Nehemiah 3:1-5:13, 6:1-7:3 We often divide our lives into the secular and sacred. We think certain parts of our lives do not matter to God (leisure, work etc.) while others are important to him (Bible reading, prayer, evangelism, etc.). As we read about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, it may seem on the surface this work is far less significant than the work of Ezra, who was teaching the...

Ezra 9:1-10:44; Nehemiah 1:1-2:20 There is no place for racism in the church or in our hearts. This is clear from Scripture and from God's heart for all nations. Christians have tried to find rationalization for racism and prejudice in the Bible. Perhaps a passage offered up as support for these racist attitudes is the end of Ezra. Ezra condemns the Israelites for intermarrying with neighboring pe...

Ezra 4:7-23, 7:1-8:36 What do you pay attention to more in life, the good stuff or the bad stuff ? The fun stuff or the hard stuff ? Since most of life is filled with a mixture of all these things, we need to intentionally watch what we give our attention. The Israelites had been continually pestered by those already in the land and were commanded to stop rebuilding the city. This would have been ...

Esther 5:1-10:3 My daughters love the story of Esther. When they were young, Esther was in the pantheon of Disney princesses alongside Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, and others. Yet the story of Esther is about far more than a princess. Ultimately, it is a story that points us to Jesus. There was a death sentence over the Jewish people, and only when Esther stepped forward as a righteous mediator/petitio...

Ezra 6:14-22, 4:6; Esther 1:1-4:17 Some of us may feel like our lives are just one trial after another. We may feel like we are playing whack-a-mole or trying to plug holes in a dam with our fingers, as we experience hardship after hardship. If you feel like this, then you should feel right at home in the Bible. The Israelites had experienced exile and now faced what would have seemed like certain...

Zechariah 9:1-14:21 Why do you believe Jesus is the Messiah? It is vital that we have an answer to this question along with others, i.e., why do you think Jesus is divine, or why did Jesus have to die on the cross? When it comes to why we believe Jesus is the Messiah, the clearest answer is the prophecies he fulfilled. There are several of these Messianic prophecies in Zechariah. Statements that s...

Zechariah 6:1-15; Ezra 5:3-6:14; Zechariah 7:1-8:23 We often expect when we follow God, he will lead us down a smooth, straight path without complications or difficulty. The reality is God often works in surprising ways and uses what we conceive of as distractions and difficulties to accomplish his will. The Israelites began rebuilding the temple but faced consistent opposition for years, with the...

Haggai 2:1-9; Zechariah 1:1-6; Haggai 2:10-19; Ezra 5:2; Haggai 2:20-23; Zechariah 1:7-5:11 How do you respond to new opportunities? Are you filled with excitement, anxiety, concern, joy, or a mix of all these things? The Israelites have started returning to the Promised Land and are resettling. Amid this new opportunity, God speaks. He speaks through Haggai, Zechariah, and others. God's command f...

Daniel 10:1-12:13; Ezra 4:24-5:1; Haggai 1:1-15 What an incredible passage today! Daniel is so packed it is a challenge to pull out one central idea from each verse let alone a couple of chapters. In these verses I think it is clear Daniel’s interaction with God is referring to the ultimate final judgement. You can read 20 different commentaries and get 20 different answers to how long a “time, ti...

Ezra 2:1-4:5; 1 Chronicles 3:19-24 First things first. This proverbial statement speaks to the issue of priorities. Generally, the first thing we do shows what is important to us. Do we check social media accounts first thing in the morning, scan the news, check our emails, read our Bible, or something else? As the Israelites returned from exile, one of the first things they did was build an altar...

Daniel 6:1-28, 9:1-27; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-11; 1 Chronicles 3:17-19 There is a cost to every decision we make. If we decide to do one thing, we are giving up the opportunity to do all the other things we might have done. Further, sometimes there is a real cost in deciding to follow God. Daniel chose to remain obedient in praying to God alone rather than the king. The result was being t...

Daniel 7:1-8:27, 5:1-31 God knows all truth, and the future, and sometimes chooses to reveal it to us. In Daniel 5, 7, and 8 God reveals the future, and thus his truth in three ways. First, Daniel sees four beasts and it takes the "son of man" (Daniel 7:13) (Jesus) to explain these are four kingdoms. The fourth kingdom will include a king that will oppose God and his people, but he will be overthr...

Ezekiel 47:1-48:35, 29:17-30:19; 2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34 The final image of Ezekiel's temple is a massive river flowing from the threshold of the temple. The river begins as a trickle but soon becomes so massive it purifies the Dead Sea. That which was formerly dead becomes alive through the power of this river. This river is meant to remind us that all life ultimately comes from God. ...

Ezekiel 44:1-46:24 The temple Ezekiel describes seems to be a still future temple. So the natural question we might ask is, why all the sacrifices? If Christ is the once for all sacrifice, then why would there still be sacrifices offered in Ezekiel's temple? This is a great question. It may help to consider the chronology of sacrifices throughout the Old Testament. Initially, all people could offe...

Ezekiel 40:38-43:27 Unless you are really into architecture, you may have found today's reading a tad dry. It is like we have entered a construction office and are staring at floor plans on a desk. Since this vision came immediately after Israel's exile, it would be natural to assume this temple must have been that which was built upon Israel's return, but it is not. The size of this temple is des...

1 Chronicles 8:29-9:1; Daniel 4:1-37; Ezekiel 40:1-37 Humility. This crucial quality is often missing from our lives and seems to be completely devoid from Nebuchadnezzar's. For us to have a relationship with God, it demands humility. God’s work in the life of Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most drastic acts of God to humble someone. God lowered him to almost animal status so that he might acknowled...

1 Chronicles 5:18-26, 6:3, 6:49, 6:4-15, 7:1-8:28 Unless you are my grandmother, genealogies tend to be tedious, especially when it is not your family. Yet the Bible is filled with genealogies. As we read them, I think it teaches us a few important lessons. First, every person matters to God. People like Ibsam, Iri, Aniam, Suah, and others are only included here in the Bible. We know nothing about...

Ezekiel 32:17-33:20; Jeremiah 52:28-30; Psalm 137:1-9; 1 Chronicles 4:24-5:17 Our world is filled with brokenness and sin. As we look inside our own hearts, we discover brokenness is not just somewhere out there in the world but inside each one of us. One of the appropriate responses to this is brokenness is sadness. We find this attitude expressed in Psalm 137. Judah had been exiled to Babylon an...

Ezekiel 37:1-39:29, 32:1-16 As we read the Bible, it is important we understand the difference between the meaning of a passage and its application. If we knew anything about the book of Ezekiel before this reading it may have been the image in chapter thirty-seven of dry bones coming to life. This image is so popular it has made it into many worship songs. Yet with any passage, it is important fo...

Ezekiel 34:1-36:38 Shepherding is a foreign concept to us but not to the pages of the Bible. One of our most familiar passages from Psalm 23 is that God is our shepherd. The imagery of God being our shepherd extends beyond that one well known chapter. Ezekiel 34 speaks of God as our loving, caring, and concerned shepherd. God meticulously provides for his people─every one of us, every day. This sa...