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October 7 - Ezra 8 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Monday, the start of
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  a new week. I hope you're doing well.
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  It is the 7th of October and it's great to have your company
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  as we are going to continue reading through this fascinating
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  story of God's people being allowed to return to their
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  country and rebuild their temple and their society in the Old
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  City of Jerusalem. Now this couple of books, Ezra
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  and Nehemiah, is often treated as one kind of extended book,
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  extended work. And so this week we will finish
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  the the last three chapters of Ezra and then begin reading
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  through the story of Nehemiah. This is all the same story, the
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  same narrative with the same people telling of this amazing
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  time where thanks to some bureaucratic policy change, the
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  leaders of the Empire decided that they would be happy for
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  people to return to their original homeland and they would
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  support them rekindling their original religions and that they
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  would be kind of easier to rule if they lived in their space,
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  practising their religions etcetera.
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  And today we will hear about a second lot of Jewish people who
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  returned to Jerusalem, and you might think, why wouldn't they
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  all have gone back with the original 50,000?
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  So many people had made quite good lives for themselves during
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  their exile in Babylon, and they had been able to practise
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  commerce and farm and trade. So for some people, it took a
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  little while longer to wrap up their affairs and decide to go
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  back to their homeland with everyone else.
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  And so that is the story that we are going to pick up today as we
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  hear about Ezra and his cohort who returned to their promised
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  land. So join me friends, as we read
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  together this story in Ezra chapter 8.
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  Here is the list of the family leaders and the genealogies of
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  those who came with me. From Babylon during the reign of
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  King Artaxerxes. From the family of Phineas
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  Gershom. From the family of Ithima,
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  Daniel. From the family of David Hatush,
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  a descendant of Shekinah. From the family of Pirosh
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  Zechariah and 150 other men were registered.
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  From the family of Payhath Moab Aaliyah Hoenai, son of Jehiah
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  and 200 other men. From the family of Zatu
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  Shecheniyah, son of Jehazel and 300 other men.
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  From the family of Aden Ibed, son of Jonathan and 50 other
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  men. From the family of Elam
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  Jeshiyah, son of Athalia and 70 other men.
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  From the family of Shephatiyah Zebediah, son of Michael and 80
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  other men. From the family of Joab,
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  Obadiah, son of Jehiel and 218 other men.
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  From the family of Barney Shalomith, son of Josephia and
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  160 other men. From the family of Bebai,
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  Zechariah, son of Bebai and 28 other men.
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  From the family of Asgad Johanan, son of Hakkatan and 110
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  other men. From the family of Adonicum who
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  came later, Alypholette, Jul, Shamaya and 60 other men.
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  From the family of Bigvi, Uthai, Zakah and 70 other men.
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  I assembled the Exiles at the Ahava Canal and we camped there
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  for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the
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  priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had
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  volunteered to come along, so I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemi,
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  Elnathan, Jarab, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshalam,
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  who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joyarib and
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  Elnathan, who were men of discernment.
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  I sent them to Ido, the leader of the Levites at Casafia, to
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  ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us
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  ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem, since the gracious
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  hand of our God was on us. They sent to us a man named
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  Sherabaya along with eighteen of his sons and brothers.
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  He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mali, who was a
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  descendant of Levi, son of Israel.
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  They also sent Hashabaya, together with Joshiah from the
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  descendants of Murari and 20 of his sons and brothers and 220
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  temple servants. The temple servants were
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  assistants to the Levites, a group of temple workers first
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  instituted by King David and his officials.
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  They were all listed by name. And there by the Ahava Canal, I
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  gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before
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  our God. We prayed that He would give us
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  a safe journey and protect us, our children and our goods as we
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  travelled. For I was ashamed to ask the
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  King for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us
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  from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the King,
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  our God's hand of protection is on all who worship him.
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  But his fierce anger rages against those who abandoned him.
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  So he fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take
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  care of us, and he heard our prayer.
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  I appointed 12 leaders of the priests, Shareabaya Hashabaya
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  and 10 other priests to be in charge of transporting the
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  silver, the gold, the gold bowls and the other items that the
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  king, his council, his officials and all the people of Israel had
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  presented for the Temple of God. I weighed the treasure as I gave
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  it to them and found the totals to be as follows. 24 tonnes of
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  silver. 7500 lbs of silver articles. 7500 lbs of gold. 20
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  gold bowls equal in value to 1000 gold coins. 2 fine articles
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  of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
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  And I said to the priests, You and these treasures have been
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  set apart as holy to the Lord. This silver and gold is a
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  voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of our ancestors.
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  Guard these treasures well until you present them to the leading
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  priests, the Levites, and the leaders of Israel who will weigh
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  them at the store rooms of the Lord's temple in Jerusalem.
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  So the priests and the Levis accepted the task of
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  transporting these treasures of silver and gold to the temple of
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  our God in Jerusalem. We broke camp at the Ahava Canal
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  on April 19th and started off to Jerusalem.
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  Also, the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us
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  from enemies and bandits along the way.
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  So we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for
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  three days. On the 4th day after our
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  arrival, the silver, gold and other valuables were weighed at
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  the temple of our God and entrusted to Miramoth, son of
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  Uriah the priest, and to Eliezar, son of Phineas, along
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  with Josebad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binuwai, both of
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  whom were Levites. Everything was accounted for by
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  number and weight, and the total weight was officially recorded.
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  Then the Exiles who had come out of captivity sacrificed burnt
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  offerings to the God of Israel. They presented 12 bulls for all
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  the people of Israel, as well as 96 Rams and 77 male lambs.
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  They also offered 12 male goats as a sin offering.
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  All this was given as a burnt offering to the Lord.
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  The King's decrees were delivered to his highest offices
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  and the governors of the province West of the Euphrates
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  River who then Co operated by supporting the people and the
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  temple of God. Lord you are amazing.
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  In you is everything you will ever need.
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  You don't need us to worship you or to be in relationship with
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  you, but that is what your heart longs for.
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  You have made us to be in relationship with you, and here
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  we see this story of you journeying with your people,
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  taking them back to their homeland so that they can
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  finally be at peace in the place that you gave them so that they
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  can rebuild a temple and worship you Well.
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  Thank you for caring for your people.
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  Thank You that our needs are not lost on you and that despite how
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  glorious and magnificent you are, you care for us in all of
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  these ways. Our Lord, we reflect on all of
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  the ways every day that You love us and hold us and provide for
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  us. Completely unnecessary, but yet
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  you still choose to do it. We are so grateful that in your
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  magnificence you still choose to love us and to provide for us
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  and to care for us. We are so grateful and we are
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  just so delighted to be your people because you are a kind
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  and glorious God and we lift you up and we praise you and we love
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  you. And it's only through Jesus that
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  we're able to do all these things in whose name we pray.
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  Amen.