April 27, 2014
Scripture:
Hymn 358 – Tell me the story of Jesus
Prayer
At the end 2 Kings, all the Israelites were taken from Judah to Babylon. The story continues 70 years later, in the book of Ezra. The prophet Jeremiah prophesied that they would be in captivity for 70 years. The Bible isn’t written chronologically: the book of Daniel comes after Ezra, but chronologically it happened before. In the second chapter of Daniel, Daniel had to interpret the king’s dream. The dream told of a statue with a head of gold, chest of silver, thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet of clay. Each of these sections indicated different empires: the Babylonian empire, the Medo-Persian empire, the Grecian empire, the Roman empire, and the end times, respectively. The book of Ezra takes place during the Medo-Persian empire (the chest of silver). The book of Ezra begins with the Lord laying it on the heart of King Cyrus to send the captives back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Cyrus sent out a proclamation saying that anyone who wanted to go back to Jerusalem could. It also encouraged those that couldn’t return to give provisions for the trip and project. Cyrus also returned the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple. God was over everything that was going on.
Ezra 2
There were three groups that went back to Jerusalem. The first was lead by Zerubbabel, the second by Ezra, and the third by Nehemiah. In this second chapter, we get all the names of the people in the first group. The whole Bible is written for our learning. Why do you think all these names are here? All these people were going to serve the Lord and they were very precious to him. We are told that He even enjoys it when we give a cup of cold water in His name.
It seems that a lot of people went back; but when you compare it to the amount that came out of Egypt, it is quite small. With them went many animals. We don’t get the story of the trip, but as they got closer the people from neighbouring cities gave supplies for the project. Today, God doesn’t have a house like the temple. His church is made up of Christians. There are things that the Lord has for each one of us to do today for Him. Lord willing, next time we will see how the temple was built.
Acts 12:1-17
Last week we saw Peter in prison, waiting for execution, but the angel freed him, and he went to the assembly. This is possibly the last Peter story that we get in Acts. He had accomplished his job of opening the door of salvation to both Jew and Gentile, and so Acts moves on to the stories of Paul and the expansion of the Gospel. Some say that Acts could be split into two volumes, between chapters twelve and thirteen.
When the angel led Peter out of prison, Peter thought that he was just seeing a vision. Even the iron gates of the prison yielded to the heavenly messenger; it was an awesome delivery. The local saints knew that Peter was in prison and prayed without ceasing for him. They were praying right through the night! Though they were hardly praying in faith, they were still given what they asked for. The angel led Peter through one street and then left him. When he came to himself, Peter recognized that the Lord had delivered him. Herod thought that he had Peter, but Peter had more work to do for the Lord. It has been said that we are immortal until our work on earth is done.
We need to recognize the Lord’s deliverance in our lives, too. We have been delivered from the bondage of sin and death. In 2 Corinthians 1:10, Paul speaks of how the Lord has delivered, does deliver, and will deliver us. We need to make sure that Satan doesn’t take us captive in other ways now that we’re saved.
Earlier in Acts, when some of the brethren were released from their persecutors, they went to “their own company”. Peter does the same thing. He came to himself, and then he came to the house where the prayer meeting was being held. An earthly king had Peter in his clutches, so the saints were going to the King of kings. It’s precious to be able to gather together.
The prison gates opened themselves for Peter, but the house gate didn’t, so he knocked. A girl named Rhoda came to answer, but she recognized Peter’s voice. She knew what the burden of prayer was, and was so happy that she didn’t open the door but went and told the others that Peter was outside. “You’re mad,” they said. She didn’t open the door, and they didn’t believe that their earnest prayers had been answered. Rhoda insisted that it was Peter, though, so they said, “It’s his angel.”
When they opened the door, they were astonished to see Peter, and he explained what had happened. In the Gospel presentation this is like someone newly saved giving a testimony, telling how God has saved them. Peter testified to the faithfulness of God to answer prayer. He told them to tell James—possibly the Lord’s brother—and the brethren what had happened, and departed. In the morning, the soldiers greatly wondered what had happened to Peter, and Herod even decided to kill the keepers. Meanwhile, Peter went down to Caesarea.
Herod reaped what he sowed. He wasn’t happy with the people of Trye and Sidon, but they wanted peace because their country was nourished by Herod’s. On a certain day, decked in royal apparel—that historians say glittered enough to make him look more than human—Herod made a speech to them. They praised him and called him a god, not a man. Because he didn’t give God the glory, the angel of the Lord smote him, and he was eaten by worms and died. This man had no humility and accepting being called a god crossed a line, so he was smitten.
Despite Herod’s opposition to the Lord and his work, he was eaten by worms while it multiplied. That’s precious to know!
Finally we are told that Paul and Barnabas finished their work in Jerusalem—bringing relief to the Jerusalem saints—and headed home, taking John Mark (who we believe wrote the gospel of Mark) with them.
Hymn 190—Saviour! Lead us by They power
Prayer