Of course today was utterly action-packed! Finishing up Daniel, we had all the exciting things! Daniel gets to tell one of the kings of Babylon that he's going to go crazy, lose his kingdom for a while, and go eat grass in the field like an animal for 7 years, but begs him to repent of his arrogance so that it won't happen, he doesn't listen and it happens anyway. Daniel being thrown into the pit of lions who can't eat him. His three friends being thrown into a blazing fire so hot it actually killed all the strongest men who threw them in, and then they were just walking around in the fire with Jesus like they were on a summer stroll and not in a raging furnace. Then Daniel is taken up in the Spirit and shown the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient world being conquered one after another. Oh, and the iconic scene where Gabriel shows up face to face to tell Daniel he totally wanted to come sooner in answer to his prayers, but he got caught up fighting some prince of darkness in Persia for a few weeks. How awesome is that?
And then we began the first two chapters of Hosea, one of my most beloved and endearing prophets in the Bible. My heart goes out for him. God commanded him to marry a whore who would constantly cheat on him no matter how much he loved her, to raise her bastards, and to keep chasing after her with love regardless of her actions. All of this to represent God's endless love for His people who keep running away from their covenant marriage with Him.