November 2, 2008
Scripture:
1Samuel 17:32-37, And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.” Here we have the army of Israel with soldiers that are equipped for conflict. We need that kind of character today; to take up warfare and have the victory. We have Israel on one hill, here, and the Philistines on the other. Goliath is down in the plain in the middle. But this is not a job for soldiers. This is a job for a shepherd. A flock was at stake: God’s people. God showed His might and power through David. David had experience. He had killed a lion and a bear through the strength of the One that he knew so well. David is a beautiful example of the Lord. The Lord is a shepherd, too. He went and died on Calvary for the sake of the flock. There, in weakness, He won the mead and crown; so that there might be one flock. Surely we can say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” He has gone into the valley of death, so that we might have victory.
Hymn 57 – “Almost Persuaded,” now to believe
Prayer
We’ll talk today of the man about whom that song was written. Last time we looked at how Paul was judged by Felix. At the end of that chapter, Festus took Felix’s place. At the beginning of ch. 25, the Jews came to Festus. It had been two years since Felix had tried Paul, but the Jews had not forgotten about him. They asked Festus to send Paul to Jerusalem so that they could ambush and kill him along the way. However, Festus told them to come to Caesarea, where he would deal with the matter. The Jews came to Caesarea again and they met with Festus and Paul. Festus, who wanted to please the Jews, asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to take care of this issue; however, Paul thought that, as a Roman, he deserved better. In v. 11, he appealed to be sent to Caesar; accordingly, Festus decided to send him to Rome. This was what God had told Paul would happen.
But before Paul could be sent to Rome, Festus had some guests: King Agrippa and Bernice, brother and sister. Festus told them about Paul: how the Jews wanted him killed, and how he had appealed to be sent to Caesar. The only problem was that Festus didn’t have any reason to send Paul. So he asked King Agrippa to listen to Paul’s story and give his verdict. So in ch. 26, we read about Paul’s trial before King Agrippa.
Paul begins by telling the king and Bernice the story of how he was a strict Pharisee, persecuting Christians for a living. He explained how God had stopped him in his tracks as he went to Damascus, and how his life had never been the same since: he was now fully persuaded of what he had been so thoroughly against. He began to preach the gospel and this was the reason that the Jews hated him. Read ch. 26:22. Did Paul have an easy life as a missionary? We know he didn’t, but he says here that God had helped him through it all.
When Festus heard all this again, he tried to stop Paul, telling him that he was mad. However Paul explained that he was only speaking the truth. Then he asked King Agrippa if he believed his story, and the story of the gospel. These events had not been hidden; Paul knew the king was fully aware of the truth. In v. 28, we get the famous words of King Agrippa, “Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” (Trivia: how many times is the word Christian used in the Bible?) Paul replied that he wished that everyone who heard him were as persuaded as he was.
After this, Festus, King Agrippa, and Bernice conferred together; King Agrippa said that if Paul had not asked to be sent to Caesar, he could be set free. We’ll see next time what will happen to Paul when he gets sent to Ceasar, but let’s remember that the Lord can help us even as he did Paul.
The setting of the book of Ezra is very important. If you read the Bible through, you may get a bit confused with the order of a book. The Major prophets were all on scene prior to the book of Ezra, although they are put after the historical books. The book of Ezra takes place after the seventy-year captivity of Judah in Babylon was over. At the end of that time, Cyrus allowed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild it. You might think that they would all have been eager to leave, but many had become accustomed to life among the Gentiles.
As we have noticed, this chapter starts with the King of Persia’s proclamation that the Lord God had told him to rebuild Jerusalem. Read Isaiah 44:28 and ch. 45:1 for more on this. God gave the Jews the opportunity to go back to their land; why did He do this? There were many prophecies that had yet to be fulfilled, and if there was no Jerusalem, no temple, no Israel, they could not be accomplished: the Son of God could not come. This all looks forward to the cross. * *
The portion of scripture describes a three-fold revival. The first is when Zerubbabel goes back with many people and restores the altar and begins to build. The second is when Ezra returns with fewer people and continues to build the temple. Finally, the third is when Nehemiah returns alone and builds the wall. These three revivals parallel the three revivals in the 16th and 17th centuries. After the early church we read about in Acts and the ensuing years, the Dark Ages came and Christianity became very entwined with state. Then came the Reformation and there was a reviving of the basic truths of salvation. Some time after that, the Church separated from the government. Then came a separation from the world and religious organization, the truth of which we are trying to continue in today. Both in this time and in Ezra’s, we can see God’s hand working in guiding His own into the way of truth.
It is interesting that Cyrus, though a heathen idolater, confesses that it is the Lord Who gave him all the kingdoms of the earth. The Medes and Persians took over Babylon during the reign of Belteshazzar and eventually Cyrus came into power. We can see God’s work here in bringing about this shift of power for the benefit of His master-plan.
Hymn 372 – “Revive Thy work, O Lord
Prayer