Lesson for July 28, 2013: Giving Gifts for the Temple (Ezra 8:24-36) | Christian Standard

Lesson for July 28, 2013: Giving Gifts for the Temple (Ezra 8:24-36) | Christian Standard

Ezra 8:24-36

King James Version (KJV)

24 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
25 And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:
26 I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;
27 Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.
28 And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers.


Commentary 1: The gold / gifts were separated among 12 priests because God does not give all His talents to a single person.  He spreads His gifts among all his children.  All of His gifts (like the gold ~ approximately $3 million) would have been too much for one priest to carry 900 miles to Jerusalem.  Likewise all of God's gifts could not be carried by one saint.


Commentary 2:  the vessels were holy and the priest who had the Lord's freewill offerings were holy too!  Saints are holy (set apart) as they give their freewill offerings to the Lord, that He has given them.


Commentary 3: Ezra 8:34 - God keeps His people accountable of the Gifts He has given to His saints. See Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents

Gifts for the temple

Ezra 8:24-36

King James Version (KJV)

24 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
25 And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:
26 I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;
27 Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.
28 And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers.

Commentary 1: The gold / gifts were separated among 12 priests because God does not give all His talents to a single person.  He spreads His gifts among all his children.  All of His gifts (like the gold ~ approximately $3 million) would have been too much for one priest to carry 900 miles to Jerusalem.  Likewise all of God's gifts could not be carried by one saint.

Commentary 2:  the vessels were holy and the priest who had the Lord's freewill offerings were holy too!  Saints are holy (set apart) as they give their freewill offerings to the Lord, that He has given them.

Commentary 3: Ezra 8:34 - God keeps His people accountable of the Gifts He has given to His saints. See Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents

for the battle is the Lord

and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord… http://t.co/S5p0GLTlIZ

the Lord does not deliver by sword of by spear  - the Lord does not deliver by natural means.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds...2Cor 10:4 http://t.co/PpzOQLZw8K

New International Version (©2011) Isaiah 37:36
Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies!

New International Version (©2011) 2 Kings 19:35
That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies!

◄ Deuteronomy 32:30 ►

New International Version (©2011)
How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

Romans 4 - NLT - The Faith of Abraham

Abraham (our Spiritual Father) Way of Receiving from God

Romans 4 - Notes

v2. If good deeds makes us acceptable to God, we would have something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.

v3  For God’s way is simply believing in Him and we are counted as righteous because of our faith (like Abraham, the father of the faithful – Gen. 15:6)

v4-5 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. We cannot earn righteous (or right standing with God) because of our work.  We can only receive the gift of righteous because of our faith in God who forgives sinners.

v6-8 Even King David understood the blessing of those who are declared righteous (or those who receive the gift of righteous) without working for it.  King David declared in Psalm 31:1-2

⁷ “Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
⁸ Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

v9-10 Is the blessing the gift of righteous only for the Jews, or is it also Gentiles? Well, it all started because of Abraham who was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. But how/when did this happen? Was Abraham counted as righteous only after he was circumcised (Jewish covenant), or was Abraham counted as righteous before he was circumcised (Jewish covenant)? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised (Jewish covenant)!  See Genesis 17:9-10.

v11-12 Jewish covenant sign of circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous. So Abraham is the spiritual father of even Gentiles who have faith but have not been circumcised. Abraham is also the spiritual father of Jews who have been circumcised, who have is faith DNA.  All are counted as righteous

v13-15 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and us, Abraham’s descendants, is not based on our obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. James 2:10 - For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws.

v16-17 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe...This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

18-19 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations... And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. (This is why he was able to sacrifice Isaac.)

v20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. Not wavering brings glory to God. 

James 1:6-8 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

v21-24 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in Jesus, the one our Lord raised from the dead.

Who/What I Am in Christ

· I am reigning in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17)

· I am not looking at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen (II Corinthians 4:18)

· I am walking by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7)

· I casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (I Corinthians 10:5)

· I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:21)

· I am rooted and grounded in love, because Christ dwells within me (Ephesians 3:17)

· I am the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10)

· I am a partaker of God's divine nature (II Peter 1:4)

· I am prosperous and in good. health, because my soul prospers (III John 2)

· I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind to prove the perfect will of God
(Romans 12:2)

· I am healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:24)

· I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37)

· I am the salt of the earth, and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13a, 14a)

· I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)

· I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10)

· I am praying my desires and receiving them (Mark 11:24)

· I am like a tree planted by the rivers of water and everything that I do prospers (Psalm
1:3)

· I am a temple of the Holy Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19)

· I am given exceeding great and precious promises, and by them I partake of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (II Peter 1:4)

· I am led by the spirit of God; therefore, lam a son of God (Romans 8:14)

· I am not walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1)

· I am receiving all of my needs met according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)

· I am casting all of my cares upon Him, because I know He cares for me (I Peter 5:7)

· I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3)

· I am blessed when I come in, and blessed when I go out (Deuteronomy 28:6)

· I am an heir of God and a joint—heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17)

· I am increasing and abounding in love (I Thessalonians 3:12)

· I am being made perfect in every good work to do God's will (Hebrews 13:21)

· I am showing forth the praise of God (Psalms 51:15)

Hillsong - Mighty to Save

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