In His Image Ministries

Friday August 25 Bible Reading:      Ezra 4: 7 - 14, 23 - 24 Topic:                   Stop Work Order William MacDonald's Believers Bible Commentary states that Ezra 4: 24 should follow Ezra 4: 5 in chronological order. The stop work order by the Jewish enemies gave rise to no work at the Temple until two years after Darius became King. We see a letter accusing the Jews of rebellion (vs. 6 - 23). Therefore King Artaxerxes issued a stop work order. The Temple had been finished earlier under King Darius before King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) (v. 6) and King Artaxerxes (v. 7) Hence the letter recorded in vs. 6 - 23 was written after the Temple had been rebuilt and concerned the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and not the Temple. The walls were later completed with the help of God in the time of Nehemiah (Neh. 6: 15 - 16) The enemy is...

Tuesday August 22 Bible Reading:      Ezra 3: 8 - 11 Topic:                   Building For God's Glory It was fourteen months after the return from exile to Judah that the actual construction of the Temple began. Levites were given the role of supervising the work. When the foundation of the Temple was laid, the Priests and Levites sang praises with thanksgiving to the Lord accompanied with musical instruments. Then all the people gave a great shout praising the Lord, because the foundation of the Temple had been laid. While the younger generation was shouting for joy at what had been accomplished, many of the older generation wept aloud as they remembered the beauty of the old Temple built by King Solomon. It is very important to build to the glory of God, whether the buildings are other projects. More ...

Wednesday August 16 Bible Reading:      Ezra 1: 1 - 12 Topic:                   A Prophecy Fulfilled In Jer. 25: 12, the Lord declared that the captivity of Jerusalem in Babylon would last 70 years. This same God moved people like Daniel to pray for its fulfillment (Dan. 9: 1 - 4) and God used a pagan King Cyrus to accomplish it (vs. 1 - 4). He also used a large number of people, led by Zerubbabel to fulfill His promise (2: 2). God declares clearly in several places that every word He proclaims must surely come to pass (Ezek. 12: 25; Matt 5: 18) Our responsibility is to believe God's word and pray for its fulfillment like Daniel. More importantly, we must be willing to be used by God to accomplish His purposes just as those Jews who left the comfort of their life in Babylon to return to Judah to rebuild their Country. However it ...