… as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness. – Ezekiel 14:20

Today's Scripture Reading (August 7, 2026): Ezekiel 14

In the ancient Ugaritic texts, there is a story about a wise man named Danel. Danel is described as a good and just man, one who judges the cause of the widow and defends the rights of the orphan. The text itself comes from Ugarit in Northern Syria and was written around the fourteenth century B.C.E. It has many parallels with Hebrew writing, including Hebrew poetic parallelism and the use of the word El to describe God. El is also used to describe God in some portions of the Books of Moses. But the Ugaritic texts are not Hebrew. The last Ugarit King, Ammurapi, reigned around 1215 to 1180 B.C.E. At that time, the king wrote a letter describing the dire situation of the Near Eastern peoples, who were struggling under threat from the Sea Peoples, seafaring raiders from the Aegean Sea in southern Europe. Apparently, the help never came, and the city was destroyed around 1178 B.C.E., about 600 years before Ezekiel was written. And yet, even though Ugarit was gone, the story of this wise man named Danel continued to be told throughout the Middle Eastern cultures. Danel became the pattern and description of a just man.

The original Hebrew text of this passage mentions the name Danel, and not Daniel. Translators have most likely made the change to Daniel because Danel is not a wise man from Hebrew literature (both Noah and Job are heroes of the Hebrew Bible). But there is a problem with the interpretation that the wise man mentioned in this passage is Daniel, the survivor of the lion's den. Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel. In fact, large portions of the story of Daniel occur long after the events being described here by Ezekiel. And the reality is that the story of Daniel and the captivity would not be complete, nor a part of the wisdom literature of Israel, until well after the time of the writing of Ezekiel. Including Daniel on this list really doesn't make sense. And the placement of the name Danel between Noah and Job would also seem to indicate that Danel was a man from antiquity, just as Noah and Job were. This chronology would seem to rule out Daniel and leave us with the Ugarit Danel as the best option in our attempt to identify the man that Ezekiel was describing.

However, all three of these men are also linked by their inability to save their cultures. Noah's righteousness was only good enough to save himself and his family during the time of the flood, Job's righteousness was only good enough to save himself, he lost all of his children in the tragedy at the beginning the story told by the book that bears his name, and while Danel might have been concerned about the widows and the orphans and had become the pattern of a just man, in the end Danel could not save his culture either. His city was burned, and his culture died. All that was left was this story of a wise man who had once lived in northern Syria. Ezekiel's message is clear. Each of these exiles needed to be righteous to be saved; they could not depend on anyone else. However, incredible men like Daniel, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah would not be able to save Israel any more than Noah, Danel, and Job could save theirs. Each person needed to develop their own relationship with God. And each person still does.      

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 15

Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD. – Ezekiel 13:8

Today's Scripture Reading (August 6, 2026): Ezekiel 13

I admit that I am confused about the doctrine that some churches seem to want to proclaim. Some seem to effortlessly proclaim a gospel of hate that I admit I have a hard time understanding. The members of these churches are comfortable carrying picket signs protesting what they consider to be the sins of the age, namely homosexuality and abortion, among a few other unimaginative sins, proclaiming that this is the will of God. But in reality, I struggle to see the connection. And the one question I keep asking myself is this: would Jesus carry the signs? Over and over again, the conclusion that I come up with is that Jesus would more likely be holding the scared girl inside the abortion clinic than he would be holding the picket sign outside the clinic.

If I have a message to the world, it is that all churches are not created equal. At least in my corner of the world, we all seem to get painted with the same brush. But the Bible's overarching message would seem to be love for those who are different, not hate. Jesus partied with the tax collector and welcomed the prostitute into his presence. I am convinced that His church can do nothing less. And anyone who suggests a gospel filled with hate and picket signs must be reading a different Bible; they must be reading different words of God.

I say I am convinced because I feel I need to be. Declaring what God will or will not do is dangerous business. God declares that he will set himself against those who attribute words and actions to him that are not his. Making those kinds of assertions is probably something with which the contemporary church should be extremely careful. Too often, we seem to get carried away declaring the words of God that he has never spoken.

If there is a message that I believe we need to declare, it is about the wideness of God's love. There is no other message that is worthy of the Body of Christ, the Christian Church. And no other message that our world needs to hear more, especially because there are those among us who seem intent on spreading a gospel of hate that just cannot have originated with God of the Bible, the God who loves tax-collectors and always invites the sinner into a relationship with him.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 14

Son of man, the Israelites are saying, 'The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.' – Ezekiel 12:27

Today's Scripture Reading (August 5, 2026): Ezekiel 12

As I write this, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues. This news might surprise some, because the war has been largely excluded from most of our news cycles by other events, primarily at the United States' behest. But the war in Ukraine continues, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Not surprisingly, one question that still hasn't been answered is what this means for the rest of the world. Of key interest is whether the situation in Ukraine can be contained in Eastern Europe and Asia, or whether it will spill over into other countries; will this remain just a Russian/Ukrainian issue, or will it lead to a broader world conflict? The nations have worked hard to contain the conflict, but every day it seems we are a step closer to, at the very least, a struggle in the European-Asian theater. As Vladimir Putin continues to dream of putting the band back together and forming a revised Soviet Union, some Russia watchers point to an East/West conflict that the world has been anticipating since the end of the Second World War. However, the fear of an East/West conflict has never really gone away. The expectation of conflict was just somehow delayed. And now, with the Ukraine/Russia war, the possibility of this major conflict has been brought back into the forefront of the world's consciousness. The message of many is that world trouble is no longer a distant possibility; the events in Ukraine have made it an immediate probability.

Ezekiel has revealed everything that God has told him to the exiles. The news is overwhelming. But far from the intended effect of showing that God is still on the throne, God says the people have instead claimed the prophecies refer to the distant future. And because the prophecies are so distant, there is nothing that needs to be done now. Actions can wait until later, closer to the time revealed in God's prophecies. God responds that the people are wrong and that the prophecies are not about the distant future but about a much closer time. The words of the Prophets are about the immediate, so a response is also required now, not later.

God still expects his people to react to his prophecies with an eye to the near future. The "when" of a prophecy is ultimately unimportant; the expected reaction is always supposed to be in the now. The reality is that we can do nothing about the past, but the future is shaped by the actions we take in the present. So, God expects us to take the present very seriously. For the exiles, there was a path they needed to take to return to where God wanted and needed them to be, and to where they themselves desired to be. But that path started in the now. Ezekiel's prophecies were not something that could be procrastinated into the distant future because even the distant future begins in the eternal now.

The most important time of your life is the now. The past is dead and buried, but the future will be written by the actions we take today. The only hope the world has is that we can agree on what the future should look like, so that we can also agree to take action in the present.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 13

… and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me. – Ezekiel 11:25

Today's Scripture Reading (August 4, 2026): Ezekiel 11

In May 1931, Adolf Hitler found himself in a somewhat unusual situation. It was definitely a very uncomfortable time for the future Führer. Hitler was on trial, led by a German lawyer named Hans Litten (1903-1938). The actual trial was over the death of two workers at the hands of four "Sturmabteilung" officers. The "Sturmabteilung" (SA) were early members of the Nazi special forces until they were eventually replaced by the "Schutzstaffel," the dreaded Nazi SS.

Litten's examination of Hitler lasted for three hours. The three hours that Hitler spent on the stand in 1931 were so traumatic that Hitler would not let Litten's name be spoken in his presence for the rest of his life. During Hitler's three hours on the stand, Litten made some important discoveries. First, Hitler was contradicting himself, indicating that the Nazi leader was not being totally honest with the German people. He also discovered that Hitler was involved in using violence against those who dared to oppose the Nazi Party. It was a crucial discovery because it called into question Hitler's claim that the Nazi's were a strictly legal middle-class party. The judge finally intervened, freeing Hitler from eventual conviction. Still, Litten hoped that the trial had exposed Hitler enough, that enough information about the Nazi Party had been revealed to the German people, that it would cause permanent damage to the Party. In fact, newspapers in Germany covered the trial in detail, and Hitler was investigated for perjury the following summer. Unfortunately, he survived the investigation, but the experience rattled him. For the rest of his reign, Hitler maintained an iron hand on the amount and type of information that the public would be allowed to know. What the public didn't know would benefit Hitler and his Nazi Party.

Knowledge is power. Often, it seems that what is evil survives by limiting what people know. Ezekiel realized this, so he told the exiles everything God had shown him. Nothing was to be concealed; everything needed to be revealed. Ezekiel knew the exiles needed to know that, even though their situation was not what they wanted, God was still in control and on the move, and that there was still hope. Don Rickles says that he talks to God, but whenever he calls, God is out of town. It must have seemed that way for the exiles; the truth was that God was still answering, still leading his prophets, even in a strange land. And this was a message that Ezekiel had to make sure that the exiles knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. Ezekiel realized that this kind of knowledge could not be hidden. The people had to know – everything.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 12

Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD. – Ezekiel 10:4

Today's Scripture Reading (August 3, 2026): Ezekiel 10

As a sports fan, I've had numerous times when I thought my team had the game won, only to watch the opposition stage an amazing comeback. And there have been moments when I thought my team was about to lose, only to watch them come back. I remember a hockey game a couple of decades ago when my team was down five goals by the end of the first period. I really thought the game was over. The second period went by with no scoring. I guess the reality for the team in the lead was that five goals were more than enough. However, in the third period, the team I was cheering for began to score. One, two, it was still a long shot, but I kept watching. Late in the third period, the feel of the game had changed. It was five to four when my team pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. With the momentum solidly on their side of the ice, my team scored the tying goal and won the game in overtime. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes a team gets lucky. Confidence turns to panic, and nothing a team does seems right.

In many ways, this is simply the story of life. It does not seem to take us long to go from the top of the world to life in the pits. Everything is interconnected, and a slide in one area of our lives quickly becomes a problem in another. And it does not just happen to us. We watch as our mood starts to be reflected in those closest to us, and then slowly spreads to everyone with whom we have contact. The fog that once resided with us now resides with those around us. But it isn't just with the bad that this is true; it also concerns the good. Smile at those around you, and you might be surprised how little time it takes before they are smiling back at you. We are designed to have an amazing influence on each other in the arena, on the court, on the field, and in life.

Ezekiel describes a scene in Jerusalem. The Glory of the Lord begins to be on the move. It rises like a fog above the cherubim, most likely a reference to the precious Ark of the Covenant, which resided in the Holy of Holies. But this move of God could not be confined to the most Holy place of the Temple. It kept moving until it had encompassed the entire Temple, the very place where the priests did their ministry before God. But even the threshold of the Temple could not stop God. From the Temple, God's move spread to the courts. It started with the court of men, where the Hebrew men gathered to worship, and then moved to the court of women, where the women worshipped God. But even then, God was not done. The Spirit then moves out into the court of the Gentiles. Symbolically, Ezekiel's vision meant that God's move now occupied the world; all of it, not just the Jewish portion.

This vision is one that, as Christians, we understand to be the move of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus was clear; the gospel started with the Jews. But it could not be contained there. While it started among the Jews, it would spread into the court of the Gentiles and over the entire world. And this becomes our mission. We are the ones who are to carry the message of Christ into the world because God refuses to be contained. We are designed to be an influence for Christ in the world, and if we truly understand our place, that is exactly what we will be.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 11

 

 

Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, "Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand." – Ezekiel 9:1

Today's Scripture Reading (August 2, 2026): Ezekiel 9

It was a little disappointing that the Donald Sterling saga hijacked the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs. I love the playoffs in almost every sport, but amid all the excitement of the 2014 NBA playoffs, our attention was interrupted by the racism charge against Sterling. At the time, Sterling was the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, and he had been caught talking to his mistress about a picture she had posted on Instagram of herself with Lakers great Magic Johnson. TMZ released the conversation.

It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" -- "You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that (presumably her social media accounts) ... and not to bring them to my games." -- "I'm just saying, in your lousy (explicative) Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with, walking with black people." -- "...Don't put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."

Suddenly, there seemed to be more conversation about Sterling than about the great basketball being played on the court.

As a result of the recording, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was forced to intervene. After reviewing the evidence and deciding that the charges were true, which is not all that surprising given Sterling's checkered past on race relations, Silver announced that he had arrived at the punishment. This punishment would come in three steps. First, Sterling was banned from basketball for life. He was no longer to be involved in any basketball decisions or negotiations, or have anything to do with the team he owned: the Los Angeles Clippers. Second, Sterling was fined $2.5 million, the maximum allowable fine under the NBA constitution. All the money would go to charities that address racial issues. And the last part of the punishment is that Silver says that he will do everything in his power to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. Sterling's forced sale of the Clippers was an action that Mark Cuban, then-owner of the Dallas Mavericks, called justified but "a slippery slope." In the end, the Clippers were sold to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.

Silver's action was proper and quick. Regardless of how difficult it might have been to enforce the punishment, it has received favorable reviews from players, ex-players, and fans alike. Silver recognized that something needed to be done and that it could not wait for a meeting. Silver moved and received praise from those in the basketball world for taking action quickly. There is truly no room for this kind of racist attitude in basketball, or any other place in our world.

The vision of Ezekiel continues. God has presented the evidence to Ezekiel, and now he is calling for "those who are appointed to execute judgment." It is an interesting phrase because "those who are appointed to execute judgment" are the Babylonians. Ezekiel is admitting that his removal from his home was lawful and at the instruction of the God that he served. Not only was Ezekiel's removal part of God's plan, but the judgment also wasn't finished, not yet. Babylon would continue to carry out the punishment on Judah, destroying both Jerusalem and the Temple within her walls, all with the approval of God. The call for judgment is quick. What begins on this day of Ezekiel's life will also take time to be fulfilled, but there is no doubt it will be. And in the end, the world would be a better place because of what God was doing on this day. All of this must be done if God really wants to bring his blessing upon his people at some moment in the future.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 10

He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. – Ezekiel 8:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 1, 2026): Ezekiel 8

As a culture, we react negatively to the concept of jealousy. B. C. Forbes, the Scottish financial writer and the founder of Forbes magazine, even called jealousy a "mental cancer." Saint Augustine argued that anyone who experienced  jealousy was also "incapable of love." So it is a little surprising to have the word applied to God. Yet jealousy is applied to God in several places. So the only question that we can ask is this: when we speak of jealousy as a characteristic, is that jealousy the same as the jealousy that we experience as part of the human race? And the answer to the question is a qualified no.

The jealousy we react negatively to is an illogical emotion that causes so much damage in our lives. This jealousy is closely related to a lack of trust. Forbes and Augustine are both right; this kind of jealousy is a cancer that prohibits the experience of love. This human jealousy is the green-eyed monster, which reacts with too little evidence and damages relationships that could be healthy if not for it. This kind of jealousy is always self-directed and selfish.

God's jealousy is different. For starters, it is never based on a lack of trust, nor is it selfish. God's jealousy is always in defense of his creation, grounded in a covenant he has made with his people. Because of this covenant, God and his message are to be carried to the world. God's words to Abraham at the beginning of the story were that all of the earth would be blessed through God's blessing of Abraham. God loves the world he has created and desires to be a blessing, but the path of this blessing was always supposed to be through a group of people.

However, the people rejected God, and therefore, the blessing that was meant for the world was never given. And this is what aroused God's jealousy. The people, along with the world God loved, were suffering, and for God, there was no response but jealousy. It was not a selfish jealousy but rather one borne out of love for his creation.

God gives Ezekiel a vision. He takes him to the temple gate and shows him the image in the Temple that had made God jealous and caused Israel to lose the power that should have been theirs. We don't know what the idol was; most experts believe that it was likely an image of Baal, but it doesn't really matter. Any image of a false deity placed in the Temple would cause God to become jealous and his blessing to cease flowing to his creation.

The people whom God wants to use now to bless the world include the Christian church. But that can only happen if we are willing to put our idols aside and let God bless us. Any other response will do nothing but arouse God's jealousy once more.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 9