Blog
Where
the blog
goes
On the Road: The Psalms of Ascent
Studies in Psalms 120-134, a set of pilgrimage songs.
Wayside Stops
Reflections prompted by life circumstances.
Holding the Flashlight
Assorted tips and helps for Bible study.
The Book of Daniel
Studies in Daniel 1-7 . . . where my blog began!
Recent Posts
Black Saturday
The first pre-Easter Saturday was a black day. For the dear ladies who followed Jesus, the horror of Friday had been even worse than their worst nightmares. Jesus was dead; they’d watched the crucifixion with their own eyes. He was buried; they’d watched Nicodemus and...
Look Who’s Talkin’
One of the unusual features of the story of Belshazzar and the handwriting on the wall (Dan 5) is the amount of space it devotes to people talking. There are three unusually long speeches by three different characters. The first is by the queen (vv. 11-12), who is...
A Howling Good Time
Belshazzar may not have finished swallowing his first sip of wine from God’s goblets when a disembodied hand appeared, writing on the palace wall. The narrator bothers to tell us that the hand was opposite the lampstand. Maybe he wants to explain why the king could...
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,...
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...
The Worst Penmanship Lesson Ever
Bye-bye Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Hello, Belshazzar. Welcome, everyone else, to a new chapter in Daniel! The bad guy of Daniel 5, Belshazzar is just a blip in the Bible. This chapter is the only place he appears (and he’s a pretty hard-to-find guy in the ancient...
A Slow Learner Is Still a Learner
It’s (past) time to bring Daniel 4 to a close and bid fond farewell to Nebuchadnezzar. (He actually does show up posthumously in the next chapter, but he’s a distant memory there, which turns out to be part of Belshazzar’s problem. But, I am getting ahead of myself.)...
A Season Not To Remember
This week I lost track of the hot air blowing around the Capitol and the wintery winds blowing across the nation. Headlines from home whipped me back to another life in which I taught fifth grade. During those six years, I shepherded 153 ten-year-olds through what I...
The Trappings of Tradition
For the first time ever, I am not home for Christmas. The airlines outpriced me on flights from and to the uttermost ends of the Lower 48, so – with parental blessing – I decided to stay put for the holiday. I confess that I cried when I realized I’d be spending...