"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." – Joel 2:12

Today's Scripture Reading (March 20, 2026): Joel 2

I recently spent some quality time with my dentist. Unlike some, I don't like going to the dentist. I had one dentist tell me stories of patients who had fallen asleep while he was working on them. I can't imagine that happening. Everyone at the dentist's office seems to enjoy taking a perverse pleasure in the act of inflicting pain. I have heard people say they love how their teeth feel after a good cleaning, but I don't even enjoy those appointments. I have decided that these dental fans are commandment-breakers, focusing primarily on the one that says we should not bear false witness. My teeth feel fine before I get them cleaned, but afterward, it takes two or three days, and sometimes longer, for the pain to go away.

A while back, I read an article on Joel 2, focusing on verses 12 and 13, by Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt, and her opening quote came from her dentist. According to Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt's dentist. "If you look for the pain, you will find it.  Don't go looking for it." Apparently, this insane advice was given to her during a root canal.

Except, maybe it is not all that ridiculous. Sometimes we miss the purpose of our pain. Sometimes we even miss the cause of our pain. My doctor's technical diagnosis of my back pain is that it is "full of arthritis." I am not sure which medical school he went to, but when your back is "full of arthritis," what I want to do is take lots of pain drugs and watch old M*A*S*H reruns. However, according to my Dr., what I want to do is wrong. When my back hurts, I need to step away from my desk and go for a walk.

Pain is a constant in all of our lives. If we want to look for pain, we won't have far to go. And what we sometimes discover is that even the most well-adjusted among us suffer from emotional pain. We don't want to admit that, but it is true, and emotional pain often acts as a focus and a multiplier of our physical pain.

I am not saying that we don't need drugs to handle some of our pain. However, Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt's dentist might be right. If we look for pain, we will find it. So, don't go looking for it. And definitely don't focus on it. Have you ever noticed that if you are in pain, it gets worse at night or when you are alone? That is because it is at night and when we are alone that we start to focus on our pain. And when we do that, the pain becomes unbearable.

It is always dangerous to play amateur psychiatrist, but I think King Saul had an inferiority complex. When Samuel went to him to anoint him, King over Israel, this was Saul's reply. "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me" (1 Samuel 9:21)? It might have been just humility, but I don't think so. Saul was young, and his tribe, the Tribe of Benjamin, had just about been wiped out in Israel's first civil war after the incident at Gibeah and the gruesome murder of a Levite's concubine a few generations earlier. Just imagine being Saul; a few generations ago, all of Israel took up arms against your ancestors, almost wiping them out, and now Samuel says that someone from that tribe will rule over all of Israel. Sometimes I wonder if Saul didn't get out of bed every day trying to prove that he really was worthy of being King; that God was right to place the nation's leadership in his hands.

Then, Saul has a chance to avenge Israel against one of their earliest enemies. Surely that would prove that he was worthy of being King. Surely that would ease his pain. The problem was that Saul's inferiority could not be solved by defeating the Amalekites. It could not be solved by taking their king, Agag, prisoner, proving that he was greater than the Amalekite King. But taking their possessions as his possessions could not ease his pain. Only reducing the distance between him and God could do that. Saul didn't understand the source of his pain. Instead, everything that he was doing was making his pain worse.

If only he could have heard the words of Joel - "Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12). God asks Joel to understand that at least part of your pain is because you have wandered away from me. I know you have real pain in your life, but it is amplified because you are far from me.

We need to be reminded of the same message. Our pain is magnified because we have wandered away from God. It is this pain that we try to concentrate on during Lent, not so that we can increase our pain, but so that we can find the solution for our pain. We commit, with all of our hearts, to accept the invitation to return to God. And we do it with fasting and weeping and mourning, because in the midst of our sin, we have lost so much.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joel 3

  

Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. – Joel 1:13

Today's Scripture Reading (March 19, 2026): Joel 1

Joel begins his prophecy by talking about locusts. Scholars have debated what these locusts represented to Joel. Some have suggested that a massive army was attacking Israel, possibly the Assyrians or Babylonians. Part of the problem with discerning which army is that we have difficulty dating Joel's prophecy; there are no date clues in Joel's words that anchor it to a specific date or era.

Some scholars have talked about a natural disaster. Joel talks about drought, lending credence to the idea that it might be a natural disaster Israel is fighting against. And it might be about a plague of locusts. But here is the point: Joel's words are a prophecy. Prophecy naturally has different levels. However, on one level, a prophecy usually points to a specific situation that had caught the Prophet's attention.

In Joel's situation, maybe we can concede it was probably locusts. But God takes this prophecy and makes it about an army that is coming or about a disaster that is on its way. And then he takes this picture, applies it to our situations centuries later, and asks this question: What are you struggling against that you have no control over? What need are you suffering through that could be declared in your life? Where are the locusts? And as we declare our need, maybe we will recognize that we need God.

Pastor and author John Ortberg tells the story of serving as the chaplain at a professional baseball training camp. At one point in the camp, he is asked if he wants to take batting practice. John says he had never played organized ball, but as a kid, he hit against the best pitcher on his block and did pretty well, better than anyone else. Well, there was only one other kid on his block, and she was in grade 1 – but…

What guy doesn't want to take batting practice at a pro camp? Who doesn't want to face a pro pitcher? So, John gets a helmet and a bat and walks out onto the diamond to face the pitcher. The first ball is thrown, and John says that he heard it hit the back of the net just as he was getting ready to swing at it. At that moment, John realized this guy is playing for real; he is giving me his best.

John started swinging earlier; he actually started his swing before the pitcher had started his forward motion, and he even fouled a few balls off. Then the pitcher asked if he would like a couple with a little zing, and John realized that he had been lobbing the ball in to him.

John said, "Sure," and the pitcher threw one more pitch. John says he never did see the ball, just heard it hit behind him. Later, the pitcher wrote up a scouting report on John, which read:" John Ortberg, hits right, fields right, and, as a baseball player, he makes a good pastor."

Here is the problem: we live in that batter's box. We have problems that come at us so fast that we never even see the ball coming. We are overcome, the locusts are too many, the army is too great, and there is nothing that we can do except to declare the need. However, instead of declaring the need, most of the time I think we say it isn't fair or we make excuses. I love Benjamin Franklin's quote, "He who is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else" (Benjamin Franklin). Somehow, we need to get beyond the excuses, beyond the reason why something can't be done, and stand before the Creator of the Universe and say, "This is the need, these are the locusts in my life, and there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do about it. God, I need You."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joel 2

 

The officials who murdered him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. He died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king. – 2 Kings 12:21

Today's Scripture Reading (March 18, 2026): 2 Kings 12

Joash's reign began with such promise, but it ended in disappointment. Joash made the right decisions as long as Jehoiada was present to help him, but after Jehoiada died, Joash lost the rudder that had steered his life. The rest of Joash's reign is marked by disaster after disaster. Finally, he empties the Temple of its treasure so that the Arameans would leave and go home. It was at this point that some lost patience with the King and had reached the end of the road with Joash. Jozabad and Jehozabad assassinated the King and placed his son, Amaziah, on the throne.

Although the experts seem to disagree with me, I do see some conflict between 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles in how they tell the story. Second Kings seems to downplay the negatives of Joash's reign after Jehoiada's death. The story in 2 Chronicles relates to the reader a tale that is a little clearer on what those negatives were.

But more importantly, the contradiction between the two stories is clear in the tale of the King's burial. According to 2 Kings, Joash "was buried with his ancestors in the City of David" (2 Kings 12:21). But Ezra in 2 Chronicles makes this comment; "So he [Joash] died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings" (2 Chronicles 24:25). The conflict seems to be whether Joash was buried with the Kings or whether the end of Joash's reign and the murder of Jehoiada's son Zechariah had disqualified the King from such a burial.

Part of the problem is likely tied up in the place where Jehoiada was buried.

Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his Temple (2 Chronicles 24:15-16).

After Joash ordered the execution of Zechariah, it no longer seemed appropriate to bury Joash in the same place where Zechariah's father had been buried. So, while 2 Kings doesn't mention it, 2 Chronicles reminds the reader that while Joash was buried in Jerusalem, it wasn't in the same place as his ancestors, because Jehoiada was buried there. It was Jehoiada who had been responsible for all the good that had taken place during the reign of Joash.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joel 1

 

King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, "May the LORD see this and call you to account." – 2 Chronicles 24:22

Today's Scripture Reading (March 17, 2026): 2 Chronicles 24

Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. He did not attend the award ceremony; he couldn't, he was in a Chinese Prison at the time. Xiaobo was the first ethnically Chinese person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and the third person to receive it while in prison. The illegal activity for which he was being punished was "inciting the subversion of state power," or as the Nobel Committee phrased it, "his long and non-violent struggle for Fundamental human rights in China." For most of his life, Liu Xiaobo had tried to speak truth to power. However, those in power often didn't want to hear what he had to say.

In our contemporary world, part of being in power is often more like a magic show than we really want to admit. Politicians often try to convince us that something is true that really isn't, distract us from the problems in society, and really celebrate what the politician believes is important. It is true in China and around the world as well. Welcome to life in the twenty-first century.

While the priest Jehoiada was alive, he was able to focus King Joash on the correct things, the things that mattered to God. Jehoiada lived a long and productive life, dying at the age of 130. But once Jehoiada was no longer with him, Joash lost that focus. Without the priest's help, he was shaped by advisors who didn't have the heart of God and instead pushed actions that went against God but served their own goals.

Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada, and he felt he had to do something about what was happening in the nation. Zechariah channeled his father's beliefs and attitudes; he tried to focus Joash as his father had, but he didn't possess the King's respect that his father had enjoyed. All Joash seemed to see was that Zechariah was going against the things that the King had grown to want to do. Joash's heart no longer belonged to God, and rather than return to God, the King decided to go all in on the corruption that surrounded him and kill the prophet God had sent to call the King to repentance.

Joash orders Zechariah to be executed, and he is killed at the very spot where his father, Jehoiada, had anointed Joash, making him the King. He had answered the kindness that had been given to him by Jehoiada with the cruelty that Joash gave to Zechariah, all because Zechariah had attempted to speak truth to power.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 12

Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: "Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest had said, "Do not put her to death at the temple of the LORD." – 2 Chronicles 23:14

Today's Scripture Reading (March 16, 2026): 2 Chronicles 23

The debate over capital punishment still rages in our society. Those in favor of the death penalty seem to reside on the political right, while those against capital punishment seem to congregate on the political left. What amazes me is that the argument for and against abortion, or what some would call the murder of unborn children, is actually reversed, which means that those who want to kill criminals are the same people who argue against the killing of children, often arguing that every life matters. Those in favor of abortion, killing unborn children, often stand against the use of the death penalty for even the worst of our criminals. I recently had an interesting conversation with one of these people. For him, abortion and even suicide, which he defines as not doing whatever is necessary to stay alive, including not taking the appropriate medications, are sins. He argues that God gives us life, and only God should be able to take it away. But he also emphatically asserts that the death penalty, which has been abolished in his area of the country, should be reinstated. For me, it is an interesting incongruency.

As for me, I am one of those on the right who are uneasy with the death penalty. I understand the logic behind it, but taking a life is never something I think we should do easily. And with the injustice already embedded in our legal structures, maybe it is something we should put in the rear-view mirror. I am not sure how many innocent people we execute in our world every year, but one is too many. There has to be a better way.

Jehoida, the Priest, orders the execution of Athaliah. And maybe there were no other options available other than taking away her life. She had lived a violent life, putting many, including her family members, to death for the crime of simply being in the way of her dream of being the Queen of Judah. One commentator remarked that her death was prudent. And I agree, it likely was. We could assert that Athaliah got what she deserved. But then again, if we all got what we deserved, there would be very little joy in this world.

Athaliah killed her family to get the throne, but Jehoida, the priest, had hidden one grandson away from her evil clutches. And that one grandson was all that was needed to dethrone this usurper queen. Athaliah died just outside the Temple. And while the action might have been prudent, we can't forget that God loved and had a different plan for Athaliah's life than the one she chose. And because of that, the prudent death of Athaliah is also a tragedy.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 24

See also 2 Kings 11:15

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. – 2 Chronicles 22:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 15, 2026): 2 Chronicles 22

Intermarriage is nothing new in Royal circles. One of my favorite historical photographs is entitled “Nine Kings.” The picture was taken on May 20, 1910, at the funeral of Edward VII of the United Kingdom. It is the only photo of nine hereditary monarchs gathering in one room. But not only were these nine men, they were all men, kings over different nations, but the photo was also a picture that could have been taken at a family reunion. Every person in the photo is related to the others, either cousins and nephews or related by marriage. The picture could have featured ten kings, but the embattled Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, a nephew of Edward VII, felt that leaving Russia at that time and reinforcing his relationship with the other Kings of Europe was an unwise course. A couple of years later, another king could have been added to the list as he married into the family. European royalty was dreadfully intermarried.

Many of these monarchs traced their ancestry back to Queen Victoria. Victoria is often referred to as the Grandmother of Europe, and her lineage continues to fascinate historians. Of course, Victoria married the love of her life, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Victoria and Albert were first cousins, so most of European royalty can trace their lineage back to a pair of cousins who sat on the British Throne.

Not only were Victoria and Albert first Cousins, but the intermarriage of this family continued. Victoria’s son, Edward VII, at whose funeral the “Nine Kings” photo was taken, married his third cousin, Alexandra. George V, the son of Edward VII, married Mary of Teck, his second cousin. George V’s granddaughter, Elizabeth II, married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, her third cousin and second cousin once removed, depending on which route through the family tree you decide to take. Both Elizabeth and Philip were descendants of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. King Charles and Lady Diana were seventh cousins once removed, but King Charles and Queen Camilla are second cousins, and, once again, Charles and Camilla are both descendants of Victoria and her son, Edward VII.

A judgment has been pronounced on the House of Omri of Israel. In fact, the descendants of Ahab, Omri’s son, were exterminated by King Jehu. Some believe that Jehu was possibly a great-grandson of Omri. So, while the house of Ahab was wiped out, it is possible that the lineage of Omri continued through the reign of Jehu.

King Jehoram of Judah married Athaliah, a member of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Athaliah was either the daughter of Omri or the daughter of Ahab and granddaughter of Omri. But either way, the lineage of the evil King Omri, because of this intermarriage, continued in the line of the Kings of Judah, starting with Ahaziah, and then Joash, Kings of Judah, but descendants of Omri, King of Israel.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 23 

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. – 2 Kings 11:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 14, 2026): 2 Kings 11

In 2023, CNN released a special documentary series titled "Giuliani: What Happened to America's Mayor," which examined the life and career of Rudy Giuliani, his ascent to power, and his demise during the Trump Years. Maybe the one line of the documentary that we all need to hear is that "power changes you." And the words don't just apply to Rudy, but to all of us. Maybe we all question why our politicians do what they do, and often we think that we would do things differently. We would work with politicians from different parties, so why can't they? We would reward good ideas wherever they might arise, so why can't they? And maybe the answer is the same for all of us. We really don't know what we would do because now we don't have the power, but then we would. And power changes us.

I am tempted to wonder about Athaliah's emotional state, or maybe her mental capacity, that she was willing to kill her grandchildren and anyone else who might be in the line of succession to the throne of Judah. As I read the story of Athaliah, I honestly can't imagine a grandmother who would be willing to kill her grandchildren so that she could be Queen. My grandchildren are precious treasures to me. All I want for any of them is the absolute best this life has to offer. Yet, that is precisely what Athaliah does. She kills anyone who might have reason to claim that she isn't the rightful Queen of Judah.

But the real reason why she is willing to do any of this is that power has the capacity to change us in a very fundamental way. Once we have had power of any kind, the human race seems to be willing to do anything to get it back. What was once unthinkable suddenly becomes not only thinkable but a logical response to the situation. We will do anything to keep the power that we have. The story of Queen Athaliah killing the members of the Royal Family, including her own children and grandchildren, and some of the seemingly incomprehensible actions of Rudy Giuliani have the same cause; they are a result of power changing us in ways that we could never imagine in the days when we lived without that power. The story of Athaliah, as well as the contemporary tale of Rudy Giuliani, is a cautionary tale of which we all need to be aware. Only if we remember these stories will we be able to safeguard ourselves from doing the unthinkable in our lives if we ever gain the kind of power that changes us.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 22

See also 2 Chronicles 22:10