Author: Erin Newton

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To Assimilate or Not

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Daniel 3 Listen: (5:56)
Read: Hebrews 1 Listen: (2:15)

Scripture Focus: Daniel 3:12

12 But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up

Reflection: To Assimilate or Not

By Erin Newton

I love the Bible because it speaks to our culture—even when distantly removed in time. The stories in Daniel have been repeatedly used to speak of Christian ethics in a fallen world.

The story is familiar. The three men taken into captivity are asked to assimilate to the foreign culture. They refuse and are sentenced to death in a fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are tokens for standing up to power and choosing truth over popularity. Their determination to continue in honorable living outweighs their fear of death.

To refuse the king meant severe consequences. This time it meant fire.

The story continues with the miraculous salvation of the three men. They are thrown into the furnace and a fourth person appears—an angel or a theophany of Jesus, perhaps. Whoever joined the men in the fire was a divine instrument of salvation.

There are parallels between the stories in Daniel and the book of Esther. Both involve Judeans sent into the court of a foreign king and asked to conform their lives to the whims of those in power. Daniel and his three friends resist conforming. They consistently reject the king’s commands. Twice they are sent to their deaths. Twice they are miraculously saved.

Esther hides her ancestry and partakes in the customs and system of the foreign kingdom. She comes to the king when he calls for her. She performs the beauty and dietary regimen assigned to her. Her actions are quite the opposite of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

How do we reconcile the different accounts? Yes, Esther was later used to save the Jews and risked her life to do so. Daniel and the three men risked only their lives in resistance.

We have both stories of bold resistance and quiet acceptance to reveal the complexity of life. There are rarely simple answers to our situations. Perhaps God had stirred their hearts to boldness in refusing the king and boldness in obeying the king.

Too often are we tempted to judge one another for making these same decisions. I believe Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were right in in refusing and taking the consequence. I believe Esther was right in joining the king’s court. God used both.

The days ahead will be filled with opportunities and we may disagree on how things should be done. Let us pray that God is moving in the midst of us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Send our your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling;

That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. — Psalm 43.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Stories of Faith :: A Guided Prayer

As we tell our stories of faith, we celebrate every moment—the struggles, the losses, and the miraculous moments of victory. 

Stories of Faith :: A Guided Prayer

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Priests in More Than Just Name

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 44 Listen: (5:32)
Read: 2 Peter 2 Listen: (3:52)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 44:15

15 But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok and who guarded my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Reflection: Priests in More Than Just Name

By Erin Newton

From the first pages of Genesis, we have witnessed God fill the realms of creation. He created space and filled it— with Jupiter, the Big Dipper, our sun and moon, and so much more. He made the seas and filled them—with dolphins, beluga whales, sea turtles, and species we have yet to discover. He made the land and filled it—with redwood trees, bluebonnets, sugarcane, and crops to cover every valley or hill.

In Genesis, God joined creation to dwell with humanity in harmony—the first ever temple. But through the ravages of sin, that union and harmony was defiled and destroyed.

Ezekiel is testimony to the de-creation of the Temple. God’s people treated their relationship with him flippantly. It was not a holy place to seek the presence of God; it had become a commonplace hangout where it didn’t matter what you believed or what you did—anyone could enter this sacred space.

And so, God left. “Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple” (Ezek 10.18).

What is creation without its Creator? What is a Temple without its God? What is an altar without divine communion?

But the story was never intended to end there. God returned. “And I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters and the land was radiant with his glory” (Ezek 43.2).

Ezekiel begins to describe the new Temple and its new filling—with renewed purpose, new design, and new inhabitants.

The priesthood was slightly different this time. Much scholarly speculation has explored the differences in this temple compared to the first, far more that we could delve into here. But what we see clearly is God’s focus on those who treated their relationship with him seriously. The Zadok lineage of priests was noted for their obedience when the other priests had gone astray. Being a priest in name was not the same as being faithful.

Because of the reconciliatory work of Christ, we are all the priesthood of God. We have access to him and his spirit dwells within the temple of our own bodies. But this passage should remind us that God desires for us to treat our union with him seriously and faithfully. Are we a priesthood in name only? Or shall we be remembered as faithful when some of the Church was not?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

O God of hosts, show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved. — Psalm 80.7

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Temples—Gardens of Grace

Believers are Christ’s temple—his garden of grace.

Temples—Gardens of Grace

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We don’t support our work with advertisements. Our work relies on our donors. Please consider becoming a donor.

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Ex Nihilo in Ezekiel

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 37 Listen: (5:07)
Read: Titus 3 Listen: (2:05)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 37: 4–5, 11

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.’”

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’”

Reflection: Ex Nihilo in Ezekiel

By Erin Newton

The landscape from where you sit may look rather bleak. The ups and downs of what feels like a never-ending series of unprecedented events make the future appear without hope. We see nothing but despair, death, and difficulty.

Ezekiel gazed across the valley and saw only bones, not freshly deceased remains but signs of those who had long since suffered death.

These are not the bodies of Jarius’s daughter, a few moments within the throes of death, or Lazarus, a few days within the tomb. The bones were dry, clean, and cured by the sun. If we read a glimmer of hope into the stories of those on the brink of death, this story should strip away all hope of resuscitation.

But God asks Ezekiel to dream the impossible. Ezekiel spoke God’s salvation to the most inattentive, unresponsible, unlikely audience.

We think about Jonah, miraculously spared from the stomach acid of a whale (or miraculously resurrected from the whale), and cling to the idea that somehow, maybe in some way, God could fix and reverse the signs of death, if it was recent. Ezekiel 37 is entirely different.

Life would come from nothing— another ex nihilo creation in Ezekiel. While the tissues and muscles supernaturally regrew on the bones, the nerves and tendons attaching as required, the skin covering the vital organs, hair and melanin filling in every inch of the body, I imagine the hymn rang out: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Death and hopelessness had settled into the valley. It was past the perceived time for God to intervene. Judgment had come upon the land as the prophets foretold. The bones were testimony to the promises kept by God, albeit the promises they hoped he’d forget.

But there is no sin and no subsequent judgment that exceeds the limits of God’s mercy. From the hand that judged sin came the hand that would bring new life. “Salvation was to rise phoenix-like from the embers of judgment.” (Leslie Allen, Word Biblical Commentary).

When we look at the days ahead, does it look beyond hope? Do we see the future and assume the time has surely passed for God to help us in this time and in this place? Dear sisters and brothers, do not lose hope. By God’s spirit, new life has entered our bones, and we rise and rise again.

From John: Divine Hours prayers will return next week. For the remainder of this week we will close with the “Election Prayers” that have been in our Echo Prayer feed for the last few years.

Election Prayers:

Pray that in any unrest or conflict that Christians would distinguish themselves from the culture by being able to protest without violence or threat and by being able to give a listening and compassionate ear to even the most strident of opposition.

Pray that we would not be guilty of name-calling or any unwholesome or dehumanizing language.

Pray that what comes from our speech would demonstrate the truth in love no matter what happens around us.

Pray that Christians would not be part of sinful gloating, of boasting, or threatening others over political wins or losses.

Pray that all parties and individuals would reject violence or threats of violence and seek justice for victims of political violence.

Read more about Paul’s Stance on Gentleness

People who are violent rather than gentle…slanderous rather than truthful…are not our enemies. They are captives.

Paul’s Stance on Gentleness

Read more about Be Yoked to Christ, Not Politics

May no party or leader be permitted to yoke us or Christ’s church to their cause.
May the only yoke we take on, be the yoke of Christ, in service to others.

Be Yoked to Christ, Not Politics
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Dis-armed Power

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 30 Listen: (4:07)
Read: 1 Timothy 2 Listen: (1:38)

Scripture Focus:  Ezekiel 30:21-22

21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand.

Reflection: Dis-armed Power

By Erin Newton

If you have ever dealt with an arm in a cast, you realize how vital upper-body mobility is for the majority of people around the world. (Some have lost the ability or never had the ability to move their arms and find ways to overcome such obstacles. It is an amazing feat.) But it is no wonder that the use of the word “arm” to denote power is a common expression both today and in the ancient world.

A broken arm for a warrior meant defeat and, most likely, death. Strength was always pictured as residing within the arms. Think of all the ways a warrior would need to use one’s arms—to shoot a bow, to swing a sword, to steer a horse, to put on armor, to hold a shield, to maneuver a slingshot, to drive a tent peg. Strong arms meant power.

But here Egypt’s arms are dislocated, broken. Not only injured and immobilized, but without bandage and healing. God’s judgment of this nation’s power is depicted as completely dis-arming.

God’s hand moves in judgment using the tool of one idolatrous nation against the other. And this is often the case. God can orchestrate the movement of one person, group of people, or nation to work out his plan for his people.

Numerous times had Egypt been the power looming over God’s people in the Old Testament. From Joseph’s flight to Egypt and the subsequent oppression in Exodus to the revolving struggle for power over the land, the influence of this nation on Israel and Judah was clear. Sometimes that influence looked like overt oppression. Other times that power resulted in an influence on their faith.

The Israelites were condemned by the prophets for engaging in idolatry—the proof of which has been found in the discoveries throughout the land. Archaeological discoveries of ancient Israel reveal images of deities that share common characteristics with Egyptian culture. Female figurines that likely resemble Asherah (a generic name associated in the Bible with the Canaanite goddess alongside Baal) sometimes included a hairstyle depicting Hathor, an Egyptian goddess.

When your arms are hanging limply to your side, you have no power. But you also cannot sculpt a god for yourself. The removal of power is not only a demotion in authority or influence. Sometimes God dislocates our strength to keep us from making gods and from offering such false salvation to others.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Your way, O God, is holy; who is as great as our God? — Psalm 77.13

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

It’s easy to be judgmental of ancient idols…But these gods were normal…practical SOP that promised financial ROI.

Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

Listen to Breaking the Rhyme Scheme

Christ will break this rhyme scheme. The rhythms of oppression will be rewritten. The drumbeat of violence will be silenced. The time signature of terrors will give way to rest.

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A Love Affair with Power

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 23 Listen: (7:48)
Read: Ephesians 1 Listen: (3:10)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 23:35

35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”

Reflection: A Love Affair with Power

By Erin Newton

We come once again to another uncomfortable passage in Ezekiel. The imagery and allegory of God’s people as prostitutes is the focus for the story. The details of this chapter are difficult and offensive to both ancient and modern readers. It is important that we note once again that this is not the condemnation of women in general, but the use of a female figure as a metaphor for the entire nation, men and women alike.

In a lengthy exposé of the sins of Israel and Judah, Ezekiel talks about the lewdness of these sisters fawning and throwing themselves at powerful men—superpowers Egypt and Assyria. I think we will always struggle to understand why the prophet chose this type of imagery, but what we can see here is the error that was caused by the nations. To substitute trust in God for somebody who claims to have more power is akin to an unfaithful marriage.

What Ezekiel seemed to dance around in chapter 16 is placed on full parade here in chapter 23. The sisters (Israel and Judah) have been like shameless lovers who seek after any possible recipient to their seductions. They are taken and abused and cast aside. And the tragic thing is that even in the worst consequences, they had yet to learn to stop running after these powerful lovers.

What makes power so attractive? Why do we trade the ones we love for the affection of something else? When we look at our spiritual lives placing ourselves in the shoes of these women, who or what is it that we find so much more appealing than God?

At the time of the prophets the nations were struggling back and forth between incursions and battles with all the nations around them. There were promises of peace, promises of a better life—if only they would give up truth and the God that they loved. In return, they embraced the way of life offered by idolatrous nations.

Everywhere we go right now we are bombarded with messages about power—messages that herald someone or something’s power and why we should support it, messages about how to gain our own power and utilize it for our own benefit.

But what does it mean if we strive for power when the Son of God Almighty showed us only what it meant to be humble? Let us not lust for power … or its leaders.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Test me, O Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind — Psalm 26.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about In Denial about Greed and Power

Our distraction with sexual language and content in scripture can cause us to lose sight of the passages’ intended message.

In Denial about Greed and Power

Read more about Incest, Greed, and Idolatry

When was the last time someone was disfellowshipped from a church for greed? When was the last time Christians boycotted something due to greed?

Incest, Greed, and Idolatry