Sermon and Worship Resources

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Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... with that, by the way. If I had become what I thought most about as a teenager, I would have become a teenaged girl.] Dan Miller recognized that--if that were true--that we become what we think about--the possibilities of what he could do with his life were limitless. ... . That was the custom even in Jesus’ time. You stood for the reading of the Word. Ezra read the sacred writings and blessed the Lord and all the people said, “Amen, Amen.” They lifted up their hands and they bowed their heads, and ...

2. Daniel’s Vision of a Man

Daniel 10:1--11:1

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... (1 Sam. 3:2–21; 10:9–13; 2 Kgs. 3:15), but much more so in the apocalyptic tradition. After receiving some “signs,” Ezra is told that if he will “pray,” “weep,” and “fast for seven days,” he will “hear yet greater things than these” (2 Esd. ... thinking of Yahweh’s suffering servant, who was portrayed as having a disfigured (mishkhat) appearance (Isa. 52:14). 10:10 Because Miller (Daniel, pp. 281–83) identifies the figure of vv. 5–6 as God in the form of Christ, he is forced ...

3. Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts

Daniel 7:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... three Babylonian kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, and Belshazzar (Lacocque, Daniel, p. 140). According to the medieval rabbi Ibn Ezra, the three ribs are three cities conquered by the Medes (cited in Lacocque, Daniel, p. 140, n. 78). ... 7:6 Those who say this animal is Greece interpret the four heads as the four Diadochi, or successors of Alexander (S. R. Miller, Daniel [NAC 18; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994]). However, it is clear that the author had Persia in mind, because his four-kingdom scheme ...

4. Adam, the Law, and the Curse of the Covenant

Romans 5:12-21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... hope for the age to come because it would restore lost paradise (Isa. 25:6–8; 27:6; 65:17–25; Ezek. 47:9–12; Amos 9:13; 4 Ezra 8.52). For Paul, the Messiah has indeed come and created a new humanity and a new paradise.3Moreover, all of this is based on grace, not the law. ... hatred and the reality of God’s peace in the midst of tragedy. One prisoner in the movie, Dusty Miller, is a strong, Christlike figure whose persistent faith and serenity in the face of cruelty frustrate the Japanese guards ...

5. Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

Daniel 8:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... of the host,” which suggests a more exalted person. Because priests are sometimes called “prince” (1 Chron. 24:5 [NIV “officials”]; Ezra 8:24 [NIV “leading”]), the high priest Onias III (murdered in 171 B.C.; 2 Macc. 4:33–35; Dan. 9 ... bring us to 170, which is close to 171, when the high priest Onias III was murdered (Dan. 9:26; 2 Macc. 4:23–38; see Miller, Daniel, pp. 229–30). However, there is no hint of this event in the vision of chapter 8. The focus—especially in verses 11–13, ...

6. Driving Out the Nations

Deuteronomy 7:1-26

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... v. 4; cf. the similar motivation in the postexilic resettlement period, when Israel’s distinctiveness among the nations was again threatened, Ezra 9–10; Neh. 13:23–27). Religious (v. 5). Break down their altars, etc. Here lies the crux of the ... 8). “Claim to divinity is found here in the power to break the chains of slavery and oppression (cf. Ps. 82)” (P. D. Miller, Deuteronomy, p. 113). In the context of conflicting religious claims for rival deities (in the ancient world as much as in the modern ...

7. Jesus Proclaims Judgment on the Temple and the Nation

Mark 13:1-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: God’s judgment will soon fall on the temple and the land and bring devastation. However, God’s people must not be carried away by false teaching and false rumors but rather should endure patiently in the midst of the persecution. Understanding the Text The extensive discourse of chapter 13, known as the Olivet Discourse, develops the basic theme in passion week thus far: the fruitlessness (fig tree) and guilt (clearing of the temple) of the Jewish leadership, leading to the curse upon the nation ...

8. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... from the Babylonian exile (ca. 586–516 B.C.) the Jewish people spoke Aramaic. (See the account in Neh. 8:1–8 in which Ezra and his scribes read the law of Moses and explain it to the people.) In the synagogue service a portion of the Hebrew Bible ... m), thus underscoring the aspect of vengeance and retribution found in the Isa. 61:1–2 passage (for further discussion see M. P. Miller, “The Function of Isa. 61, 1–2 in Melchizedek,” JBL 88 [1969], pp. 467–69). According to the people of Qumran, the ...

9. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... manifests divine power, casting out demons “by the finger of God” (Luke 11:20). Scripture also frequently uses the expressions “hand of the LORD” (e.g., Ezra 7:6; Isa. 41:20; Ezek. 40:1) and “hand of God” (2 Chron. 30:12; Eccl. 2:24; see also Eccl. 9:1). So ... in Babylon, during which all Babylon was accustomed to drink and revel all night long” (Xenophon, Cyropaedia 7.15 [Miller, LCL]). Herodotus adds, “All this time they were dancing and making merry at a festival which chanced to be toward ...

10. Moses Blesses the Tribe

Deuteronomy 33:1-29

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... agents of teaching in the great reforms of Hezekiah (2 Chron. 31:4) and the program of “theological education by extension” of Ezra (Neh. 8:7f., 13). Alongside this teaching work, the priestly work of the tribe included, of course, the service of the ... probably “at his right hand, heavenly warriors,” or “a host of his own” (NRSV). See Cross and Freedman, “Blessing”; Miller, “Two Critical Notes”; and Komlos, “Deut. 33:3.” Verse 4 has often been suspected as an addition. However, ...

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