Application Questions:

What difference does dying with Christ make to your sense of identity?

Must Christians be 100% certain of their salvation to act on Romans 6:5-10?

Is sin avoidable as a Christian? What repetitive sins have you tolerated for too long?

If you are alive to God, what desires, goals, and convictions guide your new life in Christ?

Was the temple necessary for the Passover celebration? Why wait?

Who could participate in Passover? What two steps were required? Are these requirements represented in receiving the Gospel today?

What did the renewed Passover celebration signify for the repatriated exiles?

What gave people joy in the Passover? What should a Christian do if they don’t feel joyful in God’s work?

Application Questions:

What were the similarities and differences between this temple (Ezra 6:13-18) and Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:62-66)?

Why are the people full of joy at the temple’s dedication? What was restored that had been previously lost?

What did the 12 sin offerings signify? Should Christians remember sin in public worship today? How can this be done?

Where is God’s sovereign in the story of the temple’s dedication? Where is the evidence of God’s sovereign providence in your life recently?

]Application Questions:

What ordinary means did God use in Ezra 6 to provide for the construction of the temple in Jerusalem?

Can man accomplish God’s plan without God’s providence? Why or why not?

Learning from this story, what are the blessings of a properly functioning government?

How does this inform submission to government?

Providence is God working independently of you to accomplish his will for you. What evidence of this is found in Ezra 6? What evidence of God’s providence can be found in your circumstances?