Month: <span>March 2016</span>

In the drama of the book of Esther, the Jews were raised from a common nation in subjection to the rule of the of Persian Empire to the preferred people…

Commentary Esther Old Testament

God was sovereignly working out His plan to preserve—even embolden—His people as they endured subjection to Persia. The narrative of Esther 4-7 moves naturally from problem to solution. When the…

Commentary Esther Old Testament

Esther is a controversial book. There is no reference to God, a Jewish woman married a pagan king, and the Jews initiated the Feast of Purim—the only biblical festival not…

Commentary Esther Old Testament

Unfortunately, the behavior of the returned exiles quickly resembled their forefathers, whose sin prompted the exile (2 Kings 17, 25). The people again had an operational temple, but lacked the…

Commentary Nehemiah Old Testament

While building the wall, Nehemiah heard the outcry of many of his people who were enduring extortion during a famine—at the hands of other Jews. Nehemiah condemned the oppressors in…

Commentary Nehemiah Old Testament

A few years after the temple’s completion, Nehemiah heard that the wall around Jerusalem had yet to be rebuilt. Artaxerxes succeeded Darius over Persia and Nehemiah rose to a prominent…

Commentary Nehemiah Old Testament

When Ezra returned to Jerusalem, the author described him as a man skilled in the law of Moses (Ezra 7:6). In addition, he said, “Ezra had determined in his heart…

Commentary Ezra with Select Psalms Old Testament

The exiles, with the permission and support of the Persian kings, returned to the Promised Land in phases. In accord with his predecessors Cyrus and Darius, Artaxerxes displayed great benevolence…

Commentary Ezra with Select Psalms Old Testament

The leaders of the returned exiles wished to provide them with a temple-centered theological vision. For Ezra, rebuilding of the temple so naturally accorded with rebuilding the whole of Jerusalem…

Commentary Ezra with Select Psalms Old Testament

In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim, the prophet Jeremiah announced that the Babylonian empire would soon overtake Judah, removing the people from the land for seventy years (Jeremiah 25).…

Commentary Ezra with Select Psalms Old Testament