Encouragement for Courageous Women in Christ
No. 27 of Returning Home (Renewed) Ezra grieves because of Judah’s sin of intermarrying with the Gentile nations. His first response to the news is astonishment; he is pained and refuses food. From this inward turmoil he emerges to go directly to God in the…
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No. 26 of Returning Home (Renewed) The descendants of Abraham were tainting their bloodline by marrying Gentiles, in direct rebellion with God’s law to them. Their own leaders, including the Levites, were practicing this disobedience. When Ezra learned of the crime the children of Israel…
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No. 24 of Returning Home (Second Return) One identifying characteristic of Bible narrative is the succinctness of the accounts. Looking at the compiled Old and New Testament in my lap, it’s easy to think, There’s nothing succinct about this book! It is a heavy volume,…
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No. 23 of Returning Home (Second Return) Ezra and the people journeying to Jerusalem carry with them the king of Persia’s treasures, earmarked for the temple. Ezra must conduct his people and the king’s riches in the safest and most expedient way. He chooses the…
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No. 22 of Returning Home (Second Return) Ezra accepted his work for God with courage and gratitude, but he did not have an easy time of it. Ezra records the names and number of the returning people of God in this second expedition (read chapter…
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No. 21 of Returning Home (Second Return) Artaxerxes I is revealed in Ezra as a king who is both for and against the work in Jerusalem. His letter given to Ezra describes what his intentions are in sending the second group of Hebrews home. This…
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