January 11, 2009
Scripture:
Scripture:
John 19:16 – This is that same Lamb of God.
Ministry:
Can we turn to John 1? Earlier on, we went to Genesis 22, where we found Isaac asking, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Here we find John the Baptist stating that this is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” V.36 ”And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” It seems as if John was looking on Jesus as He walked his pathway down here, and in so doing he makes this statement. A couple of John’s disciples decided to follow this One that John had pointed out. V. 38 ”Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?” Here we have another “where?“. Their heart’s have been touched, and they want to know more. Earlier in the chapter, we find the answer to their question. V.18 *“No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” *Where did He dwell? He dwelt in the bosom of the Father. What does that mean? It means that he dwelt in the the love of the Father. John 17:24 “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” Where did He dwell? In the bosom of the Father; in that love that was before the foundation of the world, a divine love, a love that never fails. It’s precious what comes before that phrase, though. That One, who dwelt in the Father’s love, was given a people; and He wants them to be with Him. He wants them to be brought into the same before that portion is His. We may well ponder that phrase, “Where dwellest thou?“.
Hymn 323 – There’s a friend for little children,
Prayer
We finished Acts last time I spoke, and I’ve been looking to the Lord for what we should do next; I’d like to read some of the stories in the book of Daniel. Today, we’ll look at where Daniel fits into the Old Testament history and get a bit of an introduction to him.
Recently, Grandpa has been taking us through the story of Creation; right now, he’s looking at Noah. We know that Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Shem was the one which God chose as His lineage of promise. About 450 years after Shem, we have Abraham. We know his story and how he waited many years for Isaac, his promised son. Then, Isaac had Jacob, who was later called Israel. Israel’s 12 sons became the nation of Israel. We know the story of Joseph, and how all of Jacob’s family ended up in Egypt. They became slaves for 400 years, until God raised up Moses to bring them out, through the wilderness and right to the promised land. Joshua led them into Canaan and helped them conquer it. Over the next period of time, judges, prophets, and kings ruled the children of Israel, until it split into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. They did many things that did not please God in all these years, and so God finally had the Assyrians take Israel captive. About 100 years later, Nebuchadnezzar took Judah captive. That’s where Daniel comes in. Read Daniel 1:1 & 2. God allowed His people to be taken captive because of their behaviour; yet, some of them still worshiped God, as did Daniel. Lord willing, we’ll look at Daniel’s life in Babylon in the weeks to come.
Chapters 5 and 6 seem to go together; we have the sending of a letter to Darius and his response. It’s interesting there are time gaps on either side of these chapters: between ch. 4 and 5 there are about 15 years; and between ch. 6 and 7 there are about 57 years. It is in chapter 7 that we finally meet Ezra, who is writing here. We saw last time how the governor asked the Jews about their project and then included their response in a letter to the king. This chapter gives us the reply from Darius.
We looked last week at another building project, in Genesis 11: the tower of Babel. We might gain some interesting insights into God’s heart on the Jew’s project if we look at a few references in Genesis. Abraham was a man with a calling, a man with faith. He was God’s man, called out of his country and family. Read Genesis 12: 6 – 8. Abraham built an altar, a place of worship: we saw the Jews doing that a few chapters ago. He pitched his tent here, which made him a pilgrim: his back was towards Hai, “the heap of ruin,” and he was facing Bethel, “the house of God.” This is the first mention of the house of God in scripture. Now turn to ch. 28:18. This is the place Jacob had his divine dream: he called it Bethel, the house of God. Unfortunately, he did not stay there: he went on to stay with Laban for 20 years, Finally, ch. 31:13, God spoke to him in a dream, calling Himself “the God of Bethel.” He was the God of the house of God; He wanted Jacob to return to His house. But what had Jacob been doing for 20 years? Read ch. 30:30; he had not been concerned about God’s house; he had been providing for his own. Ch. 31:41 says he had been working for Laban’s house as well. It is as though God is crying out to Jacob, “What about My house?” God’s house is important to Him. Israel neglected it and lost it; now in Ezra they are rebuilding it, but they are not always committed: they stopped to provide for themselves, as did Jacob. What do we seek to maintain as the local expression of God’s house today? It is the assembly, and we should strive to not neglect it, to not let other things fill our lives. God is on our side, as He was with Israel.
It must have been a huge job to search for the record of Cyrus’ command; it sounds as though there were many buildings full of scrolls documenting the history of the Babylonian civilization. When they finally find the document, Darius repeats it with his own decree: “Let the house be built.”
It is interesting to note that when their adversaries first came to them and offered to “help,” the Jews refused the offer. Now, when Darius commands those same people to furnish the Jews with materials, they accept it. They realized that God had given His earthly authority over them to the Gentile kings, and that He was working through Darius to give them what they needed.
Hymn 269 – This world is a wilderness wide,
Prayer