Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. – Ezekiel 5:1

Today's Scripture Reading (April 30, 2020): Ezekiel 5

Some years ago, an older woman came up to me at a worship service and declared that she believed it was a sin for a Pastor to color his hair. And then, as abruptly as she started the conversation, she ended it, walking away before I could respond. All I could assume was that she believed that I was coloring my hair, and she was calling me out for my sin. It was a humorous moment, but one that I had to quickly put into my rear-view mirror because the worship service was about to begin.

That was years ago. Today, I am going grey. That is not really a surprise, it happens to most of us, and often at an age a lot younger than I am. My beard is mostly white, as are my sideburns. If you look closely, you can see a little grey in sprinkled throughout the rest of my head. But I have resisted coloring my hair. My solution is to shave off my beard and the offending sideburns. And to keep my hair a little shorter, or maybe a lot shorter, than I did in the days of my youth. I am not sure if the woman who confronted me at the front of the church all those years in the past would still be disappointed in me. After all, I am still hiding my grey, just in a way that is different from what she imagined.

Ezekiel is told to remove all of the hair on his head. Two things are essential to note here. The first is simply that the act itself was a violation of Jewish law. Ezekiel was a priest, born into a priestly family. And the law is clear. "Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies" (Leviticus 21:5). For Ezekiel to shave off all of the hair on his head was an incredible act, and one that probably horrified the people around him. I wonder if there was a little more discussion between God and Ezekiel over this event than he reveals in his writings. Like, "God, are you sure you want me to do this?" Just the act of shaving off the hair on his head would have grabbed the attention of the prophet's audience.

But there is more. Not only was Ezekiel instructed to shave the hair off his head, but he was also to complete the task with a sword. So that you know, this is also unusual. Swords are not made for shaving. The traditional way of shaving off the hair on the head or face was to use a razor, just as that is the preferred method today. A sword was a clumsy instrument to use for such a task as shaving. There was a better way.

But once again, God is trying to illustrate a point. The time was coming when the people would be led out of Jerusalem, defeated and in disgrace. To emphasize the element of disgrace, the soldiers would remove the hair of the exiles. But they would not do so gently. It would not be a barber, trained at the task of removing hair with his razor, that would do the job. It would be soldiers, roughly separating the hair from their captives with their swords. A coming reality that Ezekiel was now demonstrating for the people already living out their lives in exile in Babylon.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 6

Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. – Ezekiel 4:1-2

Today's Scripture Reading (April 29, 2020): Ezekiel 4

I was, and to some extent, still am, the king of imagination. As a child, I loved building roads in my bedroom, or in the dirt and gravel that existed in front of my house, by the street that passed by the place where I lived. In the process, I constructed my own little town that only existed in my imagination. And then I loved to live in that town, driving my toy cars around the town, creating even more roads expanding what had already been built, and sometimes repairing the ones that already existed. In my bedroom, these roads would often be constructed out of scrap paper carefully taped together. I also loved to build models, again, usually, cars (I lived in a car-centric environment). And once I retire, I hope to get back at my model building days, albeit possibly using different materials.

God tells Ezekiel to build a model of the city of Jerusalem. The clay he used was a soft clay block that had been baked in an oven to make it more durable. Such clay blocks were often used for writing purposes. Ezekiel was instructed to draw the City of Jerusalem on the surface of the clay. It is easy to imagine Ezekiel, now living in Babylon, sketching out the city as he remembers it. Curious onlookers would gather to watch what the prophet was drawing on his clay block, maybe pointing out places of interest that they though the prophet should add to his drawing. Ezekiel would have likely drawn the walls to the city first. He probably followed the sketch of the walls by placing the Temple in the appropriate position inside the walls, followed by other essential and official government buildings. Then he would put in the other buildings, as he remembered them, laying out the streets of the city.

But when his plan of Jerusalem was done, Ezekiel still wasn't finished. God told him to lay siege to the city. While Ezekiel relied on his memory for the construction of his plan of the city, sketched out on the clay block, now he needed to use his imagination. Ezekiel had never seen the city under siege in the way that the city would come under assault in just a short time. He had heard stories of what had happened when the Assyrians had laid siege to the city, now more than a century in the past. Ezekiel likely imagined that event and built his model according to the way he imagined that the Assyrian siege might have taken place. And so, his model began to take on a three-dimensional element.

The resulting model was now a powerful image of something that had not yet happened. It likely horrified anyone who bothered to come and take a look. It was a glance into the not-to-distant future. The time was coming when the Babylonians would not be content with just carrying away the best and the brightest into exile in Babylon. The time would come when the rebellion of the people would necessitate the Babylonians to lay siege to the city, and in the process, they would tear down everything that Ezekiel had drawn on his clay tablet.

The truth that God wanted Ezekiel's audience to understand was that the real city was no more permanent than the clay tablet the Ezekiel had held in his hands. And soon, both would be smashed into pieces, and what Ezekiel had drawn would never exist in that form ever again.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 5

But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. – Ezekiel 3:7

Today's Scripture Reading (April 28, 2020): Ezekiel 3

I try to work hard to listen to those who believe differently than I do (although I recognize that sometimes that is doubted by those who voice opposing positions in my presence). The truth is that it takes effort to hear things with which we disagree. And usually, our, and my immediate response is to voice what it is that we believe. But while we might offer a dissenting opinion, with effort, we can continue to consider the arguments presented long after the discussion has finished. But it takes effort. The more likely scenario is that we declare what we believe along with victory that our belief is the right one and that the other is deceived, or maybe unbalanced, or just a loser.

Early on in my career, a mentor encouraged me to talk about what I know rather than what I believe. But often during a discussion, declaring that I know something is akin to declaring victory and stating that I don't care about what it might be that the other believes. And that is a dangerous discussion ender. So, I work hard at stating what I believe and what I think, rather than what I know. The truth is that what I can honestly declare that I know is precious little. I am not sure that I know the answer to many of the hot button issues that seem to be the topics of many Christian conversations. I have my opinions and what I believe and what I think, but on many of those issues, I am very hesitant to declare what I know.

What am I willing to say that I know? Let me quote from the words of Job.

I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.  
And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27)!

This, I know. And pretty much all else is up for discussion. You might even be able to change my mind.

God speaks to Ezekiel and reminds him that it is not because of him that the people refuse to listen. They have already rejected God. They have declared their victory over God and moved in a different direction, and so as long as Ezekiel carries God's message to the people, they will refuse to listen to him. Their minds have been made up, and they are not willing to consider Ezekiel's position or the God that Ezekiel worships. But that is not Ezekiel's fault. It is the fault of the people who have closed their minds to a dissenting opinion.

It is something, I believe, of which we all need to be aware. Rather than declaring our victory and shutting our minds, we need to listen to those with whom we disagree. And then, carefully with the power of the Holy Spirit, consider the argument and come to a place where we are willing to say we believe. But at the same time, always leaving room for God to move within us, just in case we might be wrong about what it is that we declare.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 4

Personal Note: Happy 2^nd Birthday to my grandson, James. I am sure, being my grandson, that he is already reading my blog.                                                               

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. – Ezekiel 2:9-10

Today's Scripture Reading (April 27, 2020): Ezekiel 2

Vera Nazarian, in "The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration," writes, "Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey. At other times, it is allowing another to take yours." Often, the beginning of a journey is straightforward. It has been suggested the genius and the success of the Beatles can be linked to the fact that they understood this simple step. We are not looking for momentary hot sex, or monetary success or even the latest toy for our collection. Our needs are much simpler than that. At the end of the day, all we need is someone with whom we can hold hands. The Beatles' first single was "I Want to Hold Your Hand." And whether they understood it or not, they summed up our most basic need with the lyrics of the song. And if we are going to begin a journey together, this is the way that it starts.

Ezekiel describes seeing a hand reaching out to him in his vision. He doesn't seem to see anything else. It is just a hand. Maybe it was the hand of one of the cherubim. Perhaps it was the hand of God. Christians love to assert that maybe this is the hand of Jesus, long before they would become permanently scarred by the nail prints of Easter Weekend.

Ezekiel doesn't know. It is just a hand. And maybe an invitation to join the owner of the hand on a journey. And in the hand was a scroll. The scroll was unrolled, and there was writing on both sides of the parchment, which was unusual. Common practice indicated that only one side of the writing surface should contain the message being transmitted, but this message was so full that it needed both sides of the parchment to hold it.

The message of the scroll was one of woe, matching the prophecies of the day presented by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This was a time of trial and trouble. And there seemed to be no way of escape from the events that had started during Ezekiel's lifetime. Maybe the parchment contained the tears of God as he led his people on a journey that he wished they did not have to take. Salvation was coming, but it would be reserved for the next generation, and not the ones to whom Ezekiel ministered on the banks of Kebar River.

Of course, an even greater message was on its way. One that would be announced, not by cherubim and a scroll that was given to the priest Ezekiel, filled with lamentation and mourning. This greater message would be shared by an angel to a group of shepherds in the Judean countryside almost six centuries later. "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:10-12). The days of mourning would finally be over, as Jesus became the sacrifice that would pay for our sins and destroy the need for our spiritual exile ever to have to take place again. A journey that begins when we stop our striving and reach out and take the hand offered to us by God.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 3

… and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. – Ezekiel 1:5-6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 26, 2020): Ezekiel 1

Imagining beasts that incorporate both the attributes of humans with those of many animals has been an ancient practice of various human cultures. Some have had an incredible impact, even on our contemporary cultural imaginations. Most of us have seen pictures of a minotaur, which is part bull and part man, or a centaur, the horse-man of Greek legends. Stories persist in our fantasy fiction of mermaids with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a fish. Fans of Harry Potter remember the mandrakes that inhabit those stories, creatures that are made up of a blend of plant and human characteristics.

Or maybe it is the Great Sphinx of Egypt that we remember, with the head of a human but the body and haunches of a lion. But other images of a sphinx did not just stop at those two characteristics but also included the wings of an eagle and the tail of a snake. The Great Sphinx is still available for us to visit today at Giza, but we need to remember that the sphinx is more than just a monument built long ago by an ancient civilization. The sphinx is also the villain of old tales who loved to challenge those he met with a question, and then devours them if they get the answer to the question wrong. The sphinx is featured prominently in the story Oedipus, which was developed into a tragedy by Sophocles.

What does it all mean? We aren’t sure why humans seem to have an attraction to these beasts of centuries past. Some argue that it is merely one way of describing the animal lusts that lurk inside of every member of the human race. Others disagree that there is anything behind the images; they are just convenient ways of inventing scary stories.

Ezekiel has long been accused of picking up on these cultural stories during his time in Babylon and incorporating them into his visions and writing. But there is actually no basis for the accusation. Ezekiel himself identifies the beasts that he describes as cherubim or angels of God. And while the description of these angels might be a little more fantastical than other descriptions of cherubim in the Bible, cherubim were not unknown creatures to the Judean people.

The first cherubim mentioned in the Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible, appear in the Garden of Eden. It is cherubim that God places at the entrance to the Garden after the eviction of Adam and Eve. “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). And it was cherubim that God instructs should be placed on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant.

And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites (Exodus 25:18-22).

Ezekiel was a priest and would have been well acquainted with the historical connection between cherubim and his people. Therefore, it is not surprising that they make it into his visions.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 2

                                                                                                                                        

Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king. – 2 Kings 24:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 25, 2020): 2 Kings 24

All of us carry around baggage obtained through our growing up years. And we all react to that baggage very differently. For some, that baggage is devastating. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that we had terrible upbringings. Two siblings can react to the same home and the same situations in very different ways. As parents, all that we can do is our best and lift our children daily in prayer.

Three of the sons of Josiah would reign as King over the land of Judah. But they did not ascend to the throne in order according to their ages. Eliakim, who reigned as Jehoiakim, was the oldest. Yet, Eliakim was passed over following the death of his father, in favor of his younger brother, Jehoahaz. The reasons for this vary. Some believe that Jehoahaz was simply the more popular of the brothers among the leaders in Judah. Others point out that Eliakim or Jehoiakim was simply unfit to lead the nation and that his father and the leaders of Judah understood that fact when they made Jehoahaz king in 609 B.C.E.

Jehoiakim was an angry man. But when Egypt took his younger brother, the now King of Judah, Jehoahaz, into captivity only three months into his reign, the nation was forced to turn to the violent Eliakim as their king. There was another brother, but Zedekiah was still just a young boy. He would ascend to the throne and serve as the last king of Judah after the death of Jehoiakim and the removal of Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, by the Babylonians.

After he became king, Jehoiakim wasted little time displaying that he was not his father’s son. He overturned all of the reforms of his father, Josiah. Jehoiakim was a godless man who feared little, other than the Babylonians, and his respect for them was likely all show. He ruled Judah as a tyrant. He murdered everyone he didn’t like, and Jerusalem was filled with the blood of the innocents (2 Kings 24:4). He maintained incestuous relationships with his mother and other women in the family. He seemed to regularly burn scrolls of scripture that he disagreed with or that he thought might hold him in an unflattering light. He even tried to reverse his Jewishness by restoring the foreskin stolen from him by his circumcision as a child.

And then, Jehoiakim died. That he died in 598 B.C.E. is really the only thing that we can say for sure. The book of Kings simply says that he rested with his ancestors. But the death of Jehoiakim was not likely that peaceful. And the Bible is not in complete agreement as to how the king died. Some argue Jehoiakim died in Jerusalem while the Sanhedrin was deliberating about whether or not the King should be turned over to the Babylonians. After his death, the leaders of Jerusalem unceremoniously threw his body over the wall to the waiting Babylonians to do as they saw fit with the former King of Judah.  

Another version of the death of Jehoiakim argues that he died being let down over the wall to the waiting Babylonians, maybe at the hands of the Babylonians themselves. Probably the most gruesome of the possible fates of Jehoiakim is that he was handed over to the Babylonians, where he was paraded in dishonor throughout the nation. When the tour had finished, the King was executed, and his body was either fed piece by piece to the dogs, or it was placed inside of a dead donkey and left for the animals to devour.

At some point, it seems that someone recovered the body of the King and brought it back to Jerusalem. But even there, the author of Kings is wrong, because Jehoiakim found no rest. According to the ancient rabbinic writing, the Aggadah, Jehoiakim is still undergoing punishment for the great sin that he visited on Jerusalem and Judah during his life.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 1

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. – Daniel 2:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 24, 2020): Daniel 2

Country-folk singer John Prine passed away on April 7, 2020, one of the many victims of the COVID-19 Pandemic. One of the eulogies of Prine, a description frequently shared after the singer’s death, was that the singer-songwriter was the same on the stage as he was off of it. Living in a world where many of our cultural heroes often become tarnished by their actions in private, John Prine was a gentleman on the stage, and he continued to act like one when the cameras were off, and the singer was alone with his friends. Our hope, my hope, is that that is the way we will be remembered after we leave this mortal plane. We want to be seen as authentic people who were the same when the harsh light of the public eye was shining on us, as we are in our more the private moments when no one is watching.

We have an insatiable appetite for knowing what happens behind closed doors. It is not enough to understand what the President is like when he is on a platform or performing his duties in front of an audience. Our curiosity demands to know what the President might be like when he steps away from the cameras. And he is not the only one. We want to know how royalty acts when they are out of the public eye, or how our movie stars act when the cameras are off. And we often make judgments about people based on these things that we find out take place when no one is looking. We are scandalized by famous people when they just don’t seem to understand life or walk through their lives like they are owed something, and we are encouraged by people who seem to act just like us when the cameras are shut off. The number of “Tell All” books that can be found in any bookstore actually tells the story of our curiosity.

One of the values of Daniel is that it gives us a different view, and a more personal perspective, of Nebuchadnezzar. To the world, the leader of the Babylonian Empire was a figure that caused young and old to experience nightmares just at the thought that he might be heading their way. He was the ultimate evil genius, bent on harming whoever it might be that stood in his way.

But, and especially in the early chapters of the book, Daniel gives a more personal view of the King. We learn that King Nebuchadnezzar is a real man with his own fears and insecurities. He is not just a man who induces nightmares in others, but a man who is kept from sleep by dreams that come to him unwanted in the night. He is a man who has advisors, and who listens to them. The early chapters of Daniel are the prophet’s “Tell All” story about a king that most of the world knew only from his public image as an empire builder, but who, behind closed doors, was very different. The world looked at Nebuchadnezzar and saw a villain; Daniel tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar, the hero, a man not all that different from any of the rest of us.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 24

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. – Daniel 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 23, 2020): Daniel 1

I have in my library a book that actually belongs to my mother. She received it, according to the typed inscription inside the front cover, as a prize for a “Proficiency Award” in 1956. The book is written by the early 19^th-century poet named Charles Lamb with the assistance of his sister Mary. The title of the book is “Tales from Shakespeare,” and it contains a retelling of the Shakespearean tales, including Hamlet, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet, in a more simplified prose form. The purpose of the book was likely to make the Shakespearean tales more accessible to younger readers. Still, it is a treasure for any who desire to experience the stories and imagination of William Shakespeare but are tripped up by the poetic language. Charles Lamb retells the stories, but there can be no doubt that they originated from the genius of William Shakespeare.

I think of this little book every time I get into an argument about dating the books of the Bible. We often seem to get tripped up by the language used by the biblical writers. Maybe we forget or minimize the fact that we do not possess any of the autographs for the biblical books, manuscripts written by the original authors. What we have are copies of the books, painfully recreated by other unknown scholars writing in a period of history sometimes after the original documents had been written. Sometimes those copies are precise recreations of what was penned by the original authors. But sometimes, no doubt, editorial corrections creep in that reveal the later understanding of the one doing the copying. (Although I don’t believe any are as massively rewritten as Charles Lamb’s “Tales from Shakespeare.”)

Daniel is no exception. The opening words of Daniel’s prophecy, and the stories told in the first few chapters of the book, anchor the writing of the book at a particular point in time. The date was 605 B.C.E. Aesop, the fabulist, was still a teenager living in Greece, as was Daniel, living in Jerusalem. It was the year that Babylon made its first of three visits to Jerusalem, and the year that the first of the exiles were taken back to Babylon, including Daniel.

But often, the date of the writing of Daniel is questioned. It is argued that the language of the book finds itself more at home in the second century B.C.E than it does late in the seventh century B.C.E. But that could be attributable to changes made by copyists, rather than evidence of a late authorship for the book.

I believe that Daniel was written in the sixth century B.C.E. by the prophet, who was taken from his home in 605 B.C.E. My belief is based on three factors. The first is that Jesus confirms that Daniel was the author of the book that bears his name (Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14). The second, and this is sometimes used by those who believe that an unknown second-century author wrote Daniel, is that Daniel mentions this incursion into Jerusalem, even though the author of Kings makes no mention of a siege of Jerusalem in 605 B.C.E. But the Babylonian historian Berossus agrees that there were three attacks of the city of Jerusalem, (which we would date to 605, 597, and 587 B.C.E.). And a siege of Jerusalem in 605 B.C.E. makes sense as the Babylonians chased the Egyptians south after their clash in Northern Syria, which took place the same year. But third, Daniel offers us an alternate view of Nebuchadnezzar II, one that is not written anywhere else, and one that sounds like it comes from someone in a close relationship with the Babylonian king, such as Daniel has in the story. Maybe there are some linguistic problems, but it seems more likely that any of those problems belong to later copyists. The heart of the story belongs to a very real sixth-century prophet names Daniel.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Daniel 2

This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail … - Jeremiah 47:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 22, 2020): Jeremiah 47

I love the beach. When I go on vacation, I am not someone who likes to travel to all the tourist attractions that an area might offer. If I get what I want, my desire is always to go and sit someplace by a body of water with a good book, and just stay there reading and looking out over the surface of the water. I have friends who dream of a place in the mountains where they can spend their days, but my dream home would overlook a lake or maybe an ocean, and offer many peaceful opportunities just to sit and relax watching the calming waves.

But biblically, the image of water is not what I imagine it to be in my dreams. In the Bible, the idea of water always involves chaos. The reason for this is that water was, and still is, inherently unpredictable. Men who ventured out onto the sea knew that their survival often meant staying relatively close to the shoreline. No one ventured out to cross the Atlantic Ocean because the water was unpredictable. And sometimes even standing on the shore was a risky proposition, because conditions on the water could change dramatically in a short period, impacting what had previously been dry land.

I have never had to live through a tsunami, but I can imagine the confusion that would reign as the waters suddenly rise, and the people are sent scrambling for higher ground. I can’t believe that it would be a silent process. I can hear the screams of the people, even from those who realize that no one can come to their assistance and that high ground is simply too far away.

It is this image of a sudden tsunami that Jeremiah uses to describe what is about to happen in the north. We can date this vision to 609 B.C.E. or maybe slightly earlier. The situation is that Egypt is on its way to attempt to prop up the failing Assyrian Empire against the emerging Babylonians. Necho II believes that he can support the Assyrians, maintaining a balance of power in the area, as well as furthering the security of his own nation. Jeremiah’s response is that he is deluded in what he is trying to do. The Babylonians are coming like a tsunami, and they will overwhelm all that tries to stand in their way. King Necho II of Egypt will have as much success attempting to stop the Babylonians as he would have of standing on the shore at the beginning of a tsunami and trying to stop the waves. The people will cry out, and if he continues on his current path, his people will cry out, but there will be no one who can hear their cries or do anything to change their situation. No one can stop the coming waves, and it is only a fool that would even try.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Daniel 1

Concerning Egypt: This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah … - Jeremiah 46:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 21, 2020): Jeremiah 46

In 610 B.C.E, Psamtik I, Pharaoh over all of the lands of Egypt, died. His death was likely traumatic for the Egyptians. Psamtik had reigned over Egypt for 54 years, and he had reunited the Egyptian territories under his rule. Following his death, his son, Necho II, picked up where his father had left off. Specifically, it seems that with a united Egypt behind him, Necho turned his attention to the threats that existed outside of the region. Egypt had suffered during the reign of the Assyrians, and it seems likely that Necho II wanted to make sure that that never happened again. By this time, the Assyrian Empire was in severe decline, but Necho also saw that another Empire was on the rise; the Babylonians. And so Necho looked at his world and immediately decided that if Egypt was to remain secure, he needed to take control of and secure Carchemish. This city existed on the border of what is now Turkey and Syria.

It was on his way to Carchemish in 609 B.C.E. that Necho II met with King Josiah. Necho didn’t want a conflict with the Judean King, but Judah stood in his pathway as he tried to get to Carchemish. And Josiah died in battle trying to stop Necho from traveling through the Judean countryside on their way to Carchemish. It seems that Necho paused at this moment in history. Necho returned to Egypt, and a couple of months later, he began his trek north once again and discovered that the Judeans had placed the popular Shallum, who reigned under the name Jehoahaz, on the throne of the country. Shallum was made king in spite of the fact that he was two years younger than his brother Eliakim; both were the sons of Josiah. For whatever reason, Necho seemed to be displeased with the choice, and he immediately deposed Jehoahaz, who had reigned for only three months, in favor of his older brother. Eliakim took the throne of Judah under the name of Jehoiakim, and it seems that Necho continued his journey to Carchemish, which was still under the control of the declining Assyrian Empire.

And this was the situation into which Jeremiah decides to wade. As he looks at the Egyptian army gathered at Carchemish, he announces that everything that the Egyptians have gone through, the death of Josiah and the deposing of Jehoahaz, is all for naught. Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon will defeat them. And that defeat would happen four years after Necho had killed Josiah and deposed and taken captive Jehoahaz. In 605 B.C.E., Babylon’s attack at Carchemish seemed to surprise the Egyptian army and chased them south, eventually ending up at Jerusalem.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 47

Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? – Jeremiah 20:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 20, 2020): Jeremiah 20

“Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. And right is right, even if you are the only one doing it” (Unknown). No doubt doing the right thing is hard. Doing what is right has never been decided by public opinion. So, often it seems that most people simply choose an easier path, and it is usually not the right one. And we have all experienced moments in our lives when we wonder if doing what is right really makes a difference. And the temptation in these moments is just to give up and follow the actions of the majority; in these moments, we find it comfortable to take the easy path. After all, what difference does it really make?

And during hard times, we sometimes wish that we had never been born, or maybe that we had been born during a different era in our history. The pressure becomes too much. We become convinced that there is no way that what we do can in any way shape the direction of human history. And we reminisce about what it used to be like, nostalgically dreaming of a past that likely never existed.

Jeremiah finds himself in this position. He has tried to do what is right. And yet he is also being persecuted for his actions. It all seems to be too much for one person to handle. Maybe he lamented to himself, asking why he couldn’t have lived during the days of Isaiah when things were much simpler (and yet, I doubt that Isaiah would have agreed with that sentiment.) It all seems too much for just one man.

Jeremiah’s comment here maybe reminds us of Elijah’s wish following his devasting victory on Mount Carmel. At that moment, Elijah’s prayer was that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4b). And maybe it is good for us to remember that this is more of a common reaction to life than we sometimes want to believe.

But, while Jeremiah questions why he was born, and wonders if maybe all of the anguish that he was suffering would simply go away if he had never existed, God makes a different evaluation of the moment. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Philip Ryken rightly comments that “Jeremiah traced his troubles back to the womb. But he did not go back far enough! God could trace his promises back before the womb.”

And sometimes, we need to be reminded that we are not all that different. God has set us in place for such a time as this. The things we see are the things God has hoped we would be able to confront, and he has placed inside of all of us the ability to do what is right at this moment, even in the face of those who oppose us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 46

In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. – Jeremiah 19:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 19, 2020): Jeremiah 19

Some unknown poet once remarked that “God will wreck your plans when He sees that your plans are about to wreck you.” I have had push back from people who insisted that this is not the way God works. He comes to save you and not wreck you. Yet, I am pretty sure that most of us realize what it is like to be wrecked by God.

For me, the wrecking comes in waves. Even the current COVID-19 pandemic has an element of this wrecking of God. No, I do not believe that that the pandemic has anything to do with God’s vengeance on us for our disobedience. But if we had been obedient, maybe it would be a little easier for us right now.

For instance, if we had ruled over our money instead of letting it rule over us, maybe this time of isolation wouldn’t have proven so devastating to us. Godly financial advisors have long been instructing us that we should have a cash reserve of three to six months of income set aside for emergencies. Could you imagine what life might have been like during this economic shutdown if we and our governments had followed their advice? It would still have been a painful time to live through, but not near the level of panic that we see right now. And if this time brings correction, then maybe it will have a positive effect on our lives.

God is about to wreck the plans Judah and Jerusalem. The truth is that they had resisted bringing God’s light into the world. They had made plans that not only did not include God, but that had brought them to the brink of disaster. And at this moment, God had a choice. He could hold back the tides of the calamity once more, something that he had done many times before, or he could let Judah and Jerusalem fall, in the hope that that the wrecking of the nation would pave the way for a better Judah and a healthier Jerusalem. There was no doubt that what was coming was going to be a shock to the people. But sometimes, in our arrogance, we refuse to learn without the trauma.

And later, after the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of the best and the brightest of the nation, Jeremiah would write a letter to those living in exile in Babylon which would contain these words; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Our plans often lead us toward disaster, but God’s plan leads us toward hope. And what more could we want?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 20

He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.” – Jeremiah 18:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 18, 2020): Jeremiah 18

Charles Darwin, in his Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, reveals his struggle with the omnipotence of God when he writes:

“...But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice... I feel most deeply that the whole subject is too profound for the human intellect. A dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton. Let each man hope and believe what he can.”

As much as I might want to disagree with the father of the Theory of Evolution, I find that I stand in agreement with him. I own, using Darwin’s phrase, that I struggle with the idea of the omnipotence of God in light of the world in which I live out my days. I see the cruelty and selfishness of the human race and wonder how a loving God could ever have created this mess of a world in which we find ourselves.

The natural pushback is that it is not God who created this mess, but us. But that implies a limitation of God, even if it is self-imposed. We may call him El-Shaddai or God Almighty, and there is no doubt that the Creator of this world is much more potent than any of us, but his power can’t be without limit, or this world would look much different.

It is this question that Jeremiah ponders as he watches the potter work with the clay. At first, it is something marred and ugly that emerges from the process. But the potter is undeterred and simply destroys what he has first created to make something better. God uses this image of the potter and the clay to explain what is about to happen to Israel. What has been produced is marred, and God is willing to destroy that which exists to shape something better.   

But there is a very crucial difference between the clay and Israel, or between the clay and us. And that difference lies in the reality that the clay cannot say “no.” It is not that God has not tried to shape Israel. He sent his prophets and priests to urge the nation toward a better way. But the people always said no. And this not just a condemnation of them, but also of us. We frequently say no to the will and direction of God. We make excuses or pretend that we didn’t know what to do when the truth is that we simply wanted to do something different. And so, we created a mess, and God is powerless to stop us.

Yet, he still beckons and calls to us toward a better way, if we are only willing to hear. Of course, Darwin is also correct in saying that this subject matter might be too profound for human intelligence, and a dog might as well try to understand the mind of Newton. And so the struggle continues.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 19

This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. – Jeremiah 17:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 17, 2020): Jeremiah 17

The earth is ours and what we do with it affects all of us. One of the enduring lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the virus doesn’t understand the nature of borders, or economic or cultural differences, or religions. I still see derogatory comments on my social media accounts concerning the Chinese virus and Chinese people. And part of what is offensive to me is that these posts are being used to place blame on one section of our society, or the traditional practices of a section of our community that we probably don’t understand. And it is nothing new; racism seems to be somehow ingrained into our being. But COVID-19 is not a Chinese problem. It may have originated in China, but that is an accident of nature.  The Chinese people that you know are not to blame for what is happening. It is our problem. And only we, together, everyone, can solve the problem. Because COVID-19 does not understand the concept of race.

God indicates to Jeremiah that his message is an “everyone” message. God tells him specifically to go to the Gate of the People, the gate through which the kings and people of affluence would come and go from the city to spread the message. But God tells him to go to this gate with the instructions that he is being given.

But it is not just the Gate of the People where Jeremiah is told to go. It is almost as if God is saying, “I know, Jeremiah, that you are taking the message to all of the other gates, but don’t forget this gate. Because this message is for everyone.”

The message, in this case, that Jeremiah was supposed to be sharing concerned the observance of the Sabbath. Maybe, in the panic that had enveloped the city as rumors about the approaching Babylonian Army began to circulate, people and businesses began to try to make the most of every moment, including on the Sabbath.

Jeremiah was sent to all the gates, and all the people, from the King to the most unfortunate slave, with the message that the Sabbath still belonged to God. The solution to the coming disaster was not going to be one that preparation was going to allow them to overcome. God remained the only solution to the problem that was making its way to the walls of Jerusalem.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 18

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” – Jeremiah 16:1-2

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 16, 2020): Jeremiah 16

Sheldon Vanauken, in his book “Severe Mercy,” which recounts his friendship with C. S. Lewis, argues that “Signs must be read with caution. The history of Christendom is replete with instances of people who misread the signs.” I couldn’t agree more. The post-exilic author of Chronicles praised the people of the tribe of Issachar, because they understood the times. Sometimes, I wish we had more people like those of Issachar in our society today, because we are missing the times. I have argued that this is especially true when it comes to our arguments around “end times.” The truth that we refuse to see is that we don’t know when this epoch will end, and the Bible does not give us the answer to that question. No matter how hard we study the Bible, or what secrets someone has told us will reveal what is to come, the truth is that we don’t know and we are not supposed to know. Here is what the Bible clearly says about the end; it will come, you don’t know when (even Jesus doesn’t know when [Matthew 24:36], so why would we think we know more than him?), so live every day as if this is the last day. Don’t worry about the signs you think you see.

But maybe even more importantly, our preoccupation with the end is raising a barrier between us and the culture in which we live, and these are people who desperately need to hear the message of Jesus. These people are much more critical than when we think that this world will end. So, put away your “the end is near” signs, and decide to love them as Jesus loves them.

God comes to Hosea and tells him to marry a promiscuous woman so that his life could be lived as an illustration to the people of Judah. But to Jeremiah, he commands the prophet to stay single. And this is a sign that sometimes we miss, but that the people of Jerusalem, hopefully, understood in the early days of the sixth-century B.C.E. It was the duty of every man to marry and fulfill the command of God to “be fruitful and increase in number” (Genesis 1:28). “Marriage was obligatory among the Jews, and the prohibition of it to Jeremiah was a sign that the impending calamity was so great as to override all ordinary duties” (Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes). God’s command that a prophet should not marry is very unusual, and it should have claimed the attention of everyone who came in contact with him.

What was coming was serious. The current situation in Jerusalem was not business as usual. And the coming disaster was something of which all the people needed to be aware; they needed to understand the sign of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was sacrificing something for which he had planned most of his life because the situation had become that desperate. Yet, Jeremiah’s message was not just about what was coming, but also about what the people could do today to avoid the calamity that was already on its way.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 17

Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! – Jeremiah 15:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 15, 2020): Jeremiah 15

In the M*A*S*H episode, “Dear Sis,” Father Mulcahy is dealing with a massive inferiority complex. He just doesn’t seem to be doing enough. Everybody is busy, the doctors are saving lives, but no one shows up to the services that he holds on Sunday, and it just seems that the Padre is the fifth wheel of the unit. It is not that Mulcahy spends his time alone in his tent. He works hard in the Operating Room, fills in wherever he can, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough. It is the overwhelmingly trivial that seems to end up on his plate, including a blessing for a cow that is giving birth to a calf that insists on coming out backward.

Maybe it is the curse of all spiritual leaders. We know what we do is essential, but sometimes it never seems to be enough. The question that we all struggle with is simply, “are we doing enough to make a difference?” Are we good enough? It is a question that I try hard not to deal with, or else I would never write another word, and never speak another phrase. But we have the overwhelming sense that as hard as we might try to teach spiritual concepts, in the end, people are going to do and believe what they want to do and believe.

Recently, I noted in a service that Jesus comments about wars and rumors of war, earthquakes, and even the chaos brought on by the novel coronavirus seems to be more about the nature of life then they are about the end times if we care to read the words in context. Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” (Matthew 24:6). The wars and rumors of wars are not a signal of the end, so, according to Jesus, don’t be alarmed. It is just the way that this life is. Jesus gets more specific later in the passage. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Don’t look for wars as the sign that the world is coming to an end. Look at the church. When the bride of Christ stands proudly declaring a message of love and forgiveness to all who will come, that will be a sign that the end is drawing near. Or maybe when we begin to work hard at this Christian message, so hard that we forget about our end-times teachings and theories, that is when the end will come. It was less than a week later, one of my parishioners published a note on Facebook that maybe the novel coronavirus was a sign of the end of the world. Sometimes it seems like spiritual leaders really don’t make a difference.

Jeremiah must have felt that he was fighting a losing battle. Nothing that he did seemed to make a difference; instead, the people just continued on doing whatever it was that they wanted to do. And God reaches down to his servant and tells him to lift up his head. Even if he were Moses or Samuel, the people would still do what they wanted to do. The lack was not his. And that is a message that every leader needs to hear. We give our best, but that is all that we can provide. And we have to be content with what it is that we can do, through God’s help.

At the end of “Dear Sis,” the cast of the 4077 M*A*S*H gather to give their favorite priest his Christmas present. They sing “Dona Nobis Pacem;” “Give Us Peace.” And Father Mulcahy closes the episode with these words; “You know, sis, it doesn’t matter whether you feel useful or not when you are moving from one disaster to another. The trick, I guess, is to just keep moving.”

It is my prayer for all of us in the midst of our disaster; God, give us peace and help us to just keep moving.”   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 16