Even during exile, the Lord speaks through the faithful.
Jeremiah and Lamentations give us a spirituality of judgment, punishment, and discipline. The Lord brings justice. Turning from the Lord has consequences. But the Lord loves his people, so he disciplines them for their own good. There are profound words of hope in these books, but hope comes only after God’s people have returned to the Lord.
Ezekiel has amazing visions from God—heavenly chariots, a new Jerusalem, and dry bones brought back to life. What is unique about his prophetic life are the symbolic acts, many of them strange, that he does. He eats a scroll, lies on one side for more than a year, then lies on the other side for forty days. He not only speaks the word of the Lord, he enacts it. The spirituality of Ezekiel focuses on the faithfulness of God. Although Israel and Judah have repeatedly been unfaithful to the Lord, he welcomes them back and restores them to life with him.
Most people remember the stories in Daniel—the fiery furnace and the lion’s den. These stories reflect the spiritual practices that sustained the faith of Daniel and others during the exile. Even more significant for Christian readers are Daniel’s visions, especially the vision of the Ancient of Days and the son of man. Daniel points us both to spiritual practices of the present while giving us pictures of a glorious future under the reign of the Lord.
Gary Holloway is the past Executive Director of the World Convention of Churches of Christ. Before that he taught spiritual formation at Lipscomb University in Nashville. Holding degrees from Freed-Hardeman, Harding, The University of Texas, and Emory University, he has written or edited over thirty books, including several volumes in the Meditative Commentary on the New Testament series. He is married to Deb Rogers Holloway.
“In four decades of teaching and preaching ministry, I have become convinced of two common areas lacking for Christian growth: a foundational understanding of the Old Testament and incorporating the practices of spiritual formation. Gary Holloway’s Meditative Commentary series on the Old Testament addresses both needs in an accessible way. Each volume provides guidelines and insightful thoughts, plus manageable daily readings from the Old Testament. These readings are accompanied by questions for prayerful reflection. Those who follow this practice will engage the Old Testament in a way that promotes God’s transformative purpose.”
—Terry Briley, retired professor in the College of Bible and Ministry at Lipscomb University and author of Isaiah (2 vols.), Delighting in the Lord, and Revelation (A Meditative Commentary on the New Testament)
ISBN 9781684264391
Pages 144
Dimensions (inches) 6 x 9
Weight (pounds) .5
