destruction

The Reality of the Resurrection

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20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. – 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 ESV

Whether or not some of the Corinthians wanted to believe in the possibility of the resurrection of the dead, Paul was unequivocally certain that Jesus had done just that. As far as he was concerned, it was a non-contestable fact, and he had firsthand knowledge of its reality. Paul had personally encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and it had radically changed his life (Acts 9:1-7).

As Paul stated earlier, after Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to hundreds of individuals and, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Corinthians 15:8-9 ESV. When Mary Magdalene and Mary visited Jesus’ burial site that fateful Sunday morning, they found the stone had been rolled away and the tomb empty. But their shock and dismay was quited by the words of the angel. 

“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” – Matthew 28:5-7 NLT

As far as Paul was concerned, this was not a point open to discussion or debate; it was a fact, and one for which Paul was willing to give his life.

It was the resurrection of Jesus that made it possible for sinful men and women to be restored to a right relationship with a holy God. His resurrection proved that His sacrifice had been accepted by God, and because God was satisfied with His Son’s payment, He was able to justify sinful men and women, forgive their sins, and declare them righteous in His eyes. The resurrection of Jesus is essential to the gospel message.

The first Adam, through his sin, brought death into the world, but Jesus came to rectify that problem. Paul clarifies the difference between Adam and Jesus in his letter to the Romans.

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. – Romans 5:17-19 ESV

Adam brought sin and condemnation to humanity; his transgression resulted in death for all. But Jesus, through His death, made possible new life and forgiveness of sins. But had He not risen from the dead, none of that would have been possible. He would have been nothing more than a martyr, not the Messiah and Savior of the world. But Jesus was physically resurrected from the dead. The tomb was empty. He had a physical body and was seen and recognized by many who talked with Him and even shared a meal with Him. He was not a spirit without a body. However, His body, in its resurrected state, was different than before. But He ate with the disciples and could be touched by them. He had a tangible, corporeal body.

Paul’s point is that we will one day experience the very same thing when we receive our new resurrected bodies. Will our bodies appear just as they did at the point of our death? If I die at 80, will I be eternally an octogenarian in heaven? If a child dies at seven, will he or she bear that likeness throughout eternity? The Scriptures don’t answer these questions. But we are told that we will receive new bodies.

Later in the same chapter, Paul elaborates on the idea of our new, resurrected bodies. He wants to address the confusion and concerns the Corinthians have over the whole idea of dead bodies being given new life.

 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. – 1 Corinthians 15:35-37 NLT

The point is that there is a body made for this earth and a body that God has intended for eternity. Our earthly bodies are designed to wear out, die, and decompose. But our heavenly bodies will be eternal and indestructible. He goes on to explain the difference.

Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. – 1 Corinthians 15:43-44 NLT

The designated day on which we will receive our heavenly bodies is at the resurrection of the dead, an event that has yet to take place. It is on that occasion that God will consummate His redemptive plan. Paul states that the “last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV). With the resurrection of our bodies, we will no longer be susceptible to death. We will experience eternal life, free from all fear of death, physical or spiritual.

In his letter to the Thessalonian believers, Paul offered them hope regarding the reality of the resurrection of the dead.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words. –
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NLT

When Paul refers to the dead believers rising from their graves, he is talking about their newly resurrected bodies, not their souls. Their souls have been with God in heaven since their death. But they, along with all those who are alive when the Lord returns, will be given their newly glorified bodies that are imperishable and incorruptible.

For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. – 1 Corinthians 15:53 NLT

The truth is, there will be a resurrection from the dead, and Jesus was the firstfruits, “the first of a great harvest of all who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT). His resurrection gives us confidence and hope that we, too, will share that same fate. We will experience resurrection just as He did, and that will take place when He returns for His church at the rapture. Paul described the scene in his first letter to the Thessalonians.

…we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. – 1 Thessalonians 4:17 NLT

This will be followed by the seven years of the Tribulation, which will culminate with the second coming of Christ. Then the millennial Kingdom of Christ will begin, when He will rule for a thousand years on earth, bringing everyone and everything under His subjection. At the end of that period of time, He will turn over all power and authority to God the Father. Satan will be defeated once and for all, and the reign of sin and death will end.

That is the truth, and it should bring us hope, joy, and confidence in the future. God’s will will be done. Christ’s mission will be completed. And we will be resurrected.

Father, Paul said that “in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling” (2 Corinthians 5:2 BSB). He’s right. The older I get, the more I realize that my earthly body is nothing more than a temporary vessel that houses my eternal soul. It isn’t meant to last and that becomes increasingly clear with each passing birthday. Sickness, injury, disease, and death are constant realities. But You have another reality in store for those of us who have placed our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Your Son. We will experience the same miraculous resurrection and glorification that He did. He was the first, but we will be part of the countless host of faithful followers who will be as He is. “He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own” (Philippians 3:21 NLT). Thank You for the assurance and hope we have in Jesus because You raised Him from the dead and one day He is coming back. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

To God Be the Glory

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1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. – Nehemiah 6:1-19 ESV

After nearly two months of back-breaking, round-the-clock effort, the citizens of Jerusalem could see the fruits of all their hard work. The walls were nearing completion and the next step was to hang the gates on their hinges. Nehemiah must have experienced a deep sense of relief and satisfaction as he considered the magnitude of what they had accomplished. The last 52 days had been difficult and filled with setbacks, threats of violence, bitter infighting, and moments of doubt and despair. But despite the odds and with the help of God, the people remained focused, committed to their cause, and completed the project in record time.

This rag-tag group of returned exiles accomplished a project of herculean proportions, a job that should have taken years even under the best of circumstances. But their joy at having completed this massive defensive structure would be shortlived. Even when the gates were hung and everyone was snuggled safely inside the walls, their enemies would remain relentless in their attacks. No swords were drawn and no blood was spilled, but the animus of their enemies never dissipated. In fact, it only increased and took on a more clever and clandestine form.

As the last stones were placed on the wall, the enemies of Judah became more frightened and demoralized than ever, but why? Because they sensed that this project had been divinely ordained. Yahweh, the God of Judah was somehow involved; there was no other explanation. They had done everything in their power to stop the work, but it continued unabated. They had tried to discourage Nehemiah and the people from finishing their work but had failed. Their conclusion? The deity of Judah had somehow been involved. They could recognize that the completion of the wall in just 52 days was the result of divine intervention. This had been no ordinary construction project.

Desperate to forestall the hanging of the gates which would finalize the project, Sanballat and Geshem the Arab sent a message to Nehemiah requesting a meeting at an off-site location. These men were desperate to put an end to Nehemiah’s efforts and devised a plan to lure him out of Jerusalem under the guise of a peaceful parley. The invited him to join them at a small village in the plain of Ono located about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem, close to the border of Samaria.

Nehemiah saw through their ploy and turned down their invitation, stating, “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 NLT). He knew their intentions were evil so he refused their deceptive request for a “peaceful” conclave. But these men refused to take no for an answer and sent four additional requests that produced the same results. Finally, they sent a servant with a handwritten message intended to frighten Nehemiah.

“There is a rumor among the surrounding nations, and Geshem tells me it is true, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel and that is why you are building the wall. According to his reports, you plan to be their king. He also reports that you have appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim about you, ‘Look! There is a king in Judah!’

“You can be very sure that this report will get back to the king, so I suggest that you come and talk it over with me.” – Nehemiah 6:6-7 NLT

Sanballat tried to portray himself as a concerned subject of the king and a well-meaning friend who was trying to inform Nehemiah of a potential problem. According to Sanballat, a vicious rumor was going around that accused Nehemiah of fostering insurrection and fomenting rebellion among the Jews. Sanballat suggests that he doubts the accusations but will have to share them with the king unless Nehemiah agrees to meet with him. This was a form of blackmail plain and simple. These trumped-up charges are completely fabricated but they are dangerous nonetheless.

But Nehemiah is unphased by Sanballat’s poorly veiled ploy. He matter-of-factly responded, “There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing” (Nehemiah 6:8 NLT). Although the rumors were lies, Nehemiah knew these men would not hesitate to follow through with their threat and present these slanderous accusations about him to the king. But he refused to be intimidated or deterred and continued to encourage the people to complete the project “with even greater determination” (Nehemiah 6:9 NLT).

But Sanballat and his co-conspirators would not give up. They enlisted the aid of a local citizen of Judah named Shemaiah. This man was confined to his home for some undisclosed reason. It could have been for the fulfillment of a vow or ceremonial uncleanness. Perhaps he had sustained injury while working on the wall. But whatever the case, he invited Nehemiah to come to his home where he shared a “prophecy” he had received. This man claims to have received a word from God that Nehemiah’s life is in danger and he must seek shelter in the Temple.

“Let us meet together inside the Temple of God and bolt the doors shut. Your enemies are coming to kill you tonight.” – Nehemiah 6:10 NLT

Nehemiah knew Shemaiah well and had no reason to doubt his sincerity and concern. But Shemaiah’s “prophecy” made no sense. His recommendation for Nehemiah to seek shelter in the Temple directly violated the Mosaic Law. No one but the Levitical priests was allowed access to the inner recesses of the Temple, upon penalty of death (Numbers 1:51; 3:10; 18:7). Shemaiah’s solution to the supposed assassination attempt on Nehemiah’s life was non-sensical. To escape death, Nehemiah would come under a death sentence from God. This ploy was the handiwork of Sanballat and his friends. They were hoping to induce Nehemiah to seek shelter in the Temple and violate the laws of his God.

It seems that Sanballat was attempting to discredit Nehemiah among the Jews by getting him to violate the Mosaic Law. If Nehemiah had taken Shemaiah’s advice, he would have shown that his life was more important than God’s commands. This would have tarnished his reputation among the people and given credence to the rumor that he was a self-centered and self-promoting aspirant to the throne of Judah.

But Nehemiah recognized Shemaiah as a pawn in their thinly veiled plot to discredit him.

They were hoping to intimidate me and make me sin. Then they would be able to accuse and discredit me. – Nehemiah 6:13 NLT

Sanballat and his companions were pulling out all the stops. They were using their financial resources to buy informants and grease the palms of greedy prophets who were willing to use their positions for personal gain. But their efforts failed.

After 52 days, the walls were completed and the gates were hung. But this didn’t prevent the letters, accusations, payoffs, and personal attacks on Nehemiah from continuing unabated. God’s work will always face opposition. The enemy will always attack and do everything in his power to thwart the will of God.

But the efforts of God’s people brought God glory.

When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. – Nehemiah 6:14 NLT

On how many occasions does our work bring God glory? Do the projects we take on reflect the power of God or simply our own initiative and self-sufficiency? God wants to reveal His glory through His people. He wants to demonstrate His power despite our weakness. He wants to display His might through us as we accomplish His will.

God is not interested in seeing what we can do. He is not impressed with our strength and organizational abilities. That doesn’t mean we don’t have to do our part but we always have to remember, when all is said and done, God is the one who should receive the glory. The rebuilding of the wall was God’s idea. He had predicted it long in advance through the words of Daniel (Daniel 9:25). God had arranged for the people to return to the land of Judah. He had led Nehemiah to request permission from King Artaxerxes to lead back a group of exiles to rebuild the walls. God had protected and provided for them all along the way and now the work was done.

Yes, the people had worked hard. They had sore muscles, aching backs, and blistered hands to prove it. But all their efforts would have been nothing without the help of God, and even their enemies knew it. Nehemiah had led the people well, orchestrated their work flawlessly, and encouraged their efforts successfully, but without God, none of it would have mattered.

We do the work. God gets the glory. That’s the way it’s intended to be.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Failure to Measure Up

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13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31  And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. – Daniel 5:13-31 ESV

Daniel, most likely in his 80s, was summoned to appear before the king. The elderly octogenarian, who had served for decades in the courts of the kings of Babylon, did as commanded and entered the familiar courts of the royal palace. Once inside, he was confronted by a scene of chaos and confusion. The room was filled with thousands of Babylon’s most powerful and influential citizens who appeared strangely agitated. A contingent of the king’s wise men was also present, but these royal counselors seemed to be missing their usual swagger and confidence. The atmosphere was tense as Daniel entered the room and everyone’s eyes followed him closely as he slowly made his way to the king’s dais. Hushed whispers filled the room as the lords and ladies quietly discussed Daniel’s fate. Would he be able to fulfill the king’s request? Was this shuffling old man up to the challenge? Some in the room would have recognized Daniel and been familiar with his reputation. Others, unfamiliar with Daniel’s back story, would have viewed his with skepticism and doubt. At this late stage of life, it’s unlikely that Daniel cut an imposing figure, but he had something going for him that no one else in the room could claim: He had Yahweh’s power and presence on his side.

It seems apparent from the text that Belshazzar did not know or recognize Daniel. The king’s mother had informed him of Daniel’s past exploits under the reign of her father Nebuchadnezzar. So, when Belshazzar saw Daniel, he asked for proof of identity.

“Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar?” – Daniel 5:13 NLT

But before Daniel had time to respond, Belshazzar blurted out the distressing nature of the situation.

“I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it.” – Daniel 5:14-15 NLT

The scenario was familiar to Daniel because he had seen and experienced it before. Decades had passed and the king before whom Daniel stood bore a different name but it all must have felt like déjà vu to this aging Hebrew. New king; same old familiar story.

Once Daniel heard the king’s explanation of the problem and the more-than-generous reward that accompanied its solution, he bluntly responded, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means” ( Daniel 5:17 NLT). His words would have shocked everyone in the room, including the king’s wise men. How dare he talk to the king in such a disrespectful manner? Who did he think he was and how stupid could he be to turn down a chance to become the third-highest ruler in the kingdom?

But Daniel wasn’t interested in rewards or royal appointments. He served a higher authority and he made that fact known. He quickly recalled his former relationship with the king’s grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, to whom “the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor” ( Daniel 5:18 NLT). This simple declaration was intended to let everyone in the room know that Daniel’s God was the one true God, and He was the source behind Nebuchadnezzar’s success.

Daniel could read a room as well as he could read the handwriting on the wall. He knew exactly what was going on and understood the message that Yahweh had sent to Belshazzar. Some things never change, and this much younger king suffered from the same age-old problem of pride as his grandfather. But Daniel knew that Belshazzar had complicated his pride problem by choosing to flaunt his power in the face of Yahweh.

Before revealing his hand to the king, Daniel recounted the painful lesson that Nebuchadnezzar had to learn.

“He [God] made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.” – Daniel 5:19-20 NLT

Daniel wasn’t telling Belshazzar anything he didn’t already know. The young king would have been familiar with the stories of his grandfather’s power and glory. He would also known about the seven-year period of insanity Nebuchadnezzar endured. But Belshazzar’s recent behavior demonstrates that he was less than familiar with the role Yahweh played in his grandfather’s rise and fall. This news would have come as a surprise and, to ensure that Belshazzar connected all the dots, Daniel added that Nebuchadnezzar “was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them” (Daniel 5:21 NLT).

This last line was meant to drive home a point. Daniel wanted Belshazzar to understand the gravity of his situation. He had been given a message from the same God who had stricken his grandfather with a long-term case of insanity. Daniel even claims that Belshazzar knew of God’s involvement in Nebuchadnezzar’s fall, but refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he treated Yahweh with contempt by desecrating the sacred cups dedicated for use in Yahweh’s house. He had profaned what was holy. He had taken what belonged to God and used it for his own selfish desires. He and his drunken guests had quenched their thirsts at the expense of God’s glory. To make matters worse, they used those same cups to honor their false gods.

“You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” – Daniel 5:23 NLT

Belshazzar didn’t need to read the handwriting on the wall to understand what had taken place or the motivation behind it. He recognized pride and arrogance when he saw it but he was also able to see the depth of the message contained in the simple hand-scrawled message: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin” (Daniel 5:25 ESV). These words were written in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Babylonian government. Everyone in the room could read them but no one could decipher their meaning. Each word is a term referring to weights and measures. Mene (mᵊnē’) was used to refer to a weight of measurement (50-60 shekels) and to convey the act of numbering or measuring something. It carries the idea of balancing scale. Tekel (tᵊqal) refers to the act of being measured. Parsin (pᵊras) comes from a word that means “to divine” or “to break in two.” It was often used to refer to a half-shekel. These words, joined together in an awkward, incomplete sentence made no sense to anyone in the room, except Daniel. 

The words literally read “Weighed, weighed, measured, and broken.” Yet only Daniel was able to assess their true meaning, which he quickly revealed.

“Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” – Daniel 5:26-28 NLT

As Belshazzar seems to have feared, this was not good news. God was letting the king know that his days were numbered and the glory days of the Babylonian empire were quickly coming to an end. But Belshazzar had no idea just how quickly this message was going to be fulfilled. God had seen enough. He had used the Babylonians to accomplish His judgment against the people of Judah but now He was ready to punish them for the very role they played. This may come across as unfair or malicious on God’s part, but He had never forced Nebuchadnezzar to invade Judah. God simply used the king’s natural desire for global domination to accomplish His own sovereign will for Judah’s subjugation.

It’s fascinating to consider the words of the prophet Jeremiah.

“Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
    Don’t get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lord’s time for vengeance;
    he will repay her in full.
Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands,
    a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine,
    and it drove them all mad.
But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.” – Jeremiah 51:6-8 NLT

That day had come and Belshazzar would be the last king to rule over the Babylonian empire. In fact, he had less than 24 hours to live. After fulfilling his promise to reward Daniel for interpreting the message, Belshazzar was killed that very night. The Persians and Medes conquered Babylon in October 539 B.C., ending Belshazzar’s life and ushering in the era of Medo-Persian dominance.

Daniel walked out of the room dressed in a royal robe, draped in gold chains, and possessing unprecedented power and influence that must have left the king’s wise men in a fit of rage and jealousy. This elderly, unassuming servant of Yahweh was elevated to a place of honor within the Babylonian government, while the pride-filled king was dethroned and deprived of life. This stark contrast reflects the timeless truth found in the pages of the Scriptures.

Pride ends in humiliation,
    while humility brings honor. – Proverbs 29:23 NLT

The Lord mocks the mockers
    but is gracious to the humble. – Proverbs 3:34 NLT

“…those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” – Matthew 23:12 NLT

God opposes the proud
    but gives grace to the humble. – 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Sin Always Comes with a High Cost

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18 Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. 20 Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. 22 And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” 23 Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” 24 But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 25 So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon, 30 but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. – 1 Chronicles 21:18-30 ESV

David had sinned by conducting a census to determine the size of his nation and, ultimately, the number of potential recruits for his army. His actions revealed that his trust was not in the Lord but in the size and strength of his armed forces. But having completed his ill-fated census and faced with a devastating plague from God, David regretted his decision and recognized it as an affront to God.

“I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.” – 1 Chronicles 21:8 NLT

David was wise to confess his sin, but his iniquity and guilt remained.

He knew that restitution would need to be made. Some form of payment would be required to cover the sin he had committed. David was well-acquainted with the requirements of the sacrificial law and knew that his sin must be atoned for. The author of Hebrews reminds us: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22 ESV).

David couldn’t just say, “I’m sorry” and then expect everything to go back to the way it was before. Payment for sin was required, and God offered David three different payment plans. He sent word to David through a prophet named Gad.

“You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the Lord brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.” – 1 Chronicles 21:12 NLT

His three choices included a lengthy famine, a devastating plague, or a three-month time period when his mighty army would be powerless against its enemies. In all three cases, death was a non-negotiable outcome. His people were either going to die by the sword, starvation, or sickness. David’s response seems to indicate that the one option he ruled out was the three months of defeat at the hands of his enemies. He cried out to God, “let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands” (2 Samuel 24:14 NLT). This man who had just taken a census to determine the size of his army had no desire to go to war. It wasn’t that he was afraid of a good fight, it was that he knew this one would be a losing proposition. For someone who was used to always being on the winning side, the thought of being humiliated by his enemies was not an option. So, David begged God to remove that option.

“…let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” – 1 Chronicles 21:13 NLT

David opted to have God mete out the punishment, trusting in His mercy and grace. So, God sent a plague across the entire nation of Israel. It seems from verse 7, that God had already “struck” Israel before the three options had been communicated, and that the plague had already begun. The nature of God’s chosen form of punishment should not be overlooked. David had just finished numbering his people and determining the size of his fighting force. The census revealed that he had a potential army of over a million and a half men, a fact that must have pleased David greatly. During his reign, the population of Israel had increased greatly, making him the ruler of a mighty nation and the commander of a formidable army.

But God’s judgment would prove costly and go directly to the heart of David’s sin: His misplaced trust in the size of his army. According to verse 14, “70,000 men of Israel fell.” As a result of the plague, David lost 70,000 men, a staggering figure that represents nearly 5 percent of his fighting force. Sadly, all of these men died as a result of David’s sin, not their own. They didn’t have the honor of sacrificing their lives in the heat of battle while facing the enemies of Israel. They were struck down by a debilitating plague because of a sin committed by their commander-in-chief, and they were not alone. An undetermined number of women and children also died as a result of the plague.

The text makes it clear that the death toll was going to increase greatly because “God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 21:15 NLT). The plague had already lasted three days and now the city of David was to be the target of God’s wrath. But for some unexplained reason, God called off his destroying angel and spared the city and its inhabitants.

But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. – 1 Chronicles 21:15 NLT

David had been an eyewitness to this near-fatal episode because he had seen the angel of the Lord “standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 21:16 NLT). He had stood watching as this divine being prepared to destroy his beloved capital city. It was as if God was letting David know that a capital and an army do not a king make. David had put far too much stock in the earthly trappings of success. But faced with witnessing the destruction of his people and the city that bore his name, David responded.

“I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.” – 1 Chronicles 21:17 NLT

As a result of David’s plea, God sent the prophet Gad with instructions.

“…raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” – 1 Chronicles 21:18 ESV

This is where it all gets interesting. This was the very same spot where the angel of the Lord had been stopped by God from destroying Jerusalem. It was at the threshing floor of Ornan that David witnessed the angel of the Lord.

This place held special significance for the Israelites. Centuries earlier, the patriarch Abraham had been sent by God to this very same location to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  He and his wife Sarah had waited over 60 years for Isaac to be born. Yet God, who had promised to give Abraham a son and had miraculously caused his barren wife to give birth, commanded that the long-awaited child be put to death.

“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” – Genesis 22:2 ESV

Amazingly, Abraham obeyed the command of God and prepared to sacrifice the life of his son. But at the last second, God intervened and an angel of the Lord stayed Abraham’s hand. Then God provided a substitute sacrifice, a ram whose horns had been caught in a thicket. That ram took Isaac’s place and its blood was spilled on his behalf.

So he [Abraham] took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). – Genesis 22:13-14 NLT

Now, centuries later, God commanded David to build an altar to offer a sacrifice on behalf of his people.

David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar. – 1 Chronicles 21:26 NLT

This was no coincidence. God chose this spot for a reason. It was at this location that He had spared the life of Isaac, and it was where He would refrain from destroying the city of Jerusalem and all its inhabitants. The threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite was also the location where Solomon built his magnificent temple, where countless sacrifices were made on behalf of the people. Sacrifice was required for forgiveness to be received because, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. David could confess his sins, but payment was still required.

David understood that his sin had come with a stiff price. He had watched his people suffer and die. He had witnessed the near destruction of Jerusalem. Now, he was being asked to offer a sacrifice to God that would somehow measure up to the magnitude of the grace and mercy God had shown. When David offered to buy the threshing floor from Ornan, the frightened man offered to give it to David free of charge. But David responded, “I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” (1 Chronicles 21:24 NLT). 

David ended up buying the land for 600 pieces of gold. Then he “built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings” (1 Chronicles 21:26 NLT). It was only after the land was purchased, the sacrifices were made, and the offerings consumed by fire, that the threat of further destruction was eliminated. While God had called off His avenging angel, the text makes it clear that the angel still had his sword drawn and was ready to strike if God gave the word. But when God accepted David’s sacrifice, He “spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath” (1 Chronicles 21:27 NLT). David’s sacrifice was accepted, his sin was forgiven, and the threat of further judgment was avoided.

As followers of Christ, we live under a different dispensation. We are no longer required to make payment for our sins. We don’t have to shed the blood of an innocent animal to satisfy the just demands of a holy God. Why? Because our sins have been paid for in full. The apostle John reminds us, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9 NLT). All we have to do is confess. There is no more condemnation for our sins. There is no further payment required because Jesus paid it all. The author of Hebrews tells us just how different things are now because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The sacrifices under that system [the Mosaic law] were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. – Hebrews 10:1-4 NLT

But he goes on to give us the good news:

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. – Hebrews 10:10 NLT

Our sins, past, present, and future, have all been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. He paid the debt we owed. He covered our sins with His blood. As a result, we have complete forgiveness for ALL of our sins. We don’t have to ask for forgiveness; we simply have to confess our sins. The forgiveness is guaranteed. When we sin, God’s Spirit convicts us, and that conviction leads us to confess our sins to God. To confess means to agree with Him that we have sinned against Him. When we confess, He responds with forgiveness – each and every time – faithfully and fully.

The most remarkable part of this story is that Jesus paid the price of our sins on the very same spot where Abraham had been willing to offer up Isaac and David made sacrifices to God. This area is known as Mount Moriah, and it was here, near the threshing floor of Ornan that Jesus was crucified as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 ESV).

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The High Cost of Compromise

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1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.” – Numbers 25:1-18 ESV

There is no way to escape the fact that this is a graphic and disturbing text, and its close proximity to the oracles of blessing pronounced by God through Balaam makes it all the more difficult to reconcile. In what appears to be a relatively short period of time, King Balak’s hopes of placing Israel under a curse seem to take place without the help of Balaam or any other seer or sage. The amazing thing is, the Israelites bring it on themselves.

Moses describes the situation in less-than-flattering terms: “…the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab” (Numbers 25:1 ESV). It seems that the residents of Moab had done what their king had been unable to do. They managed to find a chink in the armor of God’s chosen people, and it involved the two evils of immorality and idolatry. While Balaam had been unsuccessful in pronouncing a curse on the people of God, the citizens of Moab came up with an ingenious plan for destroying the Israelites from within.

But where did this idea come from? Who was behind the strategy that motivated the Moabite women to “whore” with the men of Israel? According to Moses, it was Balaam. Later in the book of Numbers, after the Israelites defeated the forces of Midian, Moses pointed out an apparent problem with their victory.

…the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. – Numbers 31:9 ESV

As far as Moses was concerned, this was not a positive outcome. The very source of the temptation that had caused the men of Israel to sin went unpunished. The Midianite women were allowed to live and taken as plunder. This decision only made matters worse and Moses pointed out the error of their ways.

Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.” – Numbers 31:15 ESV

Moses made it clear that Balaam had been the driving force behind this entire plan to get the Israelites to compromise their convictions. While the Israelites had been encamped in the plains of Moab, waiting for the next phase of their conquest of Canaan, the men became distracted by and attracted to the women of Moab. But the women had been encouraged to throw themselves at the Israelite men, in a last-gasp attempt to diminish the danger posed by this vast host of former slaves.

Before long, “the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women” (Numbers 25:1 NLT). But this was actually a military strategy concocted by none other than Balaam. If the Lord wouldn’t let him curse the Israelites, he would simply use the old-fashioned tactic of temptation and sexual sin.

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John records the words that Jesus spoke to the church at Pergamum, comparing their actions to that of the immoral Israelites.

“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.” – Revelation 2:14 ESV

He accuses the believers in Pergamum of making concessions and compromises, the same thing that happened to the hapless Israelites. Because of the inability or the unwillingness of the Israelites males to deny their sexual desires or avoid the allure of idolatry, in no time the set-apart status of the Israelites was eventually jeopardized. What began as illicit sexual encounters between the men of Israel and the women of Moab turned into spiritual adultery and apostasy.

These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. – Numbers 25:2 NLT

Uncontrolled sexual desires led to compromised convictions. Suddenly, the Israelites’ physical allure for the Moabite women created a spiritual attraction for their rogues’ gallery of deities. Forbidden fruit created an insatiable appetite for false gods.

What makes this whole affair so egregious is that it comes fresh on the heels of God’s promise to bless the people of Israel.

“No curse can touch Jacob;
    no magic has any power against Israel.
For now it will be said of Jacob,
    ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’” – Numbers 23:23 NLT

Balaam had not been allowed to curse them; his “magic” had proven unsuccessful. But the women of Moab had managed to cast a spell on the unsuspecting men of Israel. They simply used their feminine wiles to bewitch the hapless Israelites and cause them to turn their backs on Jehovah. Because men were responsible for the spiritual oversight of their households, it wasn’t long before the apostasy spread throughout the camp and got the attention of God.

Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people. – Numbers 25:3 NLT

The fallout from this act of unfaithfulness was immediate and widespread, but God quickly intervened, ordering Moses to take immediate action.

“Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.” – Numbers 25:4 NLT

There would be no compromise on God’s part. He would not tolerate sin in the camp of Israel, especially that involving immorality and idolatry. The guilty were to be made examples of, delivering a sobering warning to the rest of the nation of Israel.

Moses was quick to follow God’s instructions, calling on the judges of the tribes of Israel to carry out the executions of all those who had taken part in this act of rebellion against God. This is where the story earns its NC-17 rating. What happens next is both shocking and unimaginable. As a result of this corporate act of sin and God’s prescribed solution, the people had been called to gather before the Tabernacle. Moses describes the tone as sorrowful, likely because of the deaths of some of their sons, fathers, and husbands. Yet as the people wept over their sin and the loss of their loved ones, one of the guilty men did something difficult to believe. He brazenly took a Moabite woman into his tent, in full view of Moses and the rest of the assembly. He exhibited no shame and, completely controlled by his sexual desires, displayed a total lack of self-control.

He did the unthinkable. Either he was flaunting his personal preferences in the face of Moses and God, or he was so consumed by his physical appetites that he could no longer control himself. The apostle Paul describes such people in condemning terms: “Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth” (Philippians 3:19 NLT).

As Moses and the rest of the people looked on in shock, this moral reprobate flaunted his disdain for the holiness of God and rejected his own personal guilt. He showed no regret, remorse, or repentance. But his unprecedented display of disrespect for God got the attention of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the high priest. This young man,  the grandson of Aaron the former high priest, took his role as a servant of God seriously. Unwilling to stand back and watch this affront to God’s holiness take place, he took matters into his own hands – literally. 

…he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. – Numbers 25:7-8 NLT

This was about far more than an uncontrolled sexual encounter with a pagan woman. This couple was engaged in an act of worship associated with Baal, the false god of the Moabites. Sexual promiscuity was a regular feature in the rites and rituals associated with this pagan deity. But Phinehas refused to turn a blind eye to their immorality and idolatry, executing the guilty couple on the spot. Moses indicates that the quick action of Phinehas brought an end to a plague that had already ravaged the lives of 24,000 Israelites.

As a result of his efforts, Phinehas received a covenant promise from God.

“Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.” – Numbers 25:11-13 NLT

Phinehas was rewarded by God. This young man executed the righteous judgment of God and, in so doing, spared the nation from further deaths. God’s anger was satisfied and the nation’s sins were atoned for. But God was not done carrying out His judgment. Because the woman found in the tent was of Midianite extraction, God ordered that the Midianites be completely destroyed for the role they played in Israel’s rebellion against Him.

“Attack the Midianites and destroy them, because they assaulted you with deceit and tricked you into worshiping Baal of Peor, and because of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed at the time of the plague because of what happened at Peor.” – Numbers 25:17-18 NLT

In a sense, Cozbi had accomplished what Balaam had failed to do. She and the other Midianite and Moabite women had successfully cursed a portion of the Israelite camp by luring them into immorality and idolatry. While this resulted in the deaths of 24,000 Israelites, it did nothing to thwart God’s plans to bless them and provide them with the inheritance He had promised to them. It would be the Moabites and Midianites who suffered the greatest losses due to this fateful event. But God would prove faithful to His covenant promises to Israel.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick to Listen and Slow to Speak

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17 “I will show you; hear me,
    and what I have seen I will declare
18 (what wise men have told,
    without hiding it from their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
    and no stranger passed among them).
20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
    through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
    in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,
    and he is marked for the sword.
23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
    He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
24 distress and anguish terrify him;
    they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
    and defies the Almighty,
26 running stubbornly against him
    with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because he has covered his face with his fat
    and gathered fat upon his waist
28 and has lived in desolate cities,
    in houses that none should inhabit,
    which were ready to become heaps of ruins;
29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
    nor will his possessions spread over the earth;
30 he will not depart from darkness;
    the flame will dry up his shoots,
    and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.
31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,
    for emptiness will be his payment.
32 It will be paid in full before his time,
    and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,
    and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
    and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil,
    and their womb prepares deceit.” – Job 15:17-35 ESV

Eliphaz has a way with words but it would be difficult to describe him as an encourager. He has a gift for crafting well-worded sentences that paint vivid images in the mind, yet do little to lift up the spirits of the one to whom they’re directed. This guy is a veritable factory of one-liners and memorable word pictures. His vocabulary is impressive, as is his ability to string together powerfully worded indictments that masquerade as well-intended counsel to his afflicted friend.

His gift of persuasion is hard to argue with and one can almost find themselves nodding their head in agreement as he waxes eloquent about Job’s guilt and his need for repentance. After all, he seems to know what he’s talking about and even claims to have plenty of hard-earned personal experience that lends him credibility and authority in the matter.

“If you will listen, I will show you.
    I will answer you from my own experience.
And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
    who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
from those to whom the land was given
    long before any foreigners arrived.” – Job 15:17-19 NLT

He claims to be backed by the wisdom of the ages, so his advice should be heeded and his words should go unchallenged. For Job to try and refute Eliphaz’s counsel would be to reject generations of proven insight into the human experience. He would be standing opposed to centuries worth of collective knowledge and stubbornly rejecting the tried-and-true insights of the sages.

How is Job supposed to withstand that kind of withering assault on his innocence? If he continues to hold his ground and stubbornly cling to his blamelessness, he will only add fuel to the fire and validate Eliphaz’s claims. After all, Eliphaz has carefully constructed his prosecution of Job, using any claims of innocence as proof of guilt. In his estimation, only the wicked would dare to lash out at God. A truly innocent man would show honor and respect by confessing his guilt and placing himself in the hands of the Almighty. And Eliphaz strengthens his case by comparing Job’s actions with those of the wicked and godless.

“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
    Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
The sound of terror rings in their ears,
    and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.” – Job 15:20-21 NLT

Eliphaz is anything but subtle. He claims that Job is only getting what he deserves for a life of hidden wickedness. Job may have fooled his family and friends but he couldn’t pull the wool over God’s eyes. Now, he was getting his just desserts. At least, that’s how Eliphaz saw it.

He compares Job to a king who knows he is facing defeat at the hands of a more powerful foe but stubbornly clings to his false hope of victory. These kinds of fools “shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty. Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him” (Job 15:25-26 NLT).

Don’t miss what Eliphaz is doing. He is setting Job up by turning every attempt at self-justification into proof of guilt. If Job even dares to question his circumstances, he is “shaking his fist at God” and “defying the Almighty.” This assertion virtually eliminates all options for Job. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. His persistent pleas of innocence will only confirm his guilt but so will a vow of silence. Eliphaz has painted Job into a corner and left him with no way out.

Sensing that he has Job on the ropes, Eliphaz increases the intensity of his attacks, painting his hapless friend as being overweight from a life of over-indulgence. He is fat and bloated from decades of excess and extreme wickedness.

“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
    their waists bulge with fat.” – Job 15:27 NLT

Subtlety is not Eliphaz’s strong suit. He wields words like a sledgehammer, obliterating any semblance of hope that may remain in Job’s already fractured heart. Eliphaz has gotten personal by attacking Job’s physical appearance along with his integrity. Once again, Eliphaz is attempting to portray Job as a hypocrite and a fraud. He is not what he appears to be. Eliphaz has deduced that the pity-producing cries of his suffering friend are nothing but a cleverly orchestrated facade designed to distract and deceive. The more vociferously Job demands his guiltlessness, the more condemned he stands.

It’s quite clear that Eliphaz has no doubts regarding Job’s guilt. In his mind, Job is wicked and godless, and his losses are all the proof he needs to elicit a guilty verdict from the Judge of the universe. He believes he has God on his side and one can almost see the smirk on his face as he confidently asserts that the riches of the wicked “will not last, and their wealth will not endure” (Job 15:29 NLT). Job has seen his wealth evaporate before his eyes. He has nothing left. And, for Eliphaz, this is further proof of his friend’s culpability. With Job’s finances in shambles, he has no resources on which to rely, and Eliphaz knows it. In fact, he coldly states that Job’s poverty has left him with nothing to look forward to than a life of emptiness. It will be Job’s only reward. 

This man is relentless and compassionless. He has become so determined to prove himself right that he has become blind to the wrongs he has inflicted on his helpless and hopeless friend. Eliphaz has lost all capacity to see Job’s pain and provide solace. His words have become pain-inducing, not peace-producing.

The apostle James points out the danger of an unbridled tongue.

If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. – James 1:26-27 NLT

Job was not a widow or an orphan but he was a man in great distress, and Eliphaz and his friends, in their self-righteousness, were using their tongues to burden him with a heavy weight of unnecessary pain and suffering. James went on to describe the damaging influence of an unbridled tongue.

…the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. – James 3:6 NLT

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were all adept at wielding their tongues but the byproduct of their efforts was anything but uplifting. Job had not been comforted or cared for. Their religious speech had not produced righteousness. And James would have called them out for using the same tongue with which they praised God to curse one who had been made in the image of God (James 3:9). In doing so, these men had put themselves in the place of God. Each of them viewed himself as Job’s judge, jury, and executioner.

I believe James would have counseled Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar to back off and reconsider how they were using their tongues. He would have asked them to examine their motives. He would have questioned the health of their own hearts and encouraged them to do a bit of personal soul-searching to see if their wisdom was really from God or not.

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. – James 3:13-16 NLT

Each of us could stand to learn from the not-so-flattering examples of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. We would do well to consider our own tendency to give out unsolicited advice and, in doing so, to do immeasurable damage to those who desperately need a word of encouragement in their time of need. Each of us would be wise to consider the words of James.

You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. – James 1:19-20 NLT

May we not forget the words Jesus spoke to the self-righteous and quick-to-judge Pharisees: “…let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7 NLT)

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Plague Number Seven

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13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” 20 Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. – Exodus 9:13-35 ESV

In his written chronicle of these events, Moses provides no timeline, so it is difficult to know if there was any delay between the various plagues. The sixth plague, which featured anthrax-like skin lesions, must have eventually come to an end but Moses provides no details. And it is impossible to tell whether any time was given for the Egyptians to heal before the next plague began. Moses simply states that God told him to “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh” (Exodus 9:13 NLT). This could have been the very next day after his last conversation with Pharaoh or it could have been months later. But whatever the case, God sent Moses and Aaron back to Pharaoh with the very same request they had repeatedly made.

“Let my people go, so they can worship me.” – Exodus 9:13 NLT

And, this time, God provided Moses with an important addendum to His original request.

“If you don’t, I will send more plagues on you and your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth.” – Exodus 9:13 NLT

God wanted Pharaoh to know that the worse was yet to come. If the king continued to resist God’s request, the people of Egypt would suffer even greater distress and, this time, God let Pharaoh know that their very existence was in His hands.

“By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth. But you still lord it over my people and refuse to let them go.” – Exodus 9:15-17 NLT

In a display of divine mercy, God informed Pharaoh of the exact nature of the next plague. He was going to send a hail storm so intense that if the Egyptians did not provide shelter for their livestock and servants, they would be pummelled to death. Anyone or anything that remained outdoors would die as a result of this supernatural storm. This message seems to have been directed to Pharaoh and his court officials. These would have been some of the wealthiest men in Egypt and they would have had possessed large land holdings where they grew crops and grazed their livestock. Moses indicates that some of these men took seriously the warning passed on to them from Moses and did as he had suggested. But others scoffed at the words of Moses and his God.

At the Lord’s command, Moses lifted his staff in the air and, immediately, the storm began, and it was like nothing the Egyptians had ever seen before. This was no ordinary hail storm. It was a divinely ordained, supernatural display of God’s power over all creation. And it was yet another direct attack on the gods of Egypt. Moses leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to the destructive power of this storm.

The Lord sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that, with such devastating hail and continuous lightning. It left all of Egypt in ruins. The hail struck down everything in the open field—people, animals, and plants alike. Even the trees were destroyed. – Exodus 9:23-25 NLT

The Egyptian gods responsible for the care and well-being of livestock were powerless to do their jobs. Any animals left in the fields were destroyed by the massive hailstones that fell from the sky. Others were struck down by the lightning bolts that emanated from the dark storm clouds. Crops were completely destroyed. Trees were stripped of their limbs, leaves, and fruit. It was if the Egyptian gods were doing battle with one another.

The goddess, Nut, was believed to be responsible for holding up the sky and was often portrayed as a woman arched over the earth. Underneath her body lay her brother, Geb, the earth god. Together, these two gods, along with Shu, the god of the air, held the world together. The heavens, sky, and earth were protected by this trinity of Egyptian gods. But, on this occasion, they failed to do their jobs. From the domain of Shu came devastating hail that damaged the realm of Geb. To the Egyptians, it appeared as if Shu’s sister, Tefnut, the goddess of moisture, was playing a role by sending torrential rains along with the hail. And the violent nature of the storm did not seem to fit their understanding of Shu, who was associated with dry air and calm, and was supposed to provide a cooling and calming influence over the world. In a land where rain was sporadic at best, this storm was unsettling and anything but calming in its influence. For the Egyptians, it was as if all their gods were at war with one another.

“What would the worshippers of Nut have thought when they looked skyward not to see the blessings of the sun and warmth, but the tragedy of storm and violence. Nut was the sky goddess. It was from her domain that this tragedy originated. One reflects upon the responsibilities of both Isis and Seth who also had responsibilities relating to agricultural crops. The black and burned fields of flax were a silent testimony to the impotence and incapability of wooden and stone deities.” – John Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt

But it was all the work of Jehovah, the God of the Israelites, and the one true God was doing what the gods of the Egyptians were powerless to do: Providing His chosen people with divine protection.

The only place without hail was the region of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived. – Exodus 9:26 NLT

It was as if a celestial dome had been erected over the land of Goshen, preventing the hail and lightning from reaching the Israelites and their property. They were completely safe. But the Egyptians suffered greatly. Their losses were catastrophic. And it appears as if this plague got Pharaoh’s attention.

“This time I have sinned,” he confessed. “The Lord is the righteous one, and my people and I are wrong. Please beg the Lord to end this terrifying thunder and hail. We’ve had enough. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.” – Exodus 9:27-28 NLT

But Pharaoh’s rather convincing display of remorse didn’t fool anyone. Moses was well aware that this was yet another ploy to buy Pharaoh time. He had no intention of letting the Israelites go but simply wanted the storm to end. So, Moses offered to intercede with God on behalf of the Egyptians, but he also informed Pharaoh that he knew he was lying.

“As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands and pray to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail will stop, and you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.” – Exodus 9:29-30 NLT

Despite the devastating damage done by the storm, Pharaoh once again hardened his heart and refused to keep his word. He had lived to resist another day. His kingdom lay in ruins. All crops were destroyed. Fruit-bearing trees were shorn of their produce. Tens of thousands of sheep, goats, cattle, camels, and donkeys lay lifeless in the fields. And it is likely that many of the poorer Egyptians were struck down by the plague as they attempted to save their livestock as the hail rained down.

With this plague, death becomes a dark reality in God’s intensifying display of divine judgment. No longer will discomfort and inconvenience be the sole outcomes of His wrath. Now the lives of the Egyptians themselves will be susceptible to God’s righteous indignation. No one and nothing was outside His reach or protected from His judgment. Not even Pharaoh.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Vision of Two Valleys

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1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

7 “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.

9 “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, 10 so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

11 “On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God. 14 They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make their search. 15 And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (Hamonah is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.

17 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. 19 And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. 20 And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.

21 “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them. – Ezekiel 39:1-24 ESV

Gog, this future world leader, who will form an alliance of nations to attack the reestablished nation of Israel, will find himself with a very powerful enemy: God Himself. So, God has Ezekiel write down a message for this as-yet-to-be-born, self-appointed conqueror of Israel.

“I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north.” – Ezekiel 39:2-3 NLT

From this point forward, God makes it clear that everything Gog does will be according to His plan. Repeatedly, God states, “I will…,” declaring His sovereign plan to use Gog as a means of accomplishing His preferred and predetermined end. Having Ezekiel record this message in written form ensures that it will last long after the prophet’s death. As a divinely inspired portion of Scripture, the message is eternal as well as reliable. What God has said will actually happen. And whether this man, Gog, ever receives this message from God, all those who read it over the centuries will know that both his ambition and ultimate annihilation are the work of God.

God will be the driving force behind this entire end times event. The participants will not be unthinking pawns in His hands, operating like automatons or robots. They will be acting out their own selfish desires and operating according to what they believe is their own free will. But God will be using them to accomplish His predetermined will. When Gog and his allies make the fateful decision to come against the defenseless people of Israel, they will find themselves in a battle with God Almighty.

“I will knock the bow from your left hand and the arrows from your right hand, and I will leave you helpless. You and your army and your allies will all die on the mountains. I will feed you to the vultures and wild animals. You will fall in the open fields, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign Lord. And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” – Ezekiel 39:3-6 NLT

This will be a lopsided battle ending in the total annihilation of the enemy’s army and the divine destruction of their homeland. This day of judgment will deliver a powerful message to every person who happens to be alive at the time. Even at this late date in human history, the world will be filled with idolatrous and unrighteous people who have refused to acknowledge Yahweh as the one true god. The apostle Paul provided Timothy with a description of the spiritual climate in those days.

…in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. – 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLT

But with His utter destruction of Gog and Magog, God will send a message to the world.

“I will make known my holy name among my people of Israel. I will not let anyone bring shame on it. And the nations, too, will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.” – Ezekiel 39:7 NLT

It will be painfully clear that this display of supernatural destruction is the work of God, just like the judgments of the seven trumpets and seven bowls recorded in the book of Revelation. No one will be able to miss the message God is sending. He is God alone and no one can resist His sovereign will.

In verses 9-16, Ezekiel records the horrific aftermath of this one-sided battle. The bodies of the slain will cover the ground as far as the eye can see, and it will take seven months to bury all the dead. The size of Gog’s fallen army is so great that the Israelites will be able to use the wood from their shields, spears, bows, and arrows as fuel for a period of seven years. The valley in which the bodies of the fallen will be buried will be called, “The Valley of the Multitude of Gog.” And for seven months after the last body has been interred, a special team of men will scour the land looking for any last bones that may have been missed, marking their location so the burial detail can complete their grisly work.

This imagery stands in stark contrast to that found in Ezekiel 37. There Ezekiel describes his vision of the valley of dry bones. He sees a landscape covered in dry, scattered bones that are intended to represent the spiritual state of God’s people. But in this case, rather than burial, the bones are miraculously rejoined together.

The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies… – Ezekiel 37:7-8 NLT

Then Ezekiel watched as God breathed new life into the newly formed bodies of His people.

…breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army. – Ezekiel 37:10 NLT

What a glaring contrast between these two scenes. One is a prediction of a literal event that will take place in human history. The other is a vision of a spiritual transformation that will take place among God’s chosen people. Both are real and guaranteed to take place. But where Gog and his allies will suffer defeat, death, and the dishonor of burial in a mass grave, the people of Israel will enjoy the blessings of a revitalized relationship with Yahweh made possible by His gracious transformation of their hearts.

God reveals the details of this end times event to His prophet so that he can share it with the exiled people of Judah. This entire section of Ezekiel’s book was meant to provide the helpless and hopeless people of God with encouragement by reminding them that He had not forgotten or forsaken them. God assures them, “I will demonstrate my glory to the nations. Everyone will see the punishment I have inflicted on them and the power of my fist when I strike. And from that time on the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God” (Ezekiel 39:21-22 NLT).

Yes, they had been punished for their sin. Their status as exiles was proof of that fact. But God wanted them to remember that He was not yet done. Their judgment would be followed by their justification. He would one day redeem and restore them, cleansing them from all their impurities and providing them with new hearts that will allow them to worship Him alone.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You Will Know

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17 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
    Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’

20 They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes. 21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

22 “Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.

24 “Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

26 “Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

29 “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

30 “The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. 32 For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 32:17-32 ESV

Fourteen days later, Ezekiel received the second part of God’s oracle concerning Egypt’s demise. In it, he is told to “weep for the hordes of Egypt and for the other mighty nations” (Ezekiel 32:18 NLT). The scene depicted by God is that of a funeral and Ezekiel is instructed to “bury” Egypt in a grave, sending the deceased nation “to the world below” (Ezekiel 32:18 ESV); to the afterlife. The entire nation of Egypt is portrayed as a corpse ready for burial and Ezekiel is given the responsibility of interring the body and conducting the funeral.

But despite Egypt’s vast wealth and reputation for extravagance as illustrated by its many architectural wonders, the funeral described is that of a pauper. Rather than a royal entombment attended by visiting dignitaries and marked by solemnity and almost worshipful sorrow by the adoring public, this burial is of a relative unknown. God even gives Ezekiel the words of the eulogy he is to speak at the graveside.

“O Egypt, are you lovelier than the other nations?
    No! So go down to the pit and lie there among the outcasts.” – Ezekiel 32:19 NLT

The nation of Egypt would experience the same fate as the “uncircumcised” heathen. When the Babylonians swept through the land, they would be indiscriminate in their destruction. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces would be merciless and show no pity to anyone, leaving the bodies of the wealthy and well-educated lying in the streets alongside the poor and disenfranchised. God even describes their welcome in Sheol with biting sarcasm.

“Down in the grave mighty leaders will mockingly welcome Egypt and its allies, saying, ‘They have come down; they lie among the outcasts, hordes slaughtered by the sword.’” – Ezekiel 32:21 NLT

Egypt will join the other nations that have fallen before them. People from Assyria, Elam, Meshech-Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and the Sidonians have all entered the grave and will be ready to greet its newest occupant with open arms. At one time, all these nations “struck terror in the hearts of people everywhere, but now they have been slaughtered by the sword” (Ezekiel 32:23 NLT). They had been major players and had enjoyed their moment in the spotlight, but now there were relegated to an eternal existence of obscurity and irrelevance in the grave. And Egypt would suffer the same fate.

This message, given by God to Ezekiel, was intended to be shared with the Jewish exiles living in Babylon. It was meant to persuade these displaced people from putting any hope in Egypt as a potential source of salvation for Judah. When the Babylonians had first appeared on the scene, threatening the peace of the region, the people of Judah looked for help from their more powerful allies. The Egyptians were a logical choice because they had a track record of success. As one of the oldest nations in the region, they had a long history of military dominance and hegemony. So, it was only natural for Judah to place its hope in their neighbor to the south. Even the exiles were tempted to see the Egyptians as the key to the survival of their homeland and the means of their eventual return from captivity.

But God wanted them to know that Pharaoh would not be their savior. While his people believed him to be a god, he was just another man and his nation would prove to be just another victim of Babylon’s seemingly unstoppable global expansion.

“You too, Egypt, will lie crushed and broken among the outcasts, all slaughtered by the sword.” – Ezekiel 32:28 NLT

From chapter 25 to chapter 32, the phrase “know I am the LORD” occurs 19 times. The oracles contained within these chapters serve as a powerful indictment against the nations of the world but are really a divine dismissal of the gods of this world. The nation of Judah, like its northern neighbor, Israel, was guilty of spiritual adultery. For centuries, they had made a habit of worshiping the false gods of the nations that occupied the land of Canaan. They had become equal-opportunity idolaters who saw nothing wrong with adopting the gods of their pagan neighbors and treating them with the same awe and reverence they had once reserved for Yahweh.

During their 400-year exile in Egypt, the people of Israel worshiped the gods of the Egyptians. In the process of delivering them from their captivity, God exhibited His superiority over these false gods through the ten plagues He sent against the people of Egypt. Each plague was a direct attack on one of their many gods. And when God had finished His divine smackdown of Egypt’s deities, He led them out of bondage and to the land He had promised them. But even after arriving in the land of Canaan, the people of Israel continued their love affair with false gods. In direct violation of God’s commands, they embraced the gods of the Canaanites and the neighboring nations. And despite God’s repeated calls to repent and return to Him, they stubbornly refused.

Prior to the people of Israel entering the land of Canaan, Moses stood before them and issued a covenant commitment.

“I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.

“You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the lands of enemy nations as we left. You have seen their detestable practices and their idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you—no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.” – Deuteronomy 29:15-18 NLT

But his words had little or no lasting impact. It didn’t take them long to break their covenant with Moses and violate the laws given to them by God. Their entire history is replete with examples of their unfaithfulness and spiritual infidelity. Now, as Ezekiel ministered to the people of God living as exiles in Babylon, they were reaping the consequences of their disobedience. They were experiencing exactly what Joshua had warned their ancestors would happen in they turned to the false gods of Canaan.

“…as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you.  If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you.” – Joshua 23:15-16 NLT

And all those nations from whom they had adopted their false gods would fall before the righteous wrath of Yahweh. Each would eventually pay the price for its idolatry and refusal to acknowledge the one true God. But their destruction would be a sobering warning to the people of Judah, reminding them of the words of God: “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Control Over Kings and Countries

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20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” – Ezekiel 30:20-26 ESV

Less than four months after receiving the first divine oracle concerning Egypt, Ezekiel was given another installment. The first part came in “the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month” (Ezekiel 29:1 ESV). This one arrived “in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month” (Ezekiel 30:30 ESV). The New Living Translation places the date of this second oracle as “January 7, during the tenth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity” (Ezekiel 30:20 NLT). Thomas L. Constable calculated the date in question to be April 29. But both agree that it took place in the year 587 B.C.

In this oracle, God informs Ezekiel that the king of Egypt has suffered a debilitating wound that has left him incapable of wielding a sword or putting up a fight. This divinely inflicted wound, while not life-threatening, would prove to be decisive.

“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. His arm has not been put in a cast so that it may heal. Neither has it been bound up with a splint to make it strong enough to hold a sword.” – Ezekiel 30:21 NLT

Pharaoh’s arm, a symbol of his power, had been broken by God but never set, so it had healed properly. Unable to grasp a sword, Pharaoh was reduced to a state of impotence and defenselessness. As the sovereign ruler over the mighty nation of Egypt, he was reduced to a weakened and helpless state. This imagery was meant to be symbolic in nature, using the king as the representative of the kingdom. Many scholars believe this passage is a reference to Egypt’s debilitating defeat at the Battle of Carchemish.

As the Babylonians continued to assert their will in that part of the world, the Egyptians attempted to play the spoiler, clandestinely assisting nations like the Assyrians and Israelites in their efforts to oppose Nebuchadnezzar’s advances. In 612 B.C., the Assyrian capital of Nineveh had fallen to Babylonian forces. Unwilling to admit defeat, the Assyrians moved their capital to Haran. But two years later, that capital suffered the same fate. Still refusing to capitulate, the Assyrians moved their headquarters to Carchemish, some 38 miles east of Haran.

As Pharaoh Neco and his Egyptian forces made their way to Carchemish to fight alongside the Assyrians, King Josiah of Judah decided to stand in his way. This would prove to be an unwise decision on Josiah’s part, resulting in his death from wounds suffered during the battle. The story is recorded in the book of 2 Chronicles.

After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and Josiah and his army marched out to fight him. But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message:

“What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my way to fight another nation, and God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”

But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken, and he would not turn back. Instead, he disguised himself and led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo. But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him. He cried out to his men, “Take me from the battle, for I am badly wounded!”

So they lifted Josiah out of his chariot and placed him in another chariot. Then they brought him back to Jerusalem, where he died. – 2 Chronicles 35:20-24 NLT

This battle at Megiddo delayed Neco’s arrival in Carchemish. And with Josiah’s death, Neco found himself embroiled in the local politics of Judah. Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, had ascended to the throne, but his reign only lasted three months before Neco had him imprisoned and replaced with one another of Josiah’s sons. Neco ended up pocketing a sizeable fortune in gold and silver in the form of tribute from Judah, but his eventual arrival in Carchemish proved too little, too late. Nebuchadnezzar had already defeated the Assyrians and, when the Egyptians arrived on the scene, they too were soundly routed. The battle of Carchemish brought about the end of the Assyrian Empire and reduced Egypt to a second-rate power in the region.

Now, some 25 years later, God warns that He is going to do a number of Egypt again. This time, He will break both arms, including the recently healed one.

“…this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am the enemy of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt! I will break both of his arms—the good arm along with the broken one—and I will make his sword clatter to the ground. I will scatter the Egyptians to many lands throughout the world.” – Ezekiel 30:23-23 NLT

The Egyptians had failed to learn their lesson. Despite their weakened state, they continued to try to exert their will in the region. But God wants Ezekiel to know that the Egyptian’s hope of regaining their former stature was a pipe dream. He was going to use Nebuchadnezzar to end their centuries-long role as major players on the world stage.

“…when I put my sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he brings it against the land of Egypt, Egypt will know that I am the Lord.” – Ezekiel 30:25 NLT

God describes Egypt’s defeat as a mortal blow, not just a couple of broken arms. Without any way to defend themselves against the Babylonians, the Egyptians would suffer a devastating defeat that would render them “mortally wounded, groaning in pain” (Ezekiel 30:24 NLT).

Like the Israelites and the people of Judah, the Egyptians would find themselves scattered to the four winds. Some would end up as captives in Babylon, while others would seek refuge in foreign lands where they would live as refugees and outcasts.

“I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, dispersing them throughout the earth.” – Ezekiel 30:26 NLT

Their defeat will be God’s doing, as will be their dispersion among the nations. This great and powerful nation would fall as a result of God’s sovereign, omnipotent will. Each of these nations; the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, were instruments in the hand of God. They served at His pleasure and were nothing more than bit players in the drama of His providential and irrepressible plan.

And, as always, God informs Ezekiel that. with their fall, the Egyptians will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is Lord. They will recognize that their defeat was His doing. And when they find themselves scattered to the four winds, living as helpless and hopeless exiles in foreign lands, their recognition of God’s Lordship will be confirmed.

“I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, dispersing them throughout the earth. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” – Ezekiel 30:26 NLT

As the prophet Daniel so aptly put it, God “controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings” (Daniel 2:21 NLT). Neco, Nebuchadnezzar, and even Josiah, lived their lives according to the will of God Almighty. They ruled at His discretion. Their countries flourished only as long as He deemed it necessary and critical to the accomplishment of His overarching plan. Their rise and fall was up to His sovereign will. Nothing happens on earth that is outside the providential plan of Yahweh.

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. – Proverbs 16:9 NIV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.