Year Two, March 1
He Gathers the Outcasts of Israel1
Ezra 3
1When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. (There was a spirit of oneness among the returned exiles and a warm love for worshiping God. Therefore as soon as they had made whatever arrangements were absolutely needed for their own living, they met to plan the rebuilding of the temple. Things are sure to go well with the cause of God when all the people act as one.) 2Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. (Atonement for sin must be presented and thanks must be given. The Lord’s people love the altar of sacrifice.)
3They set the altar in its place (on its former foundation), for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, 5and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the LORD. (Although they were few and poor, they were very committed, and very careful to do exactly what the law commanded them. In this they are our teachers.) 6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 7So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
8Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the LORD. (The Levites were probably the best educated men and the most qualified for overseeing the work.) 9And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.
It was an honor to these men to be remembered and have their names recorded in the Bible. Anything we do for the church of God will also be honored and recorded.
10And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. (The laying of the foundation was celebrated with great, but holy, splendor and with praising the Lord. Who would not be glad when the Lord’s temple is being built?) 12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. (It was a magnificent structure; but for its size, the costliness of the stones, and the value of the metals, it was far inferior to Solomon’s. Besides this, it did not have the ark of the covenant or the Urim and Thummim. The glory of the original temple was missing. In everything we do for God we will see reasons to include regret with our rejoicing. We serve the Lord with gladness, but we are disappointed that we serve him so poorly. May the blood of Jesus purify our holy work.)
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1 Psalm 147:2
Year Two, March 2
You Are My God; I Will Extol You1
Our last reading (from Ezra chapter three) hints that when the foundation of the temple was laid the singers sang
Psalm 118
1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
the LORD answered me and set me free.
With the backing of Cyrus king of Persia, they had come from their captivity in Babylon to the freedom of their own land.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
The Samaritans and other jealous neighbors looked on the favored remnant of Israel with envy.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
Faith is more than a conqueror. Faith sings a song of victory before the battle is even over.
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the LORD exalts,
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
Israel was not quite dead. Fire still lived in the ashes of defeat and the nation would once again blaze with life.
18 The LORD has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
King David, who had once been despised and rejected by the people, now leads them in singing the hidden prophecy of Jesus, the Messiah, who is now the chief cornerstone of the church.
24 This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O LORD!
O LORD, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
The people blessed the priest, then the priest returned the blessing, and then they continued on to the sacrifice.
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let us treasure up this golden sentence and when we are in any difficulty or trouble let us immediately go to HIM, whose steadfast love endures forever.
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1 Psalm 118:28
Year Two, March 3
Consider Your Ways1
After the foundations of the temple had been laid, the work was opposed, and the people grew discouraged. The prophet Haggai was sent to urge them to complete the work they had begun.
Haggai 1
1In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2“Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” (The difficulties placed in their way by their enemies had discouraged the people. This led them to believe that the very specific time, mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, had not yet arrived. When we do not like an assignment it is easy to find an excuse for putting it off.) 3Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
They had made their own houses very nice places in which to live, but the temple was still little more than a pile of building stones. Its unfinished walls and roofless top stood accusing them of their lack of zeal for the Lord.
5“Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
Their unwillingness to do God’s work had kept them poor. If people are selfish and keep their wealth to themselves, and rob God of his share, they will not prosper. If they do get ahead, no blessing will come with it.
7“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. (Judge for yourselves whether you are acting honestly and fairly with the Lord or not. Consider if your poverty may have been sent as a response to your robbing God of what is owed to him.) 8Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.” (They gave little and therefore received little. When people are bad stewards, their great Lord refuses to trust them with his riches. If they hold back the small amount of grateful offerings the great Owner of all things asks, then he will take away their property and rent it out to others. This is only right and fair.)
12Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. 13Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.” 14And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
See the value of a man of God! His voice calls others to their duty that would otherwise have been forgotten. If we have been stingy with our money and effort for the cause of God, let Haggai’s voice sound across the centuries, and stir us also to dedication in service and liberality in gift to the work of the Lord.
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1 Haggai 1:5
Year Two, March 4
God Is in the Midst of Her; She Shall Not Be Moved1
Ezra 4:1-6
1Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, 2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
They were determined to maintain their commitment to separation according to the Lord’s will. Christians should also be separate from the world.
4Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6And in the reign of Ahasuerus (or Cambyses the son of Cyrus), in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
The result of this letter was not only an order to stop building the wall of the city, work on the temple also stopped until Darius became king. When Darius came into power the prophets Haggai and Zechariah inspired the people and the work began again. Opposition flamed up and another letter of protest was delivered to the king. Darius ordered a search to be made and the original decree of Cyrus was found. At this point King Darius issued a decree stating that no one should oppose the work. The wording of it was as follows:
Ezra 6:6-14
6“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. 7Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. (All opposition failed miserably. The enemies of the Jews were not expecting this turn of events. They were now ordered to supply the Jews with money for building the temple and disobeying an order of the king carried severe penalties. God can always do for his people “more abundantly than all that [they] ask or think.”2 The king also ordered them to supply animals for the sacrifices.)
9 “And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. 12May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.” (This was a royal decree in the Jews’ favor. The prophets stirred up the people to work and the work went on gloriously.)
13Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia. (May the Lord also build up his church in these days and glorify his son Jesus Christ our Lord.)
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1 Psalm 46:5
2 Ephesians 3:20
Year Two, March 5
The Silver Is Mine, and the Gold Is Mine1
Haggai 2:1-19
1In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 2“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? (This was another reason for the people to be discouraged. They compared this building with the first temple and claimed it would not amount to much. These days, many excuse themselves from doing their best by claiming they can only do a very little.) 4Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, (“I am with you” is the very best encouragement in all the world.) 5according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.
“‘My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. (Their poverty was not a good reason for delaying the building of the temple. God could find the resources they needed. In fact, he did! He opened the treasures of king Darius for their use. Our responsibility is to do our best for God’s cause and believe that the Lord will provide what is needed.) 9The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” (And so it was, because that is where the Lord Jesus appeared as, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to [his] people Israel.”2)
10On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, 11“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 12‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of good, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” (Under the law, holiness is not easy to transfer. Holy meat sanctified the garment in which it was carried, but nothing else beyond that was declared clean. People are not made holy by performing religious rituals.)
13“Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. (The uncleanness of the person offering the sacrifice made the sacrifice unclean. Sin is powerful; it poisons everything it touches. Oh, to be clean before the Lord! If we are not, then nothing we do will be acceptable to him.)
15“Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, 16how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. 18Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider: 19Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
When they began to serve the Lord with holy zeal, then he improved their lives. But until then they would have a curse on their storehouses and their crops. God save us as a family from such a curse!
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1 Haggai 2:8
2 Luke 2:32
Year Two, March 6
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The LORD Will Fight for You1
The prophet Zechariah worked alongside the prophet Haggai and helped bring about the completion of the temple. His prophecy is full of visions that are worthy of our careful study.
Zechariah 1:1-13; 18-21
1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2“The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. 4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8“I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel,2 and white horses. (He saw the Lord of all nature, accompanied by his ministering spirits, inspecting the nations. The red horses probably represented suffering and war; the sorrel, a mixture of events; and the white, times of prosperity.)
9“Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.’ 11And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ (He who guards his church, that he calls his myrtle trees, calls on his servants to give their report on what is happening on the face of the earth. They report there is a general peace.)
12“Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ (Would poor Israel not share in the widespread peace? Her intercessor does not forget to plead for her.) 13And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.” (Yes, better times would come and the Lord declared they were on the way.)
18And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
God will always find people to do his work. There were horns that needed to be cut off and here are the skilled craftsmen to do it. God will always find people qualified for the job. They were craftsmen, not fishermen. And he will always find enough people for the job. There were four horns, so are there four craftsmen to break them to pieces. Empires that have opposed the Lord have been crushed to powder and it will always be so. No power can stand against the Lord of hosts. Are we on his side? Have we believed in his Son Jesus? If so, no one can harm us; but if not, his wrath will overthrow us.
1 Exodus 14:14
2 sorrel - chestnut or reddish brown coloration
Year Two, March 7
Is Not This a Brand Plucked From the Fire?1
Let us read for our personal instruction:
Zechariah 3
1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
Every believer is a priest and stands before the angel of the Lord, who is the Lord Jesus. Our ministry is done in the presence of God and for his glory alone. The enemy of souls is forever ready to act as the accuser of Christians and interfere with all holy service to God. Often when we do not even know it, he comes forward and takes a stand against whatever might benefit us.
2And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?
We have a divine Advocate2 to plead our case. He pleads our election3 and our effectual calling.4 If the Lord has chosen us and rescued us from certain destruction, will he not accept the service that we give to him? Satan’s accusations against us are useless!
3Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.
Sadly, this is our condition too. We have not kept ourselves “unstained from the world.”5 But the care and love of the great Advocate shields us.
4And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” (Gone, forever gone. The sinfulness of the believer is no more. He is no longer condemned, but accepted in the sight of God. The pure vestments of Christ’s righteousness are ours.) 5And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by. (Sin is removed, righteousness is granted, honor is given, and all this thanks to the all-powerful word of that Angel of the covenant in which our soul delights. He is standing near and therefore all is well. We owe everything to Jesus. To him be glory forever.)
6And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, 7“Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.”
Believers who act obediently are honored with service and are enabled to glorify God by bringing forth the fruits of grace among their fellow believers. Would to God that more of us were distinguished by holiness and usefulness!
8“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. (This is the greatest announcement of all; Jesus is THE BRANCH from David’s root, the fruitful branch on which we hang all our hopes. He will build the true temple of God and all eyes will look on him as the one and only perfect foundation stone.) 9For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.”
God and people, angels and devils, saints and sinners, are all gazing on Jesus. What an engraving he endured when justice cut deep into his hands, and feet, and side. That was when iniquity was removed in a single day.
10“In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
Jesus will bring peace. His reign will end the sorrows and conflicts of the chosen people. Sin will be completely removed. Peace will be restored and established forever. Is each of us looking to the Lord Jesus for all things? Do we trust in him as our Advocate and is his righteousness our glorious garment?
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1 Zechariah 3:2
2 advocate - champion, supporter, someone who speaks in our favor
3 election - God’s choosing of those he would save from his wrath. He did this before he created the world; before humans existed, in part, to show that our good thoughts and actions are not capable of giving us a good relationship with God. Hence, the verse in 1 John 4:19, “We love [God] because he first loved us.”
4 effectual calling - The Holy Spirit’s working in God’s elect to convict them of their sin, change their wills and persuade them to trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation.
5 James 1:27
Year Two, March 8
On That Day There Shall Be a Fountain Opened1
Zechariah 4:1-10
1And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
The Jewish church was appropriately represented by the golden candlestick. The two olive trees, that mysteriously supplied the lamps with oil, were a picture of the secret way that grace is placed into the saints by the life of the Holy Spirit. Other lamps must be maintained with oil by human effort, but the Lord himself supplies the golden candlestick of his church.
5Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
God will work in his own way in spite of the weakness of his people or the power of their enemies. The vision was intended to teach Zerubbabel that, by secret methods, God would keep his church safe from declining because of poverty or being destroyed by enemies.
7“Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (The opposition of the Samaritans came to nothing and by the house of Darius the temple was happily completed.)
8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.”
God blessed the work and it went on under his supreme protection with angels watching over it. The spirit of the people was encouraged so that they did not fall behind, their enemies were held back, and all the materials needed to build the temple were given to them. And all of this was not by their own power, but by the Spirit of God. Let us learn to trust in God when we are the weakest and friends are the fewest, because he will appear and glorify himself in us.
The prophet also gave a remarkable prophecy about the future conversion of the Jewish people.
Zechariah 12:9-14
9“And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.”
Oh that this long anticipated day would come, so that poor Israel might take her proper place in the household of grace!
11“On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.”
Repentance must be personal and private or it cannot be real. Do we understand such repentance? Have we felt it for ourselves?
Zechariah 13:1
1“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” (When a soul mourns because of sin, its pardon is close. True repentance weeps at the foot of the cross. However, we do not mourn like sinners without hope, because we have washed in the atoning blood and are clean.)
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1 Zechariah 13:1
Year Two, March 9
Deliver Us From Evil1
Many Jews preferred to live in Persia and not return to the land of their fathers. Their love for the Lord was at a low point, but even so, God rescued them from their enemies in a remarkable way. This story is found in the Book of Esther. King Ahasuerus, or Xerxes, commanded Queen Vashti to show herself at a drinking party. She refused to do this immodest act and therefore the king divorced her. Beautiful women were gathered from every country in the kingdom so that he could choose a new queen. Among these women was Esther, who was presented for the king by her uncle Mordecai. Doing this demonstrated that Mordecai had turned very far aside from the purity that should be expected from a child of God. Nevertheless, the Lord used it for his people’s good. Esther became the queen and was able to use her position to influence the king to save the Jews.
Esther 3:1-13
1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. 2And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. (The Persians honored their rulers as leaders of their religion. The godly Jews refused to give them that honor.) 3Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” 4And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. 6But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. (What a mean and cruel spirit lived in this great lord! A man in his powerful position could just as easily allowed this Jew to act as he pleased. Was not receiving a nod from a poor Jew some mighty injury? Yes! Haman plots a horrible revenge; an entire nation must die to make up for the rough manners of one man.)
7In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
He superstitiously waited for a lucky day to unleash his vengeance on Mordecai’s nation. Happily the lot fell twelve months into the future. This gave plenty of time to reverse the king’s decree.
8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. 9If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents (about 375 tons) of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” 10So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. 11And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” (The subjects of such a hasty, thoughtless king must have been very unhappy people. It was a good thing for the world that Xerxes did not conquer the Greeks at Salamis!2)
12Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. (Just to satisfy the spiteful hatred of a favorite of the king, an ancient race must be massacred. God should be thanked that under a constitutional government our lives are not at the mercy of one man as the poor Israelites were.)
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1 Matthew 6:13
2 The Battle of Salamis - A naval battle between King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) and the Greek city-states near Athens, Greece in about 480 B.C. With 371 ships, the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet of 1,207 ships. Historians view this as one of the battles that changed the course of history.
Year Two, March 10
Then I Will Go to the King1
To please his favorite supporter, the king had doomed all the Jews to destruction. We can imagine the universal distress that this decision created.
Esther 4
1When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. (He felt as if he had been the cause of the overthrow of his people, because it was his choice to not bow down that made Haman decide to massacre every one of them.) 3And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. (As well they might, since they were all doomed to die by the sword. The Lord’s people were in great danger.)
4When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. 6Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, 7and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.
9And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. (Esther was supplied with evidence of the great danger her people were in. She heard the message from her uncle and could read the king’s decree for herself. She was the only person who could help her poor doomed nation. This would be a dangerous mission and she did not have that all-daring faith that some of her ancestors did. Her position as queen in a court of people who did not believe in her God was not one that encouraged the highest level of spiritual life.) 10Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s province know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
12And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Mordecai was sure that God would deliver his people in one way or another. He warned Esther that if she missed the honor of being her nation’s deliverer, she herself would not escape, because the king’s order would be carried out even in the palace.
15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” 17Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
If they would pray for her, she would take the risk. If Esther could find the courage to approach a hasty, overbearing tyrant, no repentant sinner has reason to fear coming to God by Jesus Christ.
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1 Esther 4:16
Year Two, March 11
If You Have Bitter Jealousy and Selfish Ambition in Your Hearts, Do Not Boast1
The three days of prayer and fasting were over and the time came for Esther to risk everything. She would attempt to see the king uninvited and plead for her nation.
Esther 5
1On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. (These kings put on a great show of ceremony. This was partly to impress their people with fear and wonder, and partly for their own safety. No one dared to approach the king unless they had been specially invited, because doing so meant immediate execution. For Israel’s sake, Esther was willing to face this life threatening danger.) 2And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” (She had good success from the beginning. If we will simply trust the Lord with boldness, he will help us.)
4And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” 5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. 6And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 7Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: 8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”
Either Esther did not yet have the courage to speak out or else she wisely judged that her influence over the king needed to be strengthened before it would outweigh that of the cunning favorite.
9And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. (Mordecai would look on Haman with a stern stare. He knew Haman intended to murder all the Jews and now looked on him with complete disgust.) 10Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. 12Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. 13Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” (Pride is a pitiful thing. It is so hungry for praise that the whole world cannot satisfy it if some one little thing goes wrong.)
14Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits (about 75 feet) high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” The idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.
Haman was such a favorite of the king that all he had to do was ask and he would have it. He decided to get rid of unpleasant Mordecai quickly. He would go to the king’s court in the morning and get the king’s authorization to have Mordecai executed. We will see what happened.
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1 James 3:14
Year Two, March 12
He Catches the Wise in Their Own Craftiness1
Esther 6
1On that night the king could not sleep. (He commanded 127 provinces, but could not command a little sleep.) And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. (He used his sleepless hours listening to the history of his reign and hoped he would fall asleep.) 2And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
Remarkable providence2 led to the reading of this record; the hand of the Lord was in it.
3And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
The king was impressed with the great service that Mordecai had provided. Perhaps he was struck with the uncompromising uprightness for which Mordecai was famous. In any event, he felt that such a loyal subject should not have been passed over and left unrewarded.
4And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5And the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” (He was up early to get permission to execute the man he hated, but the Lord had other ideas. Providence had brought him where he would prepare himself a bitter drink.) 6So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. 9And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”
Haman went as far as he dared, all the time imagining that all these honors were intended for him.
10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” 11So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”
12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. (Some would be “walking on air” after what had just happened, but Mordecai returned to his old place at the king’s gate.) But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. (He was as full of resentment and malice as he could be.) 13And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” (This was cold comfort. He had been deceived by his fortune tellers when they set a date for the Jews’ extinction and now they show him no compassion for this turn of events.)
14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared. (Little did he know how that banquet would end. And little do the enemies of the Lord know how surely and terribly they will be overthrown. May grace prevent our ever fighting against God!)
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1 Job 5:13
2 Providence - Usually, when used with a capital “P” it refers to God; when used with a lower case “p”, it refers to God’s will, his divine intervention, and his predetermination (predestination).
Year Two, March 13
So May All Your Enemies Perish, O LORD!1
Esther 7
1So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.”
This was well and boldly spoken. Haman must have squirmed in anguish as he heard it.
5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
7And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. (As a condemned man, he would never again see the light of the sun. Haman was such a proud man that even the king’s attendants were glad to see his downfall. And because his malice toward Mordecai was so well known, they wasted no time telling the king about it.) 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” 10And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
However, even though Haman was now dead, the decree for the slaughter of the Jews remained in force.
Esther 8:3-11; 15-16
3Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4When the king held the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
9The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods. (The decree to kill the Jews could not be reversed, but its effect was removed by the new decree that the Jews could defend themselves and kill those who opposed them.)
15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.
The children of Abraham lived on, despite the schemes of Satan and Haman. And so will the Church of the living God triumph over all the assaults of hell and false religions. Praise the Lord!
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1 Judges 5:31
Year Two, March 14
The LORD Your God Will Restore Your Fortunes1
More than seventy years after Sheshbazzar had led the first exiles back to Jerusalem,2 according to the decree of Cyrus, the Lord stirred up Ezra, a priest, to bring another group to the beloved city. Believing men and women left the ease and comfort of the land in which they were living and came together to return to the holy place where their fathers had previously worshiped the true God. The company began their journey with the full approval of the Persian king, Artaxerxes. Ezra acted as his own historian and gives us this report.
Ezra 8:15-25; 28-35
15I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. 16Then I sent for…men of insight, 17and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us minsters for the house of our God. (Ezra felt that they must have the priests of the Lord with them. What can righteous people do without the organization that God put into place?)
18And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; 19also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; 20besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.
21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
Those who begin with prayer begin well.
22For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek, him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” 23So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
Prayer is both a shield and a sword. In this case, faith acted bravely by trusting the honor of God instead of asking the Persian king for protection.
24aThen I set apart twelve of the leading priests. 25And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered.
28And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. 29Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD.” 30So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
31Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. (Those who have the Lord of hosts for their defense travel safely.) 32We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. 33aOn the fourth day, within the house of our God the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest. 34The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded. (Care should always be taken to ensure that everything that belongs to the Lord’s house is carefully accounted for.)
35At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. (In that way, they began a new and happy time for Jerusalem. Those who live with an eye to the glory of God will be honored by him.)
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1 Deuteronomy 30:3
2 Ezra 1:11. See Year Two, February 28.
Year Two, March 15
Oh Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good1
Ezra and his friends had taken on the great work of rebuilding the temple. However the city still lacked the protection of fortified walls. The Lord did not forget them. He found a friend in the king’s court for them who came to Jerusalem with reinforcements. Best of all, he came with permission from the king of Persia to build the walls of Jerusalem. We will now read the story of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 1:1-4
1The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. (As cupbearer to the king, Nehemiah was a very important person in the royal palace.)
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, 2that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Great good came from this discussion of the condition of the Jews in Judah. It is good when good people talk about good things.
4As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 2:1-13
1In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.
See how God works! Just when Nehemiah was in this state of sadness, he was called on to perform his job as cupbearer to the king.
2And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. (This was the right thing to do. Silent prayer works wonders and does not need to wait for a convenient time.) 5And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. (He was greatly admired and the king was not eager to have him absent from his court.)
7And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
9Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
As the representative of the king, Nehemiah arrived with an impressive royal escort.
10But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. (Enemies always show up when good is to be done. We must count on this and not be troubled about it.)
11So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. (Inspecting the city by cover of night was a wise move. Plans are best kept secret until they are fully ready to put into action. We must serve the Lord wisely as well as zealously. Lord, teach us how to do this.)
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1 Psalm 107:1, also Psalm 136:1
Year Two, March 16
Let Each One Take Care How He Builds1
Several things that happened during the rebuilding of Jerusalem deserve our notice. We are unable to read the entire record about all the workers. Therefore, we have selected some verses of interest from:
Nehemiah 3:1-3; 5; 8; 10; 12; 20; 27-29; 31-32
1Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.
The priests, as the spiritual leaders of Israel, led the way. They worked where it seemed most appropriate. They repaired the gate through which the sheep entered the city for sacrifice. And they did the work in a very praiseworthy manner by dedicating all their work to the Lord. Believers are all priests before God. Therefore, all of their service and the way they do it should be examples to others.
2And next to him the men of Jericho built. (They did not have as much to gain from building the wall, because they lived in another town. But they gave their help cheerfully. If we help ourselves, others will be the more inclined to help us.) And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. (They did their work thoroughly, down to the smallest details. This is the right way to work in the service of the Lord. Nothing should be done in a careless way.)
5And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. (These nobles were too proud to work, but the people would not let it discourage them from working. Nobles are anything but noble when they despise the work of the Lord.)
8Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad wall. (Goldsmiths and chemists work in very honorable businesses. Thankfully these persons had both wealth and hearts to give toward the work.)
10aNext to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house.
And where would be a more suitable place to work? Whatever we do, let us try to serve God at home and do good in our own neighborhood.
12Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters. (Good women have their share in the Lord’s work and it is a high honor to them when they take it up. May the daughters in our homes also serve the cause of Jesus.)
20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. (Baruch was so eager and zealous that he finished two sections of the wall. We can never do too much for the good cause.)
27After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. (In verse five, we read that their nobles turned their backs on these Tekoites. Here we read that the people from Tekoa did twice the work. If great people will not serve God, those with less means must shame them by doing double.)
28Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29aAfter them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house.
31After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. (And so, by the labors of all, the circle of the wall was completed and Jerusalem was protected. In our day, the church of God needs building up and it is the duty of each believer to take up their share in the work. What can we do? Let the question go round among us: What can I do? Do I really love the Lord and trust in his Son Jesus? If so, what shall I do, to praise my Savior?)
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1 1 Corinthians 3:10
Year Two, March 17
And Each of the Builders Had His Sword Strapped at His Side1
Nehemiah 4:1-9; 11-15; 17-21
1Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”
Mockery has always been the favorite weapon of the ungodly. In this case Sanballat ridiculed the zealous eagerness of the people. “See,” he said, “they work as if a city could be built in a day.” That which was greatly to their honor he made the theme of his jeering. This is a very common habit even today.
3Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” (“Birds of a feather flock together.” Tobiah sang the same song as Sanballat. He scoffed because he was also afraid that the Jews could repair the wall.) 4Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. 5Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. (Nehemiah’s prayer is more after the spirit of the law than the gospel. It is full of his zeal for righteousness, but it lacks the gentleness of Jesus.)
6So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. (Cromwell reportedly told his soldiers to trust in God and keep their powder dry.2 Nehemiah was equally as practical.)
11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” (They intended to take them by surprise, but the Jews were ready for them.) 12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” (The Jews who lived outside of Jerusalem acted as guards and warned their comrades whenever their enemies approached.) 13So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (He told them to fear God and then there would be no reason to fear their enemies. “Fear him ye saints and ye will then have nothing else to fear.”3)
15When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. (They were committed and kept to their business. They did not waste time by declaring a holiday or congratulating themselves.)
16bThe whole house of Judah 17…were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. (Christians must both labor and fight, watch and pray, build up the good and guard against the evil.) 19And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” (Here was the best reason for courage. “If God is for us, who can be against us?”4 Oh God, our God, fight for us this day!)
21So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. (In God’s work we may well have long days. Time is short. The Lord’s work deserves all our strength.)
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1 Nehemiah 4:18
2 Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was a military leader and Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England. In 1642, before the opening battle of the English Civil War, Cromwell supposedly told his troops, “Put your trust in God, my boys, but mind to keep your powder dry.” Wet gunpowder is obviously useless. The meaning is, “Trust the Lord, but be prepared.”
3 From the hymn, Through All the Changing Scenes of Life by Nicholas Brady (1659-1726) and Nahum Tate (1652-1715).
4 Romans 8:31
Year Two, March 18
Let All Things Be Done for Building Up1
After the wall around Jerusalem was completed, Nehemiah turned his attention to improving the religious lives of the people and restoring the celebration of the holy days as commanded by God in the law. We will read of one of their great assemblies.
Nehemiah 8:1-17
1And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. (Five or six hours devotion did not bother them, while these days people complain if the service lasts longer than an hour and a half.2)
4And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. (The platform was large enough for all these important men. Their presence added authority and honor to the preacher’s office before the eyes of the people.) 5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places.
The crowd was too large for everyone to hear one person speaking, so they were divided into smaller congregations and taught by the good men just named.
8They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
Reading difficult passages of Scripture in public is of little benefit to many people unless the preacher explains what he is reading.
9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Even our sorrow for sin must not stop us from having joy in the Lord. God is so good and we should rejoice in him, even though we see much in ourselves to weep over.) 11So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy, do not be grieved.” 12And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
Those who understand the Scriptures have good reason to rejoice. A church service that is above our understanding must be very boring, but one to which we can relate should make us very glad.
13On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. 14And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” 16So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.
The joyous Feast of Tabernacles came after the Day of Atonement. On this occasion the people had properly observed the Day of Atonement with deep sorrow and humiliation. This made them all the more ready to enjoy the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. They kept the true meaning of it better than they had ever done before. We should also celebrate, because our sins have been put away by our great Substitute. Let our temporary life in these fragile tabernacles be one of joy until we enter our eternal home in the heavens.
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1 1 Corinthians 14:26
2 In the 1880’s, there was usually one church service in the morning (followed by an evening service). Sunday school was in the afternoon and designed for children who did not attend church services.
Year Two, March 19
Remember Me, O My God for Good1
Nehemiah believed in very strict discipline. He was intense about preventing violations of the divine law. He gives us the following examples of his determined action.
Nehemiah 13:15-31
15In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. (They made the Sabbath just another market day, but the godly governor would not permit it. Nehemiah warned them to stop.) 16Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? (He blamed the buyers more than the sellers. The people of Tyre were not Jews and did not know any better, but the nobles of Judah were instructed and should not have encouraged breaking the Sabbath laws.) 18Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. (They were hoping to do a little business on the sly with people who lived a little outside of the city.) 21But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.
He used his authority forcefully and would not be trifled with. Heads of households should be just as determined to have the Lord’s day observed in their families.
22Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
23In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but the language of each people.
Marriages of Christians with unbelievers are extremely harmful to their children, because they are certain to follow the worse example in the family.
25And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?” (This stern ruler saw that the mixed marriages placed the whole nation in danger and therefore he was angry with these people. Love for his country made him intolerant of anything that would damage it.)
28And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.
Remember me, O my God, for good. (Here we leave this true patriot and very conscientious ruler. We are not called to rule with an iron hand like he did, but we should be just as inflexible, decided and determined for God and for his holy will. We will be partly to blame for the sins of others if we do not make every reasonable effort to protest their evil actions. The Lord has said, “You shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.”2
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1 Nehemiah 13:31
2 Leviticus 19:17
Year Two, March 20
If Then I Am a Father, Where Is My Honor?1
We have now arrived at the point when the last of the prophets came with a divine message. Malachi is called by the Hebrews, “The seal of the prophets,” because he is the last of the prophets of the old dispensation. Malachi followed closely on the heels of Zechariah. At this time the people were no longer idolatrous, but their religion was formal, cold, self-righteous, and unspiritual. His criticism is very bold and his prophecies of the coming time of the gospel are very clear.
Malachi 1
1The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” (The people were discouraged because the temple had been built, but the Messiah had not come, nor had the nation risen from its poverty into the glory that had been prophesied. Therefore, they questioned God’s special love for them. The Lord replies by asking them,) “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country.’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” 5Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!” (The overthrow of Edom was final, but Israel would be restored. Was this not a sign of special love?)
6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. (Notice how one searching question after another is asked throughout this chapter. Will we be able to answer the Lord when he questions us on that last great day?) But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised. (You do not serve me with your hearts; you insult me by bringing the worst offerings you can find.) 8When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. (To give to God what we would be ashamed to present to others is a terrible insult to his majesty.)
9“And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. 10Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”
Nothing was done out of love for God. No one had enough respect for the Lord to worship him voluntarily. They only felt an obligation to give the appearance of being godly, but they were not spiritual.
11“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.”
This is good news for us. When Jewish worship became unacceptable, a door of hope was opened for the Gentiles. Glory be to divine grace.
12“But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. 14Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. (He has the best, but he gives God the worst.) For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.”
This chapter warns us to not worship God coldly and heartlessly. If we do indeed love him, let us give to his cause with a sincere heart, work for him zealously, pray to him with enthusiasm, and consider being in his service our supreme delight. This is true religion. Anything less is an insult to the Lord.
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1 Malachi 1:6
Year Two, March 21
Who Can Endure the Day of His Coming?1
Malachi means messenger or angel. It was his job to hand the prophetic office over to another messenger, one who would announce the Lord, the Messiah himself, the Messenger of the Covenant. Malachi is the evening star of the Old Testament. John the Baptist is the morning sun of the New Testament.
Malachi 3:1-12
1“Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. (“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John”2) And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”
The temple to which the Messiah was to come has been destroyed. Therefore, it is quite certain that he has already come. He came when only a few were looking for him, when only an old and righteous man and an honorable prophetess were in the temple expecting his arrival.3
2“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. (Malachi saw the future Judge in the present Savior. He saw that the people were not ready for the Messiah and that his coming would be the most terrible and difficult test that Israel would endure. More than anything before, it would reveal the faithless, heartless condition of the people. The prophet Malachi looked into the future and saw the end as well as the new beginning. He looked further and saw those better days when Israel would be “holy to the LORD.”4) 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.”
Through the gospel, Jesus overthrows all forms of wickedness and tyranny. He is the great reformer, the hope of all people.
6“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
The Jewish nation has passed through the fire, but still exists. This is because the Lord does not change and will not reject his people.
7“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”
They were no longer idolaters, but they were stingy in their gifts and heartless in their worship. This is why they had troubles.
10“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11I will rebuke the devourer (or the locust) for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. 12Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.” (How happy the Jews would have been if they had listened to this encouraging warning! But they ignored it and perished. Let us take warning from their example. We cannot expect to prosper if we are dishonest with the Lord. It is easy enough for him to give back to us in the same way we give to him. If he sees us being careless and thoughtless in serving him, he can soon send out a devourer to eat through our money, ruin our business, weaken our bodies and sadden our spirits. Happy are those who having been saved by grace, bring all the tithes to the Lord. Peace and prosperity will be their portion.)
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1 Malachi 3:2
2 John 1:6
3 Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-38).
4 Jeremiah 2:3
Year Two, March 22
The Lord…Will Suddenly Come to His Temple1
We finish our Old Testament readings here. May the Lord grant that what we have read has been fruitful.
Malachi 3:13-18
13“Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’”
The people were far too ready to justify themselves and deny the charges that were so justly brought against them. We are never right when we come before God and declare ourselves “not guilty.”
14“You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? (They were hoping that their outward religious activities would bring them material reward. Like many employees, they expected to be paid for every single thing they did. They did not have any real love for God.) 15And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”
They envied what the wicked had and thought what God expected of his own people was too much.
16Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.
While sinners were grumbling about their condition, a few saints had a better opinion and were talking with each other about the best things. They spoke with each other often and spoke so sweetly that the Lord listened and wrote down what he heard. Holy conversation is both edifying2 to us and pleasing to God.
17“They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. (The Lord made these holy talkers his crown jewels, his “treasured possession,”3 and he promised that at the last great judgment day he would acknowledge them as his “chosen ones.”4 May we all be among them.) 18Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”
At the last day, people will be seen in their true colors and hypocrisy will come to an end.
Malachi 4
1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. (Carefully taken care of and fully provided for.) 3And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. (This will be the result of Christ’s coming. The wicked will be defeated, while the righteous will rise to glory and happiness.)
4“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (John the Baptist did come in the power of Elijah.5 He began to preach the glad news that calls for all hostility to end. That gospel word has continued its peace giving power and will do so forever.)
The Old Testament concludes with the word “destruction.” The Jews have wished to change this, but there it stands. Let us look away from the law that can only destroy us to the better covenant that blesses us in Christ Jesus.
Year Two, March 23
If We Are Faithless, He Remains Faithful1
Let us not begin our reading of the New Testament without first praying that it will prove a blessing to us by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”2 These readings will be pointless unless we truly believe in him for the salvation of our souls.
It will be good to remind ourselves that four hundred years have passed since the days of Malachi. Judea was now a part of the great Roman Empire and Herod the Great was its king under the authority of the Emperor in Rome. This was the time God appointed for John the Baptist to make his appearance and announce the coming of the promised Messiah.
Luke 1:5-25
5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. (This was done twice every day, at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices. It was a picture of the excellence of Jesus and the prayers of the saints that rise to the throne of God like sweet smelling perfume.) 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. (His faith was stunned by the apparent impossibility of what the angel said. Too often, we also stagger at the apparent obstacles that seem to challenge the reliability of God’s promises.) 19And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
Unbelief is very displeasing to God. He will not tolerate it in even the best of people without requiring some form of chastisement.3 If we will not believe a promise, we will not be allowed to take comfort in it. Its fulfillment will include some humiliating events that will be signs of the Lord’s displeasure at our unbelief.
21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. (He did not make his disability an excuse for leaving his post, as many would have done. We must work on for the Lord as long as we have any ability left.)
24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
The mother of John had more faith than her husband, but both were excellent people. We may reasonably expect the best preachers will usually be the children of godly parents. We hope God will raise up children in our family who will cry, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”4
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1 2 Timothy 2:13
2 John 20:31
3 chasten, chastening or chastisement - The act of discipline which may include scolding, criticizing or pain inflicted for the purpose of correction or moral improvement.
4 John 1:29
Year Two, March 24
My Soul Magnifies the Lord1
The birth of John the Baptist was approaching and it was now time to speak about the Lord himself.
Luke 1:26-35; 38-40; 46-55
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”
38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
46And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
The person chosen to be the mother of the Lord Jesus was a poor woman, but she was also a godly woman who was not poor in thought. Her song is written in the highest style of poetry. The Holy Spirit visits the humble and holy.
The way that the angel greeted Mary shows she was highly honored, but it provides no justification for the superstitious reverence the Roman Catholic Church gives her. “The angel greeted her as a saint and did not pray to her as a goddess.”2 Mary acknowledged that she was a sinner needing salvation, for she rejoiced in “God my Savior.” It never entered her mind to claim she was worthy of adoration.
It is a great blessing to know that in answer to earnest prayer, the Holy Spirit will come into our hearts, and make us sing as joyfully as Mary did. Christ will live in our hearts by faith and we will be counted with those favored ones of whom Jesus said, “He is my brother and sister and mother.”3
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1 Luke 1:46
2 Bishop Joseph Hall (1574-1656).
3 Mark 3:35
Year Two, March 25
Year Two, March 26
He Has Visited and Redeemed His People1
The time soon arrived for John to be born and Elizabeth to become a joyful mother.
Luke 1:58-80
58And [Elizabeth’s] neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. (This is a very beautiful way of describing the situation, “The Lord had shown great mercy to her.” Family events should be seen as great mercies from the Lord and made a time of holy thanksgiving.) 59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” (or the Lord’s gracious gift.) 61And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. (Evidently, Zechariah was deaf as well as mute. This was a double chastisement for his unbelief that was now about to be graciously removed.) 63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. (The man who could not speak a moment ago can now not only talk, but also sing for joy. The Lord is a God of wonders.)
65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
This magnificent song of Zechariah does not begin with anything about his son, John, or his own relationship to him. He leaves that for after he has poured out his heart about the Lord’s Christ. Jesus must be first and most important in the hearts of his people. Even our highest spiritual joys must take second place after him. We will praise him with our best music.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Thinking about the Savior’s coming is delightful. Believers no longer have reason to be overwhelmed by the fear of death. Light has come to the valley of the shadow of death and peace smooths even our pathway there.
80And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (Great minds mature in solitude. Long periods of time alone help God’s heroes develop. We would be all the better if we often spent time alone. Dedicated spirits appreciate the pleasant surroundings of the awe-inspiring silence of nature.)
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1 Luke 1:68
Year Two, March 26
Glory to God in the Highest1
Let us read with great joy about the birth of Jesus, God in the flesh.
Luke 2:1-20
1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. (Augustus took this census for the purpose of collecting taxes. The actual collecting of the tax was not done until later during the time of Quirinius.) 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
The decree of Caesar was made to fulfill the decree that Jehovah had made, stating that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.2
7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
The world had little love for the Redeemer. It could find no room for him, no, not even in the place where the poorest traveler stayed.
“No peaceful home upon his cradle smiled,
Guests rudely went and came where slept the royal child.”3
8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
The good news came first to people of low status, working humbly at their job.
9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
The heavenly messenger had barely finished his announcement before he was joined by others who had raced after him to increase the glory of the announcement of the newborn king.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” (They believed the news, they were interested in it, and they went to see. If we believe the gospel, our actions should prove it.) 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Here were three ways of treating the news about Jesus. Some wondered and there the matter ended, as many who hear the gospel these days hear it and do nothing. Mary weighed all these things in her heart; this night would always be a source of blessing to her. The shepherds showed their faith another way, for they glorified God by telling others the good news. Can we follow their good example?
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1 Luke 2:14
2 Micah 5:2, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.”
3 From the poem, What Sudden Blaze of Song by Dr. John Keble (died 1866).
Year Two, March 27
This Is the LORD; We Have Waited for Him1
Luke 2:21-22; 24-38
21And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Jesus means, “Jehovah the Savior,” and is the most pleasing of all names in the ears of repentant sinners.)
22And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord… 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
For our sakes, our Lord placed himself under the law and obeyed it in every detail. The poverty of his parents is shown by their presenting the second poorest offering accepted by the law. We know they were not in the worst poverty, because there was one offering even lower than theirs.2 That greatest hardship was reserved for Jesus when he left home, began his ministry and had “nowhere to lay his head.”3 “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.”4
25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (He was honest before people and devout toward God. His faith continually looked forward for the coming of the Messiah, like others who searched the Scriptures and were confident he would appear any day.) 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (The highly favored mother had to endure unusually sharp and crushing grief as she saw the sorrows and the death of her blameless son.)
36And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years, from when she was a virgin, 37and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. (Having lost her husband some sixty years before, she had devoted herself to the continual worship of God. As a prophetess, she had, no doubt, been spiritually useful to many people. Women are much more honored under the gospel than under the law. It was fitting that two of the first witnesses to our Lord should be an old man5 and an honored woman.) 38And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Oh for grace to embrace Jesus, to love Jesus, to testify about Jesus, and to be so joyful in Jesus that we would be willing, like Simeon to die, or, like Anna, to speak of him to everyone around!)
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1 Isaiah 25:9
2 “A person could bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons as a burnt offering; (Leviticus 5:7), or, in extreme cases he might even substitute a tenth of an ephah of fine flour (verses 11-13).” - The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 5, page 203.
3 Luke 9:58, also Matthew 8:20.
4 2 Corinthians 8:9
5 Leviticus 19:32, “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man.”
Year Two, March 28
For to Us a Child Is Born, to Us a Son Is Given1
Matthew 2:1-18
1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. (They had seen an especially bright star that tradition connected with the birth of a great king. The wise men missed their way and went to Jerusalem; the shepherds did not. The wise are often less able to find Jesus than the poor and less educated.) 3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
The Lord used a cruel enemy to force the great teachers of the Jews to acknowledge that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. The news spread far and wide that a star had appeared and that strangers had arrived from a great distance to see the newly born king of the Jews. God even uses his enemies to glorify his Son.
7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (True faith is not disappointed at the lowliness of the Savior. Though the wise men found Jesus in a plain house, they discerned his majesty, and adored him with offerings suitable for a prophet, priest, and king.) 12And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (God both watched over the safety of the Lord, and enabled Joseph to support the mother and child by the offerings of the wise men from the East. In the same way, the church is under the special care of heaven through all its persecutions and needs.)
16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Our Lord narrowly escaped a cruel death. He had a poor welcome among people, who he came to redeem. Angels celebrated his birth with songs, but among people the malice of the wicked greeted him with the blood of infants and the cries of bereaved mothers. Oh dear Redeemer, with what sorrow your life for us began! Alas! with what sorrow it ended!
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1 Isaiah 9:6
Year Two, March 29
I Must Be in My Father’s House1
Matthew 2:19-23
19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20saying “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”
Every step the Savior took was a fulfillment of prophecy. How blind were those who would not acknowledge him as the true Messiah! Our Lord spent nearly thirty years of his life in a city that had a bad reputation. 2“The Nazarene” is still his name of contempt among the Jews. How ready we should be to endure any amount of disapproval for his sake!
Luke 2:40-52
40And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. (What a child this was; the fullness of divine grace was on him! Lord Jesus, make our sons and daughters to be like you while they are still children.)
41Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
He did not set himself up as a teacher, but listened and eagerly inquired. No doubt there was more in his questions than in their answers. When they asked him questions in return, he gave such answers that they marveled at the marvelous boy, whose surprising intelligence and holiness showed in his face and in every word he spoke.
48And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (He knew the secret of his birth, which perhaps his mother had never told him, and he marveled that his parents should think he was being unkind in following his clear future. How sweetly does our Lord teach us here to serve our heavenly Father from our earliest youth!) 50And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Jesus lived another eighteen years in Nazareth, unknown to the world. The man who was unequalled in life, whose holiness was beyond all others, spent his days at his father’s carpenter’s bench and in preparation for his great work. For thirty years, he emptied himself of all glory and later endured the world’s scorn for our sake. We should greatly admire our Lord for the humble life he lived in these years of preparation.
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1 Luke 2:49
2 John 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Year Two, March 30
He Received Honor and Glory From God the Father1
Matthew 3
1In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
The priests began their service at the age of thirty and it was probably at that age that John began to teach publicly. His timely message proclaimed the coming of the Savior.
4Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
He dressed like Elijah and lived a life of strict self-denial that was in keeping with the ministry of preaching repentance.
5Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (People of every class and background came to hear John the Baptist. His energetic ministry stirred up the whole south of Palestine. He preached to all people, rebuking and warning them in words all could understand.)
7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (He commanded them to quit bragging and to seriously repent. This bold message would be sure to make them very angry, but John, like Elijah before him, was not afraid of them.) 10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (All play-acting and hypocrisy must stop. For many years, there had been many who took great pride in their outward show of religion, but the new dispensation would destroy all this because the Lord requires “truth in the inward being.”2)
11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
In this way, John pointed to the Coming One and told the people to look for one who, in the power of the Spirit, would scatter all the pride of scholarly Sadducees and boastful Pharisees to the winds. He proclaimed that the spiritual religion of repentance and faith far outweighs the outward practice of religious rites and ceremonies.
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
This probably happened about six months after John began his ministry, when Jesus would also be thirty years old. Our Lord came after the people had been baptized and offered himself for baptism.
14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Will the Lord be baptized by his servant? How can you gain anything through me?
15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
Jesus was setting an example for all his disciples; an example that would represent his own sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection. This is where we understand his righteousness.
16And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am will pleased.”
While in the act of praying and while obeying his Father’s will, the Lord received his first great public validation from above as well as the blessing to go forward with his great work. Let no believer neglect the ordinance of baptism that thier Lord honored so highly and risk losing some special validation and blessing.
Year Two, March 31
One Who in Every Respect Has Been Tempted1
Matthew 4:1-11
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Jesus had just been baptized by John, then “the Spirit of God descending like a dove” rested on him and the Father had proclaimed, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” After the blessing of the Spirit comes trial. When the soul is enriched with grace, Satan increases his efforts to rob it of its treasure. While our Lord was living a quiet private life, the evil one might be calm, but now that Jesus moves forward to his life’s battle, he finds his enemy is waiting for him. The offspring of the woman now begins his combat with the old serpent.2) 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
While Jesus was suffering from hunger, the tempter thought he had the advantage over him and could attack him through his physical needs. The archenemy will use every weakness of our body in his quest to defeat us.
3And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Satan urged Jesus to not believe, to not trust his Father. He tempted him to use inappropriate ways to get food. Jesus had come to obey, not to command. When we have been in need, how often has Satan tempted us to help ourselves, because God did not seem to help us? Note that word, “If,” that cruel doubt that Jesus was the Son of God. It could not affect the Perfect One, but it can cause great injury to us if it is allowed to infect our thinking. Be on your guard against the arrows of hell.
4But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus would not doubt. What if food is not available? God can maintain life without it. He does not depend on secondary causes. Our champion struck a great blow against his deceitful opponent.
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
In this case, the enemy went to the opposite extreme by tempting the Lord to dare God to protect him. Because God’s promise guaranteed to protect him, he should jump off the top of the temple to prove it. Presuming on God’s promises is a common temptation. The Bible is twisted and misquoted to back it up. May we have grace to see through this trap and never become conceited or overconfident.
7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. Here it makes another glorious and conquering cut at the enemy. How greatly our Lord defeated the foe! Let us learn to never tempt the Lord by wickedly presuming on his mercy or his faithfulness.
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (This time the deceiver aimed to trap the Savior with ambition by making a tempting but blasphemous offer. Sadly, many have worshiped evil for the sake of power and ruined their own souls by doing so! There was no undefended place in the Redeemer. This third arrow, like the first two, glanced harmlessly off of him, as he struck a third powerful blow at his adversary.)
10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
A well chosen passage and one worthy to always be before our eyes.3 Are we living entirely before God? This is the only safeguard against self-worship, money-worship, and other forms of idolatry.
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
First the devil and then the angels. Let us be faithful and we, like our Lord, will receive heavenly comfort. Oh Lord, who was tempted for our sakes, help us in times of temptation. Amen.
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1 Hebrews 4:15
2 Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
3 Deuteronomy 6:13, “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”
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