A devout Jewish lady stumbled into my blog a few weeks ago and asked what “fire hail” was from an infographic I had posted about the 10 Plagues of Egypt. I answered her:

You’re looking at the picture which summarizes the 10 plagues, and for the one I usually think of as “Hail,” it says, “Fire Hail.” I don’t think it means “fire hail” but fire AND hail. And that’s in EVERY translation of Exodus 9.23, 24, including the Complete Jewish Bible and the Orthodox Jewish Bible.

Here’s the text:

Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. (Exodus 9.23, 24, ESV)

This wasn’t enough for the lady, who insisted that “hail” is mentioned many more times than in these two verses which say “fire and hail.” I asked her why she considered this important, that a summary of the plagues said “fire and hail” instead of just “hail.” She went on and on about words (always quoting in Hebrew, of course) and relative frequency, etc., etc.

Seeing her as one of many folks I know who enjoy “discussing” the text, I pointed out that God was more interested in our obeying the text than discussing the text. For example,

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29.29, ESV)

In a subsequent email she challenged me with this question:

I find it very interesting when Christians pick and choose which laws they must obey. According to the rabbis there are 613 commandments in the Torah that we must obey.  The words you quote below are very general… It’s fine if you interpret them as “we must obey”- but what is it that we must obey?  Women must not wear pants? No one may eat cheeseburgers? No working on Saturdays? No humans are to be worshipped as gods?

A good question, and here is my immediate and brief response:

A good set of questions, beyond the scope of a short email! But in the verses I quoted, I was thinking of the general principle that God’s word is meant to be obeyed (acted on, followed, etc.) more than just “studied.” When Rabbi Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important, he cited the Shema from Deuteronomy 6.4, 5. Followed by “Love your neighbor as yourself” from Leviticus 19.18. Admittedly, none of us does either one of those perfectly, but I think we can agree that life would go better for all of us if we aimed in that direction.

I’ve since thought of a better answer…from Jeremiah. I’ll share it tomorrow. In the meantime, as I quoted yesterday:

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.26, 27, MSG)

I’m in Jeremiah 6, encountering a verse I first heard preached at the baccalaureate service for an Air Force Academy cadet we sponsored. The chaplain quoted:

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. ” (Jeremiah 6.16, NIV)

It’s a good word, but, unfortunately, the verse continues:

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” (Jeremiah 6.16, 17, NIV)

Where is the good way? The ancient paths. And it’s not enough to know where the ancient paths are, we must walk in them.

Likewise, the trumpet sounds. People can’t help but hear a trumpet, but we must choose to pay attention.

What happens if we don’t? Jeremiah is clear:

Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. (Jeremiah 6.19, ESV)

Back to Romans 1…

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1.29 – 32, ESV, emphasis mine)

…and James…

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

…and Jesus:

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.26, 27, MSG)

We wrote last week about The Prophetic Word. Prophecy is not to satisfy our curiosity about the future but change the way we live today. Jeremiah 5 is an example. Israel is in a world of hurt for rejecting God. Without making any theological claim to equating today’s United States with Old Testament Israel, there are still principles to be learned. Just because the US might have been “Christian” at its founding and has been populated by a fair number of God-fearing people, there’s no doubt that our overall trend has been downward, away from God.

Hear then the word of God from Jeremiah 5.

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her. Though they say, “As the LORD lives,” yet they swear falsely. (Jeremiah 5.1, 2, ESV)

Reminds one of Abraham’s conversation with the Lord about Sodom:

Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18.32, ESV)

Then this interesting observation. It’s ALL the people, rich and poor:

Then I said, “These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds. (Jeremiah 5.4, 5, ESV)

What was the problem?

“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores. They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this? (Jeremiah 5.7 – 9, ESV)

And they deceived themselves, thinking God didn’t care:

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the LORD. They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!’ ” (Jeremiah 5.11 – 13, ESV)

Peter warned:

…you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” …But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3.1 – 10, ESV)

God can bring down a nation at the hand of another nation:

Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. (Jeremiah 5.15, 16, ESV)

We just had a demonstration of the dedication and competence of the American military, rescuing a downed F-15 Weapons System Officer (WSO). The Lord can bring down the USA if he wants to, dedicated and competent or not.

Back to Jeremiah, what to do with a nation who once knew God and revered him and now doesn’t?

Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me?” (Jeremiah 5.20 – 23, ESV)

Paul warned:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity… (Romans 1.18 – 24, ESV)

You can be minding your own business at a gas station…

On March 10, 2026, the driver of a Jeep was either just arriving or just leaving a gas station in Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, when his car was crushed by a huge semi-tractor trailer.

The truck driver said his brakes failed. He lied. The brakes were fine. He was later charged with careless driving resulting in bodily injury. Miraculously, I think, the driver is OK:

The driver of the Jeep was in serious condition at a hospital immediately after the crash, police said, but has gone home and appears on track for a full recovery. – Denver Post, April 3, 2026

Our lives are in God’s hands.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4.13 – 15, ESV)

We recently spent a week in Estes Park, Colorado, and it’s time for our annual wildlife report.

We usually see A LOT of elk – not this visit. We didn’t see this one until our last day there:

The turkeys, however, were plentiful, complete with a bit of showing off.

While not wild, I don’t remember seeing these beautiful draft horses before at the Jackson Stables at YMCA of the Rockies where we stayed. Look at the size of their hooves:

Finally, while we are very familiar with deer and magpies, I’d never seen them together. This is right outside our cabin:

Turns out magpies like to eat the ticks off of deer. It’s a win-win.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all. – Cecil Frances Alexander

God blessed them and said, “…let the birds increase on the earth.” … And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1.22 – 25, NIV)

I closed yesterday’s blog on the Artemis II lunar mission with a teaser that Christian astronaut Vic Glover had an Easter message. I didn’t hear it live. I just heard about it last Tuesday. You can listen to it, it’s only 1:35.

Here’s what he said, when asked by a CBS news correspondent for an Easter message:

I don’t have anything prepared, but I’m glad you asked. These observances are important. As we’re out here looking at the beauty of creation, my personal perspective is that I can see the earth as one thing. And when I read the Bible and look at all the amazing things that were done for us, whoever created it, you have this amazing place, this spaceship.

You guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe. Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you. And I’m trying to tell you — just trust me — you are special.

In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together.

I think, as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing, and that we’ve gotta get through this together.

As he finished, the other astronauts spontaneously shook his hand. Christina Koch applauded.

It was moment reminiscent of the Apollo 8 crew reading Genesis 1.1 – 10 on Christmas Eve 1968:

William Anders

We are now approaching lunar sunrise and, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Jim Lovell

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Frank Borman

And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas — and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.

Praise God for them all. A bit of workplace ministry!

A few minutes ago, the NASA Artemis II mission came to a successful conclusion when the Orion capsule containing four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. Here they are approaching earth…

Before splashdown, they had to jettison the service module:

The capsule came through the atmosphere just fine, the drogue chutes deployed as advertised and then the main chutes. And we have splashdown, right on schedule. The crew are fine. Praise the Lord.

The crew had at least one practicing Christian on board, pilot Victor Glover (top of picture):

Here’s an article published by Christianity Today three years ago when he was selected for the crew: NASA Astronaut Asks for Prayer for Moon Mission. It opens this way:

Victor Glover will pray his way to the moon.

When the Artemis 2 takes off sometime late next year, four astronauts will strap into a gumdrop-shaped capsule atop a tower of rockets taller than the Statue of Liberty. Mission control will count down—10, 9, 8, …—and a controlled explosion with 8.8 million pounds of force will fire, throwing the four astronauts from the coast of Florida into high-earth orbit, where another engine, setting spark to a mixture of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, will thrust them beyond the bonds of Earth for the first time in more than half a century.

And Glover, the pilot of the spacecraft, will say a few words to God.

I’d be saying A LOT of words to God! Rocket launches are terrifying, and re-entries are even scarier. June and I with our oldest son Mark gathered to watch the launch on April 1.

They circled the moon on Monday, April 6:

And they made it back. It’s the “and back” that’s important. Astronaut Jim Lovell who commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission said, “Moonandback was always one word for us.”

Praise the Lord for courageous astronauts, a faithful and uber-competent ground support team, and for the engineers and mathematicians who correctly applied the laws of rocket science and orbital mechanics. Don’t miss the wonder of it all.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8.3, 4, ESV)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19.1, ESV)

PS Christian astronaut Vic Glover had an Easter message from space. Stay tuned.

We take a short break from Jeremiah to contemplate NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission, which is ongoing. The astronauts are scheduled to splash down tomorrow, Friday, April 10. Tomorrow’s blog will reflect on what I pray is a successful conclusion to the mission.

Today, the Orion capsule has circled the moon after an exciting liftoff on Wednesday, April 1.

Later, we have this stunning image of the booster rockets falling off:

The next day they did a 6-minute burn to throw the capsule toward the moon.

I hope you understand, that satellites and, in this case, the Orion capsule are not flying around like an airplane. They are falling. The rockets literally throw their payloads high enough and fast enough that they fall around the earth without hitting it. Orion is falling toward the moon, and they are timing it so that the moon’s gravitational force will capture Orion and throw it back toward earth:

That’s the moon speeding across the bottom of the graphic, and it has captured Orion and slung it back toward earth.

When I thought about the process, I was reminded of Silent Saturday, the day we tend to rush through or skip over in our haste to celebrate Easter. But just as Jesus was dead, his body waiting for the resurrection, the astronauts were waiting. There was nothing they could do to speed up the process. They fell from the earth toward the moon, and they arrived when the unfailing laws of orbital mechanics dictated they would, and not one second sooner. Now they are falling back to earth, same deal. They can’t rush their return.

It’s a lesson in patience, isn’t it? And waiting on God.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. (Habakkuk 2.3, ESV)

PS Heather Holleman’s April 6, 2026, blog echoes the same point: He’s Good, but He’s Slow. Worth the read.

PPS Tomorrow’s splashdown is scheduled for 8:07p, EDT, which is a bit later than the time my daily blogs usually come out. Fits today’s theme: wait for tomorrow’s blog…it will come!

As we start to move through Jeremiah it’s useful to remind ourselves that our primary purpose is not to review Old Testament history, as important as that is. Our purpose is to hear the prophecies as God’s warnings to us today. We tend to think of “prophecy” as foretelling the future, but it’s real role is changing behavior today.

Ephesians 4.11 lists prophets among God’s gifts to churches:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers… (Ephesians 4.11, ESV)

It takes a team. We might think of “apostles” as the pioneers: for example, church planters or those who expand ministries into unreached areas. New Testament “prophets,” as of old, help keep people on track. There’s a huge difference between those with prophetic gifts and those with pastoral gifts. I consider myself, for example, as more of a prophet. I leave pastoring to those who are good at it.

So what’s the prophetic word from Jeremiah chapter 2?

Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2.11 – 13, ESV)

“Changed their glory” reminds me of Romans 1, a passage we usually relegate to God’s judgment against “outsiders” while Romans 2 is God’s judgment against “insiders.”

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1.22, 23, ESV)

But in Jeremiah, it’s the insiders who changed their glory:

The main indictment?

They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

If that’s not an accurate description of today’s culture in the US, I don’t know what is. Jesus is the fountain of living waters:

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4.13, 14, ESV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” (John 7.37, 38, ESV)

Jesus gives living water, but he has been rejected in favor of…everything else: illicit sex, gambling, drugs and alcohol all used by people seeking…the living water. I could say more, but I think you know.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. (Proverbs 9.10 – 18, ESV)

Our reading program begins Jeremiah today. Jeremiah is the second of the “Major Prophets” so-called because Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, especially, are way longer than the “Minor Prophets:” Hosea – Malachi. Major Prophets also include Lamentations, a short book by Jeremiah, and Daniel. Here’s a short introduction to Jeremiah from the English Standard Version (ESV):

Jeremiah, often called the “weeping prophet” because of his sorrow over the persistent message of God’s judgment, prophesied to the nation of Judah from the reign of King Josiah in 627 B.C. until sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586. He dictated his prophecies to a scribe named Baruch (36:4, 32). Jeremiah’s task as a prophet was to declare the coming judgment of God. However, throughout the book we also see God’s concern for repentance and righteousness in individuals as well as nations. This dual focus is seen in God’s instructions to Jeremiah: he was “to pluck up and to break down” but also “to build and to plant” (1:10). Jeremiah sees a future day when God will write his law on human hearts, and “they shall all know me,” and “I will remember their sin no more” (31:33–34).

His call is right in the beginning:

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1.4 – 8, ESV)

Moses said the same thing, except he wasn’t a youth!

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” (Exodus 4.10, ESV)

When I was a youth (a very long time ago), I memorized verses 7 and 8: “You shall go wherever I send you and speak whatever I tell you to. And don’t be afraid of them…”

Good thing Jeremiah has God’s protection – he’ll need it! And he starts right off with a message of judgment:

For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them…They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you. (Jeremiah 1.15 – 19, ESV)

And off we go. Isaiah prophesied pre-exile. Jeremiah starts off pre-exile and continues preaching into the exile. Hang on.