Nehemiah 5-7 Today Nehemiah confronts a problem that is all too common: the exploitation of the weak by the powerful. The not-so-noble nobles and officials are exacting exorbitant interest on loans to the poor, driving them further and further into debt so that their only recourse is to turn over their land or even their …
Monthly Archives: September 2023
September 20 / Nehemiah 1-4
Nehemiah 1-4 Today we meet Nehemiah, the cupbearer to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. It’s now 445/444 BC, 13 years since Ezra’s journey to Jerusalem and nearly a century since the return of the first exiles under Cyrus. While living in the Persian capital of Susa, Nehemiah hears of the poor condition of Jerusalem, particularly …
September 19 / Ezra 7-10
Ezra 7-10 Assuming that the Artaxerxes mentioned in Ezra 7:1 is Artaxerxes I, it is now 458 BC, and Ezra, the priest and scribe for whom this book is named, arrives on the scene. Ezra is a scholar who is well versed in the Law of Moses. (Ezra 7:6,10-12) As we can see from the …
September 18 / Ezra 4:6-23; Malachi
Ezra 4:6-23; Malachi 1-4 Offering up second-rate (or worse) sacrifices to the LORD. Begrudging the LORD His due. Treating the LORD as wearisome. Cozying up to the world. Breaking promises and covenants. Calling evil good. Swearing falsely. Oppressing the weak and disadvantaged. Skimping on tithes to the LORD. Considering serving the LORD to be wasted …
September 17 / Esther 6-10
Esther 6-10 Our story of Esther takes a dramatic turn today, with a complete reversal of “fortunes” for Mordecai and Haman in particular and for the Jews and their enemies in general. By “coincidence” the king cannot sleep the night before Esther’s second banquet and chooses to have boring historical records read to help put …
September 16 / Esther 1-5
Esther 1-5 As the story of Esther begins, it’s now about 483 BC. Ahasuerus (aka Xerxes I) reigns over the Persian Empire. Although the people of Judah are no longer held captive, many continue to live abroad in the lands of exile (as is clearly still true today). Our story focuses on two such Jews, …
September 15 / I Chronicles 7-9
I Chronicles 7-9 Have you ever traced your own ancestry? Most of us know our parents and grandparents. Some might even remember their great-grandparents. It’s even possible for some to remember great-great-grandparents, though that is now quite rare. Anything beyond that requires good record-keeping, with stories handed down from one generation to the next. Tracing …
September 14 / I Chronicles 4-6
I Chronicles 4-6 I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that most of us have heard of “the prayer of Jabez”. We may not know what that prayer is, but we’ve probably heard of it because of the best-selling book, The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, by Dr. …
September 13 / I Chronicles 1-3
I Chronicles 1-3 Wait, what? First Chronicles? Didn’t we finish both First and Second Chronicles a while ago? Well, yes, but we originally skipped the first nine chapters, because these chapters go straight to where we are now in our chronology, getting to the very identity of those returning from the Babylonian exile by tracing …
September 12 / Zechariah 7-8; Ezra 5:2-6:22; Daniel 6
Zechariah 7-8; Ezra 5:2-6:22; Daniel 6 Today Zechariah returns to a more “conventional” prophetic style. Some people come to Zechariah with a question about fasting, and the LORD responds with questions of His own: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for Me …
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