A Study in Nehemiah Week 3

 

Earliest use of "Israel"

(Get your Bible and follow along as we study. In this case, just read all of chapter 7)

Chapter 7

Record keeping in the church has come into disrepute. Reading Nehemiah 7 one cannot avoid the conclusion that God’s leaders should be exceptional record keepers. In fact, much of the Bible is about record keeping. It is, in fact, the record of God’s character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

God relishes numbers. He wrote a whole book called “Numbers.” In it He spends a lot of time describing how Israel’s tents were laid out on the plains. Why would he do such a thing? Well, think of their layout, then think about what Balam saw when he went to curse Israel. God had been careful to show that they were laid out in the shape of a cross. Balam could not curse them.

In this book we have already seen how Nehemiah carefully and deliberately organized the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He delegated and he led. His mission was thereby accomplished.

In Chapter 7 we see more evidence of a leader organizing Jerusalem for growth. We see the porters, the singers, the Levites (assistants to the priests) and the co-“mayors” (one for governmental leadership, the other for protection).

We see that God, through Nehemiah, wanted His people to increase in number. Nehemiah found a register of the genealogy of the people and with it he designed a plan to populate Jerusalem. What if those record had not been kept?

It is so important to God that His people keep a record of His involvement in their lives that He lists those who were to increase the Population of Jerusalem. He embarks on what might be considered a boring list of names and leadership positions. But if you really understand what God is doing, it suddenly reveals His unsurpassable “genius.”

In our churches we used to keep records, just like God expects us to do. For instance in Sunday School we used to take attendance, check on tardiness (any idea why? There is a reason; a good one. Can you think of what it might be?), check on studying the lesson, on daily Bible reading, on giving, on worship attendance and “visitation.”

Someone who did not know their Bible or the character of the God we serve, decided that this emphasis on record keeping was somehow “unspiritual.” In effect they said, “Who cares?” Well, God cares, that’s who cares.

Group leaders (such as Sunday School teachers) should have an objective idea of the spiritual development of their class. Do some members need encouragement to be more regular in attendance? Do some need to understand the importance of not being disruptive? Do some need to know what’s going to be discussed in class before the class takes place?

Maybe some need to be encouraged to read God’s Word more regularly. They certainly should be encouraged to join together in worship. Many may need encouragement to give as the Lord lays on their hearts. And we should all be visiting the lost, the home-bound, the sick and those with other needs. Is all of that happening in your church? How do you know?

Why do we disparage what God has ordained? Few of us have considered organization, record keeping, progress checking and the like as spiritual.

Newsflash! God has demonstrated that record keeping is important! Careful record keeping results in Godly growth.

He has given us a record of His plan of salvation in the Bible. What would we do without it? If we believe Jesus is God and that He organized creation (John 1:1ff), and if we believe we are to be His followers, does it not behoove us to follow his example of keeping good records?

A Study in Nehemiah Week 1

A Study in Nehemiah Week 1 (Get your Bible and follow along as we study.)

Nehemiah OUTLINE:

I. REBUILDING the WALLS,

Chapters 1 — 7

A. Nehemiah’s prayer for remnant at Jerusalem, Chapter 1

B. Nehemiah’s request of the king, return to Jerusalem, and review of ruins of Jerusalem, Chapter 2:1-16

C. Nehemiah’s encouragement to rebuild the walls, Chapter 2:17-20

D. Rebuilding the walls and gates, Chapter 3

E. Nehemiah’s response to opposition, Chapters 4 — 6 
Wall completed, 6:15

F. Nehemiah’s register of people, Chapter 7 (Only 42,360 people, 7,337 servants, and 245 singers returned.  Compare this with the fact that Judah alone had 470,000 warriors [1 Chronicles 21:5].)

II. REVIVAL and REFORM,

Chapters 8 — 13

A. Great Bible reading led by Ezra, Chapter 8

B. Revival — the result, Chapters 9, 10

C. Reform — another result, Chapters 11 — 13

Chapter 1

Verses 1-4 – Nehemiah and Ezra were likely written by the same person. Nehemiah asks some visitors about Jerusalem and learned that the walls and gates are in shambles. He weeps, mourns and fasts and then prays a very simple prayer.

Verses 5-11 – This chapter records  the prayer. “Terrible God” is properly translated “Reverend God.” The word “Reverend” should never apply to a person, it should be applied only to God. Nehemiah confesses (6-7), reminds God of His promises (8-9) and casts himself on the mercy of God (10-11).

Chapter 2

Verses 1- 10 – The cup bearer was the one who tested the king’s drink to ensure that it was not poisoned and was of good quality. King Artaxerxes grants Nehemiah’s request for time off to build the wall and offers him whatever he needs to get the job done.

Verses 11-16 – Nehemiah estimates the size of the job he has undertaken and plans the job ahead. As we will see, he also coordinates and evaluates the job, both as it is being done and when it is finished.

Verses 17-18 – Nehemiah selects key leaders to whom he reveals his plan to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem.

Verse 19 – Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem ridiculed the plans. No doubt they said things like, “Nehemiah, you are over organizing this thing. You should spend your time worshiping God, not doing this unspiritual thing. We’ve never done anything like this before and we shouldn’t be doing it now.” They probably said, “This job is too big and we’re too small in number. We’ll never get the job done.”

Verse 20 – Nehemiah’s answer is brief, but to the point. “The God of Heaven…,” the one who organized all of creation, “…will give us success.”

Many church leaders: pastors, deacons and others, hate the difficult business of carefully thinking through a plan before they implement it. They consider planning to be unspiritual. They feel the same about organization and structure. Somehow, they believe God works by magic or genie-ism (my brand new word).

Anyone who reads anything between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21 and does not see total organization as one of God’s characteristics needs to go back and take 3^rd grade reading over.

If we organize like God and follow His method of planning, He will enable us to accomplish what He wants done. We cannot skip steps, skimp on planning or coordinating or fail to evaluate as we go and expect Him to let us proceed. We must follow His ways and not our own.

Ezra Continued

The Hebrews placed Ezra-Nehemiah in the Writings just after Daniel and just before the books of Chronicles.

There were three specific returns of Jews to the land of Judah.

The first was led by Zerubbabel and involved an initial rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The second was led by Ezra who oversaw the rebuilding of the Temple and the reinstitution of the sacrifices.

The third was led by Nehemiah and involved the rebuilding of the defensive walls of Jerusalem.

There are three major points to Ezra:

 1. The Sovereignty of God. The Lord is seen to be directing the events of history as He moves pagan kings to do His will (Proverbs 21:1).

2. The Continuing Need for a Land. God’s plan called for a return of the Jews to the land. They had been taken away as a punishment for their idolatry. They are now brought back so that they might serve Him and worship them in the land. This would be necessary so that the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem.

3. The Grace of God.  He was bringing the people back into the land to give them another chance to serve Him and to follow Him. They had formerly sinned in their idolatry. Now there is a call to renewed purity.

Ezra is a book of covenant renewal. The people return to their covenant relationship with God and renew their promises to follow Him.

Ezra can be outlined like this:

A.  Chapter 1 – 6: The First Return to Jerusalem under Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel

                       

Chapters 1 – 2: The Return from Babylon

                                    Chapter 1: The Edict of Cyrus

                                    Chapter 2: The Exiles who Returned

                       

Chapters 3 – 6: Rebuilding of the Temple

                                    Chapter 3: Construction Begun

                                    Chapter 4: Construction Opposed

                                    Chapter 5: Construction Delayed

                                    Chapter 6: Construction Completed

           

B.  Chapters 7 – 10: The Second Return to Jerusalem under Ezra

                        Chapters 7 – 8: The Return from Babylon

                                    Chapter 7: The Decree of Artxerxes

                                    Chapter 8: The Journey to Jerusalem

                        Chapters 9 – 10: The Restoration of the People

                                    Chapter 9: The Problem of Mixed Marriages

                                    Chapter 10: God’s Solution to the Problem

In this post we will deal with chapters 7-10.

Chapter 7

Verses 1-10 – Our first introduction to Ezra is in the seventh chapter of the book that bears his name. We see Ezra's priestly pedigree. We also see that he was a student of the Word of God. We no longer need the office of priesthood, because we are each priests in every sense of the word. As priests, one of our duties is to feed on the meat of the Word of God.

Verses 11-26 – King Artxerxes sent a letter to Ezra giving him permission to bring the Jews to Jerusalem, their most sacred place of worship. Our place of worship is in our hearts and in the church. The word for church in the Greek is ekklesia, meaning “the called out gathered”.

Chapter 8

Verses 1-14 – This is the roster of who Ezra brought with him to Jerusalem. It is meticulous. Meticulousness is part of God’s character. It is what brought the universe into being. If He were not meticulous, our salvation would be in doubt or altogether impossible. It was His perfect plan that afforded us salvation in Christ.

Verses 15-36 – Here we have the detailed account of the trip to Jerusalem.

Chapter 9

 Verses 1-15 – In these verses, we find Ezra in deep sorrow over the intermarriage of the Jews with pagans. He prays exhaustively about this sad situation. God required His people to be pure; perfectly pure from morning to night in every possible way.

With respect to marriage, God knows that when one of His unites with someone who is not his it is difficult to raise the unbeliever up (unless he turns to Christ in faith). Most often the believer is brought down, emotionally and spiritually. That is why Paul wrote: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

In the Bible, marriage is always a picture of our relationship to God. It is to be like the union of Christ and the church, for whom He died. God hates divorce because it pictures that Christ’s love for the church can somehow be broken.

The Jews were semi-pure at times and very impure at other times. Like us, they just could not keep God’s law perfectly.

When Ezra was informed that the people had sinned against God by marrying their heathen neighbors, he learned that the leaders (priests, Levites, princes, and rulers) had "been foremost in this unfaithfulness." The very people charged with the responsibility of modeling obedience to the law violated that trust by transgressing the law. Their disobedience no doubt emboldened others to do the same. We must keep in mind that God will hold leaders accountable for the example they set.

All the time, God was revealing His plan of salvation, as he forgave Israel over and over again for their trespasses.  He forgives us our trespasses through the shed blood of Jesus at the cross of Calvary.

Chapter 10

Verses 1-17 – Ezra’s actions and prayer had a tremendous impact on the people. Their consciences were awakened to the seriousness of the problem.

Shecaniah stepped forward to make a penitent proposal. He was a man who was not only willing to admit sin, but to do something about it. He proposed that the offenders "put away [divorce] all the [pagan] wives and their children."

While this proposal seems harsh by modern standards, the religious identity of the Jewish people was at stake. Shecaniah exhorted Ezra to act on his proposal and promised him the support of the people. Ezra responded by calling upon the people to take an oath to put Shecaniah's proposal into action.

Verses 18-43 – This list of those who had intermarried shows that none of them were able to hide their sin. They were exposed.

Sin is not to be trifled with and it cannot be hidden from God. When man sins, his only recourse is to repent and trust fully in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

The Church and Its Leaders

1 Corinthians 3

The Meat: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. We are not to adopt the standards of the world, for if the gospel of Christ does not attract people, neither will the trappings of the world. The world's ways are sneaky and lead us to imitate it.  The church must not place its eyes on its leaders, whether they are Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Joyce Myers, or Benny Hinn. They have all the reward they are ever going to get...the adulation of man. The role of the church is to follow Him in every circumstance. We must follow Him in worship, in fellowship, in Bible study, in training and in music. We must forsake the world and everything in it to follow Christ and Him alone.
The message of 1 Corinthians is that Christ is preeminent. He is to be the focus of our message, whether it is from the Old Testament or the New. It is not at all about us, it is all about Him. He is the First and the Last and Everything In between.
Note: Something odd happened to the format. I don't know what happened as I typed it in Blogger as I usually do, but somehow it came out strange.

3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

The milk: The leaders at Corinth were worldly and acted like babes in Christ. Saved, but not growing spiritually and not leading their flock to grow in Him. They had their eyes on different leaders.

The Meat: The leaders at Corinth were good at reading the words of scripture (the Old Testament) and giving superficial meaning to it, but they never presented the meat, the deep, deep meaning of the words. They never connected the teachings of the words to the meaning of the Word. They were not even so much as living by the Holy Spirit. They picked out favorites in the church and followed them. In other words, there was a form of politics going on at Corinth.

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

The Milk: The people of the church at Corinth were divided, some following Apollos and others following Paul. 

The Meat: Apollos and Paul were to be seen as a team, each with his own talents and leadership abilities and taking a different approach, but both aiming at the same thing: a thorough knowledge of and faith in, and only in, God through Christ. They were to be seen as working toward the same goal of growing the church through right doctrine and right focus. 

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

The Milk: Paul likened the church as a building being built and talked about how important it is to have a good foundation.

The Meat: The foundation of the church, everything it does and everything it teaches must be built on the truth of Jesus Christ. He is to be their rallying point, their focus. He is the in all, of all, through all, and by all of everything they do. If they don't get their teaching about Christ right, nothing they teach or do will be right. If they get that right, nothing they do will perish, whether by persecution, peril, or anything else the world can do to them.

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

The Milk: We are God's temple and God will destroy anyone who harms it.

The Meat: Under the Old Covenant, the temple was a physical building complex where animal sacrifices were made. Under the New Covenant, there is no longer a physical temple. The Holy Spirit now lives in the hearts of believers. We are made safe in Him. We are led by Him. The temple is the aggregate of the hearts of people as they move toward the goal of reaching souls for Christ.

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[a]; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[b] 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas[c] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

The Milk: We fool ourselves if we think we are wise. We are not to boast about our leaders and we belong to Christ.

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A Study in Ezra Week 1 Part B

Ezra was a descendant of Hilkiah (Ezra 7:1), the high priest who found a copy of the law during the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:14). 

Ezra, as a priest, was unable to serve during the captivity, but he gave his time to a study of the Word of God — he was “a ready scribe in the law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6).  Ezra was a great revivalist and reformer.  The revival began with the reading of the Word of God by Ezra (Nehemiah 8).  He organized the synagogue, founded the order of scribes, helped settle the canon of Scripture and arranged the Psalms.

Chapter 1

Verse 1 — “Cyrus, king of Persia” was one of the most enlightened rulers of the ancient world.  He was a subject of predictive prophecy. He was named before he was born — almost 200 years before he became king of Persia. He is a type of Christ.

Verses 2-4 — “The LORD God of heaven” is a designation of God which is peculiar to Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel. In the post-captivity books He is “the LORD God of heaven.” Cyrus gave permission to the Jews to: (1) return to the land, (2) rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and (3) rebuild the temple.

Verses 5-11 — Very few avail themselves of this opportunity (see Ezra 2:64, 65).  Most of the captives are now settled and satisfied in Babylon.  They still their consciences by giving generously to those who do return. Cyrus returns the vessels of gold taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.

Chapter 2

Verses 1- This is about the return under Zerubbabel. Total number who return at this time under Zerubbabel:

Total congregation: 42,360. Servants and maids: 7,337. Singers, both male and female: 200. Grand total 49,897. There were 4,289 priests, 347 Levites.

Chapter 3 – Chapters are about the rebuilding of the altar and the temple. Notice how well organized the rebuilding of each is.

Verses 1-6 — Preparation is made for rebuilding the altar. The purpose of the altar was to make sacrifices to the Lord of burnt (cooked) offerings. Under the New Covenant, we do not have an altar at which to make sacrifices. We have only two sacrifices worthy of offering to God: The sacrifice of praise and the sacrifice of ourselves (Romans 12:1 & 2).

Verses 7-9 — Preparation is made for rebuilding the temple. We no longer have a temple. Under the New Covenant, we ARE the temple. God’s word is in our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit. In fact, NONE of the ceremonial and/or legal requirements of the Old Covenant are applicable to those under the New Covenant.

Verses 10-13 — The foundation is laid with mingled songs of praise and tears of mourning (see Haggai for the explanation of this seemingly contradictory reaction to the rebuilding of the temple).

Chapter 4:1-24 —There were those who tried to stop the rebuilding of the temple. The enemies’ first effort at disrupting the rebuilding of the temple is to offer to become allies. This is absolutely rejected. In the second effort to hinder the work, the enemy seeks to disrupt the building by various means. The third effort to stop the rebuilding of the temple is a letter sent by the enemy to Artaxerxes with false accusations. The contents of the letter are given. The enemy succeeds in sending a letter to Artaxerxes, and he shoots back a reply that the work is to cease.  The suspension of work continues until the time of Darius, king of Persia.

Chapter 5 Verses 1-17 — Haggai and Zechariah encourage the people to resume rebuilding of the temple.  When the leaders are challenged, they appeal to Darius. Darius grants permission to resume the rebuilding of the temple. 

Chapter 6:1-22 — Darius issues a decree which confirms the original decree of Cyrus. The temple is rebuilt under the inspiration of Haggai and Zechariah.  God is identified here as the God of Israel (not Judah).  This means there were some from all tribes in Jerusalem at this time. Those who returned are likewise identified here as “the children of Israel.” The language here is more explicit: “all Israel.” The emphasis again is upon the Word of God. The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are observed again.

We see organization as a characteristic of God from the order of creation, the building of the temple, the rebuilding of the altar and the temple and in the rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah. If we are to be like Him we must be organized.

God has once again (as in Esther) taken the necessary steps to ensure that the lineage of David is secure until the coming of Messiah.

A Study in Ezra - Week 01 - Part A

Four things to look for in Ezra:

1.  What does Ezra say about the character of God?

2.  What does Ezra say about God's love of His creation?

3.  What does Ezra say about God's plan of redemption?

4.  Whether Ezra relates to the Old Covenant or to the New Covenant...and how.

God told His people that if they chose to break their covenant with Him, He would again allow other nations to take them into slavery (Jer. 2:14–25). In spite of God’s repeated warnings from the mouths of His prophets, Israel and Judah chose to reject their Lord and to participate in the worship of foreign gods.

The Jews’ return from the Babylonian captivity seemed like a second Exodus, sovereignly patterned in some ways after Israel’s first redemption from Egyptian bondage. The return trip from Babylon involved activities similar to those of the original Exodus: 1) the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls; 2) the reinstitution of the law, which made Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah collectively seem like a second Moses; 3) the challenge of the local enemies; and 4) the temptation to intermarry with non-Jews, resulting in idolatry.

The decrees, proclamations, letters, lists, genealogies, and memoranda, many of them written by the Persian administration, attest to the sovereign hand of God in Israel’s restoration. The primary message of the book is that God orchestrated the past grim situation (captivity) and would continue to work through a pagan king and his successors to give Judah hope for the future (return). God’s administration overrides that of any of the kings of this world, and thus the book of Ezra is a message of God’s continuing covenant grace to Israel.

Here is an outline of Ezra:

I. The First Return under Zerubbabel (1:1–6:22)

A. Cyrus’ Decree to Return (1:1–4)

B. Treasures to Rebuild the Temple (1:5–11)

C. Those Who Returned (2:1–70)

D. Construction of the Second Temple (3:1–6:22)

1. Building begins (3:1–13)

2. Opposition surfaces (4:1–5)

3. Excursus on future opposition (4:6–23)

4. Construction renewed (4:24–5:2)

5. Opposition renewed (5:3–6:12)

6. Temple completed and dedicated (6:13–22)

II. The Second Return under Ezra (7:1–10:44)

A. Ezra Arrives (7:1–8:36)

B. Ezra Leads Revival (9:1–10:44)

 The events in the book of Esther are just about in the middle of the chronology of the book of Ezra.

 The book of Ezra witnesses that God keeps His covenants quite apart from the keeping of those covenants by the Jews. As people of the New Covenant, that must be considered welcomed news to us.

 Ezra, like Esther, is the story of how God kept the lineage of David complete until the coming of Messiah, Jesus, Christ.

Ezra reports how the sovereign hand of God moved kings and overcame varied opposition to reestablish Israel as Abraham’s seed, nationally and individually, in the land promised to Abraham, David, and Jeremiah.

A Study of Esther Session - 02

Here is an outline and brief commentary of Esther

I. Esther Replaces Vashti (1:1–2:18)

A. Vashti’s Insubordination (1:1–22) - Vashti was Xerxes' wife. She refused to appear at a banquet given by Xerxes and he became enraged. He banished her from his presence.

B. Esther’s Coronation (2:1–18) - King Exerxes was smitten with the Jewish girl, Esther and, at the urging of his advisers, put her in Vashti's former place as his wife and queen. She never told Xerxes that she was a Jew.

II. Mordecai Overcomes Haman (2:19–7:10)

A. Mordecai’s Loyalty (2:19–23) - Mordecai, of the House of Benjamin, who had brought up Esther, was loyal to Queen Esther. 

B. Haman’s Promotion and Decree (3:1–15) - Haman was an Agagite and was second in command to Xerxes. He ordered that everyone should bow to him (Haman). Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. Haman gets angry and plots to kill Mordecai. (While he was at it, he wanted all of the Jews wiped from the face of the earth. (Does that sound familiar?)

C. Esther’s Intervention (4:1–5:14) - Queen Ester went uninvited to the King. Approaching the king without permission was strictly forbidden. She asks for a banquet.

D. Mordecai’s Recognition (6:1–13) - Xerxes, unable to sleep, reads the record of Mordecai revealing the plot for his assassination and seeks to reward him in a special manner. 

E. Haman’s Fall (6:14–7:10) - Haman is forced to adorn Mordecai with special honors, which really was awkward. Esther reveals that her people had been set up for destruction, The king asks who did it and Esther points to Haman. Haman kneels before Esther to beg mercy but the king thinks he is making advances toward his wife. He orders Haman hanged.

III. Israel Survives Haman’s Genocide Attempt (8:1–10:3)

A. Esther and Mordecai’s Advocacy (8:1–17) - Esther and Mordecai urge the king to spare the lives of the Jews by giving them the right to defend themselves in future conflicts.

B. The Jews’ Victory (9:1–19) - The Jews successfully defended themselves when their enemies attacked them. 

C. Purim’s Beginning (9:20–23) - Purim is from the Hebrew word for “lots” because Haman had cast lots to determine the day on which he would exterminate the Jews. to this day, a two-day holiday of feasting, rejoicing, food sharing, gift giving, memorial feasting as the Jews celebrate the fact that they were delivered from being exterminated.

D. Mordecai’s Fame (10:1–3) - Mordecai the Jew was second to King Xerxes and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.”

So, although God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, we know He was the deliverer of His people the Jews. If he had not delivered them, we would not have had Jesus.

A Study Esther-Session 01

Esther – An introduction

Part 1

The book of Esther is an account written in story form. It would be very unfortunate to try to interpret any part of it without putting it in its place in the narrative.

The account of Esther took place between the events of Ezra 6:15 and Ezra 7:9.

How do we know God was in the book of Esther, even though His name does not appear in it? Three Old Testament passages lead to that conclusion:

Zechariah 12:10-14 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”

Nehemiah 7:6-7 “These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah.”

Zechariah 3:8 "Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.”

There are certain passages that are often used for inspiration. “…for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) is one of those. While it is an inspirational line, in this instance it is to be applied to Esther. Hers was a significant and dangerous action. In this instance it indicates the importance of her decision where your salvation and mine are concerned.

Esther 4:14 does not place importance on my decisions because God has chosen me for such a time as this. It places importance on Esther’s decision to take the steps necessary to save the Jews from extinction. There is likely little any of us can do that will save the Jews from destruction. Esther’s decision changed the course of human history.

One important question will settle whether Esther should have canonized: What would have happened if King Xerxes had done as Haman wanted and killed all of the Jews?

We would have no Jesus. 

A Study in Hebrews-Week 13

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study )Hebrews Chapter 13

The Verses
Verses 1-3 – We are to love each other. Paul also emphasizes the importance of loving strangers, in order that we might witness to them as he admonished us in chapter 12:15. That would not have occurred to many “religious” Jews.

Chapter 10 was the “privileges” chapter; chapter 11 was the “faith” chapter; was the “hope” chapter. And now we come to chapter 13, which is the “love” chapter. You will remember that it was chapter 13 of I Corinthians that was its “love” chapter. In Romans, it was chapter 12. In II Corinthians chapter 8 was the love-in-action chapter, as was Galatians 6. In Ephesians the practical aspect of love was emphasized. Paul was big on love. And so he is in Hebrews.

Jews had the idea that you should love your friends and hate your enemies. Jewish Christians might have had a hard time throwing off this concept. Jesus had taught “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Here Paul addresses the need to love self, each other and strangers.

Verses 4-6 – Here Paul speaks of marriage as he did so often, particularly in Ephesians 5:21-32 and Colossians 3:16-25. Because he is speaking to Jews, he keeps it short and to the point: you be personally responsible for keeping your marriage honorable…free from adultery (in thought or deed), and don’t make money the central theme around which it is built.

Verses 7-8 – This love is to extend to your leaders (and here he is talking about your church leaders). You owe “followship” to your spiritual leaders, so long as they do not lead you away from God’s Word, into illegality or to immorality.

Verses 9-10 – DO NOT BE INFLUENCED BY THOSE WHOSE DOCTRINS ARE DERIVED FROM SOME PERVERSION OF THE MEANING OF GOD’S WORD OR BY SOME VISION OR “SPECIAL” REVELATION. 1 Timothy is ALL about being sure to teach right doctrine and to pick leaders who will do so.

Christian fellowship is when we gather around the Word of God and it brings you to the person of Christ.

Verses 11-14 – The priests of the Old Covenant made their sin offerings in a specific place, at the altar in the temple. There is no New Covenant altar. Our altar is the sacrifice of ourselves at the Throne of Grace. Jesus made His sacrifice outside of the city. He was the sin offering. We are to go to Him.

Verses 15-16 – The only sacrifice we have is ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-4) and our praise that confesses His name.

Verse 17 – We are to make our pastor’s work an absolute joy. We are to help him and stand beside him.

Verses 18-19 – Paul desired the prayers of God’s people.

Verses 20-21 – Paul asks that God would equip us with everything we need to accomplish His will, and that we will strive to do what is pleasing to Him.

Verses22-25 – Paul actually had much more to say, but he wanted to get this much out immediately. He reminds the reader to lovingly greet their leaders and God’s people from Italy, who send their greetings. He closes with a prayer for God’s GRACE to be with every one of them.

That’s love.

The case for Paul’s authorship of Hebrews.

The writer was known by the readers            Paul was known by the readers

The writer was in Italy                                     Paul was in Italy

The writer knew Timothy                               Paul knew Timothy (and was his spiritual father)

The writer had to understand Judaism         Paul would have understood the Hebrew mind set

The writer had converted from Judaism        Paul converted from Judaism going to Damascus

The writer followed Paul’s usual pattern       Hebrews is a perfect commentary to Jews on Romans