People of the Bible: Ezra

Book of the Bible: Ezra & Nehemiah 

Who was Ezra??

In approximately the 400 BCs the Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland after being exiled for 70 years. Jerusalem was destroyed due to Israel’s disobedience, but God was giving them another chance. While Zerubbabel was rebuilding the temple, and Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall, Ezra was responsible for leading the people of Israel back to worshiping God. During this time, Ezra was the nation’s spiritual leader. He served as a priest and a scribe.

When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem he expected the people to be praising God and following his commands. After all, they had been in exile for 70 years. You’d think they would have learned their lesson, but Ezra was saddened to find out this wasn’t the case. He knew the people needed to change, so he gathered the people and read the word of God to them for hours. 

The reading of God’s word pierced their hearts and they began to see their faults. Ezra was able to bring spiritual reformation to the nation because he read them what God had said. He led people to confess their sins and seek God for forgiveness. Ezra encouraged the people to continue to magnify God and worship only Him. 

Ezra and the rest of the Israelites faced great opposition during this time because the surrounding nations didn’t want to see Israel succeed. They tried everything they could to stop the Israelites from building. The other nations had heard the stories about how great the God of Israel was and they knew if the people ever aligned themselves up with Him again they would be unstoppable. And that’s exactly what they did. Because they returned to God, God established them as a strong nation once again.

When looking at the life of Ezra, we see the significance of having the hand of God on our life. Ezra 7:9b-10 (NLT) tells us, ‘for the gracious hand of his God was on him. This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.” I would encourage you to be like Ezra, to be determined to study the word of God, to obey it, to teach it to your family and those around you. Then, pray the hand of God over your life and your children’s life. Believe for God to do a great work in and through you like he did Ezra. Because God can use anyone to make a difference in His world and His kingdom. God can use you to make a difference when you surrender and obey His Word.

By diving into the word, the people of Israel renewed their relationship with God. John 1:1 says that Jesus is God’s word made flesh. That means that we can renew our relationship with God by diving into a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is our way to the Father, Jesus died to give us eternal life. Once we align our life with him, we can begin to experience this eternal life. When we keep God as our number one priority, we will always know He has our backs, and Jesus will show us the way. 

Key Takeaways:

• God’s Word is Important

• Read God’s word

• Pray the hand of God over your family’s life

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about the life of Ezra this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Elisha

Who was Elisha? 2 Kings 2-9

Elisha was the prophet that took over in the nation of Israel after Elijah was taken up into heaven. Elisha helped serve Elijah for about 7-8 years, during this time Elisha saw some amazing things and learned what it meant to know God and to be a prophet. When Elijah was getting ready to be taken into heaven, he asked Elisha what he could do for him. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and it was granted to him. Elisha was a great prophet who performed several miracles. We read about these miracles in the book of 2 Kings. Here are just a few:

• Elisha purifies the toxic water

• Elisha multiplies oil for a widow

• A Shunammite woman and husband give Elisha a room to rest; God grants her a son; son suddenly becomes sick in the fields and dies; God uses Elisha to resurrect the boy

• During a famine, men in Gilgal accidentally use poisonous gourds in a soup; Elisha purifies the food for the hungry

• Elisha shared bread and fed 100 men

• Elisha cleans Naaman of Leprosy

• Elisha anoints Jehu as King of Israel, and Jehu ends Joram (current king) and Jezebel Even after Elisha’s death, a dead body was healed after it touched his bones. Elisha was filled with God’s spirit and brought happiness to many people through his miracles of healing and restoration. We see that Elisha brought great happiness to people’s lives but it was temporary. Elisha’s name in Hebrew means “God is salvation”. During the time of his ministry, we see that God did not prevent all bad things from happening but he required people to have faith and put their trust in Him. The same is true today, bad things still happen, but we can put our trust in Jesus who is our once and for all salvation. We also see that Elisha did many great works, but it wasn’t by his works or might but by the power of the Lord. When you obey and surrender as Elisha did in 2 Kings, God too can work in and through you. He can use you to do great things on his earth. Again, not by your might but by the Lord’s power. Say yes to the Lord and have faith that you can do all things with God! (Matthew 19:26).

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Elisha this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids. To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Elijah

Who was Elijah?

Elijah - 1 & 2 Kings

• He was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel

• He lived during the reigns of Kings Ahab and Ahaziah

• He helped save Israel from the worship of Baal

Elijah emerged suddenly on the scene and proclaimed a drought because God’s people had been worshiping the Canaanite god, Baal. Elijah eventually meets up with 450 prophets of Baal and they hold a contest to see which of their gods is the one true God. The prophets of Baal and Elijah made separate altars and piled wood on top of them. They were to pray for their god to consume the altar with fire.

The prophets of Baal went first and they prayed for hours, but nothing happened. Elijah was so confident in God that he poured water over his wood then prayed. After Elijah’s first prayer, God sent fire from heaven and consumed Elijah’s altar. This proved to everyone in Israel that Baal was not God.

Because of this, all the prophets of Baal were killed. After the people accepted God as the only God, he ended the drought that Elijah had proclaimed and it began to rain.

This was an incredible victory for Elijah, but it was short lived. An evil queen named Jezebel ordered to have Elijah killed, which made him flee into hiding. While in hiding God renews Elijah’s faith and he becomes strong once again. He returns and speaks against King Ahab who had been unjustly. Elijah helped Israel see the moral laws of God and that everyone is subject to God, even the king.

Eventually Elijah was called up to heaven on a fiery chariot and he left his ministry to his predecessor, Elisha.

Elijah walked in close fellowship with God and had many experiences with Him. He was a champion for the monotheistic cause (belief in only one God). The name Elijah even meant, “Yahweh is God”. He performed many miracles in his life and is held in high regard all throughout Scripture. He even appears with Moses at Jesus’s transfiguration.

Near the time of Jesus, many people believed that Elijah would return to make a way for the Messiah. We later find out that John the Baptist fulfilled this role for Jesus. John the Baptist preached and lived in a similar way to Elijah. He preached the coming of the kingdom of God which prepared the way for Jesus and his ministry. Elijah, John the Baptist, and many others prepared people so they could experience and accept Jesus’s salvation which is available to all who believe in him.

Key Takeaways:

• God is the only true God

• We can be confident in God & His power

• Salvation is made available to us when we believe in Jesus and confess that He is Lord

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Elijah this Sunday, both in-person and online. Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.