Valuing God

13Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?15Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

16Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^c from Your Majesty’s hand. 18But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

19Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

24Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

25He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

26Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

28Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.29Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” (Daniel 3) 

Thoughts: One of the great verses of the Bible is Daniel 3:17.  It shows that these believers trusted in God, and their trust did not depend on whether things went right with them or not.  For many, belief in God depends only on things going well with them according to their standard.  But Shadrach, Meschech and Abednego would rather be faithful to God than to be blessed.  No money would be worth giving up their faith.  They could not be bribed with safety, with money to give up their God, their values, their faith.  In the end they were saved and Jesus was with them in the midst of the fire.  But even more than that, the greatest king of the world at the time glorified God. 

Prayer: Lord, let me value you above any amount of gold, any amount of promise of a life without you and with out hope.  

Daniel and the Future Kingdoms

29“As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

31“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

36“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

39“After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.  (Daniel 2) 

Thoughts: No astrologer of the king could tell the king what he dreamed, so the king would not listen to their interpretation.  Daniel alone, by God's grace, could not only interpret the dream, but reiterate to the king what he saw in the dream. 
      What he saw were the empire successions to come. 
The gold was Nebuchadnezzar's own kingdom. 
The silver was the kingdom of the Medes and Persians
The bronze was the kingdom of Alexander the Great of Macedonia and his successors
The iron was the Roman empire.  which was divided into east and west. 
The rock that struck the statue and filled the whole earth was the kingdom of Christ. 

Some people thought that Daniel could not have interpreted the future so clearly.  In other parts of Daniel he predicts the ram (Persia) being beaten by the goat (symbol of Greece).  He also predicts 70 x7 or 490 years until the king of kings comes.  So some had dated the book of Daniel after the first century AD until the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered with a copy of Daniel going back at least to 120 BC.  The point of this whole dream and intrepretation and writing is that the Lord controls the future, and we should trust the one who both knows and controls the future. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust in you and your love.  

Daniel's faithfulness

1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia^a and put in the treasure house of his god.

3Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.^b 5The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

6Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.7The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

8But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^c food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

11Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

15At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

17To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.  (Daniel 1)

Thoughts: Daniel and his 3 friends saw their city invaded, army defeated,  and the leaders (including them) were taken into captivity.  In a few more years they would hear of the Temple burned, and most of the population killed.  But they did not give up in their devotion to God.  It showed in their diet.  They refused to eat non-kosher food, preferring just vegetables.  Calvin says he believes they ate more than vegetables outside the court, but there is no evidence of that.   God blessed them for wanting to be faithful. He blessed them with health, with wisdom to interpret dreams and visions.  They were the ultimate long range planners, and this was an asset to the Babylonians who over-valued fortune telling and astrology.  God blesses those who are faithful to Him. 

Prayer:  Lord, even in the face of obstacles, help me to be faithful to you.    

Jeremiah and the mud

1Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal^a son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2“This is what the Lordsays: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians^b will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ 3And this is what the Lordsays: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’ ”

4Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

5“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”

6So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

7But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite,^c an official^d in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”

10Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” (Jeremiah 38) 

Thoughts: Jeremiah was telling the truth.  The people of Judah were about to be overwhelmed by the Babylonians.  They didn't want to hear it, so they threw Jeremiah into a mud pit.  The mud pit was a cistern- built to catch rain water.  But it was empty (also a sign of God's wrath).  The Hebrew says it three times- as if it said, "Jeremiah sank into the mud, into the deep mud he sank deeply."  He was up to his eyeballs in mud.  A Cushite (from South Sudan/Ethiopia) was a believer in God and had him pulled out.  He later told the king (vs. 22) "You are sunk into the mud and your friends have deserted you."  The king's mud was his sin.  God delivered Jeremiah.  He delivers us. 

Prayer: Lift me up  out of my mud Lord.  Let me live free for you.  

Jeremiah and the New Covenant

31“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

32It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to^d them,^e ”

declares the Lord.

33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

34No longer will they teach their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,” (Jeremiah 31)

20In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (Jesus- Luke 22:20)

Thoughts: The old covenant (Old Testament) was broken.  The people had forsaken God, and made a mess of His Law.  The promise was that if they followed God they would inherit the land and their descendants would be numerous.  Now they would be kicked out of the land and many of their offspring are killed.  But, there is still hope.  The people would come back to God and come back to the land. 
But the new covenant is a new promise- a promise that goes further- of heaven (the true promised land) and forgiveness and the Gospel spread to all the nations.  The great covenant language is here: "I will be their God and they will be my people."  This is a bond, a relationship.  But Jeremiah and Jesus would say the relationship is not a physical one- but a spiritual one.  The Law is not just upon their bodies but upon their minds and hearts.  The new covenant is a new way to open up the knowledge of God to all people- not just a few.  God took the Jews- became a Jew- and then opened up the door of election to all people.  

Prayer: Lord, thank you for opening up the knowledge of you to my heart.  Let my heart be yours- undivided and true.  

70 Years of captivity

8Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy^a them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12“But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,^b for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, (Jeremiah 25); 

This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  (Jeremiah 29:10,11)

In the first year of (Darius's) reign, I, Daniel understood from the Scriptures according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.  So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer, petition, fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. (Daniel 9:2)

The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of desolation it rested, until seventy years was completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.  (2 Chr. 36:21)

Thoughts:  The people were in exile 70 years from the time of the exile in 586 BC until the completion of the Temple in 516 BC.  This is an amazing prophecy.  Jeremiah prophesied Babylon would take them into exile and that in 70 years they would come back.  Daniel quoted from Jeremiah, and the writer of 2 Chronicles recognized the fulfillment of the prophecy.  This shows that God is God of time and of His people.  We should trust our future and our lives in obedience to the All-knowing and almighty God.  

Prayer: Lord, Thank you for fulfilling your word and being so faithful to redeem your people.    

Heart is deceitful

5This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,

who draws strength from mere flesh

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;

they will not see prosperity when it comes.

They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,

in a salt land where no one lives.

7“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

8They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.”

9The heart is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

10“I the Lord search the heart

and examine the mind,

to reward each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17) 

Thoughts: Every now and then someone says, "Just follow your heart."  The problem with that is sometimes your heart can deceive you. You can follow your heart and lose a good job, forsake your children, do something you would regret.  Emotions can be like the wind and can blow you down a path that you would rather not go.  But the Lord knows the heart.  He sees straight through- beyond the surface to what we really think and believe.  He asks us to trust in Him and not in people or in wealth.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust in you with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. Help me to acknowledge you with all my ways and know you will direct my paths.  

Worship and Obedience

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:

“ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

9“ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,^a burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 7) 

Thoughts: The illusion is that if we go to church we can do whatever we want and it will be okay.  After all, we are saved by grace, not by works.  Certainly, there are no perfect- non-sinners who believe.  All of us sin in our practice and belief. 
      Yet, to abuse God's grace by purposefully ignoring God's commands so we can go our own way is even more wrong.  We may not keep the Law perfectly, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to obey.  In fact, if you love God, you want to please Him.  Murder, adultery, stealing, worshiping other gods are all indicators that something is not right with our heart.  Such things make worship an empty shell. 
      In our day, many just don't bother with worship at all- because they are aware of their imperfections.  Worship is important.  But worship, as this passage indicates, should be from the heart.  Turning the holy church into a place of selfishness or even evil is an anathema to God.  Being uncaring or apathetic is also an anathema to Him. 
       Just having a church (or Temple) in the neighborhood means little if worship there is not made from the heart. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to want to worship and please you.  Help me to see these two things go together.  

Walk in the Ancient Path

14They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

‘Peace, peace,’ they say,

when there is no peace.

15Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when I punish them,”says the Lord.

16This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls.

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17I appointed watchmen over you and said,

‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’

But you said, ‘We will not listen.’

18Therefore hear, you nations;

you who are witnesses,

observe what will happen to them.

19Hear, you earth:

I am bringing disaster on this people,

the fruit of their schemes,

because they have not listened to my words

and have rejected my law.

22This is what the Lord says:

“Look, an army is coming

from the land of the north;

a great nation is being stirred up

from the ends of the earth.

23They are armed with bow and spear;

they are cruel and show no mercy.

They sound like the roaring sea

as they ride on their horses;

they come like men in battle formation

to attack you, Daughter Zion.”

Thoughts: I remember when Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast as a category five storm, there were hurricane parties.  People were thinking that nothing bad would happen to them and they wanted to see the experience.  So it is when people do not take their own sin seriously.  Jeremiah rebukes those who say they can sin and sin with no shame and still expect God's protection and blessing.  Jeremiah urges all those who know of God's Law to listen to it.  When we have heard and reject God, we are fooling ourselves.  The people of Jeremiah's day believed they were just religious enough to keep God happy.  They had, after all, the Temple of the Lord- the Temple of the Lord.  But a building does not insure behavior.  Saying there is peace does not mean there is peace.  We are always called to ask- "where are the ancient paths?"  What are the ways that people have found peace with God in the past- walk in these ways.  I had a dog who would make paths all over my back yard.  Grass would not grow on these paths, but neither would there be holes or mounds.  The paths were safe, and true.  When my dog got older and more blind, it was easier to walk on these old paths that she was used to walking.  So we are called to know God more and more and be familiar with walking in His way. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to walk in your path.  Help me to listen to your voice.  Let me not pretend things are great when they are not.  Give me grace to address the problems I face.  

Spiritual Adultery

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:

“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth,

how as a bride you loved me

3Israel was holy to the Lord,

23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there,

24a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,sniffing the wind in her craving—

in her heat who can restrain her?

Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.

25Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry.

But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’

26“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced—

they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets.

27They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

They have turned their backs to me and not their faces;

yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

28Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them come if they can save you

when you are in trouble! (Jeremiah 2) 

Thoughts: God chooses his people as the ones He loves.  The image of the church is "the bride of Christ."  There is a covenant we make with God- to be His people and He will be our God.  So when we worship idols, we break our covenant- our bride vows to God. We are committing spiritual adultery.  Adultery is the only reason that Jesus gives for a valid divorce.  Jeremiah uses graphic language here.  When we make other things our god- we commit adultery against the Lord- trading a fake relationship for a true one.  It would be like someone divorcing his wife for pornography- pornography can be addictive.  Idolatry- making things (money, houses, cars, shopping, alcohol/drugs, education, even other people) our God is addictive too.  Such things cannot save us from catastrophe or from our sins.  Only the true God is our true Savior. 

Prayer: Lord let you faithfulness inspire my faithfulness in return.  Let my heart be undivided and true to you. 

Jeremiah's Call

4The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew^a you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1) 

Thoughts: God knows us before we are ever born.  He has a plan for us- not just for Jeremiah.  But Jeremiah doubted his ability to answer his call.  We see a little argument going on.
    First Jeremiah says he is too young.  God says to not be afraid because he is young.  God will be with him and will rescue him.  He did. 
     Then God touched his mouth and it was all over.  His message was a warning and a beacon to the nations.  Indeed, Jeremiah's message was one of the destruction of Judah and its Temple.  But he also built up- he forecast they would come back to the land in 70 years.  God has a call for each one of us.  To answer that call is the most important things we can do in this life.  

Prayer; Lord, give me grace to answer your call no matter what age.