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Bible Reading: Malachi 1-4

BIBLE READING: Nehemiah 11-13; Psalm 126 DISCUSSION                                                           Why is it so hard to break bad habits?  We understand that these habits are bad for us, yet we continue to do them.  Is it because of negative peer pressure that we continue to fail?  Maybe it is just ingrained in our DNA to keep falling into its trap?  Maybe it is simple selfishness?  Isn’t that more of a reasonable answer?  We might continually look for excuses that have nothing to do with personal responsibility, yet none of them hold any weight.  As we go back to the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah has left Jerusalem after the completion of the wall to go back to work for King Artaxerxes....

BIBLE READING: Nehemiah 8-10 DISCUSSION                                                                                     After the walls of Jerusalem were completed in an amazing fifty-two days, the people of God rejoiced at the work that had been completed.  To commemorate the significance of what had happened, Ezra the Scribe, gathers all the people together into the square to read the book of the Law of Moses to them.  Ezra read from early morning until mid-day and all the people, not only listened to the Word of the LORD, but they understood it as well.  It appears they have a new-found respect ...

BIBLE READING: Nehemiah 6-7 DISCUSSION                                                                                 A few years ago, I received a phone call from a family member asking me if I was okay.  I replied that I was fine and asked how she was doing and after a few friendly pleasantries she expressed her concern of making sure I was okay.  I continued to let her know that I was fine, as a matter of fact that day specifically I had felt well.  I began to worry and ask why she seemed so concerned.  She proceeded to tell me that she had heard that I had been fired that day and she was just making sure I was a...

BIBLE READING: Nehemiah 1-5 DISCUSSION                               Nehemiah is one of the greatest leaders in Jewish history.  He wasn’t a King or a judge or even a prophet, he was just a humble cupbearer for King Artaxerxes.  How could a man who was a servant in an entirely different nation become one of greatest leaders in Jewish history?  Passion…Nehemiah had a passion for his people and his God.  As soon as he heard that his home town Jerusalem was in ruins, he wept, mourned and prayed for days for King Artaxerxes to grant his permission to return home and do what he could to rebuild his city.  As he makes his way back to Jerusalem to undergo the project of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, the task at hand is much greater than he thought.  Not only was he faced with the task at hand, he also must deal with critics and an enem...

BIBLE READING: Ezra 7-10 DISCUSSION                                                                                                  What would you think of an individual who had been warned of the dangers of burning themselves on a stove, only out of curiosity, places their hand on the stove and severely burns themselves?  What would you think of that same individual if he touched the stove a second time after burning himself?  We might say that person was a few bricks shy of a load.  Well essentially that is exactly what the Israel...

BIBLE READING: Esther 6-10 DISCUSSION                                                                             Sometimes God places us in unusual places and circumstances so that we can make a difference for Him.  Esther was a simple Jew who through some strange trail of events is made Queen of the Persians.  While God is using her, she and Mordeci uncover a plot by Hamaan to destroy the Jews.  God uses Esther to become a leader and save the Jews from extinction.  Esther’s story is one of hope and motivation for us as Christians today.  Although we may not be called upon to save a nation,...

Bible Reading: Esther 1-5

BIBLE READING: Zechariah 8-14 DISCUSSION                                                                                                                            Again, we find ourselves among the prophesies of Zechariah to God’s people. Chapters 1-8 record visions prophesying the eventual internment of God’s people to the Babylonians.   In chapters 9-14 Zechariah gives us a glimpse of the kingdom that will never be destroyed as Daniel prophesied about in Daniel chapter 2. The mes...

BIBLE READING: Zechariah 1-7 DISCUSSION                                                                                          Reading Zechariah is a wild ride. Like life it is not always linear. The flow of thought is hard to follow, but the theme remains the same throughout.   Life doesn’t fit into neat orderly patterns. Zechariah asks us to look above the chaos and hope for the coming kingdom, which will motivate faithfulness in the present. Zechariah is divided into two main parts, chapters 1-8 and then 9-14.   In the first eight chapters Zechariah has a series of dream...

BIBLE READING: Haggai 1-2 DISCUSSION                                                                                                                    Haggai is a book that should be studied alongside the book of Ezra seeing how both deal with the return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.  Ezra 1:5 tells us about the remnant of people that returned were very eager and had a noble purpose of rebuilding the temple, but very quickly became lax in their efforts to rebuild the temple and began working on their own houses and belongings and neglected God’s temple.  Enter Haggai…         ...

BIBLE READING: Ezra 4-6 & Psalms 137 DISCUSSION                                                        As the reconstruction of the House of God commenced, the people had rebuilt the altar and began to lay the foundation of the Temple.   Then, the returned exiles began to face a great deal of opposition from some Samaritans.    “ Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose…” (Ezra 4:4-5).   The opposition pushed so hard that the Israelites were forced by King Artaxerxes to halt the work until Darius reinstated it years later.   I’m sure it must have been hard to those Israelites; to have been so exci...

BIBLE READING: Ezra 1-3 DISCUSSION                    As the exiles return to Jerusalem to begin the reconstruction of the temple of God, they must have been overcome with emotions.   Ezra says that many of the people shouted and praised the LORD as the foundation was being laid (Ezra 3.11).   Yet there was also some of the priests and Levities who had seen the first temple so overcome with emotion that they “…wept with a loud voice” (Ezra 3.12).   Ezra continues to say that both groups cried out so much and so loud that you could not distinguish who was who.   It must have been a very emotional day for everyone, but why?   I remember as a teen listening to a song by the band Cinderella entitled “You Don’t Know What You Got, Till It’s Gone”.   That seems to have been the sentiment of the nation of Israel.   The Temple signified Jehovah God for them and they took it for g...

BIBLE READING: Daniel 10-12 DISCUSSION                                                             Prayer is a major part of the Christian faith, yet most Christians feel like their prayer life is inadequate.   One of the reasons why most feel as though their prayer life is not what it should be is because we don’t receive an answer as fast as we would like.    The prophet Daniel is known for his prayer life.   Even in the midst of the threat of being thrown into a den of lions, he continues his normal ritual of prayer.   In Daniel 9 we have recorded for us one of the prayers that Daniel prayed after reading from the letter form Jeremiah.   Within this prayer we see confession of sins, humility and an ant...

Bible Reading: Daniel 7-9

BIBLE READING: Daniel 4-6 DISCUSSION                                                          One of the strangest stories of the Bible is found in Daniel 5.   King Belshazzar is enjoying his fill in a massive party that entailed drinking and probably a lot of rated R activity.   All the while they are praising all the various gods of gold, silver, bronze, wood, stone and probably anything else they could imagine.   Amidst all their revelry, the fingers of a human hand appear out of nowhere.   The fingers proceed to write some words on the wall, causing the king to have his color changed, his limbs give way and his knees to knock together (I personally think that would have been hilarious to see).   Unable to understand the ...

BIBLE READING: Daniel 1-3 DISCUSSION                                                                        Courage is defined as mental or moral strength to  venture , persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.  As we read the first few chapters of the book of Daniel, courage is a word that comes to mind.  Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were all friends who were faced with great fear, yet they were able to have the mental and moral strength to withstand whatever danger that the mighty Babylonians had to throw at them.  Stolen away from their home and ripped away from their families, these young men were...

BIBLE READING: Joel 1-3 DISCUSSION                                                           The book of Joel is divided into three chapters and follows a basic outline: 1.) The Consequence of Disobedience,   2.) A Call to Repentance, 3.) The Promise of Blessings. In chapter one verses 10-12, Joel describes his people as wine and oil and wine that has dried up.   He is telling God’s people that there are no sacrifices to offer because of a plague of locusts and limited rain. As Christians, we have to be careful not to become spiritually dried up. As the Psalmist said “…but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, ...

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 46-48 DISCUSSION                                                                                      As the vision of Ezekiel ends, God gives him a glimpse of what the future of this Temple will bring.   The vision that he revives is one where he is standing at the door of the Temple and watching as water flows from the threshold.   This water continues to flow from the areas of the Temple trickling into a river that will flow into the sea.   The interesting aspect of this vison is that there is no source of a river that flows near Jerusalem, therefore we must gather that t...

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 44-45 DISCUSSION                                       As God further reveals this vision to Ezekiel of the future Temple, He has some special instructions to the Levites.   As we know, the Levities were the priests of the nation and were responsible for making sure that all the offerings and sacrifices of the people were being done in the appropriate way.   Even though these priests were ordained by God, there was still a possibility of them being corrupt and corrupting the entire process of the worship and sacrificial systems.   We have already seen from the history of the Israelites, from men like Nadab and Abhiu the sons of Eli, as well as Abijiah and Joel the sons of Samuel, that it was possible for the priesthood to be corrupt.   God wanted to make sure that the Levities understo...

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 42-43 DISCUSSION                                                        As the book of Ezekiel closes out, God is giving Ezekiel a tour of the Temple that is to come in the post exilic period.   In Ezekiel 43, God reveals to Ezekiel His glory as it fills the Temple.   Even Ezekiel declared that it was reminiscent of what he saw when God originally called him by the Chebar canal. Ezekiel seems to have been overwhelmed with his senses at first; he hears the “glory of the God of Israel” coming from the east as the sound of “many waters”.   Then the Spirit of the LORD lifted him up in to the air and carried him into the inner court of the Temple”.   Finally, he beheld the “glory of the LORD” filling the Temple.   ...

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 40-41

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 38-39 DISCUSSION                                            Centuries before Ezekiel ever existed, God made a promise to Abram as He was leaving Ur of the Chaldees on a journey of self-discovery and providential purpose.   That Promise that God made to Abraham has served as the core of Jewish theology ever since. During the famine of Jacob, God’s promise remained.   Through the slavery of Egypt, God promise remained.   All the while, during the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, the promise remained.   During the glory days of King David and Solomon, the promise was still remembered.   During the day of the wicked kings of Judah and Israel, the cries of God’s prophets and the destruction of their Temple and city, for that small remnant, the promise remained.   ...

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 35-37 DISCUSSION                                                           These messages of Ezekiel are messages of hope for the future.   God would in time transform His people and bring them back to their land of Promise (Ezekiel 36.24).   Ezekiel lays out this transformation process that the Lord gave to him.   Today, within this same process, we can see how Christ transforms every sinner who places their trust in Him.   First, God will cleanse them from their sin (Ezekiel 36.35).   Today, when believers confess their sins, they are cleansed with the blood of Jesus.   Next, God says that He will place His spirit within them (Ezekiel 36.26-27).   When a believer has his sins...

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 32-34 DISCUSSION                                                                                As God continues to use Ezekiel as his prophet, he reminds him of the important role he plays as Israel’s watchman.   A watchman looks out for someone, protecting them and warning them of any dangers that come their way.   It is Ezekiel’s responsibility to warn the Israelites of the impeding judgment that awaits if they do not repent of their wickedness and turn back to God.   If Ezekiel warns them and they come back to God, then there is cause for rejoicing.   If he warns them and they refuse to listen, ...

BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 28-31 DISCUSSION                                                             Ezekiel 29-32 contains 7 messages that God has given to Ezekiel to deliver to the Jewish exiles and the Egyptians.   Strangely enough, even after the harsh treatment that the Egyptians inflicted on the Israelites while they were slaves in Exodus, the Israelites have always looked to Egypt for help when they needed it.   Warren W. Wiersbe, in his commentary of Ezekiel, states that “the longer the Jews were away from Egypt, the more they idealized their experiences and forgot about the slavery and toil” (Wiersbe, 157).   God had already warned them not to trust in the Egyptians for help through the prophet Isaiah (Isai...