Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. – Daniel 1:12

Today's Scripture Reading (July 20, 2026): Daniel 1

Many well-known Christians, including Pastor Rick Warren, have advocated the health benefits of a vegetarian-style diet, citing the Book of Daniel as the model for the nutrition plan. These plans usually use Daniel's name in their branding and often promote Daniel's Diet as a biblically based diet guaranteed to promote health and weight loss. And there is no doubt that these plans do both of those things, but what isn't so clear is that the diet plans are biblically based.

The concept that these diets are biblical plans stems from this passage. The problem with saying that this vegetarian diet is biblically based is that we would have to take the passage out of context to make the argument. There is no place in this passage where Daniel announces that the vegetarian lifestyle (or even that a vegetarian purge or detox) is part of God's plan. The problem Daniel faced was that no suitable kosher meat was available. Most of the meat that would have come to the king's table would have been offered as a sacrifice to the gods of Babylon. That reason alone made the meat unsuitable for consumption by a good follower of Israel's God. Besides being sacrificed to the gods, it also would not have been prepared in a way that would remove all the meat's blood, a process that usually involved salting the meat to draw out moisture. This process is what makes the meat kosher. It was this lack of suitable meat that led Daniel to adopt a vegetarian diet; however, it was not because he believed in the health benefits of vegetarianism.

In fact, Daniel's story promotes an opposite lifestyle. The story holds that a meat diet was required for health, something that we now know is not true. This belief in the power of meat is the basis for the reaction of the handler of the Hebrew men. He was responsible for their health, and, as was understood at the time, that health demanded a high-meat diet.

The miracle of the story is that not only did the vegetarian diet work, but it also worked in a relatively short period of time. But the moral of the story is not about diet; it is about the four men's willingness to place their trust in God and do the unusual. The men's health was never attributed to the diet, but rather to the God they had served. Because Daniel and his friends trusted in God and kept God's laws, they passed the test. A strong belief in the God of Israel was the only reason that Daniel and his friends passed the test.

Trust in God is one of the major themes of Daniel. If we are willing to trust, then good things will happen. Life has never been about the physical realities that surround us. Life is about trusting in the God who created our physical realities. And no one else will do.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 2

 

… at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Parents will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp. – Jeremiah 47:3

Today's Scripture Reading (July 19, 2026): Jeremiah 47

Rapid Dominance (also known as Shock and Awe) is a military doctrine developed by Harlan Ullman and James Wade in 1996. The doctrine advocates spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy and destroy their will to fight. Rapid Dominance was the military strategy used by the United States during the Iraq War, which might be appropriate because, although the doctrine was written in 1996, the Americans were not the first to use it in Iraq.

Long before the doctrine had a name, the same strategy was used in Iraq. When it was first used, Iraq was called Babylon, and instead of being used against them, the strategy of “Rapid Dominance” was used by them. It was used in the last years of the 7th century BCE, an era that Jeremiah knew very well. Jeremiah's warning is directed at the Philistine cities and concerns the “Shock and Awe” of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian war machine. Jeremiah says that the Philistines will not actually need to see the Babylonian army coming. All that will be needed to strike fear into the hearts of the Philistine people is the sound of the beat of the horses' hooves and the rattle of the wheels of the chariots that are carrying the military officers.

On that day, the fear would be debilitating. In fact, it would be so bad that people's natural behaviors would be disrupted. Rabbinical writings on this passage stress that the passage indicates that "the fathers shall not look back to have mercy on their children." In their fright, they will forget what is natural, and their fear will be so great that they will not be able to have pity and compassion on them. The only thing that will matter is their own safety and deliverance.

The Babylonian Empire did not last very long, but at its height, it struck fear into the known world. And the sound of their war machine was all it took to paralyze the ones that they rode against.   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 1

 

 

The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. – Jeremiah 46:25

Today's Scripture Reading (July 18, 2026): Jeremiah 46

Amun-Re was the chief god of the Egyptian pantheon. In fact, Amun became so all-encompassing in the Egyptian pantheon that he threatened to reduce their worship to a monotheistic faith. As time passed, Amun-Re was not only the king of the gods but was effectively becoming the only god of Egypt. In the Leiden hymns, a collection of Egyptian poetry written in the latter part of the 13^th Century B.C.E., Amun-Re is hailed as the unity of all gods. He is the one god. He is the uncreated one, the one who existed before time began and will exist long after time has stopped. And if this is beginning to sound a little like the Christian God, the similarities continue. In Chapter 300, the poetry explicitly identifies Amun (the same as Amon in Jeremiah) as the primary god of the Egyptian Trinity. The god of unity, but embodying the powers of all three of Egypt's central gods. He is one – yet three. Specifically, the hymn reads –

            All the gods are three:
            Amun, Re and Ptah, without their seconds.
            His identity is hidden as Amun,
            He is Re as face, His body is Ptah.

            Everything that comes from His mouth,
            the gods are bound by it, according to what has been decreed.
            When a message is sent, it is for killing or for giving life.
            Life and death depend on Him for everyone,
            except for Him, Amun, together with Re, [and Ptah]: total, 3.

When we consider that Amun is the unseen God and is associated with the wind, the Leiden Hymns almost begin to read like the Gospel of John: " The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

But Jeremiah makes it clear that Amun-Re, the uncreated one of Egypt, is not the uncreated one of Israel. Amon of Thebes, the king of the gods of Egypt, the prime deity of the Egyptian Trinity, the creator of everything, is nothing more than a pretender. And the God of Israel will never bow to a pretender.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 47

You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. – Jeremiah 20:7

Today's Scripture Reading (July 17, 2026): Jeremiah 20

In the late 1960's, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice penned their conception of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ. "Jesus Christ, Superstar" has proven to be an enduring image, and the songs of the Rock Opera have carried the cries of the human side of Jesus to every generation since the opera was first written and performed. For me, one of the most moving scenes in the Webber-Rice tale takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is there that Jesus is confronted with the cross on which he will die, there that Jesus strains against the will of God, wondering if all of this is worth it, and there that he wonders about the goal that they are trying to reach. It is in Gethsemane that Jesus wrestles with everything that is about to happen. Near the end of the prayer, Jesus finally gives in to his Father's plan. The words that Rice places in the mouth of Jesus at this moment are –

God, thy will is hard, but you hold every card.
I will drink your cup of poison.
Nail me to your cross and break me.
Bleed me, beat me, kill me, take me now.
Before I change my mind.

The sentiments of the words are only partially the product of Rice's imagination. The Gospel record does record that Jesus struggled with the path he was to take. But the reality is that, as much as some portions of the Christian Church seem to want us to believe otherwise, sometimes God's will is difficult. John the Baptist seemed to struggle at the end of his life, wondering if Jesus was really the one who was to come or whether they were waiting for someone else. And in this passage, it is Jeremiah who is questioning the will of God.

Specifically, Jeremiah's complaint goes back to the beginning of Jeremiah's prophetic writings. At the moment when Jeremiah was called, he had excused himself. He was too young, and he did not have the words that were needed for such a task. But in that moment God's reply to Jeremiah was "Do not say, 'I am too young.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you" (Jeremiah 1:7-8). But in this moment, years into the God mission he had accepted, Jeremiah is not sure that God is true to his word. He spoke the words that God had placed in his heart, yet it did not seem that God was with him or that God had been ready to rescue him.

But the story was not over, not yet. God still had further places to carry Jeremiah. But sometimes it is in the midst of the story that we stop feeling him. And that is why faith is so important for all of us, because with the eyes of faith, we know that God is with us. He is with us even in the moments when we question him the most.     

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 46

Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. – Jeremiah 19:10-11

Today's Scripture Reading (July 16, 2026): Jeremiah 19

One of our most-loved Nursery Rhymes was penned in the late 18^th century. The rhyme in question is "Humpty, Dumpty," the famous egg who sat on the wall. One problem with our understanding of Humpty Dumpty is that the poem nowhere suggests that Humpty Dumpty was an egg. It is thought that the original intention of the rhyme was that it was supposed to be a riddle, a statement in which people would be invited to guess the identity of Humpty Dumpty. But the riddle long ago turned into a children's rhyme, and the mystery found at the core of the rhyme has long since been forgotten.

But that has not stopped some from trying to guess the riddle's answer. Suggested answers include King Richard III, the last king of the House of York, whom the upstart House of Tudor toppled. Two other possible answers to the riddle emerge from the Siege of Colchester in 1648, a battle from the middle of the English Civil War. During the war, the Royalist army found itself hemmed in at the walled city of Colchester.  Outside the walls were the Parliamentarians. The rhyme, some assert, is about either a sniper, a man known as One-Eyed Thompson, or a cannon, appropriately known as Humpty Dumpty, that sat on the walls of a church called Mary-at-the-Walls. The story tells of the Parliamentarians outside the city who weakened the wall beneath either the sniper or the cannon, causing the fall of "Humpty Dumpty." As a result of this fall, the city of Colchester was lost, and all the king's horses and all the king's men, referring of course to the Royalist Army trapped inside the city, couldn't save either the town or Humpty Dumpty.

God seems to have a similar illustration and story for Jeremiah to tell. Again, the weeping prophet is given an illustration of what is about to happen in Jerusalem. He is to go and take a jar and break it. The imagery here is not that Jeremiah would gently break the jar, leaving large pieces that might be put back together. The imagery is of a smashed jar that has been broken into so many pieces that it is impossible to reassemble, even with all of the king's horses and all the king's men at the ready to do the task.

But maybe the one thing we miss when we read this prophecy is that, while in the short term the prophecy was fulfilled and Jerusalem was left in ruins, God is still the God of the impossible, and in the long term it seems that God himself would put the city back together again. Jerusalem still stands today, although, admittedly, once again, it would seem that the Holy City is broken, divided among the People of Israel, the Followers of Jesus Christ, and the Followers of Islam. But no matter how broken the city might seem, God remains the God who can still put the pieces back together.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 20

They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says." – Jeremiah 18:18

Today's Scripture Reading (July 15, 2026): Jeremiah 18

For generations, historians have fought over the character of Richard III of England. For some, Richard III is accurately summed up by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare described Richard III as an ambitious man who was jealous of his older brother, King Edward IV, and his success. Historians have accused Richard of being guilty of fratricide, blaming him for the death of his brother and his nephews Edward V, who was around 13 years of age when he disappeared, as well as the disappearance and supposed murder of Edward V's younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. The young boys have been dubbed the "Princes of the Tower" by historians because the Tower of London was the last place where we know they were housed. No one really knows what happened to the young princes after their admission to the Tower following the death of their Father.

But that is not the only picture that we have of Richard III. Other historians have seen the third King Richard as a fiercely loyal man who would never consider killing his older brother, of whom he was deeply proud, let alone the murder of his young nephews. According to this group of historians, Richard was the victim of a propaganda campaign carried out by the House of Tudor, which sought to end the reign of the House of York, of which Edward and Richard were members. These historians remind us that the victors often write history; in this case, the House of Tudor won the fight, and as a result, the reign of the House of York was not only ended but also tarnished.

We may never know the truth about King Richard III, which might be proof of the effectiveness of the lies that our enemies can tell about us. It was a truth that Jeremiah knew firsthand. Jeremiah carried an unfortunate message, one the nation didn't want to hear. Jeremiah's critics hoped the prophet was wrong. Early in Jeremiah's career, his opponents had already chosen their offensive response. They were going to speak lies about Jeremiah and discredit him. The hope was that if lies took hold, his words would lose their strength, and the people would no longer listen to him. And maybe, their lies would also change the bleak future that Jeremiah was predicting. Basically, his opponents planned to accuse Jeremiah of being a false prophet, hoping that this accusation, which the religious officials of Jerusalem had thought up, would end up being true.

Jeremiah knew of their plot and had decided that the problem was not his; it was the problem of the one who had given him his vision of the future. Jeremiah was confident in his God. If he were a false prophet, it would not be because the officials of Jerusalem had labeled him as one, but because he had misread the movement of his God. But, once again, history is written by the victors, and in this case, the victor was Jeremiah. His prediction proved true, and history has remembered his opponents as the liars.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 19

 

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. – Jeremiah 17:14

Today's Scripture Reading (July 14, 2026): Jeremiah 17

As a kid, I loved superhero shows. I loved the "Adventures of Superman" with George Reeves (although I have to admit that I am too young actually to remember the original run of the 1950s TV series; I had to be content with the reruns of the show more than a decade after the last episode of the series was shot), and I was infatuated with Adam West in "Batman." (For those who might be wondering about my "Spiderman" addiction, both George Reeves and Adam West predate my "Spiderman" days.) So, when I was still too young to go to school, one of my favorite activities was to grab a towel, pin it around my shoulders, and pretend that I was one of the heroes I had watched on television.

Looking back, I still love my superheroes, though I hope I now have a much more balanced view of the role models of my youth. But one thing I have noticed is that the characters in the shows of my youth were fixated on the stories' heroes. In Gotham City, when trouble struck, it was not Marines who were called in to handle the situation; it wasn't the S.W.A.T. Team or even extra off-duty police officers who were requested to come to the rescue. The first response was to run to the roof and activate the "Bat Signal," calling the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder into the situation. No one else would do. And in the "Adventures of Superman," Lois Lane never called for the police when she was in trouble; Lois simply whispered the name of her hero, Superman. There was no one else who could do the job, not even the pining Clark Kent who wanted nothing more than to hear Lois call his name. But as far as Lois was concerned, no one but Superman was able to come to her rescue.

Jeremiah has also fixated on his hero, God. In the midst of Judah's trouble, Jeremiah and the officials of the nation held a deep mistrust of each other, and of the enemy about to appear on the doorstep of the city in which he lived. As a result, there really was no other authority to whom the Prophet could run. If Jeremiah was going to be healed, there was no one else who could heal him. If Jeremiah was going to be saved, the only name that could be whispered was that of his God. And the same was true for the land of Judah.

Most of us who grew up with our Superheroes have watched them tarnish over time. At some point, we found out that the Bat Signal only works in Gotham City, and Lois is the only one whom Superman seems to hear. George Reeves and Adam West have both lost their races against a speeding bullet. But the God of Jeremiah remains. He is still the only one who can heal and save.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 18