Sunday 4th May
Read Psalm 107
If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion
Psalm 107 begins a new section of Psalms (Book 5 – 107-150) and it starts with this Psalm which tells an emotional history of the people. Some have wandered far from home, some have sat imprisoned in darkness, in chains as prisoners, some have been fools because of their rebellious ways, some went to sea and were in the midst of storms, but in all situations God was there and the Psalmist calls them to praise him and tell of his works. All our lives have mixed experiences but God is in and behind them all. Read this Psalm and see if some of your experience is reflected in what the Psalmist recounts but whatever your life experiences are, note his conclusion, “Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord”.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
As you read the Bible Stop; Read; Ponder; and Pray.
The next episode in the life of Nebuchadnezzar is about another big statue but not one from his dream, this time it comes from his pride and sense of self-importance. Perhaps as Daniel interpreted his dream of the large statue with his kingdom being the golden head he wanted to have a gold statue set up to glorify himself. Ninety feet tall and glittering in the plain of Dura. He had all the officials of his kingdom come to its dedication and that would include Daniel and his friends.
When the trumpets of the heralds were heard everyone was to bow down and worship the image which he had set up – and if they didn’t, it was a burning fiery furnace for them.
There are times when we can see that commands that come down from on high need to be weighed to see whether they are right or to be resisted and we shall see what happened with the young Jewish officials.
Verse 8 speaks of either Chaldeans or astrologers but the word refers to Southern Babylonian peoples who were well known for their wisdom. They were influential in the corridors of power in the Empire and they had a complaint against the Jews, though we can probably see a jealousy against Daniel and his friends who were held in high regard by Nebuchadnezzar. Their charge was that, “they neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up” (v12).
Nebuchadnezzar was furious at the impertinence of the young men he had made administrators over the province of Babylon, their names now being Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar summoned them to check if what he had been told about them was true and when he did, in fury he had the furnaces heated up. The three replied that they were sure their God could save them but if not (that’s important) they would still not do what the King wanted.
They get thrown into the fiery furnace, their jailors dying from the experience, but from some spyhole in the furnace the King spies four figures in the furnace not three. He approaches the opening and shouts for the three to come out which they do, unaffected by the fire.
Christian commentary has often seen the fourth figure as none other than Jesus but the point of the miraculous escape was to show the King who was God and according to the report he was certainly impressed, declared that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was to be praised and ordered a fiery fate to any who spoke against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Wednesday Daniel 4:1-37
This chapter begins with Nebuchadnezzar giving great praise to God and sharing his news far and wide. As you read through the chapter you may think should this not have come before Chapter 3 because this chapter is about Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and fall before his acknowledgement of the Lord as the Almighty God whereas the previous chapter about the fiery furnace ends with him praising God. The danger is that we want to read the Bible in ways that we are used to especially literally, in prose, and chronologically which is not the way the Holy Spirit gives it to us. These stories seem to flip-flop but they are still about Nebuchadnezzar and his great kingdom but not greater than God’s kingdom.
It is another dream that the King has and seeks to have an interpretation of it although it is a dream that terrifies him. Daniel (called Belteshazzar his Babylonian name) is once again asked because he seems to be the only wise man who can interpret the meaning. The dream is about a great tree being cut down and brought low and he is wary of telling the King of its meaning because it refers to Nebuchadnezzar himself. The fulfilment of the dream comes a year later when he loses his mind and ends up in the fields eating with the cattle.
The message of both dreams is that no matter the wealth, power and greatness of kingdoms, God rules over all and wisdom will be to acknowledge that and live accordingly.
We move on from Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar who was the son of Nabonidus and may have been a grandson through his mother of Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar had a great self-indulgent feast and ordered that the temple vessels from Jerusalem be brought so that they could serve in the drunken debauch in praise of the gods of gold and silver etc (v4). Its not the first time that the things of God are used in the service of evil but here something happens that gave the revellers a shock
The disembodied hand wrote on the wall and caused great fear in Belshazzar. Like Nebuchadnezzar he couldn’t understand what the writing on the wall was about and neither could the wise men of his kingdom however his wife knew of Daniel and counselled him to get him because he would tell what the writing meant.
It is sometimes amazing that people can’t read what has become the cliché of the “writing on the wall”. Sometimes a smattering of common sense is all that is needed but today that is often lacking and the most straightforward of answers are often missed. Let us pray for that sanctified common sense that will save us from disaster.
Friday Daniel 5:13-31
Daniel begins by telling the King to keep all his promised gifts and honours but he will tell him what the writing on the wall was about. He recounts Nebuchadnezzar’s arrogance leading to God’s judgement of him and his ending up like the cattle of the field eating grass until he repented of his pride. Belshazzar had not learned from his ancestor’s example but went the way of drunken debauchery even using the vessels from the Jerusalem temple. And then the message of the writing, “God has numbered your days, you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting, your Kingdom will be divided and over thrown by the Medes and Persians.”
Sometimes it is too late to reform. The scales tipped and Belshazzar was overthrown, with the Kingdom lost to the Medes and Persians.
Daniel reminds us of Joseph in Egypt in that he was faithful and trustworthy in his duties such that the King gave him authority over his whole kingdom. This led to jealousy in the ;art of the other officials who tried to find grounds for complaint against him but they could find none because he wasn’t corrupt or negligent. The only thing they thought they could trap him in was something to do with God’s law which Daniel kept.
All the officials came to the King and asked him to make an edict for prayer to be made only to the King on a certain 30 days and any who didn’t to be flung into a lions den. They knew that Daniel would not conform. So Darius made such an edict which it was not possible to revoke according to the laws of the Medes and the Persians, but Daniel continued in his usual practice of prayer and did so openly, in front of his open windows, not trying to hide or evade the Kings law. This is always the practice of faithful followers of the Lord – do things openly and take the consequences. We shall see what the consequences were for Daniel.
