Yes, I am just now posting about Ezra. Sorry guys for not showing up to our Waffle House time this morning. I thought I might post to make up for it =).
The first thing that I observed in Ezra was the fact that God had used a pagan King. Cyrus was used by God to return the Jews to their homeland, which fulfill a prophesy written over a century earlier. "The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah." (1:2) Why Cyrus? Why did God choose to use a pagan King to accomplish His plans? Do you think that God used Cyrus to show He is able to use anyone to carry out his plans?
I also noticed the number of years the Jews were in captivity. Jeremiah prophesied that the Jews would remain in captivity for 70 years. Why so long in captivity? Did it take this long to humble the hearts of a Jewish nation?, probably so. "Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priest and Levites --everyone whose heart God has moved -- prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem." It seems that God was waiting for prepared hearts. This brings up question for myself, is God waiting to do something in my life and my heart is not prepared?
The main theme that I am getting from these first three chapters is the rebuilding of hearts in order to rebuild the temple. Years and years were spend in rebellion against God through the worship of pagan idols. The Israelites unfaithfulness landed them in the situation they were in. God, just in all His ways, punished them for their actions, but never forsakes them. God continued to offer grace and mercy despite their disobedience. Therefore I believe a large portion of the Israelites time was spent giving burnt offerings to God thanking God for His faithfulness. Here there were generations of people that had rebelled against the will of God, so it seemed like a messy situation that needed some cleaning.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Ezra and other stuff
Sorry this is the first time I've posted. I'm going to use it to keep me accountable from now on. Thanks for doing this JB.
I’ve read through Ezra 1-3, but for the first time, I listened to the spoken Bible on mp3. Here is the link in case you want to try: http://www.audiotreasure.com/indexKJV.htm. I could only find KJV for free, but other versions may be available. Here are some random thoughts and how the passages helped me out.
Chapter 1:
The most important thing for me was from verse 1. My version reads: “in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia”. In this text, King Cyrus did not make his decree because of his own goodness. His spirit was stirred by God. This action took place to fulfill the prophecies of Jeremiah. I’m always asking God to stir my heart, but I forget to invoke His promises when I do it. My prayers are always focused, but mostly on my selfish needs and desires. Tonight my prayer is going to be focused on 2Tim 1:7. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I think by meditating on verses like this, we can have a better prayer life. I think Chase said the other day, we should expect things from God. I should pray for God to stir my heart to be free from fear, and ask him to reveal his love to me. His word PROMISES us those things if we ask him for it.
Chapter 2:
I listened to this thing like 10 times while I mowed the yard on Saturday. I am still not getting much from it. Does it mean that 42,360 people left there homes to rebuild the temple? If so, that’s amazing. If not, I’ve got nothing.
Chapter 3:
I still have a hard time finding application in the Old Testament. I hope to get better. It’s just neat how Chirst has become the ultimate sacrifice. With all the rules and customs, I would be an awful Jew.
Other Stuff:
I led/facilitated our youth for the first time on Wednesday night. We had about 10-15 teens show up, and it was a real blessing for me. It was a challenge, but a lot of the kids said some profound stuff. At the end of the day, I think the Lord was pleased with the time we spent together. I hope I can do it again sometime.
I’m midway through chapter one of the Beth Moore book, and I hate it. I’m going to read it and hope the Lord will reveal something to me. I haven’t begun The Shack, but I am going to start reading it at work every day during my lunch break. I’ve gotten to the point where I have no idea how to bring up Jesus with my coworkers, so hopefully this book will start some good conversations. If not, I’ll just start throwing Bibles at everyone next Friday.
Love you guys.
Eric
I’ve read through Ezra 1-3, but for the first time, I listened to the spoken Bible on mp3. Here is the link in case you want to try: http://www.audiotreasure.com/indexKJV.htm. I could only find KJV for free, but other versions may be available. Here are some random thoughts and how the passages helped me out.
Chapter 1:
The most important thing for me was from verse 1. My version reads: “in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia”. In this text, King Cyrus did not make his decree because of his own goodness. His spirit was stirred by God. This action took place to fulfill the prophecies of Jeremiah. I’m always asking God to stir my heart, but I forget to invoke His promises when I do it. My prayers are always focused, but mostly on my selfish needs and desires. Tonight my prayer is going to be focused on 2Tim 1:7. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I think by meditating on verses like this, we can have a better prayer life. I think Chase said the other day, we should expect things from God. I should pray for God to stir my heart to be free from fear, and ask him to reveal his love to me. His word PROMISES us those things if we ask him for it.
Chapter 2:
I listened to this thing like 10 times while I mowed the yard on Saturday. I am still not getting much from it. Does it mean that 42,360 people left there homes to rebuild the temple? If so, that’s amazing. If not, I’ve got nothing.
Chapter 3:
I still have a hard time finding application in the Old Testament. I hope to get better. It’s just neat how Chirst has become the ultimate sacrifice. With all the rules and customs, I would be an awful Jew.
Other Stuff:
I led/facilitated our youth for the first time on Wednesday night. We had about 10-15 teens show up, and it was a real blessing for me. It was a challenge, but a lot of the kids said some profound stuff. At the end of the day, I think the Lord was pleased with the time we spent together. I hope I can do it again sometime.
I’m midway through chapter one of the Beth Moore book, and I hate it. I’m going to read it and hope the Lord will reveal something to me. I haven’t begun The Shack, but I am going to start reading it at work every day during my lunch break. I’ve gotten to the point where I have no idea how to bring up Jesus with my coworkers, so hopefully this book will start some good conversations. If not, I’ll just start throwing Bibles at everyone next Friday.
Love you guys.
Eric
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Thoughts on Ezra
My initial thoughts:
I would love to have more background information concerning the history of the text and the history of the tribes of Israel.
Chapter 1: Two things that seemed to stand out throughout the chapter
- God stirring his spirit within the hearts of leaders
- The leaders taking that stirring and immediately becoming obedient
For my own heart I know I don't respond immediately when God stirs something within me. I either shrink back in fear because I do not know what it will mean or I thoughtfully disobey and sit back and let the stirring pass me by. In Chapter 1 Cyrus wastes no time between God's stirring and proclaiming the temple needs to be built. Then the leaders of Judah respond to God's stirring and Cyrus's leadership.
Chapter 2:
- Everybody coming together to build the temple of the Lord. Even people who we cannot find in the geneology of Jewish leaders and families decide to come together and work on the house of the Lord.
Chapter 3: I was fairly confused by this chapter and would love to hear different thoughts.
-My initial thought was the decision to worship before anything was built because of their fear and possibly because of their trust in the Lord to provide. I am not real sure if their hearts were in full trust and obedience mode or they just built the altar out of fear. It states that built it out of fear, but I believe their might have been an obedience factor that played in the construction of the altar.
-Once the foundation was built they stopped and praised the Lord. I believe they knew the Lord had given them everything they needed and were grateful for the provision (Last verse of Chapter One) and generosity of the Lord.
The historical context would play a huge role in understanding the weeping and mourning of people who had previously seen the temple. Maybe I will come to understand that later on, but found it fairly odd.
I would love to have more background information concerning the history of the text and the history of the tribes of Israel.
Chapter 1: Two things that seemed to stand out throughout the chapter
- God stirring his spirit within the hearts of leaders
- The leaders taking that stirring and immediately becoming obedient
For my own heart I know I don't respond immediately when God stirs something within me. I either shrink back in fear because I do not know what it will mean or I thoughtfully disobey and sit back and let the stirring pass me by. In Chapter 1 Cyrus wastes no time between God's stirring and proclaiming the temple needs to be built. Then the leaders of Judah respond to God's stirring and Cyrus's leadership.
Chapter 2:
- Everybody coming together to build the temple of the Lord. Even people who we cannot find in the geneology of Jewish leaders and families decide to come together and work on the house of the Lord.
Chapter 3: I was fairly confused by this chapter and would love to hear different thoughts.
-My initial thought was the decision to worship before anything was built because of their fear and possibly because of their trust in the Lord to provide. I am not real sure if their hearts were in full trust and obedience mode or they just built the altar out of fear. It states that built it out of fear, but I believe their might have been an obedience factor that played in the construction of the altar.
-Once the foundation was built they stopped and praised the Lord. I believe they knew the Lord had given them everything they needed and were grateful for the provision (Last verse of Chapter One) and generosity of the Lord.
The historical context would play a huge role in understanding the weeping and mourning of people who had previously seen the temple. Maybe I will come to understand that later on, but found it fairly odd.
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