Category: Babylon
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I Am Not Ashamed…or am I?
Over the weekend, a friend posted a video from graduation ceremonies half a continent away from the Edge of Nowhere, and I was able to hear one of my former students sing “I Am Not Ashamed (of the Gospel).” By herself, she was every bit as good as the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I got chills…
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It Doesn’t Take a Thousand Words to Get the Picture
You can learn a lot about people from what they say – which is one reason it’s often a very good idea to keep your mouth shut. Or, as the inimitable 16th president of the United States is said to have said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out…
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Drink, Drank, Drunk
A twisted source of pride for many students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (and a source of chagrin and consternation for administration) is its ranking as one of America’s top party schools. I can assure you that although I spent six years at this, um, prestigious school, the liveliest party I ever attended may have…
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Who’s Your Daddy?
The villain of Daniel 5 is Belshazzar, who only appears in this chapter. Who is this flash-in-the-pan character, Belshazzar? You might consider this a gimme question since the text says pretty clearly who he is: he’s Nebuchadnezzar’s son. The narrator says as much in 5:2, when he sends for the goblets that “Nebuchadnezzar his father”…
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Disney in Daniel?
Disney makes a big deal (and a lot of money) about making dreams come true. I’ve only been there once and I don’t recall having my dreams come true, but maybe that just means I should go more often. How many times does it take, I wonder? Speaking of making dreams come true, some people…
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It’s All So Clear – except when it’s not
It may take me longer to get through this dream than it took the Israelites to live through the Exile. My apologies to those of you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to sort out the interpretations of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream. Daniel gives a pretty straightforward interpretation of the dream, but he leaves…
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Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes…
I’ve had lots of dreams this week. This is what happens when you’re sick for five days and spend inordinate amounts of time napping. But none of my dreams merits a blog posting. So, let’s get to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, finally. The dream, as recounted by Daniel, involved “a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in…
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All (Animal) Guts, No Glory
It’s your lucky day. A while back I threatened to give you more information about some men in the king’s court, specifically, the “magicians and enchanters” (1:20). We’ve reached the second appearance of these characters, so the time has come, ready or not. After his lousy night of sleep, King Nebuchadnezzar called in the experts,…
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Insomnia, Indigestion, and the Inside Scoop
A grumpy king means trouble for everyone, and in the second chapter of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar is out for blood on account of a bad night’s sleep. Actually, sleep deprivation isn’t the cause of his tirade (though it probably didn’t hurt); it’s what caused the sleep deprivation that has him so upset. He had some…
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Basketball and Babylon
Most of the “court tales” we hear these days relate to the NBA and the recent lockout. The book of Daniel certainly features big egos, a bit of sport, and plenty of suspense, but its early chapters tell a completely different kind of court tale than the NBA tells. Daniel 2 moves us into a…
Three Rubies Press 