Well I have just read Chapter 8, and I have read the preface to all of Ezra in my study Bible (I have an "Open Bible Expanded Edition," with a lot of study aids) and then I read over a bit of the notes from the teaching I received on Sunday at church...I am trying to form a time line in my head for the way things were going for the rebuilding of Gods house in Jerusalem. I wish I had the ability to read and understand three different sources at the same time...wouldn't that be neat? But I do not so I will have to try very hard to put this information together for you all as best as I can...and again I would ask that any of my Bible scholarly friends out there if you see fit to comment and give me any corrections to my thinking ....have at it! I will not be offended.
When we were in church on Sunday I learned that it had been 14 years since some of the Jews had returned to Jerusalem and that things were not going so well...now this teaching was from Haggai.... and that the reason things were not going well is that the people had started to back slide.
Now if you have been a Christian for a period of time you know what it is to back slide...for the babes in Christ, this simply means that you have not been attentive to the Lord and that you have not been paying attention to your relationship with God. And I am sure that you know when you do this, as in any relationship, this will mean trouble.
For the Jews in Haggai's time, this meant that there crops failed, there juice turned to vinegar, instead of to wine, their grapes where sour and not sweet. Things were just not going well. I remember a time in my life like that and the best way to describe it is to say that I had just about completely lost my joy! I was sad a lot...but once I renewed my relationship with Jesus I was good to go...I will not let that happen again! This was pretty much the situation for the Jews, they were back slidden and God was unhappy with them and He was showing them that He was unhappy with them....you know God can get our attention, but sometimes it takes a little while for us to realize that it is something that we are doing or not doing that is causing the problem.
For the Jews, that had stopped working on the temple, they weren't offering their sacrifices as they should have been, they were maybe doing things that they shouldn't have been doing..and things started to go down hill....
So this is where we pick up in Ezra Chapter 8...Ezra brings another band of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem. And when they were first leaving Babylon they stopped for three days and camped by the river that runs to Ahava and Ezra looked over the people and realized that there were no sons of Levi. So long story short, he sent for some. Now Ezra was concerned that they had not asked the king for any soldiers, but he really didn't want to look a gift horse in the face if you would, so he proclaimed a fast, while they were there camped by the river, and the fast was for the purpose, not necessarily solely, of God's hand of protection to be upon them as they traveled to Jerusalem. Remember they were carrying a lot of gold and some silver with them....Ezra had gathered out of the people twelve of the chiefs of the priests. And they were the ones carrying all the valuables.
Well after the three days of fasting and praying they left that area and proceeded on their way to Jerusalem, when they had arrived in the promised land, and had finally gotten to what is now the city of Jerusalem they had an accounting of the the gold and silver that had been carried from Babylon to Jerusalem...someone wanted to make sure that these men that Ezra had brought with him were reputable. There was then a huge offering, sacrifice, made to God as well as a sin offering, and the final need to be taken care of in Chapter 8 was to give a commission to the kings lieutenant's and to the governors on the Jerusalem side of the river Euphrates.
Well it is that time of day, for me to get ready for work, but first....don't forget to be a blessing t all the people you come into contact with today....I know that is a tall order but with God all things are possible!
When we were in church on Sunday I learned that it had been 14 years since some of the Jews had returned to Jerusalem and that things were not going so well...now this teaching was from Haggai.... and that the reason things were not going well is that the people had started to back slide.
Now if you have been a Christian for a period of time you know what it is to back slide...for the babes in Christ, this simply means that you have not been attentive to the Lord and that you have not been paying attention to your relationship with God. And I am sure that you know when you do this, as in any relationship, this will mean trouble.
For the Jews in Haggai's time, this meant that there crops failed, there juice turned to vinegar, instead of to wine, their grapes where sour and not sweet. Things were just not going well. I remember a time in my life like that and the best way to describe it is to say that I had just about completely lost my joy! I was sad a lot...but once I renewed my relationship with Jesus I was good to go...I will not let that happen again! This was pretty much the situation for the Jews, they were back slidden and God was unhappy with them and He was showing them that He was unhappy with them....you know God can get our attention, but sometimes it takes a little while for us to realize that it is something that we are doing or not doing that is causing the problem.
For the Jews, that had stopped working on the temple, they weren't offering their sacrifices as they should have been, they were maybe doing things that they shouldn't have been doing..and things started to go down hill....
So this is where we pick up in Ezra Chapter 8...Ezra brings another band of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem. And when they were first leaving Babylon they stopped for three days and camped by the river that runs to Ahava and Ezra looked over the people and realized that there were no sons of Levi. So long story short, he sent for some. Now Ezra was concerned that they had not asked the king for any soldiers, but he really didn't want to look a gift horse in the face if you would, so he proclaimed a fast, while they were there camped by the river, and the fast was for the purpose, not necessarily solely, of God's hand of protection to be upon them as they traveled to Jerusalem. Remember they were carrying a lot of gold and some silver with them....Ezra had gathered out of the people twelve of the chiefs of the priests. And they were the ones carrying all the valuables.
Well after the three days of fasting and praying they left that area and proceeded on their way to Jerusalem, when they had arrived in the promised land, and had finally gotten to what is now the city of Jerusalem they had an accounting of the the gold and silver that had been carried from Babylon to Jerusalem...someone wanted to make sure that these men that Ezra had brought with him were reputable. There was then a huge offering, sacrifice, made to God as well as a sin offering, and the final need to be taken care of in Chapter 8 was to give a commission to the kings lieutenant's and to the governors on the Jerusalem side of the river Euphrates.
Well it is that time of day, for me to get ready for work, but first....don't forget to be a blessing t all the people you come into contact with today....I know that is a tall order but with God all things are possible!
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