Nov 20, 2022
EZRA 9-10:
Yesterday we heard how Ezra introduced himself.
Note that he spoke of himself in the 3rd person, but finally
resorted to ‘I’. King Artaxerxes was certainly impressed by Ezra!
Ezra was given everything he could have wanted, guaranteeing
full government support of the temple worship in every way. Note
how methodical Ezra was, making sure that he took Levites and
temple servants along. His total party must have been at least
1,000 men. So with women and children, it would have been quite a
group. And evidently others were coming back separately as
well.
ISAIAH 33:
Having eyes to see and ears to hear is a theme
in Isaiah, and remember what Jesus always said, “You got ears,
don’t ya? Well then use them!” (My translation.) So this part of
yesterday’s reading bears repeating:
Is.
32:1 NLT Look, a righteous king is coming!
And honest princes will rule under
him.
2 Each one will be
like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the
storm,
like streams of
water in the desert
and
the shadow of a great rock in a parched
land.
3 Then everyone who
has eyes will be able to see the truth,
and everyone who has ears will be able to hear
it.
PHILIPPIANS 1:
Remember how Paul in 2nd Corinthians showed
clearly that he loved the Corinthian believers. Now in Philippians,
written around the year 61 when Paul was under house arrest in
Rome, we have a love letter to the Philippian church. However
unlike 2nd Corinthians, in this letter there is no scolding. This
is a prison letter. Paul has suffered so much! Yet there is such a
tone of joy in this letter from beginning to end. One is reminded
that it was in Philippi where Paul and Silas were unjustly beaten
and put in the lowest dungeon, but were singing praises in the
middle of the night.
This letter includes Paul’s wonderful poem of praise about the humility of Christ and the final outcome of his self-sacrifice. And Paul exhorts us to imitate Christ in his humility. This also means that we should forgive one another and strive for unity. Note the example of the Euodia and Syntyche in chapter 4. And this letter of Philippians holds some of the most precious promises in Scripture. Let’s find them and claim them!
GNT Translation
notes:
Php. 1:15 Of
course [there are some people who//some of them] preach Christ
because they are jealous and quarrelsome, but others from genuine
good will.
16 [Those in
that last group//These] do so from love, because they know that God
has given me the work of defending the
gospel.
17 The others[,
however,] do not proclaim Christ sincerely, but from a spirit of
selfish ambition; they think that they will make more trouble for
me while I am in prison.
25 I am sure of this, and so I know that I will
stay. I will stay on with you all, to add to your progress and joy
in [fully believing in Christ//the faith],
27 Now, the important thing is that your way of
life should be as the gospel of Christ requires, so that, whether
or not I am able to go and see you, I will hear that you are
standing firm with one common purpose and that with only one desire
you are fighting together for [belief in the gospel of Christ//the
faith of the gospel].