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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 28

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 27

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 26

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3

This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed." – Lamentations 1:16

Today's Scripture Reading (September 19, 2026): Lamentations 1

Victoria Soto was a teacher who died in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. As we pieced together the events of that day in the aftermath of the tragedy, Victoria quickly emerged as one of that day's heroes. As the shooter entered the school, the 27-year-old first tried to hide the children under her care, but when that didn't work, she died doing her best to protect them. For her actions on that day, she was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal. President Obama, speaking at a memorial service a few days after the tragedy, spoke of the emotional loss that the nation had suffered at Sandy Hook. He said that "mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts ... These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."

That last phrase is likely the most important thing President Obama said: we must change. There is probably no better thermometer of the human condition than watching how we treat our children. The events at Sandy Hook and other school shootings are tragic: they should never have happened. Yet another tragedy, which is far more widespread, seems to be going unnoticed. It is a crime against the world's children. They are being neglected, and they are slowly dying in numbers greater than we can imagine. Those lucky enough to survive are damaged for life, all because of the neglect that we have willingly inflicted on them. We are willing partners in the destruction of the children; the judgment stands against us. These treasures, which should be protected, are being discarded. It seems that no one is there to stand up and protect them. Something must change if we, as a race, are going to survive.

Jeremiah doesn't choose this imagery by accident as he looks at the destruction of Jerusalem. Speaking of the death of his nation, he likens it to the death of children. Helpless, the people have died, the city has died, and the nation has died. The very people who should have been there to protect the children, the Victoria Sotos of Jeremiah's society, were absent. They failed at their responsibility. However, they were not unable to save the children; they were unwilling to make the required adjustment.

This is why Jeremiah says he weeps. It should not have ended this way. It did not have to end this way. A change was necessary, but no one was willing to make it. As a result, that lack of change brought an unspeakable tragedy. Jeremiah was sure that God's judgment would continue for a while. It was a judgment that they deserved, because they had failed to protect the children.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 2

 

We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens. – Jeremiah 51:9

Today's Scripture Reading (September 18, 2026): Jeremiah 51

After the First World War, nations looked for a way to stop such an occurrence from ever happening again. Their solution was to form an international body that would strive for world peace, a group of nations committed to doing whatever was necessary to make sure that a World War never took hold of the earth ever again. American President Woodrow Wilson worked hard to create this group of countries, and on January 16, 1920, the League of Nations was born: an association of nations committed to peace.

Ironically, despite the work of Woodrow Wilson, the League of Nations held its first meeting, and every other meeting throughout its 27-year existence, without the United States. In the end, the rising Superpower objected to Covenant 10 of the charter of the League specifying that the nations of the League would come to the defense of any other member that was attacked by another nation. The concept was that by providing a united front, the nations of the League would make the probability of attack, and a Second World War, less likely. However, without the United States, and with the parade of nations that entered and left the League throughout its existence, the League failed in its biggest objective: preventing World War II. The unanswerable question historians have been left with is this: would adding the United States to the League have been enough to keep nations in the League and stop the disaster Adolf Hitler brought to Europe and the world? As Benito Mussolini once remarked, "the League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out." To heal the world, it needed to lead the world's strongest powers to act together as one in support of peace. From a contemporary perspective, it is interesting that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Article 5 mirrors Covenant 10 of the League of Nations. The United States is a signatory of NATO, and Article 5 has been invoked once since the inception of NATO in 1949, and that was in defense of the United States. Yet, in 2026, President Trump continued to question whether NATO countries would defend the United States if it were attacked. Mr. President, they already have. However, Article 5 does not require Nato signatories to follow you into the stupid wars you start. If the United States is attacked, like you were in 2001, the NATO nations will support you.

Jeremiah remarks that Babylon was beyond healing. The coming war was unavoidable. While Judah's faith in her God would eventually heal Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar would experiment with the faith of Judah, Babylon would never fully accept the God of the Jews. In the end, God was the only hope of either Judah or Babylon. Without God, the looming crisis was inevitable. Babylon's fate was absolute. In the end, the nations would rebel, and Babylon would fall as swiftly as it had risen. As a result, peace would be as impossible for Babylon as it was for the world in 1939.

Reality is that future healing and peace always require our total commitment. Unless we allow God into our lives and our plans, healing and peace will never be available. Nebuchadnezzar's faith could have led Babylon into a very different future. Without that faith, Babylon's fall was unavoidable, and the possibility of her healing was a distant memory.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 1

So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. – Jeremiah 50:39

Today's Scripture Reading (September 17, 2026): Jeremiah 50

The city of Babylon was planted sometime before 2300 B.C.E., because we know the city (or town at that time) existed in some form in 2300 B.C.E. For most of its existence since then, the city was nothing more than a minor administrative center. Babylon was mildly important, but not really important. It was an average city, the capital of a small province. But by the middle of the 7^th century B.C.E., all of that was changing. Babylon, this obscure administrative city, was becoming very important. With the rise of Nebuchadnezzar II (more commonly known as just Nebuchadnezzar), the city was not only becoming significant, but it was also becoming powerful.

By the time Jeremiah wrote his prophecy, Babylon was like our modern-day Washington, D.C.; it was a place where the powerful gathered. For those who lived then, it was impossible to imagine a world without Babylon in control. Nobody in the world was unaware of what was happening in Babylon, and either you served Babylon, or you feared Babylon; or quite possibly you did both.

But Jeremiah prophesied that, while the exiles needed to settle down because they were going to be there for a while, Babylon's time dominating the world stage would be short-lived. In fact, the city would not just cease being the most important city in the world; it would not even return to being the minor administrative city it had been for much of its history. The city was going to disappear off the face of the earth. Jeremiah also makes one more prediction: not only would Babylon disappear, but after it was finally emptied (an event that didn't happen for another 1500 years after Jeremiah), it would never be inhabited again.

History records no major battle that destroyed the city. But over the years, the city simply dwindled; people began to migrate away until Babylon disappeared. By 1000 C.E., Babylon was a site people visited to steal bricks to build other cities in the area. Two hundred years after that, people in the area lost track of where the city once stood. While it is hard for us to understand what exactly happened historically to the city from our vantage point, the original readers of Jeremiah's prophecy couldn't imagine such a thing ever happening to the great city of Babylon. However, history records that Jeremiah was right.

Over 1000 years after the final emptying of Babylon, the site of the city remains empty. And the truth is that there have been plans throughout history to rebuild the city, but every time something has happened to stop the rebuilding process. Most recently, Saddam Hussein made plans to rebuild the city. He portrayed himself as the Son of Nebuchadnezzar and wanted to rebuild the city of his adopted father. For Saddam, the Gulf War stopped the process. The current plan is to build a tourist center on the site of old Babylon. But as of right now, nothing has happened. There are currently no plans to make the city a place where the generations live once more, just as Jeremiah prophesied over 2500 years ago. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 51

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. – Psalm 137:1

Today's Scripture Reading (September 16, 2026): Psalm 137

On March 18, 2012, George Tupou V, the King of Tonga, died. His reign had actually been fairly short, only six years, and yet the news of his death sent the Island nation of Tonga into mourning. In the days following the king's death, trees and buildings were draped with the colors of mourning, black and purple. The king was given a state funeral featuring a procession of 1,000 pallbearers. And the inhabitants of Tonga lined the streets just to have one final chance to say goodbye to their king.

For Tonga, the reality was that while Tupou V's reign was short, it was extremely effective. In a short six-year span, the nation's culture changed. Tupou V began limiting the monarchy's power and pushing Tonga toward a constitutional democracy. The king was a forward thinker who wanted nothing more than to transfer power from being a possession of the monarch and place it into the hands of the people. The nation's identity was changing as more power was given to people outside the Royal Family. For this reason, when the king died, the people responded with an outpouring of mourning and grief that honored their dead king.

We can pretend about a lot of things, but the real condition of our hearts often shows in how we mourn and what drives us into mourning. As the exiles settled in Babylon, they too were experiencing a change in their national identity, but in the opposite direction. Judah, once an independent nation proud of its place in the world, was now defeated; their nation had been destroyed, and the people had been carried into exile. Now a foreign king ruled over the people of Judah, and the result was a deep time of mourning.

The people could not hide this mourning. The psalmist says that they sat on the banks of a river that they did not know and wept over what it was that had been lost, and there was absolutely nothing that could bring back the comfort the people needed to soothe their souls.

The mystery that the psalmist did not seem to understand was that even then, as the exiles sat far from the rivers of their youth, God was on the move, preparing to empower them and to create a national identity that more closely reflected the idea that God had desired for Israel from the very beginning. All God needed was a leader willing to honor him, and as strange an idea as this would have been for the exiles to understand, that leader would not be found among the kings of Judah. That moldable leader would actually become a series of moldable leaders, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, the king who ruled by the rivers of Babylon. God was already at work as he began to restore a nation while it mourned what it had lost. And in the future, the seeds of success for the nation would be planted by the rivers of Babylon.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 50

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. – Psalm 79:1

Today's Scripture Reading (September 15, 2026): Psalm 79

It seems like just yesterday that I watched in horror as the peace of a September day was crushed by hijacked planes crashing into symbolic and beloved landmarks. At the time, I was living a couple of thousand miles away, closer to the American West Coast than the East, where the horror was taking place, and yet, even there, the crashes changed things. One thing I remember was the eerie emptiness of the skies as governments tried furiously to figure out what was happening. All my life, I had watched the sky, infatuated with the flying machines that inhabited the spaces above my head. Still, on that day and for a few days after, the fantastic flying machines were no longer present, dominating the bright blue yonder. On that day, everything changed, and maybe for the first time in generations, North Americans understood a feeling that up until that day only our friends in Europe and Asia truly understood; we understood what it felt like to be vulnerable to terrorism. On that day we lost something that might have been more valuable than the Twin Towers or the possible loss of the Pentagon or even the White House. We lost our innocence, and that was something we just could not rebuild.

Psalm 76 is attributed to Asaph, but it is another of the Asaph Psalms which was probably written by a descendant of the revered Levite. The context of the Psalm appears to follow the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E., but it was not just the city walls that were breached that day; it was also the day the temple was lost. Just like the significant losses that Americans suffered on 9/11, the temple was something that the people thought they would never lose.

The ultimate truth Israel needed to learn is that God loved them despite their losses. We seem to want to connect our losses and our hurts as evidence that God has turned his back on us, but that is not the truth. The reality that we need to understand is that God's presence during the good times is a good thing, but God's presence when planes are crashing around us and the enemy is destroying everything we hold dear is essential.

It could be argued that, at least in North America, 9/11 is the saddest day on the modern calendar. For our Jewish friends, they have another sad day. It is called Tisha B'Av, or the ninth of Av. And while on 9/11 we remember the attack on our economic (the Twin Towers), our military (the Pentagon), and an attempted attack on the political (The White House) identities, on Tisha B'Av Jews remember attacks that occurred across centuries, including the destruction of Solomon's Temple (586 B.C.E.), the destruction of Zerubbabel's Temple (70 C.E.), and the Roman Massacre of 100,000 Jews at Betar (132 C.E.) All of these events, and others, occurred on the ninth of Av. But while Tisha B'Av and 9/11 are days of great sadness, they should also be a celebration of the God who stays with us, even in the worst moments of our lives.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 137

But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth. – Psalm 74:12

Today's Scripture Reading (September 14, 2026): Psalm 74

King Alfred ruled in Wessex (the southern portion of England) from about 871 to 899. Alfred holds the distinction of being the only English Monarch to have the suffix "the Great" added to his name, although admittedly he was not known as Alfred the Great until centuries after his death. Alfred earned the praise of the people over whom he ruled. Early in his reign, he successfully defended his kingdom from Viking invasions, and by the end of his reign he was the dominant ruler of all of England. He called himself the "King of the Anglo-Saxons," or the king of England. The people rejoiced in a king who could keep them safe.

However, his greatness did not stop on the battlefield. He was also an educated man who made great strides in advancing the social structures of his day. Alfred improved his nation's military structure, and this 9th-century king must have had a ruthless side, but he also strengthened the kingdom's legal structure and was known as King of Great Mercy. These characteristics made him "Great," but they also made him a true king. Many kings since Alfred have not understood that. Alfred seemed to understand that the office of king existed for the protection of the people. People needed someone to rule over them and create for them a world where they could flourish. Often, we, and most sovereigns, have gotten that wrong. These Royals have believed that the office was for their own pleasure. That has never been the point of a monarchy. To be a subject of the king and to see the king on the move was always supposed to mean only one thing; salvation was at hand.

So the Psalmist cries out to God that he has been his king from long ago, and that he has proclaimed him king because God brings Salvation to the earth. God perfectly fulfills the role of king. In the midst of all the darkness and all that can go wrong, it is God who will bring Salvation. The Psalmist realizes that God has done it before and is fully capable of doing it again. God has the power to save and, therefore, he will be proclaimed as king.

God is still a King who saves. God cares about all his people. In the midst of our rebellion, his mercy reigns and his concern is only for our safety and that we would prosper. For Alfred, it took historians 600 years to proclaim this King of Wessex "Great." For the people of God, we get to proclaim him as "Great" while he still sits on the throne.

God is Good, God is Great, and God is King.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 79

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. – Jeremiah 52:31

Today's Scripture Reading (September 13, 2026): Jeremiah 52

I am convinced that some people like to argue. If you pick a position, they will choose the opposing side. (If I am being transparent, I have been accused of that very thing.) Sometimes it is because the discussion is fun (my reason for arguing an opposing opinion), but other times it is because people's personalities clash. Agreeing with someone seems to validate their stance on a whole range of issues. This concept of validation describes our contemporary political saga: political groups take opposite sides on an issue for no other reason than that they oppose each other politically. If I am a conservative or right-leaning individual, by definition I must oppose everything that the political left does. If someone confronts me on the dangers of Christian Nationalism on the extreme right, my immediate response is prescribed to be about the dangers of antifa on the extreme left. However, if we are going to accomplish anything, we have to be able to admit when those we oppose politically do something correct. The reality is that I don't have to agree with everything to agree with something.

Sometimes history is shrouded; there are too many things that we don't know. And this is the case with the story of Awel-Marduk (or the man from Marduk). As far as we can tell, Awel-Marduk is the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Indications suggest that Father and Son did not get along well. Nebuchadnezzar and Awel-Marduk actually shared the throne for a while before Nebuchadnezzar died. Most reports suggest Awel-Marduk did not necessarily agree with his father's policies, though the reasons for the disagreements vary.

Jeremiah tells us that Awel-Marduk released King Jehoiachin from prison. Beyond the fact that the Judean King was released, we argue over why. Some argue that Awel-Marduk released Jehoiachin from prison for humanitarian reasons. He thought his father was wrong to imprison the King of Judah for so long, but little evidence suggests Awel-Marduk was a humanitarian. Most describe him as an evil egotist. It would be more in keeping with what little we know of Awel-Marduk to argue that he overturned his father's decision for no other reason than that he opposed everything his dad, Nebuchadnezzar, did.

In some stories, Awel-Marduk releases Jehoiachin from prison and is then thrown into prison himself by his father as the conflict between Father and son continues. However, this theory has problems. One of them arises right out of the biblical record itself. The question is, if this is true, would Nebuchadnezzar allow Jehoiachin to stay free and pay him an allowance for the rest of his life? The logic would be that Nebuchadnezzar would most likely throw Jehoiachin back into prison.

A more colorful possibility, but one with a ring of truth, places this event after Nebuchadnezzar's death. In this tale, the evil son digs up the bones of his god-fearing father and parades them through the streets of Babylon as he reverses all of his father's decrees. Jehoiachin, rather than being freed for humanitarian reasons, is freed only because Father Nebuchadnezzar imprisoned him.

The story stands as a strange example of what can happen when we make decisions for no better reason than personal opposition to another person. History records Nebuchadnezzar as an extremely successful king. At the same time, Awel-Marduk has almost disappeared from the pages of history, and it was probably his son (Nebuchadnezzar's grandson) who presided over the downfall of the Babylonian Empire. Opposing someone without good reason can never take us to a good place, and will never carry us to success.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 74

Say to them, 'Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you said "Aha!" over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile … - Ezekiel 25:3

Today's Scripture Reading (September 12, 2026): Ezekiel 25

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E., Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor in what was now the Babylonian province of Judah. The choice was probably a very good one. Gedaliah's heritage was solid; he came from a very well-respected Judean family. So Nebuchadnezzar chose Gedaliah, and the new Judean governor got to work immediately. His strategy was to gather the remnant in Judah, those who had not been carried into exile, and set them at the task of planting the fields so that once again the fields of Judah would begin to produce food. The strategy had two purposes. Most obviously, people still lived in the defeated territory and needed to be fed. So they needed to grow food. However, a secondary advantage was that agrarian activity would keep people busy, stopping them from plotting further resistance against Babylon. By putting the remnant to work growing food, Judah could gain some security. If they were willing to plant the fields, then Babylon would most likely leave them alone. And after three collisions with the superpower in the past decade, Judah needed the space.

Gedaliah was successful in his plan. He gathered a core group around him, and they began to change the nation's culture. However, as Gedaliah put the people to work, the Ammonites planted seeds of doubt among some Jews about Gedaliah's motives. The Ammonites accused Gedaliah of being a puppet of the Babylonians, a Jew who had sold out his loyalty to Judah and the God of Israel to serve the interests of the Babylonian overlords. Such a man didn't deserve to live.

And so the Ammonites incited Ishmael and ten other men, all of whom were Jews, to murder Gedaliah. However, the motives of the Ammonites were not pure. They enlisted certain Jews to join them in their battle against Babylon, but what they really wanted was the Jews massacred. Because it was a group of Jews that had committed the murder of Gedaliah, the Ammonites argued that the wrath of the Babylonians would be directed against the Jews. The Ammonites hoped the Babylonians would finish the job and annihilate the Judean nation, a nation with whom they had never gotten along. However, they didn't want only Judah destroyed. With the destruction of both Israel by the Assyrians and now Judah at the hands of the Babylonians, they hoped that they would also kill the Jewish God once and for all.

So God speaks. The words of the prophecy were quite likely delivered to the diplomats who had gathered in Babylon. God was not amused, and he was not going anywhere. God would have the last word, not the children of Ammon. Because they had refused to bless the children of Abraham, they would pay the price of their arrogance. In the end, rather than the remnant of Israel, it would be Ammon that would suffer marginalization. Because Yahweh was not just the God of the Jews; He was the true God of the world.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 52

Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. – Ezekiel 24:24

Today's Scripture Reading (September 11, 2026): Ezekiel 24

One of the best ways to lead is by setting the example. Some of the best leaders in my life have been the ones who walked with me. It isn't always easy. And it's part of what disappoints me about some secular leaders, whether they are sports stars, politicians, or even church leaders. Some seem to demand from their followers behavior they are unwilling to follow in their individual lives.

As you read this chapter of Ezekiel's life, the events don't match our sense of fairness. Why should Ezekiel have to pay the price? After all, he was the one who was following God; the one to whom God was speaking. And to top it off, he wasn't even allowed to mourn in a way that was fitting after losing the one that he loved.

One lesson that we need to take from Ezekiel's life is that our Christian lives will not always go smoothly. If Ezekiel went through these trials, why do we seem to believe that, as followers of God, our lives will be perfect? We are needed as leaders of our society. I still believe that the church is the hope of the world; we are perfectly situated to take care of this world's problems. However, we are only the hope of the world if we are willing to lead. And leading may mean paying the same price as the rest of our culture. We don't get a free pass, as much as we may wish we could.

I fear that we aren't leading; we are following. Most of the time, Christians aren't suffering because we are doing the right thing; we suffer because we have become the followers of a culture that isn't working. And there is a big difference.

Our nations need us to have the courage to be the leaders that we were created to be. All of us need to be ready to stand up for what is right instead of what is expedient. Our culture needs us as much as Ezekiel's culture needed Ezekiel. It won't be easy to stand up for what is right, especially when facets of our culture have deceived our friends. So we need to be prepared for what is happening next. Are you ready?

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 25

 

 

This is what the LORD says: 'I am going to deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who want to kill him, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who wanted to kill him.' – Jeremiah 44:30

Today's Scripture Reading (September 10, 2026): Jeremiah 44 & 45

The future is unexpected. Even predictions and prophecies that come true are often fulfilled in unexpected ways. The future is a mystery, and that is what makes trying to unwind the prophecies of the Bible, or any other prophecies, such a hard task. Those who think they see prophecies unwinding before their eyes throughout history have, most of the time, been deluding themselves.

When I was growing up, I remember predictions that Henry Kissinger was the Antichrist; that Kissinger fulfilled biblical prophecy. The argument was strong and multifaceted. I know that for many people in the 1970's, it must have seemed so obvious. The prediction has been persistent. Henry Kissinger died in 2023 after living 100 years, and at no point did the evidence of Kissinger's life support the prophetic allegations that some wanted to lay at his feet. Yet, every once in a while, I still run into somebody who has bought into the expectation. It is a hard task to convince these prophetic believers that they might have been wrong; that the way that they saw the future was not how the future turned out. Even now, some want to make excuses for their belief, and they still proclaim that, somehow, Henry Kissinger really was the Antichrist.

Jeremiah speaks of the fall of Judah and the subsequent fall of Egypt. Egypt's fall was predicted because the people of Judah had fled to Egypt, a place that Jeremiah had said they should not go. So, as Jeremiah draws his prophecy to a close, one of his final prophecies concerns the death of Hophra, the Pharaoh of Egypt. It would be really easy to read this prophecy and assume that Hophra died valiantly at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. But Jeremiah doesn't actually say that. He says Hophra will be delivered into the hands of his enemy, just as Zedekiah of Judah was handed over to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

History records Hophra under a different name: Apries. Apries was Pharaoh of Egypt during this tense moment in world history. Unfortunately, Apries was a man out of his time. While Egypt needed a warrior to survive in a world dominated by the Babylonian Empire and with the dawn of the Greek Empire on the horizon, Apries was more of a builder; his great intellect was geared more toward producing great buildings than fighting great wars. Apries' attempt to help Judah was ill-considered. Apries was not only unable to come to the aid of his northern neighbor, but in the process he lost the confidence of his army, resulting in mass defections. Later, Apries attempted to come to the aid of his Libyan neighbors against the Greeks. But Apries fared no better in Libya than he did in Judah. It was at this moment that Egypt turned to a successful general of the army for help, a man who had led the Egyptian army to success in Nubia during the reign of Apries father; the general's name was Amasis. And in 570 B.C.E., Amasis declared himself Pharaoh in the place of Apries.

It turns out that Jeremiah was speaking of Amasis as the enemy of Hophra, not Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, Amasis killed Apries (Hophra) in battle when Apries attempted to regain his kingdom. As unexpected as this might have seemed when Jeremiah wrote the prophecy, Apries died with the Babylonian army fighting at his side. Nebuchadnezzar, instead of being the enemy who would kill Apries, was the ally attempting to help him regain his throne at the time of his death.

The future often seems to work that way. Even when it is expected, it is unexpected. Confining our future to our expectations limits the way we allow God to move. God's moves are usually unexpected and always undeserved.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 24

There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt. – Jeremiah 43:13

Today's Scripture Reading (September 9, 2026): Jeremiah 43

I sometimes wonder about the way, or the sequence of events, that things seem to happen in the Bible. I have to admit that I am not convinced that the future is fixed. I really believe that it is fluid and that we serve a passionate God who is moved by all of our actions, both our obedience and our disobedience, and because of these moments, the future changes. It is not that I do not believe that God knows the future. I actually believe the reverse. God knows all possible futures and outcomes, but what actually happens is a joint decision between our actions and God's movement. I know that's a radical thought, but for me, the proof is in texts like this one.

Jeremiah tells the people that God has spoken, and he does not want them to run to Egypt; the safest place for them to live was right where they were in Judah, the land God had promised to His people. But the people were convinced that safety was found in Egypt. That belief was not without merit. Nebuchadnezzar had already tried to defeat Egypt, and Egypt had won the battle. At this moment of loss, Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes to securing Asia and the Middle East for his empire, and to the many building projects he hoped would allow him to be remembered, and we do remember him 2500 years later.

But this was one of the moments (admittedly there were many of them) when the people disobeyed. Actually, the people decided they were smarter than God; they thought they knew better than God what the truth was regarding the Babylonian-Egyptian conflict. God, we know Egypt has already won, and we believe we will be safe in the African nation. So, the people ran to Egypt, carrying the reluctant prophet Jeremiah with them, and every step of the way, Jeremiah talked to the people about the folly of the action in which they were engaged.

And as you read history, you get a sense that the people were right. In this moment of Nebuchadnezzar's life, it made sense for Nebuchadnezzar to tidy up conflicts, secure his borders, and concentrate on the peaceful building projects that he already had in his mind to complete. By this time, Nebuchadnezzar was starting to be influenced by the Judean captives, especially leaders like Daniel. Babylon's position in the world made this a good stopping point.

However, the Judean rebellion against God also needed to be handled. I almost get the sense that as the people of God rebelled, plans changed. Instead of actions dedicated to securing the borders, Nebuchadnezzar began planning a second attempt to move into Africa. Part of me wonders if the people of Israel had obeyed God, if just maybe Nebuchadnezzar would have stopped and history would be different. But the history that we know tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar's defeat not only of Egypt, but of Liberia and the north coast of Africa as well. And the people who had run to Egypt hoping to be safe realized that they, much like Jonah, could not run from the presence and the purposes of God.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 44 & 45

Remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today. – Jeremiah 42:19

Today's Scripture Reading (September 8, 2026): Jeremiah 42

Italian author Laurentius Abstemius wrote his most famous work, Hecatomythium, in 1495. The book is a collection of a hundred fables written in Latin. Some of the fables were translated from Greek for the book. The book of fables was passed over by the critics of the day. They considered the stories ridiculous, and many took exception to the negative view some fables took of the clergy.

One of the fables contained within the book was a story about a group of fish. The fish had been caught and were being placed in a pan of boiling oil. In this fable, the fish began to talk. One of the fish suggested they do whatever they could to get out of the pan. So, they made a plan and jumped out of the oil, but that only landed them in worse trouble because they landed in the fire. There, lying on the burning coals, the fish cursed the bad advice that they had followed. The fabulist concludes that "this fable warns us that when we are avoiding present dangers, we should not fall into even worse peril." Aesop paraphrased the fable for his collection of moral tales. He entitled the fable "Worse and Worse" and rephrased the moral as "jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire."

The fish fable fits the message God gives to Jeremiah. It would seem that the immediate reaction of those left in Judah, after the close of the Babylonian-Judean war, was to run to the other superpower that ruled in their world. The idea was that maybe they could be safe in Egypt. It is sometimes amazing, as we tell the story of the Bible, how often Israel seems to believe that safety is found in Egypt, that place where they once existed as enslaved people.

But God's message was that the only place where they could be all that they were created to be was with God. What had happened in Judah may have been uncomfortable, but if God had not been with the people of Judah during their conflict with Babylon, it would have been so much worse. God had never left them. In this moment, God was inviting them to stay, not to run to Egypt. God was still with them, and He had no plans to leave them. Jeremiah hoped the people left in Judah would commit to God, leaving behind any plans to leave Him if they wanted to be successful in the future.

According to Jeremiah, to run to Egypt would be like "jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire." Life might have been uncomfortable, but they could trust God to be with them where they were and walk with them into the future. Here is the reality that I know. People will let you down. That was the danger that Egypt represented. Escaping to Egypt meant trusting a group of people who could not save them. Only God was worthy of their trust, and if they were looking for someone to move them through to the end of the story, they would not find that person in Egypt. That someone was the one who had held them every step of the way so far, and the one who was never going to give up on them. That someone was their God, the one who deserved their trust.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 43

Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. – Jeremiah 41:2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 7, 2026): Jeremiah 41

After the Second World War, the first war of the Cold War era was fought between the Soviet Union and the United States. The fighting took place in Greece. Nazi Germany and Italy had gained control of Greece throughout the middle portion of the Second World War. As a result, the Greek government became a government in exile. But when the nations allied with the United Kingdom and the United States began to take control of the war in the European theater, a power vacuum was created in Greece. As a result, by the end of the Second World War, no government clearly controlled Greece. So, from 1946 to 1949, the Greek government, which had been ruling in exile and was backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, waged a civil war against the Greek Communist Party, backed by the Soviet Union. However, the events of the Second World War had essentially set up this civil war.

The Babylonian conflict in Judah was over. The Babylonian army had been, for the most part, withdrawn. Jerusalem lay in ruins. The Babylonians had left Gedaliah and his supporters, all of whom had defected to the Babylonian army at some point during the war, in charge of the country. However, much like what happened in Greece after the Second World War during the 20^th Century, during the early years of the 6^th Century B.C.E., a power vacuum in Judah had been created by the Babylonian-Judean war, and that left conditions favorable for the beginning of a new civil war.

Jeremiah writes that in this case, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (to differentiate him from Ishmael, the son of Zedekiah, both of whom were part of the Royal family, but Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, was from a much more remote branch of the family), disagreed with who the Babylonians had left in control of the nation. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, strongly believed that he was the one who should have been left in control of Judah. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and assassinated Gedaliah.

Gedaliah, on the other hand, seems to have taken no precautions against a possible uprising. Rabbinic writings indicate that Gedaliah was known for eating and drinking well, and our understanding is that Gedaliah invited Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, to share food and drink with him. Ishmael took advantage of the situation, and when Gedaliah and his men were drunk enough, Ishmael and his men killed them.

But Jeremiah also wants to make sure that the reader understands the enormity of Ishmael's crime. Throughout his prophecies, Jeremiah is clear that Nebuchadnezzar (and Babylon) wins the conflict with Judah because God decreed it. And here, Jeremiah says that Ishmael takes his sword and kills "the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land." Ishmael, in killing Gedaliah, was not only guilty of killing his own countryman, but he killed the man that Nebuchadnezzar had placed on the throne. Therefore, he opposed the will of his God, who had placed Nebuchadnezzar in control of the nation. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 42

They all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit. – Jeremiah 40:12

Today's Scripture Reading (September 6, 2026): Jeremiah 40

One limiting factor of growth is leadership. Leadership is required in both our organizations and our individual lives if we are to keep growing. I can't grow those around me past the point where I have the leadership ability to lead. And I will not grow myself beyond the leaders I choose to invite into my life. However, we often don't think about the reverse. If there is a lack of leadership in the organization, we will often fill the void with whoever comes along, rather than wait for the appropriate leader the circumstances require. I believe health might be found somewhere between having all the right leaders in place and continually searching for needed leadership. If we have all the leaders we need, then leadership will be closed, and we will miss out on any benefits from new leaders who may come along. However, if we lack some of the leaders required to keep the organization growing, that lack can result in chaos. Still, the organization can find a healthy position amid the limited chaos.

Judah had leaders, but the leadership was closed. To be a leader in Judah, you had to be born into the position. As a result, under good leadership, the country grew, but under bad leadership, it shrank. Too often, Judah suffered under bad leadership and shrank. As a result, some key Judean leaders lived outside the nation of Judah. However, when Judah's leadership was taken into exile in Babylon, these leaders on the fringes of the nation needed to return to fill the leadership void. And Jeremiah says that is precisely what happened.

The principle is also true for our own personal lives. We are 'led' by key ideas. They shape and guide our lives and help us to grow. But learning also takes a willingness to consider new ideas, incorporate them into our lives, and allow them to lead us. So, without these new concepts to lead us, our lives lose purpose. We become so rigid and closed that we can't accept new ideas, and at that point, we stop growing. Life requires a healthy balance between established concepts and new ideas to keep us fresh and growing throughout our life journeys.

We need to be led by something, but don't be afraid to open yourself up to new ideas. And maybe, even in the chaos, you might have some unexpected fun. Have a great day!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 41