The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt and eventually into their own land with an agreement, or covenant, that depended upon their commitment to Him and obedience to the Law of Moses. For His part, God promised to protect His people, shower them with blessing after blessing, forgive their sins and shortcomings, heal their diseases, defend them against their enemies, and safely bring them through the trials and tribulations of life. God’s primary request in return was for them to obey His law and not to reject Him in favor of other gods.
As His peoples’ hearts were perpetually turning away from Him in pursuit of foreign idols, it would eventually be necessary for the Lord to show some “tough love” – to pull back on some of His blessings and protections, to allow the people to see and experience what these other gods could or could not do for them.
As it turns out, the worshipped idols could not do much. Many of the kings of Judah that followed David, including even King Solomon, turned away from the Lord and instead worshiped other gods from the surrounding region. Their worship often included evil practices of sexual immorality and, in the case of Molech, even child sacrifice. For decade after decade of these practices, the Lord continually warned His people through the prophets of the consequences and begged them to return to Him. Occasionally, a faithful king would see the damage being done, and lead the people in turning back to the Lord, for a season. But mostly, God’s pleas fell on deaf ears. In the end, He had no choice but to turn them over to King Nebuchadnezzar to face a long exile in Babylon in order to save them as His special people in the long run.
Among the early exiles from Jerusalem was the young prophet, Daniel. Decades later, when he had reached his seventies, the empire of Babylon was no more. Daniel was now residing in the court of the Medo-Persians under King Darius. And through his study of the holy books, the scriptures of that time, he experienced a spiritual insight:
2 in the first year of his reign—I, Daniel, understood from the books that according to the word of Adonai (or Lord) to Jeremiah the prophet, the number of the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70 years. 3 So I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:2-3 (TLV)
Daniel was reading God’s word and greatly impacted by the writings of Jeremiah, God’s prophetic mouthpiece to the people of Judah in the decades prior to Babylon’s invasion. Jeremiah had prophesied sober words of warning and given them some key information about the coming exile:
4 Moreover, Adonai has sent to you all His servants the prophets, sending them early and often—but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear— 5 saying: ‘Turn, now, everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell in the land that Adonai has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve them, to worship them, and so do not provoke Me with the work of your hands, so I would do you no harm.’
7 “Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares Adonai. “So you are provoking Me with the work of your hands, to your own hurt.”
11 “So this whole land will be a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. 12 Then it will come to pass, when 70 years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” declares Adonai, “the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, and I will make it ruins forever. Jeremiah 25:4-7, 11-12 (TLV)
Daniel saw from the holy books that, in God’s prophetic timetable, the exile of Judah in Babylon was to last seventy years. He understood that after this time, Babylon was to be judged by Medo-Persia for their attack on Judah and that his people would be allowed to begin returning to their land to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and God’s temple. This inspired Daniel to pray earnestly for the Lord’s healing and forgiveness for the exiled nation, and God heard Daniel’s prayer.
God still uses prophecy to inspire and instruct us about near-term as well as long-term events in our future. Sometimes He will describe multiple events, spread out over long periods of time, using a single prophecy. As the Creator of all things, including space and time, God is able to live outside of the physical restrictions that we face. He knows exactly what is coming, and is able to share it with us, “the end from the beginning”. It is to our great profit, as it was to Daniel, to spend time in the scriptures to learn, to glean, to be strengthened, and to be spiritually fed “from the books” of the Lord.
Reflection
With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will use His scriptures to personally teach and encourage each one of us, speaking to our souls a unique message of love. When we make time to spend with God and His word, the benefits and blessings we reap are limitless. May we enjoy His special presence that comes to us from abiding with Him in His holy word today.
Lord, thank You for Your living word. Help us to overcome the distractions that threaten to keep us from spending time with You in the scriptures. Be present through the power of the Holy Spirit as we read Your word, burning truth, guidance, and the divine into our souls. May our fellowship time be a wellspring of peace, serenity, and joy as we sit at the feet of Jesus. Grant us new understanding and insight today as we partake of Your precious word, keeping us on track as we seek to honor and obey You. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Have a blessed day today, assured of the Lord’s great love for you.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 