THE TEMPLE

THE TEMPLE

SOLOMON’S TEMPLESOLOMON FINISHED THE TEMPLE (959 BC)?DESTROYED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR (586 BC)?

ZERUBBABEL’S TEMPLERECONSTRUCTION UNDER CYRUS (536 BC)?BUILDING CEASES UNDER ARTAXERXES (17 YEARS)?BUILDING CONTINUES UNDER DARIUS (519 BC)?TEMPLE COMPLETED UNDER DARIUS (516 BC)?

(516-458 BC)?

HEROD’S TEMPLECONSTRUCTION BEGAN (20 BC)?COMPLETED 46 YEARS (JOHN 2:20) (64 AD)?

CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS

OBADIAH (605-585 BC)?

EZEKIEL (593-571 BC)?

DANIEL (605-530 BC)?EZRA (538-457 BC)?

ZECHARIAH (520-480 BC)?

ESTHER (479-478 BC)?

NEHEMIAH (445-432 BC)?

MALACHI (440-430 BC)?

BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

NEBUCHADNEZZAR DANIEL 1:1 (539 BC)?

CYRUS EZRA 1-3 (538-537 BC)?

AHASUERUS EZRA 4 (7 MONTHS) (537 BC)?

DARIUS EZRA 5-6 (536-516 BC)?

QUEEN ESTHER ESTHER 2-10 (479-478 BC)?

ARTAXERXES LONGIMANUS (465-424 BC)?EZRA 7-10 (458-457 BC)?NEHEMIAH 1-13 (445-432 BC)?

PEOPLE TO REMEMBER

NEBUCHADNEZZAR - DESTROYED JERUSALEM (586 BC)?

ARTAXERXES - KING OF PERSIA 465-425 BC?LONGIMANUS - SON OF XERXES

NEHEMIAH - COMFORTED OF YAHWEHSON OF HACHALIAH - BROTHER OF HANANI 445-433 BC?

ADVERSARIES OF NEHEMIAHSANBALLAT THE HORONITE - GOVERNOR OF SAMARIATOBIAH THE AMMONITE - JOINT GOVERNOR WITH SANBALLATGESHEM THE ARAB - CHIEF OF THE ARABS IN SAMARIA

ELIASHIB THE HIGH PRIESTEZRA THE PRIEST - THE SCRIBE

OUTLINE NEHEMIAH CHAPTER NINE

THEY FAST AND CONFESS THEIRS SINS TO THE LORD: V. 1-3

LEVITES GIVE ACCOUNT OF GOD'S KINDNESS AND

FORBEARANCE AND GOD'S MERCIES AND JUDGMENTS: V. 4-37

THEY MAKE A COVENANT WITH THE LORD: V. 38

READ: NEHEMIAH 9:1-3

1 On the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.

2 Those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 They stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

QUESTIONS: NEHEMIAH 9:1-3

1 On the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.

WHAT DID ISRAEL DO ON THE 24TH DAY?WHY FASTING, SACKCLOTH AND DUST?

READ: ISAIAH 58:5 & ZECHARIAH 7:5


WHY FASTING, SACKCLOTH AND ASHES?

READ: ISAIAH 58:55 Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? (NKJ)

READ: ZECHARIAH 7:55 Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me-- for Me? (NKJ)


2 Those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners. And they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

WHAT DID THEY CONFESS?WHO DID THE SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM?

READ: EZRA 10:33 ….Let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.(NKJ)


3 They stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

WHAT ELSE DID THEY DO ON THE 24TH DAY?HOW LONG DID THE READ FROM THE BOOK OF LAW?

HOW LONG DID THEY MAKE CONFESSION?


4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

5 The Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: "Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! "Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!


4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

WHO WERE THESE MEN? LEVITES?

SEE NEXT VERSE

WHAT DID THEY DO?


5 The Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: "Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! "Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!

WHO WERE THESE MEN? LEVITES?

(SOME OF THE SAME MEN IN VERSE 4)

WHAT DID THEY SAY?

HOW DOES ONE ‘BLESS THE LORD’?


6 You alone are the LORD; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.

7 You are the LORD God, who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham;

8 You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites-- to give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, for You are righteous.



WHY DID THE LORD DO THESE THINGS?

READ: ECCLESIASTES 3:14

14 I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. (NKJ)



WHO ARE THE HOST OF HEAVEN?

WHO SHOULD WORSHIP THE LORD?

READ: PSALMS 103:21

21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure. (NKJ)


7 You are the LORD God, who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham;

WHO IS ABRAM? ABRAHAM?

READ: GENESIS 17:5

5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. (NKJ)

READ: ISAIAH 51:2

2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him. (NKJ)


8 You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites-- to give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, for You are righteous.

WHY DID THE LORD CHOOSE ABRAHAM?WHAT DID THE LORD GIVE TO ABRAHAM?

SEE: DEUTERONOMY 7:1WHY IS THE LORD RIGHTEOUS?


9 You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea.

10 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.

11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters.



WHEN DID GOD SEE THEIR AFFLICTION?

READ: EXODUS 2:23-24

23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. The children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.

24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. (NKJ)



WHEN DID GOD HEAR THEIR CRY?

READ: EXODUS 14:10

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. (NKJ)


10 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.

HOW DID GOD SHOW HIS SIGNS AND WONDERS?

READ: ACTS 7:36

36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. (NKJ)


11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters.

WHEN DID GOD DO THIS?

READ: EXODUS 14:28-2928 The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (NKJ)


12 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road which they should travel.

13 You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments.

14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant.


12 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road which they should travel.

WHAT WAS THIS CLOUDY PILLAR?

READ: EXODUS 13:21-22

21 The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.

22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. (NKJ)


13 You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments.14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant.

WHAT HAPPENED AT MOUNT SINAI?WHO WAS THE LAW GIVEN TO?READ: EXODUS 32:15-16


WHAT HAPPENED AT MOUNT SINAI?

READ: EXODUS 32:15-1615 Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.

16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.


WHO WAS THE LAW GIVEN TO?

READ: DEUTERONOMY 5:1-41 Moses called all Israel, and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

3 The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.

4 The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.


15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and told them to go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

16 But they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments.

17 They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.


15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and told them to go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

WHEN DID GOD GIVE THEM BREAD FROM HEAVEN?WHEN DID GOD GIVE THEM WATER FROM A ROCK?

WHEN DID THEY ENTER THE PROMISED LAND?


WHEN DID GOD GIVE THEM BREAD FROM HEAVEN?

EXODUS 16:44 The LORD said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

DEUTERONOMY 8:33 He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.


WHEN DID GOD GIVE THEM WATER FROM A ROCK?

READ: EXODUS 17:3-63 The people thirsted there for water and they complained against Moses, saying, Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?4 Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!5 The LORD said to Moses, Go before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river.6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink. Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.


WHEN DID THEY ENTER THE PROMISED LAND?

READ: DEUTERONOMY 1:88 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers-- to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-- to give to them and their descendants after them. (NKJ)

DEUTERONOMY 27:33 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD God of your fathers promised you. (NKJ)


16 But they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments.17 They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.

WHAT DID THEY DO?WHAT WAS THE LORD READY TO DO?


WHAT DID THEY DO?

READ: EXODUS 32:99 The LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! (NKJ)

READ: 2 KINGS 17:13-1413 The LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.14 Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. (NKJ)


WHAT WAS THE LORD READY TO DO?

READ: EXODUS 34:6-76 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,

7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.(NKJ)


WHAT WAS THE LORD READY TO DO?

READ: NUMBERS 14:1818 The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; But He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. (NKJ)

DEUTERONOMY 4:3131 The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.


18 Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt, and worked great provocations,

19 Yet in Your manifold mercies you did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, to lead them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way they should go.

20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.


18 Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt, and worked great provocations,

WHEN DID THEY MAKE THE GOLDEN CALF?

READ: EXODUS 32:4

4 Aaron received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!

(NKJ)


19 Yet in Your manifold mercies you did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, to lead them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way they should go.

HOW DID GOD MANIFEST HIS MERCY?DID THEY KNOW GOD HAD NOT FORSAKEN THEM?


20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

WHO WAS ‘THE GOOD SPIRIT’ THAT GOD GAVE THEM?


18 The LORD said to Moses: Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;

WHY DID GOD GIVE THEM THIS ‘GOOD SPIRIT’?


21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

22 Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them into districts. So they took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land which You had told their fathers to go in and possess.


21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

HOW LONG DID THE WANDER IN THE WILDERNESS?HOW DID GOD CONTINUE TO SUSTAIN THEM?

READ: DEUTERONOMY 8:44 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (NKJ)


22 Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them into districts. They took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land which You had told their fathers to go in and possess.

WHAT LANDS DID GOD GIVE THEM?READ: NUMBERS 21:21

WHAT DID GOD PROMISE ABRAM?READ: GENESIS 12:1-3


WHAT DID GOD PROMISE ABRAM?

READ: GENESIS 12:1-31 The LORD had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (NKJ)

ALSO: GENESIS 13:16; 15:5; 22:17

DID THE LORD KEEP HIS PROMISE THE ABRAM?


24 The people went in and possessed the land; you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they wished.

25 They took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate and were filled and grew fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.


24 The people went in and possessed the land; YOU subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they wished.

WHAT LAND DID THE POSSESS?WHEN DID THEY POSSESS THIS LAND?

WHO SUBDUED THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND?WHY DID THE LORD DO THIS?


25 They took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate and were filled and grew fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

WHAT DID THEY TAKE POSSESSION OF?WHO GAVE THESE THING TO THEM?

WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?



READ: JEREMIAH 5:28

28 They have grown fat, they are sleek. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless. Yet they prosper and the right of the needy they do not defend.(NKJ)

WHAT HAD THEY FORGOTTEN?


26 Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets, who testified against them to turn them to Yourself; and they worked great provocations.

27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who oppressed them; and in the time of their trouble, when they cried to You, you heard from heaven; and according to Your abundant mercies you gave them deliverers who saved them from the hand of their enemies.


26 Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets, who testified against them to turn them to Yourself; and they worked great provocations.

HOW WERE THEY DISOBEDIENT?WHAT DID THEY DO?

WHAT PROPHETS DID THEY KILL?


WHO KILLED THE PROPHETS?

READ: 1 KINGS 18:4

4 While Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.

READ: 1 KINGS 18:13

13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD'S prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water?



READ: 1 KINGS 19:1010 Elijah said, I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts. The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your Prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.

READ: 1 KINGS 19:1414 Elijah said, I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your Prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.



READ: 2 CHRONICLES 24:20-21

20 The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.

21 They conspired against him, and at the commandment of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.


WHO KILLED URIJAH?JEREMIAH 26:20-24

20 There was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.21 When Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt.22 Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt.23 They brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. (NKJ)


WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PROPHETS?

READ: HEBREWS 11:32

32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

READ: HEBREWS 11:36-38

36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--

38 Of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.


27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who oppressed them; and in the time of their trouble, when they cried to You, you heard from heaven; and according to Your abundant mercies you gave them deliverers who saved them from the hand of their enemies.

WHAT DID THE LORD DO TO THEM?WHAT DID THE LORD DO WHEN THEY CRIED OUT?


28 After they had rest, they again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried out to You, you heard from heaven; and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,

29 And testified against them, that You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments, Which if a man does, he shall live by them. They shrugged their shoulders, Stiffened their necks, and would not hear.


28 After they had rest, they again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they returned and cried out to You, you heard from heaven; and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,

WHAT DID THEY DO AFTER THEY HAD REST?HOW DID THEY “RETURN’?

WHY DID GOD ‘HEAR’ THEM? HOW OFTEN DID GOD DELIVER THEM?


29 And testified against them, that You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments, Which if a man does, he shall live by them. They shrugged their shoulders, Stiffened their necks, and would not hear.

WHY DID GOD TESTIFY AGAINST THEM?HOW DID THEY RESPOND?


HOW DID THEY RESPOND?

READ: ZECHARIAH 7:11-1211 They refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.12 Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. (NKJ)

HOW DID THE ZECHARIAH DESCRIBE THESE PEOPLE?HOW DID THE LORD TESTIFY TO THEM?


READ: HOSEA: 4:16-19

16 Israel is stubborn like a stubborn calf; now the LORD will let them forage like a lamb in open country.

WHY DESCRIBE ISRAEL LIKE A STUBBORN CALF?WHAT HAD THE LORD DONE TO ISRAEL?

HOW DOES A LAMB FORAGE IN OPEN COUNTRY?


30 For many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy you did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful.


30 For many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy you did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful.

HOW ‘PATIENT’ IS THE LORD?HOW DID THE LORD ‘TESTIFY’ TO THEM?

HOW DID THEY RESPOND?WHY DIDN’T THE LORD CONSUME THEM?

OR FORSAKE THEM?


32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy: do not let all the trouble seem small before You that has come upon us, our kings and our princes, our priests and our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33 However You are just in all that has befallen us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly.

34 Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests nor our fathers, have kept Your law, nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, with which You testified against them.


32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy: do not let all the trouble seem small before You that has come upon us, our kings and our princes, our priests and our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

HOW DOES HE DESCRIBE GOD?WHAT DOES HE WANT GOD TO DO?

HOW LONG HAS THIS ‘TROUBLE’ COME UPON THEM?


33 However You are just in all that has befallen us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly.34 Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests nor our fathers, have kept Your law, nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, with which You testified against them.

WHY DOES HE SAY GOD IS ‘JUST’?WHO IS GUILTY?

WHAT ARE THEY GUILTY OF?WHAT ‘TESTIFIED’ AGAINST THEM?


35 For they have not served You in their kingdom, or in the many good things that You gave them, or in the large and rich land which You set before them; nor did they turn from their wicked works.

36 Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its bounty, here we are, servants in it!

37 And it yields much increase to the kings you have set over us, because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.


35 For they have not served You in their kingdom, or in the many good things that You gave them, or in the large and rich land which You set before them; nor did they turn from their wicked works.

HOW HAD THEY NOT SERVED THE LORD?WHAT DID THEY NOT ‘TURN FROM’?


36 Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its bounty, here we are, servants in it!37 And it yields much increase to the kings you have set over us, because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.

WHY ARE THEY SERVANTS?WHO DO THEY SERVE?

WHAT IS THEIR ‘GREAT DISTRESS’?

READ: NEHEMIAH 9:38

38 Because of all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it. (NKJ)

QUESTIONS: NEHEMIAH 9:38

38 Because of all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it. (NKJ)

WHAT DID THEY PURPOSE TO DO?WHAT IS A COVENANT?

WHY PUT IT IN WRITING?WHY NOT AN OATH?


HAVE THEY NOT TESTIFIED UNDER OATH BEFORE?

READ: EXODUS 24:3

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do."

HAD THEY MADE A COVENANT BEFORE?

READ: JOSHUA 24:24-25

24 The people said to Joshua, The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!

25 Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute & an ordinance in Shechem.


HAD THEY MADE A COVENANT BEFORE?

READ: JEREMIAH 50:55 They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.

WHAT IS A ‘PERPETUAL COVENANT’?

READ: NEHEMIAH 9:3838 Because of all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it.

WHY WOULD THIS COVENANT BE DIFFERENT?WHO WOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

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