After the Scriptures talk about the dedication of the wall, and then the gathering of the singers, the next verse, Nehemiah 12:30, talks about purification. “Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall” (NKJV). The Hebrew root word for “purified”, thr, means to be clean, to be pure, and it … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 12:27-29. Notice some of the key words that reveal what their worship and praise was like. How would you describe it? The Israelite nation had commissioned a specific class of the Levites to be singers and musicians for the temple services. God directed the practice and gave instructions for the service, as the temple … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 12:27-47; 1 Chron. 25:6-8; 1 John 1:7-9; John 1:29, John 1:36; 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 9:1-11. Memory Text: “And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel’ ” (Ezra 3:11, NKJV). This week’s memory text gives us insight into the Hebrews’ worship practices and how … Continue reading –>
Teaching Russian Orphans By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission The challenge appeared enormous. Natalya Balan, the 59-year-old grandmother, wasn’t sure how to make God real to the two young brothers that she had brought home from a Russian orphanage. The boys – Daniil, 10, and his 9-year-old brother, Nikita – had suffered unspeakable abuse from their … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Test of Discipleship”, pages 57–65, in Steps to Christ. “There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 11:1-2. What is going on in this passage? Why would they have to cast lots to see who would have to live in Jerusalem as opposed to living in the other cities? What does Nehemiah chapter 11 teach us? It was necessary to get new residents for Jerusalem from the newcomers who had come … Continue reading –>
Read Deuteronomy 30:1-6. What promise was given here to the Hebrew people? What must this promise, among others like it, mean to men like Ezra and Nehemiah? Ezra and Nehemiah knew the prophecies. They knew that God was going to bring the people back from captivity. We saw in Nehemiah 9 that they understood their history … Continue reading –>
No question — as we saw yesterday, it was an amazing fulfillment of prophecy that brought the Jews back from Babylon. But as with anything that involves humans, problems existed. And one of the big problems was that, despite all the wonderful promises of restoration after the exile, many of the Jews did not want … Continue reading –>
Scan over the lists in Ezra 2:1-70 and Nehemiah 7:1-73. What do you notice about them? The repetition of Ezra 2:1-70 (the list of those who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel and Joshua) in Nehemiah 7:1-73 is deliberate. Again, these lists might seem boring to us, but they reveal an important point, which is … Continue reading –>
Read Ezra 1:9-11 and Daniel 1:1-2. How do the texts in Daniel help us understand what Ezra was referring to? Notice how in Ezra details are given, while in Daniel the big picture was presented. Together, though, these texts show that the Lord is in control. “The history of nations speaks to us today. To every nation and … Continue reading –>
