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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

ESTHER+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.


 
Esther 1:12 "Vashti refused to come." Ezra and Nehemiah tell about Jews who bravely returned to their homeland, while Esther tells of those who remained in the land of their captivity, but were not forgotten by God. It opens with King Ahasuerus celebrating the splendor of his reign throughout Persia to most of the known world at the time. Being "merry with wine" (verse 10), he sent 7 of his officials to escort his queen, Vashti, to his presence so he could display her beauty to his guests. As the highlighted text makes clear, she refused to come. We are not told why, but we are told the effect of Vashti's choice: she humiliated her royal husband, who decided to divorce her. Soon he would be seeking a new wife, and that special woman would prove to be God's choice for delivering the Jewish people from destruction. Esther as a book seems to be a fragment of Persian history, captured and incorporated for sacred purposes.

Esther 2:17 "The king loved Esther.... He set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti." The king's search for a new queen brought many women to his attention, including a lovely one named Esther, an orphan whose late parents were Jewish exiles. Her older cousin Mordecai cared for her like a father, and continued looking after her welfare day by day when she was taken into the king's court. Esther also found favor in the eyes of the king's officials and then before the king himself, who chose her as his new queen. By this time Mordecai was regularly "sitting in the king's gate," which implies he had a court position. While there he overheard a plot against the king's life and promptly reported it to Esther, who told the king in time for the plot to be foiled. Both Esther and Mordecai were now in position to save their people from one of the greatest enemies they would ever face.

Esther 3:15 "The king and Haman sat down to drink." This Haman is introduced to us as an Agagite, the last-mentioned survivor of Israel's ancient foes the Amalekites. Haman had power and cleverness on his side, which led to his being in complete favor with the king, whom he deceived into signing off on a plan to exterminate the Jewish people throughout the king's extensive realm. They settled down to seal the deal with a drink together, but all the while Mordecai and the rest of the Jews were in the hands of God. Although the scheming occurred during the first month, a Persian custom Haman avidly followed was  casting lots (Purim) to determine the most auspicious time to carry out an offensive, which pushed off the extermination plan until the twelfth month—almost a year later. Often we see evil men and women doing strange and inexplicably fooling things from the standpoint of their own purpose. Perhaps Haman thought this delay would make the extermination of the Jewish people all the more complete, but we will see how it gave the necessary time for all the events that worked together to deliver the Jewish people from destruction. Those who fear God and follow Him can always reckon on Him. If they ignore Him in their reckoning, they always find Him sooner or later, to their own undoing. 

Esther 4:14 "Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" News of Haman's bloody plot quickly spread throughout the land to terrify the intended victims and give the executioners time to prepare their fatal thrust. The whole diabolical plan had been cleverly conceived. It seemed there could be no escape from a terrible massacre. Mordecai was overcome with grief, but in his highlighted words to Esther, we discover the one gleam of hope that shone for him amid the prevailing darkness. We do not know whether it was more a wistful hope than the expression of a confident faith, but we do know, like Mordecai, that Esther was a direct link between the king and her people. The custom and law of the court forbade her making a direct approach to the king without his summoning her. Doing so would bring the death penalty unless the king decided to extent his scepter as a sign of approval. Nevertheless, the urgency of the case inspired her to the heroism of making this great venture. Conscious of her need for moral and spiritual strength, she asked her people to fast with her. This portrait of Esther is a singularly fine one. Her saying, "If I perish, I perish" (verse 16) displays a spirit of sacrifice on the highest level. This beautiful woman occupied a grave place of peril at the court of an Eastern despot by no choice of her own, and was willing to step up on behalf of her people in their hour of desperate need. She did it with conscious dependence on God and complete readiness to sacrifice her life if necessary. Esther had certainly come to the kingdom for that time, and was the precise instrument God would use to deliver His people.

Esther 5:13 "All this means nothing to me so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." What an unveiling of Haman's evil heart! At the back of selfish ambition, some stabbing pain forever torments. In this case it was Mordecai remaining at his post, refusing to treat Haman like some kind of idol by groveling at his feet. Haman frankly admitted to his family and friends that nothing satisfied him while this state of things continued. Petty pride and pique were at the root of Haman's fiendish plot against an entire race of people! If it were not for the terrible things that result from such a trivial attitude, we would naturally hold it in contempt or laugh at it. When such envy completely expresses itself, it breaks forth as cruelty, rape, murder, and every other evil thing. Yet all the while that bitter root is a torment to the man or woman in whose heart it dwells. The only cure Haman would seek for his malady of soul was the death of Mordecai, which God would prevent. Haman soothed himself by erecting a gallows to symbolize Mordecai's impending execution, but in the will of God that gallows was not for Mordecai. The more carefully one considers the moral world under the overruling government of God, the more one is constrained to worship Him for His infinite wisdom and precise justice and mercy. Meanwhile, Esther had made her bold venture, and the welcoming outstretched scepter of the king was a sign of God's ultimate rule over that court of earthly pride and pomp.

Esther 6:1 "On that night the king could not sleep." In this chapter we have a night interlude between the erecting of a gallows and the holding of a feast. A sleepless night is a transient matter and almost trivial, yet it has often been a time of revelation and surprise. In the case of Ahasuerus, it was another of the ways God moved forward in protecting His people. To while away its hours, the king commanded that he be read to from his court's records or chronicles. That was a divine choice of reading material, for the part his reader came to was of the assassination plot Mordecai revealed to Esther early in her marriage to the king. Ahasuerus inquired if Mordecai had been rewarded for saving his life, and when learning he had not, determined to get advice on the best way to honor Mordecai. By now it was morning and Haman arrived early, waiting outside the king's chamber to receive permission to execute Mordecai on the new gallows. The king called him in, but Haman got the opposite of his desire: being promptly sent out to confer the highest dignities of the kingdom upon Mordecai! God works out His own high purposes surely and with unerring wisdom. The stage was set for Haman's end to come suddenly, dramatically, and completely.

Esther 7:10 "They hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai." When Haman returned to his home after a humiliating day of being obliged to honor Mordecai, the man he hated most, he was summoned to a feast Queen Esther prepared for him and the king to dine in her presence. He consoled himself with the honor of being invited to such a feast—and with the thought of hanging Mordecai as soon as he could manage on the gallows he passed by on his way to the feast. At that  feast, however, Esther revealed that Haman's plot to exterminate the Jews would kill her and all her people. She pleaded for the astonished king to spare their lives. The king was furious with Haman for endangering his queen, and ordered him executed immediately on the apparatus closest to hand: the gallows Haman himself erected. It was a fierce and terrible retribution, but was characterized by poetic justice. The core of Haman's hatred for Mordecai was his self-centered and self-consuming pride and ambition that extended way beyond Mordecai himself to everyone and everything associated with him. The nets of evil plotting and malicious enterprise swing far out in the tides of human life, but never far enough to enmesh God. He remains beyond them all, and gathering them in the hands of His power, He makes them include the men and women who weave them to destroy others. The very instrument that Haman's brutality prepared for Mordecai is what God chose to employ for Haman's destruction. Not always with the same spectacular visibility or suddenness, but inevitably "the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the peoples" (Psalm 33:10).

Esther 8:16 "The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor." The removal of Haman resulted naturally in the promotion of Mordecai. The peril threatening the Jewish people, however, was not yet by any means thwarted. The royal proclamation had got out that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the Hebrew people should be massacred. According to Persian law, no such royal proclamation could be directly reversed. Some other way had to be discovered if the people were to be saved. Through the intervention of Esther, the king granted permission to Mordecai to send another proclamation under the royal seal allowing the Jews to arm and defend themselves. God brought about the deliverance of His people through ordinary channels, but through the extraordinary method of sending the king's own messengers with haste to urge the Jews to be ready against what would have been the fateful day of their own slaughter by the previous royal proclamation! We can understand, therefore, about the highlighted light, gladness, joy, and honor that the Jewish people experienced when they received this amazing news. Since other people throughout the kingdom recognized this complete reversal as coming from the hand of God, many of them "became Jews" themselves (verse 17). In a distant land and on a dark day, God gave His people an undeniable sign of His watchful care over them that filled their hearts with joy. The value of this story then and now is that it reveals anew the greatness of God's love for His own, and stirs the heart to become one of God's own.

Esther 9:32 "The command of Esther established these customs for Purim." In this chapter we have a full account of what happened on that fateful thirteenth day of the twelfth month. The changed conditions of Haman and Mordecai were revealed that day throughout every province in the kingdom. People who had habitually mistreated the Jews and were looking forward to the opportunity of exterminating them by royal decree now found themselves filling the places they had intended their victims to occupy. Not only were the Jews protected, but also their most implacable enemies were rooted out near and far. It was in remembrance of this great deliverance that the Feast of Purim was established. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month was the day that the lots or Purim Haman tossed back in chapter 3 designated as the optimum time to destroy the Jews. Since God overruled those lots in a big way, the fourteenth and fifteenth days of that month were designated as a joyous new festival of remembrance, appropriately called the Feast of Purim. There was feasting, rejoicing, giving of gifts, and sharing food with the needy while all were reminded of how God delivered His people. At the command of Esther, this happy celebration of remembrance became an annual tradition from that point on. It is a remarkable fact that while there have been breaks in the observances of the other great Jewish feasts, and some practically discontinued, the Feast of Purim has been maintained to this day. Jewish leaders have always regarded the Book of Esther as an exposition of the method by which God rescued His people in a time of peril, even while they chose to live in exile, and so of His unceasing care for them. It has given the Jewish people hope in many dark and desolate days.

Mordecai Was Entrusted with the King's Seal
Esther 10:3 "Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus." This tiny chapter gives us a last glimpse of a particularly fine man. Probably all the experiences Mordecai had of God's protective care molded his character to likewise care for God's people. His elevation in political status as second only to King Ahasuerus did not alienate him from his own people. He continued to seek their good and speak up for the welfare of his whole nation. Therefore he was held in highest honor among them, as well as trusted in the realm in which he exercised authority. Perhaps there is no severer test of greatness of soul than rapid political advancement. Too often such advancement has been the undoing of men who, in poverty or under disfavor in high places, have been true men. The man who can move to wealth and position among the mighty of the earth, yet still maintain his integrity and loyalty to his own, is truly a great man. The secrets of such greatness are invariably that his roots are in God.
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Sunday, July 26, 2015

NEHEMIAH+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.



Nehemiah 1:2 "I asked them about the Jews...and Jerusalem." An interval of about 12 years occurred between the beginning of spiritual reformation under Ezra and the coming of Nehemiah. This book continues to tell what happened to the Jewish remnant that returned to their homeland under Zerubbabel almost 90 years ago from their Babylonian Captivity. Many of the Jewish people decided to stay in the land of their captivity. Nehemiah's family were among them and Nehemiah had a prominent position in the capital city under King Artaxerxes, but he had a keen interest in the welfare of his fellow Jews in Jerusalem. When his brother Hanani and other men came up to the capital from that area, he asked them about the conditions there and was deeply distressed with the news he heard. Most searing in his mind was the vulnerability and shame of the people with the walls and gates still smashed and burned from when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem under King Nebuchadnezzar almost 150 years ago. Nehemiah carried his burden to God in prayer. Without reserve he acknowledged the sin of his people, identifying himself closely with them. He then pleaded the promises of God for his people's well-being, and asked the Lord to give him favor in the eyes of his employer, the king. In his heart formed a resolve to do more than pity if the door of opportunity opened. All this is patriotism on the highest level. Nehemiah recognized his nation's special relationship to God, identified with her sorrows and her sins, and determined to help her as best he could, trusting God to make a way.

Nehemiah 2:4-5 "Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king..." That prayer was like an arrow shot up from Nehemiah's heart just before he took advantage of the opportunity God was now providing through the king. Prayer is always practical, for it reaches and apprehends the actual and final forces, and demands action in harmony with its desires. Having sought the help of God, Nehemiah spoke with perfect honesty when the opportunity came. In the presence of the king, Nehemiah was unable to hid his sadness over his brother Israelites' condition in Jerusalem. He had not been naturally or habitually a sad man, as he himself declares, which leads some to assume he was hoping his sorrow would make Artaxerxes curious, but that strains the narrative since Nehemiah confesses he was filled with fear when the king detected his sorrow. Kings do not tend to employ negative people. God helped his courage to overcome his fear, so he told the king the cause of his grief and boldly asked to be allowed to go help his brethren. The king asked specific questions and Nehemiah was prepared with sensible answers. In answer to his fervent prayers, Nehemiah  was given permission to go and was soon on his way to Jerusalem. In all our endeavors, prayer is to be our first and principal line of activity, but more is necessary. God expects our cooperation. He will touch the hearts of kings and presidents, but we must make our venture with our reason and good sense for the accomplishment of all that we ask of Him.

Nehemiah 3:2 "Next to them." This phrase or its equivalent ("next to him") runs through the first half of the chapter, occurring no fewer than 15 times. Then another pair of phrases, "after them" or "after him," occur 16 times to the end. By this linking of groups of workers, the labor on the wall and gates of Jerusalem began. Nehemiah's description is orderly and proceeds around the entire enclosure of the city, including all the gates and connecting parts of the wall. Beginning at the Sheep Gate, which was near the Temple and through which the sacrifices passed, he tells about the team at the Fish Gate in the merchant quarter, the Old Gate in the ancient part of the city, and then the Valley Gate, Refuse Gate, Fountain Gate, Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, and finally the Inspection Gate until linking back to the Sheep Gate. The unifying fact was the wall. All the workers were inspired by their shared determination to see it completed. To make that happen, the work was systematically divided. Each group was united in the effort to do the particular portion allotted to them. All the groups depended on one another for their individual efforts to be effective, so were united in the goal of completing the wall. This is a striking picture of unity and diversity working together. There was no sense of separation. Each person worked "next to" or "after" a fellow worker, and so a complete union of workers and work was realized.

Nehemiah 4:9 "We prayed to our God and set a guard." That is the recipe for success to those who are called to work for God in the face of danger. As the wall got higher, opposition from the local enemies of the Jews passed from mockery to anger mixed with contempt. Nehemiah was aware of the menace that attitude held for the work he had in hand, so he lifted his heart in prayer to God. An illuminating sentence in his vigorous first-person narrative at this point is that "the people had a mind to work" (verse 6). Nehemiah had so inspired the people that the work went forward until the wall was raised to half its height. At this point the opposition became more fierce, and a determined attempt was made by conspiracy to halt its progress. That is when Nehemiah and the people prayed together and set a guard. They were characterized neither by foolish independence from God nor foolhardy neglect of human responsibility and precaution. Everything was done to insure a two-fold attitude of complete faith in God and determined personal effort. That is how God's workers experience success.

Nehemiah 5:7 "I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles." A new difficulty now presented itself from within. The rich men among the people exacted usury from their poorer brethren to the extent of oppressing and impoverishing them. Perhaps nowhere does the nobility of Nehemiah's character shine out more clearly than here. There is a fine touch in his highlighted declaration that he consulted with himself and contended with nobles who were not acting nobly. Nehemiah's consultation with himself resulted in his determination to set an example of self-denial by not even taking provisions that were his right as the king's appointed governor over the Jewish people. His high example produced immediate results: all the nobles gave back what they took in usury, and made a solemn pledge to go easy on the people from then on. Now the people were relieved from their unnecessary financial burdens and filled with joy. Everyone went forward in their work with new enthusiasm, finishing the wall in record time. Only from the position of personal holiness is a man or woman able to deal effectively with wrong in others. Contending with those who are violating principles of justice is of no avail without first consulting with self. It is also true that consultation with self that produces right personal action is not enough. No man or woman has the right to be satisfied with his or her own moral state without regard for others. In the interest of those who are being wronged, he or she must be prepared and willing to contend with those who are inflicting the wrong.

Nehemiah 6:15 "So the wall was finished." The word "so" invites us to consider how that dangerous and difficult work was accomplished. First and foremost, the work was of God. That wall now became a visible symbol of God's protection over the people of Israel. The remnant would be kept safe in that area until the Messiah or Christ would appear. Jerusalem's wall was the material expression of that isolation and security. When we turn from the divine purpose for that wall to the human agents who built it, we find the project was driven by the patriotism and high devotion of one man. Nehemiah was able to weld the people into a unity of heart and purpose through his godly influence and skilled leadership. He and his people were characterized by caution and courage that persisted passionately against all opposing forces. The enemies of the work sought to prevent it by all means, ranging from contempt to conspiracies and subtlety. Against every method, Nehemiah and his helpers remained resolute. Nothing turned them aside until the massive wall was finished in an astonishing 52 days. Such strength against opposition came from their clear sense of the greatness of their task. That is how God's work is done. The Lord leads, guides, and compels circumstances to aid His workers, and they respond by knitting their hearts to His will and refusing anything from without or within to hinder them.

Nehemiah 7:2 "He was a faithful man and feared God more than most men do." That is how Nehemiah described the man he placed in authority over the city of Jerusalem after the wall was completed, but it also is an apt description of Nehemiah himself. All the safety arrangements he made for the city, recorded in this chapter, were characterized by statesmanlike caution. The walls and gates were now sound and strong, but the city itself, apart from the Temple, needed rebuilding. Through all the country round about were enemies, so the partially restored city remained vulnerable. Therefore Nehemiah established wise plans for the city gates to be opened only in broad daylight when everyone was about, and closed all other times, with specific arrangements for the guards. No greater mistake can be made regarding the work of God in difficult places than a lack of caution. Carelessness is never a sign of faith or courage. True bravery prepares for the possibility of attack. The man most responsible for building the wall to completion, sword in hand while doing so, did not imagine that the swinging of gates on their new hinges meant there could be a relaxation of watchfulness. Nehemiah wanted what was built to last, and that is why he picked a governor characterized by faithfulness and the fear of God, which are two sides of the same coin. Fidelity to duty is the outcome of the fear of God, and the fear of God always produces faithfulness. Nothing is sufficiently strong to produce lasting fidelity other than this holy and loving fear. If a man is unfaithful in his appointed task while declaring his loyalty to God, "he is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). The secret of the courage that is cautious and the caution that is courageous is a healthy fear of God.

Nehemiah 8:10 "The joy of the Lord is your strength." The material side of Nehemiah's work being completed, the spiritual and moral work of bringing the people back more intelligently under the influence of God's Law went forward. Ezra now appeared upon the scene for a remarkable religious convention. This was hardly something that was forced, for "all the people gathered as one man at the square in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel" (verse 1). There was first a public reading and then apparently a breaking up into groups under the direction of selected Levites since we are told "they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading" (verse 8). That may have involved translation for some of the hearers, but mostly was an exposition or verse-by-verse explanation so everyone understood what they were hearing in a systematic way. Ezra 7:10 tells of Ezra's personal commitment to study the Law, put it into practice, and then teach it. Ezra and his like-minded teachers had a passion for helping all the people know and love God and His Word. The people were moved to tears when they came to understand how they and their ancestors had repeatedly violated the Law and how the hardships they had suffered were just. It was to this state of mind that the highlighted verse about the joy of the Lord was uttered. The joy of the Lord is that which gives Him satisfaction, and that is clearly expressed in His Law. The joy of the Lord is His people's strength because strength comes from obeying His Law, which adds a new dimension to obedience. Notice how the psalmist expressed it: "Your decrees have been the theme of my songs wherever I have lived" (Psalm 119:54). Because God's Word is the method by which He makes known the way of strength, it is His joy. When we discover that, statutes which once filled us with fear become our delight and our song. They are indeed our strength. To quote from the Law of Moses, "The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation" (Exodus 15:2).

Nehemiah 9:5 "Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed and exalted above all blessing and praise!" The wall being completed and the Law expounded, the people proceeded to obey the Law by observing two of the fall feasts: the joyful Feast of Tabernacles and something like the solemn Day of Atonement. In all this they were led by the Levites, and this chapter is  occupied with the great prayer of humble confession and adoration they offered. The remarkable thing about it is its emphasis on praise. Observe how it flows. The first section is wholly of praise (verses 5-15): it praises God for who He is in Himself in His majesty (5-6), His founding their people through Abraham (7-8), His deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage (9-11), and His constant guidance (12-15). The second section contrasts God's grace with the repeated failure of His people (16-31). It is a frank, full, and humble confession of repeated sin, yet the focus is on God's readiness to pardon. The third and final section is a plea for His help and continued goodness in the form of a solemn covenant that the leaders put in writing and signed (32-38). This prayer is a model of the way to approach God in confession. Our hearts are strengthened when we contemplate God's glorious, majestic Person and His continual grace. To see God's glory and grace is to know our sin and be driven to confession and repentance.

Nehemiah 10:39 "We will not forsake the house of our God." This chapter gives more details about the covenant the people made with the Lord following their humble corporate prayer. This covenant was sealed by individuals representing the priests (verses 3-8), the Levites (9-13), and the rulers (14-27); to its terms all the people agreed (28). The terms are set forth in general phrases and in particular applications. Generally the people promised "to walk in God's Law...to observe and do all His commandments." Particularly the covenant addressed areas where they and their ancestors had stumbled repeatedly: intermarrying with the surrounding idolatrous peoples, neglecting the Sabbath, and disregarding their tithes for Temple maintenance and other important aspects of community life. Nehemiah knew the supreme importance of the Temple for his people's spiritual life so he concluded the account here by saying, "We will not forsake the house of our God," highlighted above. True worship is paramount because God is so utterly worthy, but it does not in any way enrich God, who is all sufficient. It does, however, enrich us. There is a sense in which God is robbed if we cease to worship Him because whenever we do, we suffer impoverishment in the deepest part of us, and that results in moral breakdown. Therefore, let us always say, "We will not forsake the house of our God."

Nehemiah 11:2 "The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem." In this and the next two chapters we find the arrangements for settling the cities throughout Israel, starting with Jerusalem. These are the last pages of Old Testament history. A few details of later conditions are scattered in the writings of the prophets, but nothing more is distinctly historic until, after a lapse of 400 years, we have the events recorded in the New Testament. Not more than about 50,000 people returned to Israel after the Babylonian Captivity, and most of them settled in the surrounding cities, which were not destroyed like Jerusalem was by the Babylonians. Jerusalem, therefore, was a particularly difficult place to return for resettlement. Not only would it attract only the most pioneering of souls, but also it was the center of danger as a target for attack by numerous enemies. It was therefore arranged that the leaders of Israel should dwell in the city, joined by 10 percent of the population, determined by lot, to have enough people there to make Jerusalem a thriving city again. In addition, some of the Israelites volunteered to make Jerusalem their home even though they were not obliged to. Those are the people honored in the highlighted verse, but that statement gives occasion for soul searching. It is an easy thing for those who do not volunteer for places of danger to applaud those who do, but it is not a particularly fine thing to do. Applause of heroism is neither costly nor valuable. It is a good thing that great enterprises do not depend on such people. The heroes are always to be found. Their reward is in their deed, rather than the praise of those who admire but do not help.

Nehemiah 12:43 "The joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar." This chapter tells about the official dedication ceremony of the wall. First there were two great processions in which the appointed singers and musicians praised God in particularly joyful worship. One group proceeded one direction along the wall through the gates with half of the people following, the other went the opposite direction, and everyone met at the Temple. Once there, "they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy"—so much joy, in fact, that "the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar." It was a great day, greater even than those people knew. The spiritual reformers of the nation had sought to bring this remnant, weak and small though it was numerically, back to a deep sense that their relationship to God was the most important aspect of their national life. Their joy that day was the joy of the Lord, and it was indeed their strength. All the material splendor of their monarchy had passed, but in their devotion to the Law and the purposes of God as manifested in the rebuilding of the wall, there was a moral power that surpassed the old days, when in their folly the Israelites clamored for a "king like all the other nations have" (1 Samuel 8:5).

Nehemiah 13:7 "I came to Jerusalem, and understood." After the dedication ceremony when the wall was finished, Nehemiah returned to King Artaxerxes' service, as promised (Nehemiah 2:6). This chapter tells us that 12 years later, he received permission to return. The deeds Nehemiah did when he returned reveal that his perception, strength, resolution, and loyalty to God continued unabated. What he understood as soon as he came back (the highlighted verse) were 4 abuses that he set about at once to correct with characteristic energy, without the slightest hesitation or any sign of weakness. Eliashib the priest had actually given a place within the very Temple to Tobiah, one of the enemies who worked hardest to hinder the building of the wall! Nehemiah flung out the inappropriate occupant and his furniture, and restored the chamber to its proper use.  He found in the second place of severity that the Levites were unable to devote their whole time to Temple service because the tithes were not being properly paid. Nehemiah contended with the nobles and at once corrected that abuse. He found, moreover, that the Sabbath was being violated again, and restored the divine order for that special day. Finally, he found that some of the people fell into the same temptation of making mixed marriages, and with unsparing force dealt with the evil that led to the Babylonian Captivity that flattened the Jerusalem walls in the first place. Nehemiah illustrates that the man or woman who looks at life from God's perspective will truly understand. Such a person does not seek soft and easy methods for dealing with abuses. To be quick in understanding from a healthy fear of God is to be resolute in dealing with all that is contrary to His will.

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Saturday, July 18, 2015

EZRA+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.



Ezra 1:1 "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus." To human observation God's purposes often seem delayed. The consistent message of the Bible is they are never abandoned, and from God's perspective, they are not delayed but right on time. The historical books before Ezra tell the story of the complete failure and breakup of a nation chosen by God for His high purposes. That nation had become a people scattered and peeled, having lost national position and power—and even a sense of national consciousness. Nevertheless, God still moved on toward His ultimate purpose of redemption, not only of the Jewish people, but of the human race through them by the Jewish Messiah. Through 70 years of captivity, by the very processes of suffering, He prepared a remnant to return, rebuild, and essentially hold the fort until the Messiah, the true Seed and Servant, would come at the perfect time. The history of this return to Jerusalem sets forth clearly the truth of God's supreme rule over all. He compelled the most unlikely instruments to accomplish His will. Babylon had carried away His people into captivity, and by so doing had fulfilled His purpose. They, however, treated the conquered nation with undue severity so in process of time, and in fulfillment of the distinct prophecy from Isaiah well over 100 years before, Cyrus the Persian broke the power of Babylon. In Ezra 1 we see Cyrus as chosen and commissioned by God to restore the Jewish people to their own land. Cyrus himself had an obvious sense of that reality. How constantly in human history God has compelled kings and rulers to carry out His sovereign will!

Ezra 2:70 "Now the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities." These words summarize the lengthy chapter that they close. It contains the register of those who, taking advantage of Cyrus's decree, turned their faces toward their homeland. The list proceeds in a definite order from the leaders downward. First the names are given of those immediately associated with Zerubbabel, a direct descendant of David and ancestor of the Greater David (verses 1-2). Then follow the names and numbers of families (3-35), the names of members of the priesthood (36-39), the list and numbers of the Levites (40-42), the temple servants (55-58, commonly believed to have descended from the Gibeonite con), the children of Solomon's servants (55-58), a number who had lost track of their genealogical ties (59-63), and finally the surprisingly paltry total of the people (under 50,000) and livestock. It is an interesting record, showing the mixed and representative nature of the returning remnant. The people thus returning are distinctly spoken of as "the men of the people of Israel" (verse 2). That reference clearly is not to the Northern Kingdom only, for it was the Southern Kingdom that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away. It apparently means that representatives of tribes from the Northern Kingdom also returned. Noticeable also is that relatively few Levites are named; 10 times as many priests compared to Levites returned.

Ezra 3:12 "The old men who had seen the first Temple wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy." The leaders in this great movement of return were conscious of what really mattered in the life of the people. This chapter begins by telling us that as soon as they briefly settled in their cities, "the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem" (verse 1). The first thing they did was establish the altar and observe the Feast of Tabernacles, the most joyful of all the feasts. Then they established all the other feasts and the divinely appointed order of daily worship. Notice their mysterious motivation: "for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands" (verse 3). Different interpretations have been suggested, but the one that seems to suit the situation best is they were painfully aware of how much trouble their people got into before by neglecting the altar and adopting the idolatrous practices of surrounding peoples. To prevent a repetition of such failure, they immediately set up the true altar. (To their credit, the Jewish people have never returned to idolatry after the Babylonian Captivity.) The next step was rebuilding the Temple. The foundations were laid in the second year of their return, commemorated with fitting ceremonies and celebration. Then it was that the lamentations of the old men broke out, highlighted above. They realized that this Temple would be smaller and less magnificent than the Temple they remembered. We can sympathize with their feelings, but should recognize the danger. Regrets over the past that paralyze work in the present are always wrong. The backward look that discounts present activity blinds the eyes to the true value and significance of the present, which always take time and patience to discern.

Ezra 4:3 "You have no part with us in building a Temple to our God." This chapter tells about opposition to the Temple work by the neighboring Samaritans. It proved successful for a time. The first method of opposition was an offer of cooperation. Zerubbabel was asked to admit into partnership those who really were enemies of the work. It was a subtle peril. Human reasoning, acting on the level of policy merely, might be inclined to think there could be no harm, but only advantage in gaining help from any source. Men and women of faith have often fallen into that blunder by associating themselves closely with people who do not share their faith, and are therefore in the deepest sense opposed to their priorities. Zerubbabel and company were not deceived. They detected the peril at once and gave the well-reasoned response highlighted above. Those words reveal a principle of perpetual application and persistent urgency. God must be our God before we can build a House for Him. People who do not submit to Him can have no part in doing His work. It would be an affront to God and does injury to them by giving them a false sense of security. To have done many works for the King is of no value if, as Jesus concluded in the Sermon on the Mount, the King is obliged to say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:21-23).

Ezra 5:2 "With them were the prophets of God, helping them." This chapter sheds light on the true relationship between prophetic ministry and national life. The good work of building the Temple stopped for 16 years because of local opposition, so God led the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to tell the leaders and the people to press on with finishing the Temple. Judged by human standards, Zerubabbel and Joshua the High Priest were tempted to plead the difficulties of their situation and their need to obey the edict of the reigning king. Judged by the divine standard, they had no right to cease the work God called them to do. That is the special contribution the prophets of God are called to make to national life. They introduce into human thinking eternal realities that are all too easily forgotten: in this case that national strength consists in recognizing God's reign and relating rightly to it. Any government that forgets God is powerless to realize the highest conditions for its people. When all aspects of life are considered in the light of His revealed will and wisdom, they assume their proper proportions. Under the inspiration they received from Haggai's and Zechariah's biblical instruction, Zerubbabel and Joshua took up their work again on the new Temple and carried it through to completion. The opposition did not stop, but the prophets' ministry renewed the people's awareness of God's will,  and they went forward in spite of challenges from their enemies. A nation's moral life reaches the highest degree of strength when its people are rightly related to God and His purposes.

Ezra 6:14 "According to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia." The right to rebuild the Temple came directly from King Cyrus. The governor Tattenai, who was leading the opposition against the Temple work, either did not believe that Cyrus ever gave such a decree or thought it was long enough by now with a new king on the scene that the decree would be lost or buried in obscure records. The elders of the Jews, the eye of their God being upon them, persisted in the Temple reconstruction. Tattenai appealed to King Darius that a search for Cyrus's decree should be made and Darius agreed, rather than merely ruling immediately one way or another. He proved to be an instrument of God in the same way Cyrus was, for the search he authorized was thorough. We know that because we are told where Cyrus's decree was found. The search naturally began in the archives at Babylon, but it was not there. It was eventually found in a fortress town. Imagine how easily the search could have been abandoned! But under divine compulsion the search continued until Cyrus's decree was found, vindicating the Jewish elders. Later, another royal decree from the following Persian king, Artaxerxes, made possible the coming of Ezra and the beginning of a new spiritual movement in Israel.

Ezra 7:6 "A skilled scribe." This phrase, descriptive of Ezra, is connected with a new order in the life of the nation. Under Israel's united kingdom, a scribe was a royal secretary. Under the divided kingdom, the scribes had become men whose business it was to copy and to study the laws of the nation. With Ezra a new order began. The scribes now had as their chief business interpreting the Law of God and applying it to all the changing conditions of life in Israel, for new circumstances were constantly arising. As messengers of the will of God, they eventually took the place of the prophets, for Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi (who preached during Ezra's time) were the last prophets until the New Testament era 400 years later. The scribes did not receive new revelations, but instead explained and applied the old. Of this new order, Ezra was the founder and example. The word "skilled" highlighted above does not refer to Ezra's pen but to his mind. He was an expert in the exposition and application of God's Word. Notice Ezra's qualifications in verse 10: he "set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach." Those were the priorities then, and they are the priorities now for Bible teachers explaining and applying "the Faith that the Lord has once for all entrusted to His people" (Jude 1:30).

Ezra 8:22 "I was ashamed to ask the king." Those words reveal the quiet strength and true greatness of Ezra. The journey before him and those who were about to accompany him was full of peril. Ezra was keenly aware of those potential problems, yet would not ask for help from an earthly king, however well-inclined that king might be. He said he was ashamed to do so because he had boasted to King Artaxerxes about the strength of the Lord God Almighty. That boast was by no means an empty one. To Ezra the matter of supreme importance was the honor of God in the mind of the king. The voluntary gifts of the king were welcome. They were expressions of the king's sense of the greatness of the God Ezra faithfully told him about. It would have been another matter if he asked the king to help him do what he had declared God was able to do for him. To ask for soldiers would have been to make a tacit confession of doubt in his own heart of God's ability or willingness to protect his enterprise. Ezra had no doubt so he made no such request. This is a good illustration of the dependence and independence of those who put their confidence in God. God never fails those who act in full dependence on Him, and so in complete independence of all others.

Ezra 9:4 "I sat there appalled until the evening offering." On Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem, officials there acquainted him with the failure and sin of the people. During the 80 or so years that elapsed since the return under Zerubbabel, there had been no return to idols, but there had been something close to it in the willful breaking of God's Law against intermarriage with the peoples of the land. The chief offenders had been the rulers themselves! When Ezra heard, he was filled with righteous indignation and profound grief. As the storm of his emotions subsided, in which he tore his garments and plucked at his beard, he settled into silent astonishment until the evening offering. Then he fell upon his knees before God and poured out his soul in prayer. That prayer is recorded in this chapter. Ezra identified himself with the people as he spoke of "our sins...our guilt." He reviewed the nation's history in contemplation as knelt before God, and saw it had been one long story of failure and consequent disaster. He then remembered and spoke of God's grace in making possible the return of the remnant through the favor of the Persian kings. Then the surging sorrow of his heart concerning the future and repeating past mistakes found expression in free and full confession. At last, without any petition for deliverance, he cast himself and the people upon God, recognizing His righteousness and their inability to stand before Him. This is a revelation of the only attitude in which a man may become a mediator: he must first have a biblical sense of sin, which is the outcome a deeper sense of the righteousness and grace of God. It finds expression in a confession of sin in which he identifies himself with the sinners.

Ezra 10:4 "Be of good courage and do it." The sincerity and passion of Ezra's vicarious repentance produced immediate results. The people had gathered about him during the long hours of the day, and became painfully aware of the enormity of their sin as they saw this godly man so deeply affected by it. At last one of their number, Shecaniah, spoke to Ezra, acknowledging the sin and suggesting the remedy. Using the words highlighted above, he urged Ezra to courageous action. It was true advice Ezra had been waiting for. He immediately responded, first calling them into a sacred covenant that they would stop their evil practice and carry out their covenant with fair and impartial justice. All the marriages contracted with the women of the land were annulled. They were legally declared invalid because the men had no right to enter into them. God's Law protected the Messianic line, but once the Messiah came, the New Testament or Covenant declared a new Law. One example of the difference the Gospel makes is "the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy" (1 Corinthians 7:14). That does not mean unbelieving spouses and children automatically become believers, but it reassures believers that they are not in a defiling situation like the people Ezra was ministering to. By following through on their covenant, those people were brought back into the place of separation. How widespread their sin was may be gathered from the list of the names that close this chapter. Priests, Levites, rulers, and people in general had been guilty. None was exempt from the reformation, which was carried out with complete thoroughness. Such action is the only satisfactory expression of sorrow over sin. The man who sets "his heart to study the Law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach" (Ezra 7:10) will invariably bring himself into places where sorrow enters his heart, and intrepid courage is the only remedy for all concerned.
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