Devotionals: Ezra Archives

The Word of the Lord Fulfilled

By Andrew YoungDecember 15, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“… in order to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia…” (Ezra 1:1) Bible Reading: Ezra 1:1-4 Having reached the end of our devotionals in Mark’s Gospel, the question arises, “Where to next?” One of the respondents to the Ezra Update I sent out a month or so ago suggested alternating Old Testament and New Testament books (or sections of books), and this seems a wise idea. It is with that in view that I have decided, on consulting with fellow Ezra Ministry trustees, to look at the book of Ezra itself. It seems […]

Hearts Made Willing

By Andrew YoungDecember 16, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:5) Bible Reading: Ezra 1:5-11 The king of Persia, Cyrus, had sent a proclamation throughout his realm permitting Jews to return to Jerusalem to build the temple of the Lord (Ezra 1:2-4). He had also instructed “the people of any place where survivors [Jews] may be living” to provide gold and silver, livestock, and goods of various kinds to the returning remnant. Now we see the outcome […]

The People of the Province

By Andrew YoungDecember 17, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles…” (Ezra 2:1) Bible Reading: Ezra 2:1-67 At first sight, this second chapter of the book of Ezra seems nothing more than a formidable list of strange sounding names. The temptation is to skip over them. What can we find in them to edify – to nourish our souls in Christ? Perhaps the first thing we need to note is that lists are one of the literary categories of the Bible (see, for example, the list of temple articles and articles of gold and silver in […]

Offerings According to Ability

By Andrew YoungDecember 18, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“Some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work…” (Ezra 2:68, 69) Bible Reading: Ezra 2:68-70 After what would have taken months of travel, some 50,000 former exiles returned to the province of Judah. Upon arriving at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, we are told that “some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site” (Ezra 2:68). They gave approximately 500 kg of gold and […]

Worship before Work

By Andrew YoungDecember 19, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.” (Ezra 2:68, 69) Bible Reading: Ezra 3:1-6 The reason the Jews had returned to Jerusalem was to “rebuild the temple of the Lord” (Ezra 1:2). Having arrived and made contributions to the building work, they had resettled in their own towns (2:68-70). However, on the first day of the seventh month – an important celebratory month in the Jewish calendar – they assemble as “one man” in Jerusalem (3:1). There they lay the foundation of the […]

Worship along with Work

By Andrew YoungDecember 20, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests… and the Levites … sang to the Lord.” (Ezra 2:68, 69) Bible Reading: Ezra 3:7-13 It was a whole year after the return from captivity before work on the temple began. As a first step towards this, skilled workers were paid and needed materials – cedar logs from Lebanon – were accumulated (Ezra 3:7). Furthermore, Levites twenty years and older were assigned the task of supervising the work (vs. 8, 9). Rebuilding the temple of God was to proceed under the watchful eyes of the servants of God. […]

Opposition Aroused

By Andrew YoungDecember 21, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.” (Ezra 4:4) Bible Reading: Ezra 4:1-5 The first stages of rebuilding the temple didn’t go unnoticed by the “enemies of Judah and Benjamin” – that is, by the “people around them,” the people who had inhabited the land since “the time of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria” (Ezra 4:1, 2). They had no doubt seen the work in progress and heard the loud celebrations when the foundation of the temple was completed (3:13). And it concerned them deeply. These Jews were clearly […]

Accused!

By Andrew YoungDecember 22, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.” (Ezra 4:6) Bible Reading: Ezra 4:6-16 We have seen that one of the ways in which the surrounding people tried to stop the Jews from rebuilding the temple was to hire counsellors to “work against them and frustrate their plans” (Ezra 4:5). This happened not just once or twice, but over a long period of time – during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia down to the reign of Darius king of Persia. In the verses before us now, we see […]

Brought to a Standstill

By Andrew YoungDecember 23, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“Thus, the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:24) Bible Reading: Ezra 4:17-24 The letter of accusation written by the Trans-Euphrates officials did reach the court of the king of Persia where it was read and translated in his presence (Ezra 4:18). More than that, it was acted upon. As the officials had suggested in the letter, the archives were searched and it was confirmed that Jerusalem had “a long history of revolt against kings” and had been “a place of rebellion and […]

Helped by the Prophets

By Andrew YoungDecember 24, 2015Devotionals: Ezra

“And the prophets of God were with them, helping them” (Ezra 5:2) Bible Reading: Ezra 5:1-5 Work on rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem remained at a standstill (Ezra 4:24) for some 15 years. During this time, the Jews busied themselves building their own houses and attending to their crops (Haggai 1:2, 3). They were so absorbed in this that they totally ignored the temple rebuilding work for which they had returned. God chastened them for this neglect with poor crops and wasted efforts (1:5-11), but in spite of that, temple construction remained at a halt – until, that is, God sent his […]