Do you hear
“Hark! The Voice of Jesus Calling”, Hymn 359 in our lesson study title for this week? Or,
Hymn 287, “Softly and Tenderly”? I heard
Hymn 361, “Hark! Tis the Shepherd’s Voice I Hear”.
Ezra and Nehemiah certainly heard God’s voice calling them.

These prophets were to lead the people, rebuild the sanctuary and walls, teach the people, and guide them:
Hymn 482, “Father, Lead Me Day by Day”,
Hymn 531, “We’ll Build on the Rock”,
Hymn 193, “Savior, Teach Me” and
Hymn 538, “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”.

The prophets spoke to the three kings, who listened: Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. We hear this in
Hymn 413, “God Has Spoken by His Prophets”.

It is our responsibility (Thursday) to choose to follow God’s calling :
Hymn 623, “I Will Follow Thee”.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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Key Thought : The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel is definitely pointed out in Ezra’s timeline related to Daniel chapter 9.

October 19, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Daniel 9:24-27

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How did Jesus cause the sacrifices and oblations to cease? Was He “cut off, but not for Himself”?
3. Personal Application: How important is it for you to understand this 70 week prophecy? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How do we know the starting point of the 62 weeks and 7 weeks (or 483 years) until the Messiah was to come?” How would you respond to your relative?
   (Note: Ezra 7:7-13 gives us the date – the seventh month of the seventh year of Artaxerxes – 457BC. 483 years from that date gives us 27AD. Luke 3:1 tells us Jesus was baptized by John and anointed by the Holy Spirit in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar – 27AD.)

2. Have a volunteer read Daniel 8:14, 26,27 .

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What does it mean to “cleanse the sanctuary”?
3. Personal Application: How do you feel about living in the time of the judgment? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “How do you know the 2300 year prophecy had the same starting date as Daniel 9:24-27?” How would you respond to your friend?
   (Note: Daniel’s 70 week prophecy was “determined” – chathak – cut off, amputated from the prophecy already given in Daniel 8. Daniel is told in Chapter 9 to “consider the vision”, the vision was in chapter 8.)

3. Have a volunteer read Romans 8:28,29

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What did God choose for us? What did He call us for?
3. Personal Application: Why should it be encouraging to know that you were predestined for salvation? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “If we are predestined for salvation, then it doesn’t matter what we do, or how we live our lives. God’s going to save us anyway. Predestination means we don’t have any choice in the matter.” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Exodus 4:10-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What makes the job of a called leader difficult?
3. Personal Application: Do we make excuses for not doing things we know God has called us to do? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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In the first lesson of this quarter, we studied how God called Zerubbabel (c. 538 B.C). and Ezra (457 B.C). to special ministries. In the second lesson, we considered God’s call for Nehemiah (444 B.C.). We need to realize that these callings were performed in harmony with God’s foreknowledge. For example, Zerubbabel was moved by God to do a specific task in response to the end of the 70 years of captivity that Jeremiah had prophesied.

In what year was Ezra called to ministry? It was the same year in which King Artaxerxes issued a decree. How is that year significant in prophecy? Look up Daniel 9:24-27.

Artaxerxes

Daniel 9:25 states that “from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” (NKJV). The last week of this prophecy is mentioned in verse 27. Since one week contains seven days, so a prophetic week equals 7 years (Num. 14:34; Ezek. 4:5-6). Therefore, this prophecy talks about 70 weeks, which equal 490 years. The question that must be answered is, What is the starting date of the 70-week prophecy? The text states that it will be from the time that the decree is given to restore and build Jerusalem.

There were a total of three decrees given regarding the restoration of the Jewish people. Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes all gave commands for restorations. However, only the one from Artaxerxes includes concern for the city of Jerusalem itself, and only this decree is associated with praising God for His intervention (Ezra 7:27-28).

We count the beginning of the 70-week prophecy from the year 457 B.C., the seventh year of King Artaxerxes I as mentioned in Ezra 7:7-26. Additionally, because the year 457 B.C. is also the start of the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14 (see tomorrow’s lesson study), this decree serves as the starting point for these two prophecies. The seventy weeks end with year A.D. 34, which is when the preaching of the gospel was enlarged and also went to the Gentiles (marked by the persecution of the early church and the martyrdom of Stephen). The middle of the last week would be the year A.D. 31, which is when Jesus died on the cross.

Amen!(0)

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