EZRA 1:1 - 2:70
THEME: The FULL, ABUNDANT, OVERFLOWING, BLANK-CHECK SUPPORT on our WAY BACK TO GOD. "Ezra" is the OT word for "Paraclete". It means "help, support, helper, called-alongside." The book gives us instructions and knowledge of the WAY BACK TO GOD. As Ezra tells us of his purpose to REBUILD THE TEMPLE, he shares the perils of discouragement and the need to persevere to the end. We ARE the Temple of the Holy Spirit, so keep that in mind when you read. This book shows God's sons leaving the Babylonian system to make up the Temple and Body of Christ Jesus. It is picture of the return to pure worship. The rebuilding of the Temple and the Fall of Babylon are simultaneous according to Isaiah 44:26-28). T he Lord is building His Temple/Church, and the "gates of hell" are powerless to stop it!
PROVISION FOR RETURNING: Over 150 years before these events, Isaiah 44:28, 45:1 prophesied regarding Cyrus, the heathen king, BY NAME. After being in captivity 70 years (Dan 9:2), Cyrus made his proclamation. Zerubbabel, heir to Judah's throne, brought about 50,000 Jews and 78 years later Ezra, the priestly scribe, brought another 2000 Jews back (chap 8). "Stirred up the spirit" is an expression that means "to rouse to action, to awaken by opening the eyes." Shortly after Daniel read the handwriting on the wall, Cyrus made his decree. Heathen tho' he be, Cyrus is a type of the Lord Jesus, who made FULL PROVISION for our return.
ROYAL DECREES: Cyrus: Rebuild the Temple. Darius I: Complete the Temple. Artaxerses: Beautify the Temple. Artaxerses: Rebuild the city. But it took two prophets: Haggai and Zechariah, to urge them on. The timetable is: Zerubbabel, (Haggai and Zechariah), Ezra, Nehemiah.
PIONEERS: There are three returning groups altogether. This first group are the PIONEERS AND PILGRIMS - the first ones back. This Temple is the SECOND Temple, between Solomon's Temple (destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar) and Herod's Temple (Toppled and burned by the Romans). Those who returned were "strengthened with ...goods". Jesus is ALWAYS ENOUGH! The ones who returned to make up the Temple were not anonymous, their family name and their hometown were known. Nehemiah 7:5 used this list as a checklist nearly 100 years later. Nothing happened until they reestablished the priesthood. When we "return" we must be able to prove we are in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that we will submit and obey (our "reasonable worship"). If your name is not found in the Book, you can still go to church, but your service is not to the Lord!
RESPONSE: To preserve Jews in the Land until Jesus came, God returned a remnant. There has always been a remnant, preserving the "Way of the Lord". As we "come out" of mis-information about God, and stand against the "politically correct" society, God makes FULL AND ABUNDANT PROVISION. We are becoming His Temple and the plan is in the mind and heart of God. In Jer 29:10-14 God said, "I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD:"
1 CORINTHIANS1:18 - 2:5
THEME: Teaching us how to live as spiritual beings, not "natural" or "carnal", by teaching us what it means to be SPIRITUAL. To live by the spirit requires God's wisdom and God's power.
WISDOM & POWER: God's wisdom is revealed in POWER, not TALK. True wisdom and power is found in the Cross. "Power" (Gr: dunamis) is power that emanates from God's nature in us. It is inherent power and voice-activated. It is the pressing reality and impact of God's life in me. It is the available Resources of God. Additional synonyms are might, ability, strength, sufficiency, force, wealth, dominion, valor. Wisdom is manifested in the ability to effect or produce something, or the ability to do a job well. It demonstrates one's ability, his wealth, his authority, his wisdom. Humans are plagued with INabilities to get results. God's power produces results.
"Wisdom" is the skill to function successfully. 1:24 calls "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." The Jews wanted a "sign" - based on touch, like tangible knowledge. The Greeks wanted "wisdom" - which is based on sight, so they SEEK wisdom - which with natural means is actually speculative knowledge. Jesus fulfills both of these.
THE WORLD'S IMPOTENCE: Man's wisdom changes from generation to generation, and is impermanent. God's wisdom, on the other hand, is permanent. The very smartest man in the world is still not equal to God on His weakest day. The simplest, weakest thing God ever did was the demonstration of the Cross - and man doesn't have the wisdom to figure it out! In fact, the paradox is that God's way is not complex; it is simple. And so, a person who is knowledgeable about spiritual things surpasses the nuclear physicist who doesn't know the Word of God. This "confounds" the "wise" and the "mighty" and the "noble" (characteristics of who the world calls a "great man"). By choosing the opposite, God establishes that the church doesn't need the world's wisdom. The philosophies the Corinthians had latched onto brought divisiveness, and weren't needed for greatness in the Kingdom of God.
RESPONSE: It has been noted that Queen Victoria of England once said that she was saved by the letter "M". It says not "many noble". It does not say not "ANY noble". In living by the life and energy of Jesus in us, He becomes our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. When you see something good in me, it is Jesus you are seeing. If I brag at all, I brag about His Life at work in me. Every morning when I get out of bed, I whisper to Him, "Let everyone see Your Life, Your compassion, Your sweetness, Lord."
PSALM 27:7-14
"LEAVE ME NOT, NEITHER FORSAKE ME." His own mother and father have forsaken him, please not God too! It is God or nothing. He is all my hope. God has helped me before. I know I can trust Him. My hope is to see the "goodness of the Lord". As I "wait on the Lord", He will "strengthen my heart." This "strength" is a firm and undaunted spirit. It is a picture of an athlete who has set his legs and knees so that he can't be knocked down. He is firm and can't be shoved over. A heart that can't be made to fear, won't panic, but stand steadfast until the answer comes.
HOW DO I WAIT? First of all, this is not a PASSIVE stance, but an aggressive one. I must forcefully wind myself around God, cling to Him with my words and my actions. "Be of good courage" - act with vigor. Instruct your own heart regarding the faithfulness of God.
PROVERBS 20:22-23
Christians must never defend themselves, never demand their own way, and never complain. (Phil 2) (I am speaking about "in general", and unless God tells you different.) Getting even is never an option for believers. We have no life to defend. We have no agenda to protect. All self-preservation and self-defense is supposed to have been crucified. If we cling to God, any pay-back that is due, will come from God. He knows everything, and sometimes we lack proper information to make a righteous judgment.
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