The wall is finished

March 3, 2019

PERSEVERANCE IN the face of opposition is one of the lessons from our reading today. The Samaritans, Ammonites, and Arabs in Nehemiah’s day tried to discourage the Jews through threats, political pressure, and even a conspiracy to assassinate Nehemiah.

Building the wall

February 24, 2019

NEARLY ONE hundred years after Cyrus issued his decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, the walls of the Holy City still had not been rebuilt.

Take courage and do it

February 17, 2019

THE SECOND group to return from Babylon to Jerusalem was led by Ezra the priest in 458 B.C. It was a four-month journey, which the Jews undertook without an armed guard — something that was unheard of in that day.

Haman on a Spike

February 10, 2019

AN ASTUTE listener pointed out that we skipped chapter 9 of Deuteronomy way back between studies #44 and #45, so we begin this week by correcting that oversight.

If it Please the King…

February 3, 2019

THE STORY of Esther, a Jewish woman who became queen of Persia, is the origin of the Purim holiday, celebrating the salvation of the Jewish people from Human, a key advisor to Xerxes, the king.

The Day of Yahweh

January 27, 2019

APOCALYPTIC PROPHECIES of the coming Day of the Lord are the focus of the last three chapters of Zechariah. Today we discuss the prophet’s vision of the final battle of the age and compare it to Armageddon and the war of Gog and Magog.

We also talk about the aftermath, the millennial reign (although Zechariah doesn’t call it that), and the final world order, when God rules and reigns over the entire world from Jerusalem.