be rebuilt. God’s house should be given a higher priority than our own house.

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¹ Isaiah 45:13

² Isaiah 44:24-28

Year Two, February 29

Restore Our Fortunes1

About this time the seventy weeks of the prophet Jeremiah were completed and the time had come for the return from captivity.2 Therefore the Lord raised up Cyrus, and moved his heart to set his people free, and help them return to Jerusalem. We have already learned about this in our last lesson. Today, we will read about what the returning exiles felt.

  

Psalm 85

1 LORD, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin.     Selah

All goes well when sin is pardoned. Sin is the one fatal obstacle to true comfort. Once this is removed, all is well.

3 You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation.

and put away your indignation toward us!

When God turns to us in love, it is high time that we turned to him in faith and repentance. Indeed, when he does, it will not be long before we do. Love is the great converting force. When the love of Jesus turns us, we are turned indeed.

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,

and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

It is our privilege to see this fulfilled in the atonement of the Lord Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, we are freed from our captivity and there is peace between God and our souls.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Earth looks up in trust and heaven looks down in mercy.

12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

Israel was back in its own country and the land was once again fruitful. Their desire was now to obey the Lord in all things and follow the path of obedience closely.

We can imagine the restored exiles at this time singing

  

Psalm 126

1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

It seemed too good to be true. They could hardly believe that such a good thing had happened to them.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us;

we are glad.

Others said, “The Lord has done great things for them” and they boldly declared that it was true. They did not bury the Lord’s mercies in forgetfulness or throw doubts on their words with a show of false humility. Too often we say, “We hope and we trust,” when we should be saying, “The Lord has done great things for us.”

4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like streams in the Negeb!

5 Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

6 He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.

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¹ Psalm 126:4

² Jeremiah 25:11-12