INTRODUCTION: THIS WEEK OUR LESSON REVIEWS OUR STUDY OF THE BOOKS OF EZRA AND NEHEMIAH AND REMINDS US OF SOME OF THE IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM THOSE BOOKS.
- CHANCE v. DIVINE PLAN.
- OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO EZRA AND READ 1:1 AND 6:22.
- THIS SAYS THAT GOD ACTED TO CHANGE THE KING’S HEART. THESE TEXTS, AND OUR LESSON SUGGEST THAT THE EVENTS OF OUR LIVES ARE NOT SUBJECT TO CHANCE: THAT THINGS HAPPEN BECAUSE GOD DOES THEM OR ALLOWS THEM. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
- IS THIS TRUE FOR OUR CHURCH BUILDING PROGRAM?
- HOW ABOUT OUR LIVES? (IF I START GETTING POUNDED ON THE BAD THINGS THAT HAPPENS TO INNOCENT PEOPLE, THEN REFER THEM TO HEB 11:35-40 WHICH SAYS THAT BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE BUT GOD WILL MAKE IT ALL RIGHT IN HEAVEN FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE. ALSO HELPFUL ARE v. 13-16 OF THE SAME CHAPTER.)
- LETS LOOK AT ANOTHER TEXT, THIS TIME IN NEH. NEH 4:9. WHAT DOES THIS TEXT SUGGEST IS THE ROLE THAT WE PLAY IN WHAT HAPPENS TO US?
- WOULD THIS REBUILDING HAVE BEEN DONE AS IT WAS WITHOUT THE INITIATIVE OF NEH AND THE PEOPLE?
- DO OUR ACTIONS AFFECT WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR LIVES? (HEB 11: 29-30 SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF MAN COOPERATING THROUGH FAITH. THE PEOPLE PASSED OUT OF EGYPT BY FAITH, BUT DID NOT PASS INTO CANAAN BECAUSE THEY LACKED FAITH. BUT THE NEXT GENERATION DID ENTER CANAAN BECAUSE THEY HAD FAITH.)
- READ PS 139:1-16.
- WHAT DOES THIS SUGGEST ABOUT CHANCE IN OUR LIVES?
- HOW DOES THE KNOWLEDGE THAT GOD KNOWS AND IS PERSO NALLY INVOL VED IN YOUR LIFE AFFEC T YOUR ATTIT UDE TOWAR DS LIFE?
- THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE ABORTION ISSUE NEED TO CAREFULLY READ OVER THIS CHAPT.
- PRAYER AND ACTION
- THE POINT OF INTERACTION BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE IS IN PRAYER. LETS LOOK AT NEH 1:4-6. WE TALKED ABOUT GOD’S ACTIVITIES, AS OPPOSED TO CHANCE. WE SPOKE OF THE NEED FOR OUR PARTNERSHIP.
- WHAT ABOUT US ASKING GOD TO CHANGE THINGS? DO YOU THINK THAT THE KING’S HEART WOULD HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED TO ALLOW THE REBUILDING WITHOUT THE PRAYER OF NEH?
- WOULD GOD HAVE JUST LET THINGS SIT IF NEH (OR SOMEONE LIKE HIM) HAD NOT ASKED GOD TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? (I SUSPECT THAT GOD WOULD HAVE LET THINGS SIT UNTIL SOMEONE RAISED THE ISSUE WITH HIM.)
- ANOTHER POINT OF INTERACTION BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE WAS THE TEMPLE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM. FOR EXAMPLE, READ EZ 3:1-3.
- DO WE HAVE THE TEMPLE SYSTEM TODAY?
- SHOULD WE CELEBRATE THE SACRIFICES, FESTIVALS AND DEDICATIONS OF THE OT, FOR EXAMPLE, THE DAY OF ATONEMENT AND THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES ARE TWO THAT HAVE BEEN PART OF OUR DISCUSSION OF THESE BOOKS.
- READ HEB 9:8-12. WHAT DOES THIS SUGGEST? (v.10 TELLS US THAT THE “EXTERNAL REGULATIONS” ONLY APPLIED UNTIL THE TIME OF THE NEW ORDER. (LESSON, p.145)
- WHAT, IF ANYTHING, SHOULD TAKE THE PLACE OF THESE OT SACRIFICES/CEREMONIES? (1 COR 11:24-25. COMMUNION; HEB 9:14-15 ACCEPTING CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ON OUR BEHALF.)
- BIBLE STUDY
- WE SAW IN NEH THAT AFTER THE WALL WAS BUILT THE PEOPLE WANTED TO HEAR THE LAW READ. SO THEY HAD EZRA GET UP AND READ FROM THE LAW.
- WHY DO YOU THINK COMPLETING THE WALL CAUSED A RENEWED INTEREST IN THE LAW? (GOD WAS HELPING THEM IN AN OBVIOUS WAY, AND THEY WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HIM AND HIS WILL FOR THEM.)
- IN DEUT 8:2-3 WE HAVE THE FAMOUS SAYING THAT “MAN DOES NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.” IT ALSO INFERS THAT IF OUR HEART IS RIGHT WE WILL KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS.
- WHAT IS MEANT BY “MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE? (KNOWING GOD’S WILL NOURISHES OUR HEARTS. IT TELLS US HOW TO LIVE, JUST AS EATING ALLOWS US TO LIVE. IT ALSO ALLOWS US TO LIVE ETERNALLY.)
- IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READING THE BIBLE AND KEEPING THE LAW?
- IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONDITION OF OUR HEARTS AND KEEPING THE LAW?
- WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE SHOULD WE FIND TODAY FROM THE READING OF GOD’S WORD?
- YOU REMEMBER LAST WEEK THAT AFTER THE PEOPLE HAD HEARD THE LAW OF MOSES READ, THEY PLEDGED TO FOLLOW WHAT THEY HAD BEEN TOLD?
- WOULD PERIODIC PUBLIC RENEWAL OF VARIOUS COVEN ANTS BE HELPFUL IN OUR CHURCH? (REMEMBER THEY HAD COVENANTS ON INTERMARRYING, KEEPING THE SABBATH, THE 7TH YEAR OF RETURN/REST, SUPPORT FOR THE SANCTUARY. ) IF NEED MORE TIME:
- YOU MAY ALSO REMEMBER LAST WEEK, THAT AFTER THESE PEOPLE ENTERED INTO THIS COVENANT, NEH RETURNED TO SUSA AND THE SERVICE OF KING ARTAXERXES FOR A WHILE. LATER, HE ASKED TO COME BACK TO JER AND WE FOUND THAT THE PEOPLE WERE APPARENTLY BREAKING THEIR PUBLIC PLEDGES.
- BEFORE HE LEFT, NEH HAD TAKEN CERTAIN MEASURES THAT SHOULD HAVE HELPED TO AVOID THIS. READ NEH.7:1-3.
- IS THIS NEPOTISM RUN RAMPANT?
- AND WHY DOES EVERYBODY SEEM TO HAVE THE SAME NAME?
- WHO IS IN CHARGE? (BROTHER HANANI AND HANANIAH.) (HANANI, IF YOU RECALL, WAS THE ONE WHO CAME TO SUSA AND BROUGHT NEH THE SAD NEWS ABOUT THE SITUATION IN JERUSALEM. SO NEH KNEW THAT HE WAS CONCERNED AND RELIABLE.
- DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT HANANIAH’S QUALIFICATIONS WERE THAT HE WAS AN EXPERIENCED MILITARY MAN, HAD GOOD ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS AND WAS BRAVE? (NO. IT SAYS THAT HE WAS HONEST AND FEARED GOD MORE THAN MOST.)
- WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU ABOUT THE BEST WORKERS FOR GOD? (THAT EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILL ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.)
- DID YOU NOTICE THAT NEH HAD AN OPEN LATE AND CLOSE EARLY POLICY FOR THE GATES? WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE REASON FOR THAT? (IF THEY OPENED AT THE CRACK OF DAWN THE ENEMY MIGHT ATTACK WHEN NOT TOO MANY PEOPLE WERE AROUND. THE SAME IS TRUE IF THEY CLOSED LATE. SO THIS WAS A SECURITY MEASURE IN VIEW OF THEIR PRECARIOUS POSITION.)
- READ 7:4. WHY DID THE CAPITOL CITY HAVE FEW PEOPLE IN IT? (WE HAVE NOT FOCUSSED ON THIS BEFORE, BUT EVEN THOUGH THE WALLS WERE REBUILT, BUT THE INTERIOR HAD NOT BEEN REBUILT. THEY ASKED A TENTH OF THE POPULATION TO RESETTLE IN JERUSALEM.)
- NEXT WEEK: THERE SHINES A STAR: THE PROPHETIC ASPECTS OF EZRA AND NEH.
