New Life Bible Study discussion

Hey! March’s BOTMs are 1 Chronicles (29 chapters) & Ezra (10 chapters). Next month, I’ll be reading 2 Chronicles (36 chapters) & Nehemiah (13 chapters), so there will just be one thread for all 4 books. You can read in chronological order if you’d like XD

Read at whatever pace you'd like and please share your thoughts/questions! (Or, if you’d prefer a more scheduled plan, let me know and I can do that:)) Here are some additional way to participate:

✿ Memorize Verses

Here’s a list of verses I like from our BOTMs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e... (still being updated)

Choose 9 of them (or any other verses you’d like, from the list or not) to put in this bracket according to which number it is:

[ _ ] [ _ ] [ _ ]
[ _ ] [ _ ] [ _ ]
[ _ ] [ _ ] [ _ ]

When you memorize a verse, put an X in the bracket. Try to get 3 in a row, then another 3 in a row, then maybe even a blackout! Post your bracket here and update us on how you’re doing.

✿ Youversion Plans

Please feel free to choose one and invite me to it! https://www.bible.com/reading-plans

Please add me as a friend if you haven’t- I’m Catherine C and my profile’s the same as the one on GR, or you can tell me what your profile is. If you haven’t made a free account on Youversion yet, sign up HERE! https://www.bible.com/sign-up

✿ BibleProject Videos

Video overviews by BibleProject:
~ Chronicles: https://bibleproject.com/explore/vide...
~ Ezra-Nehemiah: https://bibleproject.com/explore/vide...

✿ Discovering the Gospel series

Short videos on how our BOTMs fit into the biblical storyline and point to Jesus:
~ 1 & 2 Chronicles: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
~ Ezra-Nehemiah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmNWG...

✿ Sermons

I listen to Tim Keller & Gospel in Life. Sermons on:
~ 1 & 2 Chronicles: https://gospelinlife.com/all-resource...
(No sermons on Ezra or Nehemiah :/ Let me know if you find one!)

✿ Bible Commentary

~ Enduring Word: https://enduringword.com/
~ BibleRef: https://www.bibleref.com/

If you have other resources, please share them with us! Thank you! :D

Great! Excited to start reading 1 Chronicles today!

Woo hoo! I don't think I ever technically finished 2 Kings but I'll try to finish it this month too XD

I'll be joining! :)

Yay!! :D

I finished the first nine chapters yesterday. I wonder why the author of 1 Chronicles included all those genealogies...

Maybe it's a historical reason?

Nice!! I'm still on chapter 5 XD

I think you're right about historical record; here's some more info just for fun:

GotQuestions on the relevance of genealogies:
(view spoiler)[First, the genealogies help substantiate the Bible’s historical accuracy. These lists confirm the physical existence of the characters in the Bible. By knowing family histories, we understand that the Bible is far from a mere story or a parable for how we should live our lives. It is authentic, historical truth. An actual man named Adam had actual descendants (and, therefore, his actual sin has actual consequences).

The genealogies also confirm prophecy. The Messiah was prophesied to come from the line of David (Isaiah 11:1). By recording His lineage in Scripture, God confirms that Jesus was descended from David (see Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38). The genealogy is yet another attestation of Jesus Christ’s fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

The lists also demonstrate the detail-oriented nature of God and His interest in individuals. God did not see Israel vaguely, as a nebulous group of people; He saw with specificity, with precision and detail. There is nothing detached about the genealogies. They show a God involved. The inspired Word mentions people by name. Real people, with real histories and real futures. God cares about each person and the details of his or her life (Matthew 10:27-31; Psalm 139).

Finally, we can learn from various people listed in the genealogies. Some of the lists contain narrative portions that give us glimpses into the lives of the people. For instance, the prayer of Jabez is found within a genealogy (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). From this, we learn about God’s character and the nature of prayer. Other genealogies reveal that Ruth and Rahab are in the Messianic line (Ruth 4:21-22; Matthew 1:5). We see that God values the lives of these individuals, even though they were Gentiles and not part of His covenant people. (hide spoiler)]

Enduring Word further on Jabez's prayer:
(view spoiler)[ii. Jabez prayed for enlarged territory. Virtually all older commentators agree with Matthew Poole that Jabez called on the God of Israel “when he was undertaking some great and dangerous service,” in particular the conquest of the land of Canaan. Therefore, when he prayed “enlarge my territory,” it was to “drive out these wicked and cursed Canaanties, whom thou hast commanded us to root out, and therefore I justly beg and expect thy blessing in the execution of thy command.” (Poole)

· Adam Clarke quotes a Chaldean translation of this prayer, with the line: and enlarge my borders with disciples. This, together with the scribal city associated with his name, indicates (but does not prove) that Jabez’s desire for more territory was not only to displace the wicked but also to advance the cause of godliness through the multiplication of disciples.

iii. Jabez asked that the hand of God would be with him. “The ‘hand of the Lord’ is a biblical term for God’s power and presence in the lives of His people (see Joshua 4:24 and Isaiah 59:1).” (Wilkinson)

· The phrase the hand of the LORD is used many times in the Old Testament, and often in a negative sense – that is, in the sense of God’s hand being against someone in judgment. Here Jabez prayed that the hand of the LORD would be with him.

· In Psalm 77:10, the Psalmist wrote: I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. Here Jabez prayed in advance for something to remember later – to see the hand of God with him now.

iv. Jabez asked to be kept from evil and that he would not cause pain. Some other translations render this with the idea that the pain Jabez did not want to cause was his own. “He used this expression in allusion to his name, which signifies grief; Lord, let me not have that grief which my name implies, and which my sin deserves.” (Poole)

· In this Jabez recognized the evil in this world, no doubt because he had lived through much pain in his life.

· In this Jabez recognized that he needed God to keep him from evil.

· In this Jabez recognized that the hand of God could transform the evil and pain of his life.

e. So God granted him what he requested: This, of course, is the measure of effective prayer – that it is answered from heaven (allowing that “No” or “Wait” can also be an answer). Yet when we are close to the heart of God and pray for the things important to Him and His kingdom, we expect that our prayers will be granted (1 John 5:14). (hide spoiler)]

And I just found this kind of funny, but Spurgeon found a way to preach a whole sermon on just one verse:
(view spoiler)[g. These were the potters and those who dwell at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work: Since the broad focus of these chapters is to point to the tribe of Judah and especially to the family of David, these men receive special mention because they worked for the king and lived with the king. Charles Spurgeon preached a wonderful sermon on this verse, with four points under the title With the King for His Work!

i. Our King has many kinds of servants. He has soldiers, watchmen, heralds, scribes, musicians, house servants, gardeners, servants for the children. We should therefore value the different servants and understand and value our own place of service.

ii. All who live with our King must work. “They did not live on the king’s bounty and dwell on the king’s country estates to do nothing, but they dwelt there for his work. I do not know whether all that call my Master ‘Lord’ have caught this idea. I have thought that some of our church members imagine that the cause of Christ was a coach, and that they were to ride on it, and that they would prefer the box seat.” (Spurgeon)

iii. Those that work for the King ought to live with Him. “Now, those that live with Jesus Christ have a sort of secret alphabet between themselves and him. Oftentimes when a Christian man does the right thing.… Do you know why he had that knack? He lived with his Master, so he knew what you knew not. He knew the meaning of his Master’s eye, and it guided him.” (Spurgeon)

iv. We are working for the King. “And after you have received Christ then you shall go forth and serve him. Put out an empty hand and receive Christ into it by a little faith, and then go and serve him, and the Lord bless you henceforth and for ever.” (Spurgeon) (hide spoiler)]

Some more quotes I thought were interesting from EW:
(view spoiler)[i.
• “This is an ancient graveyard. The names of past generations who were born and died, who loved and suffered, who stormed and fought through the world, are engraven on these solid slabs. But there is no inscription to record their worth or demerit. Just names, and nothing more.” (Meyer)

• i. “This chapter (chapter 1) has therefore become a panoramic view of God’s dealings with humanity in both creation and redemption. God’s name does not actually appear, of course, but his activity is visible everywhere to the discerning reader.” (Selman)
ii. We see God almost everywhere in this chapter:
· We see God calling out for Adam, hiding in his shame.
· We see God blessing the birth of Seth, providing a son to replace both the one murdered and the murderer.
· We see God walking with Enoch.
· We see God calling to Noah and shutting the door of the ark.
· We see God speaking to the sons of Noah and making His covenant with them.
· We see God as the Most High, dividing an inheritance to the nations (Deuteronomy 32:8).
· We see God dividing the earth at the tower of Babel in the days of Peleg.
· We see God choosing a Babylonian, from an idol-worshipping family, named Abraham.
· We see God stopping the sacrificial knife held over a surrendered Isaac.
· We see God orchestrating the choice of Israel over his brother Esau, despite all fleshly efforts of man to do otherwise.
· We see God blessing Esau and his descendants, as He promised to do. (hide spoiler)]

That's a lot to read; I'd recommend the last "spoiler" and perhaps the GotQuestions answer if you don't want to read it all:)

I found it really interesting how 1 Chronicles overlaps and connects with other books of the Bible. I learned more about:

Heman
One of my most recent favorite sermons is called Heman's Cry of Darkness on Psalm 88, one of two Psalms that end in utter despair (last verse is "Darkness if my closest friend"). The presence of such passages in the Bible show us God is not our God because we pull ourselves together and always act so respectful and reverent towards Him (He knows how we act when we are desperate), and that He cares and understands.

(TK says in another sermon that when we go through such trials, take your anger and frustration to God- what he calls unconditional faithful wrestling. Even though you may not understand what's going on, if you can't figure it out with God, how in the world are you going to figure it out without God?)

Times of darkness are often the best places to learn of God's grace and grow into men and women of greatness. A life giving, thriving prayer life can only be formed- as far as I know- through times of trial, and when God has tested us, we will come forth as gold. That doesn't mean that we are stoics- certainly not! But that there is purpose, though we may not understand, to our suffering.

Asaph
Wrote 12 Psalms (Psalm 50 & Psalms 73-83) and was apparently the brother of Heman- can see more if you'd like: (view spoiler)[i. This is the first mention of Asaph in the Bible; the Asaph listed in 2 Kings 18:18 and 18:37 is a different man. Asaph was a man of wide and long-lasting influence among God’s people.
· 1 Chronicles 15:17-19 mentions Asaph as a fellow singer with Heman and Ethan.
· 1 Chronicles 16:5 describes Asaph as the chief at the ceremony bringing the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem.
· 1 Chronicles 16:7 says that David delivered a psalm to Asaph and his brethren at that ceremony. Apparently, David wrote the psalm and Asaph and his brethren performed it.
· 1 Chronicles 16:37 says that Asaph was left with the responsibility to daily minister before the ark of the covenant when it was brought into Jerusalem in David’s time.
· 1 Chronicles 25:6 says that Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman served in music under the authority of King David.
· 2 Chronicles 20:14 and 29:13 indicate that the influence of Asaph lasted far beyond his death, in that future worship leaders and musicians were known as the sons of Asaph, even to the days of Ezra (Ezra 2:41, 3:10; Nehemiah 7:44, 11:17 and 22).
(hide spoiler)]

It was really cool reading chapter 16 and recognizing it, since I've been reading Psalms. (view spoiler)[i. “The Psalm is found in the Book of Psalms; its first movement (8-22) in Psalm 105:1-15; its second movement (23-33) in Psalm 96:1b-13a; its third movement (34-36) consisting of a quotation of the opening and closing sentences of Psalm 106:1-47 and 48.” (Morgan) (hide spoiler)]

Ch. 18 I found an interesting quote: i. “At first glance, this is a somewhat artificial record of David’s military successes, which has been produced by leaving out the more interesting narratives and those less favourable to David. This view is rather inaccurate, however, since positive elements such as the birth of Solomon, David’s magnanimity to Saul’s family, and David’s psalms are omitted…. The reason is that Chronicles has chosen to focus on the relationship of David’s wars with the Davidic covenant and the temple preparations.” (Selman)

On ch. 22, another quote I liked: "iv. “God buries the workman, but the devil himself cannot bury the work. The work is everlasting, though the workmen die. We pass away, as star by star grows dim; but the eternal light is never-fading. God shall have the victory.” (Spurgeon)

Finally, (at least for today XD), EW's commentary on a part in ch. 22 discussed how God is an organizer:
(view spoiler)[
ii. There is a limit to what we can be and what we can do for the LORD without order and organization. It isn’t that order and organization are requirements for progress in the Christian life; they are progress in the Christian life; in becoming more like the LORD.
iii. Nothing is accomplished in God’s kingdom without order and organization. While it may seem so to us, it is only an illusion – behind the scenes God is moving with utmost order and organization though sometimes we cannot see it. (hide spoiler)]

It reminded me of something that I heard- if one were to see a book on a desk titled "The One God Uses," one might typically think it was about someone in ministry, but God uses everyone. I believe that's why Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are all about- Ezra's a scribe/priest, Nehemiah oversaw the rebuilding of the temple, and Esther was a queen- God uses everyone! There is value in every sort of work (assuming it's not morally wrong). God is an artist (creation), God is an organizer, Jesus was a carpenter.

(view spoiler)[I'm probably not giving copyright where it's due- if it has some kind of Roman numerals or bullet points it's from Enduring Word's Bible Commentary (I abbreviate as EW): https://enduringword.com/bible-commen... (hide spoiler)]

That was long 😆 I still feel the need to share my favorite things from this really awesome sermon I relistened to about David's mighty men:))

Reminder: April's BOTMs are 2 Chronicles & Nehemiah, or Ezra & Nehemiah if you read 1 & 2 Chronicles in March:)

I enjoyed reading all of the names in Ezra-Nehemiah more than reading genealogical records, because it was a list of the faithful, not just who was related to whom, if that makes sense.

God, by putting the names of people who came back to Jerusalem and served Him, is honoring the faithful. They didn't perform exceptionally amazing miracles or healing, but their names are there just because they trusted in Him and showed up faithfully to work every day. God sees and values everyone's work for Him, not just those who do big things.

Something else I found interesting was the different gates described in Nehemiah; the Dung Gate caught my attention XD If you'd like to read a bit more about the gates, here's an article from GotQuestions: https://www.gotquestions.org/gates-of...

Also, I highly recommend Tim Keller's short video on how Ezra-Nehemiah points to the Gospel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmNWG...

Over the next couple of days, I may also check out Spoken Gospel's devos on Ezra-Nehemiah: https://www.spokengospel.com/books/ez...