Daily Reading Esther 6-10 Daily Thought The first half of the story of Esther ends with the plan of man, “This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made” (Esther 5:14). The following verse opens Act Two, the plan of God, “On that night the king could not sleep” (Esther 6:1). Haman had gallows […]
Daily Reading Nehemiah 12-13 Daily Thought Nehemiah led the effort to rebuild Jerusalem. He returned the Word of God to public reading, reestablished the worship, the Sabbath, and the festivals of the Jewish faith, and rededicated a confessing people to follow their God. Then he left for a time, traveling to Babylon to visit her […]
Daily Reading Nehemiah 10-11 Daily Thought “On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui […]
Daily Reading Nehemiah 7 Daily Thought So far, Nehemiah has been about rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. The book begins with the report to Nehemiah, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire” (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah is cupbearer to the king, believes he can do something about it, and […]
Daily Reading Nehemiah 4-6 Daily Thought “So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But…” (Nehemiah 4:6-7a). Discouragement had set in. “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we […]
Daily Reading Nehemiah 1-3 Daily Thought It had been ninety years since the exiles of Israel had returned to Jerusalem at the order of Cyrus, king of Persia; seventy years since the temple was rebuilt. Still Jerusalem lay in neglected ruins from the time when Nebuchadnezzar had taken them into captivity, 150 years ago. Of […]
Daily Reading Ezra 8-10 Daily Thought Ezra’s challenge was to lead a small group of people and priests, singers and servants, women and children, carrying a treasury of gold and silver from Babylon to the temple under construction in Jerusalem. The journey would take them across a desert wilderness ripe with bandits. An armed guard […]
Daily Reading Ezra 4-7 Daily Thought When the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive by Assyria in 722 BC, the scattered remains of Israelites left behind intermarried with many other nations, producing a mingled people and a mangled religion. They claimed to worship the same God as Judah (Ezra 4:2); they failed to mention […]