Assignment for June 27, 2018

History tidbit from last weeks discussion:

1. Review Assignment for June 13, 2018.
2.  Read Ezra 10:1-44
3. Answer these questions:

-10:1- Was Ezra trying to gather a crowd around himself?
           Why did the people come?
           Can 1 person's example influence an entire group?
            Are there examples in your life where you had to "stand alone" and do what was right?
           What was the outcome?
- 10:2- Shecaniah admits to the guilt of the people. His lineage is listed here. Why isn't his name found in 10:26?
-10:3-8- An agreement over what has to be done is reached. 
            The only thing left to figure out was how to do it.  
            Ezra continues with a total fast (no food or water) for 3 more days. 
            What was the 1st step taken?
-10:9-15- Why is the rain mentioned? (vs. 9, 13)
                What was the next step taken?
                What are the 2 parts of repentance found in vs. 11?                 
-10:16-17- How long did it take for the task to be completed?
-10:18-44- How many men are listed?

Assignment for June 13, 2018

From Tom:

1.  Re-read the Assignment for June 6th that now has the answers from our discussions in blue.

2.  Read Ezra 8:32-9:15

3.  Answer these questions:

-8:32-36  What four things did the exiles do in these verses?

1.  Rested 3 days.

2.  Counted and weighed out the articles that they brought with them.

3.  Offered sacrifices to the LORD.

4.  Delivered the King's orders to the local authorities.

-9:1-4-  Do you see any similar names in Exodus 3:8-10?

             Why was it wrong for the Israelite's to intermarry with these other nations?

-We need to ask why the Canaanites and all the other "ites" people groups were off limits to Israel. Here is something to dig into 😉:

-Genesis 6:4- "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."

-Before the flood, angels came down and produced hybrid offspring with human women. These offspring were called Nephilim or Giants. They had put "evil DNA" into the human bloodline. They were destroyed in the flood but the same thing happened after the flood- see the bold above in the scripture. Hybrid beings were again introduced into the human race. They were called giants. Goliath is a descendant of this line. These giants were primarily associated with the "ite" peoples. A couple of other references:

Numbers 13:32-33- And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” 

Deut. 2:10- "(The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites."

God did not want His people intermingling their blood with any giant blood. The Messiah was to be born through the bloodline of Israel and it had to be pure. Israel did not eradicate these nations when they entered the Promised Land as the Lord had commanded and they caused constant trouble to them.

9:5-15- Prayer of repentance

Look up, in an English dictionary these 3 words and add any extra insight these definitions give you:

vs. 2- mingled

vs. 3- appalled

vs. 5- self-abasement

vs. 7- There has been a repetitive theme throughout the history of Israel. 

Deuteronomy 28:36-37 speaks to this. If they disobey God, specific bad things will happen to them. 

Ezra is broken because of what the people are now doing. It is one of the specific things that sent them to Babylon to begin with. 

Yet, Ezra still sees hope in the mercy of God. How is this hope expressed in these verses?

9:8

9:9

9:13

9:15

Assignment for June 6, 2018

1. Review the assignment from May 16th.
2.  Read Ezra 8
3. Answer these questions:

- Does it seem like the events of chapter 8 happened before chapter 7?

Yes! sequence of events is not the method of writing in Ezra, themes are.

  As we have noticed in Ezra, keeping an uneven timeline is a usual occurrence.
Recording a story in this way is hard for us westerners to understand. We want things to be precise and in order. This was not a priority for Ezra and was obviously unnecessary to communicate the message God intended through this book. We don't want to miss the message because it comes to us in a writing style that we do not prefer. 

Are there ares in your life where God may be speaking to you but you aren't hearing Him because He is coming at you in a different way than you have known before? Ask to see EVERYTHING through His eyes- Lord give me eyes to see- and then look with expectancy each day for His communication to you. 

- From verses 2-14, how many total men were registered?  1496
- Why was it important that these men be registered?  so they could participate in the religious observances

- vs. 15- Where, in a general sense, is the "canal at Ahava?"  near Babylon
               Why was it important for them to have Levites in the group?  only Levites could handle the precious articles of God

- vss. 18-20- More men were added. How many? 258 What is the new total? 1754
What is important to realize here is that only refers to the men. Women and children need to be added to get the total number. If we add one woman and one child to each man we get over 5,000 people and this would be a low estimate.

- vs. 21- What is the 1st thing Ezra did after all the people were present? proclaim a fast

- vs. 22- Why was Ezra reluctant to ask the King for military protection? Because he had already told the King of his confidence in the protection of the God of Israel.

Have there been times in your lives when you turned to man for help when God didn't want you to?  What happened?

- vss. 26-27- What is weight, in pounds, of all the items being brought with them? 
   65,019 lbs. Over 32 tons!65,019
                      (Yeah, I know, lots of math. But it has a purpose. 😊)
The picture we need to capture here is that this was no small group. 5,000 people carrying 32 tons of treasure, plus there own belongings, for a four month trip through dangerous territory.

-vs. 31- As was pointed by one of our students last week, there is a discrepancy between this verse and 7:8-9 as to the exact date that they left. How can we reconcile these different dates using the new information we have in chapter 8?
They did leave Babylon on the 1st day of the first month- 7:9. However, they immediately went to the Ahava canal which is northwest of Babylon. There they gathered all the  people, all the temple treasures and fasted. Then they left Ahava on the 12th day of the 1st month. There is no contradiction. It just took some digging to bring understanding.

Assignment for May 16, 2018

1. Review the assignment for May 2nd.
2. Read Ezra 6:13-7:28
3. Answer these questions:

6:14- How many Kings were involved in this process?
6:20- What is the Passover Feast?
          What feast was Jesus celebrating when He instituted the communion service?
7:6- Ezra was a teacher (scribe). What did a Scribe do?
7:9- How long did it take him to make his journey?
7:10- What 3 things did Ezra devote himself to?
          What do we devote ourselves to?
7:25- Ezra's charge- list the main points
7:26- What 2 laws must be obeyed?
7:27-28- Ezra's 1st recorded words in this book. In a few words, what is he saying?

Why does Ezra, the one whom the book is named after, not appear until Chapter 7?

The answer we discovered during our study last week had to do with the timing of God. Ezra and his gifting were needed precisely at that exact time; not before or after.

Are we comfortable with God's timing in matters of our lives? 
Do we expect perfect timing from Him?

Our discussion about "what we are devoted to" led to a practical assignment.
Keep track of your time for 1 week- 24/7. You will be amazed to discover what you devote yourself to. Have fun! 

Assignment for May 2nd

1.  Reread the Assignment for April 18th.
2.  Read Ezra 5:1-6:12
3.  5:1-2- This shows us that God had placed them in a position where they could succeed in their mission. What are some of these things that would ensure their success?
4.  5:3-5- After doing everything rightly, what happens?
5.  5:6-17- Summarize the points of the letter.
Especially note vs. 11. Remember, it had been 16 years. How did they remember, so accurately, the details in 11-16?
6.  6:1-12- Summarize the points of the return letter. Did the support from the King increase or decrease? In what ways?

Discoveries:

5:1-2- To ensure success God sent prophets (Haggai and Zechariah) who joined forces with the head of the tribe of Judah (Zerubbabel) and the High Priest (Jeshua). 
5:3-5- after doing everything right, they met stiff resistance from public officials.
We should not be surprised when we face resistance after we embark on doing something good. We should expect it and take it as encouragement that we are on the right track.

Assignment for April 18th

1. Review "Assignment for April 11th."
     Note: I have not added the notes from our last class yet. Please check on Sunday.
2.  Read the book of Haggai.
3.  See how many dots you can connect with the book of Ezra.
4.  The work of building the temple stopped by royal decree. (4:23-24) What were some of the things the people were doing during the 16 years that the work on the temple ceased? 

Discoveries from the 4/25/2018 class:

1.  What had they been doing for 16 years? Building their own houses. Not just log cabins but beautiful homes. 1:4 refers to "paneled houses." This type of paneling was used by royalty. They not only turned from building the house of the Lord, they "over did it" on building theirs- selfishness. How do we "overdo it" on ourselves?
2.  So, they had nice homes but what else happened? Their were no blessings in their lives at all. 1:5-6- their crops were meager, there was not enough food or clothes and the money they did make "fell through their pockets." BUT, they had really nice houses! Was it worth it? Look at 1:7-11- Their disobedience opened the floodgates for ruin.
3.  We noted a repeated phrase (always take note of repeated phrases) in 1:5, 7, 2:15, 18. "Give careful thought..." They hadn't "given careful thought" or they would have realized the pattern of bad fruit in their lives for the past 16 years. 
4.  We need to do the same thing. Take time on a regular basis to "give careful thought" to the fruit that has been occurring in our lives. As we look back, what do we see? It can be good fruit or bad or a mixture of both. Ask the Lord what changes He may want you to make so good fruit can come in the future.
5.  The key to the turnaround in the Israelite's life was repentance. To repent means to turnaround. Godly fear brings repentance. They had lived for themselves for so long that they had developed very hard hearts. Hosea 10:12 was a verse that helped us understand what needed to take place for repentance to occur: “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.” Their hearts were like hard ground that needed to be chisel plowed. Once they submitted to the process, things began to change quickly.
6. Repentance needs to be a regular part of the believers life. Keep short accounts with God. Ask Him daily if there is anything you need to repent of. If yes, do so. If not, move on.
6.  By doing some math from Haggai 1:1 and 1:15 we realized that it only took 23 days of "encouragement toward repentance" from Haggai (and Zechariah) to turn the nation around. (And this after a 16 year lull in building the temple.)  Repentance brought change on a national level, in just 23 days.
7.  Further math from Hosea 1:1 and Ezra 6:15 showed us that it took four more years to complete the temple. As a reunited nation they completed their mission. True, they could have finished it long ago. However, God, who is merciful always, gave them another chance. He is the God of second chances to everyone (and third and fourth chances, etc.)!! Whatever has happened in the past, God wants us to look ahead to see what He can do, in a short time, in our lives. The enemy wants us to live in the past, God wants us to look ahead. Our best days are always ahead of us.

Assignment for April 11, 2018

1.  Re-read the blog: Assignment for April 4, 2018.
2.  Read Ezra 4-6
3.  Do some "study-digging" in a couple of areas that spring to your attention
4.  Write down thoughts or questions that come up.

Our Discoveries:

1.  First a simple chart to help you keep the cast of characters straight:



PLEASE do NOT get hung up on trying to keep all these characters straight. Now that you have studied it, you have the information to refer to if you need it.  Focus instead on what the information you have learned might mean to YOU.

2.  Some discoveries we made:

- Whenever we attempt to do something for God, there will be resistance and opposition. Expect it and plan for it. It is really a confirmation that you are on the right track.
- The opposition in Ezra came from the local peoples who later became known as the Samaritans. They were people who worshiped the God of Israel but added other false gods to their beliefs.  Because of their added idolatry they were not fit to help build the temple. If they had chosen to totally convert to Judaism, they would have been eligible. They didn't want to do this and thus were enemies (4:1). They offered  to "help" in the rebuilding effort because they wanted to subvert the process from within.  Next they tried to stop the building from outward pressure. Thus  came the letters to the Kings to request that the building be stopped. 
- In our lives we have to be aware of what happens as we endeavor to move forward with God. There will come inward challenges- thoughts of condemnation, confusion, criticism, etc. There will also be outward challenges where people will be used to tempt us away from our directive. Don't be surprised at this. Realize that overcoming these obstacles is part of God's plan to lead you to victory. 
-In 4:24 we "read between the lines" again. By doing some math we found that the building stopped for 18 years.
- We see an example of how God turned one of the outward attacks against their enemies. The letter to King Darius backfired on their enemies. He not only confirmed that they have permission to build but he increased the support they were to receive and those who would oppose the rebuilding would receive great punishment. (6:1-12)
- We again were impressed by the accuracy of public records in ancient days.