In His Image Ministries

Thursday August 17 Bible Reading:      Ezra 2: 1 - 19 Topic:                   Faithful God This passage gives a long list of the families of the first set of exiles who returned from the captivity in Babylon, led by Zerubbabel the Governor and Jeshua the High Priest (v. 2; Neh. 7: 7; Haggai 1: 14) Those mentioned in verse 2 were probably the leaders of the returning exiles. Each returned to his own town (v. 1) The Babylonian exile had been a very humiliating experience for Israel as a Nation. A large number of the people died by the sword or from starvation (Jer. 52: 10 - 11). Others were forced into exile to different cities in the vast Babylonian Empire. Only the very poor were left in the land probably under worse conditions than those who had been exiled (Jer. 52: 15 - 16) Yet after 70 years of desolation, the Faithful God remembered...

F riday January 20th Bible Reading:      Heb. 9: 11 - 28 Topic:          The New Covenant Yesterday, we saw that the Old Covenant with all its regulations could not deliver man from the power of sin and the devil. This was because, not only were the Priests of the Covenant the incapacitated by sinfulness and weakness, the blood of animals could not take away sin permanently. At best they covered it before a Holy God and so they had to continually repeat the process. The Good News is that there is a New Covenant with a new High Priest from Heaven. He is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3: 38). He is the Mediator of the New Covenant. He did not enter the earthly Tabernacle in Jerusalem but the Heavenly Tabernacle made without hands. And He did not enter with the blood of animals but with His own Sinless Perfect Blood. With His own Blood He atoned for t...

Thursday January 19th Bible Reading:      Heb. 9: 1 - 10 Topic:          The Old Covenant The old Covenant was observed with regulations: foods, drinks, and animal sacrifices which were repeated daily. Other materials were also used in the services at the Tabernacle by the Priests (Ex. 25) They were placed in the in the outer room of the Tabernacle, but the Inner Room (The Holy of Holies) was where God dwelt among His People Israel. The Priest could only enter into the Inner Room once a year with the blood of atonement for himself and for the People. However, the blood of those animals used for the atonement could not permanently deal with the problem of sin. It could neither cleanse nor purify their consciences. The Old Covenant served as a pointer to a New and Better Covenant that could perfect man and purify his conscience from dead works. ...