And the rest is silence - Nehemiah, Ezra, and Malachi were to have the last word, literally, for about 400 years, until we hear from the Fab Four (no not those Liverpool guys) Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As the Greeks replaced the Persians and the Romans the Greeks, many new and different cultural ideas and customs were introduced to our covenant followers. Gone were the great prophets and guess what our favorite frenetic people do again? After having seen the fullness, greatness and the Glory of God fully and prominently displayed again and again. You guessed it, up and down, on and off, promise keepers and promise breakers. Does this sound like anyone you know? I am that man/nation/people, too close to home - ouch! that hurts.

But just as God in the Old Testament always took his people back, so the promised Messiah brings us hope and restoration through his death and resurrection.

Posted by Rich Brown

Todays Post goes with the week 12, Day 5 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

And so the days of covenant living began again. With Nehemiah at the helm and watching diligently for any practices that did not agree with the Law of the Lord. In addition God sent his prophet Malachi who would help Nehemiah keep the people on the straight and narrow path and who would foretell of things to come. Here we see a “trailer”or preview as it were of the coming of Christ.

Posted by Rich Brown

Todays Post goes with the week 12, Day 4 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

Covenant was a serious thing with the Hebrew people. They swore on their lives when making covenant. They often drew and mixed blood to affirm their seriousness over it. It was more serious than our “promises” that we make to each other or to ourselves. It was a binding contract, and both parties had a responsibility to uphold their part of the covenant.”If I wll do this…then you shall do this in return…” If not the covenant was broken and “All bets were off”.

Thanks be to God that His covenant was not as man’s were, for they(we) broke our end of the bargain again and again and God simply said “its O.K. repent and come back and the deal’s still good. Grace my friends, GRACE.

Posted by Rich Brown

Todays Post goes with the week 12, Day 3 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

So what good is a city and walls without the people? What Nehemiah may or may not have realized was that his secondary (and maybe most important) goal was to rebuild Jerusalem’s (God’s) people.

For this task he had the help of Ezra the priest who publicly read the Book of the Law to the people. As a result the people repented, confessed their sins, separated themselves from foreigners among them and re-dedicated themselves to their covenant with God. Revival had begun!

Everywhere God’s people go a revival or a riot should follow, we are here to upset people’s applecarts!

Posted by Rich Brown

Todays Post goes with the week 12, Day 2 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

They say that “the third time is the charm”, well I guess so, because in this case Nehemiah was the third person to lead a re-building team to Jerusalem. Here he found its walls, and its people for that matter, in ruins.

Nehemiah, born a hebrew, was now through captivity, in the influential position of being the cupbearer to Artaxerxes-King of Persia-current ruler of Israel. Nehemiah prayed for the forgiveness of his wayward people and for God to honor the long-standing covenant that he had established with them (bless us as we bless and honor you oh LORD). He also prayed for and received favor in the eyes of the king.

Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding the city and its walls. No small task by any means. Once he convinced the people of Jerusalem to help, they repaired the wall in only 52 days. A feat that in spite of opposition in the form of ridicule, threats of attack, discouragement, extortion, compromise, slander, and treachery, would elicit the comments from even their enemies that “This work was done by God”.

How did he motivate the people to do such a great work? He lead by example sacrificing many of his “perks” as Governor of Judah.

What have we (I) done recently in the face of opposition? That would cause others to remark that “This was done by God”

Better yet how am I leading by example?

Posted by Rich Brown

Todays Post goes with the week 12, Day 1 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

Ezra was truly a role model to the Israelites.  He practiced what he preached—literally.  We can read in these two chapters how careful Ezra was in following God’s laws and trusting God for protection.  When he was traveling back to the temple he had a substantial treasure that he was carting along with him.  This would seem like a good target for thieves.  Ezra proclaimed a fast and prayed for protection.  How different from today was his actions.  If I was traveling with millions of dollars and going on a hike through downtown Nashville, I would want a small army for personal protection.  Not Ezra.  You see he had God to protect him and in hind sight who would want even a large army over God.  This action may seem small but also remember that the Persian king while sympathetic to the Israelites is not an Israelite.  One small lack of trust on God by Ezra might have long term implications on the whole Jewish nation.  Artaxerxes has placed faith in Ezra to restore the Jewish nation to its homeland and to reestablish their culture including their religion.  What would happen to them if Artaxerxes lost faith in their ability to resurrect the Jewish nation?  Thankfully we will never know.  Ezra studied the ways of the Lord, His laws, took care of children, took care of the elderly, prayed often, and instructed others on the ways of the Lord.  He was a stand up man for God and a role model for Christians 2500 years later.

Posted by Mike Kiser

Todays Post goes with the week 11, Day 4 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

Israel spent seventy years in exile from Jerusalem and filled many roles in the Babylonian kingdom.  The Babylonians were defeated by the Persians. The Persians then allowed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The Persian king even helped them financially by providing money, cattle, and items that were taken from the temple.  In chapter six we learned that not only did it take about twenty years to rebuild the temple and during this time Israel was following God’s laws.  I guess rock bottom had been hit and life style changes were taking effect.  At the end of the passage it struck me as particularly encouraging that not only did the Israelites give over a celebration offering but also a sin offering for the past sins.  By the by aren’t you glad we don’t have animal sacrifices any more. That just sounds gruesome:  200 bulls, 200 rams, 400 male lambs, and 12 male goats.  That’s a lot of icky no matter how you look at it.

 Again God kept his promise to Israel to only exile them for seventy years.  This time they listened to God and kept his commands.  They have learned from past mistakes and have changed their behavior.  Remember back to Day 1 of this week.  Have you conquered that sin that always seem to haunt you down?  Have you learned from your mistakes?  The Israelites were filled with joy and celebrated and so will you when you have conquered that inner demon.

Posted by Mike Kiser

Todays Post goes with the week 11, Day 3 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

In today’s readings, we find Judah right where we left it neck deep in hedonism and occupied by Babylonian forces.  Jehoiakim is now the king of Judah and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.  He rebelled against Babylon and failed.  His son, Jehoiachin, at least did not rebel. He just surrendered Jerusalem to the Babylonians.  Zedekiah, an uncle of Jehoiachin, was king after the surrendering of Jerusalem and he led a rebellion against Babylon.  Same story different day:  they all did evil in the eyes of the Lord and they all lost with worsening consequences.  The last resulted in absolute plundering of Jerusalem and Judah removed to captivity inside of Babylon.  Leviticus 26 was the promise or covenant between God and His people.  The rules were laid out plain:  keep my laws and you will protected, provided and cared for but break God’s laws and all bets are off.  It took years of misery and a special prophet named Daniel to bring God’s people back to their knees.

As a father I now believe I can more fully appreciate God as my Father and the love that entails.  Never before could I see myself wiping boogers off with my bare hand, catching feces with only a wet wipe between my hand and the projectile, or going to work with a spot on my shirt from some bodily fluid, snot/spit/tears who knows.  How many times has God endured worse from His children?  As a believer, we are God’s children and every time we sin we place a barrier in our relationship with Him.  God is always there to forgive when we turn over our lives to him the good with the bad. 

The message seems even bolder to me as I think about my childhood.  My father is a good man.  He taught his sons how to throw, catch, be tough, adventurous, polite, chivalrous, and honest.  We did not always meet those standards but none the less they were there.  I can remember how intemperate I was in my youth and my father giving me “man to man” talks.  I also remember the disappointment in his face when I erred and the sorrow he felt when he disciplined.  I remember when my stubbornness got in the way and my actions were just plain willful.  However, I can also remember how proud my father was when I confessed my wrong doings to him and took ownership of my own discipline.  I am lucky because my father may have taught me a more important lesson that took me years to realize—forgiveness.  You see my father showed me how my Father could take my sins, my mistakes, my hurt, and my past and show me compassion and forgiveness.  My father is a good man and my Father is so much more.

Men, it is a great burden we have the privilege to bear.  Our children need us to model our Father for them so they can pass it on to their children.  If you did not have a forgiving father then break the generational cycle and make an effort to change and if you do not have children do not be disheartened this message is for you as well.  There are countless children in this world that do not have a positive male role model in their life.  Become a big brother, get active in a youth group, a charity, pen pal a child from a far away land, etc. but be a man that makes your Father proud. 

One of the best “man to man” talks I have had with my father centers around this idea.  We were outside trimming trees with a cordless reciprocating saw, insert Tim Allen grunt, and all of the sudden he stopped working.  My father looked into my eyes and told me how proud of me he was when I graduated college and especially how proud of me he is when he watches me play with Caleb.  He told me how good of a dad I was.  All I could do, other than pull my jaw back up off the ground, was to say thank you.  Later I told him that he taught me well and I have a beautiful wife that constantly inspires me to be a better man every day.  Sometime soon I know that I will have a similar talk with my heavenly Father.  I only hope to hear the words:  “well done good and faithful servant I am proud of you.”  I am not sure how I will react but I hope I can muster more than a thank you. 

Posted by Mike Kiser

Todays Post goes with the week 11, Day 2 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

Throughout the Old Testament it seems like the same song:  God’s people turn from God, something horrible happens, God offers some hope if His people turn back to Him, and God’s people repent.  That led me to think what would happen if God’s people refused to repent?

We find Israel in a familiar situation:  worshipping other gods, setting up idols, burning incense, and doing wicked things.  Israel was sinning against God and was not repenting—only the tribe of Judah will be spared.  We see the Israelites were removed from their promised land and their attention was still not directed towards God.  In Chapter 21, Manasseh is now the king of Judah and he brings about a reversal for Judah.  His father Hezekiah had led Judah back to God and drove out the practices that angered God.  Manasseh not only brings all these evil practices back but kills Godly people and causes God to forsake the remnant of His people.

God’s people were exiled, forsaken, and left for plunder by its enemies.  What has me in the same place?  I am reminded that sin is what separates from God and that sin is what separated Israel from God.  What sin am I allowing to keep my life from my Father?  Many times I remember that same song in my life: I turn my back on God, something horrible happens, God speaks to me, and I repent.  It is never too late, you are never too far, and no one is too bad to accept God as their creator and Jesus as their savior.  Forgiveness is a sentence away but oh I have suffered until I come back to God.  I read these stories about Israel and it reminds me of history, humanity, divinely inspired forgiveness, and life.  The history of sin and how it has been conquered before, the prevalence of sin in human life—I am not the only one, the forgiveness of a beautiful Creator that only He can possess, and the wonderful gift of life that God has given me.  It is so easy to take God’s gifts and mercy for granted as we drift slowly away from His presence.  Israel slowly slipped away from God and found themselves exiled—where are you today?  Do you feel isolated?  God is always with you and His face is but a thought away.

Posted by Mike Kiser

Todays Post goes with the week11, Day 1 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.

Reading through the Old Testament we see prophet after prophet expressing God’s word to the world.   Usually that’s the prophet telling Israel that it’s gone astray.  But what about us?  Have you had any prophets in your life?  I haven’t run across too many people calling me out and telling me I wasn’t living right.
 
But I think we live in such a time where we worry so much about a person feelings that we don’t speak plainly.  Or we’re more concerned that the person will think poorly of us that we don’t speak the whole truth.  The prophets of the Old Testament didn’t usually beat around the bush when it came to the truth.

Posted by Rick Wilkerson

Todays Post goes with the week 10, Day 5 reading in the Dead Prophets Society Workbook.