Lesson 6 THEME: Buckle up the belt of truth by believing you are ACCEPTED, SECURE, AND SIGNIFICANT . According to Dr. Neil T. Anderson, nearly all Christians struggle to overcome Satan’s lies in at least one of these three areas: 1) I’m not accepted. No one wants me. God certainly couldn’t want someone like me. Even though I confess sins, I never feel that I am fully forgiven. 2) I’m not secure. I am weak. The evil one is stronger than I am. I'm gonna fall into the trap of sin and never get out....
Nov 21, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 325
NEHEMIAH 1: Yesterday we heard how the returned exiles responded to Ezra’s shock and demonstration of his sorrow, and his prayer of repentance. The book ended with the names of those who were found guilty of forbidden marriages. Note that these are not just names of the guilty, but names of those who repented and sacrificed to God. They are the names of the forgiven. In some ways— and not all, this shows the kind of seriousness with which church discipline spoken of in the New Testament should b...
Nov 21, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 325
EZRA 9-10: Yesterday we heard how Ezra introduced himself. Note that he spoke of himself in the 3rd person, but finally resorted to ‘I’. King Artaxerxes was certainly impressed by Ezra! Ezra was given everything he could have wanted, guaranteeing full government support of the temple worship in every way. Note how methodical Ezra was, making sure that he took Levites and temple servants along. His total party must have been at least 1,000 men. So with women and children, it would have been quite...
Nov 20, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 324
EZRA 7-8: Yesterday we read of how King Darius completely sided with the Israelites seeking to reestablish the temple worship. Note that the letter to Darius from the government officials was rather complementary and not threatening loss to the king’s interests as the letter from the earlier officials. Remember also that this King Darius is the one who was duped into putting Daniel into the lions’ den, and who then issued a decree that everyone must respect Daniel’s God. ISAIAH 32: Isaiah’s prop...
Nov 19, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 323
EZRA 5-6: When the Israelites returned from exile, they were determined to get worship started again, and they made great progress, not waiting for the temple to be repaired in order to start sacrifices on an altar built upon the old location. They made a fast start to building too. But then opposition developed, and several Persian kings later the progress was halted. ISAIAH 31: One of the great verses from yesterday’s reading was this: Is. 30:15 NLT This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy On...
Nov 18, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 322
EZRA 3-4: Ezra, a scribe and priest, doesn’t start speaking about himself until chapter 7. Ancient copies of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written on the same scroll, and Jewish tradition holds that Ezra wrote both of them. The dates of writing are somewhere between 458 and 420 BC. I kind of doubt that Ezra was the author for both books, because the writer of Nehemiah starts out right away using the first person pronoun ‘I’. The two books deal with two periods of time: Ezra deals with the ...
Nov 17, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 321
EZRA 1: Before going to Ezra, I want to say that one can do a whole lot of digging deeper in the last two chapters of Daniel. History tells about those kings, and we know from what Jesus said and what is written in Revelation, that God plans for history to repeat itself. The main ‘take-away’ points are clear, just as they are in Revelation: Blessed are those who endure and live wise and holy lives. It is a great time now to return to those three small remaining books of history remaining for us ...
Nov 16, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 320
DANIEL 10:20—12: In yesterday’s reading, we heard Daniel’s sincere prayer. Note that he had been seeking the Lord with limited fasting for 3 weeks. Then the angel Gabriel is again sent with a message for Daniel. Note that the phrase ‘anoint the Most Holy Place’ is probably referring to what we read about in Hebrews recently— that which our High Priest Jesus did in heaven. Gabriel’s message about seventy sets of seven, or seventy weeks and 62 weeks, are both a difficult translational problem and ...
Nov 15, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 319
DANIEL 9-10: Yesterday in Daniel, we heard of the vision of four beasts representing four kingdoms. After the fourth would be the start of the rule of One whose kingdom would last forever. This vision was explained, then Daniel had a second and more detailed vision. It is a major amazing sign of God’s sovereignty over human governments that Alexander the Great is so clearly portrayed, and after that the iron kingdom of Rome. Just as certain as these things happened, our Savior’s reign will one d...
Nov 14, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 318
DANIEL 7-8: In Daniel yesterday, we heard the famous ‘writing on the wall’ chapter. That is where that idiom in English comes from! While that was happening with King Belshazzar, the Medes and Persians were outside the wall and the prophecies of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah all happened. Daniel was to be proclaimed the third ruler because Belshazzar was in fact the second ruler under his absentee father, Nabonidus. Then under King Darius, Daniel was thrown to the lions. I am estimating that Dani...
Nov 13, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 317
DANIEL 5-6: Yesterday we heard two stories: That of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of gold and the exciting way God delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And the second story was Nebuchadnezzar himself sharing about his dream and how he was later humbled. ISAIAH 25: Yesterday’s reading in Isaiah talked of the destruction of the whole earth, but here again as typical in Isaiah, the sun was allowed to break through the clouds. We look forward to a city where God himself will outshine the sun. 2CORIN...
Nov 12, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 316
DANIEL 3-4: Matthew Henry describes the parts of the statue in Daniel 2: 1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of [the//these] feet [of the statue]. Some were weak as clay, others strong as ir...
Nov 11, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 315
DANIEL 2: In the first chapter of Daniel, we heard how Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were faithful to God in not wanting to be defiled by the king’s food, and later they were found better than their companions and chosen for service to King Nebuchadnezzar. ISAIAH 23: Yesterday we heard two dramatic messages. One was about the failure of Jerusalem to appropriately respond to God’s impending judgment (which was remarkably like Nero fiddling while Rome burned). Then there was the message t...
Nov 10, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 314
DANIEL 1: Yesterday in Ezekiel, the land was divided in horizontal bands across the entire width of Israel. We will see the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem again in Revelation. We start the little but immensely important book of Daniel today. Daniel wrote this sometime between 540 and 530 BC. As Daniel will relate, he was an exile to Babylon starting from 605 BC. For comparison, Ezekiel tells us that he was deported to Babylonia in 597 (and his location beside the Chebar river might have been 75 m...
Nov 09, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 313
EZEKIEL 48: In the chapters from Ezekiel yesterday, we heard more rules for the prince’s worship and about temple kitchens and a beginning part about the division of the land. Very fascinating in that is the part about the river that comes out from the east side of the temple, including trees that are for healing, bearing fruit every month. We will soon hear about this river and the trees of life in Revelation. ISAIAH 21: Yesterday’s chapter in Isaiah was only six verses long. It always seems ve...
Nov 08, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 312
EZEKIEL 46-47: Yesterday we heard regulations for the priests and Levites, about foreigners, and about the prince of Israel. Also there was the fascinating detail about the eastern gate, which must remain shut. ISAIAH 20: Yesterday we heard the prophecy against Egypt, but again it ends with a note of hope for Egypt. 2 CORINTHIANS 1: Yesterday we finished the book of Hebrews. I would encourage anyone to camp out for a longer time in the 12th and 13th chapters. There is deep insight hidden there. ...
Nov 07, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 311
EZEKIEL 44-45: In the vision of the ideal temple yesterday, we heard of the buildings of rooms for the priests and offerings, the altar, the glory of God coming to this temple, and the reason for this vision. ISAIAH 19: Yesterday in Isaiah we heard the prophecy about the defeat of the Ethiopians, and at the end of that message, there was a note of hope for that nation. HEBREWS 13: Yesterday (and even the day before) we returned to the place of rest which was the theme of chapters 3-4. Did you no...
Nov 06, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 310
EZEKIEL 42-43: In yesterday’s tour of the ideal temple we viewed the sanctuary and Most Holy Place. ISAIAH 18: Yesterday we heard of Damascus and Syria and Israel. HEBREWS 12: After recounting the more victorious heroes of faithful believing, the author spoke about all those unnamed people who victoriously suffered because of fully believing. The Faith Chapter ends with this: Heb. 11:39 NLT All these people earned a good reputation because of their [fully believing//faith], yet none of them rece...
Nov 05, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 309
EZEKIEL 41: Yesterday we started Ezekiel’s account of his long vision about the future and ideal temple of God, and this is another vision that is referred to in the book of Revelation. The reason for this vision is given in chapter 43: Ez. 43:10 NLT “Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan, 11 and they will be ashamed of what they have done. ISAIAH 17: Yesterday we finished the two chapter oracl...
Nov 04, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 308
EZEKIEL 40: In chapter 38-39 we heard of the kingdoms of Gog and Magog, which point to future kingdoms in the north. Like Ezekiel’s prophecies against the kings of Tyre and Babylon, Gog and Magog also refer to spiritual entities beyond this world, and we will hear of them again in Revelation chapter 20. And today we begin hearing of something else that appears in Revelation. ISAIAH 16: Today’s chapter is the continuation of the prophecy against Moab. HEBREWS 10:35—11a: As I have told you again a...
Nov 03, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 307
EZEKIEL 38-39: Yesterday we heard the famous ‘dry bones’ chapter of Ezekiel. Again the prophecy is that David will rule over the nation of Israel, which is like a nation of bones brought back to life. The references to David of course point to his heir, Christ. Starting in this chapter we hear of the kingdoms of Gog and Magog. These names point to future kingdoms in the north (in Turkey or farther north). Like Ezekiel’s prophecies against the kings of Tyre and Babylon, Gog and Magog point to spi...
Nov 02, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 306
EZEKIEL 36-37: In chapter 34, we heard the passage that many Jews would have thought of when they heard Jesus say, “I am the good shepherd. I give my life for the sheep.” In Ezekiel 34, God promised to take away corrupt shepherds, saying that He would replace them with only one shepherd— namely David's descendant who will shepherd of the flock of God forever. ISAIAH 14: Like we heard in Ezekiel and in Isaiah, and will hear in Revelation, Babylon will be judged. That kingdom was God’s tool to exe...
Nov 01, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 305
EZEKIEL 34-35: In Ezekiel yesterday, we heard of how Pharaoh was to be mocked in the world of the dead. Then we heard of God’s justice, which he showed by the illustration of Ezekiel as a watchman for a city. ISAIAH 13: Yesterday’s reading in Isaiah was a psalm of praise including these poetic lines: Is. 12:2b-4b NLT The LORD GOD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. 3 With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation! … 4b Tell the nations what he has done. Let them k...
Oct 31, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 304
EZEKIEL 32-33: Again, as seen in the messages to Tyre and to Egypt, God was not just speaking to one king or about one kingdom, but was also speaking against the kingdom/city of Man or the world system under the rulership of Satan. ISAIAH 12: In yesterday’s reading we again heard of the righteous Branch, a shoot growing from David’s root. And we heard these famous words: Is. 11:2 NLT And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and mi...
Oct 30, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 303
EZEKIEL 30-31: As the Lord was pronouncing doom upon the Prince of Tyre in Ezekiel 28, did you notice how the language shifted to talking about things that the human prince could not have done. The spirit-world ruler behind the prince of Tyre is really in mind— that is, Satan. The tirade against the King of Egypt could also be similarly interpreted. ISAIAH 11: Isaiah recorded in yesterday’s portion that Assyria’s army would come to Judah, but that Judah would be different from the other nations ...
Oct 29, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 302
EZEKIEL 28-29: So why were there two whole chapters against the city-state of Tyre in yesterday’s reading, plus one more today?! I think we see the answer in Revelation. Tyre is very like the picture of Babylon (which in that book is a picture of Rome). All the way through the Bible— starting with the Tower of Babel, we see a contrast between the ‘city of man’ and the ‘city of God’. The world powers will be utterly defeated, along with all the wealth of commerce that supports them now. ISAIAH 10...
Oct 28, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 301
EZEKIEL 26-27: Yesterday we heard a second word picture of Jerusalem as a cooking pot. This was not good news. Then Ezekiel received word that his treasure— his wife, would die. And he was commanded not to mourn as a sign of what the people would do when they heard about the slaughter in Jerusalem. Then there were messages of punishment for the nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. ISAIAH 9: In yesterday’s reading, God gave Isaiah the name of his son (Maher-shalal-hash-baz, meaning “Swift...
Oct 27, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 300
EZEKIEL 24-25: Yesterday in Ezekiel we heard the shockingly graphic story of the two adulterous sisters, which were really the cities of Samaria and Jerusalem. ISAIAH 8: In yesterday’s reading, Isaiah was sent to Ahaz, and the message to the king contains a prophecy that probably had two fulfillments— one in King Ahaz’ time and another at Jesus’ birth: “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” Had the New Testament...
Oct 26, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 299
EZEKIEL 23: In yesterday’s reading, we heard the Lord promise that he would refine Israel as purifying silver in a crucible. And then we heard the famous and poignant words: Ez. 23:30 NLT “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. ISAIAH 7: Yesterday we heard the story of Isaiah’s vision of the glory of the Lord in the temple. Isaiah’s li...
Oct 25, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 298
EZEKIEL 22: Yesterday we heard of the sword of the Lord, which was to come to Jerusalem, actually in the form of the army of the king of Babylon. And there would be punishment also for the Ammonites. ISAIAH 6: In yesterday’s reading, we heard one of the famous chapters that relate to Israel as the Lord’s vine. This would have been in the minds of those who listened to Jesus when he gave his teaching about the vine bearing fruit in John 15. God said yesterday, “They will go into exile because the...
Oct 24, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 297
