I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. Later this month it will be my wife’s and my 16th anniversary. To celebrate this event I have decided to wish my wife Happy Anniversary for 16 days.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 9-10.

    While studying scripture, Daniel discovered that God had promised to restore Jerusalem after 70 years of exile for the Jewish people. He realized that those 70 years were almost up. However, rather than just rejoice that the 70 years of exile were almost over, Daniel mourned the sins which had led to the exile in the first place. He went to God in prayer and fasting to request that God forgive the Israelite people for their sins and the sins of their ancestors. Further, when Daniel requested that God act, he did not claim any right on his behalf, or on behalf of the Jewish people to that action, not even on the basis of God’s prophecy. Instead, Daniel asked God to act for His own sake, for the sake of His reputation. Our prayers and actions should be similar. We should ask God to act, and we should act, so as to cause people to praise God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. Later this month it will be my wife’s and my 16th anniversary. To celebrate this event I have decided to wish my wife Happy Anniversary for 16 days.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 7-8.

    The two visions which Daniel describes in this passage were primarily about the rise of the Hellenistic(Greek) Empire of Alexander and his successors. The primary focus of these visions was the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. These visions must have provided great comfort to the Jews at the time of that ruler. However, there is more to them than that. In both visions it is made clear that all political powers will serve at the will of God. When their time is up, they will face God’s judgment for the actions they took while using the power which He had delegated to them. The kings of this earth will be brought down when God has decreed, even though it may seem like nothing can stand in their way.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. Later this month it will be my wife’s and my 16th anniversary. To celebrate this event I have decided to wish my wife Happy Anniversary for 16 days.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 5-6.

    The story of Daniel and the lion’s den shows us that the temptation to use religion as a means to unite a nation was not unique to King Nebuchadnezzar. Although the issue here is slightly different. Darius did not require everyone to worship him or his gods. Instead, he “merely” required that no one worship anyone or anything else. We do not know what Darius’ advisors told him to sign this law but it is clear that he thought it was a good idea. Whatever they told Darius, it never occurred to him that the law would be used to target Daniel. As is often the case with such laws, the intent was not to use it to deal with troublemakers. Rather, it was intended to be used against someone who unpopular with the political elites (Daniel). Daniel was no more willing to NOT worship and pray to God than his friends were to bow down and worship the statue.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. Later this month it will be my wife’s and my 16th anniversary. To celebrate this event I have decided to wish my wife Happy Anniversary for 16 days.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 3-4.

    One thing I had never noticed about this passage is the connection between the statue which King Nebuchadnezzar built and the statue in his dream (I have to admit that I did not notice it on my own. I had done an Internet search for information about this passage and the first article I came to made the connection). The author of that article suggested that Nebuchadnezzar built this statue as a counter-point to the one in his dream. Unlike the one in his dream, the statue Nebuchadnezzar built was all gold. However, the most important point was that Nebuchadnezzar built this statue in an attempt to overcome the flaw of the empire that formed the feet of the one in his dream. That empire was divided. Nebuchadnezzar made the statue and commanded everyone to worship it in order to unify his empire. Nebuchadnezzar did not pay attention to the fact that the kingdom which would bring unity to the world would be the Kingdom of God.

    While I do not approve of the reason for why Colin Kaepernik refused to stand in honor of the national anthem, this story reminds me of it. The logic behind those who are angry about it is that it is terrible that he is not joining in the worship which is intended to unite us. My objection to what Colin Kaepernik is doing is that he is doing it in service to yet another idol. The three friends in our story did not refuse to worship the statue out of protest. They refused to worship the statue because they refused to worship anything other than God. Perhaps the reason I am most surprised that I never saw this interpretation of this story, nor even heard anyone else talk about it is that I come from a religious tradition which has always condemned civic religion as idolatry. The important lesson of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the story of the fiery furnace is that the only government which will ever bring unity to the people of every race, nation, and language will be the Kingdom of God.