Ezra and Nehemiah
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586 BC – Fall of Jerusalem
538 BC – Edict of Cyrus to return
520 BC – Haggai and Zechariah
Zerubbabel and Joshua
516 BC – Dedication of the sanctuary
480 BC – Esther
458 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem
445 BC – Nehemiah
…..Malachi
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“In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was
emperor, the LORD made what he had
said through the prophet Jeremiah come
true. He moved the heart of Cyrus* to
issue the following command and send it
out in writing to be read aloud
everywhere in his empire: ‘This is the
command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia.
The LORD, the God of Heaven, has made
me ruler over the whole world and has
given me the responsibility of building a
temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah.
May God be with all of you who are his
people.
*prompted, inspired, prodded, stirred up the spirit,
stirred him up
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You are to go to Jerusalem and
rebuild the Temple of the LORD, the
God of Israel, the God who is
worshiped in Jerusalem...’ Then the
heads of the clans of the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin, the priests and
Levites, and everyone else whose
heart God had moved got ready to
go and rebuild the LORD's Temple in
Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:1-5 – GN)
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“The total number of exiles who
returned 42,360” (Ezra 2:64)
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“The enemies of the people of Judah and
Benjamin heard that those who had
returned from exile were rebuilding the
Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel…
Then the people who had been living in
the land tried to discourage and frighten
the Jews and keep them from building.
They also bribed Persian government
officials to work against them. They kept
on doing this throughout the reign of
Emperor Cyrus and into the reign of
Emperor Darius” (Ezra 4:1,4,5 – GN).
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“Now, if it please Your Majesty, have
a search made in the royal records in
Babylon to find whether or not
Emperor Cyrus gave orders for this
Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt... a
scroll was found, containing the
following record: ‘In the first year of
his reign Emperor Cyrus commanded
that the Temple in Jerusalem be
rebuilt’” (Ezra 5:17, 6:2,3)
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“In the third year that Cyrus was
emperor of Persia…The angel said
to me, ‘Daniel, God loves you.’
Stand up and listen…Daniel, don’t
be afraid. God has heard your
prayers ever since the first day
you decided to humble yourself in
order to gain understanding. I
have come in answer to your
prayer.” (Daniel 10:1,11-13)
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“In the first year of his reign (539
BC) I was studying the sacred books
and thinking about the seventy years
that Jerusalem would be in ruins,
according to what the LORD had told
the prophet Jeremiah. And I prayed
earnestly to the Lord God, pleading
with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth,
and sitting in ashes.” (Daniel 9:2-3)
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586 BC – Fall of Jerusalem
538 BC – Edict of Cyrus to return
520 BC – Haggai and Zechariah
Zerubbabel and Joshua
516 BC – Dedication of the sanctuary
480 BC – Esther
458 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem
445 BC – Nehemiah
…..Malachi
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“In the third year that Cyrus was
emperor of Persia…The angel said
to me, ‘Daniel, God loves you.’
Stand up and listen…Daniel, don’t
be afraid. God has heard your
prayers ever since the first day
you decided to humble yourself in
order to rain understanding. I
have come in answer to your
prayer.” (Daniel 10:1,11-13)
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“The angel prince of the kingdom of
Persia* opposed me for twenty-one days.
Then Michael, one of the chief angels,
came to help me… Now I have to go back
and fight the guardian angel of Persia.
After that the guardian angel of Greece
will appear. There is no one to help me
except Michael, Israel’s guardian angel.
He is responsible for helping and
defending me” (Daniel 10:13,20; 11:1 –
GN).
* ”spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia”
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“…now the prince of this world will be
driven out” (John 12:31, NIV)
“…the prince of this world is coming”
(John 14:30, NIV)
“…the prince of this world now
stands condemned” (John 16:11,
NIV)
Michael
• “…Michael, one of the archangels”
(Daniel 10:13 – NLT)
• “…the great angel Michael, who
guards your people, will appear.”
(Daniel 12:1 – GN)
• “But even the archangel Michael,
when he was disputing with the devil
about the body of Moses, did not
dare to bring a slanderous
accusation against him, but said,
‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 9 –
NIV)
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“Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, who fought
back with his angels; but the
dragon was defeated, and he
and his angels were not allowed
to stay in heaven any longer.”
(Revelation 12:7 – GN)
• “There will be the shout of command, the
archangel’s voice, the sound of God’s
trumpet, and the Lord himself will come
down from heaven. Those who have died
believing in Christ will rise to life first…”
(1 Thessalonians 4:16 – GN)
• “…the great angel Michael, who guards
your people, will appear…many of those
who have already died will live again…”
(Daniel 12:1,2 – GN)
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“The dead will hear the voice of the Son of
God, and those who hear it will come to
life…the time is coming when all the dead will
hear his voice and come out of their
graves…” (John 5:25,28,29 – GN)
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“In the third year that Cyrus was
emperor of Persia…The angel said
to me, ‘Daniel, God loves you.’
Stand up and listen…Daniel, don’t
be afraid. God has heard your
prayers ever since the first day
you decided to humble yourself in
order to rain understanding. I
have come in answer to your
prayer.” (Daniel 10:1,11-13)
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“Put on all the armor that God gives
you, so that you will be able to stand
up against the Devil's evil tricks. For
we are not fighting against human
beings but against the wicked
spiritual forces in the heavenly
world, the rulers, authorities, and
cosmic powers of this dark age.”
(Ephesians 6:11,12 – GN)
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Cosmic conflict theology
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“Noah had no faults and was the only
good man of his time. He lived in
fellowship with God, but everyone else
was evil in God’s sight, and violence
had spread everywhere.” (Genesis
6:9-11 – GN)
“The LORD said to Noah, ‘Go into the
boat with your whole family; I have
found that you are the only one in all
the world who does what is right.”
(Genesis 7:1 – GN)
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“The LORD said to him, ‘Your
descendants will be strangers in a
foreign land; they will be slaves there
and will be treated cruelly for four
hundred years…After four generations
your descendants will return.’”
(Genesis 15:13,16 – GN)
• “When you help the Hebrew women
give birth…kill the baby if it is a
boy…” (Exodus 1:16 – GN)
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“I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who
will rule for me; you will do what I
want you to do: you will order that
Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the
foundations of the Temple be laid.’
The LORD has chosen Cyrus to be
king. He has appointed him to conquer
nations; he sends him to strip kings of
their power; the LORD will open the
gates of cities for him.” (Isaiah 44:2845:1 – GN)
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“Now listen and understand! Seven
sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of
seven will pass from the time the
command is given to rebuild
Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed
One—comes…After this period of
sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed
One will be killed, appearing to have
accomplished nothing…” (Daniel 9:2526 – NLT)
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“[Herod] gave orders to kill all the
boys in Bethlehem and its
neighborhood who were two years
old and younger.” (Matthew 2:16)
God’s will, our freedom, a
cosmic conflict
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“In the same way, it is not My heavenly
Father's will that even one of these
little ones should perish.” (Matthew
18:14)
“The Lord isn't really being slow about
His promise, as some people think. No,
He is being patient for your sake. He
does not want anyone to be destroyed,
but wants everyone to repent.” (2Peter
3:9)
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True love gives others the freedom
not to give love in return
God does not interfere with our
freewill
“The prayer of a good person has a
powerful effect.”
(James 5:16)
Prayer
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“Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed by thy name.” (KJV)
“Our Father in heaven, may your
name be honored.” (NIV)
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
“I will do whatever you ask for in my
name…” (John 14:14)
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Omnipresent
• “I have not yet ascended to my Father”
(John 20:17)
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Omniscient
• “No one knows about that day or hour,
not even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew
24:36)
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Omnipotent
• “The Son can do nothing by myself…”
(John 5:19)
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“After sending the people away, he
went up a hill by himself to pray.”
(Matthew 14:23)
“Jesus went up a hill to pray and
spent the whole night there praying
to God.” (Luke 6:12)
“Sit here while I go over there and
pray.” (Matthew 26:36)
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“Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has
received permission to test all of you,
to separate the good from the bad,
as a farmer separates the wheat from
the chaff. But I have prayed for you,
Simon, that your faith will not fail.
And when you turn back to me, you
must strengthen your brothers.”
(Luke 22:31,32)
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“God spoke: ‘Let us make human
beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature so they can be
responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle, and,
yes, Earth itself, and every animal
that moves on the face of Earth.’
God created human beings; he
created them godlike, reflecting
God’s nature. He created them male
and female.” (Genesis 1:26-27)
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Click on these 2 links to watch the
movie clips that were shown during
the Bible study:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6
et2ZSodS0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2
rBYXLai1ts
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“Listen now to my prayer and to the
prayers of all your other servants who
want to honor you. Give me success
today and make the emperor merciful
to me.’ In those days I was the
emperor's wine steward. One day four
months later, when Emperor
Artaxerxes was dining, I took the wine
to him. He had never seen me look
sad before, so he asked, ‘Why are you
looking so sad? You aren’t sick, so it
must be that you're unhappy.’ I was
startled and answered, ‘May Your
Majesty live forever!
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“How can I keep from looking sad when
the city where my ancestors are buried is
in ruins and its gates have been
destroyed by fire?’ The emperor asked,
‘What is it that you want?’ I prayed to
the God of Heaven, and then I said to
the emperor, ‘If Your Majesty is pleased
with me and is willing to grant my
request, let me go to the land of Judah,
to the city where my ancestors are
buried, so that I can rebuild the city.’”
(Nehemiah 1:11, 2:1-5 – GN)