True Wealth; Zechariah 11

May the mumbling commence!

How do you define richness or wealth?  On the eternal scale, it means everything.  Read from Zechariah 11.4-16:

This is what the Lord my God says:  “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter.  Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished.  Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’  Their own shepherds do not spare them.  For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord.  “I will hand over everyone over to his neighbor and his king.  They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands.”

So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock.  Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.  In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock deserted me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd.  Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.  Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.  It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.”  So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter” – the handsome price at which they priced me!  So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.  For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.” or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.”

Do we get rich by selling out our brother and sisters in Christ?  Perhaps in the short term, but in the long term it is disastrous.  It means deserting the Great Shepherd.  It means losing the covenant of favor.

Do we get rich by undervaluing the worth of our Great Shepherd?  No.  When we undervalue our Great Shepherd we also tend to undervalue our brothers and sisters.  It means losing the union we have with our family.

The greatest riches and wealth come from faithfully and attentively following the Great Shepherd.  And it means valuing the Lord our God properly.

 I praise you, O Lord!  I give thanks for you.  May I follow you with all attentiveness.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

May the mumbling commence!

You have probably heard it said that one can make the Bible say just about anything.  Read past the familiar passage of Zechariah 9:9, and you will find there is potentially something for everyone – regardless of where they fall on the issue of war.  Read Zechariah 9:9-17 –

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

            Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

             righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

            and the war-horses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

             His rule will extend from sea to sea

and from the River to the ends of the earth. 

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 

Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope;

even now I announce

that I will restore twice as much to you. 

I will bend Judah as I bend my bow

            and fill it with Ephraim.

I will rouse your sons, O Zion,

            against your sons, O Greece,

            and make you like a warrior's sword.  

Then the Lord will appear over them;

            his arrow will flash like lightning.

The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;

            he will march in the storms of the south, 

and the Lord Almighty will shield them.

They will destroy

            and overcome with slingstones.

They will drink and roar as with wine;

they will be full like a bowl

used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. 

The Lord their God will save them

            on that day as the flock of his people.

They will sparkle in his land

            like jewels in a crown. 

How attractive and beautiful they will be!

Grain will make the young men thrive,

and new wine the young women.

The purple and yellow that start this passage is the familiar verse nine.  It makes many people think of Palm or Passion Sunday that leads into the Holy Week of Easter – the triumphal entry of Jesus.  But look what follows.

Being from a peace tradition church, I am drawn to the green and dark pink verses that directly follow verse nine.  The chariots and warhorses are gone.  The battle bow is broken.  Peace is proclaimed.  That’s what the green words say.  Then the dark pink words speak of justice – freeing prisoners and giving hopeless people hope.

I would like to stop reading there.  Because the words in red that follow are a little less peace-like in my estimation.  God will bend Judah as a bow and fill it with arrows from Ephraim.  Is God using His chosen people as weapons of war?  These words in red go on to say that the sons of Zion will be made like a warrior’s sword.  One could easily use these verses to justify jihad or argue for the just war theory.

But words in purple follow.  These purple words declare the advance of the Lord and the impending victory of the Lord.  Is this victory one that the Lord does and the chosen people need only to witness?  Or is the victory one that God achieves through the righteous wrath and vengeance of the chosen people?  Because these purple words are flanked by red words, it appears that the Lord will fight through his people.

But read the next line of purple words.  The Lord will save His flock, His people.  Sheep can hardly defend themselves!  Yes, we should allow God to use us.  Yes, we should respect the wrath and righteous anger of the Lord.  But in the end, we are like sheep in the flock of our Lord, made beautiful by the work of the Lord. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

Living the Dream; Zechariah 8

May the mumbling commence!

There is nothing like living in a dream!  Can you imagine a place and time where everything would go as the Lord wanted?  There is such a path to living the dream – if we choose to follow it.  Read from Zechariah 8:14-23 –

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Just as I had determined to bring disaster upon you and showed no pity when your fathers angered me," says the Lord Almighty, "so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid.  These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this," declares the Lord. 

Again the word of the Lord Almighty came to me.  This is what the Lord Almighty says: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace." 

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, 'Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.'   And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him." 

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.'"

In this passage, God spoke both of things to do and things not to do.  Speak the truth.  Render true and sound judgments.  Love truth and peace – and that peace includes justice.  These are some of the things to do to get on the path to living a dream.  Do not plot evil.  Do not lie.  These are some of the things to avoid leaving the path.

And, what does the dream of the Lord look like for us.  Our worship will become joyful and happy and glad occasions.  That joy will attract many people to the Lord.  Ten people will come to us on our way to worship to beg to join us.  They will pull on our dress shirts in their fervor.

There is a multitude of information out there for growing the church of God.  But, isn’t the Lord God Almighty the best source for growing His church?

Let us do the hard work of truth-telling in love.  Let us discern the righteous judgments – together seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  Let us leave our agendas behind, which could lead to plotting evil (for good we try to convince ourselves) and lies.

Our hard work – hand in hand with the Spirit – will lead to a dream state.  Can you imagine great mirth at the worship services you attend (if it is not happening already)?  Can you imagine people waiting in line at your church building doors to get in?

It can happen.  It will happen eventually if we trust in the Lord and do the hard work that the Lord has called us to do.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Joshua/Jesus the Branch; Zechariah 1-6

May the mumbling commence!

The prophet Zechariah, in chapter 3, introduces us to the high priest Joshua.  Read the entire chapter below:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.  The Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" 

Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.  The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."

Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." 

Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by. 

The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua:  "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. 

Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.  See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. 

'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the Lord Almighty."

Now, read a little later from Zechariah where he speaks of Joshua again:

The word of the Lord came to me:  "Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.  Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.  Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.  It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.'   The crown will be given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord.  Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God." (6:9-15)

The Lord rebuked Satan for standing at the side of the high priest Joshua to accuse him.  The Lord supplied new clothes and a clean turban.  The Lord did not intimate that Joshua had done no wrong.  In fact, the Lord told Joshua if he will walk in the ways and commands of the Lord, then he will govern the house of the Lord.  Joshua would be both priest and king.  And the Lord told Joshua that He would bring His servant the Branch.

The next passage from Zechariah seems to say that Joshua is that Branch.  The crown is placed on Joshua’s head.  But note that the crown was to be placed in the care of others, who would put it for safe keeping in the Temple of the Lord.  To keep it safe for the true Branch to take it up.

I think it much more than a coincidence that the high priest’s name is Joshua.  The name connects him to the Joshua who lead Israel into the Promised Land.  The name also foreshadows Jesus, whose name is a derivative of Joshua.  Jesus is the One who will lead us into the Promised Land of heaven.  He will be not only high priest and king, but he will also be prophet.  Jesus is Prophet and Priest and King.  We have need of no other.  Jesus is the Branch.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Worship Follow-Through; Ps 98, Haggai

May the mumbling commence!

Follow through is important is worship, too.  First, I wish to warmly welcome you to mid-week worship again with a few verses from Psalm 98:

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

     burst into jubilant song with music; 

make music to the Lord with the harp,

     with the harp and the sound of singing, 

with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn –

     shout for joy before the Lord, the King. 

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

     the world, and all who live in it. 

Let the rivers clap their hands,

     let the mountains sing together for joy; 

let them sing before the Lord,

     for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

     and the peoples with equity. (Verses 4-9)

People need an imperative to worship the Lord with joy.  At times, it is difficult to worship with joy.  But nature needs no such imperative.  The sea resounds, along with everything in it.  So does the world resound and all who live in it.  The rivers clap their hands, and the mountains sing for joy.  Let them sing!  Let us see the praise of the Lord in all the earth.  Let us listen to the resounding witness of all nature.

There is joy in all creation because the Lord judges all beings with righteousness.  If we wish our worship to resound true in the Lord’s ears as the worship of the creation around us, then we must follow through with righteousness and equity with all people.  Yep, the follow through of worship happens in between Sundays.  Read from Haggai 1:3-11 –

Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:  "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" 

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.  You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.  Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the Lord.  "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.  Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.  I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands."

Give careful thought to your ways.  Do we, like the people in Haggai’s day embellish our own lives and chase after worldly goals we have little chance of attaining?  Do we chase after wealth and power and fame to the detriment of worshiping the Lord?  Indeed, are we worshiping other idols between Sundays?  Let us embrace the Lord or endure the consequences of chasing for peace with no hope.  With God, there is always hope.  Read Haggai 2:6-9 –

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.  I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty.  'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty.  'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty."

Greater things are always to come when we choose the path of the Lord.  And the Lord’s path always leads to true peace and security.  Everything else is a poor substitute.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Mid-Week Worship; Ps 95

May the mumbling commence!

There is nothing like a mid-week worship service to provide me with a pick-me-up.  A week ago Monday, I began to bicycle to the school bus I drive in the mornings (the afternoons were too HOT).  It is a ten-mile round trip.  I thought it would be good for exercise and would save some money on fuel.  This week, since it has been cooler, I decided that I would add bicycling to my school bus in the afternoons.  Well, this morning I felt the strain on my legs.  Double the mileage makes a difference!

Well, I sat behind the steering wheel of the school bus (after I had pre-tripped my bus) and read the Scriptures for today from my chronological Bible.  Weary as I was, I was welcomed into a worship service.  I was drawn to the words of Psalm 95.  Read the below:

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 

Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song. 

For the Lord is the great God,

the great King above all gods. 

In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him. 

The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land. 

Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 

for he is our God

and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care.

Today, if you hear his voice, 

do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,

as you did that day at Massah in the desert, 

where your fathers tested and tried me,

though they had seen what I did. 

For forty years I was angry with that generation;

I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,

and they have not known my ways." 

So I declared on oath in my anger,

"They shall never enter my rest." 

All things are in the hands of the Great Creator.  When the psalmist includes the sea, the psalmist is stating that the Lord has control of the chaos of the sea.  The sea, for Hebrews, was the greatest symbol of chaos.

All of us are under the care of this Great Shepherd.  Why should we let present and transitive obstacles deter us from our goals – especially when those goals align with the Lord’s will for our lives.  Neither will I allow sore legs and a sore back stop me.  Bike riding has another fringe benefit – I am not hurtling by in a car, which prohibits conversation.  I am hoping that I will make some acquaintances that may grow into friendships.

Tired as I may feel physically, emotionally or spiritually, if I find the path that the Lord has laid before me; I will be able to enter God’s rest.  For those who go astray, that rest is elusive.  I invite you: Walk along with the Great Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, and enter that rest with me.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

Perspective Matters; Ezra 3

May the mumbling commence!

It is all a matter of perspective.  It depends upon your perspective how you react to something new.  It matters where you come from and how long you’ve been around.  Read from Ezra 3:10-13 –

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel.  With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

"He is good; his love to Israel endures forever."

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.  But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.  No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away. 

When the new foundation for the Temple of the Lord was laid by the returning exiles, there was great celebration – especially from those who did not remember the former temple.  The Levites lead in a psalm of praise: “[God] is good; His steadfast love to Israel endures forever.”

But those who were older and remembered the former Temple of the Lord wept aloud.  They wailed because they remembered the former glory of the Temple that Solomon built.  With the young and the old there is opposite reactions to the building of the new Temple of the Lord.  Who was right?  I truly do not believe that one was right and the other was wrong.  It is all a matter of perspective. 

Let me explain.  Those who were younger knew only the exile, where there was nowhere magnificent to gather in the Name of the Lord.  They had nothing to compare the dimensions and splendor to.  Anything would have been an improvement.  They looked at the newly laid foundation and imagined how it would look completed. They were overwhelmed the by size and grandeur that would be raised up from the ground.

On the other hand, those who were older remembered the glory of the Lord in the Temple.  They looked at the newly laid foundation, and they imagined how it would look when it finished.  It must not have matched their memories of the glory of the Temple built by Solomon.

One gave a great shout of praise; the other gave a great weeping wail.  But the song of praise to the Lord brought them together.  Those on the outside looking in could not distinguish the sound of the praising from the sound of the wailing.  Both sounds were loud and carried a far distance.  If told, these outsiders would not understand the source of the disagreement.

Sometimes, we, as churches, need to listen carefully to the perspective of outsiders.  Sometimes, outsiders can see more clearly what is going on than those on the inside.  Outsiders are not encumbered with past history of the church.

We must remember these valuable lessons when we think about our spaces for worship and when we think about how we worship.  We must hold loosely our preferred way of worship – even as we explain the stories behind our preferences.  We must hold our preferences loosely so that we might be able to listen to the preferences of those different from us – and the stories behind those preferences.

Let us live into a flexible way of worshiping.  As long as the center of the praise and worship remains on Christ Jesus, little else matters.  So let us lay aside the swords and shields of the worship wars so that we might worship the Lord with all the beautiful differences that each of us brings to worship.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

The Right Pedigree; Ezra 2, Nehemiah 7

May the mumbling commence!

Here again is another one of those days in reading the Old Testament where we read more names and numbers than stories.  Take heart!  There is less than a month of readings before we dive into the New Testament.  Also be on alert for those hidden nuggets of stories within the name lists.  Read one on those hidden stories from Ezra 2:61-63 (also recorded in Nehemiah 7:63-65):

And from among the priests:

The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name). 

These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.  The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.

We may read these words and think:  “What an exclusive people!”  In order to be clean for the priesthood, people needed to have the right pedigree.  Without the right family records, these people were excluded from priestly duties and the benefits that went along with the priesthood.

Before we get to sanctimonious in our wrath for these people returning from exile, we should take two things into account.  Number One:  Israel was finally returning to the Promised Land after many years spent in exile.  And this exile came about because the people of Israel did not observe the commands and laws and decrees of the Lord properly.  There was due and just concern that they not make the same mistake twice.  So, proper and committed priest were needed to lead the people into right relationship with the Lord.

Number Two:  Let us examine how well we welcome those new people (whether they are seekers or from another denominational tradition) into our houses of worship on Sunday morning (or any other time and function of the church).  How many times do we use peoples’ last names to play the Mennonite or Brethren or Methodist or Presbyterian game (I could go on, but I think you get the point.)?  I’ve been on the outside of these conversations and looking in more times than I wish to remember.  Or how many times to do speak in hushed tones about those people who only seem to turn up for church meals?  Those “other people” are either our brothers or sisters in Christ or they have the potential of becoming our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Okay.  Now, that we have our feet back on the floor; let’s tackle that last clause at the end of the passage.  What is it with this priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim?  The Urim and the Thummim were a part of the priests’ trade.  Read a verse from Exodus 28:

Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.  (Verse 30)

The Urim and the Thummim were used to discern the will of the Lord in a matter.  How was this done?  Scholars cannot seem to agree.  There seems to be a possible usage of the Urim and Thummim when Jonathan disobeyed the command of his father King Saul (1 Samuel 14:41).  In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament), Saul declared, “If the fault is with me or my son respond with the Urim, but if the fault is with the men of Israel respond with the Thummim.” 

But what do these words mean in relation to the Hebrew language.  Some think that the Thummim has the meaning of innocent, and the Urim has the meaning of light.  Thus, the people who think this think they have the meaning of lights and perfections.  OR they could have been related to Babylonian words meaning oracle (Urim) and command (Thummim).  OR the Urim could be related to the Hebrew word Arrim, which means curses.  Then, one would know the guilt or innocence of the person or statement made before the drawing (or throwing) of the Urim and Thummim. 

Regardless of how this item (or these items) were used, for today, I would lean toward the thought of light and perfections.  These concepts have the greatest meaning for changing our lives.  May the light of the Lord reveal and heal our imperfections so that we may be better children of God as we relate to all people in our midst. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

Dare to be a Daniel; Daniel 6

May the mumbling commence!

Oh, to be thrown into the lions’ den on account of faithfulness to the Lord!  Jesus told us to take up our crosses and follow him.  Well, Daniel was following the promise of the Messiah without ever seeing him born.  Read from Daniel chapter six:

Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.  At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.  Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." 

So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever!  The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den.  Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered – in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed."  So King Darius put the decree in writing. 

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.  Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.  So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: "Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?"

The king answered, "The decree stands – in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." 

Then they said to the king, "Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day."  When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. 

Then the men went as a group to the king and said to him, "Remember, O king, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed." 

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!" 

A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.  Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. 

At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den.  When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" 

Daniel answered, "O king, live forever!  My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." 

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. (Verses 3-23)

Daniel was making his co-workers green with envy.  They were looking desperately for a way to discredit Daniel.  They could find a way of discrediting Daniel only through his faithfulness to the Law of the Lord.  Could that statement be true to us?  As the old song says, do you and I “dare to be a Daniel”? 

The king realized the worth of Daniel, and he immediately began to sing the blues if he were to lose his trusted servant.  Daniel was not only faithful to God, but he was also faithful to the king whenever that faithfulness did not conflict with the Law of the Lord. 

May we be as trusted and faithful to our Lord first then to our government. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out