GN-Day321 Ezra 3-4; Isaiah 30; 2 Corinthians 11

11/17/22 • 28 min

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 book deal with two periods of time: Ezra deals with the rebuilding of the temple, and Nehemiah deals with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

Yesterday in Ezra we heard about Cyrus’ decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, the return of the temple treasures that were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, and the first large wave of returning exiles and their gifts to God.

ISAIAH 30:Yesterday’s reading in Isaiah 29 included several verses quoted in the New Testament about Israel’s hypocrisy. Then at the end, did you catch who Isaiah was talking about?

29:18 NLT In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.20 The scoffer will be gone,the arrogant will disappear,

Isaiah was NOT talking about the healing of just any ordinary deaf and blind people, but those people previously mentioned: The Israelites who refused to open their ears or open their eyes— who refused to read a book given to them, and yet were arrogant scoffers.

If you are NOT reading a good meaning-based translation, then it is very likely that you will misunderstand today reading in Isaiah 30 verse 7. The Rahab mentioned is NOT the woman that received Joshua’s spies!

2CORINTHIANS 11:Up to yesterday’s reading, Paul has been more reserved in criticising the men who have come masquerading as apostles. Those men have been more forceful speakers than Paul, and it has seemed that Paul is only bold in his letters. He said,

10:12 NLT Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are!

But we will see that Paul takes his gloves off as we go forward. Yet, what he boasts about follows that verse he quoted from Jeremiah:

17 NLT As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”

ISAIAH 30:Yesterday’s reading in Isaiah 29 included several verses quoted in the New Testament about Israel’s hypocrisy. Then at the end, did you catch who Isaiah was talking about?

29:18 NLT In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.20 The scoffer will be gone,the arrogant will disappear,

10:12 NLT Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are!

But we will see that Paul takes his gloves off as we go forward. Yet, what he boasts about follows that verse he quoted from Jeremiah:

17 NLT As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”

Previous Episode

GN-Day320 Ezra 1-2; Isaiah 29; 2 Corinthians 10

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 to read this year: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. These books allow us to see the fulfilment of prophecies we have read about. King Cyrus was one of the kings served by Daniel and alluded to in his prophetic visions. Now, in Ezra, we will read Cyrus’ proclamation, which is in accordance with Jeremiah’s prophecy about the 70 year duration of the exile in Babylonia. And we haven’t read it yet, but Isaiah specifically names Cyrus twice— writing about him some 150 to 200 years before Cyrus was born.

ISAIAH 29:The advantage of reading a meaning based translation like the GNT/NLT is that you readers and listeners had the pleasure of understanding the mocking of Isaiah (or God, in the NLT) by the people of Israel, and Isaiah and God’s mocking response (28:7-13). Then in that context, it is shocking to find the famous verses quoted in the New Testament:

Is. 28:16 NLT Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says:“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,a firm and tested stone.It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.Whoever believes need never be shaken.

The New Testament quotes this verse three times. In all three, the last line has the object “believes in him” (Jesus) because Paul and Peter quoted from the Septuagint, the ancient translation of the OT into Greek.

2CORINTHIANS 10:The heart of what Paul was teaching about in chapter 9 about the practice of Christian charity is this:

2Cor. 9:6 GNT Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop.8 And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.15 Let us thank God for his priceless gift!

Just like Philippians 4, it should never be forgotten that the promise of God providing (such as v.8) is found in the context of people who are already unselfishly supporting God’s work.

GNT Translation note:2Cor. 10:3 It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight [with worldly motives or methods//from worldly motives].

Next Episode

GN-Day322 Ezra 5-6; Isaiah 31; 2 Corinthians 11:30-12:21

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:

15 GNT The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says to the people, “Come back and quietly trust in me. Then you will be strong and secure.” But you refuse to do it.

And here is a good summary verse:

18 GNT And yet the Lord is waiting to be merciful to you. He is ready to take pity on you because he always does what is right. Happy are those who put their trust in the Lord.

2CORINTHIANS 11:30—12:Paul took his gloves off yesterday and was forced to talk like a madman. I like how some of Paul’s statements drip with irony in that section. And you gotta believe that is hard to translate!

The part we are about to read about Paul’s weakness is one of my favorites. We’ll start with re-reading the last four verses from chapter 11.

GNT Translation note:2Cor. 12:2 I know a certain [fellow believer in Christ//Christian man] who fourteen years ago was snatched up to the highest heaven (I do not know whether this actually happened or whether he had a vision—only God knows).