July 23 - Ezra & Nehemiah

July 23 - Ezra & Nehemiah

In the Hebrew Bible Ezra and Nehemiah were originally 1 book. They are books that are often ignored but that have so much to tell us. Author or editor is Ezra Contents - close affinity with 1 & 2 Chronicles, memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah, firsthand writings. Ezra and Nehemiah cover a period of about 100 years. Simplified Chronology of Ezra/Nehemiah Ezra 1-6 —- 537-515 BC Ezra 7-10 & Nehemiah 1-13 —- 458-433 BC In these two book we will see that God is in control! Chronology of Ezra/Nehemiah • 538 BC Cyrus decrees that the Jewish people can return to their homeland • 537 BC (Sept/Oct) They build the altar for the Feast of Tabernacles - The feast's prophetic fulfillment will be found in the final harvest - the day the Messiah returns. God keeps His promises. He is good. • 536 BC (Spring) Temple foundation laid and they praised the Lord with great joy and shouts of adoration. • 516 BC (12 Mar) Temple dedicated - God told them through Haggai and Zechariah that the glory of this temple will surpass the first temple - the first temple was built by Solomon - a beautiful temple where the cloud of God's presence came down. So how can this temple be better? God's word to Malachi was that the Lord whom you seek will suddenly appear in His temple. The glory of the second temple would be greater than the first because God in the person of Christ stretched His arms out on a cross. • 515-459 BC 50 years where nothing is recorded in these books • 479-474 BC Esther as Queen • 458 BC (Aug) Ezra arrives in Jerusalem and teaches the Torah to the people and God uses Ezra to bring national revival. • 445 BC (Spring) Nehemiah is the cup bearer to King Artaxerxes and he goes to the king to say he's grieving because the city of his ancestors is falling apart and he is made governor of Judea and the king tells Nehemiah to go. God uses Nehemiah to accomplish His purpose. Nehemiah begins by re-establishing the ten gates of the city. Profound truths are found in these gates. • Sheep gate - Neh 3:1 Sheep gate is located north of the temple - Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Lamb who was slain for us and He calls us His sheep and to follow Him • Fish gate - Neh 3:3. Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. • Old gate - Neh 3:6. When we follow Him we leave the old behind. • Valley gate - Neh 3:13. Reminds us of a verse in psalm 23. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…" Even when we go through the hard times, God is with us. • Dung gate - Neh 3:14. God ministers to us and transforms us and renews us. As we obey and follow Him and He gets rid of all the garbage in our lives. • Fountain gate - Neh 3:15. Is located by the Pool of Saloam where Jesus sent the blind man. This was fresh and flowing water - it was referred to as "Living Water." As we follow the Lord He fills us with Living Water - the Spirit of God. • Water gate - Neh 3:26. Is located by the Gehon Spring. A source of fresh water. It bubbles up - We are to live by the power of the Living Water, to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. He calls us to relationship with Him. • Horse gate - Neh 3:28. In the ancient world horses were used for war - for battle. Horses were war horses. This is what the christian life is. It is a war - put on the armor of Christ! We go into the battle with the knowledge that God wins and thus so do we. • East gate - Neh 3:29. This is the golden gate - the prophetic word is that Jesus will return through that gate. • Inspection gate - Neh 3:31. It was also known as the Judgment gate. There is a day of judgment coming and so we want to stay faithful to God. • The gates take us on a tour through the whole Bible! • Nehemiah 8:10 - teaches that our joy in the Lord is our strength, our refuge, our protection. As we rejoice in God moving and preparing the way for the return of the Messiah, there is power in worshiping Him, power in prayer, power in obedience. • Nehemiah closes with the people of God rededicating their lives to Him - they recommit their lives to Him. These books remind us of the battle but also that the Joy of the Lord is our Strength!! Join us next week for our study of 1 & 2 Chronicles. For our FREE resources: video, podcast, Reading Schedule, and a study guide for each book of the Bible plus many extra items, plus how to listen by radio broadcast - find it all here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year [https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year] Our Bible in a Year study will walk you through the Bible book by book taking you from Genesis to Revelation, revealing Jesus throughout both the Old and the New Testaments! In Ephesians 6, the word of God is called the sword of the spirit, and a sword is best used when you take it out of the scabbard to use it! Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is alive and active! Meaning it is not dry, dusty, old stuff. It is living and active! And because it is the Living Word, it has the power to impact us still today! Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com [https://www.awakeusnow.com/]

July 16 - Daniel

The Book of Daniel is one of the most controversial books in the Bible. Author: Daniel Date: ca 530 B.C. (500 years before Jesus) Contents: - Three of the Bibles best known stories. - Three men in the fiery furnace (chapter 3) - Handwriting on the wall (chapter 5) - Daniel in the lion's den (chapter 6) - The Book of Daniel is essential to understanding the Book of Revelation written by John and the creatures, images and verbiage from Revelation relates to what God gave to Daniel 500 years earlier. Characteristics: - One of the most debated/disputed books of the Bible - It is a prophetic book - The majority of the criticism around the Book of Daniel is centered on the prophetic. - Divided into 2 basic parts: - Narrative (chapters 1-6) tells the story of Daniel and his friends and the rise of the Persian empire - Prophets words from Daniel's visions (chapters 7-12) and the prediction of what is to come in the future from Daniel's day until the coming of the Messiah, but also about those things that will take place before the Second coming of Christ. ⁃ Bilingual: Hebrew and Aramaic ⁃ Chapter 1:1 to chapter 2:4a = Hebrew ⁃ Chapter 2:4b to chapter 7:28 = Aramaic ⁃ Chapter 8:1 to chapter 12:13 = Hebrew ⁃ Everything that applies directly to the Jewish people is written in Hebrew, but those chapters that apply also to the non-Jewish people (because God reveals Himself to all people) - those verses are written in Aramaic. Pastor goes through the history surrounding the Book of Daniel and tells how educated Jewish men were deported from Judah to Babylon for three years of training and then they were assigned into the King of Babylon's service: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were probably in their early teens. Everything they had known was taken from them: family, homeland and most likely castrated. Daniel led them in maintaining their faith and commitment to the Lord. Even under the rule of a pagan king, they maintained their kosher diet. They wanted to abide by the laws of Moses. Pastor shares a look at several of the familiar stories about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and recent discoveries that assist proving the truth of this book. In Daniel, we witness that God intervenes in the lives of individuals and nations. And we see that even in his 80's, Daniel is promoted even further and through it all he remains faithful to the Lord. Then Pastor takes us through the dreams and visions of Daniel - visions of what is to come. Some of what Daniel saw has already been fulfilled in dramatic fashion. Daniel 9:25-26 - "Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed." And Jesus (The Anointed One) has comes and the temple was destroyed in 70A.D. The Dead Sea Scroll discovery - held the proof of Daniel's authenticity and that the book was written before the time of the prophetic words being fulfilled, not after. The class concludes with Pastor sharing an interpretation of and insights into Daniel's vision in conjunction with the historic empires and the Book of Revelation. Empire Daniel 2 Daniel 7 Revelation 17 Egyptian n/a n/a 1st head Assyrian n/a n/a 2nd head Babylonian Gold Head Lion 3rd head Medo-Persian Silver Chest Leopard 4th head Greek Bronze Thighs Bear 5th head Roman n/a n/a 6th head Islamic Iron Legs Fourth Beast 7th head Antichrist Iron/Clay Feet 10horns of 4B 8th king Messianic The Rock Pastor talks about how everyday we are closer to Christ's return, that we need to be looking up because our redemption is drawing near! We need to be ready! And we are to be making disciples, taking God seriously, growing in faith, and to be courageous witness. Daniel tells us that in the end we win!! Join us next week for our study of Ezra and Nehemiah.. For our FREE resources: video, podcast, Reading Schedule, and a study guide for each book of the Bible plus many extra items, plus how to listen by radio broadcast - find it all here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year [https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year] Our Bible in a Year study will walk you through the Bible book by book taking you from Genesis to Revelation, revealing Jesus throughout both the Old and the New Testaments! Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com [https://www.awakeusnow.com/]

July 9 - Ecclesiastes & Esther

Ecclesiastes is perhaps the most pessimistic book of the Old Testament. It opens with these words, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Meaning in the end we all die and that everything the author thought important, was not. It is fairly well agreed upon that Solomon is the author, though he is not mentioned by name. Solomon 1:1 "The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." Pastor teaches this class from the point of Solomon being the author and in this way brings the book into a more positive view - seeing this book as a testimony to Solomon coming back to God in the later days of his life. The dating of the book is uncertain. The theme of the book is that it is folly (vanity) to live a life without God. The book also talks about the author amassing silver and gold, slaves, herds and flocks, singers and a harem (Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines and they pulled him away from his faith in God. Solomon started his kingship so well and was devoted to God but throughout his life goes further and further from God. If Solomon is the author, this gives the hope that he returned to God at the end of his lie). The author concludes that in the end he had nothing. If this is Solomon, this is encouraging that he understood that and came to the realization that there is more than just this earthly life. Pastor explores several key verses: ⁃ Whoever loves money will never have enough ⁃ Everyone comes naked from the womb. As everyone comes, so they depart. ⁃ No one on earth is righteous and never sins. ⁃ Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say,"I find no pleasure in them." Meaning come to the Lord in your youth and don't wander away from Him. Solomon is looking back on his life and realizing how foolish he was to abandon his faith in God. ⁃ The book concludes with "When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man." This is a book that starts out rather pessimistic but ends with a powerful message to come back to the Lord. Esther is a book that has been under much attack by critics. Thought of as fiction, but Pastor believes the book to be firmly anchored in history. An uplifting and powerful story. List of objections to Esther by critics: ⁃ No mention of "God" but He is none-the-less all over this book. Perhaps the absence of His name makes His presence that much more real. The things of this story could not have happened without Him. ⁃ No mention of Esther in Herodotus. ⁃ Objections to "Mordecai" (but a discovery in Susa shows an inscription with "Marduk-ai-a" being an official in Susa during reign of Xerxes bringing validation to the book) ⁃ Palace at Susa destroyed within 30 years of the writing of Esther. But in recent times it has been discovered that what is written in Esther about the palace is exactly right. ⁃ Haman the Agatgite (name may refer to the Province from which he came vs. him being an Amelekite.) Esther ⁃ Author: Mordecai? ⁃ Date: uncertain (464-330 BC) ⁃ Setting; ⁃ Persian emperor Xerxes (486-465 BC) ⁃ 3rd year of Xerxes' reign = 483 BC (1:3) Of historical record is that Xerxes held a massive gathering of leaders to plan to conquer the rest of the world. This historical event is the event that kicks off the book of Esther. At this event Queen Vashti is deposed and then for the next 3 years Xerxes is on a campaign to conquer the world beginning with the Greeks. ⁃ 7th year of Xerxes' reign = 483-479 BC (2:16) He comes back from the war campaign defeated. To cheer him up his men hold a beauty contest to determine the next queen. Esther and many other young women are brought into his harem and King Xerxes chooses Esther she becomes queen. ⁃ 12th year of Xerxes' reign = 483474 BC (3:7) Haman, a wealthy, influential leader in the Persian government, despises Mordecai and wants to kill him and all Jews. But what Haman does not know is that Queen Esther is related to Mordecai. Haman comes to Xerxes and convinces Xerxes to have the Jewish people destroyed on a specific date that is 11 months away. Mordecai learns of the plan and tells Esther. This is when Mordecai says to Esther, "…if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" ⁃ Haman plots while Esther and the Jewish people fast and pray. Then one night King Xerxes couldn't sleep and he has old records read to him and discovers he never rewarded Mordecai for protecting the him. Xerxes gives Mordecai the reward and this angers Haman even more. ⁃ At the next evening's dinner, the king asks what Esther wants, and she tells the King that Haman wants me and my people killed and Haman is killed on the pole that he had built for Mordecai and Mordecai is given the King's ring. ⁃ The King orders that on the day planned to kill the Jews (an irrevocable order) that the Jews are to defend themselves and defeat their enemies. 75,000 anti-jewish rioters were killed that day along with Haman's 10 sons. ⁃ The victory became a festival called Purim and is a time of great rejoicing. God uses a young woman, Esther, to save Messiah's line. This story shows us how God intervenes in history to carry out His plans. Join us next week for our study of Daniel. For our FREE resources: video, podcast, Reading Schedule, and a study guide for each book of the Bible plus many extra items, plus how to listen by radio broadcast - find it all here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year [https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year] Our Bible in a Year study will walk you through the Bible book by book taking you from Genesis to Revelation, revealing Jesus throughout both the Old and the New Testaments! In Ephesians 6, the word of God is called the sword of the spirit, and a sword is best used when you take it out of the scabbard to use it! Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is alive and active! Meaning it is not dry, dusty, old stuff. It is living and active! And because it is the Living Word, it has the power to impact us still today! Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com [https://www.awakeusnow.com/]

July 2 - Song of Songs & Lamentations

Song of Songs is a book that speaks of the kind of love that God intends for a husband and a wife to share with one another. Song of Songs ⁃ Is the book in which there is the least amount of consensus on how to interpret this book. ⁃ Author traditionally seen as Solomon but might be written by him, written for him or possibly written of him. ⁃ InterpretatIons: ⁃ Allegory - God/Israel; Jesus/church; Bride groom/bride ⁃ Anthology - unconnected love poems ⁃ Solomon and the Shulammite ⁃ Shulammite and the Shepherd ⁃ It is poetry - not prose Pastor explores Song of Solomon from the viewpoint of #4 Shulammite and the Shepherd because it gives a fascinating story. Shulammite and the Shepherd Outline ⁃ 1:1-2:8 She recalls life back at home and fondly recalls the young man she love so deeply ⁃ 2:8-3:5 Dreams her boyfriend visits her ⁃ 3:6-4:7 Solomon tries to woo her ⁃ 4;8-5:1 She is unmoved ⁃ 5:2-6:3 Dreams of her lover back home ⁃ 6:4-7:9 Solomon's second attempt ⁃ 7:10-8:3 She longs for her boyfriend ⁃ 8:4-14 She returns home and is married and they "live happily ever after" as that is God's plan for marriage, that a Christ-centered marriage truly be a lasting joy. Pastor talks about this being a different culture now-a-days and that when this was written they spoke differently in their love language. Pastor points out a few specific verses: 2:4. "Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love." And the great Hymn "His Banner Over Me Is Love." 2:7. "Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." This line is said multiple times throughout the book. What this means is that love is precious, don't consummate your love until you are ready and prepared and have committed yourselves together for life as God intended. 8:6-7. The woman is speaking: "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one's house for love, it would be utterly scorned." What she is saying is you can offer me all sorts of wealth, palace, clothes,… but I would be an absolute fool to sell out and give up my real love for stuff. Lamentations The book is a series laments. ⁃ Author: Jeremiah(?) nothing in the book says he wrote it but jewish tradition is that Jeremiah composed these words. ⁃ Date: written after the destruction of Jerusalem - post 586 B.C. ⁃ Structure; ⁃ 5 poetic laments ⁃ Chapters 1-4 are acrostic poems - this can't be seen in the English translations. But in Hebrew for chapters 1, 2 and 4 the first verse begins with the first letter of Hebrew alphabet, the 2nd verse the 2nd letter of the alphabet and so on. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and thus each of these chapters has 22 verses. ⁃ Chapter 3 is a triple acrostic. This one has 66 verses with 3 verses written for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As lament-filled as this book is, at the heart of the book, in chapter 3, are some of the most encouraging, comforting and powerful words found in the Bible. Chapter 3 inspired the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness." ⁃ Chapter 5 is not an acrostic. It is a poetic lament. ⁃ Outline by chapter: ⁃ 1 - Jerusalem rebelled against God and has been rejected by God ⁃ 2 - Jerusalem's prophets/priests failed. ⁃ 3 - Great is God's faithfulness! This chapter starts with a lament, but then the author calls to mind "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The author remembers God's faithfulness. When we find ourselves discouraged or saddened, we too can remember that God is faithful. Further on in the chapter in verse 33 we see that God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. He judges His people, but His heart is not for judgement. His desire is not to bring pain, sorrow and loss into people's lives. Those come because we are living in a fallen world, they come because there is an enemy, and because that fallen nature is in us. But God's desire is not that we suffer, but rather that we are made new. Not that we won't any longer struggle, but God gives us a new spirit and restoration to those who repent and receive Jesus as Savior, Messiah and Lord. God's call us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. ⁃ 4 - Sin of Judah's leaders ⁃ 5 - Plea for restoration - Lamentations ends with a plea for God to restore Jerusalem. And we see that plea fulfilled through Jesus. What the author yearned for has become a reality in Christ and in the return of God's people. And now we long for the day of His final return. Next week Ecclesiastes and Esther. FREE resources: https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year [https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year] Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com [https://www.awakeusnow.com/]

June 25 - Job

The book of Job speaks powerfully to the mind, heart and soul and expresses the heart of God in the midst of life's hardest and most difficult of trials.. Job ⁃ It contains historical material, poetry, proverbs, songs, prophetic words. ⁃ It is hard to date this book as ⁃ We don't know when or where Job lived ⁃ It is unknown as to when the book was written ⁃ Not sure who the author is: Job, Moses, Solomon, other…? ⁃ It is part of the Bible's "Wisdom Literature" ⁃ Unique characteristics: ⁃ "Shaddai" the name used for God (31x) means "The Almighty" and is one of the oldest words used for God. Pastor shares a fascinating story of what a Chinese missionary discovered. ⁃ "Yahweh" / "Yehovah" also appears in the book.. "The One Who Is" ⁃ Setting is in the land of Uz. Not sure where this is - maybe Arabia, Syria, Edom or?? ⁃ We do know that Job was extremely wealthy and faithful to God. ⁃ Archaic vocabulary - many words are hard to translate. It has animals that are unknown to us today. ⁃ The book is all about Spiritual Warfare - war in the heavenlies that we are unable to see that often results in things that cannot be explained by normal human means. ⁃ The book is also about Suffering. At the heart of the suffering is the message that personal sin is not always the cause of personal suffering. ⁃ Several friends are "miserable comfort" ⁃ Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar ⁃ Bring accusations and words of despair to Job instead of comfort (16:2) ⁃ Eliphaz is the leader and chief spokesman for the group (5:27) ⁃ Eliphaz is visited by a spirit (4:12-16) who gives him what he ends up saying to Job. Eliphaz tells that he received a word that was secretly brought to him, that a spirit glided past his face and it spoke to him the things to say to Job. Here we see the spiritual warfare. The devil is a liar, and a thief. ⁃ Job has an encouraging friend ⁃ Elihu is one of Job's friends that was not rebuked by God.(42:7) Elihu speaks truth. The Outline of the Book of Job ⁃ Prologue and setting of the story. A tragic opening. Job loses family, flocks and wealth - yet he remains faithful to God. (1-2) ⁃ Dialogue - for a week his friends say nothing but sit with Job. After a week they begin to talk and these chapters are Job's conversations with these three friends. Job continues strong in his faith. (3-27) ⁃ Interlude on Wisdom (28) ⁃ Job's Closing Arguments about wanting to talk to God and make his case before God to figure out why this is happening to him. (29-31) ⁃ Elihu's Speeches to the other three and to Job. (32-37) ⁃ The LORD Speaks - powerful words from God - who speaks to Job and to the other four. (38-42:6) ⁃ Epilogue - the end of the story and how things turned out for Job. God turns things around because God wins the spiritual battle. (42:7-17) Pastor goes through a list of the greatest verses in the Book of Job: 1:21 - the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. May the name of the Lord be praised! 14:1-2 - reminds us that we are in a world that has fallen and that people die 16:19 - Job says that his witness is in heaven, his Advocate is on High. (Even when he couldn't depend on his friends, he knew He could count on God.) 19:20,23-27 - chapters where Job says he's lost everything, is barely hanging on, BUT he goes on in the deepest moments of pain and suffering to say that he knows that his Redeemer lives and that he will see God. 28:28 - Job tells us that God has taught us that the fear of the Lord is "wisdom" and to shun evil is "understanding." 33:14-18 - words from Elihu: God does speak in many ways, for the purpose of turning us from wrong doing and to save us. 40:15ff Behemoth is an animal made by God at the time when He created man, eats grass, and is described with amazing strength. The greatest of the land creatures that God made. Massive legs and a tail like a cedar tree. There is nothing today that measures up to this animal. It is not a hippo or elephant. Behemoth is massive and gigantic. A huge dinosaur. There is literary and archeological evidence of this animal. 41:1ff Leviathan is an animal that snorts out fire. This is not a crocodile, it is describing a massive sea creature. A fire breathing dragon. And again there is literary and archeological evidence. The fossil record is a distant reminder that shows what is real and genuine. Until more recent history beliefs were all in agreement that the world was created, that it was destroyed by a flood, that will be a final judgement. Job shows us that we need to come back to biblical truth! Join us next week for our study of the Song of Songs and Lamentations. For our FREE resources: video, podcast, Reading Schedule, and a study guide for each book of the Bible plus many extra items, plus how to listen by radio broadcast - find it all here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year [https://www.awakeusnow.com/bible-in-a-year] Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com [https://www.awakeusnow.com/]