Week 40 Devotions

October 1 - - “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” was God’s command to His people (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12). God had completed His creation work in six days and then rested the seventh day, not because He was tired, but as an example that human beings should follow (Genesis 2:1-3). How does one keep the Sabbath holy? In His commandment given through Moses, God said, “Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then He rested on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy” (Ex.20:9-11; Deut.5:13-15). When the people of God left Egypt and needed food, God provided them manna that appeared fresh on the ground every morning. God told the people not to keep any of the manna overnight because it would be full of maggots and stink by the next morning. God wanted His people to trust Him every day. But, on the sixth day, the Israelites were to gather twice as much manna so they would be able to observe the Sabbath as a holy day and not have to work. God preserved their manna on the sixth day, unlike the other days (Exodus 16:14-31), so it would be edible on the Sabbath. By Jesus’ day, the religious leaders had come up with a long list of things they defined as work so people would know what they could and could not do on the Sabbath. These regulations were not given to humans by God, but by man. These religious leaders were more concerned with being “keepers of the Sabbath” than they were in personally “keeping the Sabbath.” They loved being moral police more than they did pointing people to God. When Jesus came, he did not question the importance or the value of the Sabbath. But, he did question the legalistic list the Pharisees had comprised. Because their definition had not come from God, but from man, Jesus looked right at these religious hypocrites and asked, “If you had one sheep, and it fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you get to work and pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than sheep! It is morally right to do that which is good on the Sabbath.” And then he healed a man with a deformed hand (Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11). “Is the Sabbath a day to save life or to destroy it?”, he asked them (Mark 3:4). Jesus was concerned that God’s people understand the purpose of the Law as it relates to the Sabbath and observe it as best they could so their hearts could be close to God. He wasn’t as interested in people obeying man-made rules and regulations with hearts that were far from God. “I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28; Matt.12:8; Lk.6:5). For, “the Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). God didn’t establish people so they could worship the Sabbath. He established the Sabbath as a benefit to people. We would all be wise to give God honor and worship every day of the week, but especially on the Sabbath. October 4 - - Four hundred years before the time of Jesus Christ, God spoke these words through the prophet, Malachi, “I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents” (4:5&6). Malachi was the last prophet to speak to God’s people before a prophet, like Elijah, would enter the scene and prepare God’s people for the Messiah’s coming. John the Immerser had been preaching a message of repentance, declaring that people needed to turn from their sins and turn to God (Mark 1:4-8; Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:2-14). When Jesus did arrive, he asked to be baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness, to do the right thing, and to set an example for others (Mark 1:9-11; Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21&22). At that time, John began to point his disciples and anyone else who would listen, to Jesus (John 1:19-28). John even declared Jesus to be, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Even though John continued his ministry, fewer people gathered to listen to him because more and more were being drawn to Jesus. When John’s disciples showed concern over this trend, John assured them, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less” (John 3:30). John knew he had been sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. And John also knew the satisfaction of being successful in his mission. Rather, than feel sorrow because more were following Jesus, John drew delight in knowing he had completed what God had sent him to do. Having said all that, there must have been a little sliver of doubt yet, in John. While in prison because he dared to also preach against Herod’s sins, John sent disciples to inquire of Jesus if he really was the Messiah. The scene is reminiscent of the father who brought his demon-possessed boy to be healed by Jesus. Jesus told the father, “Anything is possible if a person believes.” And the father replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!” (Mark 9:23&24). It also reminds us of Christ’s disciples after Jesus had resurrected from the dead. He had already appeared to them on several occasions and yet, just before he prepared to ascend into heaven, “some of them still doubted” (Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:41; John 21:12&13). Jesus’ disciples were sure this resurrected person they saw was really Jesus, but it was such a tremendous miracle, there was still a little doubt. So, Jesus assures John’s disciples that he really is the Messiah (Matt.11:4-6; Luke 7:21-23). And then Jesus teaches the people a tremendous truth about the Kingdom of God. “I assure you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the most insignificant person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!.....if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand” (Matthew 11:11-15; Luke 7:24-28). As great a man as John was, Jesus promised that the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven was more privileged than even John. Are we listening to what Jesus is telling us? Or, are we so busy that we miss a message intended for each of us? Do we now believe this great truth or do we still doubt?

Week 38 Devotions

September 17 - - Great leaders are rare. They are people who not only have their own act together, but people who are able to inspire others to also get their act together. Ezra and Nehemiah were just such leaders. When they observed the sorry state of their people, they did something about it. First of all, they didn’t accept the moral decline of the Jews as inevitable and irreversible. They didn’t turn a deaf ear to Israel’s condition. They were appalled and stunned at what had happened (Ezra 9:1-4; Nehemiah 1:4). Then, they mourned, fasted, and prayed. And in their prayers, they didn’t place blame on everyone else. They accepted responsibility for the moral decay of their countrymen. They confessed their own sins, as well as the sins of their people (Ezra 9:5-15; Nehemiah 1:4-11). And with God’s help, they formulated a plan for their people returning to God (Ezra 10:1-17; Nehemiah 2:1-18). Both believed that God had always been faithful to His promises and still would be if God’s people repented. The example of faithfulness of these two great men had a positive impact on the rest of God’s people. In Ezra’s case, he was able to convince those who had married pagan wives to separate themselves from those wives. In Nehemiah’s case, he was able to convince the people of Jerusalem to help him rebuild the walls. Our world and our society cries out for leaders like these two. Our moral decay demands that someone step into the vaccuum created by sin. Where will those leaders come from? What will those leaders look like? Unless God’s people step to the plate and be the moral leaders they should be in their homes, in their churches, in their schools, in their communities, and in their nation, Satan will certainly fill that void with ungodly leaders who will lead with ungodly methods. The Bible clearly states, “When the wicked take charge, people hide” (Proverbs 28:28). “When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan” (29:2). “When the godly succeed, everyone is glad. When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding” (28:12). “The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the godless die” (11:10). “Kings and rulers make a grave mistake if they give foolish people great authority, and if they fail to give people of proven worth their rightful place of dignity” (Ecclesiastes 10:5&6). Either we accept the God-given call to be spiritual and moral leaders in any and every sphere of influence God has placed us in, OR we are destined to reap the results of immoral and ungodly leaders whose primary concern is themselves and no one else. What is your choice? It would certainly be no insult for people to compare us to men like Ezra and Nehemiah. September 20 - - “The Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of His love. And He chose you, their descen-dants, above every other nation, as is evident today. Therefore, cleanse your sinful hearts and stop being stubborn” (Deuteronomy 10:15&16). “God overlooked people’s former ignorance about these things, but now He commands everyone everywhere to turn away from idols and turn to Him” (Acts 17:30). “Unless you repent, you will perish” (Luke 13:3,5). “Heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (Luke 15:7). For, “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents” (Luke 15:10). Offering up sacrifices to God without an accompanying worship of Him from our heart means nothing to Him (I Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:11-20). What God desires from us is a broken and repentant heart (Psalm 34:18; 51:17). When God’s people seriously study the Word of God and see for themselves how far they have strayed from God’s desired will in their lives, it always leads to either a personal and/or a national repentance from sins. Earlier, both Nehemiah and Ezra had confessed their own sins, as well as the sins of their people (Ezra 9:5-15; Nehemiah 1:4-11). Eventually, the people them-selves would follow suit and also confess their sins (Nehemiah 9:2,33). What had started with Ezra and Nehemiah eventually spread to the whole nation. After devoting themselves to reading God’s Word and repenting of their sins, the people of God made a series of solemn promises to do what God’s Word told them to do (9:38), in the areas of: marriage (10:30), the Sabbath (vs.31), care of God’s Temple (vss.32-34), the giving to God of the firstfruits He deserves (vss. 35-37a), and the giving to the Levites a tenth or tithe of “everything our land produces” (vss.37b-39). It is one thing to make a promise and it is quite another to keep a promise. The next few years would determine how serious they would be. How do you see yourself before God? As a pretty fine individual much more righteous than many of the people around, or as one who at your best is nothing more than filthy rags compared to our Holy God (Isaiah 64:6)? Just remember, it’s not a proud and haughty heart God searches for, but a broken and humble heart.

Week 37 Devotions

September 10 - - One of God’s timeless promises was expressed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: “Keep on looking and you will find......(for) everyone who seeks, finds” (Matthew 7:7&8). That promise appears at other places in scripture, and at other times in history (Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 29:11-14). The Hebrew writer identifies this persistent pursuit to know God more deeply as a vital part of the definition of faith. “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who comes to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). God gave to Daniel very unusual abilities that in part, were a reward for Daniel’s diligent pursuit to know God more deeply. When Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, he refused to defile himself by eating food and drinking wine given to him by King Nebuchadnezzar (1:8). Daniel’s faith and convictions were formed long before he was exiled to Babylon. So, when the temptations came to compromise those convictions far away from home, Daniel refused to do so. Daniel was given the ability to interpret dreams from God, that no one else could understand (2:16-19,45-48; 4:4-9,19, 24-26). When King Darius later conquered Babylon, he elevated Daniel to an even higher responsibility within his government. “Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and princes. Because of his great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his responsibilities, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize him for. He was faithful and honest (6:4&5). King Darius was later tricked into issuing a decree forbidding the worship of any god, but himself. Daniel refused to obey the edict. But, Daniel quietly continued to kneel down in his upstairs room with it’s windows open toward Jerusalem and pray three times a day, giving thanks to God (6:10). Daniel and God were tight. Consequently, God gave to Daniel, abilities and visions that God gave to no one else (10:2-19). What was true for Daniel is also true for us. We should not seek God simply so we can have abilities, dreams, or visions that no one else has. Our motive for seeking God would be wrong and selfish and God will not honor selfish motivations (James 4:3). But, God knows when we are seeking Him with a pure heart. And His promise still holds true today: “Those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 4:31). The wicked cannot understand the things of God. Their minds are blinded by Satan because he does not want people to see the truth that will set them free to really enjoy life (II Corinthians 4:4; John 8:44,32; 10:10). “The wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it (God’s Word and prophecy) means” (Daniel 12:10). And those who are “wise” according to God’s Word, have been promised they “will shine as bright as the sky, and those who turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever” (12:3). So, let us be about the task of seeking God and pointing as many people as possible to Him. September 13 - - Human beings are constantly trying to prepare for the future without including the Lord into their equation. Even though Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and even though the apostle Paul said, “I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need” (Philippians 4:13), more often than not, we plan our lives as though the only one we can depend upon is ourselves and not the Lord. As Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, the Lord specifically spoke through Moses that when Israel cried out for a king, “the king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself, and he must never send his people to Egypt to buy horses there, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt’” (Deuteronomy 17:16). And yet, we see Israel disregarding God’s commands time and again. Through the prophet, Isaiah, God said, “Destruction is certain for those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their cavalry and chariots instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel......God will rise against those who are wicked, and He will crush their allies, too. For these Egyptians are mere humans, not God! Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits! When the Lord clenches His fist against them, they will stumble and fall among those who are trying to help. They will all fall down and die together” (Isaiah 31:1-3). No man and no nation can ever stand against the power and the fury of the Lord. “The horses are prepared for battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). Even though God would often allow Israel’s enemies to conquer her for a season, those enemies would eventually be judged by God, as well. The city of Tyre had built it’s defenses and in human terms, the city was impenetrable. But, no city can withstand the power of the Lord and the Lord promised Tyre’s destruction (Zechariah 9:2-4). “The Lord will rescue His people, just as a shepherd rescues His sheep” (Zech.9:16). “The pride of Assyria will be crushed, and the rule of Egypt will end. I will make my people strong in my power, and they will go wherever they wish by my authority. I, the Lord, have spoken” (10:12). “I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind the horses of her enemies” (12:4). “The Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David.....For my plan is to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (12:8&9). Why is it that we foolishly try to live in the weakness of our own strength? Why is it that we fail to see how strong we are when we place our confidence and our trust in the Lord instead of in ourselves? Is history not a brilliant enough teacher? Is our own experience not sufficient for us to know the truth? Why must we make the same mistakes over and over again? May the Lord give us the wisdom to totally place our confidence in Him, and not in ourselves.

Week 36 Devotions

September 3 - - Funny how pride is easier to spot in other people than it is in ourselves. How many of us have read the story of Pharoah’s stubbornness as he refused to let the Hebrew people leave Egypt and wondered what in the world he was thinking of? Why after three plagues didn’t Pharoah realize who he was dealing with? Why did Pharoah still not get it after six plagues? Or, eight? Was it really necessary that it take ten plagues before Pharoah finally figure it out? Does pride really blind us that much? Even though he didn’t realize it, King Nebuchadnezzar had been used by God to bring down punishment upon the people of Judah. The same had been true of the king of Assyria when he conquered the kingdom of Israel. “Assyria will enslave my people, who are a godless nation. It will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath it’s feet. But the king of Assyria will not know that it is I who sent him. He will merely think he is attacking my people as part of his plan to conquer the world” (Isaiah 10:6&7). We need to remember that, “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; He turns it wherever He pleases” (Proverbs 21:1). Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and Daniel interprets the dream for the king. Daniel warns the king that God will soon take his kingdom away from him and he will live like a cow for seven years (Daniel 4:10-17). Daniel pleads with the king to turn from his pride so he would not be judged (4:19-27). God gave Nebuchadnezzar a full year to humble himself, but the king still took pride in all that he had done (4:28-30). So, God fulfilled His promise and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from his throne. Why did it take Nebuchadnezzar even two years to realize how foolish he had been? Why didn’t he realize his foolishness after four years? Why in the world would it take him seven years to come to his senses? Nevertheless, the king’s sanity returned when he finally “looked up to heaven” (4:34). It took seven whole years of living like a cow before Nebuchadnezzar finally realized that God “is able to humble those who are proud” (4:37). And yet, while we shake our heads at the king’s pride, how many times does God shake His head at us wondering why we don’t learn from the examples of others or even from our own personal experiences? Why is it we insist that we know better than God and stubbornly refuse to turn in complete obedience to Him? How true it is that, “pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18), regardless of who we are. Pride really isn’t restricted to royalty, is it? September 6 - - Water is one of the absolute staples of life. Plant life needs water to grow. Most animals, including humans, are largely comprised of water and need constant nourishment and refresh-men from water to continue living. It is no accident that Jesus calls himself, “living water” (John 4:10). Jesus “created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make (I Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16&17; Hebrews 1:2). Life itself was in him” (John 1:3&4). Jesus is the “author of life” (Acts 3:15) and he “came to bring us life” (John 10:10). While it is true that Jesus created every physical thing that exists, it is also true that until human beings really know Jesus they are only existing. They are not living. We see this analogy of water giving life in both the Old Testament before Jesus Christ was born and again, after Jesus ascended into heaven (Revelation 7:17). The Dead Sea has nothing living in or around it because the water contains so much salt. But, through the prophet, Ezekiel, God pointed to that day in the future when trees would grow along both sides of the Jordan River running to the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47:6-9). Fish would live in the river and everything that touches the river would also live. In fact, this living water would also heal the waters of the Dead Sea and fishermen would fill their nets there as surely as they did from the Sea of Galilee (47:10-12). If you’ve seen the Dead Sea, that hardly seems possible. Even now, the size of the Dead Sea continues to shrink because of the abundant amount of salt in it’s waters. But, nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37). God will bring life where God chooses to bring life. He will heal that which is sick or broken. The picture of God bringing life to the Dead Sea is both a prophecy of future events, but also a promise of present healing. There are times in each of our lives when we feel spiritually dead. There are seasons when hope is not even a mirage we think we can see. God simply wants us to know that He not only has the power to bring life where He wishes and to whom He wishes, but He also has the desire to do both. The “author of life” is faithful. He knows our needs. He knows our sorrows. He knows our weaknesses. And he will never fail us (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20; I Peter 5:7). Never!

Week 35 Devotions

August 27 - - “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received a full knowledge of the truth, there is no other sacrifice that will cover these sins. There will be nothing to look forward to but the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume His enemies......It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:26&27, 31). The apostle Paul tells us that God allows us to keep on living in our foolish disobedience if that is what we choose. “God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired” (Romans 1:24). “God abandoned them to their shameful desires” (1:26). “When they refused to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done” (1:28). God is wise enough to know that forcing us to follow Him is not really a relationship at all. A relationship exists when two people feel a mutual connection and commitment to one another, and not when one does while the other doesn’t. Jerusalem’s destruction was not simply a result of God’s fury and anger. The leaders of the Hebrew nation, “deprived people of their God-given rights in defiance of the Most High. They perverted justice in the courts. Do they think the Lord didn’t see it?” (Lamentations 3:34-36). A lot of the burden of what happened to Jerusalem fell on the shoulders of Israel’s leaders. “Your ‘prophets’ have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not try to hold you back from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope” (2:14). The fact is, “the unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.....The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for Him and seek Him” (3:22-25). When we know from the lessons of the past and from our own personal experience that God is wonderfully good to those who wait for Him and seek Him, and when we know from the lessons of the past and from our own personal experience that God is angry with those who refuse to acknowledge their sin, why would we even think about remaining in our sins? August 30 - - “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way” (James 3:1&2). Teaching is a respected and honored profession. Those who teach have a powerful influence on those whom they teach. This responsibility should not be taken lightly; whether it’s in the church, school, home, work, or wherever. Many were the times when the problems of Israel could be traced to her problematic teachers or shepherds. Ezekiel was commanded to give the shepherds of Israel this message: “Destruction is certain for you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks” (Ezekiel 34:2). God’s shepherds were concerned only for themselves and neglecting their flocks. “So, my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd” (34:5). “You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve....”, therefore, “I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, along with their right to feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey” (34:9&10). God promised to one day send a Good Shepherd (34:11-24). Through this Good Shepherd, God would wash His people’s sins away. “I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command” (36:26&27). This Good Shepherd would place the desire within God’s people to want to follow God; not because they had to, but because of their love for Him, they wanted to (II Corinthians 5:14). It would be this Chief Shepherd’s sacrifice and example that would guide God’s new shepherds in leading and shepherding God’s flock (I Peter 5:1-4). How blessed we are to know Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. With the new heart he gives us (II Cor.5:17), may we teach and lead those around us in a way that pleases God.

Week 34 Devotions

August 20 - - Our God is a just and a fair God (Psalm 7:11;11:7; 33:5). He has all the facts before Him. He knows what we think. He knows what we will say before we say it (Psalm 139:1-4). And because of His knowledge, God does not make mistakes when it comes to His judgment. He is always right and He is always just. When God said that He would “punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations” (Exodus 20:5), He was not suggesting that one person will receive the penalty for another person’s sin. He was reminding us that some people will end up suffering the consequences of other people’s actions, sometimes for three and four generations. This is further defined for us in Ezekiel 18. “All people are mine to judge - - both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: ‘The person who sins will be the one who dies’” (vs.4). “The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins” (vs.20). God does not take delight in seeing anyone perish (vs.23; II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:4). His desire is that everyone turn from their wickedness and follow Him. If a father loves God and obeys God, but has a son who does all kinds of evil, the son will perish because of his own sins and not because of anything the father has done wrong. The son will have no one to blame but himself. Likewise, the father will not be punished for his son’s sins (vss.5-13). On the other hand, if a son sees the wickedness of his father and determines not to follow in his father’s footsteps, he will live because he has done the right thing when he follows God (vss.14-18). “The one who sins is the one who dies. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own goodness, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. And if wicked people turn from all their sins and begin to obey my laws and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done” (vss.20-22). The bottom line is this: it does us absolutely no good to try and point the finger of blame for something we have done or for the way we have lived, at anyone else. The One who knows everything cannot be fooled by our lies. The sooner we accept responsibility for our actions, the quicker we can overcome them and change. August 23 - - God works through the lives of unbelievers, as well as believers. He also uses unbelieving rulers, as well as believing rulers; and pagan nations, as well as godly nations to accomplish His purposes. “From one man God created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and He determined their boundaries” (Acts 17:26). The Babylonian nation was a world power for a long time. One of Babylon’s greatest kings was Nebuchadnezzar. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered a nation, he allowed it’s people to retain their gods and idols. Since none of these gods were real, they were no threat to Nebuchadnezzar or to Babylon. But, when God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Judah, the king soon discovered that Jehovah was not just a wooden idol. Nebuchadnezzar found out first hand the power of God. When Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, he looked for anyone who could not only interpret the dream, but someone who could actually tell him what his dream had been. Only Daniel was able to do this, and he gave credit for his ability to God (Daniel 2:17-23). When Nebuchadnezzar built a ninety foot golden statute and demanded that everyone bow down and worship it, three Hebrew men refused to do so. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace and came out alive without even so much as a single hair singed from the heat, the king once again saw the power of God and gave praise to God (Daniel 3:19-30). But, the lessons the Babylonian king learned were soon forgotten. Pride is a spiritual cancer and when Nebuchadnezzar gloated on all he had done and all he had accumulated, God taught him a valuable lesson. For seven years, Nebuchadnezzar was forced to live like an animal, having “the mind of an animal instead of a human” (4:16). Only when he turned to God did Nebuchadnezzar regain his sanity (4:34). “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All His acts are just and true, and He is able to humble those who are proud” (4:37). What is true of individuals is also true of nations. Those nations which ignored God and afflicted God’s people were eventually punished and humbled by God. Even Judah was spared from God’s judgment for a long time. But, whether it be Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, or even Judah and Israel, God’s mercy will eventually give way to God’s justice. Nations, like individual people, who pat themselves on their own back for the prosperity and power they have accumulated, will eventually find themselves living in the cesspool of their sins and their pride (Luke 15:11-19).

Week 33 Devotions

August 13 - - It must have been difficult for the people of the kingdom of Israel when the pagan nation of Assyria conquered them and deported Jews to foreign lands. Equally difficult would have been the thoughts of those living in the kingdom of Judah when Babylon did the same to it’s people a few years later. God has promised to bless those who are obedient to Him (Deuteronomy 28-30; Psalm 33:12) and curse those who are disobedient to Him. As we read through the history of Israel, it is obvious that God’s patience with His people’s disobedience is far greater than anything we can humanly imagine (Genesis 18:16-33), and His mercy is often extended toward His people much longer than they deserve. But, God’s promises are sure. When He punishes, we can be sure His punishment is fair. When He rewards, we can be sure His blessings are usually more than fair. Sometimes, God allows pagan nations (Assyria and Babylon, for example) to execute His judgment upon His people. But, God is just. And in both cases, the judge soon became the judged. She, who once brought destruction upon Judah, would soon be destroyed, herself. And, “the terror that falls upon the Babylonians will be the work of the sovereign Lord Almighty” (Jeremiah 50:25). On the other hand, God also promises hope to those whom He loves. Punishment is but, for a season. “The day will come,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. In this new covenant, God promised to put His laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. “I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins” (Jeremiah 31:33&34). “The time is coming,” says the Lord, “when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me” (vs.38). God’s people would, “ask the way to Jerusalem and start back home again. They will bind themselves to the Lord with an eternal covenant that will never again be broken” (Jeremiah 50:5). Our God is a God of hope. “He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve. For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:9-12). We have no one to blame when the consequences of our sins finally come home to rest on us. And, we have no one to thank but the Lord when His goodness is demonstrated toward us. August 16 - - After Cain had murdered his brother, Abel, the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?” (Genesis 4:9). Cain lied. “I don’t know! Is it my responsibility to keep track of him?” That’s the way sin usually works. Rather than face our sins head-on and admit the truth, we oftentimes compound one sin by committing another. Like Cain, we lie to avoid facing the truth of our sins. Apparently, the Lord did feel that Cain bore responsibility for Abel because Cain was severely punished for his sin (4:10-16). God reinforced the responsibility we have for others when He commissioned Ezekiel as a prophet. “I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, pass it on to the people immediately. If I warn the wicked saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible, demanding your blood for theirs. If you warn them and they keep on sinning and refuse to repent, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved your life because you did what you were told to do. If good people turn bad and don’t listen to my warning, they will die. If you did not warn them of the consequences, then they will die in their sins. Their previous good deeds won’t help them, and I will hold you responsible, demanding your blood for theirs. But if you warn them and they repent, they will live, and you will have saved your own life, too.” (Ezekiel 3:17-21). While we must all give account to God for our own sins (Romans 14:12; Galatians 6:5; II Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 16:27), it appears that we, who have been given the Good News, also bear a responsibility for passing it on. There are some facts we learn in life that we pass on to others just to help enlighten them with new news. Most of the time, that new news is not going to change their lives very dramatically, if at all. There are other facts we pass on to others because the news would in some way be beneficial to them. But, the Good News the Lord asks us to pass on to others can eternally change people’s lives. This Good News is that God has sent His Son into this world to bring about our redemption. This Good News is that God loves us so much, He was willing to sacrifice His Son that we might find forgiveness through him. And everyone who receives this Good News and believes in the Son God sent, becomes a child of God (John 1:12) and receives eternal life (John 3:36). That being the case, why would we not want to share this Good News with others? Why would we want to keep this Good News to ourselves?