Contemplative Bible Reading

Daniel 3:15 (New Living Translation)

I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?

King Nebuchadnezzar is speaking here to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Worship the King or go into the furnace where death awaits.

Notice the last question posed by the King. The King puts himself above gods. There is no god that can rescue anyone from the power of this King.

At this time, King Nebuchadnezzar was powerful. Probably the most powerful person on earth. He reigned over the pinnacle of human achievement. This is not hyperbole. It is true. Check the history books.

And this King knew all about religion. He knew all about all the gods that people worship through the known world. He knew this because he had conquered all the people of the known world and brought all the gods back to his home.

This King collected gods. He put them in their proper place. He had not, however, met the God creator, the God of the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants. He soon would and soon would be humbled.

He learned the difference between gods and Jehovah God the Creator. Let us all remember the lesson.

Daniel 1:18-20 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. ²⁰ Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

Daniel and his three friends (more commonly known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) were hand picked to serve the King. They were found to be better than all the … uh, er, is this a misprint? Better than the magicians and enchanters. Some translators use the words diviners and mediums.

These are occupations strictly forbidden by God of His people. Yet, here we are, they are chosen because they are better at this type of thing than those who profess it as a profession.

Daniel was later honored for “divining” the King’s dreams and visions.

We can certainly go too far with this point as we can claim that we do such-and-such for the glory of God where such-and-such is, uh, er, frankly ridiculous. Still, Daniel and his friends went on to proclaim the glory of God through unusual skills and occupations.

Joshua 5:1 (New Living Translation)

When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.

The Kings west of the Jordan river had all heard about how Jehovah God of the descendants of Jacob had stopped the flow of water in that river so that this mass of people could simply walk across.

They lost heart.

In their hearts and minds they surrendered to the coming Jacob-ians or Israelites. No battles had been fought, but it was over. Finished.

A wise course of action would have been to tell these Israelites, “You’re God is above all. Teach us your ways. Let us know and serve your God.” That didn’t happen. Instead multitudes fought, suffered, and died.

Today? Wouldn’t it be great if raging flood waters were directed around a group of Christians, and this was shown live on Facebook or something? All hearts would melt and everyone in the world would want to know Christ.

Great idea, huh? Come on God, do it my way.

Perhaps not so great an idea. God’s miracles are right in front of all of us everyday. How can we not all worship and serve God? How is it that all of don’t lose heart and become paralyzed with fear at the thought of being in God’s presence? I guess we have to fight all our battles daily like those Kings west of the Jordan did. What folly.

Deuteronomy 4:6 (New Living Translation)

Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’

Moses is giving the people the instructions provided by God. This is the old law. This is past. We have a new covenant, a new testament. Still, let us consider the result of following God’s instructions and recommendations.

Do others see me as wise and prudent? Am I following God’s recommendations? If the answer to the second question is not a resounding “YES,” perhaps that is why the answer to the first isn’t either.

John 11:47-48 (New Living Translation)

“This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him…”

Jesus, called “this man” above, had just raised Lazarus from the dead in the sight of many persons. The above statement was made in a quickly called council of leading Pharisees and priests.

Note the folly of what they say. They knew that this man—Jesus—was performing miracles, super-human deeds that no one can do. Yet, they were wondering if they should “allow” him to continue these super-human acts.

As if they had the power to stop super-human acts. Really? This is a Superman. Let’s put an end to this. Really? How? How do you stop a super man?

And these were smart, wise people. No kidding about that. They were smart, wise people, yet Jesus had reduced them to foolish considerations.

Sometimes God shows His power by allowing us to be foolish. When was the last time I acted the fool?

Numbers 6:22-26 (New Living Translation)

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:

24 ‘May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
25 May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
26 May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.’

What God gives us over all else is peace. Not wealth, not health, not fill-in-the-blank-with-what-I-think-I-want. It is peace. It is the ability to sit on the ground and not worry if someone is sneaking up behind me to konk me in the head. It is the ability to let me child or grandchild go out the door to play in the yard and not worry if something horrible will happen.

Peace.

Thank you God for your peace.

Exodus 14:13-14 (New Living Translation)

¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. ¹⁴ The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Apologies to those who love or hate that t-shirt about “stay calm and fill-in-the-blank.”

Once again, we find the source of just about everything in western civilization. The people chosen by God are about to walk into the middle of an ocean—consider that one for a while—so that the enemy will follow and be destroyed—and consider that one for a while.

This translation ends with, “Just stay calm.” Earlier is the phrase, “watch the Lord.”

The world today is such a mess. When has that statement not been true? What are we to do? Surely it is time to pack up and head for the hills to hide from the latest coming disaster.

Or perhaps it is time to stay calm, stand still, be unafraid, and watch the Lord.

Let’s keep our eyes on the Lord.

John 11:43 (King James Version)

And when he (Jesus) thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

Jesus is standing among a group of persons. What if Jesus had said, “Come forth” or “Come here.” The persons standing around would look at each other and shrug and start walking towards Jesus. Jesus had to be speaking to them, right?

No, Jesus was speaking to the dead man. What? Why would He speak to a … many questions follow.

Hence, Jesus had to say, “LAZARUS, come here.”

Think quick. We are standing there. What did Jesus just say? Surely the day was too hot and Jesus was too tired to be thinking right, huh? He is talking to a dead person. Someone do something to … I don’t know, but do something.

Then the dead person came stumbling out of the cave. The world changed forever.

Thank you God.

Hebrews 12:28 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,

We have yet another benefit of God’s amazing grace. If we hold onto God’s grace, if we cling to it, if we are inseparable from it, then we can serve God acceptable.

Let us consider that. Let us consider our little attempts to serve the Creator of all acceptably. How could I ever in my wildest dreams think I could serve God acceptable. I cannot do it.

Add that to the list of things I cannot do without God’s grace. Add that to the list of blessings that come with God’s grace. Add that to the thanksgivings of daily life.

Isaiah 38:1-3 (New Living Translation)

1 About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’”

2 When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.

This is the (hi)story of King Hezekiah. This could be the story of just about all of us.

Hezekiah doesn’t want to die. He served God single-mindedly. He broke down and wept bitterly at the thought of dying, of leaving this current life with its pleasures and miseries.

This is part of the human condition. We cling to this life. We cling to what we know and fear what we don’t, what we have not experienced. Even the future glory of heaven…it is strange, we want to go, but we don’t want to leave.

Lord, help my in my unbelief.