WE WEREN’T quite finished after all! Marilyn Abbott, who spotted our oversight of Deuteronomy 9 about six weeks ago, informed us this week that we’d also skipped over three chapters of the Gospel of John.
WE REACH the end of the Old Testament today, the Book of Malachi, and with that we have completed our first journey through the entire Bible.Continue Reading
NEHEMIAH DISCOVERED what God already knew — His people were a stubborn lot.
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.
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.
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.Continue Reading
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.
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.Continue Reading
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.Continue Reading
GOD PROMISED that the tears and fasting of the Jews who’d returned to Jerusalem would be turned to joyous feasting. Then we turn to prophecies of God’s judgment against the unrepentant nations on the Day of Yahweh.Continue Reading