(Originally written June 9, 2008 in the Journal)
Notes on Nehemiah
Chapter 1
Nehemiah learned of the ruin of Jerusalem and prayed to God to be allowed to leave Susa in Persia and rebuild Jerusalem.
Chapter 2
Nehemiah asked King Artaxerxes if he could return to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes agreed and sent him on his way.
Nehemiah surveyed the ruins and convinced the Jews to begin rebuilding Jerusalem.
Sanballat the Horomite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab mocked them for this.
Chapter 3
The Israelites began to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Tobiah and Sanballut became enraged at this.
Chapter 4
The enemies of Judah became enraged at the rebuilding of the city's walls. The Israelites armed themselves for any onslaught.
Chapter 5
Some Jews cried out to Nehemiah for others were lending them money at interest and forcing them into slavery. Nehemiah became angry and rebuked the lenders.
Chapter 6
When the wall was rebuilt, but the gates had not yet been sealed the enemies of Nehemiah plotted against him. Tobiah sent letters to the prominent Jews in Jerusalem to stir them against Nehemiah.
Chapter 7
The gates were completed and Nehemiah set up watchmen over them. A census was taken of those who lived in Jerusalem.
Chapter 8
"Do not be saddened this day for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!"(Nehemiah 8:10, New American Bible)
The people celebrated the Feast of the Booths as they had not celebrated since the time of Joshua.
Chapter 9
God is a God of pardons. He is one who is slow to anger and rich in mercy.
Ezra prayed to the Lord.
Chapter 10
The people agreed to the Law.
Chapter 11
The distribution of people in Jerusalem and throughout Judah
Chapter 12
The walls of Jerusalem were dedicated to the Lord amidst great rejoicing
Chapter 13
The Israelites removed all foreigners from their midst. Nehemiah rebuked the Israelites again for working on the Sabbath and intermarrying with the Ammonites and Moabites.
Showing posts with label Ezra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ezra. Show all posts
Monday, June 9, 2008
Brief Notes on Ezra
(Originally written June 9, 2008 in the Journal)
Lord I feel deflated, defeated and dejected. The hope in my heart is failing. My strength has left me. Lord see my heart, my soul and my mind, they lie prostrate before you. Will you show me pity? Will you extend your grace?
How long oh Lord must I suffer, whether justly or unjustly? How long will you afflict me? The pain is temporal, but real. The Christian does not allow himself to be driven to the depths of despair by the ills of this world, nor does he cherish the goods of this world because he looks to the eternal and has an endless supply of joy. The Lord is joy. Halleluiah! May all men be so fortunate as I am to see the Lord and know that He is good.
But Lord, my vision is weak. I am near sighted and hampered by this world. This world is the world you have made; it is blessed by your very hand. Though we have polluted it with strife and sin, it still points to your amazing craftsmanship. Lord lift up my eyes to you. May you remove my near sightedness so that I can see your glory.
Show me the path you wish me to walk. Make it plain and clear so that even I, the lowest of minds, may see it.
"So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7-8).
Lord everyday I try to have sought you. Some days I feel close to you. Other days I feel you are aloof and hide your face from me. Do not turn from me. Your love is all that sustains me. Without that I will surely die! Lord look to your servant here and grant him mercy. Grant me clemency and pardon me of my many iniquities.
See, I walk the narrow path. I walk straight and upright, trying to swerve neither to the left nor the right. I seek righteousness, not for my own sake, but so that your glory may be magnified.
Who am I that the Holy Father, creator and Master of all, should notice me? I am nobody. I am less than that. Even still you speak to me as a son? Do not hide your voice from me, but speak to my heart and I will listen. Remove the stiffness of my neck. I humble myself before you. I ask not for riches or wealth, but only simply to hear your voice and understand your words. You are my treasure. You are my hope, my joy. I give you all that I am, a small gift I know. But, all I have is yours. Counsel me with your words and soothe my anger, fear and despair with your voice.
Notes on Ezra
Chapter 1 - King Cyrus of Persia released the Judahites after years of captivity. He sent them back to rebuild the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.
Chapter 2 - 42,360 men returned to Judah from exile. When they returned to Jerusalem they gave a free-will offering to the house of the Lord.
Chapter 3 -
They restored the altar of the Lord and began to offer holocausts on it as prescribed in the Law of Moses. Then they laid the foundation for the new temple. Some cried for the old Temple. Others rejoiced for the new.
Chapter 4 -
Men of Israel came down to Judah and demanded they be let to help rebuild the temple. When they were refused they acted to stop the rebuilding process.
Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding of Jerusalem because the men of Israel tricked him into thinking that Jerusalem would stop paying tribute once the city was rebuilt.
Chapter 5 -
Haggai and Zechariah urged the people to keep rebuilding in the name of God. When the enemies of Jerusalem learned this they sent another letter to the king of Babylon to halt the rebuilding.
Chapter 6 -
King Darius of Babylon issued a decree stating that the Temple should be rebuilt and that any men who interfered with it should have his house reduced to rubble and be impaled on a beam from his own house. The Temple was completed in the sixth year of the reign of Darius. The people then celebrated Passover.
Chapter 7 -
Ezra, a descendant of Aaron came to Jerusalem from Babylon. The hand of God was upon Ezra, who was a scribe. Ezra was put in charge of the Judahites by King Artaxerxes of Babylon.
Chapter 8 -
Ezra gathered many Israelites with him, but no Levites were found so he sent for some. Ezra and his followers arrived in Jerusalem safely and presented the gold and silver from Artaxerxes to the Temple.
Chapter 9 -
Ezra denounced the intermarriage between the Israelites and the surrounding peoples.
Chapter 10 -
The men who had taken foreign wives sent them away, along with all the children born to them.
Lord I feel deflated, defeated and dejected. The hope in my heart is failing. My strength has left me. Lord see my heart, my soul and my mind, they lie prostrate before you. Will you show me pity? Will you extend your grace?
How long oh Lord must I suffer, whether justly or unjustly? How long will you afflict me? The pain is temporal, but real. The Christian does not allow himself to be driven to the depths of despair by the ills of this world, nor does he cherish the goods of this world because he looks to the eternal and has an endless supply of joy. The Lord is joy. Halleluiah! May all men be so fortunate as I am to see the Lord and know that He is good.
But Lord, my vision is weak. I am near sighted and hampered by this world. This world is the world you have made; it is blessed by your very hand. Though we have polluted it with strife and sin, it still points to your amazing craftsmanship. Lord lift up my eyes to you. May you remove my near sightedness so that I can see your glory.
Show me the path you wish me to walk. Make it plain and clear so that even I, the lowest of minds, may see it.
"So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7-8).
Lord everyday I try to have sought you. Some days I feel close to you. Other days I feel you are aloof and hide your face from me. Do not turn from me. Your love is all that sustains me. Without that I will surely die! Lord look to your servant here and grant him mercy. Grant me clemency and pardon me of my many iniquities.
See, I walk the narrow path. I walk straight and upright, trying to swerve neither to the left nor the right. I seek righteousness, not for my own sake, but so that your glory may be magnified.
Who am I that the Holy Father, creator and Master of all, should notice me? I am nobody. I am less than that. Even still you speak to me as a son? Do not hide your voice from me, but speak to my heart and I will listen. Remove the stiffness of my neck. I humble myself before you. I ask not for riches or wealth, but only simply to hear your voice and understand your words. You are my treasure. You are my hope, my joy. I give you all that I am, a small gift I know. But, all I have is yours. Counsel me with your words and soothe my anger, fear and despair with your voice.
Notes on Ezra
Chapter 1 - King Cyrus of Persia released the Judahites after years of captivity. He sent them back to rebuild the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.
Chapter 2 - 42,360 men returned to Judah from exile. When they returned to Jerusalem they gave a free-will offering to the house of the Lord.
Chapter 3 -
They restored the altar of the Lord and began to offer holocausts on it as prescribed in the Law of Moses. Then they laid the foundation for the new temple. Some cried for the old Temple. Others rejoiced for the new.
Chapter 4 -
Men of Israel came down to Judah and demanded they be let to help rebuild the temple. When they were refused they acted to stop the rebuilding process.
Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding of Jerusalem because the men of Israel tricked him into thinking that Jerusalem would stop paying tribute once the city was rebuilt.
Chapter 5 -
Haggai and Zechariah urged the people to keep rebuilding in the name of God. When the enemies of Jerusalem learned this they sent another letter to the king of Babylon to halt the rebuilding.
Chapter 6 -
King Darius of Babylon issued a decree stating that the Temple should be rebuilt and that any men who interfered with it should have his house reduced to rubble and be impaled on a beam from his own house. The Temple was completed in the sixth year of the reign of Darius. The people then celebrated Passover.
Chapter 7 -
Ezra, a descendant of Aaron came to Jerusalem from Babylon. The hand of God was upon Ezra, who was a scribe. Ezra was put in charge of the Judahites by King Artaxerxes of Babylon.
Chapter 8 -
Ezra gathered many Israelites with him, but no Levites were found so he sent for some. Ezra and his followers arrived in Jerusalem safely and presented the gold and silver from Artaxerxes to the Temple.
Chapter 9 -
Ezra denounced the intermarriage between the Israelites and the surrounding peoples.
Chapter 10 -
The men who had taken foreign wives sent them away, along with all the children born to them.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Religious Development of the Jews
(Originally written July 16, 2006 in Book 5)
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter I - The Religious Development of the Jews
"The Christian religion, as it was handed over by the late Roman Empire to the Barbarians consisted of three elements: first, certain philosophical beliefs, derived mainly from Plato and the Neoplatonists, but also in part from the Stoics; second, a conception of morals and history derived from the Jews; and thirdly, certain theories, more especially as to salvation, were on the whole new in Christianity though in part traceable to Orphism, and to kindred cults of the Near East" (Russell, 308).
Russell believes these six things are the most important Jewish elements in Christianity:
1) A sacred history: from Creation to an end in the future, with it a way of justifying God's ways to man.
2) The Existence a small section of mankind who God specially loves.
3) A new conception of righteousness
4) The Law
5) The Messiah
6) The Kingdom of Heaven
Linehan - if the Messiah is the fifth most important thing Christianity got from Jewish tradition than Christianity is merely a philosophical theory and not a very consistent one. Actually, Russell is just way off. Without Christ (the Messiah) there would be no Christianity. The most important thing Christianity took from Judaism is obviously Christ himself.
Jewish religion undertook a drastic change when they were in captivity.
The 1st commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me' was a new innovation in religion. Monotheism in a strict sense was very new.
"Jeremiah and Ezekiel seem to invented the idea that all religions except one are false, and that the Lord punished idolatry" (Russell, 310).
The Jewish religion became exclusive and fiercely nationalistic. The Jews distinguished themselves from other ancient peoples through fierce national pride. Unlike all other ancient peoples, the Jews never conformed when they were conquered.
Sidenote: It's hard to take Russell's words seriously because he is misrepresenting when the Books of the Old Testament were written. Russell claims that the Law was written post-exile, in order to preserve national unity. He claims the Book of Isaiah is written by two prophets - one pre-exile and one post-exile. The second prophet, 'Deuteron-Isaiah' is what is used in Messianic prophecies by Christians. Sidenote done.
The Jewish kingdom remained a small theocracy state after Ezra and Nehemiah. The theocracy existed around Jerusalem and was a disputed territory between the Ptolemies and Seleucids.
The Jews lived under their own rule for a while until the Seleucid king, King Antiochus IV was determined to hellenize his whole kingdom. The Jews rebelled against Antiochus IV in 170 B.C. when the Seleucids fought against Egypt. Then, Antiochus identified Yahweh with Zeus and the Jews everywhere outside of Jerusalem rebelled. This caused the Maccabean revolution. This is also (Russell contends) when Jews began to fully adhere to their strict morality.
Russell attacks religion by belittling the Jews belief and pointing out 'trivial' things they fought for. "The Jews of this time showed immense heroism, although in defense of things that do not strike us as important, such as circumcision and the wickedness of eating pork" (Russell, 316).
King Herod replaced the Maccabees through Marc Antony's help. The Jews didn't like him but suffered him well. The Zealots wanted to overthrow him and Roman rule entirely however.
In A.D. 66 the Zealots got the revolt they were looking for but were defeated and the Jewish Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70.
Philo, a Jewish philosopher who lived around the time of Christ is the best illustration of how a Jew can be influenced by Greek thought. Phil was orthodox in religion, but Platonic in philosophy. He was used by the Church Fathers to reconcile the Scriptures with Greek thought.
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter I - The Religious Development of the Jews
"The Christian religion, as it was handed over by the late Roman Empire to the Barbarians consisted of three elements: first, certain philosophical beliefs, derived mainly from Plato and the Neoplatonists, but also in part from the Stoics; second, a conception of morals and history derived from the Jews; and thirdly, certain theories, more especially as to salvation, were on the whole new in Christianity though in part traceable to Orphism, and to kindred cults of the Near East" (Russell, 308).
Russell believes these six things are the most important Jewish elements in Christianity:
1) A sacred history: from Creation to an end in the future, with it a way of justifying God's ways to man.
2) The Existence a small section of mankind who God specially loves.
3) A new conception of righteousness
4) The Law
5) The Messiah
6) The Kingdom of Heaven
Linehan - if the Messiah is the fifth most important thing Christianity got from Jewish tradition than Christianity is merely a philosophical theory and not a very consistent one. Actually, Russell is just way off. Without Christ (the Messiah) there would be no Christianity. The most important thing Christianity took from Judaism is obviously Christ himself.
Jewish religion undertook a drastic change when they were in captivity.
The 1st commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me' was a new innovation in religion. Monotheism in a strict sense was very new.
"Jeremiah and Ezekiel seem to invented the idea that all religions except one are false, and that the Lord punished idolatry" (Russell, 310).
The Jewish religion became exclusive and fiercely nationalistic. The Jews distinguished themselves from other ancient peoples through fierce national pride. Unlike all other ancient peoples, the Jews never conformed when they were conquered.
Sidenote: It's hard to take Russell's words seriously because he is misrepresenting when the Books of the Old Testament were written. Russell claims that the Law was written post-exile, in order to preserve national unity. He claims the Book of Isaiah is written by two prophets - one pre-exile and one post-exile. The second prophet, 'Deuteron-Isaiah' is what is used in Messianic prophecies by Christians. Sidenote done.
The Jewish kingdom remained a small theocracy state after Ezra and Nehemiah. The theocracy existed around Jerusalem and was a disputed territory between the Ptolemies and Seleucids.
The Jews lived under their own rule for a while until the Seleucid king, King Antiochus IV was determined to hellenize his whole kingdom. The Jews rebelled against Antiochus IV in 170 B.C. when the Seleucids fought against Egypt. Then, Antiochus identified Yahweh with Zeus and the Jews everywhere outside of Jerusalem rebelled. This caused the Maccabean revolution. This is also (Russell contends) when Jews began to fully adhere to their strict morality.
Russell attacks religion by belittling the Jews belief and pointing out 'trivial' things they fought for. "The Jews of this time showed immense heroism, although in defense of things that do not strike us as important, such as circumcision and the wickedness of eating pork" (Russell, 316).
King Herod replaced the Maccabees through Marc Antony's help. The Jews didn't like him but suffered him well. The Zealots wanted to overthrow him and Roman rule entirely however.
In A.D. 66 the Zealots got the revolt they were looking for but were defeated and the Jewish Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70.
Philo, a Jewish philosopher who lived around the time of Christ is the best illustration of how a Jew can be influenced by Greek thought. Phil was orthodox in religion, but Platonic in philosophy. He was used by the Church Fathers to reconcile the Scriptures with Greek thought.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Free Will & Ezra
(Originally Written March 13, 2006 in 3 Subject)
Read Luke 1:10-19 Aloud 5x
Ezra 7:10 "For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord..."
Study, then observe (live it out), then teach it.
Free Will
Is there free will in man? This question is irrelevant. A will is always determined to perform some action. A being is free if it has the power to act according to its determined will. Thus, a relevant question would be is what or who determines the will of a man.
Read Luke 1:10-19 Aloud 5x
Ezra 7:10 "For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord..."
Study, then observe (live it out), then teach it.
Free Will
Is there free will in man? This question is irrelevant. A will is always determined to perform some action. A being is free if it has the power to act according to its determined will. Thus, a relevant question would be is what or who determines the will of a man.
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