There are two sections I want to talk about. The first being the bit at the end of chapter 13. I can see how a lot of people might have a problem with this passage. When we are taught that the Bible is completely literal, this passage says that God himself is going to “turn … Read more
Interesting. Okay. So these chapters are further encouragement to Israel regarding their restoration, promising judgment on their enemies, and compelling them to be better than their fathers. I didn’t find much to really hang on to here, to be honest, but there’s one thing about chapter 6 that got my attention. There are four chariots: … Read more
It’s such a short book about a prophet calling the people to rebuild the temple and reconsecrate the people of Israel. People say it isn’t time to rebuild, but you seem to be quite comfortable in your house, why can’t you rebuild mine? You know nothing is going to grow well until you do, right? … Read more
Prophecy is weird, man, but I gotta say, I think our reactions to it over time have become even weirder. So I grew up with this idea that the second half of Daniel was some big end times prophecy, and to be honest I’ve only skimmed it until now because it’s weird and difficult to … Read more
Oh, Nebuchadnezzar. Really think you could have done without those 7 spans of time acting like a cow in the field, you know? He recognized God’s power when Daniel interpreted the first dream. He outlawed speaking against God after the incident with the furnace. The man had no problems acknowledging God’s superiority. He was just … Read more
So that statement that Nehemiah made earlier in the book asking God to remember how he did such a good thing is starting to make more sense. He makes a similar statement again, and it doesn’t read so much like boasting when it is once again surrounded by people making a mess of things and … Read more
If the word curse was explicitly used in reference to the covenant before this, I glossed right over it. I know the language of the covenant is very clearly if…then from the very beginning. God makes the consequences of breaking the covenant extremely clear. It simply isn’t possible that anyone ever entered the covenant without … Read more
Now, I’m not entirely clear on why the wall wasn’t rebuilt after the temple. Did they just not have explicit permission to rebuild anything more of the city than the wall and they were too afraid to do so? It would make sense. They were surrounded by some pretty nasty people. I only wonder because … Read more
Man. Okay, I know exile is pretty extreme. Siege and the horrible things that are done within the walls of a starving and frightened city are extreme. Judah faced pretty harsh judgment for their idolatry and profanity. But the personal nature of this judgment on the Levites is special. They are to tend the temple, … Read more
God is a very jealous god. He really does not tolerate idolatry. All of this destruction and suffering is the result of the people violating their covenant and worshipping other gods. But there are few things that will escalate God’s jealousy to full wrath. He will not tolerate the corruption of justice, which the people … Read more