Minute Meditations: Ezekiel 24:15-27

God often called on the prophet Ezekiel to portray what would happen to the Jews if they failed to obey God during the time of their trials and the exile. Ezekiel acted out various scenarios, like packing up his baggage and going off into exile or binding himself with ropes or cutting off his hair with a sword, to show the Jews exactly what they would be in for as a result of their stubborn hearts and stiff necks.

Yet in this chapter, God calls on Ezekiel to act out a prophecy in a way that must have hurt the prophet deeply. The Jews are about to lose everything through their sinful behavior. They are about to be carried off into exile, leaving many of their loved ones dead behind them.

Therefore, God tells Ezekiel that he must, by his own experience, prophesy what is about to happen. Ezekiel will lose the delight of his eyes, yet he must not mourn. He must not go through any of the normal rituals. Rather, he must go on as if nothing has happened.

That evening, Ezekiel's wife dies. He does not mourn or weep. He does not eat the bread of mourning or cover his face or tear his clothing or remove his sandals. Rather, he speaks God's message to the Jewish people, telling them that they, too, will lose the delight of their eyes. God will allow the sanctuary to be destroyed and their city to fall. Their loved ones will die in the streets. Yet they will not have time to mourn or weep. They will not follow the normal customs of honoring the dead. Rather, they will be carried off into exile.

Think of how difficult this must have been for Ezekiel. He loved his wife, but he loved God even more. Even in his grief, he was obedient, and he trusted that God's plan was perfect no matter how heartbreaking it seemed.

Minute Meditations: 1 Samuel 20

By all human standards, Jonathan should hate David with a passion. After all, Jonathan's father, Saul, is the king of Israel, and Saul has decided that David is too much of a threat to his reign. David is just too successful and too popular. And even worse, rumor has it that God has designated David as the next king of Israel. According to the normal progression of things, that honor should go to Jonathan. Yes, Jonathan should be furious that this young shepherd is set to usurp his throne. He should be joining with his father to try to eliminate this nuisance.

But Jonathan does not hate David. In fact, he loves David far more than he loves himself. The friendship between these two men has only grown over time, and it is deep and secure. Jonathan defends the innocent David before Saul (receiving Saul's angry insults in the process), warns David of danger, and helps David flee.

Indeed, David and Jonathan make a covenant, binding themselves in friendship for as long as they live. Jonathan easily places himself second to David in authority, acknowledging God's choice over his own honor and committing himself to the love of friendship above all worldly glory.

Minute Meditations: Lamentations 3

Lamentations is certainly not the most cheerful book in the Bible and with good reason. The Jews are experiencing some of the worst trials of their history. Jerusalem and the Temple have been destroyed. Most of the people have been carried off into exile. Those left behind are in deep mourning and near despair. Yet they must express this sorrow somehow, and the poetry of this book helps them do so.

In chapter 3, the writer (perhaps the prophet Jeremiah) groans under affliction. His enemies have worn him down. He walks in darkness, desolate and terrified and broken. All around him are poverty and exhaustion. He feels like he is a target. Something in the shadows is just waiting to ambush him. He has no peace, no dignity, apparently no future.

Yet this writer does have hope. “The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, His mercies are not spent,” he proclaims. Indeed, God renews His mercies every morning. He remains faithful. The writer is silence and still before God, waiting for Him, seeking Him. The writer accepts what God allows him to suffer, knowing that God has His reasons and His own perfect timing. God may punish (and indeed people deserve that punishment), but He also takes pity. He will raise up His people once again. He will console them and draw them to Himself in love, showering down an abundance of mercy.

Minute Meditations: Daniel 6

We all know and love the story of Daniel in the lions' den, but perhaps it is just a little bit too familiar, and perhaps we miss the full significance of it.

Daniel is one of the top guys in in the Babylonian court. He is the king's right-hand man, so to speak, and this means that other people are really, really jealous of him. Therefore, several of them get together and plot Daniel's downfall. It isn't even that they think they will take his place; they just don't want him to have his place! How typically human that is.

So these fellows get the king to sign a document ordering everyone to worship no one but the king himself for thirty days. If anyone worships or prays to another god during that time, the penalty is a quick trip to the lions' den. The conspirators know that Daniel is a Jew and that there is no way he will ever worship the king or stop worshiping and praying to God. They think they have him.

For a while, it seems that Daniel is indeed in hot water. The conspirators find him praying to God (they are watching for him to do this), and they run straight to tattle to the king. The king, of course, doesn't want to throw Daniel in the lions' den. He likes Daniel, and he relies on him as his top adviser, but he quickly discovers that he is bound by his own decree. With great regret, he throws Daniel to the lions, hoping that Daniel's God will save him.

God does save Daniel. An angel comes and clamps the lions' mouths closed so that Daniel spends the night in peace and doesn't get eaten. The surprised and grateful king lets his adviser out the next morning and throws the conspirators to the lions instead. Since no angel comes to save them, they are devoured at once.

Daniel has taught us some important lessons here. We worship God, period, only God. We do not worship what the world calls us to worship, be that money or fame or possessions or science or government or “experts” or anything else. We worship God, and we pray to Him and trust in Him to care for us. This is what Daniel does. Imagine how frightened he is as he faces those lions, yet he knows that if God wants him to come out alive, he will. If not, then God has something better in store for him. We would do well to remember that, too.