ReputationsA reputation formed. The Bible is not a linear history book. It is a series of records that God has selected and wants us to learn from. These incidents recorded below cover a period of about fifty or so years around the time of the exiles in 600 BC. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the very powerful city of Babylon which had raided Jerusalem several times and captured the sacred jewels from the temple and took captives men with potential. Among these captives were Daniel and his three friends. They were sent at royal expense, to the top Babylonian University which had an international reputation to develop their knowledge and skills. That gave Daniel a problem as the University meat rations were from animals sacrificed to Bel and other local idols, so he resolved to go vegetarian. The authorities were sceptical but gave him a three month trial and surprisingly found that he seemed to look better than other students. Daniel now had a reputation. Meanwhile Daniel’s three friends also gained a reputation when they did not bow down to a statue. As a punishment they were thrown into the local blast furnace. These furnaces were fed on tar and bitumen and were the source of much metal production, particularly iron and steel. When the three walked out without even the smell of burning tar on them, the king promoted them to senior government positions. Those three were called Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who I remembered as Shake-a-bed, Make-a-bed and A-bed-we-go some eighty years ago.A reputation justified. The walls round Babylon city were so thick and wide that four chariots could drive side by side along the top. Huge gates. Absolute security. No worries, even when a small army under Darius the Persian came up and camped round the city. To demonstrate their confidence, Belshazzar who had succeeded Nebuchadnezzar as king got out the golden goblets that had been taken from the Jerusalem temple to show off at a big feast he was giving. (some politicians don’t change much do they?) In the middle of the feast a hand appeared and wrote four words on the wall which no one could understand. “Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin”. The king was so scared that, on the advice of his wife, he got his star student Daniel in to translate. The translation is simple “God has numbered your days and they don’t add up. You have been weighed and you don’t weigh much. Your kingdom has been divided”. (Message) Disaster is forecast. Belshazzar the king was amazed and Daniel and co were further honoured and rewarded, but the warning was ignored.A reputation resented. Meanwhile, Darius had not been idle and had dug a bypass for the river that flowed through the city. In the middle of the feast, he opened the sluices and the water stopped going through the city. All the water ran round the new bypass. The old riverbed became dry. Darius walked in with his army. The kingdom was certainly divided. The record is terse: “At that same night the Babylonian king Belshazzar was murdered and Darius the Mede succeeded him as king aged sixty two.” The new king divided the country up into admin areas and appointed governors for each. Daniel got one and did so well that the new king decided to appoint him supreme governor over all the others who were naturally jealous. They thought that the only way to get at Daniel was to pretend he was disloyal. They persuaded the king to issue a decree that all prayers for the next month must be made only to the king or be lion feed. These pet lions were kept on a diet of two sheep and a human prisoner every day according to Josephus.A reputation tested. Daniel is undeterred and, as was his habit, made his daily prayers to God by the window. The other governors saw him and thought they had won and reported to the king who realised he had been tricked and objected but had to keep to the decree. In front of witnesses Daniel is sealed into the lion cage. The next morning Daniel is pulled out unharmed and the other scheming governors take his place to the delight of the lions who liked fresh meat. The king Darius issues a new decree that Daniel’s “God is the living God, world without end. His kingdom never fails. He is a saviour”. Daniel is treated well from then on and into the reign of Cyrus, who became king of all the Medes and Persians. Daniel does have another dream which forecasts accurately the great empires of the Persians, then the Greeks and finally the Romans. Perhaps for future articles.Questions. Why are these incidences recorded for us now? What should we learn in 2026? Was Daniel’s capture a disaster or was it a part of God’s plan? Was Belshazzar wrong to use the sacred cups for a party? The promise of inevitable judgement is repeated from Genesis to Revelation. God is that judge, not us. The meaning of the inscription written on the wall at the feast is translated in our AV Bibles “You are weighed in the balances and found wanting”. That observation was scary. It must have worried the king yet all he did was to give Danel a promotion and go on with the feast. Jealousy and pride are very strong motivators of behaviour. Do we recognise them in international relations? Being a Christian is considered by some, a soft option. Works like feeding the poor, providing housing, making reparations, net zero, levelling up and other good works without faith may be as good as leaving Christ out of Christian behaviour. Is it like that now? Rules precedent over love? Jesus wept over Jerusalem saying that disaster would come on it “because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you”. He said nothing about good works. (Luke 21) But faith without works is dead we are told in the Epistles. Daniel must have had some faith when he prayed by the window and said, “My God is able”. He lived up to his reputation. Quotes from AV and Message BibleBob
The results of habit: JosiahHistory. Hezekiah had been a good king, but his son was not. That son Manasseh reigned for 35 years, perhaps longer than any other Judean king. Practices, rituals and habits under him became the norm and were accepted. He was bad, put idols all round what was left of the temple Solomon had built about 400 years before. When he died the officials had a rebellion and the heir only lasted two years as king, before they assassinated him. That left a boy of eight called Josiah to become king of a disorganised state that had forgotten God. The story that followed is repeated almost verbatim in our bibles in Kings and Chronicles, so it might be important. This boy, Josiah, took time to find out what was happening. He was probably at school with a lad called Jeremiah who was a great and wise thinker. We are told that Josiah had a “tender heart”.<br>Do good. When Josiah was sixteen his school must have told him about history and what David had done in setting up the state. So he gave orders to start clearing out the idols, to cut down and smash the Asherah poles not only in Jerusalem but also in the surrounding settlements. In the temple they found and threw out many old things and intricate images. Some of the scrolls looked interesting and they kept them and some of the educated priests started to read them. Josiah was not a bad boy and got rid of many of the bad things, but he was not yet doing many of the good things. One of the first good things he did was to use up some of the tax money to pay craftsmen to repair the temple and clear out some of those back rooms where ornaments and valuable things given in lieu of tax were stored. Lots of good works, and he was still only twenty four years old.<br>Think good. It was in these back rooms that they found some old scrolls (books to us) and they started to read them. Dr Whyte says in his commentary that without Josiah’s spring cleaning we may not have heard about the creation, the exodus or even Moses and the ten commandments as these scrolls could have been the only copies of all the first five books of our bibles. Modern scholars teach that the “Book of the Law” that they had found was our book Deuteronomy. The word Deuteronomy means “repetition or copy of the law”. The book summarises the commandments and forecasts disaster on those who ignore it. They had found Moses’s records of the start of their nation and what God had done for them by bringing them out of slavery in Egypt and into the fertile land where they were now. They were so excited that they went and read it all to king Josiah. He seems to have been ignorant of what God had done for them in the past and he made the sign of great drama by “rending his clothes”. (This was probably only his royal robe, so don’t worry). Not content with being sorry, he decides to so something and tells the High Priest and his aides to find a wise woman and pray for him. They go for advice to a wise woman or prophetess. Their prayer is answered when they consult this old lady called Hulda – probably a second cousin to Jeremiah, as she had a reputation of being wise and close to God. She is said to be one of the seven prophetesses mentioned in the Hebrew calendar.<br>Sorry. She was brave and honest. She tells them bluntly that, because the people had turned away from God, all the disasters foretold in the book would happen - but not for some time now that the king was really sorry. King Josiah will have peace if he honours God before the disaster overtakes the nation. “Because you took seriously and responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I am taking you seriously. I’ll take care of you. You won’t be around to see the doom I am going to bring on this place and people.” That was God’s message from Hulda.<br>Acts good. Just being sorry was not good enough. Now Josiah acts. He assembles all the people and reads this “book of the law” in public. They too are excited and take it to heart and commit themselves to obey the rules. These are not just the ten commandments, but also some detailed principles for living. Actions are dramatic. There were a lot of habits to break. They broke down the shrines and altars which had been built for the “vile and detestable” deities. One was even where they had sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. (Was a kiln worse than the pill?) The quarters for the male prostitutes were knocked down. Then Josiah immediately calls all the people together to celebrate the Passover feast – that was in memory of when those who trusted and obeyed then survived when escaping Egypt. (now our modern Communion). Temple worship is restarted with a feast that Josiah provided. Everything was done properly, as in the rules Moses had recorded in the scrolls. Josiah led a reformation. There are said to be over 100 references to and quotes from Deuteronomy in the New Testament, many by Jesus Himself. The reformation petered out within a few years of Josiah’s death and the old habits started again.<br>Lessons. The country had been politically stable but religiously devoid. Jesus quotes the Old Testament to explain about Himself. Jesus says it is now by faith we are saved, not just by keeping rules The Epistles are full of references to “the law”. Would we have reacted in the same way when hearing Deuteronomy or even the whole Pentateuch read out? What do we learn from Moses and those other old ones? Do we ever take notice of old ladies’ opinions? Or even from Josiah? Being sorry. Prayer. Making decisions. Taking action. Persisting. The people didn’t. They were back to their rituals within a few years. Habits die hard. Leadership is needed. Josiah died in 606 BC and his reforms were soon ignored. What should have been done to prevent this retrogression away from God? Would a suitable leader have made any difference? Should Josiah have been training leaders? What are the qualities of a good leader? Was Josiah’s reformation based on fears rather than love? Is a Trump-like imposed approach to change destined to be temporary? Nine years later in 597 the Babylonians “resettled” those with potential to Babylon (Daniel was among them). The remnant still had not learned and revolted. So the Babylonians came back in 595 to devastate the temple, Jerusalem and the country. Hulda was right. It was a long time before the city was resettled. See Haggai and other minor prophets. .<br>Sources: Bible: 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, Josephus, commentaries and of course, Google.<br>Bob<br> <br><br>
Naaman, a discovery and a resolution The bible does not only record the history of Israel. This incident is the humbling of an important and successful commander in Syria, one of Israel’s main enemies. Syria was at the junction of the North, South and East trade routes and was prosperous. It picked off neighbouring fertile lands at will, including Samaria, and of course took prisoners. The Syrian army commander was a bloke called Naaman who was popular and very important. But he had leprosy. This is a disfiguring disease and usually fatal. Sufferers were excluded from society. One of the prisoners taken from Israel was a bright young girl and she was appointed as a maid to Naaman’s wife. She told her mistress about the “prophet” in Israel called Elisha whose god could heal. With the backing of the Syrian king, Naaman immediately sets off with a huge reward in gold and silver and ten new suits for the puppet king of Samaria and asks to be introduced to this prophet he had heard of. This incident deals with the pride that he had and probably was not aware of and then a good resolution. There are a number of other incidents recorded about Elisha which we may look at one day Panic. The Israeli king in Samaria thinks Naaman’s visit is an excuse or even challenge for war. Elisha only hears about this by chance and sends a message to Naaman that if he wants to be healed, he should go and bathe in the local river Jordan. Not just a single dip, but a complete bath seven times over. Naaman is incensed as he thought Elisha should have done a proper diagnosis and then waved his hands about or something and anyway his local mountain rivers were much cleaner than Jordan was in those days. This prophet man did not even come out to see him but just sent a message. He goes away in a temper. (Wouldn’t you?) Luckily, he had some sensible people with him who pricked his pride and told him to give the humble wash a try instead of formal ablutions just in case the preacher was right. Results. Naaman the honoured commander decides to try the humble treatment and discovers that he is healed of his leprosy. He tries to reclaim his dignity and offers the gifts that he has brought to Elisha, but Elisha refuses to take anything. Naaman has recognised that God is God and only asks for a load of local soil. This request may seem a bit odd until you realise that the common belief at that time was that a god could only be worshipped on the soil of the nation where that god was recognised. In other words, Naaman is declaring publicly that he believes that God is the real God and so he asks for forgiveness for when he has to take part in official religious rituals in Syria. Elisha accepts this. Fair is fair. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant who usually struggles to support his master, sees this huge fortune being taken away and returned with no benefits to Elisha. So he decides to run after Naaman and comes out with a lovely story that they had just had a visitor with a need for charity and could he spare just one of the talents. Then comes one of my favourite verbatim quotes from the Bible when food is being handed round when Naaman says “Be content, take two”. Gehazi accepts the two talents and the new suits offered and takes them home and hides them. Next time he goes in to see Elisha he is asked where he has been and denies ever going out. Elisha tells him that he has seen where he went and tells him in no uncertain terms that Naaman’s decision and cure could not be bought with money and Gehazi himself immediately displays the symptoms of leprosy. Lessons. This story is one of several apparently stand-alone incidents about Elisha. It shows that God is not just for the in-crowd (the Israelites) as Naaman was an enemy to Israelites. He fought them and took prisoners – one of which told him about Elisha. Then Naaman is proud, too proud to wash in the inferior stream. Next his servants “advised” him to obey this apparently unhygienic and humbling action. He did it. It must have taken some courage and it worked. Elisha’s apparent approval for Naaman to participate in the rituals of idolatry seems at first sight to be contrary to the teachings of the likes of Daniel, Amos and of course, Paul. What do you think? Some things may be insignificant. See the full story in 2 Kings chapter 5. Conclusions. Naaman first made a fearsome discovery. He was a leper. He was one of the most successful army commanders of the time, greatly honoured and rewarded. But he was a leper. He had to forget his pride to make a desperate resolution. An interviewer once asked Sir James Simpson. “What was your greatest discovery?”. “That I was a sinner and that Jesus Christ is my saviour” replied that brilliant chemist and obstetrician. Sir James whose discovery of the use of chloroform mitigated the pains of so many people and enabled operations to take place saving people from agony. What a benefit to society. Naaman’s similar discovery and resolution effected his recovery from leprosy where he also found God to his great benefit. Naaman kept his word and did not attack Israel, but his replacement did attack which led to perhaps one of the most extraordinary victories recorded both in contemporary documents and in the Bible.
