ESTHER 5-6: In Esther 3-4 Haman cast lots (purim) to find out that March 7 was the lucky date to exterminate the Jews. Mordecai requested that Esther intercede directly to the king. And since she hadn't been called for, the only way to do that would endanger Esther herself, since no one was allowed to approach the king in the inner court uninvited.

ISAIAH 41b: Did you notice in yesterday's reading, we heard a description of a king that sounded similar to one described in the book of Daniel?

Isaiah 41:2-4 NLT: 2 "Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God's service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind. 3 He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. 4 Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he."

Because of the amazingly fast progress of this king being like the description of Alexander the Great (the male goat) in Daniel 8, I previously thought that Isaiah was also describing Alexander. But Alexander came from the west. Instead, this is the same king as mentioned in verse 25 of today's reading, and scholars say that he is most likely Cyrus. In a few chapters he will be mentioned by name, and chapter 41 is not the only time Isaiah alludes to him without mentioning his name.

2THESSALONIANS 2: In preparing for his topic of Christ's return, in 2Thessalonians chapter 1 Paul mentioned the punishment of people who refuse to obey the Good News about Christ. They will 'suffer' or 'pay the penalty of eternal destruction'. Note that if people are going to be burned up in hell, or if God's punishment was simply that people would cease to exist, it would not be called 'suffer eternal destruction'. This understanding is not just a doctrine. It turns out that this gives great comfort to those who are suffering persecution, and gives a great motivation to all of us for sharing the Good News.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESTHER 3-4: Yesterday we heard how Esther became the queen, and how she continued to keep her Jewish background a secret. We also heard how Mordecai, her uncle, was promoted to a palace official after uncovering a plot to assassinate king Xerxes.

Today we are introduced to the villain of the story— Haman. The Jews always read the book of Esther in the celebration of Purim. Whenever Haman's name is read they boo and shake rattles or noisemakers to drown out his name.

ISAIAH 41a: The shift to such beautiful poetry that occurs in chapter 40 of Isaiah is one of the things that has made people think the last part of this book was authored by someone else. But that is the silly. As I have pointed out as we have gone along, Isaiah has written beautiful and memorize-able verses from the beginning of this book. And Isaiah's amazing predictions about the Messiah are not just found in chapter 53, as we heard again yesterday.

2 THESSALONIANS 1:Did you notice yesterday that the little book of Philemon is a picture of the Gospel? Philemon is in the place of God. Paul is an advocate like Jesus. Picture yourself in the position of a runaway slave. I give a hint here for digging deeper in Philemon: There is a wonderful play of words that happens twice based on the name Onesimus.

I hope that you recall that we read 1st Thessalonians several months ago. 2nd Thessalonians seems to have been written soon after the first letter, around 51 AD. Paul was evidently still at Corinth. And the letter seems to have been written to clarify a very important point about Christ's second coming. This letter contains some of the clearest teaching about the antichrist— although Paul does not use that term.

Constable's notes say, "Paul wrote to encourage the Thessalonian believers to continue to persevere in the face of continuing persecution (1:3-10). He also wanted to clarify events preceding the day of the Lord to dispel false teaching (2:1-12). Finally, he instructed the church how to deal with lazy Christians in their midst (3:6-15)." Constable's notes can be found at Lumina.bible.org.

NLT Translation notes: 2Thes. 1:3 Dear brothers and sisters,c we can't help but thank God for you, because [you so fully believe in Christ//your faith is flourishing] and your love for one another is growing. 11 So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your [full belief in Christ//faith] prompts you to do.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESTHER 1-2:In the final two chapters of Nehemiah, we heard of the culmination of Nehemiah's work— the ceremony for the dedication of the wall. The people proved that the wall could stand up to more than just a fox walking on it. Then Nehemiah went back to Babylon. When he came back to Jerusalem, he needed to right several wrongs, as the people had allowed a deterioration in the temple worship.

We now turn to the book of Esther, which may have been written by Mordecai (a major character in the book), or by Ezra or Nehemiah, who would have known this story. The king Xerxes was defeated in a famous naval battle against Greece. From the historian Herodotus we find that the feast mentioned in the first chapter of Esther was the occasion for planning that battle. Esther has been compared to Joseph and David. She also started out as just an ordinary person, but God planned something great for her.

ISAIAH 40b: The three memorable musical compositions in Handel's Messiah that quote from this chapter are taken from just verses 1-11. We will find more memorable verses in today's reading.

PHILEMON: In chapter 4 of Colossians we heard Paul encourage alertness in prayer and making the most of every opportunity to share the Good News. Our speech should be— when literally translated, 'seasoned with salt'. NLT does a nice job translating that meaningfully as 'attractive', and GNT also get's right to the point with 'interesting'.

Along with other people, Onesimus was mentioned at the end of Colossians. He was the slave of Philemon. It is likely that the letter Paul mentioned "from Laodicea" at the end of Colossians was the letter that we will read now! I wish that we knew if Onesimus was so attracted to the Gospel after over-hearing Paul speak at Philemon's house that he ran away to search for Paul during the time when he was under house arrest in Rome. Or did Onesimus just run away as any ordinary slave might do and just 'happen' to 'end up' in prison with Paul in Rome? Each story would be fascinating!

NLT Translation notes: Phm. 4 I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, 5 because I keep hearing about your [fully believing//faith] in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people. 6 And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your [believing/faith] as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. 10 I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in [believing the Good News about Jesus//the faith] while here in prison. 25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with [each of you spiritually//all of your spirits//your spirit]. [The shift to plural-you indicates that Paul is closing with a greeting to all the people mentioned at the first of the letter, not just Philemon. It is amazing to me that many English translations fail to make this clear.]

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 12-13 In yesterday's chapters in Nehemiah, we heard the names of the various religious and civil leaders who signed the statement of commitment to follow Moses' Law, which was almost certainly penned by Ezra. Then there was a listing of the various leaders and clans that volunteered or were chosen by lot to live in Jerusalem.

ISAIAH 40a: I am always very disappointed with Hezekiah when he does not pray and ask the Lord to not allow Jerusalem to be conquered by Babylon and not to allow his sons to become eunuchs in Babylon's palace. God had already responded amazingly to him in answering his prayers. The New Testament teaches us to be alert in prayer, and I think that includes being alert to what to pray for.

Today we start the glorious final section of Isaiah, with favorite words set to music in Handel's Messiah.

COLOSSIANS 4:Our resurrection to a new life because of being one with Christ, is not just being raised from death to live again on this earth. We get raised right to heaven. Our true spiritual life is found in our unity with Christ who is in heaven at God's side. Literally Paul expressed this as 'your life is hidden with Christ in (unity with) God'. The picture continues with our bodies and evil desires being pictured like clothes. We put off the old life like old clothes and put on the new life like new clothes.

Yesterday's chapter ended with instructions for wives, husbands, children, fathers, and slaves. Today's chapter continues with the instruction to masters.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 10-11: The returned exiles showed how sincere they were in following the Lord! They gathered together for the express purpose of hearing the Law. By this time their language had changed so much that they needed 13 Levites to explain what was said in the readings. The people wept because they realized how far they were from obeying the Law of Moses, and also for joy in hearing it. One month later, the leaders gathered to explore the Law in more detail, and they found that Israel had always neglected celebrating the Festival of Shelters. They did that for the prescribed week with great joy. Ezra read the Law to the people every day. Then afterward, there was a meeting for confessing their sins including the long prayer in chapter 9. This seems to have been an extra event, about one week after the Festival of Shelters was over. After that prayer,

Neh. 9:38 NLT The people responded, "In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests."

ISAIAH 39: After the prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah that he would die, in 2nd King's 20 we are told that Isaiah only managed to get to the middle courtyard when the Lord's message came answering Hezekiah's prayer. Fifteen years were added to Hezekiah's life, and he received the promise that the Assyrian king would not conquer Jerusalem. In his poem of thanks, Hezekiah said:

Is. 38:15 NLT But what could I say? For [God/he] himself sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.

COLOSSIANS 3: Note the distinction about old Jewish religious laws that Paul made in chapter 2, comparing them with the right standing true believers obtain by union with Christ. We're not in a religion anymore, we're in a new relationship with God through Christ. Those old religious regulations had no ability to help one conquer our persistent evil desires. Following the teachings in the New Testament does indeed allow us to be freed from bondage to evil desires. One important way this deliverance happens when we understand, believe, and meditate upon spiritual realities such as those found in 2:13-15, and 20-23. We read other keys recently in Philippians 3-4. And if you are interested in more on this topic, I encourage you to follow the reading plan I posted in Youversion/Bible.com called Buckling the Belt of Truth.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 8-9:

Nehemiah 7 dealt with listing the various families and temple workers who came back after exile. The last phrase of verse 73 in that chapter is the transition to the next events in chapter 8.

7:73 NLT So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel.

In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns,

8:1 all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey.

ISAIAH 38: In chapter 37 yesterday, we heard of Hezekiah's triumph through his prayer. As we have seen before in Isaiah (and not just in Isaiah's message to the king), this defeat was prophesied, and we heard the fulfillment yesterday.

COLOSSIANS 2: After that wonderful poem in Colossians chapter 1— which I can barely resist reading to you a second time— Paul says these things:

Col. 1:21-22 NLT This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

Then in talking about the revelation of the Good News, he says,

1:26 NLT This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God's people.27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

NLT Translation notes: Col. 2:7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then [you will grow strong in your beief of//your faith will grow strong in] the truth [just as/0] you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you [fully believed in/trusted] the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 7:Yesterday we read how Nehemiah stood up for all the common people in their financial difficulty. The nobles were rich, but everyone else was suffering— some even having no option but to sell their own children into slavery. Amazingly, he succeeded in convincing the nobles to forgive debts, and forced them take a solemn oath about that. The wall was finished in just 52 days, but Nehemiah was getting more and more threats from Sanballat and his cronies.

ISAIAH 37: We heard the challenge and mocking of the Assyrian chief of staff— who brought the Assyrian King's message to Jerusalem with a huge show of force. The challenge was shouted out in Hebrew for all the people to hear. (I always wonder how it was that the Assyrian commander was fluent in Hebrew!) What a thing to happen to a king that 2Kings 18 praises with these words:

2Kings 18:5 NLT Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.

COLOSSIANS 1: We finished the wonderful book of Philippians yesterday. I count three great promises in that 4th chapter. But note: This time I feel that all of them are really conditional promises— even the last one. If we are going to have God's peace guarding our hearts and minds, and if we want God to supply our needs, then we must give attention to how Paul told the Philippians to live and how they were giving to support Paul's mission.

I encourage everyone to spend more time looking at the treasures of Philippians, and the same goes for the book we start today— Colossians.

Colossians was written around the same time as Philippians, and Philemon was a member of this church. This letter has another wonderful poetic portion in chapter one exalting Christ. In most of my presentations in Indonesian seminaries, I introduce our translation by reading Colossians 2. The things Indonesians don't understand in their Bibles— and the things I hope you will understand in the GNT or NLT, are spiritual realities. These are things that are true of us spiritually which cannot be seen with physical eyes. If you understand spiritual realities, you get the opportunity to believe them. If you believe them, meditate on them. If you meditate on them, you will find them working powerfully in your life to transform you and release you from sinful desires.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 5-6: Yesterday Nehemiah gave a listing of the people who rebuilt the wall. This included Shallum and his daughters, and two named goldsmiths, merchants, priests and Levites. The residents of the land opposed to the construction were threatening violence, so the people armed themselves and had men on guard at all times. Nehemiah and his men stayed fully armed at all times, and in the last verse of chapter 4 NLT says 'even when they went for water'— which I take as a euphemism for going potty. That little phrase is very obscure in Hebrew, and GNT translates it in a different way.

ISAIAH 36: It was interesting to find this verse near the beginning of Isaiah's beautiful chapter 35:

35:3 NLT With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.

This verse was probably in the mind of the writer of Hebrews in chapter 13. And in fact, the Holy Highway and its destination is very much like the 'place' we 'come to' in Hebrews 13!

Today we start on the prose portion of Isaiah from chapters 36-39.

PHILIPPIANS 4: I have found deep meaning and great spiritual help from the portion around verse 13 in chapter 3. And I am certainly not alone in that. Here are some of the most quoted verses in this letter:

Php. 3:13 NLT No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved [perfection//it], but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things...

I would like to point out that twice in this chapter Paul points us to heaven. One is in the verses I just quoted, and the other in verse 20, where he says, "We are citizens of heaven." Note that he calls all of us to keep our focus forward and lengthen our stride as we run toward heaven. All of us! There is no other destination for believers ever mentioned in the Bible. Wherever Jesus is, that's where we'll be. And that's why Paul says repeatedly, dying is better and would simply bring him nearer Christ. If as Revelation portrays, the New Jerusalem comes down to earth, then that is heaven and that's where we will be. There is no such thing as a Purgatory. And neither is there a separation of believers, where the really holy ones get to go to heaven and the not so good ones stay on earth. There is only hell and heaven. And if you are a believer in Christ, you are a citizen of heaven and you will be right where Jesus is.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 3-4:After Nehemiah's wonderful prayer for Jerusalem, more than three months went by before the king noticed him looking sad. He says he had never before looked sad, so he must have waited. God must have been in the timing, because the king wonderfully agreed to help Nehemiah in every way. And the leaders in Jerusalem also were enthusiastic in their acceptance of his proposal to rebuild the walls.

ISAIAH 35:Yesterday we heard that the land of Edom would become an eternal wasteland and a home for owls and other creatures. The land of Edom is in modern-day Jordan, and GoogleMaps shows almost nothing green in that whole area.

PHILIPPIANS 3:Yesterday we heard Paul's wonderful poem of praise about Christ's humility and subsequent exaltation to the highest place.

And we heard this promise: Php. 2:13 NLT For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

NLT Translation notes: Php. 3:1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your [fully believing//faith]. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved [perfection//it], but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NEHEMIAH 1:Yesterday we heard how the returned exiles responded to Ezra's shock and demonstration of his sorrow, and his prayer of repentance. The book ended with the names of those who were found guilty of forbidden marriages. Note that these are not just names of the guilty, but names of those who repented and sacrificed to God. They are the names of the forgiven. In some ways— and not all, this shows the kind of seriousness with which church discipline spoken of in the New Testament should be conducted. (Matthew 18, 1 & 2 Corinthians)

As I said just a few days ago, the book of Nehemiah was— according to Jewish tradition, written by Ezra, and this book was at some early time bundled with the book of Ezra. Nehemiah and Ezra had to have been close friends. If Ezra wrote the book of Nehemiah, he did so as one writing Nehemiah's testimony, since Nehemiah speaks in the first person throughout the book. Nehemiah is a wonderful example of a man living in prayerful trust of the Lord, and a man willing to take on huge tasks because of his full belief in God. He is a wonderful example of a leader who does not take advantage of his position to enrich himself, but works for the good of all the people.

ISAIAH 34:Yesterday, amid the statements of judgment for Assyria in chapter 33, we still heard amazing prophecies in Isaiah. Here are two of them:

Is. 33:17 NLT Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.

24 The people of Israel will no longer say, "We are sick and helpless," for the Lord will forgive their sins.

PHILIPPIANS 2:Here is a promise to claim from the first chapter of Philippians:

Php. 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

NLT Translation note: Php. 2:9 Therefore, God elevated [has] him to the place of highest honor and [has given//gave] him the name above all other names,

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.