Looking Forward in Hope
A Model Prayer of Repentance
A Model Prayer of Repentance – Ezra 9 ‘I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign…
Ezra’s Mission Blog
Ezra’s Mission Blog – Ezra chapter 8 1These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: …………… 15 I assembled them at the canal that flows towards Ahava, and we camped there three days. ………..21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our…
A Heart for God, A mind for Truth
A Heart for God, A mind for Truth – Ezra chapter 7 10 For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. Ezra 7:10 New International Version – UK (NIVUK) Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Heart and mind must march together – “Ezra was not a hermit-scholar, but…
God’s Holy Temple
God’s holy Temple (and Living Stones) – Ezra chapter 6 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it. Memorandum: 3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and…
Hope Restored
Hope Restored – Ezra chapter 5 5 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. Ezra 5 5 But the eye of their God was watching over…
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing – Ezra chapter 4 Hanging on to Hope through setbacks. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ Acts 14:22 New International Version – UK (NIVUK) Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Deceitful “Helpers” 4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel,…
A Fresh Start
A Fresh Start – Ezra Chapter 3 10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: ‘He is good; his love towards Israel endures for ever.’ Ezra 3 – New International Version – UK (NIVUK) Holy Bible, New…
Free at Last
Free at Last – Ezra chapters 1 and 2 1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: 2 ‘This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has…