Cyrus welded together the world’s first true super-power. But this one letter was more important than that! The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are parts of one continuous history. In fact, the Hebrew Bible had them bound together as one scroll. Although Ezra and Nehemiah seem to be doing very different work—one restoring the temple […]
CHRIST the AMEN: “These things says the Amen…” (Rev 3:14). “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Cor 1:20). Paul has just explained to the Corinthians that, in seeming exception to Christ’s own instructions, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and […]
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps 51:10). What a practical two-pronged request! Lord, get me back on track, and then help me to keep going on it! This petition is crucial, for, as H.A. Ironside says: “This is the secret of so many unanswered prayers. […]
“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom 5:20). About the year 1900, evangelist Peter Bilhorn received a song, “The Bird with the Broken Wing.” Using the idea that “The bird with the broken pinion Never soars as high again,” it warned that a “life that sin had stricken, Never soared as high again.” […]
God had done everything to isolate His people from the nations. Now He had scattered them there! “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia…” (Ezra 1:1). Right away we realize something dramatic has happened. Since the book of Joshua, the focus of the historical record has been the Promised Land, and, since David, […]
Read More… from February 25, 2025 — Ezra’s Place In The Bible
CHRIST our SYMPATHIZER: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15). Blessed double negative! Yes, He can, and does, sympathize with His struggling people. Never is this seen more clearly than in the words, “Jesus wept.” L.W.G. Alexander writes: More wonderful words than these are nowhere found […]
“Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies” (Ps 119:22). Reproach means to be disgraced; contempt, to be disrespected. In a world that emphasizes perception rather than reality, and reputation more than character, it should be the desire of the believer to ruthlessly avoid anything that would bring dishonor on the […]
John Stott writes: “Note the recognizable sequence in the Gospels. When Jesus saw someone in need He had compassion, and when He had compassion He invariably acted. His compassion was aroused by the sight of need, and always issued in the alleviation of need. What His eye saw, His heart felt; and what His heart […]