BrothersOfTheBook.com

The 300

Nehemiah 13 – Esther 3

People of the Jewish faith today celebrate the festival of Purim.  Purim is a celebration of the Jewish people’s deliverance from total annihilation at the hands of Haman.  This plot of Haman’s is the focus of the book of Esther.

Did any of you see the 2006 movie “300”?  I didn’t see it in the theatre but have stumbled across it flipping channels in recent months.  As a history buff I was fascinated by this story.  The movie is a fictionalized telling of the Battle of Thermopylae.  The Persians were making their second attempt to gain complete control of what is today known as Greece; back then Greece was really just a bunch of independent city-states that were constantly at war with each other.  The bickering Greeks were able to put together an alliance to fight this invasion.

They had a two prong defense planned which included battling the Persian navy at sea and confronting the Persian land forces in the narrow pass at Thermopylae.  The title of the movie refers to the 300 Spartans under the leadership of king Leonidas that held the pass for three days against what historians of the era suggested was an army of as many as 2.5 million troops.  Modern historians find the contemporary figures impossible and suggest figures ranging from 25,000 to 200,000.  Whatever the figure, the Greeks were vastly outmanned.

Why do I mention this bit of history as we begin reading the book of Esther?  I bring it up to give you historical reference.  The king of the Persians at this time was “Xerxes”, otherwise referred to in Esther as king Ahasuerus.  Chapter one of Esther refers to a time when the king “gave a feast for all his officials and servants” and when “the army of Persia and the Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him”.  They met for 180 days and this is believed to be the “planning session” for the second invasion of Greece.  The first invasion was lead by Xerxes’ father Darius and obviously ended in defeat; as did this second invasion.

The battle of Thermopylae took place between the narrative of Esther 1 and Esther 2.  It was after Xerxes returned from his defeat in Greece that he looked for a replacement for Vashti and found Esther.  While the book of Esther never mentions God or the temple or Jerusalem, it is included in the Bible because it shows God’s provision for His people.  God has always kept the thread of hope He gave mankind alive through every trial and tribulation.  Even though the Israelites had abandoned God, resulting in their exile, God never gave up on them, and He arranged to protect them even as evil hands attempted to destroy them.

God will allow His disobedient children to be disciplined but He will always maintain a remnant for Himself.  His plans cannot be thwarted by the machinations of men; Esther illustrates that fact.  If Haman had been successful in his plot there would be no Jesus Christ; there would be no salvation of humankind.  We don’t hear of God in this book but His providential hand can be seen moving the pieces on the board.

I provide an outline of this book below which is taken from “Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee”.

Outline

I. The Wife Who Refused to Obey Her Husband, Chapter 1

II.  The Beauty Contest to Choose a Real Queen, Chapter 2

III.  Haman and Anti-Semitism, Chapter 3

IV.  For Such a Time as This, Chapter 4

V.  The Scepter of Grace and the Nobility of Esther, Chapter 5

VI.  When a King Could Not Sleep at Night, Chapter 6

VII.  The Man Who Came to Dinner but Died on the Gallows, Chapter 7

VIII.  The Message of Hope That Went out from the King, Chapter 8

IX.  The Institution of the Feast of Purim, Chapters 9–10

I look forward to leaning more about God’s provision as we read Esther over the next couple of days.

Have a great day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

P.S. I have not seen the movie 300 so please do not take my mentioning it, or enthusiasm for the history, as a recommendation for the film.  I don’t even know what it was rated.  If any of you have seen it and would like to give us a review please do!

Stay In God’s Word

Nehemiah 11-12

Tomorrow we finish Nehemiah and proceed into Esther.  If I’m reading the commentaries correctly Nehemiah is “chronologically” the last historical book in the Old Testament.  This means that this is the end of the Old Testament’s tracking of the history of the Jewish people.  When Judah went into exile Israel would never again belong to the Jewish people.  Control of the area passed from one empire to the next.  You remember, of course, that the Romans had control of the administrative area they named “Palestine” back in the days of the New Testament, and, in fact, maintained control until the Muslims conquered the area in the 7^th century; by that time the entire area was “Christian”.

We will read Esther next and some may feel that this is chronologically the last book, but the story of Esther occurred during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus who is commonly identified as Xerxes I (485 – 464 B.C.).  The story of Nehemiah is dated at approximately 444 B.C.  This means that the story of Nehemiah occurred after the story of Esther even though the book of Esther comes after the book of Nehemiah in the Bible.  I’m leaning very heavily toward reading through the Bible chronologically next year.  I have a feeling doing so will be quite illuminating.

At any rate, as I read about the joy the Israelites felt as they dedicated the walls of the City of David, I can’t help but think sadly of how their joy in the Lord, and faithfulness to Him, will, once again, faded away.  They’ve been through so much, and God has finally successfully called them back to Him with repentant hearts, and they have responded with such joy and faithfulness, its heart breaking to know the rest of the story.  Why do we see over and over again the people of God wandering away from a joyful relationship with Him?  I believe the answer to that question was answered in yesterday’s post.

We don’t feed our spirits on the right spiritual food.  The whole reason I started this blog was because God laid on my heart the understanding that I needed to be reading His Word every day, and no matter how many times I started, I always fell away.  My reading was sporadic at best.  I needed something to keep me faithfully in the Word.  God led me to the idea of starting a blog; something I had never done before.  This blog has kept me in God’s Word every day this year, and it has done so because I know my fellow brothers in Christ will know if I miss a day.  I would be surprised if I discovered that any of you have read my post every day.  In fact, the point of this blog is not for you to read my post but read the Bible; my post is immaterial.

Still, if I don’t write a comment for a given day, some of you will know about it.  It is my expectation that you will at the very least rib me about falling down on the job.  Knowing you will be aware of my lapse is enough to keep me typing away every day even when I’d rather go to bed.  I wonder; why isn’t the thought that God will know if I don’t read His Word every day enough to keep me reading in and of itself?  Why isn’t the knowledge that my life will be darker if I don’t read the Word every day enough to keep me reading?

Reading Nehemiah has been eye opening for me.  Seeing how far they had to come to return to God, and their surprise at what God’s Word says, has made me realize how important it is to stay in God’s Word.  Knowing that they will still fall away once again has reminded me how vitally important it is for me to “abide” in Christ.  Jesus Himself told us that a branch that does not remain in Him withers and dies.  That’s what happens to us when we don’t remain in God’s Word.  I am really beginning to believe that God’s message to the church today is “Get in My Word!”  As men of God it is not only our job to ensure we are in the Bible every day but to teach our families to be in the Word every day as well.  That’s an area in which I must confess failure.  I must find a way to get us all in the Word every day.

I know of a dear brother who is getting up in the morning with his son to read the Bible together.  How fantastic!!!  He also looks for opportunities to discuss God’s Word with his family.  I do look for those opportunities and do my best even in the face of rolling eyes.  Still, I believe I must create a habit of daily family devotion; be it discussing the reading for the day, or picking a verse of scripture to discuss with my family.  I am the spiritual head of the family; I have a job to do.  That does not mean I am here to give orders but to point my family to Christ and once there ensure that they “abide” in Christ.

Guys, if any of you are aware of a guide or book discussing family devotions please comment and let me know about it.  In fact if you have any resources you would like to recommend that can assist any of us men in executing our responsibilities before God as husbands and fathers please share that with us.  If I get enough resources I will create a “Resources” page for this website.  Guys, let’s help each other to stay in God’s Word and execute faithfully our responsibilities as the spiritual head of our homes.  Whether anyone else knows we are living up to that standard or not, God knows, and that should be enough to keep us focused.

Stand up, step up, be strong; be the man God created you to be!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Eat And Be Filled!

Nehemiah 8-10

Why did God give us the Bible?  Was it for us to read through once and place on a shelf?  No.  Was it to read a couple of verses every once in awhile?  No.  Was it intended only as something for pastors to use when putting together their weekly sermon?  No.

You have heard me, and others, refer to the Bible as the Word of God.  This is an Old Testament phrase.  Here is how the New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition defines “Word”.

“Word. In the OT ‘the word (d???r) of God’ is used 394 times of a divine communication which comes from God to men in the form of commandment, prophecy, warning or encouragement. The usual formula is ‘the word of Yahweh came (lit. was) to …’ but sometimes the word is ‘seen’ as a vision (Is. 2:1; Je. 2:31; 38:21). Yahweh’s word is an extension of the divine personality, invested with divine authority, and is to be heeded by angels and men (Ps. 103:20; Dt. 12:32); it stands for ever (Is. 40:8), and once uttered it cannot return unfulfilled (Is. 55:11). It is used as a synonym for the law (tôrâ) of God in Ps. 119, where alone its reference is to a written rather than a spoken message.”

With Christ, God communicated in a new way.  Christ was the message; the Word.  In fact the entirety of the Bible points to Jesus Christ.  The Old Testament shows us that we need a savior and tells us that God is sending one.

John begins the book of John with this statement about God’s Word.

John 1:1

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Jesus is THE WORD.  The Bible is the Word of God, but so is Jesus the Christ.  Jesus called himself something else as well.

John 6:48-51

“I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

So, the Bible is the Word and Jesus is the Word.  The Word is a communication from God sent to us in order to provide eternal sustenance.  Let me ask you something.  Did you eat one meal in your life and then no more?  Do you eat only once a month or once a week?  No.  If you are like most people you eat two or three times a day; unless you’re a grazer and nibble your way through the day.  Your body requires regular input of vitamins, nutrients, protein, and water.  Without these you die.

If you eat so much to keep your body alive, how much do you eat to keep your spirit alive?  How do you go about feeding your spirit anyway?  Notice that Jesus refers to himself as the bread of life and elsewhere in the New Testament as “living water”.  He is the “manna” that comes down from heaven.  Manna is what God fed the children of Israel as they wandered in the desert prior to entering the Promised Land.  Jesus is the “manna” with which God feeds us as we await our call home to glory; our Promised Land.  You feed your spirit on the bread of life and the living water.  You feed your spirit on the “Word” which is Jesus and the Bible.  You feed your spirit by reading the Bible and praying in the Holy Spirit.

How often do you feed yourself?  Are you starving spiritually?  Understand that you are already dead if you don’t have Jesus to begin with.  If you have Jesus but do not spend time in His Word and in prayer, you may be living the life of a concentration camp inmate; hungry and thirsty; barely getting by on less than basic nutritional requirements.  If you aren’t in God’s Word every day you are starving yourself in plain sight of the food you need to not only survive but thrive.  God provides not just the bare essentials for you to live but  a banquet.  All you have to do is reach out every day and bring the bread of life and the living water to your mouth and eat and drink.

What this nation, which was founded on biblical principles, needs is to return to God’s Word.  It needs to return to the bread of life.  If we want to see revival in this nation, you and I must feed ourselves on God’s Word every day and we must implore our brothers and sisters in Christ to join us at this banquet table.  We must eat and drink our fill so we have the necessary fuel to strengthen and sustain us.

Look at the response of the “remnant” as they hear God’s word read by Ezra.

Nehemiah 8:5-6

“And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.  And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”

Nehemiah 8:9-10

“And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.  Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The people stood as God’s Word was opened and they said “Amen” and raised their hands and bowed their heads for God’s Word is Holy.  They wept at the hearing of God’s Word for they came face to face with their sin.  Notice that they were sent to eat and drink and share, for the joy of the Lord was their strength.  That is a message to you and me today brother!

Chapter 9 shows us that the reading of God’s Word reminds us of our need for Him.  It shows us that when we don’t keep feeding on God’s Word we lose our way; we wander away to starve in lonely exile.  The remnant recounted God’s blessings and the repeated turning away of Israel until He righteously turned them over to captivity.  Having been reminded of the consequences of walking away from God, they made a firm covenant in writing to obey God.

Here is what God commanded in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

This is the first commandment.  Right after we hear that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and might, we hear that we are to keep His words on our heart in an almost continual fashion.  We are to teach them to our children and talk about them at almost every opportunity and place them on our hands and head and house!  Why?  Because this is food!  It is how we gain sustenance!  Jesus said

John 14:15

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Love God with all your heart.  You love Him if you keep His commandments.  He has commanded you to keep your nose in His Word.  Do you love Him?  He loves you and He wants you to eat!  So eat and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to eat for they are starving without their daily bread!

Eat and be filled brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Do Not Fear!

Nehemiah 5-7

Boy I wish America could find a leader like Nehemiah.  This guy did not brag on himself.  He was honest and honorable and wasn’t afraid to tell the powers that be that they were crooks.  While our politicians today point fingers at each other; blaming this guy, and that guy, and those guys for anything and everything that is, was, or will be wrong; Nehemiah gets things done.  I was most impressed, however, with how Nehemiah was not cowed by the many attempts to frighten him into giving up.

His enemies wanted to kill him, but he was too wise for them.  They sent prophets and even friends to encourage him to run and hide, but he was not moved.  If Nehemiah were president today I don’t think he would be listening to the media or polls.  He wouldn’t need to.  When one has the kind of relationship with God that he had, you know what is right and needs to be done.  It is always about the condition of your heart, and his was humbly submitted to God’s will.  From that relationship Nehemiah was able to perceive the threats against him.  He was able to side step the traps and reject fear.  He was able to perform a mighty work with dazzling effectiveness and speed.  Boy, could we use a Nehemiah today.

Actually guys, you and I are each supposed to be Nehemiahs.  We are supposed to have the kind of relationship with God that he had.  We are supposed to place ourselves humbly in the service of our Lord and Savior and accomplish mighty things in His name; not for our glory but for His.  Do you know what mighty thing we are supposed to be doing in His name?  We are to be building His kingdom.  We are to be sharing the Gospel with this lost and dying world.

I’m afraid I have not lived up to this expectation.  Unlike Nehemiah I have been intimidated by the words of the enemy.  I have allowed the idea that sharing the Word of God with people is somehow judgmental, and bigoted, and intolerant, to dissuade me from doing the work I am called to do.  I don’t like the idea of being viewed in such terms.  I know those accusations are false and yet I am still intimidated.  I don’t want people to think I am judgmental.  I know that, but for the grace of God, I am as guilty as the next guy.  I don’t want the sharing of the Gospel to be viewed as an intolerant act nor do I want my character impugned by such false accusations.

The answer to such false accusations is not to stop the work.  The answer should be as Nehemiah’s.

Nehemiah 6:8-9

“Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”  For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

Realize that those that are truly hateful and judgmental in their alleged dissemination of the Gospel are actually servants of the enemy.  They labor in an effort to bring condemnation on the heads of God’s true servants.  We must stand up and say “These people are charlatans and do not represent us.  We have no part in them nor do we have any part in the false accusations you bring.  You have made them up out or your own mind in a vile attempt to muzzle the children of God.”  But the one thing we must never do is stop building the kingdom.

We must be wise as was Nehemiah.  We must depend on God to guide our feet so we will side step the traps.  We must stay focused and refuse to hide.  We cannot allow our attention to be diverted toward defending ourselves; the enemy would love nothing more.  Yes, we must stand up and call the lies what they are, but, as you see in today’s reading, Nehemiah simply swatted the allegations away and kept building; just as we must do.

I heard someone once say that we must not use Satan’s weapons to fight God’s battles.  I’m sure they were quoting someone famous and I’ll be chagrined when one of you tells me who said it first; still, the saying is right on the money.  God will fight the battles.  We must simply show up and lay one brick on top of another.  If we humble ourselves, obey, and follow His leading, the job will get done.

Have a fearless day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Start Laying Bricks!

Nehemiah 1-4

So far we have learned of three men God raised up to rebuild the temple and walls of Jerusalem; Zerubbabel, the prince, or politician; Ezra, the priest, or clergyman; and now Nehemiah, the businessman, or layman.  It is easy to ridicule the efforts of the politician as history has shown us this class of individual is deserving of such treatment.  The clergy are not to be ridiculed, but they are so overburdened by a listless congregation that whatever they accomplish is a minor miracle.  Now Ezra’s accomplishments were nothing to sneeze at.  He achieved a lot, but the walls of Jerusalem were still in shambles and what Ezra had achieved was in jeopardy as long as that remained the case.

It took the layman, who God had called, to get the wall built.  Not all but most of the men I have met who are pastors were called to His service at a young age and have had little to no experience in creating or running a business.  Most politicians have even less experience with such matters.  Thankfully our clergy are called to study and preach God’s Word; I have no desire to see them become experts in running businesses.  Unfortunately I see little redeeming value in a politician with no experience in business.  These bags of hot air sit on their duffs day in and day out theorizing on how business works as they proceed to pass law after law regulating business.  They theorize because they have no experience.  They have no idea how things get done.

I guess you can tell I’m a big fan of the clergy and rather jaded with regard to the political class.  My point is that if you want something done you need to turn to a business person.  You need to turn to someone who knows how to organize and manage and motivate and drive on until the job is done; not in the rarefied air of politics and religion but in the everyday air of real life.  If we want to see the walls of God’s kingdom rise we are going to have to stop laying around waiting on the politicians and the priests.  We are going to have to stand up as the men God has called us to be and start using the experiences, abilities, talents, knowledge and skills with which He has blessed us for His purpose and glory.

Politicians will not build God’s kingdom.  Our pastors are God’s mouth piece.  You and I are the muscle.  You and I will build the walls when we answer the call of God that even now can be heard roaring from the mouths of His pastors.  Nehemiah was heartbroken at the state of Jerusalem and the stalled state of rebuilding the walls.  Did he sit there complaining and criticizing?  Did he sit around waiting for someone else to step up?  Did he sit around hoping for a miracle?  No, Nehemiah wept and mourned and fasted and prayed for days.  He then looked for an opportunity to take action and seized it the moment it appeared.  Notice this last little bit of Nehemiah’s prayer:

Nehemiah 1:11

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

“Grant success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”  When I said above that Nehemiah looked for an opportunity to take action I would have better said he took action to create an opportunity to serve God.  Nehemiah had a plan to ask the king for help in restoring Jerusalem.  For the first time ever he would allow the king to see him sad.  He knew this would be remarkable to the king and force an inquiry.  Once the king asked, Nehemiah would have the opportunity to make his request.

Guys, I wonder.  Does the state of our world today cause us to weep and mourn?  Does it cause us to fast and pray?  Does it cause us to look for, and seize, the opportunity to build God’s kingdom?  Why is Nehemiah’s story in the Bible?  Why does God want you to read about him?  He has included this story because he wants you to understand that you are Nehemiah.  He has given you the skills and abilities and knowledge and talents that He wants you to have to play your role in building His kingdom.  What is your answer to His call on your life?  I’ve got news for you fellas, if you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you already said yes to that call.

Later on in today’s reading we see how other laymen built up the various sections of the wall.  Each took responsibility for his part and did his work.  At times they had to work with one hand while holding a spear in the other.  They had to sleep in their cloths and work from sun up to sun down. Man by man they did the work God called them to do and the wall got built.  That is our job today.  Shame on us for leaving the building of God’s kingdom to politicians and pastors.  Doing so has been a complete abdication of our responsibilities before God.  It’s time we stood up, took our part of the wall and started laying bricks!

Have a kingdom building day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

The seed of a plant named Shepherd's Purse. See the post script below for details.

The Seed Of Hope Springs Eternal

Ezra 8-10

Today we learn of some specific events that happened along the way from exile to the Promised Land.  Ezra and the remnant that chose to return paused before they began their journey and prayed for God’s protection.  Brothers I believe every successful journey that leads us closer to God begins in prayer.  The members of the remnant fasted and prayed.  They put their trust not in the arms of men but the arms of God.

Once they arrived in Jerusalem, it was discovered that many of the Israelites had intermarried with the pagan peoples in the area which was strictly forbidden by God’s law.  Why was this forbidden?  As we have discussed before, marriage to a pagan typically leads to the child of God wandering from right relationship with God.  Pagan religious practice became rampant and caused separation from God.  I found the reaction of Ezra and the people fascinating.  Their grief and despair reminded me of the moment of conversion each new Christian must pass through.

God calls us to hear His truth.  When He gets our attention it is natural for us to fall to our knees in prayer to ask for his help.  It is in the midst of our journey back to God that we come face to face with our hopelessness before a Holy God.  Grief and despair are a natural response to our discovery of our true selves and our sinful past.  It is only from this place of painful regret that we can truly ask for God’s forgiveness and the courage and strength to obey Him.  It is only from this place of painfully honest truth that we can truly accept the sacrifice of Christ and surrender ourselves and our future to Him.

This, in a sense, is what happened with Ezra and the people of Israel.  This story today illustrates true repentance.  It is at this crucial moment in time that each of us is saved.  It is from this place of horror and surrender that a new life begins.  What a wonderful story of hope God has given us.  Not just in today’s reading but through the entire Bible.  From day 1 God has provided hope.  That hope flows from Christ through the centuries and now out from you to a lost and dying world.  When a politician offers hope, run for the hills.  Politicians can only offer more of the same.  Only God offers hope, and here today He reminds you of the hope He has planted in you and of His expectation that you plant a seed from that fruitful hope in others.

What a wonderful, merciful, amazing God we serve.

Have a blessed day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

P.S.  As I was looking for an image to go along with this post I came across a picture of a seed called “Shepherd’s purse” and have subsequently posted that picture above.  The name caught my attention.  The hope I have is in what Jesus said, that no one that the Father placed in His hand would be lost.  A purse is a container one uses to keep ones valuables safe.

As I looked into the plant itself I found some very interesting characteristics.  One description I read stated that the petals of this plant form a cross.  Looking further I found that it is considered a “mustard” green.  Do you remember Jesus talking about the power one has if they have faith the size of a mustard seed?

I also discovered that the plant is used in herbal medicine to stop bleeding.  Here is what one source said, in part, about its medicinal use: “…still considered by herbalists one of the best specifics for stopping hemorrhages of all kinds – of the stomach, the lungs, or the uterus, and more especially bleeding from the kidneys.”  Do you remember the woman who had a chronic issue of blood and, reaching out to touch Jesus, was cured?

What is the price of sin?  Blood.  Whose blood stops the need for your own to be spilt?  Jesus; the shepherd.  Do not everyone of these stories from the Bible provide us hope?  Is it not wondrous that God can even use a weed of a plant to illustrate His mercy and the hope He provides?