By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud. – Ezekiel 28:5

Today's Scripture Reading (September 26, 2026): Ezekiel 28

I have to admit I am at odds with some beliefs in the contemporary church.  One of them is the belief that God wants you rich. It is not that I believe that God wants you poor, or that money is necessarily evil, but I don't think our Creator wants you to be rich. Some argue that God owns everything, so why wouldn't he want to give it to those of us who follow him? Why shouldn't Christians possess the world's wealth, especially if we decide to use it to help those in need?

On the surface, it might seem like a good argument, but the problem is that material wealth can make us believe in our own power. We become secure in our designs and our wisdom. God doesn't necessarily want us poor, but he does want us to remember that he is the source of everything. I firmly believe that the lack of power (and integrity) in the Western Church is because of our affluence and our lack of dependence on God. God wants us to trust him. That is his priority.

We stand in the modern place of Tyre. We have depended on our power and on our wisdom. Our hearts have grown proud, and our lives are experiencing a severe power failure. We have come to believe, like Tyre, that our wealth and material goods are the fruit of our great talent. We sincerely believe we deserve what we have. In fact, we often believe that we deserve more than what we have. What will eventually defeat us is not what we lack, and prosperity will not come from what we have. We have much. However, what will defeat us is who we believe gave it to us. Everything that we have comes from God. I don't deserve anything I possess in my life. I have what God has given to me. You have what God has given to you. Understanding that will return power to our lives, because that knowledge allows us to tap into God's power instead of our own. And that is power that I know I need.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 29

 

 

Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged chariot horses, cavalry horses and mules for your merchandise. – Ezekiel 27:14

Today's Scripture Reading (September 25, 2026): Ezekiel 27

The Armenians trace the beginnings of their nation to a very specific date in history: August 11, 2492 B.C.E. The day marks King Haik's defeat of King Bel of Babylon, establishing a home for his people. That home surrounded the mountains of Ararat. And it is there that the kingdom has remained. Not surprisingly, the ancient beginnings are shrouded in mystery. But we are beginning to understand that ancient Armenians may have been a highly advanced civilization. For instance, the earliest known leather shoe and wine-producing facility have been found there. But the significance of the ancient Armenians for the biblical story is that King Haik was the son of Togarmah. Ezekiel's "Men of Beth Togarmah" means the "Men of the House of Togarmah," and the "House of Togarmah" is still a name Armenia uses today.

As Ezekiel continues his description of Tyre's destruction, he lists several nations that had contact with Tyre. Among the listed nations are the "Men of Beth Togarmah." Beth Togarmah not only represented an ancient civilization, but it was also the northernmost civilization about which Ezekiel possessed knowledge. Beth Togarmah existed on the fringe of the Earth, or the ends of the Earth, at least as far as Ezekiel knew. The things that Tyre had imported from Beth Togarmah at the ends of the Earth were chariots and horses, symbols of military strength, which Tyre had imported from the farthest reaches of the Earth. Ezekiel's message seems to be that even with help from the ends of the Earth, Tyre was still going to fall. No military strength could fight what God had decreed, even one from the exotic ends of the Earth.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 28

 

I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign LORD. – Ezekiel 26:21

Today's Scripture Reading (September 24, 2026): Ezekiel 26

The city of Tyre holds a special place in mythology. It is said to be the birthplace of Europa, the mythical character from which Europe takes its name. In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess whom Zeus kidnapped. The earliest mention of Europa is in Homer's "Iliad," usually dated to the 8th century (700s) B.C.E., but the mention of Tyre as Europa's birthplace shows the city was once prominent. Yet, despite its possible importance, very little is known of the ancient city of Tyre. The city still exists today, but it has never regained the glory the city appears to have enjoyed when the "Iliad" was written. However, Nebuchadnezzar didn't destroy the ancient city. Alexander the Great ultimately destroyed Tyre.

Ezekiel predicts the destruction of Tyre. According to the Biblical texts, the city's destruction, along with several others, was ultimately due to the people of these opposing cities cheering the destruction of Jerusalem. However, Tyre's destruction was unique and intended as a warning to other nearby cities.

In reality, Tyre's destruction was unusual. The city actually sat on an island, with a section of the city built on the mainland. The mainland portion of the city handled trade and kept the island city supplied. Alexander destroyed the mainland portion of Tyre and then used stone from the ruins to build a ramp from the mainland to the Island. Because of the artificial ramp, Alexander could attack the Island overland without using boats. After Alexander destroyed the island city, the artificial ramp was never removed. As a result, Tyre became a peninsula rather than an island.

However, in keeping with the prophecy, a new city of Tyre exists on the site of the ancient island city. Still, the mainland portion of the city has never been rebuilt, and few artifacts from ancient times remain on the site of the mainland community. In many ways, it is as if the Mainland portion of the city had never existed.

The destruction of ancient Tyre set in motion conditions that would make Carthage a Mediterranean power in Northern Africa. It is thought that the survivors of the defeated Tyre might have fled to Carthage. Whatever the reason, the ancient city of Tyre has never recovered, and the historical city has never really been rediscovered.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 27

You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. – Lamentations 5:19

Today's Scripture Reading (September 23, 2026): Lamentations 5

With the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, the Polish Government went into exile. The Polish Government-in-exile ruled Poland, at first, from Paris, France. However, when France fell to the advancing German army in 1940, the Polish government-in-exile moved to the United Kingdom. There, the Polish Government-in-exile functioned for the next 50 years.

During the Second World War, the Polish Government-in-exile was quite effective in governing through the Polish Resistance at home. However, following the war, Poland became a puppet regime of the growing Soviet Bloc of nations. As a result, the Polish Government-in-exile began to shadow the puppet nation's decisions. No longer did the exiled Government have any pull at home, but they continued to refuse to accept the reality that the nation that they loved was now under Communist control. It was not until 1990, when Communist rule in Poland came to an end, that the Polish Government-in-exile gave up their fight and formally bestowed their power onto the Third Polish Republic. Finally, fifty years after it began, the Polish Government-in-exile retired from the world stage, placing its high hopes onto the people of Poland.

Part of the struggle in Judah was that so much of what the people understood as power was centered in Jerusalem. Now, with Jerusalem in ruins, not only was the seat of power gone, but the power itself had also disappeared. I am not sure that the Jewish people could even conceive of a "government-in-exile." Power belonged in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem no longer existed.

But the situation went beyond the loss of national political power. God's home on earth was also in Jerusalem. Solomon's Temple had been built in Jerusalem to give God a resting place on earth. That resting place had been destroyed along with the city. In many ways, all of this meant Jeremiah's words would have sounded strange. How could God's throne endure? How could God's rule on earth be from generation to generation, when the Temple was gone?

Jeremiah's message seems so obvious to us now (especially after 1900 years of God's rule without a temple in Jerusalem). His message is simply this: God's rule transcends place. The earth, all of it, was created by God, and he rules throughout its length and breadth. He is always present, and he always sees, even in those moments when we think he might be deaf and/or blind. Jeremiah needed the people to understand that God does not rule in exile, because there is no place where he does not belong, and no place where he is not still the reigning King.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 26

How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner. – Lamentations 4:1

Today's Scripture Reading (September 22, 2026): Lamentations 4

We all place something at the center of our lives. It is just something that we do. I don't know what it might be in your life. Often it is our job, but family also runs hard after the coveted position. There are other things; money, friends, entertainment, and even the church compete for that central position. At some point, we decide which thing we will place at the center of our lives. Usually it isn't a mental decision – we don't sit down with a pad and paper and weigh the pros and the cons of placing different things at the center of our lives, but our actions reveal the decision. Our lives follow the dictates of whatever it is that we have placed in that central position of our being.

Whatever we place at the center often comes a time when we realize it isn't as attractive as it once was. We begin to question whether we have placed the right things at the center. Our behavior changes as we place something else in that center position.

Things lose their luster when we place them at the center of our lives because they were never intended to be there. God was. (Note: I said God, not the church.) He has built that central place in our lives as his home, and nothing else can measure up to him.

Jeremiah sees a defeated nation that he is actively mourning over. The prophet knows that they have placed the wrong things at the center of their lives. The sad thing is that we rarely choose to put the wrong things at the center of our lives. We just don't place God there, so other things take that position because it is empty.

The only way that God can fill that spot is if we decide to place him there. There is nothing automatic about it. We have to choose God. He won't slip into that spot in our lives just because it is empty. He is waiting for an invitation to take the place designed for him. Have you made your decision?

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 5

For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. – Lamentations 3:21

Today's Scripture Reading (September 21, 2026): Lamentations 3

Harold Godwinson (1022-1066) was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. His reign actually lasted for less than a year. His reign seemed to have begun with his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church, which appears to have been political rather than religious. Harold's departure from the Church paved the way for his military defeat. Harold's excommunication removed him from the list of active monarchs approved by the Catholic Church. It made the Norman ruler William the Conqueror's conquest of England a proper and legal action. The Catholic Church decided that it could support William's conquest of England.

Harold died on October 14, 1066 C.E. at the Battle of Hastings, trying to defend England from the Norman invaders. But the saga of Harold Godwinson (or Harold II) did not end with his death. After Harold Godwinson died, his body was stripped of everything that suggested his rank or identity, including the head that had once borne the crown of England. In one story of Harold's death, his widow is called in to identify the naked body of her husband, and the only way that she could do it was by identifying a private mark on his body about which only she knew. Harold's body was placed into the hands of his enemies. We are told that Harold's mother offered her son's enemies Harold's weight in gold so that she could regain control of the body of her son and give him a proper burial, but the offer was refused. Instead, the body of Harold Godwinson was disposed of, and it seems that it was disposed of in such a way that his supporters would never be able to find the body of their King. Some rumors maintained that his body was buried at sea, where no one could find it. However, as a direct result of this mysterious disposal of the King's body, some held onto the hope that Harold had not died, that he had somehow escaped the Battle of Hastings and was forced to live as a hermit in some remote back corner of England for the rest of his days. In 1954, an Anglo-Saxon coffin was found in a church in Bosham, a village that was 57 miles southwest of London and Harold's birthplace. When the body was exhumed, it was found to be missing its head, one complete leg, and the lower portion of his other leg; wounds that are identical to the wounds of Harold II. For some, no other evidence was needed; this was the body of Harold Godwinson, the excommunicated King.

The tale of the body of Harold Godwinson was really an attempt to erase Harold Godwinson from the pages of history. Harold's enemies believed that Harold was literally beyond redemption. However, even if there were religious reasons for this belief - and I need to stress that we don't know of any such reasons from our position in history- the belief is untrue. The beauty of God's story is that no one is beyond God's redemption, not even King Harold II.

Jeremiah lists all the reasons why Judah has been cast off and discarded. Yet he still holds out hope for Judah because Jeremiah knows that God never casts anyone off forever. Jeremiah's hope for Judah is our hope and an important part of our story. No matter what it is that we have done, no matter how we are seen by religious people or even by the Church, even if we have gone through the fire of removal from the Church like Harold Godwinson, God still stands at the ready to redeem us and bring us back into his community and presence. This promise, buried deep in Jeremiah's weeping, brings hope to all who will believe.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 4

Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and young women have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity. - Lamentations 2:21

Today's Scripture Reading (September 20, 2026): Lamentations 2

Despair can be overwhelming. We are not designed to live in despair, at least not for long. When we experience despair for too long, our behavior begins to change in an extremely negative way, and sometimes we don't even know it. We can no longer function on some of the very basic levels of life. In fact, the task of living is often too much for us to bear. And the strain is not just on us; it is on all those close to us. If the time of despair lasts too long, our relationships with the people around us can be irreparably damaged.

Jeremiah describes a time of despair. The prophet describes a time when despair is so great that people's normal behavior patterns have drastically changed. Rich men and women who would normally have lain down on silk sheets with fat pillows find themselves lying shamelessly on the street. Young men and women who would normally have been starting to plan out what it is that lies in their futures, instead lie dead from sword wounds. Nothing is as it should be. Distress has gripped the entire nation.

For this reason, and for the depth of this despair, the prophet weeps. He has nothing else to do. He blames God, but what deepens his despair is his belief that it didn't have to be this way. Another path could have been chosen. Instead, the people turned away from the hope of God toward a path that could only lead them into hopelessness. Their willing choice of that path only deepened the national gloom.

Every spring, the Christian Church moves through its annual time of despair. The time is called Lent. It is our time to remember the desolation Jesus willingly endured, so we wouldn't have to. Jesus chose his path of despair, in many ways mirroring the despair of the nation that he was born into, a nation that seemed to suffer through cycles of hopelessness. But in Jesus, God sought to end those cycles. God wanted to give us hope once and for all. That is why Pope John Paul II reminded us that we cannot abandon ourselves to despair, because Jesus died to end that cycle. Pope John Paul II stressed that "We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song." We are the Easter people, not just in the spring of our calendars, but every month of the year, including the fall as we wait for the snow to fly. We are continually challenged to be the Easter people every day, week, and month of the year. And hallelujah will always be our song.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3