I will send fire on the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses. – Amos 1:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 27, 2026): Amos 1

The Gaza Strip is a narrow strip of land forty kilometers long and eight to twelve kilometers wide on Israel’s Mediterranean Coast, and it is rich in history. The name first appears in the military records of Pharaoh Thutmose III, who reigned in Egypt from April 28, 1479, until March 11, 1425 B.C.E. Then, the city of Gaza was indicated in the area. Today, it is a province whose capital city remains Gaza City.

Politically, it has been ruled by the Palestinian group known as Hamas since 2007. Hamas’s leadership has been problematic because they refuse to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist. Hamas supports a policy where they want Israel to be evicted from the area. This eviction from the area is the meaning of the phrase “from the river (Jordan) to the Sea (Mediterranean).”

On October 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack on its enemy, Israel. In the process, it killed indiscriminately, including youth who were attending a music festival. It was a horrible provocation. The killing of innocents is something that is universally condemned in our contemporary age. Hamas’s attack and the kidnapping of innocents were soundly denounced by world powers, as was Israel’s subsequent killing of innocents in its counterattacks.

As Israel rained missiles down on the Gaza Strip, it was hard not to think of this passage in Amos. Was Israel’s response a fulfillment of Amos’s prophecy? I don’t think so, although the sins in both cases might have had some similarities. In Amos’s case, the Prophet was speaking about the city. He accuses the Gaza leadership of taking “captive whole communities and [selling] them to Edom.” Bible teacher James Boice (1938-2000) explains it this way.

“The condemnation here is not against slavery in and of itself … The crime is not that soldiers were enslaved after being taken in battle, which was the standard practice, but that the Philistines used their temporary supremacy to enslave whole populations – soldiers and civilians, men and women, adults and children, young and old – for commercial profit. Gaza did not even need the slaves. She merely sold them to Edom for more money.” (James Boice)

Selling slaves was an even deeper stain than just the normal practice of taking slaves. However, we should note that wherever there is sin, there is a counter-response. In every act of war, there is a response, and someone will pay. It was true in Gaza, and it was true in Israel. Two wrongs never make a right. And maybe we should seek to live our lives in a way such that fire doesn’t have to fall from the sky to stop us from what we are doing. As we learned in the Gaza-Israeli conflict, fire from the sky rains down on everyone. Fire from the sky is not restricted to the most sinful, whoever that might be. In fact, those who bring the fire are often protected from the fire that falls on ordinary people.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 2

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. – 2 Chronicles 26:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 26, 2026): 2 Chronicles 26

Names. We all have them, and reasons for why we like or don't like our names. Personally, I am okay with my name, though at times I would have preferred to be called David. I tried using my middle name during my teens, but I never got used to answering to it. I have a friend who is known by two different names, depending on the group of people he is with. One name is his given name, but the second name is made up of his initials. I am not sure how he decides which name to use in each group.

Royal people often choose their regnal name or the name under which they decide to rule. Charles III surprised some watchers when he decided to use Charles as his regnal name; after all, the reigns of Charles I and II didn't end well. His mother, Elizabeth II, also chose to reign under her given name. Her full name was Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. (Personally, I think she made the right choice.)

Elizabeth's father chose to use another of his names as his regnal name. King George VI was born Albert Frederick Arthur George. He had used Prince Albert throughout his life before becoming King. His decision to use the name King George VI was a way for the King to tell his people that he wanted to reflect the stability of his father, King George V, after the short, tumultuous reign of his brother, King Edward VIII. Edward VIII used his given name as his regnal name, although he probably wins the prize for having been given the most names at his birth; Edward VIII was born Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David. I wonder how old he was before he could even recite his name in the proper order.

King Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen. Uzziah had a personal name and a regnal name, so it can be confusing, especially when the biblical writers aren't consistent with which name they use when speaking about him. It seems likely that Uzziah is his regnal name, while his personal or given name is Azariah. Second Kings uses both names, but is more consistent in using his personal name, Azariah. Second Chronicles uses his regnal name, Uzziah, exclusively. With Uzziah, there might be a reason why his biographers used different names to refer to him. And here it is: during the reign of Azariah/Uzziah, there was a High Priest with the same name. Officially, he was Azariah II to differentiate him from Azariah I, who was the High Priest during the reign of King Solomon. Second Kings doesn't mention this priest, but Chronicles includes his role in the story of Uzziah's sin at the Temple and the king's resulting leprosy. So, for the Chronicler, using the King's regnal name, Uzziah, allows the reader to distinguish between the King and the High Priest.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Amos 1

He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. – 2 Kings 15:3

Today's Scripture Reading (March 25, 2026): 2 Kings 15

Succession is never an easy process. And it is an error to think it is only a royal problem. Succession occurs whenever a significant leader steps down from a position or dies and is replaced by another person. The problem is that separating the new leader from the old is almost always impossible. If the previous leader did a great job at whatever the task was, then the new leader is forever trying to measure up to the leader who came before. In many ways, this is precisely the task with which King Charles III has been presented. Queen Elizabeth II turned out to be a significant and long-reigning monarch. And everything that Charles does will be compared to her legacy, whether or not that is fair.

But if a leader follows a bad or incapable leader, then a level of trust must be earned before the new leader is allowed to move forward. Neither of these situations presents an easy solution, but they are the reality of life, and new leaders often have to learn to overcome the reign of the one who went before.

The biblical record indicates that Amaziah had been a good king, at least for the most part. The hesitancy in discussing Amaziah's reign stems from his refusal to remove the high places. And toward the end of his life, he made a series of bad decisions. He was the first Judean king to hire mercenaries; specifically, Amaziah hired 100,000 soldiers to help him wage war against Edom, an act for which an unnamed prophet condemned him. Amaziah repented and didn't use the mercenaries in his fight with Edom. Instead, he depended on God for the victory, and he defeated Edom. But the mercenaries didn't react well to being left out of the battle. They turned to attack and loot several of the towns in Judea. Amaziah, elated by his victory over Edom, decided to attack Jehoash, King of Israel. In the moment of his arrogance, Amaziah was soundly defeated by Israel and taken captive by the Northern Kingdom. Then the Northern Kingdom attacked Jerusalem, tearing a portion of the city wall down and looting the Temple for some of its treasure. When Amaziah was finally released from Israel and returned home, he was murdered, suffering a similar fate to that of his father, Joash.

And it was into this situation that the sixteen-year-old Azariah stepped. That the biblical historians can assert that Azariah did what was right in the eyes of God is a bit of a miracle considering what was going on in Judah. The addition of "just as his father Amaziah had done" is a bit of a mystery. There is no doubt that Amaziah had started well. But his finish was a bit of a disaster, something that Azariah would want to avoid in his reign.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 26

See also 2 Chronicles 26:4

After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. – 2 Chronicles 25:3

Today's Scripture Reading (March 24, 2026): 2 Chronicles 25

A friend of mine was murdered almost two years ago. I have tried to keep informed about the fate of the two people who were charged in his death, but I haven't been able to find much information on their fate. Unfortunately, I also knew one of his attackers. It is hard to know people on both sides of a crime, but the attacker I knew tended to be a drug user and a manipulator. He certainly tried to manipulate my friend and was often successful in getting what he wanted.

I have my opinion on what should happen in my friend's case, but I suspect things won't go quite the way I think they should. I believe that the person I don't know who is charged with the crime is likely the ringleader. Whether or not she was involved hands-on with the actual murder, I suspect that she shaped events in such a way that the murder could take place. I also suspect that the most appropriate charge might be manslaughter, a crime that in my part of the country probably means four to fifteen years in jail. It could be longer, and I am told in minor cases (if someone died, what makes a "minor case"), jail might not even be pursued. I think ten to fifteen years in this case makes sense for my friend's attackers. But I recognize that it could be much shorter.

In some murders, especially mass shootings where the shooter is a minor, we have begun to charge the shooter as well as the parents if it is determined that there were warning signs to the crime. I get it. Sometimes, it seems that parents have as much blame as their children, even if they didn't pull the trigger. But it could extend even further.

I admit that, in the case of my friend, I wonder if I did enough to prevent his murder. The problem is that I think there were warning signs, but as an outsider, I am not sure what I might have done to change the unfortunate outcome.

Penalties for all murders in ancient times were extreme. Even involuntary manslaughter or accidental killing could result in the execution of the guilty. But the law was very specific. Only the one who killed could be executed for the crime. "Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin" (Deuteronomy 24:16).

Amaziah followed the letter of the law and executed the officials who were involved in the killing of his father. But he did not go any further. In this, he was following precisely what the law allowed.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 15

He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. – 2 Kings 14:3

Today's Scripture Reading (March 23, 2026): 2 Kings 14

Rules. I am convinced that we have a love-hate relationship with them. We like to complain about the many rules and regulations we have to follow, but the reality is that staying within them is easy. We know if we are right or wrong at a glance. Maybe we can decide that, in this instance, we want to be in the wrong, or we can rationalize why the rule is incorrect, but the point is that we know. Knowing we are right or wrong is something that rules can do for us.

I had a friend who has not always been on the right side of the law. He has lived a life where the police are often seen as the enemy, and these officers are always trying to prove that you have lived outside of society's rules. And if they can't find anything, they are not beyond inventing crimes to accuse you of because they know you are guilty of something. Recently, a visitor to his house called the police to do a wellness check on him. My friend was not amused. He knew where he had been outside the law in the past, and he understood where he was living outside the rules now. Police officers were nothing more than people who brought with them more rules he would have to live his life by or risk arrest. Since the visit, my friend has lived looking over his shoulder, worried about the next rule-keeper to enter his life. And yet, in his own way, my friend is also a rule keeper, and he lives by rules, often keeping regulations to which I am not even faithful.

I know the whole thing is complicated and hard to understand. So let me complicate it a little more. The main focus of our lives as Christians is not to follow rules but to live in accordance with the heart of God. The rules can get us part of the way, but not all the way we need to go with our spiritual lives. Please, don't be offended, but if you are following rules as a Christian and worrying about the rules you break, then you are still in the infancy of your faith. God wants so much more for you and from you.

Amaziah did what was right, but he didn't go all the way. When compared with David, he didn't compare favorably. But when compared with Joash, Amaziah lived up to Joash's example in the first part of his reign, but he also fell away from God just as Joash had during the latter portion of his reign. Amaziah, like Joash, was a rule follower. He followed the letter of God's law but never bothered to go beyond the rules to search out the heart of God. Amaziah was a king who kept his roles compartmentalized. He lived up to the expectations placed on him but never allowed those expectations to take him any further in his personal life. He made the worship of the God of Abraham important, while never bothering to remove the high places where the people were sacrificing to pagan gods. He loved his people, but his commitment to God never made him want what was best for them. He followed the rules but not the heart of God.

Rules are always a great starting place, but we need to seek the heart of God so we can become more like him. And that is something that rules will never do for us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 25

Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. – 2 Kings 13:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 22, 2026): 2 Kings 13

The Christian Church has, throughout most of its history, sought after relics from the lives of Christ or the Saints. These relics are often thought to possess miraculous powers both in the past and in the present. Maybe the most popular of those relics is found in the search for the Holy Grail, traditionally identified as the chalice from which Jesus and his disciples drank at the original Lord’s Supper on the night Jesus was betrayed. But we haven’t found it. And without some miraculous power, any cup that was declared to be the grail would be a nightmare to authenticate.

But there are other relics that have shown up through the pages of history, and some of them have been really strange. One of the more logical ones is the wood from the one true cross. Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, visited the Holy Land from 326 to 328 and discovered three crosses, believed to be those of Jesus and the two thieves, Dismas and Gestas. The cross belonging to Jesus was labelled, but according to the story, even Helen was skeptical that it was the one true cross until she witnessed a miracle associated with it. I am not sure what that miracle might have been, but something happened to convince Helen of the cross's authenticity.

Some of the stranger relics include Jesus’s foreskin, from his circumcision. These pieces of skin began showing up in Europe, mostly in France, about the year 800 C.E. However, not just one of these foreskins has shown up in European churches, but more than a dozen. Obviously, they weren’t all genuine. And then they were stolen and showed up somewhere else. Miracles associated with these pieces of skin included foreskins that continued to bleed at times, especially during worship services. All of these relics have disappeared, and Pope Leo XIII grew tired of the whole story and decreed that anyone who refers to these foreskins will be excommunicated. (I guess that means I will never be a Roman Catholic. Oops!)

Another strange relic is a baby tooth of Jesus. Maybe the tooth fairy picked it up from Nazareth and dropped it off at the Abbey of Saint-Medard of Soissons, once again in France, where the baby tooth was housed, at least for a while.

Here we have a strange story of a group of friends burying a man when they are confronted by raiders. To save the body from desecration, the friends make a decision to hide the body in the tomb of Elisha. The body touches Elisha’s bones, and the body comes back to life. Maybe the question that we ask is, if it happened, then why not now with modern-day saints? Most theologians look at this strange story and say that this happened, but it was not repeated. Sometimes, God does things once and then never again. Biblical scholar Adam Clarke (1762-1832) sums up the story and leaves us with this thought.

This is the first, and I believe the last, account of a true miracle performed by the bones of a dead man; and yet on it and such like the whole system of miraculous working relics has been founded by the popish Church (Adam Clarke).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 14

See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. – Joel 3:7

Today's Scripture Reading (March 21, 2026): Joel 3

I recently conducted an experiment. I asked my computer's Artificial Intelligence to compile a list of ten Roman Emperors who persecuted Christians. My AI came up with an interesting list of names. The first Emperor on the list was Nero who was the Roman Emperor from 54 to 68 C.E. My computer's list continued with Domitian (81-96 C.E.), Trajan (98-117), Hadrian (117-138), Marcus Aurelius (161-180), Septimus Severus (193-211), Maximus Thrax (235-238), Decius (249-251), Valerian (253-260), and concludes with Diocletian (284-305). I admit that I didn't have my computer do the work on a whim. I possessed another list, compiled by the Theologian John A. Trapp (1601-1669). This list was obviously composed long before the computer era, and I wondered how close the two lists might compare.

Of the ten Emperors on these two lists, my computer and John Trapp actually agreed on eight of them. Trapp left Emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius off his list, replacing them with Emperors Aurelian and Maximian. Unfortunately, I can't question either compiler of these lists to find out why they arrived at their lists; Trapp has been dead for over three and a half centuries, and my computer refuses to answer any of my queries. But I have a cynical answer. In compiling his list, Trapp sought to prove a point: that the emperors who persecuted Christians met unfortunate fates. The problem with both Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius is that they didn't die by violent means. Hadrian died of Ill health, maybe coronary artery disease, and we don't know how Marcus Aurelius died. Aurelian, on the other hand, was murdered by his own men while he was out on campaign, and Maximian was forced to hang himself under the orders of Constantine the Great.   

Maybe that is an unfair comment. But it seems rare when we see the perpetrators of sinful actions pay for their sins in this life. Even Jesus reminds us that "He [God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). To be blunt, it is hard to find Emperors who, like Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, didn't die under questionable circumstances or at the hands of their friends. That violent kind of death seems to be the norm, not the exception.

Joel prophesies that he will rouse those who have been persecuted and return that persecution on the heads of the perpetrators. It is an interesting proposition. And while trying to prove this assertion with a list of Emperors who persecuted Christians seems like a fool's errand, all empires that have ever existed on the earth have fallen. Every one of them sowed the seeds of their destruction in their behavior, including their willingness to go against God's dictates. The current American Empire might be the next one, and it might fall quicker than anyone believes. Unfortunately, the North American Church might quickly follow suit, because we seem to have lost our love for the things Jesus loved: loving each other, building community, and taking care of "the least of these."   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 13