Article (Page 9)

The book of Daniel presents some of the most memorable events and tests of human faith in all of the bible. Daniel recalls and interprets king Nebuchadnezzar’s forgotten dream in chapter 2, and ends up being elevated to a position of great power in the kingdom. The king awoke troubled and upset by the vividness of dream he could not recall. When his counselors could not tell him what he had dreamed, and insisted that “only the gods can show…

The prophet Daniel was a member of the tribe of Judah, and was descended from one of the most prominent families of that tribe (Daniel 1:3 suggests that he was actually a member of the royal family). His name means “God is my Judge.” We meet Daniel when he is taken to Babylon as a captive/ hostage after king Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Judah, around 606 B.C. It is clear that he was thoroughly educated in the scriptures, and in Babylon…

In Ezekiel 25-32 God presents a series of declarations of impending judgement against the various heathen neighbors of His people (the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, the Phoenicians/city of Tyre, the Sidonians, and the Egyptians). There are many important points and valuable lessons we should learn from these chapters; here are two that should “stand out” among them: First, the fact that God declares His judgement against these pagan, idolatrous peoples shows that even though they did not worship or acknowledge…

The prophet Ezekiel was a contemporary of both Jeremiah and Daniel, as well as Habakkuk and Zephaniah. He was a priest as well as a prophet, and the focus of his “ministry” was mainly among the common people of Judah. Like Daniel, he was taken into captivity in Babylon, where he lived by the river Chebar among the “middle class” captives (unlike Daniel, who served in king Nebuchadnezzar’s palace). Some biblical scholars identify the Chebar as one of the large…

The book of Lamentations is sometimes described as a five-stanza dirge (a funeral song) over the death of a city (Jerusalem) and a nation (Judah). In the original Hebrew language, there are mnemonic (memory) aids in each chapter: In chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5, each verse begins with a letter of the alphabet (thus, 22 verses in each chapter because there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet). In chapter 3, each group of three verses begins with a…

One of the truly vivid lessons presented by Jeremiah comes in chapter 35, and it concerns the descendants of a man named Rechab. Rechab was the father of Jehonadab, who participated with Jehu in slaughtering the worshipers of Baal after the death of king Ahab (2 Kings 10:15-28). Rechab’s “claim to fame” was his decree that none of his descendants should ever live in a house, nor plant a field or vine- yard, nor drink grape juice/wine in any form…

One of the most valuable lessons we can learn from the prophet Jeremiah comes from his own experience in faithfully serving the Lord. True commitment to the Almighty means persisting in His way, with His message even when those around us don’t want to hear it. In Jeremiah 20:7-9, the servant of the Lord laments that he “got more than he bargained for” in obeying the Lord’s call to be His prophet: The people mocked him for his message, until…

“Do not pray for this people… for I will not hear you.” What an incredibly hard, harsh-sounding decree! Yet this was God’s explicit instruction to Jeremiah, in chapter 7:16. The bible critic, and the skeptic would respond, “See; the God of the bible is a mean, cruel despot!” Some background information is in order, however, so as to understand the context of the Lord’s words here; He first instructed Jeremiah to go to the main entrance of the temple and…

The prophet Jeremiah has often been described as the “weeping” prophet of Judah because of the sorrow he experienced in the course of performing his task. Jeremiah was sent to warn a wayward, rebellious, and impenitent people about the Lord’s coming judgement upon them. A patriotic Jew, but also a tender-hearted man, there were times when Jeremiah felt his prophetic burden was more than he could bear. His service spans the reigns of the last five kings of Judah, and…