Category: Ezra

Just the same today, God can move the hearts of bureaucrats and leaders to complete his will. While that may mean opposition decreed for our spiritual growth, it also can mean hindrances providentially removed at the right time. When we pray for God to allow things, we remember that it is God who institutes and…

Opposition is an ongoing reality. We have been warned. But Jesus is with us. We have been encouraged. The eyes of God watch over us and our labours. We are called to the great task of temple building, just as the Jews were in 520 BC. God will prosper the work of our hands as…

The point of this passage is that the devil is always opposing God’s work. Whether it was in the days of Cain and Abel, Israel in Egypt, or Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, the devil was opposing every venture. Lies, pressure, and intimidation were used to attack God’s salvation plan, and anything that glorifies God. There…

We see Satan’s opposition and discouragement agenda play out with the returnees from exile to Judah. While things had started mostly well, with the rebuilding of the altar, the resumption of the sacrificial system, and the foundations of the new Temple, opposition came from the surrounding countryside. Discouragement set in. Progress stalled. In our own…

The returnees from exile were also starting something new, rebuilding what had been destroyed and ruined. For them, it was a time of excitement and initial progress. A time of worship of God, who was making it happen and just because he deserves it. But also, for some, a time of mourning for what had…

For the Israelites who returned to the ruins of the Promised Land, you might think that rebuilding homes, building businesses, planting crops, and repairing public facilities would take top priority. But you would be wrong. Their priority was to restore the public worship of God. They had it right. We are made to bring glory…

Ezra 2 is all about God keeping his promises. Yes, it is a long list of names. But they were the faces that went with the fulfilment of God’s promises to bring his people back to the land. Those names, listed one after the other, remind us of how God works to bring about salvation.…

Things had gone terribly wrong for God’s People in the Old Testament. They had lost their independence, been taken into exile, the temple destroyed. There was not much to sing joyfully about. And yet, God was still in control. In Ezra 1, God’s control over all things is shown by the great and small ways…