Category: Saturday Study

Major Prophets 9.28.24

This week, and next, we have a different focus with the prophets in that we are not focusing on just one person but on many. In this, we are covering an important, and large, span of time. Today’s going deeper is an effort to give you an overview of the major prophets and their stories. 

1. What are the major prophets, and who are they?

This week you have had a brief sampling of the major prophets of the Bible in your reading. They are not called “the major prophets” because they were greater men than others, but because their books, in the Bible, are longer. These prophets span a large amount of time as well as locations. Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted the coming exile. Ezekiel was deported into Babylonian captivity. Daniel was deported as a young man and lived through the rise and fall of two other empires. 

A prophet is someone who declares the word of God. This can be a foretelling of events, or it can be a forth telling which is declaring God’s words or commands. God has given us His word through many different men, declaring Himself to us, by making promises about the future and telling us what is expected of us in the revelation of the Bible. These prophets spoke words directly from God, usually with the phrase “thus says the Lord.” We should be thankful for the testimony of these men—that is to say, “The significance of a Bible preacher or prophet is not the man himself but is the message he delivers.” At the end of the day, the biography of a preacher or prophet is much less important than the message that he brings from God.

2. Isaiah

Isaiah was a great prophet. Israel and Judah were on the verge of judgment. The Assyrian army was growing in strength. Isaiah was sent to call Israel and Judah to repent of their sins, and unbelief, and to trust God alone for personal and national salvation (deliverance). In chapters 1-35, we see Isaiah speaking to a nation awaiting God’s judgment. This occurred in 722 B.C. for the northern kingdom, Israel, and 586 B.C. (100 years after Isaiah) for the southern kingdom, Judah. Isaiah warned of judgment, but also gave comfort in that God would deliver the faithful ‘remnant’ of His people. Isaiah gave prophecies of judgment that are interspersed with prophecies of the coming kingdom where everything is made right.

In chapters 36-39, King Hezekiah was lifted up as an example of someone who trusted God and saw the kingdom miraculously delivered from Assyria. This was short-lived as 21 years later they fell to the Babylonians in judgment by God. 

Chapters 40-66 give comfort and hope. God promised a return from exile. Isaiah gives us some of the most revealing passages about the coming Messiah. Some of the greatest passages about Christ come from this section, such as Isaiah 42 and 53. Isaiah 53 is the clearest gospel presentation in the Old Testament; we see its fulfillment in the death, burial, and resurrection of our savior. Take a moment to read it. 

We start in Isaiah chapter one with the vision Isaiah is given. God calls the earth and heavens to hear what He is saying. God is sitting in judgment over the wickedness of Israel. In the Old Testament, we see the example that anytime there is a judgment people are to witness or act as witnesses—this should bring to mind the image of a courtroom. God proceeds to then list off the sins of Israel. Israel, specifically Jerusalem and Judah, are on trial here. God’s case is stated all the way down to Isaiah 1:16, then God proceeds to give comfort, making this statement, “If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19). Prior to this, in verse 18, God makes a promise to wash their sins. 

See the beauty in this: the gospel is rich in this book! There is punishment for wickedness. God will not let it stand, He will punish it, because He is holy. This is the vision of Isaiah in chapter 6. Isaiah gets a vision of the holiness of God. The text states this three times—holy, holy, holy. In Hebrew, a doubling is an intensifier. This is like a couple of exclamation points at the end of a sentence. God’s holiness is so great!!! Isaiah realizes his problem in this vision, and he realizes he cannot stand before the God of the universe. God in His mercy and grace purifies Isaiah. This theme of salvation, from God and by God, is throughout Isaiah. As you read the book you can see the beautiful Messiah, the branch of David, brought forth—a suffering servant who gave himself to redeem a people to himself. You can also see, even though Israel doesn’t deserve it, God comforts them even while disciplining them, telling them of the future and that His promises will still be fulfilled. Have your sins been washed white as snow? Have you trusted in the Servant broken for the remission of sin? 

3. Jeremiah

Jeremiah began his ministry 60 years after Isaiah. The Northern Kingdom had already fallen in 722 B.C. Assyria was at the end of her glory days and a new superpower was on the horizon—Babylon. Most of Jeremiah’s ministry was showing Israel that they needed to repent and have faith. Jeremiah longed for a nation that trusted in God.

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Jeremiah was the most persecuted of the Old Testament prophets. He was forbidden to pray for his nation (Jeremiah 7:16-27). God told Jeremiah that his ministry would be tough, that people, kings and priests would not listen to him but would fight him. Jeremiah gave an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem. Even in the midst of judgment God gave hope. It is in the middle of Jeremiah that we have one of the greatest passages in the Old Testament that looks forward to the hope in the coming Messiah. 

Jeremiah 31:31-40 proclaims the New Covenant. Even though Israel was in the middle of judgment, God proclaimed that He would make a New Covenant. This was hope that even though Israel had failed miserably. God was going to make a covenant with His people. God not only promised a New Covenant, but that it would not be like the last. God said He will put His law on our hearts and all of His chosen people will faithfully walk with and know the Lord. If this is not amazing enough, the Lord proclaims that this will happen as surely as the sun and the moon run their courses. God gives hope in the midst of trials and judgment for His people. This is a great blessing of being a child of God, part of the elect. God does not leave us without hope and this hope comes in the form of promises. What God says He will do, HE WILL DO. He has never broken a promise. In your trials and struggles, take comfort in God. That is one of the greatest lessons of Jeremiah. God’s arm is not short, so that He cannot save; but He is working His perfect plan. He is helping you to see sin as He sees it: heinous and deserving of punishment. He is working sanctification in you, all the while giving you precious promises in His word. 

4. Ezekiel

The prophet Ezekiel was was the son of a priest. Ezekiel had a unique role as a prophet in that much of what he did was an illustration, word pictures, to the people of Israel. For example: in Ezekiel 3:24, Ezekiel is commanded to be tied up in his house. In chapter 4, verses1-3, Ezekiel is to take a brick and engrave “Jerusalem” on it and set siege works about it. Ezekiel was also told by God that God was going to take his wife and he was not allowed to mourn for her. This was a sign to Israel that the sanctuary would be profaned and that there was going to be death and destruction. Many visual illustrations are used throughout the book to teach Israel about their sin and its consequences. Ezekiel has one of the saddest chapters in the Old Testament, chapter 10. In chapter 10, the glory of the Lord leaves the temple. 

The book of Ezekiel can be broken into two sections—chapters 1-24, which contain prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem and chapters 25-48, after the fall of Jerusalem. The purpose of Ezekiel was to help the Jews understand that their captivity, and the destruction of their homeland, were because of their rebellion against God and disobedience to Him. The second reason for the book is to show us how God is merciful, how He intends to restore holiness, and that He will take care of His people. 

The promises of the New Covenant are throughout the book of Ezekiel. In these promises we are given a new heart—not of stone, but of flesh—and God will breathe new life in us. In Ezekiel 37, we have one of the grandest displays of God’s grace. This chapter is known as “the valley of dry bones.” The dry bones are representative of Israel, but they are also a shadow of what God does in the gospel, bringing new life to us. God is going to bring the exiles back and breathe life into them. This will be better than before, because they will know that “I am the Lord.” 

God has not left. He is doing a work. So many times in our life we become despondent with trials. Ezekiel gives us hope. God does not leave His people. He will carry us through the trial, giving us hope, and giving us His precious promises that this trial is not the end, but that He is doing something, and in His wisdom and power, it is something great. Are you looking to the precious promises of God? Are you relying and trusting in Him? Do you see the work He is doing? His word declares it. One day it will be complete. 

5. Daniel

Daniel is the last of the major prophets. Daniel is an amazing character. He was taken into captivity at a young age. ​

Daniel 1:8-9 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs

Daniel set the pattern, early on, of obedience. God gave Daniel and the three other men learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. The works of God among a pagan nation, by His servants, is amazing in the book of Daniel. Many of us remember the friary furnace, the lion’s den, and the handwriting on the wall. 

There are many lessons we can learn from Daniel. He lived in a pagan culture and was a devout man of God. He was trapped by his religious zeal. He did not get upset or rail against the king, or God. He still prayed and was obedient to God, but he accepted his punishment for defying the kings decree (Daniel 6). The pattern for Daniel was to respectfully disobey when things went against the commands of God. His strength, surrounded by pagans, is amazing. 

In Daniel 9, we have an amazing prayer. Several things we can glean from this chapter: 

1. Daniel was aware of the promises of God. He knew how long they were to be in captivity.

2. Daniel based his prayer on the promises of God in Scripture. This is a great way to pray by lifting up and clinging to the promises of God.

3. Daniel came, in humble submission, to God in prayer, by fasting and prayer in sackcloth—showing an outward state of inward debasement. Sometimes it is helpful to put the outward into a posture for the heart to follow (try praying on your knees or lying flat as an outward sign of an inward position.) Fasting is the giving up of a physical item as a way to focus on our dependence on, and satisfaction in, God. 

4. Daniel was open in his laying out sin to bear. If you go through the text and highlight everywhere Daniel acknowledges and repents of the sin of Israel, you will see how Daniel had a right vision of the breaking of the Law of God and how horrible it is. 

5. Daniel relied on the character and attributes of God—His steadfast love. 

Use Daniel’s prayer as an example of how to pray. It is helpful to remember that what Daniel had prayed for has been fulfilled. The people started returning. Gabriel the angel, a messenger of God, came and gave Daniel insight and understanding. Gabriel spoke of the spiritual return. In James it says the prayer of a righteous man has great power as it is working. Confess your sin and lay it before the Lord. Walk in righteousness, trusting in the righteousness of Christ. Do what is right. Prayer is important. It is a way for us to commune with God. How is your prayer life? See the example of Daniel. Read through the prayer. Read a verse or two and pray what comes to mind. Pray out loud. Don’t just keep it in your head. 

We have seen some major themes that flow across the major prophets—the heinousness of sin, that God will punish sin, and that God gives hope for His children and we must cling to it. Reading the major prophets will help you grow in these things. 

May the word of God move in our hearts and cause us to trust in Him and obey His commands. May we not take lightly the cost and lessons of those who have gone before us, but may we grow and learn from them. 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Job 9.21.24

The book of Job is a powerful portrayal of the sovereignty of God in our suffering. In Chapter 1, we are introduced to Job and the permission God gives to Satan to test Job’s faith.

A God-fearing, Upright Man

Job 1:1-3 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. here were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 

Job had a good life. He was a very successful and wealthy man. He had a loving wife and kids. He was known and was doing well in life. Best of all, he was a man who feared God and turned away from evil. So much so that he is declared to be blameless and upright. Now we know he was not perfect, as only Jesus lived without sin; but like others we see in the Scriptures, he lived a life that honored God and fought back the temptation to sin. While we all would love for this to be said about us, the only way this becomes a marker of one’s life is to truly be faithful in the study of God’s word, diligent about what we expose ourselves to in regards to temptations of the world and our flesh, and accountable to brothers who can walk with us as we seek to honor God in all we do. Are you making a practice of these things? They are critical for a lifetime of God-honoring uprightness. 

A Faithful Father

Job 1:4-5 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Job was diligent in leading and loving his children. He went before the Lord faithfully on their behalf. Parenting is so much more than providing physical food and physical protection and direction. Are you fighting for and raising your children with spiritual food and spiritual protection and direction? How are you investing into your family and raising them in the Lord? How are you going to God in prayer over them regularly and faithfully? I believe Job’s focus on the spiritual state of his kids was also a God-given foundation for the unplanned loss of his children. When our eyes are on the eternal and not just the temporal, we are prepared to understand and endure loss and hardship that we will face in this life. 

Have You Considered My Servant, Job?

Job 1:6-8 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

Now you could say that this feels like God is selling Job out. What we have to remember is that we are God’s. When He refers to Job as “my servant,” that could not be more true. We are servants or slaves of the most-high God. It is absolutely His right to do with us as He pleases. God is the one who gives us life and is the one who takes it away. Our ability, our body function, our everything is a gift from the Lord. He owes us nothing, and we have no rights over Him. So if God ordains that Job being put in a place of great suffering is something that serves His eternal purposes, then who are we to say to Him that it is not right or good for Him to do this? The apostle Paul says this best in Romans 9:20: “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’”

Additionally, we see here that God says there is no one on the earth like Job. What a proclamation and endorsement. Oh, how we sell ourselves short, looking for the approval and accolades of man, when what God thinks of us is so much more important. Are you living your life to please man, or are you living your life to please God? These are two very different roads one can travel. As suffering is headed towards Job, it is essential that he is a man of great faith, for if his identity was only in his fleshly accomplishments and circumstances, he would be totally undone in the coming trials. If our faith and identity are grounded in God, then we can sustain great loss and trials like Job did. Recognize, you cannot wait for the storm to hit to make this the framework of your life. You must practice yielding all you are and have to God every day and grow in your complete trust in Him despite what you face, for He is good and worthy of our everything. 

Untested Faith

Job 1:9-11 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 

The reality is we will suffer in this life. Maybe you have yet to face great hardship, but you will. It is an inevitable reality of the sin-filled, broken world in which we live. What we see all throughout Scripture is that God will use suffering in His people to do great and eternal things. Satan believed that because Job had not been tested with real persecution or suffering that his faith and trust in God was easy and the natural byproduct of an easy and successful life. What Satan didn’t understand is that the true believers, the real faithful in God, will endure whatever you put in front of them, because God is their rock, and no fleshly or worldly enemy can separate them from God. Do the true faithful in God struggle at times? Absolutely, we see the best have their struggles, but what we also see is that in the end, they endure. They do not sell out or give up. Their faith in God presses through what they can’t understand or see. This is true faith. Job is about to be tested like he never has been before. 

The Worst Day of His Life

Job 1:12-19 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

God said Satan could affect all that Job had, but he just couldn’t physically affect Job. So Satan brought a hell storm of attack on Job by destroying his wealth and livelihood and killing his beloved children. This was truly the worst day of his life. To lose so much in a moment should have left him utterly paralyzed and broken. Living in the USA, we don’t know this kind of global loss like much of the world does in a regular way. But we must not be naïve or think that a good God will not allow us to experience this level of suffering in this life. God can and will use great hardship to do eternal things that we cannot see or understand. We need not look any further than most of the Scriptures to see this. The prosperity gospel has infiltrated much of modern-day Christianity to think that God will only bless us with health and riches when we follow Him rightly. This is not the teaching of the Bible. Are we who are in Christ not “Blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3)? Absolutely, but God’s word is clear that the people of God will “now for a little while, if necessary, [be] grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6). We are told to “not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test us, as though something strange were happening to us” (1 Peter 4:12). 

The fact is we will suffer, but God is faithful and will sustain us and keep us. We cannot be separated from God. He will not waste any of our hardship but “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). So the question is, what will we do with the worst day of our lives? Let’s see what Job does with his.

God-honoring Mourning

Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Tearing of your robe was a sign of lament and mourning in that day. It was a right response to something terrible that was said or done. The shaving of Job’s head was a sign of stripping himself down. He is acknowledging his loss and nakedness in this moment. What is so awesome is that Job worships God instead of cursing God. It is a sin to curse God at any time and for anything. Why? Because God is good and right in all He does. He is only worthy of our respect, our obedience, and our praise. 

Job recognizes what he brings to the table in his life, which is nothing. He doesn’t deserve anything, for he produced nothing that God didn’t give him. He will take nothing from this life that he earned or made, either. In this, Job is saying that God alone is the one who is over these things. Mankind has no say. For mankind to feel we have a say is to not rightly understand who we are and/or who God is. Job builds on this when he says that God is the one who gives life and the one who takes it away. 

Psalm 139:16 says, “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Job will later say that man’s “days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). Paul says that God “had set me apart before I was born” (Galatians 1:15), and Jeremiah said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). All of our lives from beginning to end are under God’s providential care, for “in him we live and move” (Acts 17:28).

It is with this understanding that we do not put God in our debt and feel in our hearts that He owes us anything. This is an important foundation under our feet when we face great loss in this life so that we do not sinfully look at God with disdain and ask, “What have you done?” Instead, we recognize that what God has done or allowed to happen is good and right, and no matter how hard it is for us, God is still worthy of our worship and our praise. This is why Job “did not charge God with wrong” but instead acknowledged His sovereignty over all things and then worshipped Him: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21-22).

It is in this heart and faith in God that Job can still say, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25), even during the depths of agony. How have you responded to great loss or hardship in this life? Are you guilty of cursing God or being angry at Him? If so, you need to see your error in this perspective, confess this sin, and repent unto an attitude toward God of worship and praise, for all He does is good and right and holy! How are you entrusting all you are and have to God in your daily prayers, so if you were to lose what you have, you have already set the table that they are ultimately His and for His purposes and not yours? 

Wow, all of that is just in chapter one. What we read as we continue in Job is that it gets worse, and the temptation only increases for Job to deny God. For example, in chapter 2, Satan comes back to God and says he believes Job will break if he is allowed to affect his physical life. So, God grants him permission but says he cannot kill him. In verses 7-10, we read about the physical nightmare of Job’s sores from head to foot. He is in utter agony and yet he does not speak ill of God. 

Good Friends, Bad Counsel

In Job 2:11-13, we are introduced to good friends of Job who show up to sit in the ashes with him and bring support and counsel. God doesn’t want us to go through our trials alone. That is why He saved us into the body of Christ. We are to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). We are to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). We are to help each other and give good counsel to each other. While these friends were loving in their presence, it is their counsel that fails to honor God rightly. The next 38 chapters give an account of their conversations and counsel for Job. 

Man Up

In Job chapter 40, we see God bring good and right truth and counsel to Job. This is what God’s word does for us today. We must hold all counsel up against God’s word, which is always true and right and good. In Job 40:6-7, God is stern and straight with Job and tells him to “man up,” as God is about to remind him the way things work. 

Job 40:6-7 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” 

Then in verses 8-24, God lays it out that He is the one who is over all things, and nothing in creation is over Him. 

Repentance

Finally, in Job 42, we hear Job acknowledge that God indeed can do all things, and none of His sovereign purposes can be thwarted. Job acknowledges that he is guilty of uttering things that he did not understand. He proclaims that God has done things that are wonderful in a way he did not know. Job shows again his willingness to submit to God and not let his pride lead him or keep him from God. 

In verses 10-17, we read how God restored Job and gave him twice as much as he had before. He had support, friends, more livestock than before, and seven sons and three daughters. He lived 140 years and got to see four generations of his family grow. Job remained faithful, and God sustained him and blessed him, as it says, “Job died, an old man, and full of days.”

May we always trust in God no matter what we face. May we remain full of faith when we cannot see straight or know of no way in which the suffering we face is for any good. God is worthy of our praise all the time. 

Job 1:21 “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Esther 9.14.24

Grab your Bibles and let’s go deeper into the life and testimony of Esther.

Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia, rose from humble beginnings to become the deliverer of her people from certain death during the reign of King Ahasuerus. To save the Jews living in Persia while many of the children of Jacob were still living outside the Promised Land even after the exile, she had to overcome her fear of what might happen to her own life. But, to overcome her fear, she had to be convinced to trust in the Lord’s invisible hand of providence and the truth that His people are always under His watchful eye even when they must risk everything for Him (consider Matthew 10:29–31).

We read the story of Esther in the book that bears her name. 

Esther 1 gives us the story of a grand banquet that the king of Persia held. In the midst of the celebration, the king decided to call forth his beautiful queen, Vashti, to come and dance before his friends at the feast. When Vashti refused, King Ahasuerus banished her from the court.

In Esther 2, we learn that after Vashti was sent away, the king embarked on a search for a new queen. After searching high and low in his realm, the King’s advisors found a Jewess named Hadassah, who was being raised under the name Esther by her cousin, Mordecai. After many months of preparation, Esther won the king’s favor and became queen.

Esther 3 describes the plot of Haman, one of the king’s important advisors, to annihilate the Jews in Persia because of Mordecai’s refusal to bow to Haman. He bribed the king with a huge gift of money to be given permission to send the summons to have the Jews wiped out. The king took him up on his offer and the order was sent out. Truly, this was a key turning point in the history of redemption. If Haman had succeeded, the Jews would have been wiped out, and there would have been no Messiah and no salvation for the world. So, what happened next was critical for the Jewish people.

Mordecai, and the Jews in the area, went into great mourning that led to Mordecai’s plea to Esther to intervene on her people’s behalf. Fearing for her own life, Esther initially refused. But Mordecai warned her that if she did not involve herself, the Jews would be rescued by the hand of another. However, Esther herself would not escape death if she thought she could preserve her own life by doing nothing. Upon hearing this, Esther vowed to go before the king, even upon threat of death. Her courage was even more remarkable when we consider that the name of God is not mentioned even one time in the book of Esther. Surely, God’s hand of providence is working in ways that are not always immediately discernible to us. Esther trusted this providence even when she had no idea how things would turn out for her.

This is often true for us as well. God’s hand of providence remains hidden from us, and we do not know how things will turn out before they actually occur. Still, we must trust the Lord and do what honors Him even if it will cost us greatly. Why? Because we trust in God and we obey His commands. We need to do this, especially when what is ahead of us is out of sight for us. To do it our own way is to deny the sovereign hand and wisdom of God and to be so arrogant as to pursue our own wise ways even though the future is unknown to us. It is during these times that we must remember that God is ever working for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28); we must trust Him and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Lord Accomplishes His Will Despite His People’s Sin 

Yahweh never covenanted to destroy His people Israel completely, even if they were unfaithful. Esther expands on this, showing us that He may freely use even the questionable motives of His people to save them. Esther and Mordecai were compromising figures, and yet God made use of the positions they obtained by dubious means to rescue His people in Persia. Sin is never praiseworthy, but our transgression cannot bind the Lord’s hand.

King Ahasuerus’ reign was viewed as lavish and extensive, but, ironically, this king who was sovereign over the most powerful world empire in his day could not even get his own wife Vashti to follow his wishes. He was the ruler of the known world, but he could not even rule his own house!

The Pride of Man’s Flesh is His Demise

Thinking Ahasuerus wanted to honor him, Haman suggested a fitting way to exalt himself. Yet Haman ended up honoring the one he detested. Our plans are so inferior to God’s. While we may think we have it all together we must realize who truly rules all things. 

Throughout the history of mankind, human rulers and governments have often considered themselves infallible, sovereign, and omnipotent, and, therefore, worthy of undue honor. The book of Esther is a display of the faultiness of this delusion.

Esther 8:2 The king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Clearly, the author of Esther wants us to understand that God is invisibly, but sovereignly, present in the events he recorded in his citation of the ancestry of Haman and Mordecai. Haman was an Agagite, a descendant of Agag, the ruler of the Amalekites during Saul’s reign. The Amalekites were the first to attack Israel after the exodus, and God pledged to destroy Amalek and his offspring because of their evil. In his day, God commanded Saul to finish wiping out the Amalekites, but he disobeyed the Lord and preserved Agag alive for a time. Thus, God rejected him as king over Israel.

Like Saul, Mordecai was a Benjaminite with an ancestor named Kish. When reading Esther, the exiled Jew would have readily recalled God’s promise to destroy the Amalekite enemies of His people and Saul’s failure to be the instrument of destruction. Recall that Esther, Mordecai, and the other Israelites lived in Persia because they failed to keep the Mosaic covenant. Since the Lord’s chosen people did not obey God, they naturally wondered if He would keep His pledge to destroy their enemies. 

The book of Esther shows, again, that God keeps His word even when His people do not. Even in the exile, our Father sovereignly orchestrated history to give His people a second chance to destroy their foes. Saul failed, but another Benjaminite named Mordecai, with the help of his cousin Esther, accomplished God’s purpose against Agag and the Amalekites.

God was in the details of all of these events working His ultimate will. When we look back over our lives, we often find that the Lord was at work in those times when we thought He was absent. During the times when we suffer from doubts about God’s love and faithfulness, we should not focus on whether or not we “feel” His presence. The Lord may not be revealing Himself, but He is there.

In Esther 7, Haman is hanged on the gallows he intended for Mordecai, and in chapter 8, Esther is given the house of Haman. 

Esther 8-10

Esther 8:2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

What an amazing turn of events!

In Esther 8:3-8, the order to wipe out the Jews was reversed. 

In Esther 8:16-17, it says, “The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.”

Esther 9:16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 

Esther 10 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Nehemiah 9.7.24

Grab your Bibles, and let’s dig back into Nehemiah and see what God has for us today!

After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, they became the new world power. Persia often allowed exiles to return to their homelands; this included the Jews, following Cyrus’ proclamation in 538 BC (2 Chronicles 36:22–23). Since the restoration of Israel did not get off to a very good start, God sent prophets and leaders to encourage the people to rebuild the temple and prepare for the Messiah. Nehemiah was one of these key leaders. Nehemiah, a Jew serving in the Persian court, was facing the loss of his traditions as Jerusalem lay in ruins and the people of God were held in reproach. He had to learn how to be faithful to the Lord while under the rule of a king who did not know the God of Israel.

We are faced with a similar dilemma with the current state of our modern culture. The moral decay of our youth and the aggressive invading of worldly agendas into everyday society is more and more prevalent. It is too easy to get caught up in focusing on the demise of the culture, but we must never forget that this world is demised in sin. Only salvation in Jesus brings true and lasting obedience to God. We must lead in all we do with the gospel of Jesus Christ and never set it down to play only in the political realm. Our greatest weapon is the good news. Let’s be sure to keep it in the center of all we do. Our hope is not in this kingdom nor in our next leader nor the next laws on which we will vote. Instead, our hope is in Jesus. Do we need revolution? Yes! But the only true and lasting reformation will come when the church leads with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In Nehemiah 1:4-11, we read Nehemiah’s prayer. This is an outstanding prayer because of its emphasis on the Lord’s covenant faithfulness, which God displayed not only in blessing His people but also in bringing about the curses that He warned of in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God is, by nature, faithful, and thus He keeps His promises; so, when Israel boldly violated the terms of the covenant and refused to repent, they reaped the consequences. Nehemiah was not afraid to acknowledge both sides of God’s covenant faithfulness, and so this prayer stands as a great model to us. What we must also realize is that the faithfulness of God to His promises also involves disciplining us for sin. We should not think that He is being less than faithful to His covenant when we feel His hard, but loving, hand of discipline.

Assassinations by poisoning were common in the ancient world, and kings would take precautions to ensure that their food and drink were safe. Often they would employ cupbearers who would taste their food and wine ahead of time to make sure it was not poisoned. A cupbearer held an important place in the royal court and had to be a trustworthy individual. The fact that Nehemiah served as the cupbearer to the ruler of Persia shows he was a trustworthy man. Nehemiah understood that confidence in the sovereignty of God does not mean that we say a prayer and then sit around waiting for Him to move. Instead, those who rightly understand the Lord’s sovereignty pray and act at the same time, knowing any risk they take for the kingdom will not, ultimately, derail the plan of God. He went to work, and God used Nehemiah’s faithfulness to set the table for big things. 

In Chapter 2, we read that Nehemiah shared his sadness over the poor condition of Jerusalem and asked the king for help in returning to the Holy City and rebuilding the wall. Amazingly, the king granted Nehemiah’s request, providing him with letters of safe conduct and materials to use in reconstructing the wall around Jerusalem. On his way back home, Nehemiah heard of the opposition to his efforts by Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. These men would surely threaten the progress of rebuilding the wall, but that should not be surprising to any of us who belong to Christ. Satan does not like it when the people of God are in the process of returning to Him, and he often stirs up people to speak and act against the work of God-honoring reformation. There is always a cost to serving the Lord, and Jesus Himself warns us of the price to be paid in this world for following Him in Luke 14:25–33. I pray that none of you underestimate this cost, but you are willing to pay it for the glory of Christ.

In Nehemiah 5, we see it is easy to become wearied and feel like giving up after a long period of suffering. This is what happened during Nehemiah’s wall-building project. Eventually, the people complained that they were unable to continue their work because of financial problems. Famine made food scarce, families were in over their heads financially maintaining their farms, and so on. Some of the people did not give because they were too focused on storing grain for themselves. This is the faulty thinking that plagues many in the modern-day church. It is often not a lack of funds that keeps them from giving regularly and sacrificially but an unwillingness to give up a certain lifestyle in order to obediently give God His firstfruits. We need to see it as our joy to be saved and to get to participate in the building of God’s kingdom. Here we are given a practical view of what happens when we get too focused on building our own kingdoms. 

Having rebuilt the wall, Nehemiah recognized that a physical defense for the city wouldn’t matter without a change in the hearts of the people. So he gathered the people together to hear Ezra read the law of God and express repentance for the sins that had put them into exile in the first place. There was also a great celebration at the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem, for the Lord had been faithful to grant the people success in their important endeavor. 

In Nehemiah chapter 13, we read that there was much going on that could have led to the reintroduction of idolatry into the covenant community. Nehemiah kicked Eliashib the priest out because he was related to Tobiah the Ammonite, and Eliashib had been trying to make the house of God into a house for the pagan ruler. Intermarriage with forbidden, as God had commanded Israel not to intermarry with the Ashdodites, Ammonites, and Moabites because of the temptation that these peoples would lead the hearts of the Jews to follow after other gods. Other violations in Nehemiah’s day included the breaking of the Sabbath and the failure to provide for the clergy. Evidently, these sins were renounced in public, but the hearts of a majority of the people remained hard. Therefore, Nehemiah’s effort for reformation did not last, and things faded out until the coming of Christ. 

One of the huge reminders we are given from this testimony is that the gospel must be embraced and lived out in every generation. In this time, we need to be sure to obey God’s word in all things and keep the true and living gospel at the center of our words and testimony. We need to be reminded of the gravity of our sin and the greatness of our Savior in order to live in grateful obedience to His word. My prayer is that many will realize their sin and their need for Christ alone, that they will repent and believe, be saved, and their lives will be transformed. 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Ezra 8.31.24

Hopefully you have been amazed at what God has done from the beginning of Ezra chapter one: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia …” A little background will be helpful to set the stage of what is going on in Ezra. 

The people of Israel where carted off into captivity. If you remember back in Deuteronomy, we read this:

Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.”

This text was written when Moses was still alive. Judah was carried off into captivity in about 580 B.C. The northern kingdom was carried off much earlier (790 B.C). It is important to remember that in the time before Christ, the numbers run backwards–they are counting down to Christ–which is the central point of all history. In Ezra 5:10 and following, we see the leaders of Israel acknowledge that their forefathers have angered God, and that Israel worshipped false gods was not a surprise to the God of heaven, as He knew when He made His covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai that this would be the case. God ordained this to be a part of His perfect plan to bring about redemption, which was promised in the Garden. 

Two takeaways from this brief history: First, nothing surprises God. There is nothing that has cropped up in history that has God surprised or wasn’t ordained by first or secondary causes. Man’s wickedness, Israel’s disobedience, Israel being conquered by another country; none of this was outside of the preordained plan of God. The Scriptures tell us that God raises up kingdoms and tears them down according to His good, wise, and perfect counsel. This should be a comfort in this time of turmoil as we come to elections. The Lord holds the heart of the king in His hand. He orchestrates and what He has ordained will be the outcome. Israel chose to follow after the false idols, and they are held accountable for these actions. God is not responsible for Israel’s sins of disobedience, idolatry, and all the other commands they broke. God cannot be tempted by evil. 

Second, we see God’s faithfulness or steadfast love. Ezra 1:1 says, “… that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.”This is a huge statement leading off the book of Ezra. Hopefully you see God’s active hand in the life of Ezra. God promised through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10, 14) to bring His people back, and His promise was written in His word—written to the people to comfort them. God gives comfort in trial via His unchangeable word/promise. If God says it in His word, it will happen. We need to trust that God does what He says He will do. This is a comfort and a warning. Israel was God’s chosen people, and God still punished them for their disobedience. Many thought that since they were the physical descendants of Abraham, this would not happen. God disciplines those whom He loves so that we will repent and honor Him again. Take comfort that God did not leave them in their exiled place. God actively worked in Cyrus’s heart to bring about His holy will. Cyrus did not know God (Isaiah 45:5), but that doesn’t matter because God holds the heart of the king. God is sovereign over all things, and people will act in accordance with this. 

Now, this does not give us free reign to throw our hands up and not do anything! God has given us responsibilities. We are to act in accordance with what He has commanded us. We are to engage the public square based on God’s character and attributes. We are to obey our civil government as if following the command of God. We are to help the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions. We are to raise our families in ways that glorify God, because this is the expectation of what God has given us. We don’t just let our children do anything they want, but we train them and nurture them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. When we do this, we know that we have been faithful and obedient, and that God will do what is good and right according to His counsel. We do not always understand what is good and right, but we can trust that God does and He is good and right. 

In our reading, we find God ordained Ezra to play an important role. Ezra was a priest and a scribe of God. He was a Levite, which means he was of the priestly tribe. He was sent by Cyrus to help the people of Israel to follow after God. Ezra 7:10 says, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” First, notice that Ezra was ruling his heart (referring to his inner most being–emotions and mind). He was not allowing fleshly things to control him but was choosing to act in accordance with God’s desire. He actively went after God’s law. Second, Ezra was a man of God. The Law of God was living to Ezra. This was a challenge, as Ezra had to respond and deal with an Jewish culture that had absorbed many practices of the cultures around them and where breaking the commands of God without even realizing it. 

In chapter eight we see Ezra lead by an example. In Ezra 8:21-23 it says, “Then 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. For 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.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”

This is a great passage. When Ezra was preparing to lead the people back to Israel, he didn’t ask for protection from the king but fasted and prayed. This is a great example for us. Many times we can reach out and get the problem solved, but we do it without trusting in God. What would it look like if instead of looking to just fix it yourself, you fasted and prayed more often? When we slow down and seek God in faith, He shows us the way. This does not mean that we forsake the means He has given us. It is simply slowing down to acknowledge that He is God and is at work. It is a way to protect us from getting out of step with His will and ways. Many times we solve the problem ourselves without involving Him. This is not what Ezra does; he went to God and trusted Him, and God listened! God hears our prayers. Let’s go to Him more than we do. 

As things progressed, Ezra had to make some radical changes in the latter part of the book, to bring Israel back into submission to God’s word. If Ezra had not studied the word, he would have not known this was necessary. In Chapter 9, we see again that Ezra prays about it first. This is the pattern of Ezra: problem, pray, trust God, obedience. This is the cycle that we as believers should follow. What problems do you need to use this pattern for? How can you make this a regular practice? 

Ezra, as a scribe and a priest, was a type that points to Christ. As a priest, he fulfilled a mediatorial role for the people of Israel. He interceded between the people and God—performing the sacrifices, showing them that sin needs to be atoned for. All the while, Ezra was a man who did not fulfill this role perfectly. In this he shows us our need for the truer and better priest, Jesus Christ. In the New Covenant secured in His blood, Christ pleads our case before the Father against the accuser because we are His. Praise the Lord. 

Ezra was a shadow of Christ in teaching the Law. Jeremiah 31:31 tells us we have the law written on our hearts. This is in a greater way than just knowing it; it is following it willfully. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, the law is written on the believer’s heart in a way that we now can obey it and glorify God. Do you know God? Have you trusted in Jesus’ mediatorial work for you, that He has robed you in His (Jesus’) righteousness and that you can come before the Father with boldness? If you have not cried out to God, ask Him to give you saving faith. If you have, then walk and talk with Him every day, as you obey His commands and navigate this broken world for His name’s 0sake and others’ good. 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

*Special thanks to J.Taylor who helped me prepare this week’s devotion