Hymn 533, “O for a Faith” relates to the Sabbath afternoon introduction of the poverty and the woes of the people of Israel, requesting a strong faith. This theme continues into Sunday where debt is now the main culprit. We, today, are so thankful that “At the Cross”, Hymn 163 all our sin-debt is rolled … Continue reading –>
Grievance time. Things seemed to be going fairly well on the outside for the Jewish community, but why is there so much worry and despair on the inside? What are some of the troubles the Jewish community is facing at this time when it seems that rebuilding prosperity should be the highest priority? How did a … Continue reading –>
Seemingly, the rebuke to the nobles and rulers — “each of you is exacting usury from his brother” (Neh. 5:7, NKJV) — didn’t bring the desired results. Thus, Nehemiah did not stop there but continued to fight for the oppressed among them. He could have just said that he had tried to teach the nobles and rulers … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 5:6-8 (see also Exod. 21:2-7). Why does Nehemiah react in anger? However difficult for us to grasp today, slavery was a cultural norm in the ancient world. A parent could either become a slave himself/herself or sell a child. Socially and legally, the parents had the right to sell their sons and daughters. However, since God … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 5:1-5. What is happening here? What are the people crying out against? The Jewish community seems to be united under Nehemiah’s leadership against the outside pressures. But all is not well within the nation that is standing up to persecution and defending itself from foreign assaults. Despite the outward appearance of toughness and cohesive … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 5:1-5; Exod. 21:2-7; Micah 6:8; Neh. 5:7-12; Deut. 23:21-23; Neh. 5:14-19. Memory Text: “Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them” (Nehemiah 5:11, NKJV). To this day, we … Continue reading –>
In my ministry I have met people who claim the Adventist church is Babylon. I have also met people who think the Adventist church is infallible. Both ideas are wrong. The Adventist church is not Babylon, but it is not infallible either. Just because the Adventist church is not Babylon does not mean it does … Continue reading –>
Money for Missionaries By Horacio Rizzo The plan was ambitious: Send 25 missionary couples from South America to share the gospel in the countries of the 10/40 window. I listened intently as Erton Köhler, president of the South American Division, presented the “Missionaries to the World” initiative to 80 Seventh-day Adventist leaders from across South … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “The Builders on the Wall”, “A Rebuke Against Extortion”, and “Heathen Plots”, pp. 635–660, in Prophets and Kings. “The opposition and discouragement that the builders in Nehemiah’s day met from open enemies and pretended friends is typical of the experience that those today will have who work for God. Christians are tried, … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 6:1-13. Why does Nehemiah see the work he is doing in Jerusalem as a “great work” (Neh. 6:3)? What were the attempts in this case to stop him? Chapter 6 describes many attempts on Nehemiah’s life. Sanballat and Geshem kept sending Nehemiah letters in order to get him to come to them under the pretext … Continue reading –>
Read Neh. 4:1-23. What did the Jews do under Nehemiah’s leadership to stand up to opposition? Why was it important for them to prepare themselves to fight, rather than just do nothing, believing that God would protect them? After starts and stops, the people began working again. The Jews prayed, and then Nehemiah set up … Continue reading –>
What did the “enemies” do in Ezra 4:6-24 in order to stop the work in Jerusalem? The “people of the land” wrote letters of accusation against the Jews and their work first to Darius (Ezra chapters 5 and 6), then to King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) as well as Artaxerxes. They were doing everything in their power to stop the … Continue reading –>
