anitasanecdotes

Nehemiah 1 and 2 open with Nehemiah learning that Jerusalem is in a state of disrepair. He prays that God will forgive his family and people and will help him restore the sacred city. Nehemiah asks King Artaxerxes’ permission to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls. He gets letters from the king to allow him safe passage and to procure supplies.

When Nehemiah reaches the city he inspects the walls and gates. He tells the local officials and religious leaders that God has brought him to Jerusalem and that they have the permission of the king. The leaders commit themselves to build the wall. The leaders of the neighboring nations are not happy with this development and try to discourage Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem. Nehemiah says that God will give them success.

This is a retelling of the story we read in Ezra, but this time from Nehemiah’s point of view. We see how God is working in the lives of the faithful after their time of punishment. Even when we do wrong, we are not lost. God is always ready to bless us when we turn our hearts and lives back to him. There are always second chances with God.

Psalm 78:1-37 may or may not be an extension of Psalm 77. It is a continuation of the story of God and His people but the focus has changed from a prayer to God to an admonition of the people.  This psalm speaks of the judgment of God toward the people’s disobedience and his provision in the wilderness.

The psalm, which continues in a later reading, speaks of the fickleness of humanity. We accept what God give s us and turn around and continue to sin. If this happened in a human relationship we would give up on the friendship. But God never gives up on us. He is always there when we need him and humble ourselves.

In Ezra 9 and 10 Ezra hears that many of the people of Israel have married foreigners, against the law of God. He prays fervently, admitting their guilt and his embarrassment and shame. He acknowledges God’s faithfulness despite their unfaithfulness in making the kings of Persia act with favor on them.

Some of the people who had sinned come to Ezra and confess their guilt. They are willing to send their wives and children away. Ezra fasts and prays while all the people are told to come to Jerusalem. He tells them they all must confess their guilt. Then all the foreign women and their children must leave Israel and Judah. The people obey.

This seems harsh, but again it is clear that what the people were doing was sinning against the law of God. The people of Israel must be pure and to allow the foreign family members to stay would keep purity from them. They should have thought this through before they sinned. One would assume that they continued to support these families even though they are apart.

In Luke 5 Jesus is out with his disciples while they are fishing. They are not catching any fish. He tells them to put the nets on the other side. Even though they doubt they obey. They end up with more fish than they can carry. Jesus tells them they will now be catching people.

There are two instances of healing in Luke 5. Each of them deals with the issue of healing as cleansing from sin. Illness like leprosy or paralysis was considered to be brought on sin. While they were ill the sick were not allowed to worship in the temple. They had to present themselves to the priest to be declared clean or sin free. When Jesus said that he forgave the paralytic’s sins the Pharisees considered this blasphemy because only God can forgive sins. Jesus basically points out that when he heals the man he is essentially doing the same thing. Sin keeps people from worshiping God, so does illness, if they are healed, they must be forgiven. There wasn’t much they could say against him.

Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector to follow him. Levi (Matthew) responds. Levi invites Jesus to a banquet and the Pharisees get upset. Tax collectors were considered to be great sinners. Everyone knew that they robbed the people when the collected more money than the actual tax. Jesus offers grace to the sinners. He eats with them and accepts them opening the way to repentance.

Jesus offers us his grace. He accepts us, loves us and forgives us opening the way for us to truly change the way we are living.

Ezra 7 and 8 opens with Ezra from the line of Aaron coming to Jerusalem. He receives permission from King Artaxerxes to study the law of God there and also to bring offerings for the building of the temple. Ezra is to appoint judges who will make judgments according to the law of God. No one is allowed to charge any servants of the temple during the journey.

It is amazing that the king, as the two preceding, believes in God, or at least maintains a healthy respect for the God of Israel. They actively make it possible for the temple to be built. Others will help us in the faith even if they don’t themselves believe. We just need to be open to God working in unexpected ways.

In Luke 4 Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. He fasts for forty days. The devil tempts Jesus to turn a stone into bread…Jesus refuses. The devil tempts Jesus by saying that if Jesus worships him he will receive the world’s kingdoms…Jesus worships God alone. The devil tempts Jesus to do a miracle by having angels catch him when he jumps off a pinnacle. Jesus says don’t tempt God. The devil decides the time is not right to test Jesus yet.

Jesus goes to Nazareth, his hometown. He reads a scripture that basically says he is the Messiah. The people can’t believe a local boy could do something so great. They are amazed. Jesus realizes that he will have to take his message elsewhere.

Jesus goes to Capernaum where he meets a man with a demon. Jesus gets rid of the demon and the man is unharmed. Then Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. People start to bring their sick to him for healing. When demons encounter Jesus they recognize that he is the Messiah. He tells them to be quiet. Jesus continues to preach God’s message to the people.

Jesus uses scriptures to fight temptation and criticism. One of the reasons that we read the Bible is to equip ourselves with knowledge of the Word of God. It is the only thing that is truly effective against the temptation to sin.

In Ezra 5 and 6, when Darius becomes king of Persia, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah encourage the people to work on the temple. Once again, the adversaries of Judah try to stop the process. They are frightened by the God of heaven and believe if His house is built He will bring their ruin. The people of Judah say that King Cyrus made a decree to rebuild the temple. The adversaries send word to Darius and ask him to find proof of their claims.

Darius find Cyrus’ decree and tells the adversaries to allow the people of Jerusalem to build the temple. Additionally they are to provide funding for its building and animals for sacrifice. If they refuse the people of Judah have permission to attack them.

This decree stands even to Artaxerxes reign. The people finish the temple and dedicate it to God. They finish the temple in time for the Passover. All of the exiled people of Israel and Judah celebrate the Passover together. They thank God for moving the king’s heart.

God is clearly favoring His people again. They have paid the price for their disobedience and God is restoring His relationship with them. We are fortunate because Jesus paid the price for our disobedience. The line of communication with God is always open. If we think we are having trouble communicating with God we need to look at ourselves. God is always listening.

Psalm 77 is written in a time of trouble. The writer remembers times when God listened to his prayers. He wonders if God has forgotten him. He decides to remember when God has been faithful, particularly in delivering the people of Israel who were in captivity. The psalm ends in an awkward place, which would indicate that the next psalm is also part of this psalm.

When we struggle during times of trial in our lives it is helpful to remember times in our lives when God has been actively and obviously at work. We know that God is always there, even when we can’t see Him. Keep asking God to reveal Himself. He will.

In Ezra 3 and 4 the people build the altar of God and set it up on its foundation. They keep the festival of booths even though the foundation for the temple had not been laid. The people give freewill offerings to pay for the supplies and workers for the building of the temple.

They sing praises to the Lord when the foundation is laid. The older people cry because they remember the old temple.

The adversaries of the Judah and Benjamin offer to help with the building of the temple but the people of Israel refuse them because they are not to have others build the temple per King Cyrus. The adversaries write to other kings and tell them about what the people are doing in Jerusalem. The adversaries warn the kings that the people of Jerusalem are troublemakers and will be hurtful if they are able to complete the temple. The people of Jerusalem are forced to stop working on the temple until the reign of King Darius of Persia.

By Luke 3 Jesus and John have become adults. John is in the wilderness preaching the message of repentance (a change in lifestyle) and the forgiveness of sins. The people think that maybe he is the Messiah, but he tells them that the Messiah will be able to do so much more than he can do. He baptizes all the people present. Jesus also is baptized. While he is praying the Holy Spirit comes on him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven says the Jesus is His Son, the Beloved. God is pleased with him.

Luke presents a genealogy for Jesus that goes back to Adam the son of God.

Notice Adam is the son of God and Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the only Son of God through birth. We become God’s children by adoption. We have received Christ’s inheritance with him.

Ezra 1 and 2 begin with the actions of Cyrus the king of Persia. Although Cyrus is a Gentile he knows that he has been blessed by the Lord. He is to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. He returns the people and the temple vessels to Judah and Jerusalem. The heads of the families make freewill offerings to the house of God.

Luke 2 is probably the most oft read passage in the New Testament, at least through verse 20. This is the story of the birth of Jesus the Messiah or as we know the Greek the Christ.

At his circumcision he is named Jesus. Later, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to dedicate him to the Lord and offer the proscribed sacrifice. There was a man named Simeon who learned from the Holy Spirit that Jesus is destined for the fall and rise of Israel. They also meet the prophet Anna. She praises God about Jesus in front of all the people.

When Jesus is twelve years old Mary and Joseph take him to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. He goes to the temple and talks with the teachers. His parents leave and realize that he is still at the temple. Jesus amazes the teachers with his knowledge. When his parents come for him he says that he must be in his Father’s house. They don’t understand what he is saying. Jesus goes home with them to Nazareth.

Even as a child people recognized that Jesus was destined for a higher purpose.

In 2 Chronicles 35 King Josiah celebrates the Passover with all of the people. King Neco of Egypt comes against Judah. Josiah goes out to fight him. Neco tells him that he is coming at God’s command. God is speaking through Neco to have Josiah leave the battle but Josiah doesn’t listen and joins the battle at Megiddo. An archer shoots Josiah and kills him.

In 2  Chronicles 36 Josiah’s son Jehoahaz succeeds him. He only rules for three months before the King of Egypt deposes him.

Neco makes Jehoahaz’s brother Jehoiakim the king. He does evil in the sight of the Lord. King Nebuchadnezzar takes him and some of the vessels from the temple to Babylon. His brother Jehoiachin succeeds him.

Jehoiachin also does evil in God’s sight. Nebuchadnezzar brings him to Babylon and makes his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah also does evil. He is confronted by the prophet Jeremiah but is not humbled. He and the priests and people in Jerusalem pollute the house of God. God sends messengers but they mock them. God’s wrath comes upon all those who sin. He sends the king of the Chaldeans against them. The people are killed. The temple is burned and all the items for worship are taken to Babylon. Anyone who escapes death is exiled to Babylon. This fulfills the prophecy by Jeremiah that they would stay in exile until all the sabbaths they had defiled had been made up. This lasted 70 years. Jerusalem lays desolate for that entire time until it comes under the control of Persia. God moved King Cyrus of Persia to return the people to Judah and restore the temple in Jerusalem.

The people paid dearly for their sins. That generation pretty much passed away before they were able to return to Jerusalem and Judah. God used a Gentile to make this possible.

In Luke 1:39-80 Mary visits Elizabeth and Zechariah. Elizabeth’s unborn child recognizes Mary’s unborn child. Elizabeth knows that Mary’s child is the Lord. Mary praises God for what he is doing in her life.

Elizabeth gives birth to a son. At the circumcision Zechariah speaks for the first time in nine months and says that the child’s name is John. Zechariah begins to prophesy about how his son will prepare the people to meet the Lord through forgiveness of sins.

We see here the difference between a family line that rejects God and one that follows Him. One is filled with punishment and grief, the other is filled with blessing and joy.

We begin our second half year of the Year of the Bible today. Congratulations for making it this far! Keep going. The summer’s reading will go through quite a few books quickly.

In 2 Chronicles 33 Manasseh succeeds his father Hezekiah. Manasseh does evil in God’s sight. He rebuilds the high places and sacred poles for the worship of the Baals. He builds altars for idol worship in the house of the Lord, the temple. This is the place God chose for his house. Manasseh leads the people to do more evil than the other nations God destroyed on Israel’s behalf.

God speaks to Manasseh and the people but they don’t listen. So the Lord brings the army of Assyria against them. This is the same army God destroyed for Manasseh’s father Hezekiah. They take Manasseh captive

Manasseh humbles himself before God and asks for His help. God hears his plea and reestablishes him in Jerusalem. Manasseh realizes that the Lord is the true God. He takes away the foreign gods from the temple and removes the altars in Jerusalem. Manasseh offers sacrifices of well-being and thanksgiving to the Lord. But the people still worship at the high places but this time to the Lord.

After Manasseh dies his son Amon succeeds him. He returns to his father’s old ways and does not humble himself to the Lord. His servants kill him. His son Josiah becomes king.

In 2 Chronicles 34 King Josiah does right before the Lord. Even though he is still a boy he follows God and removes the places of idol worship in Jerusalem and Judah. He also gets rid of the priests of the Baals. Josiah restores the temple of the Lord. During the restoration the high priest Hilkiah discovers a book of the law. King Josiah hears the book and realizes that God is punishing the people because of their sin. He consults the prophet Huldah who confirms that God is dealing harshly with his people who have forsaken Him. But God sees that Josiah is penitent and humble and promises to spare him from seeing the punishment of the people.

Josiah leads the priests and the people to the temple. Everyone hears the book of the covenant. Josiah makes a covenant to follow God’s commandments. The people also pledge themselves to the Lord. Josiah takes down the abominations in all of Israel and everyone worships the Lord.

Who says that children and young people can’t have a strong faith and lead others to the Lord? Josiah did all of these things from the ages of eight to twenty five. Often families are led to faith by a child who pushes them to come to church and read their Bibles. Keep it up. Everyone will be blessed by your faith.

Psalm 75 and 76 and several of the psalms we have read are written by Asaph. He was a priest during the period of Hezekiah. We can see the relationship between these psalms and what is going on in our reading of the book of  2 Chronicles Both of these psalms are songs of praise to God.

In 2 Chronicles 31and 32 the people are so inspired by the worship of God that they go back home and tear down all of the places of idols worship in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. Hezekiah makes a tithe of his possessions to the Lord. The people follow his example and give one tenth of their possessions to the Lord. They brought the first and best offerings of their crops and products.  These are stored in the house of God. The priests take from the offerings made and do the work of the people of faith.

Because Hezekiah led his people in service of God, God blessed him. A major part of our worship of God is giving a tithe to further the work of God. According to the scriptures our gift to God should be made first before we spend anything on ourselves. The Old Testament speaks of giving the first tenth (10%) to the Lord. As we offer our gifts to God, God blesses us to give more.

King Sennacharib tries to take Jerusalem. Hezekiah protects the water supply and keeps it from reaching the Assyrians. Hezekiah tells his people to be courageous because God is with them. King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah pray for Jerusalem and God delivers them from the Assyrians.

Hezekiah is not perfect in his faith and lets his pride cause him to sin. He receives gifts for his mighty acts and does not acknowledge God. He becomes sick and humbles himself so God doesn’t punish Jerusalem and Judah as long as Hezekiah is alive.

We return to the gospels with Luke which is actually the first of a two book series along with the book of Acts.

Luke 1:1-38 tells of a priest named Zechariah whose wife Elizabeth is barren, she has no children. They are very faithful and had prayed for children but now they are getting old. While Zechariah is serving in the temple and angel appears to him and tells him that Elizabeth is going to have a son. He is to name his son John and he is to live as a Nazarite, serving God. He will turn peoples’ hearts to the Lord.

Zechariah does not believe the angel. The angel Gabriel makes him unable to speak because of his disbelief. The people are waiting outside the temple for Zechariah to give them a blessing but when he comes out he cannot talk.

Elizabeth becomes pregnant and is thankful that God has blessed them. In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy Gabriel comes to a young woman named Mary. She is engaged to be married to Joseph who is of David’s line. Gabriel tells Mary that God has favored her and she will have a son by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The angel tells her about Elizabeth, who is her relative, and says that nothing will be impossible for God. Mary tells Gabriel that she is God’s servant and that she accepts what God says.

This is the beginning of the birth story of Jesus. It helps us see how God works things together to accomplish his purposes for our lives. Oh, that we would be as willing as Mary to accept God’s plan.

Congratulations! You have completed six months of reading the Bible. If you are behind, keep at it. God will bless your efforts. There is still much to learn as we continue our journey.

In 2 Chronicles 29 and 30 Hezekiah succeeds Ahaz after his death. Hezekiah’s mother is the daughter of Zechariah and raises him to do what is right in the sight of the Lord. He reopens the house of the Lord and repairs it. The Levites cleanse the temple to make it a fit place for God. When everything is ready King Hezekiah and the people offer sacrifices and worship God with music and prayers.

Hezekiah sends out an invitation to all of Judah and Israel to repent and gather at the temple for Passover. The people of Judah respond but most of the people of Israel are so far away from God that they scorn and mock the messengers. All of the people who come to Jerusalem celebrate the feast of Passover.

Many of those who come have not sanctified themselves, that means purifying themselves to be fit for worship. Hezekiah prays for them and asks God to pardon their sin. God hears his prayers and heals the people.

Everyone there rejoices because this is the first time since Solomon that the festival has been held. The priests and Levites bless the people and God hear their prayers in heaven.

It is interesting that a few times the chronicler mentions that the priests were not ready for the worship of God. The Levites are asked to fill in since they had sanctified themselves quicker than the priests. When the leadership is not able to lead in worship others may be called to assist. We must always be ready for the task God calls us to do.

Ephesians 6 encourages us to put on the whole armor of God so we may be able to fight against the temptations that constantly plague us. God’s armor is: knowing the truth about a situation even though others may be telling us differently; doing what is right in God’s sight; being willing to share the gospel with others; continually trusting in God to get us through tough times; remembering that we are forgiven; and staying focused on the word of God. We need to be constantly in prayer and be bold in our declaration of God’s love.