But I am full of the wrath of the LORD, and I cannot hold it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years.” – Jeremiah 6:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31, 2020): Jeremiah 6

One of the strong messages that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019 – 2020 is that what you do impacts other people. The selfish reaction that this pandemic doesn’t apply to me because I am not in a vulnerable group is not sufficient. One Facebook user made the argument that since the deaths due to the virus will likely spike within those who have lung and immune issues, and since he was not in that category, why did he have to be laid off from his job. And I understand the angst, but the reality is that, while we might not be among the most vulnerable of the nation, we have contact with them, and the restrictions placed on us, protect them.

Jesus made the argument that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). The COVID-19 pandemic adds a new focus on the impact of these words. We are not just responsible for ourselves, but for those who are in need and vulnerable as well, and how a society cares for the “least of these” really defines the society.

It is easy to read the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and get the impression that we serve an angry God who seems to pour out his wrath indiscriminately on all people. But that is not entirely true. God asks us to be aware that our actions have consequences, and often those consequences can be unexpected. But what I do matters. And so, what I do needs to be well thought out. If I act selfishly, then someone will always get hurt. And that is not fair, but it is also not up to God to protect the people who we can protect. He has given that responsibility to us to do as we can.

Does that mean that we need to be the Saviors of the World? Yes, and no. Jesus is our Savior, and he is in us. And together, we can make the difference that individually we could never make. But God desires to move through us, all of us.

Jeremiah argues that the wrath of God is full because of the sin of the people. And this wrath would be poured out on all the people; the children, husband and wife, and the elderly were all going to be caught in the middle of it. The rich and the poor will suffer the results. There will be no section of the society that will be safe, even though some of the people on Jeremiah’s list were likely innocent. The prophecy’s fulfillment was found in the defeat and exile of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians. Every section of society felt the adverse effects of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion. But the message that we need to take from Jeremiah’s words is not about the indiscriminate action of God, but rather about our power to change the outcome if we are willing to act cautiously and love indiscriminately.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 7

Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' still they are swearing falsely." – Jeremiah 5:2

Today's Scripture Reading (March 30, 2020): Jeremiah 5

Mahatma Gandhi argued that "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." True humility is found in the admission that we can be neither strong nor wise enough for what life asks of us. And we will never be in a position where we do not have to depend on the generosity of others, no matter how long we might strive for that kind of independence.

And spiritually, even though we try to follow the dictates of God, we know that we always fall short. We misunderstand the things that God is asking of us. We are often culturally, rather than biblically influenced. I have admitted to anyone who might ask that I think my theology is 90% right. Some are surprised that that number isn't higher, while others often think I am bragging, and it probably isn't even that high. But don't miss the message of the statement. As much as I read, listen, and study the Bible, I am sure that I don't have it all right. But what is even scarier is that I don't know where the error might be, and I suspect it is not where some of my friends and colleagues might think it is, or else I would correct the situation.

God promises that if Jeremiah could find one person who deals honestly and seeks truth, that he would forgive the city. It seemed like an easy task. After all, wasn't Jeremiah honest and seeking the truth. Wasn't Huldah in the city, working honestly and seeking truth among the women of the city. One is not a high number. But God stresses that many might swear that they are honest and seeking truth, but the promise itself is a lie.

I think God's comment was less about the spirituality of the city than it was about the pride of the people. The problem was that the people of Jerusalem were not humble enough to listen to God's prophets. They believed, because the Temple was right there in the city, that they were spiritually beyond reproach. And God's response was that we are never in a place spiritually where we do not need to hear from God; we are never in a place where we can ignore his prophets.

It is a reality with which we need to become comfortable, admitting that we do not always know the correct answers. But then, our faith has never been based on the right answers, but rather on the right person. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, who paid the price for us. In the words of the author of Hebrews, Jesus is where we place our confidence, and not in the things that we can know.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 6

A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant. – Jeremiah 4:7

Today's Scripture Reading (March 29, 2020): Jeremiah 4

Growing up, the bogeyman who we were taught to fear was the Soviet Union or U.S.S.R. Ronald Reagan began his time as President of the United States by referring to them as "the Evil Empire." I still remember well-meaning Bible teachers making a connection between biblical prophecies of the end times and the Soviet Union. There was no doubt that, in the minds of these experts, it was the U.S.S.R. that was in the mind of God when he caused his prophets to prophesy about what was coming in our future.

But by the end of Reagan's two terms as President, the Soviet Union was gone. The evil empire disappeared, and the fear of the Cultural West was reimagined into a dream of the possibility of making new friends out of the various pieces of the once-powerful Soviet Bloc. It wasn't that Russia was no longer dominant; they were a compelling nation, and for the past three decades have flirted with either being a world superpower or have existed just below that line. But, of course, the well-meaning biblical teachers had to find another bogeyman that could be found in the modern world but described in the pages of the Bible. Many saw the new bogeyman in the only remaining superpower; The United States of America.

All of this just reflects our dependence on the current social situations as we read the pages of the Bible. Often, our inferences are wrong, and we have to adjust, but it is not the Bible that is wrong, just the way that we have read it that has contained the error.

And, for those who like to think deeply about such things, it gives us a chance for us to become historical detectives as we try to find the historical roots of these prophecies. And that is very true with the writings of Jeremiah.

So, Jeremiah comments that a lion has come out of his lair. This lion was a destroyer of nations. During my childhood, that destroyer of nations coming from the north (verse 6) might have been identified as the Soviet Union. But the question that intrigues me is this; Did Jeremiah have anyone in particular in mind as he spoke these words?

There are two easy answers to that question. Jeremiah might have been referring to the Assyrians. They were north of Judah and a world power. The struggle I have with the Assyrian answer is that, by the time these words were written, they were a superpower in decline. It had been a hundred years since they had destroyed the Kingdom of Israel, and eighty years since they had laid siege to Jerusalem. Jeremiah seems to be referring to someone new who was just emerging out of their den, and the Assyrian Empire does not seem to fit that description.

The better answer might be the Babylonian Empire. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy seems to have come from them. But while the attack of the Babylonians came from the north, the heart of the Babylonian Empire existed in modern-day Iraq, which is east of Judah, and not north.

Maybe a more obscure solution to the question of what Jeremiah might have been thinking as he spoke this prophecy was the emerging Scythian Empire, which was ruling the steppe just north of the declining Assyrian Empire. They were a threat. Biblically, the Scythians are often overlooked by scholars because it did not seem that they ever played a significant role in the Middle East. But, for Jeremiah and the people who first heard or read his words, they feared the Scythians as much as the Soviet Union was feared in my childhood. Just because the fear was never realized, doesn't mean that Jeremiah was not looking at that northern empire as he spoke his words.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 5

"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—would you now return to me?" declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 3:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 28, 2020): Jeremiah 3

For Larry King, the math of marriage is little complex. King married eight times, but to only seven women. And King admits that he was in love with only three of them. The others, well, according to King, it was just the thing to do. But one of the women that King was in love with was Alene Akins. She was the one woman that Larry married twice. And when Alene died in 2017, her ex-husband mourned her passing, calling her "a grand lady."

Jeremiah asks a question, if a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries another man, should he return to her? Maybe a better question is, why would he return to her. The question that Jeremiah is asking is not really about marriage; it is about the spirituality of the children of Israel, both in the now defeated Kingdom of Israel, and in the still very much alive Kingdom of Judah. Spiritually, Israel had been promised to God as his bride. It was a common theme among the writings of the prophets. But Israel and Judah had both proven themselves to be unfaithful spouses. They had cheated on their commitment to God with other gods who had originated with other nations. So, the real question that God was asking was this; why should I allow you to come back to me. Why would I want to resume the relationship that we once had together? We committed to each other, and yet you walked away from me to be with someone else.

Jeremiah doesn't really give us the answer, but we know what it is. We see it in our own relationships. After all, Larry King walked away from his commitment to Alene, and Alene walked away from her commitment to Larry, in 1963, after only two years of marriage. Yet, four years later, the pair came back together and tied the marital knot one more time, and this time they stayed together for five years. Why? The answer is too simple – it is love. Maybe they couldn't work together long enough to produce a successful marriage, but that didn't mean that they didn't love each other enough to try again and to remember the good times.

So, why does God call Judah, and Israel, back into a relationship with him? Why did he chase them through the generations? And when they did come back, why would God want to accept them back into his family? The answer is again deceptively simple – it is love.

And why does God pursue us? Why does he faithfully watch over us while we chase after other priorities, seldom giving to him the attention that he deserves? And why does he run to us when we turn around and call his name? The answer still hasn't changed. It is always love.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 4

"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: "This is what the LORD says: "'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. – Jeremiah 2:2

Today's Scripture Reading (March 27, 2020): Jeremiah 2

Kurt Vonnegut, in his novel "Mother Night," argued that "we are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." We have all probably had a private discussion with ourselves about who we pretend to be. Maybe it is about the way that we want to be regarded by society at large, or even within our small group of close friends. But Vonnegut has hit on something important. What we pretend to be, the person that we hold ourselves to be in those quiet moments will affect how we will act with the outside world. If, in my dreams, I am a person of vast knowledge, then it will hard for me to admit the times when I am wrong in the real world. If I hold myself to be important in my dreams, I will find it hard to be humble in my real-life interactions. What I pretend to be has real-life implications for the way that I will choose to live my life.

God tells Jeremiah to carry a message to Jerusalem and Israel. It is important to note that Jeremiah uses the name Israel in place of Judah, and he draws from a national memory of Israel when he speaks to Judah. The Kingdom of Israel was defeated by the Assyrians, ceasing to exist, about a century before the ministry of Jeremiah began. But at the time of the original rebellion of Jeroboam, following the reign of Solomon and which broke the nation of Israel into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, many who disagreed with Jeroboam's religious reforms moved south into Judah. The result was that, while we think of Judah as containing only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with some of the Levites including those who were priests and musicians serving in the Temple, Judah likely had representation from all the tribes of Israel. Jeremiah recognizes this fact and returns to it in his prophecies. Judah had become the only heir to the promise of Israel.

And so he tells a story from the memory of the nation of Israel. He harkens back to a time when Israel was young, freshly released from their slavery in Egypt, and wandering a hostile environment where they could neither plant nor reap. Speaking to the heirs of Israel, Jeremiah stresses that then you knew who you were. You recognized that if God did not go before you, then you would cease to exist right there during the desert wanderings. Every time you picked up and moved, the priests went before you carrying the Ark of the Covenant and the furnishings of the Tabernacle, and you followed. Every night you prayed that God would be your protection from whatever the darkness might hold, and every morning you thanked him for the manna that would sustain you throughout the day.

But at some point, you grew up. You ceased to be that nation that depended on God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You began to dream of something else. You wanted to be the empire that drove fear into the hearts of those around you, the way you imagined it was during the days of David. You began to pretend that you were important, outside of the presence of God. And that became a problem because it affected the way you lived in the light of the real day. No longer was God part of the equation. No longer did you feel the need to follow God and his directives, and no longer did you see why you should thank him for the provisions that he has given to you.

It was a national memory and one that Jeremiah wanted the people to remember. Because the reality was that it was during that moment in their lives, during the time that they were young, that they were powerful. It was when they followed the Ark of the Covenant when they moved and thanked God for the manna that sustained them, that Israel was a mighty nation, much stronger than they were even in the days of David. What Israel had pretended to be had weakened them, and that was the real problem against which Isaiah felt that he needed to push.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 3

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. – Jeremiah 1:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 26, 2020): Jeremiah 1

Neil Gaimon, in his book "American Gods," writes that "everything that is, casts a shadow." Everything. I know a lot about shadows. I have spent all of my life casting one, and it seems most of my life I have lived in the shadow of other people and things with which I have been connected. All my life, I have lived in the shadow of the greatest modern Empire on the planet; the United States of America. People often ask me why I am so interested in American politics, to which I usually remind them that I am an American, just not a United Statesian, and that I live in the Shadow of the Empire. And when you are mouse, sleeping next to the elephant, every dream of the elephant carries with it the potential to end or seriously change the life of the mouse. Who the next President might be has a profound effect on life where I live, a cycle of which Western Europe has also learned that they need to be aware.

We think of Jeremiah as the prophet of Jerusalem. In our imaginations, we can see him wandering around the city, calling the people to repentance, and prophesying about the end of the city and the nation, an event that would take place during his lifetime. But the opening words of his written prophecies add a bit of flavor to the story. Jeremiah was not just a prophet; first, he was a priest. And he was the son of the priest Hilkiah and had responsibilities for carrying out priestly duties in Temple at Jerusalem. It seems likely that Jeremiah was the son of the same Hilkiah that held the position of High Priest during the reign of Josiah, and it was near the end of that reign that Jeremiah's ministry as a Prophet would begin. If he was the son of Hilkiah, the High priest, then he was likely that youngest of at least three brothers, two of whom we know from extra-biblical sources. He was the brother of Azaryah, who would hold the position of High Priest after his father's death, and Haran, another prominent priest of the era.

But Jeremiah was not a child of Jerusalem. He was a child of Anathoth, a priestly town in the province of Benjamin. Part of the significance of Anathoth was that from the edge of the town, you could actually see the walls of Jerusalem. Anathoth existed within the shadow cast by Judah's capital city. And while the inhabitants of the town did not inhabit the city, they would have been greatly influenced by whatever was taking place in the capital.

And the sad truth that Jeremiah understood was that, when the day came for destruction of Jerusalem, the great city would not go down alone. His beloved Anathoth would also fall, along with all of the other towns standing in the shadow of Jerusalem. That is the end result for all of us who reside even just "in the shadows."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 2

She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God. – Zephaniah 3:2

Today's Scripture Reading (March 25, 2020): Zephaniah 3

Lord Acton was a historian and moralist who might be best remembered for arguing that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." The opinion was expressed in a letter that he wrote to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887. Acton was impressed by the experiment being conducted in the United States in which Acton saw an attempt to balance of powers so that no one was able to rule absolutely. It was because of this belief that Acton sided with the Confederate movement during the American Civil War. He firmly believed that each state should have the power to confront and correct the federal government as they saw fit. Absolute power was something to be avoided in every circumstance because, even if the cause was right, it could never lead to morality.

The real problem with power is that it minimizes the ability for those who possess it to submit to correction. Great men are not born bad, but, as they grow in power, their errors can no longer be identified and amended. As a result, and as the failures mount, they become "bad men." Our reality is that we see this played out in the political drama that surrounds us. The politically powerful often seem to spend more time consolidating power than they do in governing. And that is a severe problem.

And a problem of which Zephaniah was well aware. As he looked at the city of Jerusalem, he saw a great city on a hill. He argues that the people of the city had learned to trust in themselves and their defenses more than they trusted in God. The lesson learned through Hezekiah's experience with the Assyrian Empire had vanished with unbelievable speed. Only four generations had passed since the Assyrians had laid siege to the city, and the people had already forgotten the lesson learned there.

But magnifying the problem was that Jerusalem would no longer accept correction. The people of the city looked down on everyone else, and because the city refused to listen to criticism, the good city was quickly becoming a bad one. And what was maybe worse was that the people of Jerusalem didn't even realize that it was happening.

Correction is essential for anyone who believes in moral actions. If we are beyond criticism, if we are unwilling to listen to those who humbly offer us correction, then we cannot be ethical. Zephaniah and Lord Acton would seem to agree. Great people are almost always bad people. And morality must start with a humility that acknowledges the errors that we make in life, and strives to correct them.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 1

Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation … Zephaniah 2:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 24, 2020): Zephaniah 2

Poet and writer, Suzy Kassem, makes this comment about division; "When two brothers are busy fighting, an evil man can easily attack and rob their poor mother. Mankind should always stay united, standing shoulder to shoulder so evil can never cheat and divide them." She is right, but the problem in our culture is that it seems to be so easy to divide us. I recently had a conversation with someone doing a survey for my bank. The questions, at times, seemed endless, but there were some questions about how well I would defend, or recommend, my bank to other people. I have to admit that, while I like my bank, I wasn't going to be forceful when it came to which bank my friends might want to use. It just wasn't that important an issue for me. If my friends prefer a Credit Union or one of the other major banking institutions in the area, I am okay with that. I do have friends that constantly berate me for my choice of financial institutions, but I don't want to go down that road. Dividing friends over their choice of a bank doesn't make any sense to me.

In the run-up toward the 2020 election in the United States, there are a couple of critical questions that involve party unity more than policy or any other factor. The Republicans, under President Donald Trump, seem unified. A friend commented that, while he cringes at some things the President does or says, he accepts him as their "guardian of conservatism." As a political conservative, I disagree. I think that the President is changing the definition of conservatism into something that I don't recognize or understand. And so, division is introduced. But the hope of a second term for President Trump would seem to depend on whether the party can gather mainline conservatives, who cringe at what the President says and does, into this understanding that Donald Trump is the guardian of their version of conservatism. Obtaining that result probably has more to do with the threat to conservatism they see coming from the other side, than anything that President Trump does or says.

On the other side political spectrum, the unity question hovers around the question of whether the left-leaning supporters of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will support Joe Biden in November. Only time will reveal the answer, but unless the Democratic Party enthusiastically supports their leader, with an emphasis on enthusiastically, they will not beat Donald Trump in the fall. The Democratic Party needs to place Kassem's comments someplace where they are continually confronted with the idea. Because if a battle continues to rage within the party, they cannot win.

Zephaniah makes a similar argument for Judah. He is not saying that the nation needs to gather together in an assembly, but rather in purpose. Zephaniah's call is to a country that needs to repent of its sin, and then stand shoulder to shoulder, in spirit, so that evil can no longer get a foothold in the community. This vision of national unity was the only way that evil could be defeated. The picture is the same for us. Evil thrives when we are unwilling to put our differences behind us and stand together against whatever it is that is threatening to do us harm.

Zephaniah believed that the nation had been misled. And that now was the time to recover and protect Judah from any further harm. Unity was not an option; it was required if the people had any chance of moving forward in health. The prophet believed that this was important and that the people needed to hear his voice.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3

Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD's wrath." In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. – Zephaniah 1:18

Today's Scripture Reading (March 23, 2020): Zephaniah 1

Anne of Bohemia died on June 7, 1394 at the age of 28. Anne was the wife of King Richard II, and likely provided emotional stability to the throne during the twelve years that the pair reigned together. Richard greatly mourned her death, and made several unwise decisions in the years that followed her demise which resulted in Richard finally being forced to abdicate the throne on September 29, 1399. Initially, his successor Henry IV, Richard's Uncle, had decreed that Richard could live in exile following his abdication, but his supporters proved that that was simply too dangerous. Richard was likely starved to death as a prisoner in Pontefract Castle in 1400, although the exact date of his death is unknown.

History might have been written very differently if Anne had survived to serve alongside her husband and provide a buffer between the King and his court. But Anne died alongside many others in Europe and Asia as a victim of the Black Death. Anne's Death does not coincide with any of the high-level marks for the Plague in Europe, but the Black Death was not completely eradicated for centuries after it made its appearance in Europe in 1346. In fact, it is believed that the Black Death existed somewhere in Europe every year from 1346 until 1671. And it didn't matter who you were; you were at risk of dying of the disease that decimated Europe during the late Middle Ages.

Disasters tend to level the playing field. It doesn't matter who you are, in the face of a storm or a plague we all stand equal footing as we face of disease or other life-threatening events. It is possible money can get you out of having to go and fight a war, or it can remove you from an afflicted area during the outbreak of disease, but if we have to face the disaster, no one has an advantage.

Zephaniah makes this clear as he begins his prophecy. The disaster that he sees coming is not one that can be minimized by wealth, and it is not one that will only affect the lower classes. No, what is happening is going to affect everyone. The rich and poor, those with status and without, the wise and foolish will fall when God comes in his great anger. And nothing can stop the fire of his wrath.

The disaster that Zephaniah saw coming was likely the Babylonian invasion. And he was right. Even Josiah, who is remembered as an excellent king, much like his great-grandfather Hezekiah, could not stop the coming disaster. Josiah may have delayed the anger of God that was falling on Judah, but absolutely nothing could stop it.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 2

She said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me … - 2 Chronicles 34:23

Today's Scripture Reading (March 22, 2020): 2 Chronicles 34

Queen Elizabeth is not referred to as "Your Majesty" by everyone. In public, royal rules prevail, and what you need to remember is that the first time you address the Queen, the only phrase that should come out of your mouth is "Your Majesty." If the conversation continues, then it is quite acceptable to refer to her as "ma'am," but no other name should be used. In private, though, you might hear her referred to by some other names, although definitely not to be echoed by you. Some might be familial names, but the occasional "Lillibet" might be heard from some very close friends. Of all of the nicknames of Queen Elizabeth, "Lillibet" is probably the best known. According to tradition, it was the way that she pronounced "Elizabeth" when she was young. Prince William, when he was young and before he got the hang of saying "Granny," apparently called her "Gary." And I am quite okay with that.

But there is another, even more private name, for Queen Elizabeth. Prince Philip has a name for her that only he is allowed to use in her presence. And that name is "Cabbage." The nickname is adapted from the French expression "mon petit chou' which translates to "my little cabbage." But only Prince Philip has the right to call her by that name. There is not one other person in the world who is allowed to call Queen Elizabeth, their "Cabbage."

So, what if I decided to risk it. Right here on this public forum, I decided that I wanted to send a message to the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. As a Canadian by birth, that means that Elizabeth is my Queen. So, what if I decided to address my reigning Queen as "Cabbage." The reality is that, regardless of the content of the message, my greeting would have made the message wildly inappropriate. Royalists would have the right to condemn me; after all, I was not being considerate of her position as a world leader and the most prominent member of the British Royal Family. I am not Prince Philip. I do not have the right to call Queen Elizabeth "My Cabbage," or even attempt to greet her with the full French expression, "mon petit chou."

It is with this understanding in mind that we need to read the greeting of Huldah to the delegation sent to her by King Josiah. Huldah's address to the men is direct. "Tell the man who sent you …" Later, Huldah will refer to "the man" as the King of Judah later, but in this initial greeting, he is not the King; he is simply a man.

Josiah's delegation probably would have been as offended at Huldah's greeting as a someone close to Queen Elizabeth would have been at my use of the nickname "cabbage" to address "Her Majesty." But there is a purpose in Huldah's greeting. Her use of "the man" in reference to King Josiah emphasizes that in the eyes of God, the King holds no special place. He is just like any other man who comes to him.  

We see differences between people. But in the eyes of God, we are all just the same as King Josiah; we are all sinners, and we are all only men and women requiring his grace and mercy.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 1

Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter. – 2 Kings 22:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 21, 2020): 2 Kings 22

Theologian N.T. Wright argues that everything in the Bible comes in the form of co-operative opposites. The idea is that, from the very creation of the universe, we see essential pairings. Day makes necessary night. Water and dry land are critical in the definition of each other. In the mind of Wright, this is one principle that argues against the idea of gay marriage. God’s design from the very beginning is that co-operative opposites are what is critical in any endeavor. In the concept of marriage, those co-operative opposites must be “one man and one woman,” or what we have come to refer to as the traditional marriage.

I am not convinced the Wright is correct in his argument about marriage, but that does not mean that he is incorrect about the importance of both men and women in the world in which we live. Maybe one problem within contemporary feminism is held within the concept of the equality of the sexes that is presented. I believe strongly in a radical equality between the sexes, but that does not mean that men and women are the same. We aren’t. Men and women, even outside of the concept of marriage, present a necessary co-operative opposite in life. Both are required, and not just for the task of reproduction. Men and women have different ways of approaching a problem. One is not better than the other; they are just different. And the best solution usually results when both are involved in the process.

The Book of Kings offers us another example of co-operative opposites in the story of the prophet Huldah. Huldah is remembered as one of the seven prophetesses of Judaism, standing alongside women like Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, and Esther. But Huldah had a more famous male relative. His name was Jeremiah. And according to tradition, Huldah and Jeremiah were two sides of the same coin. The performed a very similar function in the religious life of the day. We know that Jeremiah, often thought of as “The Weeping Prophet,” taught a message of repentance to Judah during the last days of the nation. Jeremiah begged Judah to return to God. But it seems that his ministry was mostly to the men of the city. Huldah set herself to the same task with the women of the city, pleading that they would return to God before it was too late.

Huldah is also thought to have been an important public educator of her day. It might be that the King’s delegation went to Huldah, instead of Jeremiah, because they believed that she might be more inclined to react with compassion and intercede before God for them, rather than react with the condemnation that they expected from Jeremiah. And their decision to go to Huldah with the new document, likely the Book of Deuteronomy, made her the first person to be given the opportunity to declare that a document was scripture, as she treated the newly found text as the authoritative word of God.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 34

So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. – 2 Chronicles 33:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2020): 2 Chronicles 33

Sometimes, reading history is like trying to understand the message printed on a glass ball that someone has smashed into uncountable fragments on the sidewalk. The problem is that there is never any assurance that you have found all of the pieces. In fact, the gaps left on the glass ball once you have put it back together prove that some of the pieces are either missing or too small to find. So, as you attempt to read the message presented on the ball, you are left with the task of inserting your imagination or making guesses in those places where you found the gaps. And it is quite likely that if you are trying to complete the puzzle with a friend, the two of you will come up with two very different solutions.

History works much the same way. We know that we do not have all of the historical documents that have ever been written. And even the materials that we do have are written with an unstated purpose in mind. For instance, some have argued, without any substantial evidence of which I am aware, that the Biblical book of Kings was purposefully written to present Israel in a bad light and Judah, the descendants of David, in a better, although definitely not perfect, light. Is this possible? Sure. But it is also just someone placing a motive which cannot be supported, on the writings which probably had a purpose, but not the ones we put on them. It gets confusing, and the problem is that we just don’t know.

All of this historical trouble comes to a head with the story of Manasseh’s redemption. It is a story only told in Chronicles. Kings, which was written earlier and likely used as a template by the author of Chronicles, mentions no such redemption of Manasseh. Added to that fact is that the Assyrian annals, which love to boast about the leaders that they defeated and brought into captivity, makes no mention of the imprisonment of Manasseh. And yet the author of Chronicles adds this unique element of the story.

So, the question we are left with is why; why would Kings omit the story of Manasseh’s redemption and why would the Assyrian Annals omit the story of the King’s capture, and yet both stories are included at a later date by the author of Chronicles? And the more profound question is, do we need to conclude that the author of Chronicles is wrong in this assumption.

The answer is that there is no need to cast doubt on the Chronicles account. Going back to our broken ball analogy, we know that we are missing critical pieces to the historical puzzle. There was likely a tradition that the author of Chronicles knew, and the author of Kings had missed, that told the story of Manasseh’s redemption. Or, the redemption of Manasseh was just an unnecessary detail in a book that was intended to present a theological explanation as to why Judah fell to Babylonians in the early years of the 6^th-century B.C.E.

The question about why the story is missing in the Assyrian annals might be an even more straightforward explanation. While the Assyrians may have captured Manasseh, it seems that he was found innocent of any rebellion and restored to his throne, not exactly a story that perpetuates the desired Assyrian motif of an evil empire. So it is a story that is simply not worth the mention.

But regardless of the reason, Chronicles does give us a clear account of Manasseh’s crisis, and his resulting repentance and willingness to go back to the reforms that had been started by his father, Hezekiah.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 22

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. – 2 Kings 21:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 19, 2020): 2 Kings 21

We can do everything right, and yet have it go wrong. I know that is not a message that we really want to hear. But it is the truth that is lived out in our lives every day. People do what is right, and it turns out to be wrong. Not only that, but coming from “good stock” does not necessarily mean that you will be a person of good character. Life just doesn’t work that way, and, in the end, our duty is to do what is right, even if no one is watching, and the outcome turns out to be not that which we had hoped. For a person of character, doing right is a reward all of its own. And, when everything seems to be going wrong, sometimes doing what is right can be really hard.

The story of Manasseh is a perplexing one. Manasseh came from good stock. His father was King Hezekiah, a king that the Bible maintains was one of, if not the, best King that ever ruled over Judah. Hezekiah persisted in doing what was right. Yes, he made mistakes. Often his pride seemed to lead him down roads that he should have never taken, but that meant that he was human, not bad. Manasseh’s mother was Hephzibah, and if the rabbinic literature is correct, she was the daughter of the prophet Isaiah, who was a trusted adviser to Hezekiah. In the 7^th century B.C.E., it is hard to imagine better parents.

And yet, somehow, everything went wrong. Maybe we can blame it on the presence of the Assyrian Empire, who Manasseh felt that he had to please to keep his throne. Maybe his parents were too busy with the affairs of the state to give him the attention that he needed; we really don’t know. But this the Bible says is true; that Hezekiah was one of the best Kings of Judah, and Manasseh was one of the worst.

Manasseh reversed the decisions that his father had made concerning the worship of Israel. Again, maybe it was to keep the Assyrians happy, but he reinstated the worship at the high places that Hezekiah had abolished. He encouraged the worship of Ba’al and Asherah and may have even participated in the worship of Moloch, which involved the sacrifice of small children to this evil god.

He also persecuted the advisors of his father, who had encouraged Hezekiah to abolish the worship of gods other than Yahweh. And maybe at the height of Manasseh’s rebellion, he murdered his grandfather, Isaiah.

It is hard for us to reconcile the good king Hezekiah with the train wreck that was Manasseh. But it is often the way that life works. Hezekiah could not decide for Manasseh to do what is right. That is a decision left for his young son and one that we all have to make. And doing what is right is always hard, and maybe too hard for a young king named Manasseh.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 33

Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! – Nahum 3:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 18, 2020): Nahum 3

My television is full of stories and images of horrors that I, hopefully, I will never know. But it tells me the story of a world that is filled with crimes committed by absolutely average looking people. It shows the story of people who are wandering with us and who want nothing more than to kill us in the most painful way possible. These people cut off fingers, bleed us, and fill us with terror before they mercifully end our lives. These villains make us watch as people that we love are murdered. It is no wonder why so many of us want to buy a handgun and keep it in the bedside table just so that we have some way of fighting back against the darkness of our culture, which is apparently threatening to invade our homes every night. Of course, where I live, keeping a handgun in a drawer next to your bed is also illegal.

Of course, television is actually trying to tell a very different tale. The actual story that it wants to tell is about the police officers, FBI agents, and profilers whose job it is to push back against the darkness in our world. These are the brave men and women who are working to keep us safe from the nightmares that exist just outside of our reach.

I choose to believe that our world is much safer than my television sometimes leads me to think. Oh, we need to be diligent and careful. We need to watch where we go after the sun sets and the night begins, but the stories told on my television screen are the worst of the worst. It is not that something like that can’t happen, but it is unlikely that these stories will ever become a reality for most of us. That does not mean that we don’t need to push back against the night. We do, with every ounce of our being, because the darkness is out there. And even one story that matches the ones that my television tells is too many.

Nahum tours the city of Nineveh and sees all that the city has to offer. But he also sees the foundation on which the city has been built. And the foundation is not hidden; instead, it is proclaimed on the monuments of the city. Nineveh was not only a cruel city, but it was a city that loved to boast about its cruelty. Cruelty had become part of the character of the city, and a defense mechanism that would keep others away. Consider the following phrases taken from the Assyrian monuments publicly displayed to all who dared to look.

“I cut off their heads and formed them into pillars.”

“Bubo, son of Buba, I flayed in the city of Arbela and I spread his skin upon the city wall.”

“Many within the border of my own land I flayed, and spread their skins upon the walls.”

“I cut off the limbs of the officers, the royal officers who had rebelled.”

“3,000 captives I burned with fire.”

“From some I cut off their hands and their fingers, and from others I cut off their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes.”

Nineveh was indeed a city that was filled with blood. And there seemed to be no end of its victims. And Nahum wanted the city to understand that it was going to be judged, not for the sins that were done in private, but for the crimes that they proudly proclaimed on their walls. The Assyrian reign of terror was swiftly coming to an end.

Unfortunately, in the broken world in which we live, the Assyrian reign of terror would only be replaced by other reigns of terror. And those too would have to be judged.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 21

She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale. – Nahum 2:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 17, 2020): Nahum 2

Aesop tells the story of “Four Oxen and a Lion.” Once upon a time there were four oxen who shared a field together. There was also a lion in the vicinity, but he was never able to defeat the four oxen. The problem was that every time the lion came near, the oxen pressed their tails together, showing only their sharp horns to their enemy. It didn’t matter which direction the lion chose for his attack; it was always the horns of the oxen that greeted him. The task of getting to the four oxen was hopeless, and so, eventually, the lion gave up.

Without an enemy always pursuing them, the minds of the oxen drifted off to other things. They began to be critical of each other, and they complained about almost every aspect of their life and relationship together until, one day, they decided that they had had enough. There were lots of pastures available in the area, they didn’t have to share the same one. And so the four oxen decided to separate, each one finding a place where they could all their own and  live without the annoyances of the other.

Up in the hills, the lion caught wind of the new arrangements and decided to wander down into the pasture to see what was happening for himself. Sure enough, the four oxen had split and, now, each one ruled over their own little pasture. Which meant that the lion was now free to attack them one by one. Which he did, and soon it was only the lion left standing. The four oxen, once invincible, had been defeated by their own bickering.

It is funny how often the end appears because of our disagreements. The end of the Assyrian Empire began with a civil war that followed the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 B.C.E. Suddenly, the great war machine that had terrorized the nations was turned inward on itself, as one faction tried to lead the empire over the desires of another. The war was brutal, and one by one those areas who had been defeated by the Assyrians one again began to assert their independence. And without a united front, the Assyrian Empire just didn’t have the power to do anything about it.

Assyria did fight back, but after a few initial wins all of those who had been on the receiving end of Assyria’s military might unified for one final push to the capital city, Nineveh. The capital city fell in 609 B.C.E. and the Assyrian Empire disappeared into the pages of history.

In a strange twist of fate, Nabonidus grabbed power of the Babylonian Empire in 556 B.C.E. Nabonidus was an Assyrian from Harran. But Nabonidus, who would be the last king of the Babylonian Empire, made no effort to rebuild the Assyrian Empire. There really wasn’t a point. Less than 100 years after this prophecy of Nahum, there was nothing left of Nineveh but ruins, and precious few Assyrians even lived in the area.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Nahum 3

A prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. – Nahum 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 16, 2020): Nahum 1

Gretta Thunberg has a message for the world. Our climate is collapsing in on itself. It doesn’t really matter whether or not we are the reason for the collapse, of all of the occupants of the earth, we are the only ones who can understand what is happening, and we are the only ones who have a chance of fixing it. It is a heavy message that weighs on Thunberg’s soul. It is the nightmare that wakes her up at night, and the future that makes her cry when she confronts us with her message. But the environment is Thunberg’s burden; it is a weight on her spirit that ties her down like an anchor does to a boat. Thunberg also believes that she has a responsibility to lift her burden and spread the message with every fiber of her being. And so she shares the word in every way that she knows how.

Is she young? Yes, and with that youth comes the natural tendency toward naiveté. She is an idealist, like everyone else her age. She doesn’t have answers; she needs the rest of us to come up with those. As a young person driven by a single issue, she underestimates the roadblocks that are in the way of solving the problem. She sees only the catastrophic climate problem that is staring us in the face, and not that we have come to rely on the very things that are destroying our environment. But not only that, our financial and defense structures are intimately dependent on the things that are causing our climate challenge. We are like heroin addicts. We know, deep down, that what we are doing is wrong, and yet we still live for our next fix, and can’t see a future without it. All of which can make solving the problem seem almost impossible. Personally, and Thunberg vehemently disagrees, I think that the only possible chance we have is a slow change. We are not going to achieve zero oil consumption overnight (to name just one area that needs drastic change). We need to develop substitutes that will keep our personal, national, and financial worlds functioning while we wean ourselves off of the things that are killing us. A disaster awaits us, that might be just as bad as the rampant climate change that we are trying to stop, if we do this too quickly. But Thunberg is right; we need to act now, even though acting is scary. Don’t hate Thunberg for sharing her burden, it is the only reaction that makes any sense to her, and whether we want to hear it or not, we need to be confronted with her message.

We have no idea who Nahum was or where Elkosh might have been. Elkosh was possibly in Galillee, because Capernaum, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, is actually named after the prophet (Kephar-Nahum means “City of Nahum”), but that is just a guess. From his prophecy, we can date Nahum’s ministry to the height of the Assyrian Empire. Nahum mentions the destruction of Thebes (Nahum 3:8-10) which we know happened in 663 B.C.E. But by 612 B.C.E. Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire have been dismantled, so Nahum probably had his vision somewhere in the fifty-year space between those dates. It seems likely that Nahum’s vision dates closer to the destruction of Thebes, and the destruction of the Egyptian city might have even been the catalyst behind Nahum’s prophecy, or sometime soon after 663 B.C.E.

But it was more than just a vision; it was a heavy message. Nahum calls it a “massa’” (what the NIV translates as prophecy.) A massa’ is a heavy burden that must also be lifted up. The vision Nahum had received had weighed down his soul; it was the source of his nightmares in the middle of the night. But Nahum knew that the only way through the vision was to lift it up and tell others. And so that is what Nahum decides to do. He takes what has weighted him down and records it is a written prophecy that can be shared throughout Judah, lifting his burden up so that others can be aware of what God has said to him. What we do with Nahum’s message (or Thunberg’s) isn’t up to the prophet. That is on us. All prophets can ever do with a massa’ is to share their burden with those who will listen. The rest is up to us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Nahum 2

It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives." – 2 Kings 19:4

Today's Scripture Reading (March 15, 2020): 2 Kings 19

Here is some free parenting advice (and yes, I know that you didn't ask for any). If you are busy doing something and you tell your children to go watch T.V. to get them out of your hair, you cannot later be angry with your children for watching too much television. You were the one who issued the directive. In the same way, if Grandma stops over for a visit and finds the kids glued to the television, and criticizes the kids for watching too much T.V., the appropriate response from the children is that you told them to watch, and therefore, Grandma's issue is not with them, but with you. You were the one who issued the command.

There is no doubt that the appearance of Sennacherib's advance party at Jerusalem scared Hezekiah. He knew, as good as the city might have looked, that Sennacherib was the world power and no one, as of yet, had been successful in standing up against the Assyrian war machine. Hezekiah may have even believed that a number of the decisions that he had made might have been wrong and on him. Hezekiah, at the advice of the Prophet Isaiah, had rejected the entreaties he had received to form alliances with other powers in the area. It was the King's duty to defend the land, and Hezekiah had not done a great job at that task.

But one thing that probably stuck out to Hezekiah was the Assyrian accusation that he had acted against God by removing the high places. The commander that had been sent to Israel had spoken these words. "But if you say to me, "We are depending on the Lord our God"—isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem"?" (2 Kings 18:22). The words were misspoken because of all the actions that Hezekiah may have questioned; this was not one of them. Many of his ancestors had failed because they had not taken care of the high places where false gods could be worshipped, or where Yahweh could have been worshipped outside of the guiding hand of the priests. Even for many good kings, this was the one complaint that God had against them; they had not removed the high places. Removing the high places was not something that Hezekiah felt he had done wrong. God had commanded that the high places be removed, and Hezekiah had removed them. If the Assyrian commander wanted to complain about the removal of the high places, his issue was not with Hezekiah; it was with God.

And so Hezekiah goes to the Temple with this message. The Assyrians have spoken against God, not against me. So pray that God hears and stands up for his commands. Adam Clarke sums up this action of Hezekiah this way.

"The impudent blasphemy of this speech is without parallel. Hezekiah treated it as he ought: it was not properly against him, but against the LORD; therefore he refers the matter to Jehovah himself, who punishes this blasphemy in the most signal manner."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nahum 1

Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. – Psalm 48:12-13

Today's Scripture Reading (March 14, 2020): Psalm 48

A good story always begins with details. You need to know the why and how for the story to make any sense. Whether you are watching a movie or reading a book, the details, in the beginning, are going to set up the plot turn that is going to come later. If a book begins with a story of rival gangs, and then moves to an elderly retired couple living in a home on a quiet cul-de-sac in a major city, you can be sure that the rival gangs are going to appear again somewhere in the story, and it is likely going to be at the climax of the plot that the couple and the gangs will find themselves intertwined. If you are watching a movie and the camera lingers on a briefcase for a moment, the briefcase is essential to the development of the plot, even if no words are spoken about it at the time. Stories are built like that. Take notice of what you see and hear, or read, because details are rarely accidental; they serve the purpose of advancing the plot.

The Psalmist tells his reader to walk around Jerusalem, count the towers, and the fortifications of the city. Consider the citadel, the most fiercely defended portion of the city, and the army that is housed within. When you tell the story of what happens at Jerusalem, be sure to mention all of these things. Jerusalem is a strong city that is well defended. It would only be fools who would raise their swords against such a place. Walk around Zion, and you can see that fact for yourself, and then go and tell the story.

In this case, the description of Jerusalem is actually part of the grand plot twist that comes later in the telling of the story. Because Sennacherib of the Assyrians would raise his sword against the city, he would gather his immense army against the defenses offered at Mount Zion. Sennacherib was a fool. But the end of the story is not about how Jerusalem's great defenses saved the day, and it is not the story of a vulnerable city left to find its way through troubled times. This is a story about a well-defended city that didn't need her defenses because God showed up.

That is the story you need to tell. Go and count the towers and the defenses, and know that what makes Mount Zion unique has nothing to do with its military strength. What makes Zion special is not contained within the height of the mountain; after all, it is really only a hill, and Mount Zaphon is much more majestic than the hill on which Jerusalem is built. What made Zion special was that it was the dwelling place of Yahweh, and Yahweh is more potent than Ba'al and his sister 'Anat and all of the rest of the gods who dwelled on Zaphon in the North. And when Yahweh protects his people, we need to tell that story to the next generation.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 19