Christ Baptist Church Spring 2015 Chapter 4

Ezra – Overview 13 …..for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. Chapter 1 – God stirs King Cyrus to act Chapter 2 – God stirs the Israelites to return Chapter 3 – God is worshiped, the Altar is built, foundation laid Chapter 3 – Old men remember the old temple and weep ….

Chronology of the Persian Period PERSIAN KINGDATESBIBLICAL CORRELATION CYRUS Return of Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezra 1-3) CAMBYSES Rebuilding at Jerusalem stopped (Ezra 4) DARIUS I Haggai and Zechariah prophesy (520) Temple Completed (516) (Ezra 5-6) XERXES Story of Esther (Esther 1-9) ARTAXERXES I Return of Ezra (458) (Ezra 7-10) Return of Nehemiah (445) (Nehemiah (1-2) Prophecy of Malachi (433)

Ezra Chapter 4 - The Opposition Stirs Ezra 4:1-2 – Offer to help rebuild 1.Who heard about the temple work? 2.Who were these people? Link the adversaries of Ezra 4:2 with 2 Kings 17: Describe their worship. 3.How does this link account for the Jews’ hatred of the Samaritans (implied in John 4:9) and the mixed religion of the Samarians implied in John 4:22? Micah 1 predicts Israel & Judah’s destruction

Ezra Chapter 4 - The Opposition Stirs Ezra 4:1-3 The Jewish leaders response 3.How did Zerubbabel and Jeshua respond to their request? Explain why they responded this way. 4.What lesson do we learn from this? Whom should we likewise refuse to allow to become part of God’s work with us? (2 John 9-11, Gal 1:6-9,)

Ezra Chapter 4 - The Opposition Stirs Ezra 4:4-5 Opposition begins 6. How did the people respond to this rejection of their request? How do people today similarly respond, when we tell them their service to God is not acceptable? 7. What 4 ways did the adversaries of God and his people try to stop the work? 8. Which was the most cunning? How does Satan try to stop us from working for God in the same way? CYRUS CAMBYSES DARIUS I

Ezra Chapter 4 - The Opposition Stirs Ezra 4:6-16 Opposition under Xerxes & Artaxerxes 9. What did the enemy do next? Who wrote the letter? 10.What accusations did they make (v 11-16). Was it based on facts (2 Kings 24:1 and Jeremiah 38:17-23)? What evidence was overlooked? 11.What accusations do people today make against the people of God to discourage us and discredit us? 12. Can you list other Bible examples in which God’s people were falsely accused or harassed to hinder their work for God? Xeres Artaxerxes I

Ezra Chapter 4 - The Opposition Stirs Ezra 4: Artaxerxes response 13. What did Artaxerxes command in response to the letter? 14. How did the Jewish enemies respond to the letter? What was the result? 15. Did the Jewish people do the right thing? How should they have responded? What can we learn from this?

Weekly Challenges - Applying God’s Word Watch for the opposition God’s work will encounter in your life 1 Cor. 16:9… because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. What forms are is the opposition taking? Pray that you recognize the source of the opposition and see the opposition in a larger context.

Chronology of the Prophets TO ISRAELTO JUDAHTO FOREIGN NATION ASSYRIAN AGEAmos ca. 760 Hosea ca Isaiah ca Micah ca Jonah ca. 770 BABYLONIAN AGEHabakkuk ca. 630 Zephaniah ca. 627 Jeremiah ca Daniel ca Ezekiel ca Nahum ca. 650 PERSIAN AGEHaggai ca. 520 Zechariah ca Joel ca. 500 Malachi ca. 433 Obadiah ca. 500

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