Saturday, May 23, 2009

Hosea 5:1,11,15

' "Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours [is] the judgment, Because you have been a snare to Mizpah And a net spread on Tabor." ' (Hosea 5:1)

The chapter doesn't start well for Israel. God wants Israel to hear Him. He wants their leaders to listen up. Again, they are being judged, and the reason is that they are like a trap to their neighbours. They are drawing their neighbours into evil with them. How much further from the original plan could they get? God originally drew out Abram to make a nation that could be His shining light on the world, and show His true character to the nations. And generations down the track, that same nation is snaring other nations into evil! No wonder God is upset.

We have to ask the question: how did they get to that state? You don't go from being God's special people to leading people away from God in a day. It's a slow fade, as Casting Crowns would say. Well we read further down:

'Ephraim is oppressed [and] broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by [human] precept.' (Hosea 5:11)

They have been walking in their own understanding, doing what seems right, taking the 'wise' option. They have been dealing practically, reasonably and 'ethically', but they have NOT been dealing with FAITH and TRUST of God's way. They have not been acting obediently.

Let's not make this (very easy to make) mistake. We need to trust in God and His (sometimes impossible to understand) ways. He needs to be our axiom upon which all else is based, rather than something that fits into our natural axiom of happiness. Trust in Him, and let everything else be wrong if it must.

As I have come to expect from the many previous prophetic chapters, God doesn't let it end with Israel's judgment and destruction, and here we see the true heart of God:

'I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.' (Hosea 5:15)

God's heart is not that any should perish, but that all should come to Him. He wants a relationship with us all. He wants us all to earnestly seek Him. But as our loving Father, He knows that sometimes the only way to provoke us to do this is to afflict us so that we come to a place of acknowledging our sin and our offense (for really that is what is!) to God. We need to come to that place, and repent, turn around and face Him and run into His arms. And we need Him to hold on to us.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Update

Hi anyone who is reading this. This post is a marker on the point that I actually caught up posting all my old devotions and thoughts. From now on, I will post as I write, so if anyone has been hanging back and not reading anything because posts were coming in at stop-start rates, you can now actually start reading. Assuming anyone wants to read anything :)

I started by tagging every post with either ‘devotion’ if it was a specific devotion based on a Bible chapter (and tagged the book name as well) or ‘thought’ if it was just  a random spiritual thought, plus any other tags I considered appropriate. However, after uploading a few, the extra tags began to fade off, and so other than the first few, all posts now are tagged just with either devotion or thought and the book name if it is a devotion. I’m not completely sure how tags work yet so that may change…

The Temple

Hello everyone, I would just like to share a little thought I had on Sunday which I thought was pretty cool.


On Saturday as you would mostly be aware we went to hear Don Carson preach about a few different things and one of the points he stated was that of 'inner-canonical threads'. These are basically sort of 'topics' that are found continually throughout the Bible and continually develop throughout redemptive history. One such inner-canonical thread is the Temple. For instance, it started out as a tabernacle with God specifying its construction and dimensions etc, and then was transformed into the Temple by Solomon according to God's design again. Then of course Jesus stated that He was the ultimate Temple when He said that the temple would be destroyed and raised again in three days. Now of course we see our bodies as Temples and in the future heaven will be like the Temple, where God's glory dwells. He also made the interesting point that only twice in the Bible were there perfect cubes: Once was the Most Holy place in the temple and the other is the New Jerusalem (the massive city in heaven where we will live). This shows that in Heaven we will be constantly living in God's intimate presence. The most holy place was only entered once a year by one person, and fearfully because that's where God dwelt. But we will live with God unhindered for eternity.


Anyway, that was the prelude. On Sunday, I think it was Noel was talking about how the temple veil was rent in two to open the way to the most holy place. Now, when that happened, God was turning His back on Jesus and there was no light. Noel said it was like we don't need the light because now we have the light of the most holy place, we have the true light of God! That got me thinking, in heaven, in the New Jerusalem, we won't need a light either! Because God is light enough for us! I just thought it was wonderful both in the sense that we can view God as enough light for us (more than enough) and also how awesome a God we have that can fit these sort of messages throughout the Bible, linking a common theme throughout thousands of years of writing in the Bible.

The Holy Spirit

I was thinking last night (in a determinedly night-ish way, which involves many obscure and seemingly random trajectories of thought), about myself. This is not unusual, if slightly self-absorbed. For some reason, my mind brought up a memory of someone calling me strange, or abnormal. Immediately (as my mind does), I conjured up a hypothetical scenario in which someone had just called me abnormal, and I responded:

‘I’m not abnormal. I’m more normal than everyone else. I’m the epitome of normal, and everyone tries to be normal together. For instance, you probably just thought what I just said was abnormal, but I’m sure most of you would think exactly the same thing in my position, some consciously, and others unconsciously, except the only difference is that since you are all conformed to this ideal of ‘normality’, that you are all too afraid to speak it. Therefore, I am superiorly normal, because I convey what is actually normal about all of us, while you all keep it in for a façade of normality. I guess, that very statement was something else you could call ‘abnormal’, but it is merely another example of my argument.’

Being very pleased with myself at coming up with something so profound, it took me a while to realize that I had contorted the meaning of ‘normal’ into something akin to ‘logical’ or ‘ideal’. In any case, the thought sparked off a seemingly random trajectory of thought about being able to capture all these moments of ‘brilliant’ thought for use in later life when I needed them. But then I thought, who can tell which of the thoughts I have are actually brilliant? So I thought perhaps there should be a system that tapes all the thoughts of the mind for later review. Ignoring the logical impracticality of such an idea, my mind went further, dreaming of capturing every single moment of life, both my inner thought, and external speech and hearing. Then of course, it hit me: it would all need to be saved in some massive program that could bring it back to you exactly when you needed it. I mean, if you got into some situation, you weren’t going to go sifting through every single thing that ever happened in your life for some fragment of an answer. So the program would need to be able to understand your situation, do a keyword search or something, and then bring back to mind some thought or previously heard message to enable you to cope with the situation, or answer the tough question, or whatever.

Then I laughed at myself. Because isn’t this what the Holy Spirit does for us? Convicts us, helps us, comforts us, directs us? Here I was, trying to think of some brilliant program which could have infinite value for everyone, and we have it already! We are just not using it to its fullest!

The Great Teacher

I was thinking about Jesus being the great Teacher. I was thinking of what that means for us. Because often we ask God to ‘show us what to do’. And I think often many of us think that the easiest way would be for Him to just plainly tell us the answer.

But what human teacher merely tells all the answers to his pupils? No, a teacher will teach more effectively by letting his students attempt to find the answer themselves, and guiding them towards it when they are heading down the wrong path. Just because he doesn’t tell them the answer doesn’t mean he doesn’t know it. In fact, that he can let them attempt to find it themselves shows more of a true knowledge of the answer, because guiding then towards it is harder than just telling them it! And when the pupils finally find the answer, it means much more to them, and they remember it far longer.

Do you not think that God may take the same approach with us? So don’t get frustrated if you ask God for answers and it takes a while and much effort to figure out. Because God is looking for dedication. And when God leads you to the answer, it will mean so much more.

Devotion

One only has so much time in life. There is a limited window of opportunity in which to exist, and hopefully more than that – to impact. This means that one can only devote themself to a limited number of things.

Devotion is a strong word. It implies complete dedication to another’s cause, to believe in the other to the utmost extent, a trust that the other has only good in mind for them, a willingness to do anything for the other, even to the point of death. To care for the other, to love the other. It necessitates the spending of large quantities of time in service to the other.

Some people are devoted to objects or actions. Some are devoted to a particular sport. They spend their time playing it, they believe in its cause, and they will give up anything to play it.

More often than not, a person will have a small circle of people they are devoted to. Their spouse for one. Sometimes the only one. When two people are married, it is implied that they are completely devoted to one another. They are completely dedicated to one another’s cause, they believe in the other person fully, knowing that whatever battles they face they will win. There is no doubt there. There is only assurance because of their belief in the other person’s strength. There is a willingness to do anything for the other – to spend all of their time on them, to do things they find boring or distasteful for them, or even die for them if it comes to that.

But for a Christian there is One that we devote ourselves to. And He is not finite and faulty like our spouse or our close friends. Nor does He require most of our time. He requires all of our time. He requires our lives. Every moment should be a testament of our devotion to Him. That is what being a Christian is.

This does not mean that we are not devoted to anything else. God is a wonderful God. While devotion to Him means complete dedication of all of our time, this does not mean that all of our time must be in communication just with Him. While much of our time must be spent alone with Him, we show our devotion by showing devotion to others. But let us choose those people or things we are devoted to carefully. We have limited time. It is simply impossible to be devoted to all of your friends. Impossible to be devoted to all of your favorite activities. But let us model our devotion to others on our devotion to God.

Devotion doesn’t just happen. Ever. It is a choice. It involves effort. But neither can you merely choose something or someone to be devoted to. They must choose you just as much as you choose them. Infinite effort towards a random person will not render devotion, because devotion springs only from the heart.

Devotion sounds like a soft word. It sounds mushy and gushy. But true devotion is one of the strongest, toughest things that we can show. So the challenge is to devote yourselves to worthy things or people. Devote yourself primarily to God, but those earthly things that you devote yourself to, do it with a pure heart and with all of your might.

Hosea 4:6

The plot thickens in Hosea as God delves further into the reasoning behind His temporary rejection of the Israelites, turning His focus to the priests, the spiritual leaders of the people. We see again, as we have seen time and again in the prophets (cf. Ezekiel 33), the distinction between the roles and responsibilities of those who are shepherding, watching, or otherwise in a position of responsibility, and that of the general populace. It seems very clear that God treats each differently (as is found in the New Testament also), although He treats every human the same on the base level. That is, although each person is individually responsible for their own sin and their own choices, and no person is treated differently to another, in fact those in ‘leadership’, as it were, are also held responsible for those they lead.

In this case, God makes the statement ‘And it shall be: like people, like priest.’ (Hosea 4:9a). That is, the people’s sins, which God has illustrated in a previous chapter, apply also to the priests, which not only participated in the sins, but misled people by their false role-modelling. This is a warning to us all, for we are all role-models in some sense, whether it is to little kids, our peers, new Christians, non-Christians, our church, or whoever. And we must realise that we are responsible for the image we convey to them.

However, there is a further aspect to God’s appraisal of the nation’s waywardness, not raised in the previous chapter, which is more applicable to the priests.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.’ (Hosea 4:6)

It is not clear to me whether their destruction (because of lack of knowledge) was effected by themselves, God, or both. That is, I am not sure whether the ‘are destroyed for’ is literally ‘have been destroyed by’, or whether in fact it means that because of their lack of knowledge, God will destroy them – or both. I lean towards both. The first sentence seems to suggest that their lack of knowledge has brought them to the place they are in; that in fact, all their ‘harlotry’ and idolatry is a product of not knowing God, and His law. This would have been the role of the priests, to teach them, to instruct them and guide them in the knowledge and understanding of the law and God’s incredible goodness. Without knowing the glory and goodness of God, it is understandable that the populace would turn away to more ‘fashionable’ and immediately pleasing things. And so God adds, since they (the priests) have rejected knowledge, that is, consciously disregarded it, He will reject them. A tough call, but fair. Not only are they leading themselves astray, but also a whole nation of people who may otherwise have been enjoying their relationship with a loving God.

How does this speak to us? Well it speaks volumes about the importance of knowledge. Knowledge is something that is highly sort after these days, but so little in the church, where knowledge is so much more important, and much sweeter! People go to any end to find out obscure information (trust me, I know!) and spend all their lives devoted to unveiling one fact, and yet in the church we have so much information in front of our very eyes, and so many of us can’t be bothered to look at it! And the knowledge we have available to us is so much more important, interesting, valuable and transformative than any other information, you would think we would all be chomping at the bit to get our teeth into it! Furthermore, our knowledge in this so called ‘Age of Grace’ surpasses by far any of the knowledge in the Old Testament, by the pure fact that we have a relationship with Jesus, whom we can come to know intimately.

A lack of knowledge can (and inevitably eventually will) lead down the path of sin and idolatry. This is the experience of Israel. Let’s all thirst for the truth found in His word, and dig deeper and deeper into its sweet promises!

Hosea 3:3

‘And I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man--so, too, [will] I [be] toward you."’ (Hosea 3:3)

Hosea is told to go take a wife that is an adulterer, and so he does. And he says this to her. Can you see the direct analogy to God with His people Israel, and the further analogy that applies directly to us? God loves us so much that even while we are in our sins, of turning away from Him to look for our pleasure elsewhere, He comes after us and takes us and says to us ‘you shall be with me for a long time – and you won’t leave me and find pleasure elsewhere.’ But how much does our flesh fight against that? It is constantly wanting to seek enjoyment in other things before God. We are like Hosea’s wife. We need to realise that our true joy lies with our Eternal Husband, who gives us all that we truly need on a daily basis, and cares for our true needs and loves us with a true Love.

Hosea 2:23

Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on [her who had] not obtained mercy; Then I will say to [those who were] not My people, 'You [are] My people!' And they shall say, ['You are] my God!'’ (Hosea 2:23)

So chapter 2 is God’s analogy of Israel with a prostitute, or unfaithful wife, and the yearning for them to return, and the promise of their return in the last days (vv. 18). This story will be played out in Hosea’s own life as first seen in the first chapter. This verse (the last verse of the chapter) hit me with the phrase ‘And I will have mercy on [her who had] not obtained mercy’. What a stark picture of our own lives! Mercy has been given to us, lavished upon us, and we have not obtained it. There is nothing that we have done that could have led God to give us this mercy, in fact, we were much like the harlot of this chapter – running away from God and offering ourselves to anything that passed us by. And yet God has called us back, and washed us from our idolatry, and loved us and given us immeasurable mercy. We need to savour that.

Hosea 1:2b

Today we start the book of Hosea. This book tells an interesting story about the author, which serves as an analogy for Israel. Typically (refer to the Major prophets), the prophecies consist of serious accusations of idolatry and immorality against both Israel and Judah, followed by warnings of imminent disaster, followed by loving reinforcements of God’s grace and love in the form of assurance of future restoration. Hosea lived before the captivity of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, through the period of kings of which nearly none were any good.

God commands Hosea to take a wife, so that this analogy can take place. In fact, the words in my Bible read:

Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry
By departing from the LORD.’
(Hosea 1:2b)

Now, I have read this before, and had a little problem with it, because I just never thought that God could ask someone to marry someone that he knew was impure. Especially so, since later on in the book *spoiler alert*, Hosea rejects her for her harlotry. It is a bit odd then that he rejects her after marriage, rather than declining to marry her in the first place!

However, I think it is clear (and MaCarthur agrees), that in fact the woman was pure before marriage, and God referred to her future adultery (because God exists outside of time). This also makes more sense in the higher analogy.

Given this interpretation, you still have to wonder what is going through Hosea’s mind. He still hears the words “wife of harlotry”, so he can know what to expect. I’m sure he at least half cottoned-on to the analogy (and God makes it semi-clear in the above verse), but even so, he has to put himself through the emotional turmoil of marriage and unfaithfulness.

As I write I am beginning to get the feeling that perhaps God wants all of us to somewhat feel what He feels for us. Because it is true that He bought us with His blood, and we are now His bride, and yet how often are we unfaithful? And so often I think we can transform that thought into merely that – a thought. ‘Ah yes, we shouldn’t be unfaithful, we shouldn’t turn to anything else other than God, because God is the best thing for us always...’ and so the thoughts carry on. But what about what is going on in God’s heart? What is He actually feeling? I imagine a great deal more intense emotions than what we feel when we are rejected by those that we love. Yes, the thought is a ‘correct’ thought, but sometimes I think we have to remember that God loves us with a real love, a love that we experience with our minds and our hearts. Imagine the pain that God goes through when we sin against Him. This should be incentive enough not to sin, or find our pleasure in things other than God!

Daniel 12:10,

Daniel 12, the final chapter of Daniel, continues the vision of the angel who is telling Daniel about the times of the end. In this chapter it is fairly obvious that he is talking about the end of time, since he talks about the dead rising ‘at this time’, and then tells Daniel in the final verse, that he will arise to his inheritance ‘at the end of the days.’ By logical connection, the ‘time’ that he refers to throughout the chapter is in fact the end of the world as we know it. Remember that the events of Daniel 12 happen around the same time as the events from chapter 11 (see Daniel 12:1, for the connective ‘at that time’).

We heard about the abomination of desolation in chapter 11, and he appears again in chapter 12. He takes away the daily sacrifices in the temple, from which point there are precisely 1290 days until the end ( = 3.53 years). This fits with the earlier description (verse 7) of there being ‘time, times and half a time’ (ie. 3.5 years). We also know about this time that it will be a period of great ‘trouble’ for that nation of Israel, ‘such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time’. We know some nations are going through very ‘troubling’ times at the moment, including Israel, but this last trouble will dwarf them all.

This is all in course of understanding the chapter – which is a hard task, and one not thoroughly achieved by the above at all. For a thorough understanding (as thorough as it can be understood, given the words of verse 4: ‘But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end’), there are many books and articles written with comparison to both other parts of scripture and history. Be careful though; so many theories abound on this topic, ranging from true to believable but false, to outright fantastical – and it takes discernment to pluck the wheat out of the chaff as it were. In either case, we beg the question: what can we learn from this chapter for daily life?

Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.’ (Daniel 12:10)

This is talking about the people that live in these last days, however I think it rings true of people in general as well. Note that it talks about three groups of people, of which two are intersecting: the purified, the wicked, and the wise. Obviously the purified and the wise are intersecting groups, if not equivalent groups. I would say by the context that indeed the latter is the case. Now notice that it says many shall be purified, made white, and refined. I skipped over this the first time I read it, but then I realised something: why would something that has been made white need to be refined? Something that has attained purity no longer needs to be refined, right? Well, that is what we are, isn’t it? We, as Christians, are pure, having been made white through the blood of Jesus Christ – and yet God refines us still, brings us closer and closer to Him. Through trials and successes He cuts away false pride, sin and spiritual weakness, refining us, honing us.

Secondly, we notice that the wicked do wickedly (ie. The function from being wicked to doing wicked things is an injection, but not a surjection. For the less mathematically minded: In God’s mind, doing wicked things doesn’t entirely equate with being wicked, but in this case being wicked means that you will do wicked things). And also, the wicked shall not understand. Note that this is a frequently mentioned truth in the Bible – the wicked, or evil, don’t understand. This ties in with faith – faith is a leap, a putting of trust in something you can’t completely prove. To be righteous, we must have faith (and if we have faith (in God and the Gospel), then we are made righteous), and so the wicked do not have faith. But it is this faith that enables the understanding of things based on the faith. That is, I am not going to understand why abortion is wrong, for instance, without first believing in the sanctity of life, which I won’t believe in unless I believe in the Creation of that life by an all-powerful and loving God. And to believe in God, I must have faith. Without faith, understanding of God’s purposes and designs is completely lost. This is why the wicked will not understand anything that is happening in the last days. But the wise, those who are righteous and have been purified and made white – they will understand the times.

The question is – what do we not understand because we have not had faith in something God has said? Let’s ask ourselves that and come humbly before God ‘humbly accepting the word planted in you, which can save you’ (James 1:21)

Daniel 11:45

Daniel chapter 11 is one of those chapters that you have to really study to know the meaning of. It has a lot of reference to history (future at the time of writing!), and various symbols and intricacies. I did not, by far, understand it. However, for much of the chapter it talks about a man, called the ‘abomination of desolation’ in verse 31. This man sets himself up as a king without regards for traditions, religions, God, other kings, or even women (verse 37). He sets himself above all these things. He gets to the position by flattery and deceit. He seems to have the world under his feet, but I like the very last verse:

And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.’ (Daniel 11:45)

It doesn’t matter what you do with yourself in this life, there is one thing we can be certain of – it will end. And what can we say of our end? Who will help us then? Well if we are Christians, if we love the Lord, then God Himself will help us – but who would be the man who has rejected God his whole life and who cannot help himself after death? Never let your successes and failures and troubles and circumstances in this life get in the way of your view of the next. The next life is the important (and very much longer) one.

Daniel 10:2

Prayer is a much talked about, but little done, part of the Christian life. We live in a world of instantaneous action/reaction. If we want something, we usually press a button and there we have it – from coffee to clothes washing. But prayer operates on a different level – it involves patience and faith. [As a side note which just popped into my head – pushing buttons requires faith too – it is not immediately obvious that the button will do what we like it to, but we are condition over many uses of that button to believe that it will do as promised. It is a shame that with prayer we have not used it enough to always have the faith that it will work.]

Prayer can sometimes take days, weeks, years or even a lifetime to come to fruition, and then it may not turn out exactly the way you had planned it. For God has a different agenda to us at times, and He knows what is best for us. We receive great encouragement with regards to prayer, from Daniel chapter 10. We read:

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.’ (Daniel 10:2)

Daniel is apparently grieving over the contents of a ‘message’ which I interpret as a vision (such as the one in chapter 8 or 9). We read in chapter 8 that he was sick ‘for days’ after one vision, so this fits. Now suddenly, a vision appears to him, of an angel-like man (in fact the vision is very similar to John’s vision of Christ – body like beryl, face like lightning, eyes torches of fire, arms and feet of burnished bronze etc.) He falls asleep flat on his face (I was more than a little mind-boggled by that), and then another hand touches him (MacArthur says it is most likely Gabriel). This angel tells him that he has been coming for 21 days, but has been held up by an evil angel (called the prince of Persia). What do you think went through Daniel’s mind?

Daniel had been fasting and praying for 3 weeks = 21 days. He had probably grown weary and started to get frustrated that his prayers weren’t answered, and now he is told that as soon as he started praying God had sent an angel (presumably to tell him the meaning of the dream or vision that troubled him), but that that angel had been held up by the forces of evil (we are told that Michael had to go help Gabriel defeat the prince of Persia). I don’t know if Daniel would have comprehended it all (I know I sure wouldn’t have), but he would have been encouraged that his prayers had not been falling on deaf ears all that time. He would have been encouraged that his continued fasting and mourning had led to his situation now. He didn’t give up after the first day or the first week, because he knew that God would eventually answer him. We need to do the same. Keep praying for things that we know are needed.

Daniel 9:18

Most of Daniel 9 is a plea to God, and a beautiful one. I would like to just focus on one verse briefly:

O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.’ (Daniel 9:18)

Sometimes it’s all we want – for God to hear us, to incline His ear and hear our supplications and see our desolations. We want Him to see how lonely we are, how wrecked, how depressed, how sorry, how regretful, how tired, how hurt. It’s not always the good things, and it’s not always the bad. So often He is our last resort, when He needn’t be – but sometimes He is our first resort, and we still have fears and worries to unload.

I was caught by the phrase, ‘for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.’ How true is this? Nothing we bring before God we can justify by our own actions or even our heart. Rather, we constantly bring Him our troubles because we know and have experienced His great mercy, His great care. We know He will listen, and we know He will help. Oh what peace and joy the Christian life contains!

Daniel 8:27

Sometimes watching a very good, emotional movie will leave me feeling a little sombre or sad for a few hours afterwards. If its extremely good, I will remember that feeling for a few days. However, in chapter 8, Daniel has a vision which outshines this by far: we read in verse 27:

‘And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.’ (Daniel 8:27)

This vision was so awe-inspiring and terrible that Daniel actually felt physically sick for days afterwards! So what was so special about the vision? It contains a ram with two horns (one longer than the other), and a goat with one horn, which gets uprooted by four smaller ones, one of which in turn grows another horn. The goat charges the ram and knocks off its two horns.

The interpretation given is a little more explicit than in chapter 7 – the ram symbolises the Medes and Persians, and the goat’s first horn symbolises Greece. Apparently four kingdoms rose out of Greece – which were apparently Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt and the East. These were the four horns (who did not have as much power as the first horn – representing the king Alexander). Out of one of the horns grows a horn who tries to overthrow God’s people – whom I believe I recall is Antiochus Epiphanes. However, many parallel Antiochus with the Antichrist of the last days, especially so since the interpreter for Daniel (who was Gabriel), says that the vision concerned the ‘last days’, of which Antiochus Epiphanes, I think we can safely say, was not a part.

So with the meaning of the text somewhat elucidated, let us turn to what we can glean from this passage for our daily lives. It is often hard to find anything very applicational in such a passage, but I think we can find a little gem in verse 27 (above). You see, after being sick and fainting from such a terrible and moving sight, Daniel went about the king’s business – which shows us that in our daily lives, though we have great and moving experiences, we must always be diligent in our tasks and the business expected of us. It does no good to be an offhand eccentric who sees God’s glory in every moment, but does not live a reputable life. Neither does it any good to be the other way. Rather we should live both, seeing God’s glory in every moment and having the ‘wow’ experiences, but setting forth every day to go about our tasks and duties in such a manner that a non-Christian will find us of a good work ethic – a worthy witness!

Daniel 7:23-25

Daniel 7 is a fairly well known chapter which is a key chapter in eschatology. It describes (the ‘main parts’ of) Daniel’s vision of four great beasts that rise out of the sea – each different. The significance of each beast is not made obvious by the passage, although I’m sure many a biblical scholar has looked into it and cross-referenced with history, contemporary culture and other bible passages and drawn their own conclusions. The beasts represent four different nations who set up kingdoms on earth- that much is made very clear. However the fourth beast was different, for it was dreadful and exceedingly terrible, had iron teeth and bronze claws and ten horns. After a time, another horn rises and supplants three of the original horns, and this horn has eyes and a mouth! And the mouth speaks ‘pompous’ words. This beast is explained in more detail than the rest:

‘Thus he said: 'The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all [other] kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns [are] ten kings [Who] shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first [ones], and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak [pompous] words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then [the saints] shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.’ (Daniel 7:23-25)

In my experience, most people identify the little horn that pops up as the Antichrist, whose kingdom is the ‘Revived Roman Empire’. This seems to me to be an appropriate interpretation. I will not comment too much on this particular issue, given my lack of expertise on the subject, and the many varied and often intense views thereof. However, I will say that I cannot recall any nation of the past having ten kings where one king came along and usurped three of them, with a particular vendetta against the saints of the Most High. This indicates to me that the nation representing the 4th beast has yet to come to fruition.

Again, from this passage, as with much of the prophets, we see God’s hand in history, seeing His sovereignty and pre-awareness of the future. We are in awe of how powerful and caring He is. He’s specially crafting and moulding our history so that it is tailor-made for His glory. And we are a part of that beautiful tapestry. Amazing!

Daniel 6:5, 10, 26

I was thinking last night of how much we miss from the Bible because we don’t read it as if the people in it were true and real people. Ideally, as we read, we can see the change of expression on the face of David as Nathan confronts him; we can see the tears in Jesus’ eyes as he weeps after Lazarus’ death. But in practise we generally read as if we are looking for some little spiritual input, a nice thought, or as if those people had control of everything (because we know the end from the start) and didn’t feel anything.

Now to continue with Daniel with chapter 6. This is one of the most famous stories in the whole Bible – Daniel in the lion’s den. One thing I’ve never noticed is in verse 5:

Then these men said, "We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God."’ (Daniel 6:5)

The satraps and governors and various other leaders of the people were trying to pick Daniel up on some flaw because otherwise he would be made leader of them all by Darius. Notice that even they knew that the only way they could get him to go against the law of the land was to set a law directly against God’s laws and precepts. This tells us that we should be obeying the laws of our own land equally as stringently – unless they go against the higher laws of God. But it also makes us think how good it would be to have it known by all around us that we serve God with that amount of dedication!

Now we read verse 10:

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.’ (Daniel 6:10)

I was struck that Daniel gave thanks. Now, it is true that he had risen high in Babylonian society through the will of God – but in all honesty could we say we would be giving thanks at that point? He had been taken out of the nation of his birth against his will, had seen the death of his king whom he had many dealings with, seen the mocking of God by Belshazzar and endured the plottings of his peers. Who knows what other sadness had invaded his life – perhaps he longed for a wife, perhaps he had never seen his family since coming to Babylon, perhaps he was distressed by many of his fellow Jews turning to Babylonian ways. We can never know all the things that were going on in his life at that point – perhaps he was extraordinarily happy at that point. But it says that he gave thanks as a custom. That means he did it everyday. What an example!

Secondly, we read the phrase ‘as was his custom since early days’. Many people have different ideas on the importance of tradition and ritual. I believe that it can very easily get in the way of a true sight of God’s glory, and get in the way of a genuine relationship with Him. However, as is made clear here, there is definitely a place for custom and ritual. For it is obvious that we as humans are built to remember things as they are done several times over or daily, and that ritual and repetition always aide in organisation and learning. For example, cleaning your teeth everyday as a ritual after dinner, say, is much easier and practicable than cleaning them whenever you remember them, or feel like it. The same way with God – to set up a ‘customary habit’ as it were, for daily dealings with God is I think a very important thing, so long as the heart of the dealings is there – rather than doing it ‘because you always have’. So we see in Daniel that a custom that he had set up when he was young, and done ever since, was still important to him and helped him daily – he would not have kept doing it with the pressure he was facing if it was merely a tradition.

Finally I would like to mention the effect of Daniel’s faith and devotion on Darius. Darius, upon seeing that Daniel had not died in the lion’s den, says this:

I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom [men must] tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He [is] the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom [is the one] which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion [shall endure] to the end.’ (Daniel 6:26)

This is very reminiscent of Nebuchadnezzar and highlights the incredible impact Daniel had on the rulers of the known world in those times. A little faith, a little devotion to God, some endurance to withstand pressure and temptation, and God can use you for the most amazing things.

Daniel 5:6b, 18, 22, 26-28

Everyone has heard the story about the writing on the wall. But if you haven’t, I will refresh your memory briefly. We are dealing with Nebuchadnezzar’s son. He was obviously king after Nebuchadnezzar, but for some reason he had not learnt about God like Nebuchadnezzar had – and with all the wealth available to him he got a bit bored, and decided to throw a massive party. His first problem was that he invited all the lords and everyone over to get drunk, but a much greater problem was that the cups and vessels he used to do this were the ones from the Temple in Israel. It was Nebuchadnezzar who had taken all of these, in his conquest of Israel, but he had just stored them somewhere safe. Now his son was going to mock God by drinking from His sanctified cups. Well, God would have none of this, and so to reassert His power and sovereignty, God sent a disembodied hand to write on the wall in front of the whole party. This made everyone uncomfortable, not least of which the king (whose name by the way, was Belshazzar). In fact the king was so scared that verse 6 says that:

...the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.’ (Daniel 5:6b)

Now that takes some scaring! I guess you’d be fairly scared too, if a hand without any arm suddenly appeared in front of you. Neither a pretty sight, nor a familiar one.

The thing about the writing on the wall was, no-one could read it. Even the astrologers and wise men could not read the words, nor interpret their meaning. So, you guessed it, Daniel comes into the picture. He reads the words as ‘Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin’ and each word had a meaning:

This [is] the interpretation of [each] word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
’ (Daniel 5:26-28)

Needless to say, Belshazzar’s reign was at an end – and that very night, he was slain, and the kingdom passed to Darius the Mede (at 62 years old!).

So what shall we take away from this incredible story? What can we learn that can help us? Well, to me it is a reminder: a reminder that our lives aren’t inherited from our parents. We read:

O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor... But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.’ (Daniel 5:18,22)

What our parents were, is not necessarily what we are, and their achievements and failures do not count for us. Nebuchadnezzar had been a great man of the world, and became a man of God, by the grace of God. But his son was an idolater, and a mocker of the true God – and what’s more, there are no earthly achievements listed for him (other than succeeding his father on the throne!). This should re-emphasise for us the importance of owning our faith and our lives, and living them for God. Do not rely on the faith of your parents or those who lead you (eg. Your pastor, grandparents, schoolteacher), but instead have a relationship with Jesus that you own and is between you and Him. On the other hand, for those with kids, and those who will have kids one day, it reminds us that it is very easy for the child of one who is a great person of God to deny Him and go their own way. Never believe that just by acting your normal Christian life and seeing your kids grow up in Sunday School and the church that they will magically grow up as Christians – they must be taught by both word and action and saturated with the Gospel. And then they must make their own choice.

Daniel 3:4-6, 16-18, 22, 27

We are again going to split chapter 3 into two sections, based solely on my own thoughts on the chapter. Chapter 3 is the very famous story of the huge golden statue which Nebuchadnezzar built for everyone to worship. Of course, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego didn’t bow down to this statue because they only worshipped the true God. They were put into a fiery furnace, but they survived because God helped them by sending an angel (or possibly a pre-incarnate Jesus). It is a very famous story, because it has danger and amazing miracles and some good lessons.

Firstly we must again focus on the king, Nebuchadnezzar. He is one of the most recognisable characters in the entire Bible, and has one of the most amazing stories. The book of Daniel says a lot about his character and his story. It is apparent that Nebuchadnezzar didn’t take much out of his previous encounter with Daniel, and his God. Although he accepted that it was a wonderful miracle, and promoted Daniel to high places, he didn’t connect this with the fact that it was all God (which Daniel made perfectly clear - 2:30). This is frustrating, because it still happens today. I’m sure you’ve had the experience – something quite amazing happens to you and someone asks how it happened, and you say ‘God blessed me’ or something along those lines, and they sort of seem amazed, but don’t take it to heart, because you know if they took it to heart they would want to know more about this amazing God. I have a friend, who incidentally I’ve never met, and whom I believe receives these emails. She is a wonderful ambassador for God and His great grace and favour. I was talking to her not very long ago and she was telling me the most amazing things that happened (and if she gives me permission I’ll tell you all what happened). She was so amazed at how gracious God was and couldn’t think of anything better than living in His favour all the time. And yet she has friends that come to her for help because their lives are spiralling out of control, and when she tells them that Jesus is all they need (them having witnessed the incredible things that she had gone through), they just don’t understand. These are the people that we need to pray for (and I’m sure Daniel was praying for Nebuchadnezzar!).

In either case, it is quite evident that Nebuchadnezzar does not recognise the true God, because he is infatuated with himself. He builds a huge statue (about 30m high and 3m wide!) that depicts himself covered in gold. This could be an idea he got out of his own dream in chapter 2. Furthermore, he puts forward the order that everyone should worship it (‘everyone’ being all the leaders of the people he invited to this sort of ‘opening ceremony’ – this included Daniel and his friends). Yes, Nebuchadnezzar did have a pretty big ego. But who wouldn’t, when you reign over pretty much the whole known world, you’re a shrewd and magnificent ruler, and you have riches beyond comparison? In his eyes, there is no-one in the whole world that matches him, and therefore he ought to be worshipped. Again, we bring this concept back into our day and find that society has degenerated. Today, it is not just the president of the United States who has a ‘right’ to be narcissistic, indeed, every single person has it drummed into them from school age and before that they are the most important person, and that their whole life should be built around the central value of themselves. All products are based on optimising the centrality of self, or beautifying self, or entertaining self. Today, even a homeless beggar on the streets of some way-out town can be self-centred. In all this, just like Nebuchadnezzar, we have lost sight of the true God, who is not for us, but for Himself (primarily – of course He does always work for our good!).

The sad thing about people that love themselves when they have power, is that it inevitably ends in prejudice and killing – the result of suspicion and jealousy. We see this:

Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”’ (Daniel 3:4-6)

We see that Nebuchadnezzar is not completely confident that everyone will love him as much as he loves himself, so he takes measures to enforce this. This is the sad result of a mixture of self-love and power. It is seen in so many situations in modern history and the modern day that I’m sure you can think of a few off-hand. But it is no less devastating in the small scale. For indeed, power does not only mean government, but power can mean being stronger than someone, smarter than someone, or ‘better’ at anything than someone else. Combine this with a love of self, and the results are disastrous. Bullying, intellectual persecution, uncalled-for criticism, stealing, murder. A string of words that no-one deems desirable, and yet natural results of the worldview currently thrust upon all of us from childhood. Be careful of loving yourself. Very careful. It is possibly the most deceptive evil in the world, and will trick the unwary very easily (it has tricked me many a time!).

Tomorrow (or next devotion), we will look at our response to this, and ways to keep away from it!

So we continue with Daniel 3, focussing on verses 8-18. We have already seen that Nebuchadnezzar has ordered that everyone (all the governors and leaders of the people anyway) must worship his golden statue when the music plays. Now, of course, this presents a huge compromise for the Jewish people, of whom we know that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego are a part. Notice that for the pagan religions of the day, it was no compromise – it was not as if worshipping yet another ‘god’ was precluding them from worshipping their own multiple gods. They added and added to their list of gods as they saw fit. So, worshipping a huge golden statue of their earthly king was nothing out of the ordinary, and since they would pay with their lives if they didn’t do it, there was really no questions asked!

However, for the Jews, it presented a big problem. The Jews had only one God – the Almighty Most High God besides whom nothing is in any way comparable. Thus, to worship a golden statue was like in Jeremiah where it says they had turned away from the fountains of living water and turned to their own dry and dusty means. There could be no other god; there could be no other thing worthy of worship because God is all in all, Alpha and Omega. Now this challenge was a bit more ‘straightforward’ than the food issue in chapter one. That is, with the food it would have been harder to see that it was wrong. But in this case, the options are very clear-cut. However, this issue was apparently a matter of life and death – ie. If they did the wrong thing they would live, if they did the right thing they would die. So although the choice was more clear-cut, the stakes were much higher.

Now we all know what happened – the three men of God didn’t worship the statue, and some of the Chaldeans noticed it (they were looking out for it I suspect, because they were a bit jealous of these guys, who had embarrassed the rest of the wise men in chapter 2). So they were brought to Nebuchadnezzar, who gave them another chance. Again they refuse, and so Nebuchadnezzar gets really angry (he was pretty sure that everyone should be worshipping him). Nebuchadnezzar makes this ironic statement:

...And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?’ (Daniel 3:22b)

Do you see the irony of this statement? Well it becomes more clear later on, but you see, Nebuchadnezzar set himself up as a god, and what he was in effect saying was – which god is more powerful than me? If a god were to deliver them from his hands, that god would be proved to be more powerful than him, and Nebuchadnezzar would have none of that (hence the rhetorical question). Ironically, the Jews actually answer his question, with a statement that is quite beautiful:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”’ (Daniel 3:16-18)

This is a statement of faith. This is real faith. ‘Yes’, they said, ‘Our God can save us from your hand if He so wishes, and if He does wish, He will definitely save us, but on the other hand, even if He doesn’t save us, we still won’t worship you or your gods’. In effect they were saying that God is more powerful than Nebuchadnezzar and could save them, but it didn’t matter to them whether or not He did save them, they still had faith He was better than everything that Nebuchadnezzar could offer, even if they had to die for that faith. This shows us a little of what faith is. Sometimes faith can be construed (or misconstrued) as believing always that God will save you, heal you, bless you etc. If you don’t believe that He will, then you have very little faith and obviously need to ‘get some more’. However, this story shows that much stronger faith is a faith that sees God for who He truly is, no matter the circumstance. Real faith denies the lies of the world that say health, popularity, comfort and life itself are better prizes than God Himself. Instead it affirms the power of God to do all things, and accepts the will of God which is beyond us (ie. God is powerful enough to save us, but even if He doesn’t...). Real faith is enduring through hardship because it is based on sure knowledge, not on emotion and hearsay. Yes, we can take a lot out of what these three guys stood up for.

Finally we will focus on the last part of Daniel 3 (vs 19-30). This is the really cool part – where the three men are thrown into the fire, which is first of all made 7 times as hot, but then survive without even a singed hair! I want to focus on the completeness of God’s miracle, and how that shows His true power.

When Nebuchadnezzar hears that the three friends think their God – the Most High God – is more powerful than him, he gets pretty angry, and tells the fire tenders to make it seven times as hot as usual. Seven times as hot! Fire is always pretty hot anyway, so seven times (the perfect number?) signifies that this heat is extremely deadly. Just to make sure you understand this, Daniel records that the guys who chuck the three men into the fire are killed by the flames!

Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.’ (Daniel 3:22)

So the guys who chucked them in were a bit hasty and got a bit too close – all in God’s plan to show that this fire could definitely kill!

Now when they were in the fire, Nebuchadnezzar is a bit confused because he sees four people in there, and not three. And he remarks that the fourth is like the ‘Son of God’ (ie. A supernatural being). Indeed, God was helping his three devoted men, and they were saved. When they came out:

And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counsellors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.’ (Daniel 3:27)

So this same fire that had just killed three people on the outskirts, had not even singed their hair, or made them smell like smoke. This was God saying – ‘Yes, I can do all things, there is nothing beyond my power’. It is an undeniable statement of power, aimed most likely at Nebuchadnezzar whom originally made the ironic statement in verse 15. Again we can only sit back and wonder at God’s awesomeness and power – and His love for us.

Daniel 2:10-11, 30, 40, 42

Daniel 2 is such a big chapter I don’t know that I can do it justice in one day. Well, I guess I can never do it justice, but one little message out of it hardly seems fit. This chapter deals with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – he has a dream which keeps him awake and so he calls in all his astrologers and wise men and soothsayers and all that and asks them to tell him his dream. When they can’t he orders all his wise men to death, but Daniel (who is among his wise men) prays to God and God shows him the dream and its interpretation, which he takes to the king, who is amazed and gives him gifts and also sets him as governor of all Babylon (sound familiar? Remember Joseph?)

That’s the outline of the story. The details are very juicy. The actual dream is quite impressive and is one of the key passages for eschatology. We will get to that later.

The first thing we realise is how wise, or shrewd, a man Nebuchadnezzar is. He is having these dreams which are keeping him awake. That means he must be tired, grumpy and irritable. I know I am when I can’t get to sleep. But when he calls all his weird and wacky wise men in to interpret his dream (which he must have taken as having some meaning!) he doesn’t immediately tell them his dream for them to interpret. Instead of acting rashly he gives them a test: he tells them they must both tell him his dream and its interpretation. Well, the wise men are a bit flustered because obviously no one can do this except ‘the gods’ and they don’t live on earth! We find:

The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”’ (Daniel 2: 10-11)

You see, these ‘wise men’, or Chaldeans, would have been saying things equivalent to the fact that they could do things like this. They would have assured the king that they could do all types of wonderful things which they probably would have performed by illusion or coincidence. But Nebuchadnezzar is not a complete fool, and he gives them this test under considerable pressure (he promises to cut them in pieces if they do not do what he asks), where they cannot bypass the facts or just make up any interpretation they like. Thus they are flustered and say that no-one can do it! Daniel agrees with them later on:

But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.’ (Daniel 2:30)

Daniel is saying that it’s not him who could interpret his dream, but only that God told him what it was, which He did for two reasons – to save Daniel and his friends, and so that Nebuchadnezzar could finally learn what the dream God gave him means. So Daniel agrees that no-one living can interpret the dream. The difference between him and the other ‘wise men’ is that he has a relationship with God, and they don’t have any relationship with their gods, primarily because they don’t exist.

What can we take out of this? (Don’t worry we’ll get onto the actual dream next time hopefully). Well I think sometimes in life (well actually pretty much all the time in life) there are so many voices offering us so many things. They offer fun, excitement, prosperity, success, happiness, wisdom, long-life and anything else we can imagine. And they all seem to live up to their offers. But only when there is no pressure on them. Only when there is no wisdom and shrewdness applied on their behalf. When it comes to the crunch, we see that all their offers are vain, and the only way we have any of these things is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Nothing on earth will truly give us these things! This is the last excuse of the hopeless forms of fulfilment that permeate our society before we realise that only Jesus Christ can give us these things. Do not be fooled, but be shrewd, even, may I say, like Nebuchadnezzar.

And so we finally come to the actual dream that Nebuchadnezzar has. It is a significant dream for prophecy, and one that most will probably recall. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was of a massive statue, which had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet and toes iron mixed with clay. After seeing this statue, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great piece of rock cut out from a mountain without hands, and the rock spread and grew till it covered the whole earth.

Then Daniel interprets the dream. He says the head of gold is Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. Gold characterised this nation as they were rich and supposedly quite beautiful (remembering the hanging gardens of Babylon). The silver chest and arms represented a nation that would come and destroy Babylon after a time. This turned out to be Assyria, who though not as rich as Babylon, was stronger (as silver is stronger than gold). The bronze was meant to be another nation which conquered the world – and this turned out to be Greece, under Alexander the Great. They were stronger than either of the nations before them. However, the next nation was iron. This nation was characterised by iron in that it broke all other elements to pieces:

And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.’ (Daniel 2:40)

This nation, of course, turned out to be Rome, whom iron characterised very well. They were quite famous for their ‘iron legions’. Also, we see that the two legs, being split into two, characterise the state of Rome, which had the East and West parts later in Rome’s dominion. This is a quite detailed description of human history for the next thousand years or so.

However, now we come to the hard part. The fifth kingdom was said to be iron mixed with clay – with ten toes. Now we know the iron was Rome.

And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.’(Daniel 2:42)

So we see that the fifth kingdom is some Roman empire that isn’t purely Rome, but mixes in a lot of weaker elements. A lot of people call this the ‘Revived Roman Empire’, and there is a lot of debate as to what it specifically describes. The main thing is that we have not seen this nation truly yet. There hasn’t been a nation where this description easily applies. Thus it must refer to the future. Now why would there be a large gap in between the legs (Rome) and the feet (Revived Roman Empire, in the future)? Well, I can only suggest that with the coming of Christ, in the midst of the Roman Empire, God’s attention shifted from the Jews (whom Daniel is prophesying for specifically), to the Gentiles, or moreover to the church (us!). That is, Jewish history is at a standstill – waiting for God’s attention to be turned back on them. And at that time, this new empire will rise up, seamlessly following the Roman empire.

We must remember that Daniel’s prophecy is primarily for the Jews, it is to his own people. It is not to the church, though we can read and gain much out of it.

The final kingdom is described as God’s kingdom, stretching on forever, and covering the whole earth. This is the day we’re waiting for! We see it was cut out without human hands, because God doesn’t need our human hands to build Himself a kingdom.

All of history has been following the body of this statue. God has been planning and shaping all the major events that we learn about in school, all those things that we are in awe of, all of them were planned way before their time by God, who saw in the future an eternal reign of His son. What a God we have! And we can often hardly believe that He can plan our puny little lives for us! Give it all to Him, and let Him shape it!

Daniel 1:4,12-13

Daniel is a much-loved book, and Daniel himself is a much loved and inspiring character in the Bible. Out of all the prophets, more stories concern or arise from Daniel than any other. Daniel in the lions den, the writing on the wall, the three men in the furnace, the big statue of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniels dreams.

Daniel takes place over the space of about 70 years (605BC to 539BC), from when Nebuchadnezzar takes Judah, to when Cyrus becomes king. He is a contemporary of Ezekiel, but aimed at a different purpose.

Chapter one tells us some of Daniel’s character, and that of his friends (Hananiah , Mishael, and Azariah) whose names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. Daniel’s name was changed to Belteshazzar.

This was done for the purpose of brainwashing the captives into their new society. Their names were changed from God-pleasing ones (eg. Daniel means ‘God is my judge’) to names that honoured the gods of Babylon (eg. Belteshazzar means ‘Bel protect the king’ – Bel was a Babylonian god). This was meant to dull their zeal and fervour for their own God and social practices, and eventually win them over to the ‘new society’.

This was especially done for those who ranked highly, or who had great potential. Verse four says:

...young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to service in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.’ (Daniel 1:4)

It was thought that if these leaders or future leaders of society could be turned, then all the rest would unwittingly follow. So our first impression of Daniel is that he is somewhat special. He is attractive, smart, wise, socially aware, and extremely literate. And so are his friends.

Another method of brainwashing them was to get them to eat and drink as the Babylonians did. And Nebuchadnezzar didn’t leave it at that – he commanded them to eat of his own delicacies. That is, not only to eat in a different manner and different foods, but to eat the very ‘best’ of those foods – literally meals fit for a king!

This was especially degrading for Jews, who had a very strict and complex set of rules for eating, laid down by God. There were meats that were unclean and not fit for eating, and furthermore, many of the foods eaten by the Babylonians were offered to their idols first. Now, we know how the story goes – that Daniel and his friends would not eat the foods offered to them, but only vegetables. Sometimes I think we gloss over the real impact of this however, and moreover the way they went about this.

First of all, they had to know it was wrong. They had to know their own law and also know the customs of the Babylonians (to know that it was offered to idols). This was possibly the easiest part for these men, who were gifted with wisdom and knowledge (verse 4). However, it parallels our own decisions in that we must know what the Bible says and commands, and also what God wills, but we also must know the devices of the enemy. We must have knowledge and wisdom on both sides to stand a chance of resisting evil. Now, these men were gifted in wisdom and understanding, and not all of us are. But all of us are gifted with the Holy Spirit who guides us. We must tune in to Him.

Secondly, they had to resist the temptation of the food offered. No doubt, the thought of eating the king’s delicacies would have appealed to their stomachs and their taste buds. No doubt in each of their minds there would have been a voice telling them that it was okay. To resist this temptation would have been very hard. Much harder are some of the temptations we have today. And yet resist them we must. Notice that none of their ‘special qualities’ could help them with this – this was their own personal choice and only God could help them here. If they failed at this step, then none of their qualities would have been any good. So don’t depend on any gifts that God has given you, neither feel as if it’s impossible if you don’t have all wisdom or understanding (or good looks!).

Thirdly, they had to deal with circumstance. Not only would the food have been tempting, but all the more so since they had been taken from their own land. No more were they in their own land, overseen by God, with the temple in walking distance and a culture of the law and God’s history around them. In fact, it could have easily seemed to them that God had forsaken them, left them to be taken by an ungodly nation. The doubt would have crept in – ‘well if God left you, why shouldn’t you leave Him?’ and ‘no-one cares anymore if you keep the law or not, no-one here keeps the law anyway so no-one will notice.’ Circumstances had changed for these young men, they were taken out of their comfort zone and all of a sudden they were asked to own their faith, rather than live it because their whole society lived it (I say ‘lived it’ not implying that all who ‘lived it’ really lived it from the heart, nor lived it in the secret as well as in public!). They were out of earshot of people who might care what they did, and they were faced with a tantalizing prospect. But they held firm. They owned their faith. It was theirs, not their societies, not their parents’. For us, most of us being young people, this is one of the hardest things. We probably grew up in a Christian home, learning everything about God, learning all the stories (even this one!), learning how to live like a Christian, how to look like a Christian, how to sound like a Christian. Then all of a sudden, we move out of home, the parents aren’t there anymore to watch over us, and there’s so many things we can do that we never considered before, and all of them look so tantalizing...Do we own our faith? Is it ours, or is it a facade for our parents and our church?

Finally, we must understand the method by which Daniel goes about his resistance of this food. There are some who might say something like ‘the food is categorically evil, and to partake would be wrong by definition, therefore Daniel should completely refuse without a shred of doubt and possibly even add a small rebuke for the eunuch (the man who tells them to eat the food on behalf of the king)’. This would seem to be right, because, as we have already pointed out, to eat the food would have been compromise and sin. Therefore, to not resist it completely and unashamedly would be sin, right? Now others might say something like this: ‘Now, to eat the food is sin, but, God has a higher plan than just eating food, because He wants everyone to know about Him – so Daniel should comply with the eunuch and become friends with him, eventually leading him to God, for the greater glory of God! This might involve small sin in the present, but God is not looking at our actions but at our heart...’ Now then, this also has truth in it – God is looking at the greater plan. For sure, He cares more about the salvation of the eunuch and indeed the king than what foods Daniel puts in His mouth. Now we look back over the two statements and find that they are in direct opposition to each other, and yet both sound true! Let’s look at what Daniel said:

Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.’(Daniel 1:12-13)

You see, the eunuch was merely afraid of the king, because if he gave the men vegetables instead of all the delicacies, and the men got worse health because of it, then it would be his fault. But Daniel had already purposed in his heart that he would not eat the defiled food (verse 8). Instead of bluntly refusing to eat it, irrespective of the circumstances of the eunuch, he said that they could be tested for ten days to see if it would make them worse of health. Needless to say, they actually looked healthier after the ten days than any of the men who did eat the defiled food.

Now notice that Daniel had never compromised – he first of all purposed in his heart that he would not eat the food. It wasn’t ‘I don’t want to eat the food’ or ‘I’ll try not to eat the food’, but he made up his mind firmly that he would not. Neither when he made the deal was he compromising, for in his faith he knew that after ten days he would be healthy enough – he trusted God would take care of that. However, neither did Daniel act as one unsubmissive or rebellious, and he didn’t offend the eunuch, rather making a fair deal in the eyes of the eunuch.

And so we come back to the two conflicting statements above – the first is right in that we should never compromise, we should never back down on the truth, but there is a right and wrong way to go about this truth. To offend others with it (although sometimes necessary) should not be our first course of action. For indeed, God has a higher plan. God does care more about the salvation of the eunuch and the king than He does about the food put in Daniel’s mouth, but God is bigger than that – He can fulfil both at once. There is no need to work it all out and think that we have to compromise to achieve this end. God can (as exemplified by this passage) achieve both – the eunuch was satisfied and Daniel’s relationship with him maintained, and also Daniel did not sin. I think it is a general principle that if we do not sin, even in the small things, then God will work through that much more than if we do sin. That is, don’t sin and God will take care of everything! Purpose in your heart that you will not sin, and trust that God has a plan in which to bring everything around for the best. This is what Daniel did.

Ezekiel 48:38

All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.’ (Ezekiel 48:35)

This is the very last verse in Ezekiel, and what a fitting way to end! After describing the new city and temple to Ezekiel for several chapters, in precise and detailed measurements, God summarises everything by saying that the name of the city will be ‘YHWH Shammah’ – THE LORD IS THERE. This is a big statement, for the glory of the LORD had departed from the temple in the land at the time, because of the sins of the people. God had made many promises to Ezekiel concerning the Israelites, and in one sweeping statement, they are all summarised and fulfilled. The Glory of the LORD will fill the city, and what further promise do you need?

The challenge? Can people call you ‘YHWH Shammah’? Can people say of you ‘The LORD is there’?

Lord, help us all display your glory to the world around us. Let us all be called ‘YHWH Shammah’.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Ezekiel 47:13

Thus says the Lord GOD: “These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.’ (Ezekiel 47:13)

It is good that God keeps His promises, even to the point of detail such that Joseph keeps two portions of the land (one each for his two sons). This was promised way back to the tribe of Joseph, and had been in effect until the captivity. God promises that after the captivity, in the future, when Israel is fully restored to the land, then Joseph will again have two portions, as promised.

God has made many more, and more wonderful, promises to us. It is good to know that He will keep them all in detail!

Ezekiel 46:21-22

We know God is a God of order, but it gives it new meaning reading through these chapters about the future temple. The order found in the temple is so symmetrical and exact that we have to wonder if we have underestimated the importance of order to God. For instance:

Then he brought me out into the outer court and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and in fact, in every corner of the court there was another court. In the four corners of the court were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide, all four corners were the same size.’ (Ezekiel 46:21-22)

These courts turn out to house the kitchens for the temple. Such order and precision for kitchens! Remember, this is after about 6 chapters of dimensions of the temple proper.

What does this mean for us? Well it surely means that God really cares about the order we live our lives in. He cares about hierarchy, He cares about relational order, He cares about living our lives in a structured manner. I am not saying that we shouldn’t be spontaneous at all. But there has to be a plan, there has to be some ‘dimensions’ to our life, a blue-print, to which we stick. God knows the complex interworkings of our lives, and knows the best order to fit the cogs together to set them in smooth motion. Running things ourselves can only get us hurt. Let us bow to His order.

Ezekiel 45:10

In Ezekiel 45 we are still caught up in Ezekiel’s vision of the temple, and now God is telling him about the feasts and things that are going to happen when the new temple is built. The verse that struck me, for some reason, is verse 10:

You shall have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.’ (Ezekiel 45:10)

God makes a big point of having honest scales in the Bible, moreso than perhaps we think is proportional. We know it is a good thing to be honest (or in this case I guess the word is ‘just’), but there are other good things too. Now the intent here is more for social justice, for laws to uphold honesty in trade and social matters. But it of course implies personal honesty, which implies personal sincerity. And I think this is why it struck me. Ours is an age where real honesty and sincerity have somewhat disintegrated. It’s not that we tell any more outright lies than any other generation (although we may), it’s more ‘the truth you hear may not be the truth you thought you heard’. It’s the holding back of truth, the veiling of truth behind circumstance and façade. And the fact is, this is probably just as, if not more prominent among Christians as it is amongst non-Christians, because we feel the need to hide our sins. The Bible holds a different answer – it tells us to confess our sins! Let them be over with! What would happen if all Christians started being honest with each other, and not in a spirit of criticism, but a spirit of love? How much stronger would the Church be? We should have honest scales.

Ezekiel 44:28

It shall be, in regard to inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.’ (Ezekiel 44:28)

This is referring to the future priests of Israel, the Sons of Zadok. Originally, the Levites were the priestly tribe an they were given no land like all the other tribes, but instead their inheritance was God. They were to offer the offerings and sacrifices, and fulfill the temple duties. And thus it is with the future priests. It reminds us that in this life, God is our inheritance. We cannot expect anything else to be our inheritance. We cannot expect to gain anything worthwhile from this life other than God. This is a humbling thought, but one that takes us far.

Ezekiel 43:7,27

Ezekiel 43 carries on the vision of the temple, but in this chapter God talks to Ezekiel and explains some things (rather than measuring the temple). Ezekiel describes God’s glory as ‘…like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.’ (Ezekiel 43:3b) If you remember the vision by the River Chebar, right back at the start of the book, you will remember that it was quite glorious and very strange (with wheels and eyes everywhere). The Spirit of the Lord lifts Ezekiel up and takes him to the inner court, and I love what God says:

And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever.’ (Ezekiel 43:7)

It is interesting that He uses the expression ‘soles of My feet’. I get the impression that this place is where He will stand, and nothing will move Him. He is like a tower, immovable and strong. It shows what great love He has for His children Israel. I get the picture of a father saying to his son: ‘I will be here for you, no matter what, nothing can move me, this is where I stand.’ And yet God is saying this in the midst of Judah’s captivity with which He is punishing them for sinful and rebellious acts.

We are reminded of Jesus our saviour, who said ‘Come to me’. He is our tower, and He dwells inside of us in this life. He never leaves us or forsakes us, no matter what we do, no matter where we go, He stands immovable in our hearts, the place of the soles of His feet. What strength that will give us if we can fully realize it!

For those who are interested, you may recall that a few chapters ago I was a little confused as to some specifics especially concerning sacrifices. Since these chapters seem to be concerned with times to come (for us), there seemed to be no need for the sacrifices that God says they will perform, since Jesus has once and for all taken away sin. I have a new argument for and against this. MaCarthur makes the solid point that even in Old Testament times the sacrifices were not ‘efficacious’, but were merely symbols of sin – and in fact merely looked forward to Christ, who truly paid for the sin. And so, he says, these sacrifices are also symbols, but look back to what Christ has done. This is fair, but I can think of two arguments against it. The first is – why do we not offer sacrifices today then? If they are merely symbols then shouldn’t it be fine to make sacrifices today to remind ourselves of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice? Why should it then start again some time in the future? The second argument is: If they are not ‘efficacious’, then why this from God:

‘ “When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,” says the Lord GOD.’ (Ezekiel 43:27)

So the offerings aren’t actually doing anything, and yet if they don’t do them God won’t accept the Israelites? This verse definitely seems to say the offerings have some function.

I’m sure some of you have already figured all of this out, so I would love to hear what you have to say.

Ezekiel 42:14a

In Ezekiel 42, Ezekiel is still with the angel of the Lord, who is measuring the temple (he finishes this chapter). There is a big emphasis on holiness:

When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy.’ (Ezekiel 42:14a)

God expects and requires holiness, complete holiness. Even the clothes that the priests wore in the holy place were not to be worn outside, because they would be mixed with sin. This seems extreme to us, but it is the same for us, spiritually. Our attitude towards God should be one of complete holiness. Our goal is not to be stained by the world, though we live in it. A very tough assignment.

Ezekiel 40

Ezekiel is swept away into another vision, where he is taken to Israel to see the temple. But this isn’t Solomon’s temple, because the angel of the Lord who shows him around, also measures everything as they go. This would imply that it is a new temple, one in the future. My Bible Commentator says it probably refers to the millennium temple (ie. a temple they will build in the future). At first instance I see only one problem with this, and that is, that the temple in the vision has sacrifice tables for burnt offering, sin offering and the trespass offering. Well, sure there will be sin in the millennium, but I would have thought that Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice would cover the millennium as well?

On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like the passage could be taken ‘spiritually’, that is, it doesn’t seem to represent some spiritual truth that God is getting across to Ezekiel (at least not only that). It is very, very precise (so much so that the whole 49 verse chapter is one measurement after the other), which needn’t be the case if it is merely figurative. Imagine God giving all the dimensions and instructions of the ark to Noah who then turns around and takes them all figuratively or morally!

In any case, it is a confusing chapter. So what can we glean from it? Well we can certainly conclude that God is meticulous. He has the exact dimensions of a future temple already laid out before Him – not just the general design. In our own lives, this means that He hasn’t left anything out. Sometimes we can feel like we’re just drifting, and that any plan is so general that it almost doesn’t constitute a plan at all. We feel vague and dilute. But God always has an exact plan. He knows what you will do tomorrow, the next day, the next day, and (if you live that long) eighty years from now. Exactly. He has an absolutely meticulous plan for your life; in that you can trust. Is that comforting?

Ezekiel 39:21

Ezekiel 39 finishes off the prophecy concerning Gog and Magog, with the complete destruction of the armies of Gog (and their burial over 7 months!). After this, God tells Ezekiel that Israel will be (again) restored to the land. This I think refers to the last days, because I don’t think there was any destruction of huge nations before they were restored to the land the first time. Or seven month burials, for that matter. The verse that struck me was:

I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.’ (Ezekiel 39:21)

Sometimes we separate the ‘modern’ God, and the ‘Old Testament’ God, between a God who loves and a God that judges. In fact I saw this delineation yesterday in a film. But we must see that these are one and the same – without judging, there is no loving. Surely God setting His glory among the nations is a loving act? Who are we to see God’s glory? And yet He assures us that He will set His glory among us so that we can see it first hand. But this is done through judgment (in this case). Always be slow to listen to those who say that God doesn’t judge any more, that God seeks only love and harmony, and that God’s glory is fully revealed in His mercy and kindness. Although this passage is in the Old Testament, it speaks of a time in our own future. And anyway, God doesn’t change.

Ezekiel 38:18-19

Ezekiel 38 has some very complicated themes in it – about Gog and Magog, themes which I won’t try to disassemble and understand fully here: basically Gog represents an evil ruler (probably the final antichrist) and Magog represents some countries (disputable where they are apparently). Probably where Gog comes from. According to the prophecy, Gog decides that he wants to send a massive army against Israel because they are relatively unprotected by walls and all that. But as you can imagine, God takes a thorough disliking to this.

‘“And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel…”’ (Ezekiel 38:18-19)

God protects His precious people against all who seek to set themselves against her. In the very least, He sets Himself against those who dare oppose His loved ones. He stands against them mightily (just read the rest of the chapter!). How can we be afraid when we stand behind this God! For if He loves Israel, then surely He loves us whom He gave His son for.

On the other hand, there are things He loves that we fight against at times. Truth, justice, holiness, love, purity, the Gospel. All things He loves and holds dear, which even we as Christians can often fight against. Lets beware that we stand behind God, not against Him.

Ezekiel 37:3b

If you’ve ever heard the famous song ‘Dem Bones’, then you’ll know that Ezekiel 37 is a pretty famous chapter. God takes Ezekiel in the spirit to a valley of dry bones. There must have been a war in the valley with thousands of people dying, and he says that all the bones are indeed very dry (vs. 2) (ie. have been dead for a long while). The first thing I noticed in the chapter was that when God asks Ezekiel ‘can these bones live?’ –

So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”’ (Ezekiel 37:3b)

Resurrection of completely dry bones does not exactly seem a natural occurrence to humans. In fact probably 90% of the population would say its absolutely impossible, especially on seeing the dead dry bones in front of them. But not Ezekiel. He has faith enough to know that God can raise them if He wishes. And in this case, God does raise them. The picture is nothing short of cinematic – the bones draw together, bone to bone, and then sinew and flesh grows on them, and finally skin stretches around the whole. Then Ezekiel prophecies to the breath of the air to come into the dead bodies that they may live. And it did, and there before him was a huge army of resurrected soldiers. What a sight!

The passage is speaking of God’s future restoration of Israel, where although Israel think they are dry bones…scattered into nations not their own, leaderless and forgotten, God will bring them together, put them back in their own land, and put a new spirit in them so that they won’t fall back into the same ways as they had. This must have been a huge encouragement to the Israelites, but it is also an encouragement and point of reflection for us.

If Israel were dead in a national sense, how much more were we ourselves dead in a spiritual sense? One passage speaks of us as water poured out onto the dry ground: helpless and hopeless. We think again of the picture of the completely dead dry bones. The bones could not of their own will come together let alone start growing sinew, let alone breathe in the air that gives them life. And yet by faith we know that God can pull us together, and it is His will that He gives us life, pulls our hopelessly fragmented lives together and gives us a relationship with Him, and gives us a new spirit with which to live. How blessed are we? How can we do anything but praise our wonderful God?

Ezekiel 36:22,26-27

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will keep My judgments and do them.’ (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Does this sound like it should be a New Testament passage? It sounded so to me. But then, this is another reminder that God does not change. His methods may have changed, or His covenant with us moreso, but He will never change, and neither do His standards.

Here He is talking to Israel, who He has just described as impure and unclean, wholly repugnant, and a people who have profaned His name not only amongst themselves, but everywhere they are taken captive as well. The next thing He says is that He will take them out of all the countries they’ve been taken captive to and bring them back to their own land. And that He will bless them, and give them a new heart and a new spirit. Why? Humanly speaking, it sounds very odd that God would do that right after acknowledging their position.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.’ (Ezekiel 36:22)

There’s a good reason for God to do this, a better than good reason. He wants Himself to be glorified on Earth. And He knows the best way to go about that.

Do not take for granted the grace that has been extended to you by our loving God. We know our own position. Probably worse then the Israelites. And yet if you are a Christian then already God has put a new spirit in you. For HIS SAKE.

To God be the Glory.

Ezekiel 35:6

Ezekiel 35 is about ‘Mount Seir’, more commonly known as Edom. They were one of the most ancient and sworn enemies of Israel. They were constantly trying to take their land and fight against God’s people. Originally, of course, Edom was Israel’s brother. Edom came from Esau, Jacob’s brother. God says many things to them in many different books, but in this chapter we have this interesting verse:

‘ “Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.”’ (Ezekiel 35:6)

This is pretty much the original ‘He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword’. But it goes a bit further. For it was not Edom’s love of blood (violence) that God was judging them for, but their lack of hatred for it. That is, it is not enough simply to abstain from evil, but we must be vehemently opposed to it. This is a reminder. Often we can be caught up in the active positive. ‘This is what I must do, and I have to do this’. But there are also things we must not do, and not only should we not do them, but we should be actively opposed to them. Let’s not fall asleep on our watch.

Ezekiel 34:3,12

On Sunday morning we thought about Jesus being our Shepherd, bringing us back into the fold and sacrificing his life for the sheep. Chapter 34 of Ezekiel is all about shepherds. Firstly, the irresponsible ones that lead the sheep astray, and then God, the true Shepherd, who is the opposite. About the false shepherds it says:

You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.’ (Ezekiel 34:3)

The irresponsible shepherds take from the sheep that they lead. They use them for their own comfort and their own gain. But see what God says:

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.’ (Ezekiel 34:12)

God gives up His own comfort to come after His lost sheep, to save them and to feed them. Even on a bad, miserable day. This is love that gives up oneself, it is leadership with humility. We have a great God!