As they left, so they returned, in three waves: under Jeshua (538 BC), Ezra (458 BC), and Nehemiah (444 BC). Ezra did not come home alone. “Some of the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes” (Ezra 7:7). Why […]
The temple was a masterpiece. But who knew the Owner’s Manual, explaining its use? Enter Ezra! Memorializing their freedom from Egypt, but now also in the joy of deliverance from Mesopotamia, they “kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month” (Ezra 6:19). It was also linked with “the Feast of Unleavened Bread” (v 22) which was […]
Read More… from March 26, 2025 — No To The Leaven; Yes To The Lamb
God will rebuild your ruins: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot So the four-year project (c. 520–516 BC) was finished, although the elapsed time since their return was 20 years. One can only imagine how “the descendants of the captivity… celebrated the dedication of this house of God with […]
Martin Luther came rather despondently to the breakfast table one morning. The menu? Humble pie, compliments of his wise wife. […]
Don’t be like those who never start serving because they’re always getting ready to get ready. King Darius had a vested interest in the temple reconstruction being continued and completed. In his reply to Tattenai, governor in Syria, he wrote, “Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and […]
Read More… from March 24, 2025 — Finished — So They Could Start
“Have you not two eyes, man? Must you needs put one of them out in order to see clearly?” —C.H. Spurgeon Darius found that “King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God” (Ezra 6:3) to have it rebuilt. Then it must be! Darius is also featured in the book of Daniel. When the palace co-conspirators […]
Who but the Lord could use Richard Dawkins as a testimony? This story is like a stone skipping across the waves. Discouraged SS teacher? Doubting college student? Disheartened evangelist? Despairing mother or father? God says, “I’ve got this.” […]
I don’t doubt that America could use some economic, political, and societal changes for the better. What that would look like I’ll leave to others. But when Jesus was on the planet He rarely spoke about those large-scale changes. His plan encouraged radical INNER change. How serious is the human condition? Fatal, I’m afraid. So […]