Yesterday, I had the privilege of touring the Oriental Institute Museum of Chicago, IL. The artifacts and pieces were incredible to observe and the reality of the Old Testament came to life. We walked through the ages of the empires- Mesopotamia, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, and Persia! After studying 1st and 2nd Kings in the OT and seeing everything in the museum, I felt immersed in the cultures and gained a deeper insight into the lives of the Israelites during their journey.
My peanut butter moment hit me when we walked in between two actual portraits of lions that once lined the path to the gates that opened the door to the Babylonian Empire. The Israelites walked down this pathway when exiled into Babylon from Judah and walked in between these exact portraits! Daniel, THE Daniel, of the bible walked past these lions! It was absolutely incredible through the exact portraits God's people passed by thousands of years ago.
What a gift to experience that moment and have God's word truly come to life in parallel with that moment in my life so many years later.