READINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 4 - SEPTEMBER 10

SEPTEMBER 4

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is a great story of standing firm in the faith!

A question surfaces concerning why Daniel, who was an overseer for the king didn't intercede for his three friends.  Was he away on business?  Is that why he did not intercede?   He certainly had influence with the king.  Or did he not intercede because he knew that God would save his friends? Did he know what an impact this would make on the king?

Did you get a handle on how large the statue was? It was the equivalent of seven stories high and was only nine feet wide. Interestingly, this is the same ratio of the dimensions of the Washington Monument, which is 555 ft. 5 1/8 in tall and 55 ft. 1 1/2 inches at the base. There is nothing in this passage of Scripture that tells us the details of how the image looked. Many think that it was an image of Nebuchadnezzar himself, but that is not supported in Scripture. Chances are it was an obelisk of some sort or an Asherah pole.

There were several provincial offices listed. Satraps were governors over major divisions of the empire serving as chief representatives of the king. Prefects were governors over conquered cities.

The Jews were denounced. Remember, they were from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah from the Southern Kingdom of Israel. The Northern 10 tribes were taken into Assyrian captivity.

What great faith as testified by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! They knew God could save them from the fiery furnace. They also believed that no matter what happened He was still their God. And the outcome? Not only did He save them from the fire, but their hair was not singed, their robes not scorched, nor was there any smell of fire on them. Isn’t that just like God? To do more than we could imagine?

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
God does more than we can ask or imagine, according to the Holy Spirit, the power at work.

Was the saving of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego a foreshadowing of the places of safety for Believers during the wrath of God, the Day of the Lord?

Who was the fourth man in the furnace? Could that have been the pre-incarnate Son of God? Could this have been something similar to what was seen at the Mount of Transfiguration?
Nebuchadnezzar flip-flopped back and forth during his reign concerning his allegiance to the God of Daniel. In this brief passage, he went from condemning the three men and throwing them into a seven-times hotter furnace to ordering that those who say anything against God be cut to pieces and their houses burned into piles of rubble (Hebrew word rubble is slang for feces.) We have little evidence to support any claim of a true conversion of King Nebuchadnezzar, but he certainly had plenty of chances, so perhaps he did. Chapter 4 in Daniel seems to suggest that he did become a believer in the one true God.  However, there is no mention that he gave up honoring the false gods he once gave allegiance to.

SEPTEMBER 5

Absolutely fascinating - all the details of Ezekiel's great temple vision.  There were so many differences with how people perceive the biblical dimensions. 

There is a verse in today's reading, Ezekiel 40:4 that has special meaning to us (Phil and Patti).

"Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here.  Tell the house of Israel everything you see."

This is the reason we believe God allowed us to visit Israel in 2005 and again in 2011.  We were supposed to pay attention to everything we experienced there so that we could tell others, like you!

The God-ordained Millennial Temple will be built in Jerusalem in the great valley created by the split in the Mount of Olives at Jesus’ return. Over the temple will be a cloud by day and a glow of flaming fire at night. There will be no darkness and no night time. The gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel.

The area immediately surrounding the temple will be a most holy place. The whole Kidron Valley east of Jerusalem will be holy to the Lord, the most holy place on earth. In the Millennial Temple there will be no common things. Jerusalem will become the true worship center of the world. The dimensions of the sacred district of the Millennial Temple are 25,000 by 20,000 sacred cubits or about ten miles by about eight miles.  One of the markers for this dimension is Azel, which is four miles south of Jerusalem. The earthquake splits the mountain four miles to the north and four miles to the south for a total of eight miles.  The circumference of the wall around the temple itself will be seven miles.  The circumference of the sacred district will be about 80 miles. 

At the completion of the Millennial Temple the glory of the Lord will enter the temple through the eastern gate. The gate will be shut.  

The temple will be absent of a few things that were previously found in the temples of Jerusalem. The curtain between the Holy place and the Most Holy place will be absent. There will be no barrier between God and man. The table of showbread will be absent. Jesus takes the place of the showbread because He is the bread of life. The Ark of the Covenant will be absent. However the altar of sacrifice will again be present, not as an actual atonement for sins but as a remembrance of what Jesus has done, lest anyone forget.  

Serving at the temple under Jesus as Lord of Lords will be a select family of priests, from the tribe of Levi who are descendants of the faithful priest Zadok.

I Samuel 2:35
I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always.

Ezekiel 44:15-16
"'But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service.

These sacrifices and offerings will be done as a memorial or a remembrance much the same as we do communion today. The animals represent the blood sacrifice and a remembrance of what Jesus did for the people. The other offerings will represent gifts of praise, fellowship, unity and joy as offerings to God.

Another example of the connections from the Old Testament to today.  Ezekiel was given a prophetic vision concerning the glory of the Lord as well as a condemnation for the pagan practices.

Ezekiel 43:4-9
The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple.  He said: "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile my holy name-- neither they nor their kings-- by their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings at their high places.  When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings, and I will live among them forever.

Lessons for today?  Concerning paganism - people compromise, then rationalize, then justify and finally embrace pagan doctrine as truth.  It starts with an "innocent" compromise.  And yet with all the spiritual prostitution and spiritual adultery, God offered them and He offers us restoration if we would only put away our spiritual unfaithfulness.

Earlier we said that there were so many differences with how people perceive the biblical dimensions of Ezekiel's temple vision. This, we believe, is the reason.  All the dimensions are not given in the biblical account.  And here's why all the dimensions are not given.

Ezekiel 43:10-11
"Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider the plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple-- its arrangement, its exits and entrances-- its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.

God said, "IF...they are ashamed."  Apparently the people were not totally ashamed of their sins, therefore, they did not receive all the dimensions of the temple.

Hmmm...wonder what God may want to reveal to each of us IF...

SEPTEMBER 6

In yesterday’s reading there was mention of the holiness of the millennial temple. There in the millennial temple, the house of Israel will never again defile His holy name. In today’s reading there is a contrast between the way the people were defiling the temple then and what the millennial temple will be.  

Ezekiel 43:7-9
He said: "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile my holy name-- neither they nor their kings-- by their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings at their high places. When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings, and I will live among them forever.

How have we as Believers in Jesus defiled His holy name by placing our threshold (our limits) next to His? Our doorposts (our laws) beside His? Have we defiled His holy name by joining secularism with God’s ordained holy festivals? (Christmas???) Have we sacrificed His commands on the altars of paganism? 

In Ezekiel 44:15-16 the priests who are descendants of the faithful priest Zadok are especially honored.  They alone (of all the Levites) can enter the sanctuary, come near the table, and minister before the Lord performing His service.

Concerning the priests, Ezekiel has these instructions. 

Ezekiel 44:23-24
They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. "'In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed feasts, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

The priests then and the spiritual leaders today are to teach the people the difference between the holy and the common and between the clean and the unclean.  Spiritual leaders are charged with the responsibility of telling people what sin is.  They are also charged with keeping the laws and decrees for God's appointed feasts and Sabbaths.  The Sabbath day is not just the regular weekly Sabbath. The holy days (feasts and festivals) are also Sabbaths.

Ezekiel 47 mentions the Millennial Temple's river and also fruit trees.  These trees are for food and their leaves for healing.  These trees will be used to maintain a state of health for Believers who enter into the millennial kingdom.  John has a similar view of the eternal temple in the heavenly kingdom. (Revelation 22:1-5)

The city gates are to be named for the 12 ancestral tribes of Israel.  Again in the eternal temple in the heavenly kingdom, the gates will be named for the 12 tribes.

Ezekiel 48:35b
"And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE."
This verse does not just mean that this is the name of the city.  It means that the presence of the glory of God will again dwell in the temple.  Indeed, THE LORD IS THERE."

There are commands for the millennial kingdom concerning the observance of God’s holy festivals, specifically Passover and the Feast (Feast of Tabernacles). If these are observances that God has ordained for Believers in the millennium, shouldn’t we as Believers in Jesus be remembering them now?

SEPTEMBER 7

In the Chronological Bible commentary for today are these words.  "After Ezekiel's great temple vision, it is another two years before the word of the Lord comes to him again".   Just because it isn't recorded doesn't mean God didn't speak to him.

Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that Daniel interprets for him. The king is given another chance to repent which he doesn’t do. The dream becomes reality as the king is reduced to living with wild animals. Some think this was a form of mental illness called lycanthropy, which is "a form of madness involving the delusion of being an animal, usually a wolf, with correspondingly altered behavior." This illness lasted “seven times” which means seven years.

"the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men." 

You can make your own connections to some of the leaders of the U.S, today in reference to "the lowliest of men". Companion verse is found in Romans 13:1.

Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon which was founded by Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah. The city was surrounded by a wall 350 feet high and 87 feet thick and wide enough for six chariots to drive abreast. There were 250 watchtowers on top of the wall and it was surrounded by a moat.

Nebuchadnezzar, who has spent most of his life oppressing God’s people, ends his life well. Compare him to the apostle Paul.

When the king raised his eyes toward heaven, his sanity was restored and he praised God. Doesn’t that sound as if it is something we should all do…raise our eyes toward heaven and give praise to Him? When our eyes are on the world around us, we can easily become insane. It’s only when we look toward God and our eternal future with Him, that we are truly sane! Amen???

SEPTEMBER 8

Job is one of the most ancient books of the Bible. The book accurately should be placed between Genesis and Exodus (Reference Jasher 68:24, 42-43).  It is a powerful testimony to the faith of a man named Job. God removes the hedge of protection and prosperity surrounding Job and Satan is allowed in. Satan can only do to a Believer what God will allow him to do. God can put us to the test to demonstrate to Satan who is in control. God in His foreknowledge knew what Job would do. Satan didn’t. Satan had many, many years to observe mankind, their actions, and reactions.  So, if Job were to respond the way most people would and did, Satan must have been certain that he would win the battle over Job. Yet through all the trials and sufferings and loss, Job questions but does not lose faith in God. Pay careful attention to the advice of Job’s “friends”.  They are often wrong.

The book of Job explains why bad things happen in this world. It teaches that there is a plan and a reason for it. If you think about God’s purpose for us while we are on this earth is to make us more like Jesus, then everything that happens to us (the good and the bad) potentially makes us more and more like Him. 

Romans 8:29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Satan is allowed access to God, as are other angels. (1 Kings 22:19-22, Zechariah 3:1-10, Job 1:6-12). When God asks Satan where he has been, Satan replies with "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." That's his job - to be the "yeast" in the mix in the making of "wine". Satan is the one who causes agitation in the world just as yeast creates agitation in the process of making wine. 

Job regularly sacrificed a burnt offering for each of his children. “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their heart.”By the same token we should remember and pray for our children.

After hearing that he has basically lost everything Job does the traditional symbol of mourning. He tears his robe, shaves his head and then….worships and praises God! Wow!  Great lesson for us as well! 

After Satan is allowed to inflict Job with painful sores, Job sits among the ashes (the city dump). This well respected and wealthy man spends his days at the city dump. How humiliating that must have been. Job’s wife is obviously used by Satan as his mouthpiece. She uses the same words that Satan uses, “curse God.”

Enter Job’s “friends”. Eliphaz is a descendant of Esau. Bildad is a descendant of Abraham and Abraham’s second wife Keturah. Zophar is a descendant of Naamah. Elihu is a descendant of Nahor, Abraham’s brother.  The immediate genealogy of these people, as well as other significant historical markers, puts the story of Job between Genesis and Exodus. Job lived between the times of Joseph and Moses. More of Job's story can be found in the Book of Jasher chapter 66 and 68.  While the Book of Jasher is not part of our canonized Bible today, it is referred to in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18.

The Sabeans mentioned in Job 1:13-19 were possibly descendants of Abraham and Keturah. 

What in the world did Job and his "friends" do the entire seven days they spent with Job before they spoke a word??? In that culture, the "friends" were displaying the customary sign of mourning - sitting on the ground (Lamentations 2:10).  The silence was part of the mourning process but not a necessary part.  Perhaps because Job had suffered so greatly, they felt that silence was a sign of respect.  They waited on Job before they spoke.  

When Job first speaks, he curses his birth, the day of his birth and even the night of his birth, but he does not curse God.  
ROUND 1 - Satan loses!

There is a very interesting verse in Job 3:1-26 while Job curses his birth.  He says, if only I had perished at birth, "For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest."

What confirmation that babies are heaven-bound until they reach the age of accountability - and that age is determined by Jesus, not anyone here on earth. We once heard of a pastor who refused to baptize an 8 year-old girl because he thought she was not old enough to make a decision to believe in Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior at that early an age. 

During the seven days of silence, were Job and his friends waiting on some divine word from the Lord? How would it be with us as Believers in Jesus - if we spent seven days in silence waiting on a word from the Lord?  Might be interesting to try that sometime.

SEPTEMBER 9

A word of warning.  We must be very cautious in quoting the book of Job. On several occasions, Job’s “friends” tell just enough truth to make their words believable and just enough lie to make it wrong. Satan does the same thing to us. 

Eliphaz appeals to mysticism. He speaks of a spirit and a form and a hushed voice. Could these be evil spirits, which we should never be listening to? Or are they heavenly spirits sent to calm us amid disquieting dreams in the night? It depends on what the hushed voices are saying. If we can't tell the difference between evil spirits and heavenly spirits, it just may not be from God. 

Job 5 speaks of God’s blessings which come after the discipline. The words of Eliphaz here let us know that he doesn’t understand at all why Job is suffering. He thinks Job is being disciplined. This is of course a battle between God and Satan.  Satan thinks he's going to win.  God knows Satan's going to lose.  

Eliphaz also equates doing good with blessings and doing evil with punishment. As Believers in Jesus, we know that isn’t always the case at least in worldly standards. Yet Eliphaz has some good advice in Chapter 5.

A question that Job asks in chapter 6 is this one.  "How painful are honest words."  Indeed honesty can be painful, but when quoting God's Word, and exhorting others with the honest words, pain can be a good thing if it initiates a change from going the wrong way.  

In chapter 6 Job speaks from the depths of his being of his anguish and misery. He can't sleep because of nightmares and night terrors, his skin is broken and festering from the sores, worms and scabs cover his body, he was suffering from depression.  But, Job had more problems that just the physical. It was mental and spiritual as well. And yet he says he will go to his death still maintaining his integrity. Then he admits that he isn’t sure his strength will hold up and is asking God to take him now. He's afraid the pressure is going to be beyond his control.  He wants to die, not because of the physical suffering, but because of the spiritual.  He is afraid the pressure will become so great that he will curse God.  At this point this fear is becoming a paralyzing fear.  Just as the writer of Psalm 55 (probably David) felt the same thing. 

Psalm 55:5  Fear and trembling have come on me, and horror has covered me. 

But, Praise God, we have these words of wisdom from the book of Psalms.

Psalm 55:22  Cast your burden on Jehovah, and He will keep you; He will never allow the righteous to waver.

Job speaks some words also spoken later by David.

Job 7:17-19
"What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, that you examine him every morning and test him every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?

Psalm 8:3-4
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

How comforting as Believers to know that we are never away from His presence!

SEPTEMBER 10

Bildad speaks to Job.

Job 8: 3-4  
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

Bildad says that Job's children died because of their sins. Remember, Job sacrificed burnt offerings for his children, just in case they had sinned.  Their sins were covered by Job's obedience.  

Whether Bildad knows it or not, his words in Job 8:6-7 are very prophetic. God does restore Job, more prosperous than before. Take a peek at the end of Job and see.

Job 8:6-7
if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place. Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.

Later on in Chapter 8, Bildad says that Job is as disconnected from God as an uprooted plant.  He mentions forgetting God is like relying on a spider's web, when the web is leaned on it gives way.  It's as if they are trusting in earthly things.  Trusting in earthly things can be compared to spider's webs. Earthly things give way when we lean on them.  Only God can sustain! 

Isn’t it fascinating that Job knew about the constellations??? Even the Southern Cross constellation in the Southern Hemisphere.

Job 9:9
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

Some of the questions Job had in chapter 7, he answers for himself in chapter 9. Even at our very best we still sin and must plead for mercy.

Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Job sees God as unapproachable.  While God does live in unapproachable light, we as Believers in Jesus have access to God through our belief in Jesus and the indwellment of the Holy Spirit.

There is an incredible verse (among many, many others) hidden away in Job.  He is speaking of God when he says the following. 

Job 9:32-34
"He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Praise God, there is someone to arbitrate between us!  Job is asking for someone we already have. It’s Jesus!