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In Ezra, chapter three, verse eleven, the people sang praise to the Lord when they saw the temple laid because it represented God’s answer to their prayers and His goodness. Biblical praise exalts God and His work and is an element of worship in which all the people are to participate. There was a remarkable […]

In Ezra, chapter three, verse eight, the highest priority for the people upon returning to Jerusalem was to rebuild the temple and reinstate the faithful worship of the Lord. Their years in captivity had taught them that God would not be their protection and helper unless they put Him first in their lives. The building

In Ezra, chapter three, verse two, the priority was to build an altar unto the Lord. The altar was the center of Jewish worship, for sacrifices and blood atonement for sin were offered to God. The people were motivated to build an altar, at least, because of the danger from “the people of other countries,”

In Ezra, chapter two, verse one, describes two of three waves of exiled Israelites who returned to Judah. The first occurred under the leadership of Zerubbabel, in verse two, chapter three, verse eight, Haggai one, verses one and fourteen, and Zechariah four, verse nine, respectively. Approximately fifty thousand people returned, as in verses sixty-four through

In Ezra, chapter one, verse five, through the Holy Spirit, God stirred the hearts of some of His faithful people to return to their homeland. About fifty thousand responded to the Lord’s call to participate in this first pilgrimage to the Holy Land. However, others remained behind in exile, as in verses four and six;

In Ezra, chapter one, verse two, about one hundred and sixty years before the appearance of Cyrus, Isaiah had foretold of a ruler named Cyrus who would permit the return of the Jews to their homeland to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, as in Isaiah forty-four, verses twenty-six through twenty-eight, and chapter forty-five, verses one,

In Ezra, chapter one, verse one, Jeremiah had predicted that the chosen people of God would remain in captivity in the land of Babylon for seventy years before returning to Judah, as in Jeremiah twenty-five, verse eleven through twelve, and chapter twenty-nine, verse ten, respectively. The seventy-year captivity was from the first one to the

In Second Chronicles, chapter thirty-six, verse sixteen, the messengers sent to call God’s people to repentance included Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, as in Jeremiah twenty-five, verses three through seven, chapter thirty-five, verses twelve to fifteen, respectively. Scoffing at God’s messengers is the same as despising God’s words. Anyone who despises the prophetic words of God’s

In Second Chronicles, chapter thirty-six, verse fifteen, God’s messengers who expose and condemn His people when they conform to the world are motivated by the compassion of God. They preach their messages with the intense hope that none might perish. The superficial compassion of those messengers who bring a word that allows God’s people to

In Second Chronicles, chapter thirty-six, verse fourteen, the most prevailing failure of God’s people throughout redemptive history has been their lack of resolve to remain separate from the unrighteous lifestyle and value system of the society and culture around them. Instead of abstaining from the immoral values, customs, and lifestyles of the world, all too