Welcome

We concluded the last part of our study in Ezra 10, at the point where the assembly of people had devised a strategy for dealing with the problem of intermarriage, in an orderly manner; and we remarked that it might have been proposed by Shechaniah, although the Scriptures do not specifically tell us that, so we cannot truly know.

In the first part of this study, we saw Ezra arriving back in Jerusalem and being amazed, astonished and dismayed by what he found. The state of the nation grieved him. Although, as we showed, the actual number of incidences of marriages to foreign wives was really quite small, it was the fact that it was accepted by the rulers, the priests and the Levites that reflected on the whole nation. As Ezra acknowledged, it was a collective failure of the whole nation, and we remarked that he didn’t excuse himself from that collective guilt. So what to do about the situation? We concluded last time with Ezra entering a time of reflection and prayer, before deciding what to do.

Readings: Ezra 5-6; Hosea 7; Acts 25-26

By way of exhortation, we will consider the people in the days of both Ezra and Nehemiah and the approach they had in building the house of God and the wall of the city, and take examples for ourselves in our approach to building the ecclesia in our day.

Ezra, having learned of the problem of the mixed marriages, publicly showed his dismay – he tore his clothes, plucked hair from his head and beard, and sat down astonished, or stunned. The news came as a surprise and a shock to Ezra, and I suggest that the reason is that the problem was not as widespread as we might at first imagine. The closing verses of Ezra 10 list those who were found to have taken foreign wives, and the total is only 113. Given that 42,000 exiles returned with Zerubbabel, and another 1,500 with Ezra, only 0.26% of the male returnees therefore had married a wife from the surrounding pagan nations.

Readings: 2 Chronicles 32; Daniel 12; Acts 13

“But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls” (Hebrews 10:39 ESV).

I wonder if the apostle Paul had those words in mind when he faced the challenges we read about in Acts 13? Paul was called by Jesus and appointed to preach by the power of God.

But the writer is also writing of us. We believe; and our faith will save us! Not only that though, we have all be called; we are remembering the sacrifice of our Lord in our various locations; and provided that we allow the words of Jesus to remain in us and guide us, then we abide in him.

Reading : 2 Peter 1

Over the last eleven months you have been privileged to consider different facets of the call of the Gospel and I think it intriguing to find so many different aspects of the high calling which by God’s grace is ours.

A well known verse in the book of Numbers tells us that “all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” (Num 14:21) When the tabernacle was completed at the time of Moses it is recorded that “the glory of the Lord filled it.” At that time the glory was manifested as a very bright shining light, sometimes referred to as the Shekinah glory, although this is not a term found in the Bible.

We closed the last study having shown that the Hebrew noun robe is found 153 times in the Old Testament. It occurs four times in Genesis prior to Genesis 48. They are underlined in the quotes below. The first relates to the seed of Ishmael. “The angel of Yahweh said unto her (Hagar), I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude” (Gen. 16:10). The second is in part of the blessing given by Isaac to Jacob (thinking he was Esau). “God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine” (Gen. 27:28). The next is in the words of Jacob speaking to Laban.

Readings: 2 Chronicles 24; Daniel 5; Acts 3-4

In our first reading in 2 Chronicles 24 Joash the king began his reign well, under the influence of Jehoiada the Priest. He was only seven years old when he began his forty-year reign. He, in the early part of his reign, did what was right in the sight of the LORD God.  He also repaired the house of the Lord. Verse 5 reads: -

“And he gathered together the priests and Levites and said to them go out unto the cities of Judah and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit, the Levites hastened it not”.