READINGS FOR 10/2 – 10/8

OCTOBER 2

Zechariah 12:3
On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
Think, “Armageddon”.

Zechariah 9:7, 16
Those who are left will belong to our God...
The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people.  They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.

Zechariah 13:9
The third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.  They will call on my name and I will answer them...
Think, "Remnant"

Zechariah 14:4
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
Think, “Jesus’ returns!”

Zechariah 14:6-7
On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime-- a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.
Think, “Conditions in the Millennium”.

Zechariah 14:20
On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD's house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.
Think, “Worship in the Millennial Kingdom”.

Why think about these things? Paul answers very well in 
2 Timothy 2:7
Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.

Under the heading THE GOOD AND BAD SHEPHERDS (Zechariah 11:4-17) are several things that may be confusing to us, which is why we need to refer to 2 Timothy 2:7.  Only the Lord can help us understand. 

"Pasture the flock marked for slaughter."
God is calling to account the spiritual leaders (shepherds) who allow the spiritual death of the flock (congregation) who do not care what happens to the flock as long as they get their money.  They teach falsely and prevent the people from believing in the one true God. 

In Zechariah 14:17-19 God warns the people that if they do not celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles rain will be withheld.  Spiritually speaking, those who did not honor the holy day will not receive the spiritual nourishment that God wants to give them. This would be an example of a sin of omission.

Praise God we receive His spiritual nourishment whenever we celebrate His holy days.

OCTOBER 3

According to many scholars, the book of Esther was written possibly by Mordecai or Ezra or Nehemiah around 470 B.C. Esther is one of only two women for whom books of the Bible are named. Her name means star. Interestingly, the name of God appears nowhere in this book. Yet the hand of the Lord is clearly seen throughout the book, directing the course of events to save His people.

In the Book of Esther we learn how God used a young woman to save her people from destruction. In this way God preserved His people so they could return to the promised land and await the birth of the Savior of the world. This book records how the Feast of Purim, a feast which is still celebrated by Jews today, came to be observed.

Many Believers can relate to the way God worked in the Book of Esther, because it is similar to how He works among us today. While many of the Old Testament books demonstrate God’s power through a pillar of fire or various miracles through His servants, here He shows how He works silently through common believers as well. Today God works much the same way, silently through us as individuals. But the power and the result is the same. God continues to work through His people and bring about His will for His people, regardless of the current political situation at the time.

There are many lessons to be learned from the book of Esther.

Here’s a lesson I (Patti) learned.
Esther 4:14b
And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" 

Several years ago, this verse was brought to my attention and a thought was planted in my mind. No matter where we are or what the circumstances are, we must believe that God has placed us exactly where He wants us to be. And, we must be ever watchful for opportunities to make a difference. How about you, have you been placed in a position “for such a time as this?"

Remember, we have often made this statement - Never underestimate the power of ONE!

OCTOBER 4

Even though the holiday of Purim is not one of the God-ordained holy days as commanded by God to Moses, it is observed by Jews today on the 14th day of Adar, which is usually in March.

The 13th of Adar is the day that Haman chose for the extermination of the Jews in Persia, and the day that the Jews battled their enemies for their lives.

On the day afterwards, the 14th, they celebrated their survival. In cities that were walled in the time of Joshua, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month, because the book of Esther says that in Shushan (a walled city), deliverance from the massacre was not complete until the next day, the 15th.

 

The Purim holiday is preceded by a minor fast, the Fast of Esther, which commemorates Esther's three days of fasting in preparation for her meeting with the king. 

Those who celebrate Purim send out gifts of food or drink, and make gifts to charity. The sending of gifts of food and drink is referred to as shalach manos (lit. sending out portions). 

It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays and parodies, and to hold beauty contests. 

Throughout the book of Esther we can see God’s fingerprints in the form of “coincidences” or chances.  Interestingly the word Purim comes from the Persian word “pur” and means lot.  Thus, the festival of Purim derives its name from the lots cast by Haman. For this is not some incidental detail in the story of Purim, but an event that expresses one of the themes in the story of Esther and the holiday of Purim. 

Though God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, the supernatural plot twists of the book demonstrate that He is in control of events from beginning to end.  Mordecai told Esther that if she keeps silent, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. Thus, one important message that can be gained from the story is that God often works in ways that are not apparent, in ways that appear to be chance or coincidence.  Another important lesson to learn is that when God gives us an assignment to do and we fail to do it, rest assured that God's will will be done, whether by us or by someone else.  Why not just do the assignment and receive the blessings???

Esther risked death by appearing before the king unsummoned.  Her faith was strong.  Is our faith as Believers in Jesus that strong? 

God is not mentioned in the book of Esther.  Likewise Satan is not mentioned. But you can see their impact; God in His opportunities for the people to make the right choice, Satan in his opportunities for the people to make the wrong choice. They all had choices to make.  We continually have choices to make.  God orchestrates opportunities for us to make choices such as He did for Esther.  We call these "divine appointments". Now we probably won’t be asked to go before a king at the risk of death.  We may not be asked to save thousands of Jewish people.  What might be our opportunities “for such a time as this”?  Just as Mordecai said, God’s will WILL be done in these opportunities.  Why wouldn’t we want the blessings of making the right choice?  

OCTOBER 5

The words of Malachi speak volumes to us today. Malachi rebuked the people and the priests for neglecting and watering down the worship of God and failing to bring the best of their sacrifices. Their blemished sacrifices were half-hearted devotion to the Lord. Again the people had one foot in the world and one foot with the Lord.  The temple had been built for over 100 years but the people had lost their enthusiasm for worship. Do we neglect or water down the worship of God in our church and fellowship services? Do we always give Him our best?

Malachi 1:2  I have loved you, said the LORD.

 God’s first message though Malachi is “I have loved you.” What a powerful statement.  It sums up our entire relationship with God, the Father. “I have loved you.”  And God, the Son put the big exclamation point at the end of that powerful declaration.  God loves us with a passionate intensity and the enemy hates us with just as much intensity. God is faithful and true to His promises for His chosen people.  But consistently these chosen people had rejected God, breaking the covenant, following false, pagan gods, and living for themselves. And yet, “I have loved you, said the LORD.”

God’s love for us is contrasted by His hate toward Edom.  The word hate is used to describe the enemy of God.  Edomites were the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau.  This land is called by God The Wicked Land and God says its people will always fall under His wrath. As a current connection - Edom is the modern day geographical areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq – Islamic territory.

Another message from the reading for today in Malachi 1:1-5 is similar to the message we have learned from the book, The Harbinger and the companion video.  Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins”.

And the Lord responds with, “They may build, but I will demolish.”

Malachi 2 mentions that Judah has desecrated the sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.  The current connection for Believers is that marrying foreign gods happens when we break that covenant of marriage with Him.  Continuing in the following verse, God has said that He has made us one with Him.  He says, “in flesh and spirit they are his.”   He has made us one because He is expecting “godly offspring.”  This is not physical children that we have here on earth, but spiritual offspring in the faith, passing on the faith to others. The people were joining with pagan traditions and pagan practices.  Earlier in the chapter we read that God had admonished the priests because their teaching had caused many to stumble.  Guess they weren’t teaching the truth – so the people didn’t know the difference between God’s ways and pagan ways.

Many, many times we have heard Malachi 3 quoted in stewardship campaigns and sermons. And rightly so…but we would propose another application for these verses.  Since God had just warned the people about the consequences of continuing in pagan practices and being less than sincere about their worship of Him…ponder this.  Do we also rob God of the honor and glory He deserves when we do not honor His commandments, when we do not honor His Holy Days?  He says that if we honor Him with the whole tithe, when we give ourselves as “living sacrifices” as stated in Romans 12:1, we are giving him the full tithe.  And when we do He will open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing that we will not have room for it.

Probably all of us are able to look back over the years and clearly see that God has blessed us abundantly especially whenever we honor Him.

Malachi also gives us a prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord.

Malachi 4:1-3
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty. 

We can scarcely imagine how the earth will be when that day comes during the firestorm when the sun scorches the land during the Day of the Lord. There will certainly be plenty of ashes in which to leap. The word for leap also means to frisk; those who are saved from the fire will leap about joyfully in the knowledge that they have witnessed the triumph of God over Satan, the consummate battle of good vs. evil. God will have cleansed the whole earth with the fire in preparation for the new life that will spring from the ashes. The believers will know they have been saved by the grace of God to live into the Millennium to build the world anew.

While these are prophecies of the Millennium to come, we must remember that the prophecies are layered.  God promises to spare his treasured possession today as well.

Malachi 4:5
See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.

Just as John the Baptist was sent before Jesus to prepare His way, so will another "Elijah" be sent to prepare the way? (1Th 5:5)  Seems as if most of the prophets have already been preparing the way. Are we listening???

OCTOBER 6

 

Ezra has a pure genealogical line all the way back to Aaron, brother of Moses, giving him much credibility!

Ezra 7:6
this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.

God caused the king to be predisposed (for such a time as this) and sympathetic to Ezra and his requests.

Ezra 7:18
You and your brother Jews may then do whatever seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, in accordance with the will of your God.

As a companion to giving in accordance with the will of God is also using in accordance with the will of God, something of which leaders of churches should be very conscious.

There is mention of the people of Trans-Euphrates.  This refers to people who lived across or beyond (trans) the Euphrates River. 

Ezra 7:23
Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and of his sons?

Interesting that the king gave Ezra everything he asked for – why? – because the hand of the Lord was on him. And why was the hand of God on him? – because he allowed God to guide his thinking. If we would allow God to guide our thinking the hand of the Lord would be upon us and we would wind up asking God for the very things He wants to give us anyway!

Remember God had told the people they would be in captivity for 70 years.  That time was up. The time to fulfill God's purposes had come.  

King Artaxerxes certainly made a bold statement concerning the temple in Jerusalem.  Do we do whatever is prescribed by God and do we do it with diligence? 

 

Did you get a handle on the amount of gold and silver they were carrying back to Jerusalem?  The footnotes at the bottom of page 1292 are very informative - 25 tons of silver???  No wonder they needed protection, there were "enemies and bandits along the way." And once they arrived in Jerusalem, everything was accounted for by number and weight.  Wonder how long it took them to do that?

To his credit, Ezra decided to fast and petition God concerning their travel safety.  He didn't want to ask the king for military protection.  God answered their prayer.  They were miraculously protected by the hand of God.  

Buried in the writings of Ezra (page 1292 or Ezra 7 and 8) is a seldom used “apparently insignificant” verse but is monumental in importance. It has to do with determining the travel time from Babylon to Jerusalem which in turn gives us a clue to the travel time of the wise men who came to honor the birth of Jesus. Also, with the danger of bandits along the way, chances are the wise men had an entourage with them to protect the valuable gifts they were bringing to Jesus. More details will follow on later e-study entries.

OCTOBER 7

Once again we as Believers in Jesus are warned that we should keep ourselves separate from the world.

Ezra 9:1
After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites.

And once again the leaders have led the way.

Ezra 9:2b
They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness."

Some of Ezra's prayer really resonated with us as we read this passage again.  See if this prayer applies to us as a nation, as a church, and as individual believers in Jesus.  These are portions from Ezra's prayer.

O, my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens...you have punished us less than our sins have deserved...Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence...we have been unfaithful to our God.  But in spite of all this, there is still hope.  Now make confession to the Lord and do His will.  Separate yourselves from the people around you (and our sins).  

Couldn't help but think about 2 Chronicles 7:14.  The first thing He wants us to do is to repent.  That's what this prayer is all about!

Shecaniah offered a very drastic way of correcting (or more like overcorrecting) the situation of intermarriage. His correction was to send away the foreign wives and their children. Most of the men agreed - only a few opposed the plan.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to have just obeyed God in the first place? How often in our lives as Believers have we made things much harder on ourselves because we didn’t listen and obey...the first time???

OCTOBER 8

There are some great lessons to be learned from the writings of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was in mourning because the wall of Jerusalem had been broken down and its gates burned with fire. 

Can we make connections to today?  Have the "walls" of many of the established churches been broken down?  Have the "gates" been compromised?  Does this have anything to do with compromising the truth at the risk of being politically incorrect?

Many "traditions of men" that Jesus and the writers of the New Testament warned about can be compared to breaking down the walls of truth. (Matthew 15:1-9, Mark 7:1-9, Colossians 2:8,  2 Peter 1:16)  Many would claim that there are other pathways to God, when Jesus is clearly the only way, the only gate by which we come to God. (John 10:9-16)

At the time that Nehemiah heard about the wall he was in the area of Susa (southwest Iran today). 

Nehemiah has given us an excellent prayer model in Nehemiah 1:4-11a.  

Nehemiah held an important position with the king and surely was respected and trusted by the king. Again King Artaxerxes shows his moral character by noticing the sadness displayed by Nehemiah and offering to let him go to Jerusalem. If you will notice when Nehemiah came before the king, he prayed in the presence of the king. Could this have been the reason that the king was favorably disposed to letting Nehemiah go?  

And again the leaders of Trans-Euphrates (the area across or beyond the Euphrates River) get a letter telling them to give safe passage to yet another Jewish refugee and to provide supplies.  The king sent army officers and cavalry (riding horses) for protection. 

When Nehemiah told the leaders about the ruins of the walls of Jerusalem, he inspired them to rebuild the wall.  But there were problems with Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the Arab.  Nehemiah was extremely clear when he responded to them with these words, "but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any other claim or historic right to it."  Arabs have no legitimate or godly right or claim to Jerusalem. Arabs have no claim to Jerusalem because the land was given to Canaan, a descendant of Ham, son of Noah, then God gave the land to the descendants of Jacob.  The Arabs are descendants of Ishmael (son of Abraham and Hagar - an Egyptian) and are not part of the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah, therefore Arabs have no claim. 

Scripture next details the division of labor (which was done by rulers and even some women), on the rebuilding of the gates. Why such detail? Could it be a reminder that each of us has a part in the Lord's work? Do we sometimes think that our part is insignificant? God doesn't think so.